not possibly so necessary for him in the time of Innocency nor expressed by name for his Food at the time of his Creation Besides seeing after the Fall the Creatures were killed that their Skins might be for Cloathing and were offered in Sacrifice to God even by Righteous Abel himself it is not to be imagin'd but that they did eat of the Flesh of them as in Sacrifices was usual And therefore for those uses the distinction of them into clean and unclean was made even before the Flood and seven of the clean reserved for Sacrifice and Food whereas two sufficed of the unclean for preservation of the kind as we see Gen. 7.2 Moreover had they not made use oâ— Cattle for Food in those 1600 Years before the Flood the Earth would have bin overburdened with their vast increase and numbers And the words of our Saviour reflecting upon the Old World for their inordinate eating and drinking before the Flood came on them Mat. 24.38 implies rather an abuse in the excess than an abstinence from the use of Flesh and other delicacies And so much by way of digression concerning that particular But to return Sin being not yet entred into the World God beheld all his Creatures that he had made and approved them all as very good Gen. 1. from 24. to the end Gen. 2. from 18. to the end On the seventh day Seventh day God having finished the Works which he intended to Create the Generations and Originals whereof have bin before described He then rested from all Labour and ceased from further creating any thing and blessing that day and hallowing it that is exalting it above other days and setting it apart to an holy use he appointed and consecrated it for a Sabbath because therein he rested and as it were refreshed himself as we read Exod. 31.16 Wherefore the Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe it thorow out their Generations for a perpetual Covenant It is a sign between me and them for ever For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed This is spoken indeed of God in allusion to the manner of men For the Creator of the ends of the Earth fainteth not neithâ—r is weary Isa 40.28 But yet this being alledged as the reason of the Sabbath Exod. 20.11 shews it to be instituted before the Fall Now if God thought fit to injoin man to set apart one day in seven from the works of his Calling even in the state of Innocency when he had no sin in him that on that day he might converse with his Creator more immediately in holy Duties and Exercises how much more needful is such an Ordinance to us now in this Corrupt Estate who have need of all helps to draw us nearer unto God And accordingly we find a Seven-days-Sabbath kept and observ'd before the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai as is plain from Exod. 16. Gen. 2.1 2 3. SECT II. AFter the first Week of the World was ended God brought as it seemeth the New married Couple into the Garden of Eden giving them command to dress and keep it And having made them upright holy and happy and written his Law upon their hearts he was pleased to confer this further favour and honour upon them to enter into the Covenant (k) See more concerning this Covenant in my Supplement to Knowledge and Practice pag. 64.65 66. with them promising thereby to continue them in this happiness which they now injoyed provided they would forbear to eat of that one Tree in the Garden which he called the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil Before this Covenant God had not promised to continue Man in this happy Condition wherein he had made him though he should never have sinned And nothing hindred before this Covenant was made but God might have annihilated man though he had not offended But by this Covenant God was pleas'd freely and graciously to bind himself to Continue man in his present happiness provided he continued in his Obedience And thus the Lord was pleased to arm mans mutable Will against falling both by the great reward promised in case of his Obedience and the great evil threatned in case of his disobedience Gen. 2.16 17. And the Lord God commanded the man saying Of every tree of the Garden thou mayst freely eat but of the tree of Knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die But the Devil (l) See Joh. 8.44 2 Pet. 2.4 Jude v. 6. 1 Joh. 3.8 having himself apostatiz'd from God and fallen from his own happiness wherein he was created he envied our first Parents theirs and presently contriving and designing to draw them into Transgression against God so to ruine them he thereupon makes choice of the Serpent for his Instrument of which 't is probable there were divers sorts created and some of them of great bigness and specious and beautiful to the eye by a comely mixture of various colours and such as then as it seems did bear their bodis aloft and went upright and were of great subtilty and cunning and possibly of much more at that time than since the Fall This Instrument the Devil makes choice of and as it seems opened his mouth and caused him to speak articulately as an Angel did the mouth of Balaam's Ass Numb 22.28 or else he spake in him to Eve And at the first onset he asked her whither God had forbidden them to eat of any tree in the Garden Eve not knowing now as 't is probable the fall of Angels nor suspecting any evil to be in the World did without any apprehension entertain conference with the Serpent And accordingly she tells him They might eat of the trees of the Garden but one tree God had expresly forbidden them that tree they might not eat of nor touch so she heightens the prohibition to put the greater obligation on her self to forbear it under the severe penalty of Death which would certainly be inflicted on them if they did transgress The Devil tells her no such thing would ensue * And so he was a lyar and the Father of it Joh. 8.4 but contrarily upon the eating of this Fruit their eyes would be opened and they should suddenly attain to a high degree of Divine Knowledge and Wisdom in a manner equal to that of God himself And therefore he insinuates as if God out of envy to them had forbidden them the use of this tree And wresting to a wrong sense the name of the Tree He represents knowing good and evil as a state of Perfection but well knew that upon the eating thereof they should soon have a woful experimental knowledge of good and evil and that they should know good by the loss of it and evil by the sense and feeling of it 'T is possible the Serpent being subtile by Nature and
Goshen near Rameses where they were at first placed by Joseph Gen. 47.11 they being in all six hundred thousand men of the Israelitish Race besides Women and Children and to them a mixed multitude voluntarily joyned themselves viz. Servants and Strangers who were willing to go away with them and doubtless the rather because Egypt must needs be now in a sad condition by reason of the many Plagues God had lately inflicted on them And which speaks the wonderful Providence of God over this people in that vast multitude there was not one sick or feeble person among them as we read Psal 105. vers 37. Exod. 12. from vers 34. to 43. SECT II. FRom Rameses this vast multitude with their Flocks and Herds and much Cattel remove to Succoth which signifies Booths because here they made themselves Booths of the Boughs of Trees in remembrance of which the Feast of Tabernacles was afterwards appointed as we may see Lev. 23.42 43 Here Moses receives some further Commands and Directions concerning the Passover 1. No Stranger or Forreigner was to eat thereof unless he were first Circumcised and so incorporated into the Jewish Church 2ly Servants that were Strangers after they were well instructed and circumcised might eat thereof and that no Forreigner or Hireling might on other terms oat thereof 3ly Every Lamb was to be eaten by one Company in the same house and none of it to be carried out to be eaten abroad 4ly No bone of it was to be broken (c) A Figure of Christ whose bones were not broken as the two Thieves bones were Joh. 19.33 to shew that no man had power to take away his life but that he voluntarily laid it down John 10.18 5ly All the Congregation of Israel were to prepare themselves and to eat the Passover as the Lord had Commanded and he that neglected it was to be cut off Numb 9.13 6ly The circumcised Stranger shall enjoy the same right and benefit with the native Jews one Law shall be to them both God also Commands That all their First-born males of Man and Beast shall be consecrated unto him in a thankful Memorial that he saved their First-born when he destroyed the First-born of the Egyptians and therefore such might not be given as a Vow or Free-will-Offering being before the Lords by a peculiar Right Lev. 27.26 Yet the Firstling of an Ass and so of all other unclean Beasts Numb 18.15 they might redeem with a Lamb * But if they would not redeem it they were to bâ—eak its neck because it was not fit that that which of right belonged unto God should be put to any other ordinary use and the First-born of Man they might redeem with five Shekels of Silver Numb 18.16 He Commands also That the day of their going out of Egypt shall be had in perpetual Remembrance and that the Feast of Vnleavened Bread shall be yearly kept in the Land of Canaan that so that Deliverance may never be forgotten and that they shall acquaint their Children from Generation to Generation with the Story and the wonderful manner thereof and shall instruct them in the meaning and signification of this Paschal-Solemnity which was Instituted upon that occasion telling them That this Passover (d) Which was Oommemorative f their Deliverance and Prefigurative of the Death and Passion of Christ ought to be such a kind of remembrance unto them of Gods extraordinary Mercy in delivering their Fathers out of the Bondage of Egypt as if they wore any Signet or Token upon their Hands or any Frontlet or Jewel upon their Foreheads between their Eyes (e) Vide Deut. 6.8 11.18 Pharisaei qui haec carnaliter crasso modo intelligebant alligabant Brachiis Fronti sua Phylacteria quae carpit Christus Math. 23.5 to put them in mind of some important thing which they ought by no means to forget And so it will come to pass that they will delight to think and speak of the Law and Commandments of God to the Observance of which this admirable Deliverance will be a strong engagement Exod. 12. from vers 43. to the end Exod. 13. from vers 1. to 17. SECT III. FRom Succoth they march on in good array that is as 't is probable in five Bodies (f) Vers 18. Quini ascenderunt i. e. in quincurias dispositi Rivet Quinque turmis ascenderunt Munsterus See also Dutch Annotations in loc or Brigads towards Etham in the edge of the Wilderness where was their next Encamping the Lord conducting (g) Here it 's said v. 21. that the Lord led them by this Pillar Ch. 14. 19. 't is said the Angel of the Lord went before them This therefore was the Angel of the Covenant Mal. 3.1 the Eternal Son of God 1 Cor. 10.9 them by a Pillar of a Cloud by day which was also a Pillar of Fire to them by Night and a Sign of his gracious Presence with them This Sign of his Presence was like a Pillar ascending round and straight from the Earth towards Heaven by Night it had the appearance of Fire Numb 9.15 In the day time it seems it dispersed it self abroad when need was like a Cloud and so shaddowed them from the Sun see Psal 105. vers 39. when they were to rest or stay in any place it removed back into the midst of the Camp and after the Tabernacle was made it rested upon that and when it was taken up and moved whether by day or night they were to march see Numb 9.18 21. And out of this Cloudy Pillar the Lord spake to them Psal 99.7 Numb 12.5 10. Deut. 31.15 The Lord therefore as we said before by this Pillar conducted the Israelites to Etham from whence through the Land of the Philistins was the nearest and directest way to Canaan But the Lord was not pleased to lead them that way fore-seeing the Philistins were like to deny them passage thorow their Country so that they must fight their way thorow them who were a Warlike People if they intended to pass And the Lord foresaw that the meeting with so formidable a difficulty at the first might possibly discourage the Children of Israel and make them repent that they left Egypt and might dispose them to return thither again For this and other reasons the Lord was pleased to order the people to march back from Etham to the Wilderness of the Red-Sea And they carried Joseph's bones with them according to the Command given them Gen. 50. And 't is probable they carried the bones of the other Patriarchs the Sons of Jacob along with them also according to what Stephen relates Acts 7.15 16. Exod. 13. from vers 17. to the end SECT IV. FRom Etham the Lord Commands them to turn back again and to Encamp before Pihahiroth between Migdol and the Sea over against Baal-Zephon This was a narrow passage between two ledges of Mountains with the Sea before them It seems it was now told Pharaoh that the people
Providence see Mat. 6.11 However some of them were so Disobedient that they reserved some of it till next morning and it bred Worms and stank which Disobedience of theirs much provoked Moses to be angry with them 2. They were to gather it in the morning betimes For when the Sun waxed hot it melted 3. On the sixth day they were to gather twice as much as on other days namely two Omers for one person which order when the people observed the Elders and Rulers came and told Moses thereof doubting whether they did well therein seeing an Omer and no more was their fixed allowance for one day Hereupon Moses tells them That the next day was an holy Sabbath to the Lord and on that day (c) From whence some infer the antiquity and morality of the Sabbath this happening before the giving the Law on Mount Sinai no Mannah should fall and therefore on the sixth day they had a double allowance and on that day they were to bake or seeth of their Mannah what they thought fit to eat thereof that day and to reserve the remainder for the Sabbath-day and though reserved to that day it should not stink or breed Worms as one other days if kept it would do Yet some of the people were so unbelieving and disobedient that they went out on the Sabbath-day to seek Mannah but found none for which God was angry with them and charged them not to go out on the Sabbath-day any more to seek it but to observe that day unto him which the people accordingly did On this kind of bread they lived afterwards by the space of forty years * Comederant Man 40 annis tanquam cibum ordinarium cui non erat vetitum carnes vel cibos alios adjungere si quos vel venatu vel emptione a vicinis gentibus consequebantur ut apparet ex Deut. 2.6 Janson even till they came to the borders of the Land of Canaan And a Pot containing the quantity of an Omer was afterwards by Gods Command fill'd therewith and reserved by the Ark of Testimony (d) Or Ark of the Testimony because in it were the Tables of Gods Law which testified his Will to his people See Heb. 9.4 See Apostolical History pag. 380. viz. which testified Gods Presence among them to be kept as a Memorial of Gods goodness in thus miraculously feeding of them Exod. 16. whole Chapter SECT X. THeir ninth Remove was to Dophka their Tenth to Alush Numb 33.12 13 14. and their Eleventh to Rephidim a place in the Wilderness near Mount Horeb. Here they wanted water again and this want drove a great many of them into an high discontent and murmuring insomuch as they said Is the Lord among us or not vers 7. Thus they tempted the Lord as the Psalmist says Psal 78.41 and limited the holy One of Israel Then they fell a chiding with Moses saying Give us water that we may drink wherefore hast thou brought us out of Egypt to kill us and our Children and our Cattel with thirst Moses asked them Why they chid with him was it in his power to help them why did they tempt the Lord by their distrust and murmuring And from this distrustful murmuring of the People the place was afterwards called Massa and Meriba signifying Temptation and Chiding Then Moses cried unto the Lord saying What shall I do to this people they are almost ready to stone me God Commands him to take some of the Elders of the people with him and to take his Rod in his hand with which he commanded Aaron to strike the River Nile Ch. 7.20 and to go to Mount Horeb where he would appear to him in the Cloudy Pillar and there to smite the Rock with his Rod and it should give forth water Moses and the Elders accordingly going to Horeb He there in their sight struck the Rock and immediately the waters gushed forth * The Apostle says 1 Cor. 10.4 The Rock followed them and that Rock was Christ see Psal 78.15 16 20. And the Streams issuing thence trailed after them thorow the Wilderness see Psal 105.41 Deut. 9.21 The Cloudy Pillar it seems conducting them in such by-ways in such Levels and Vallies in that Mountainous Country that the water might conveniently be derived after them Exod. 17. from 1. to 8. SECT XI THe Amalekites descended from Timnah Concubine to Eliphaz Esau's eldest Son Gen 36.12 whose Country lay hereabout having an inveterate malice against Jacob and his Posterity fell now upon the Rear of the Israelites they being much spent and tired with their long march and slew some of the feeblest (e) That is of such as were feeble thorow travel not sickness see Psal 105.37 and hindermost of them Deut. 25.17 18 19. Moses hereupon sends Joshua with a chosen Party to fight with them in the Valley and betakes himself to the top of Mount Horeb where with the Rod of God in his hand as a Signal to strengthen the faith of the people in God's Power and Help He lifts up his hands towards Heaven earnestly praying unto the Lord and imploring his Aid and Assistance against their Enemies And whilst Moses's hands were help up Israel prevailed but when they flag'd and fell down Amalek prevailed He therefore being weary with standing so long as well as with lifting up his hands they put a stone under him to sit on and Aaron and Hur (f) See James 5.17 Quare precum comites adhibendi qui nos labantes fulciant supported his hands whereby they were steady to the going down of the Sun and so they obtained a great Victory over the Amalekites And God commanded Moses to write (g) See Exod. 34.27 this for a Memorial in a Book that is in the Chronicles and Annals of time that the wickedness of Amalek in assaulting the people of God may be remembred and to Inculcate it in the ears of Joshua who was to succeed him that He and all his Successors who shall be Generals to the Israelites at any time hereafter may put this his Command in Execution when He shall give them occasion to do it For says God I have determined utterly to put out the remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven (h) Deut. 25.19 See this Command executed by Saul 1 Sam. 15.3 c. that is I have determined that their Honour and Greatness shall be so broken and brought down that they shall not be remembred or made mention of as a flourishing State or Kingdom any more And Moses in thankfulness to God for this great Victory built an Altar in that place and call'd it Jehovah-Nissi as a Memorial to Posterity that there Jehovah had as with a Banner displayed gone forth and fought against the Enemies of his people And because Amalek had lifted up his hand against the Throne of the Lord (i) V. 16. Quia manus Amalec fuit contra solium Domini Sic Jun. Tremel Piscator reddunt hunc
or Tabernacles some upon the roof of their Houses and some in the Streets and Courts of Jerusalem and with boughs of Trees they either made or adorned their Booths and carried boughs and branches in their hands as some think in token of joy and rejoycing There were peculiar Offerings appointed for seven days together On the first day was to be an holy Convocation to the Lord and no servile work to be done thereon and on the eighth day another whereon just as much was to be offered as on the new Moon so that this Feast lasted eight days the last whereof was a very solemn Assembly called Joh. 7.37 the last and great day of the Feast and was rather an Appendix to the Feast then properly any part thereof see Numb 29. from vers 12. to the end This Feast was to be kept first in remembrance of Gods Protection over them for forty years together during their travelling thorow the Wilderness see Sect. 2. of Ch. 4. 2ly To testifie their thankfulness to God for the Fruits of the Earth viz. the latter fruits of Vines and Olives which this month they gathered in Deut. 16.13 14. 3ly As a figure of Christ's Incarnation who about this time of the year as learned men conceive came into the World * Calvisius pag. 193. Lightfoot in his Harm pag. 4. see Sect. 10. of Ch. 1. of my Harmony and dwelt in the Tabernacle of our Flesh Levit. 23. from 33. to the end 7ly To these Feasts here mentioned may be added the Feast of the New-Moons (h) Besides these we do not read of any more anniversary Feasts but only that of Purim Ester 9.17 and the Feast of dedication Joh. 10.22 which was constantly to be observed The Sacrifices appointed for this Feast are set down Numb 28. from 11. to 16. Numb 10.10 These are the Feasts the Lord appointed and if any of these Solemnities did fall on the weekly Sabbath the Oblations belonging to the Sabbath did not excuse the Oblations required for the concurrent Festival but were to be performed as if it had happened on another day no voluntary Oblations whither given by vow or without did discharge the Sacrifices due to the solemnity of any special Festival see Levit. 23.38 12ly Laws concerning the Oil to be prepar'd for the golden Candlestick Ch. 24. from 1. to 5. Lastly Laws concerning the Shew-bread of which there were 12 Cakes to be made each containing two Homers or two tenth deales of fine Flower which were to be set in two rows upon the Table with Incense put upon them and to be changed every sabbath-Sabbath-day and after they had stood a week before the Lord they were to be eaten by the Priests The Flower was to be provided at the common charge of all the twelve Tribes by a perpetual Statute and brought to the Priests but the Cakes were to be made and baked by the Levites of the Family of Cohath as appears from 1 Chron. 9.32 The Incense (i) Vice panis thus adolebatur tum gratum Domino ac si esset holocaustum So that the Bread may be said to be offered with fire because the Incense laid upon it was so offer'd and reckon'd most holy as if it had been of the offerings made by fire see vers 9. that was put upon the Cakes was to be burned upon the Altar when they took away the Bread as a Memorial that God would thorow Christs Merits and Intercession remember his people with thoughts of favour and gracious acceptance Levit. 24. from vers 5. to the 10. SECT XXXIX AT this time the Son of Shelomith whose Father was an Egyptian though his Mother an Israelite falling into contention with one that was an Israelite by both Parents wickedly blasphemed the Name of God and cursed Possibly the Israelite upbraided him with his Idolatrous Father and denied him to be a true Israelite or a Member of the Church of God whereupon in his rage as it seems he spake scornfully and opprobriously of the God of Israel and slighted the Priviledge of being one of his people Hereupon they brought him to Moses to know how they should punish such an abominable Blasphemer as He was and having secured him for a time God Commands Moses that he should be brought out of the Camp and that the Witnesses should lay their hands upon his head to testifie that they laid this sin of Blasphemy truly to his Charge and that he being really guilty thereof deserved to be punished and as a Sacrifice to be offered up to the Justice of God for his sin that so the whole people might not be punished for it And then it was ordered that the whole Congregation should stone him which was done accordingly Levit. 24. from 10 to 15. and vers 23. After this and on this occasion Moses receives from the Lord particular Laws concerning the punishment of Blaspheming and cursing God viz. that such Offenders should be stoned to death vers 15 16. Also Laws concerning the punishing of Murder with Death and that he that killeth a Beast belonging to another man shall make it good Also the Law of requital or retaliation for blemishes called Jus talionis as if a man cause a blemish in his Neighbour as He hath done so it shall be done unto Him viz. an Eye for an Eye a Tooth for a Tooth which was not to be executed by the particular persons that were hurt or injured but by the Magistrate upon due Process And though in Ceremonials Strangers had neither priviledge by the use except they were Proselytes nor hurt by the omission of them yet in Capital Crimes if they and the Israelites sinned alike they were to be punished alike See Exod. 12.49 Levit. 24. from vers 17. to 23. SECT XL. MOses now receives Laws concerning the Sabbatical Year viz. that when they came into the Land of Canaan every seventh year should be a year of rest to the Land which they should observe in sign of Homage to the Lord whose the Land was and in this year the Land should neither be tilled nor sowed see Exod. 23.11 neither might they prune their Vineyards or gather in the Fruits thereof and whatsoever Fruits the Land brought forth they were not to look upon as any ones peculiar Goods as in other years but were to leave them in common for all only taking of them what might serve for their own use and for food for their Cattel And Moses tells them That if they truly observed this Law God would command such a blessing on the sixth year that it should bring forth Fruit for three years viz. from the sixth to the ninth not for three years compleat but for part of three years for the increase of the sixth year served them first for part of the sixth year to wit from Barley-Harvest that year which was about the Passover till the seventh month when the Sabbatical Year began 2ly For all the Sabbatical Year 3ly For the eighth year till
them to give them Victories over them yea signal Victories insomuch that five of them shall chase an hundred and an hundred put ten thousand to flight that is a few Israelites shall chase many of their Enemies 4ly To bless them with fruitfulness He intending by real Performance to make good his Covenant to them and to give them such great plenty that they shall be forced to empty their Barns of old Corn that they may have room to lay up their new 5ly To set his Tabernacle in the midst of them Ezek. 37.26 2 Cor. 6.16 that is cause his Word and Worship to abide among them and by his gracious Presence to dwell and walk in the midst of them and to be their God and they shall be his people having delivered them from the Egyptian Yoke under which they were bowed down so that now they should walk uprightly being freed from their Yoke and Bondage Secondly He threatens dreadful and terrible and manifold Judgments to them in case they were Disobedient and to multiply their Plagues as they multiplied their Sins particularly 1. He threatens to inflict Corporal Diseases on them yea terrible Diseases such as the Consumption and burning-Ague that shall weaken and darken their very sight and cause in them great sorrow of heart 2ly Depredation by Enemies and falling before their Enemies and falling into the hands of their Enemies so that they that hate them shall Reign over them 3ly Terrour and causeless astonishment so that they shall flee when none pursueth 4ly Weakning and breaking the pride of their Power 5ly Making the Heaven as Iron and the Earth as brass and rendring their labours in their Husbandry fruitless 6ly Ravenous Beasts to devour their Children and Cattel 7ly The Sword that shall avenge their breach of Covenant with Him 8ly Sending Pestilence into their besieged Cities so that they shall be as sticks bound up in a Faggot to be burnt together 9ly Captivity 10ly Breaking their staff of Bread that is depriving them of their Bread which is the Staff of Life and bringing such scarcity upon them that one Oven shall bake the bread of ten Families and the Baker shall deliver them their bread by weight see Ezek. 4.16 11ly Such a dreadful Famine that they should eat the flesh of their own Children 12ly To cast down their high places whereon they sacrificed to Idols and to destroy their Idols and to cast their Carkasses upon their broken Idols and his Soul should abhor them 13ly Desolation of their Cities and Country and of all places of publick Worship refusing and rejecting their Offerings and Oblations 14ly Exile and dispersion among the Heathen so that their Land shall be desolate and their Cities wast and their Enemies that shall take possession of some parts of it shall be astonished at the desolation thereof And further the Lord threatens That He would scatter them among the Nations and the Sword should there also pursue them and then the Land shall enjoy her Sabbaths and resting from Tillage from which it should have rested on the Sabbatical years and years of Jubilee but could not be permitted because of their Covetousness 15ly Faintness of heart so that the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them yea they shall flee as from the Sword when none pursueth and thorow weakness or hast fall one upon another 16ly Death in Captivity They shall perish and pine away in their Iniquities and the Iniquities of their Fathers whom they imitated in their Transgressions in the Land of their Enemies Thirdly Notwithstanding all these Comminations He promises if they shall repent and their carnal impure and uncircumcised Hearts be humbled and shall confess their own Iniquities and the Iniquities of their Fathers and accept of the punishment of their Sins as justly deserved on their part and justly inflicted by God then He will remember his Covenant made with their Fathers and be gracious unto them and will remember the Land He gave them for an Inheritance and though it shall be left of them for a time and shall enjoy its rest yet he will cause it to be inhabited and tilled by them again and when they are in the Land of their Enemies He will not utterly cast them away nor wholly abhor them but for their good will remember the Covenant He made with their Ancestors Levit. Ch. 26. whole Chapter In the last place Moses receives Laws and Directions concerning persons * Some hold that the end and intention of these personal Vows was only that they should pay the price of their Redemption to the Priests which was to be imployed either for their maintenance Numb 18.14 or for the reparations of the Sanctuary 2 Kings 4.5 Jackson and things devoted by Vow unto God and how these Vows might be redeemed in case the person that made them had no mind to stand to them 1. A person (n) For these Vows of persons they were usually made in some time of affliction or distress as when married persons had no Child they did sometimes Vow That if the Lord would please to give them a Child they would give that Child unto the Lord which was Hannahs Vow 1 Sam. 1.11 And these persons vowed being not of the Tribe of Levi were vowed to such Service of the Tabernacle as they were capable of as for drawing of water or hewing of wood which the Gibeonites afterwards did Josh 9.27 Or if they were women they were devoted to spinning Cloth to make the Priests Garments and to provide those things that were necessary for the repair of the Tabernacle and other such like services which accordingly they did perform or else paid the price of their Redemption here prescribed vowed was to be the Lords or else to be redeemed according to the estimation of the Priest who was to set the value This estimation was to vary according to the difference of Sex and Age. 1. The Redemption of a Male from 20 years to 60 was to be 50 Shekels of Silver according to the Shekels of the Sanctuary of a female of the same age but 30. 2. Of a Male from five years old to 20 20 Shekels of a Female 10 Shekels 3. Of a Male from a month old to five years old five Shekels of a Female three Shekels 4. Of a Male from 60 years old and upwards fifteen Shekels of a Female ten Shekels But in case any person be grown poor who possibly was of ability when he vowed so that he be not able to pay the â—rate set according to this Law then it was left to the discretion of the Preist to set a reasonable rate upon him according to his ability Chap. 27. from 1. to 9. 2. Concerning Beasts devoted to God 1. Clean Beasts devoted were to be given as they were to God and not changed for others which if any man attempted to do both the Beast that was changed and that which was put in its place shall both be consecrated to God 2.
to God should bring this punishment of forty years continuance in the Wilderness upon their Children And He says They shall know to their Cost what a dangerous thing it is to withdraw themselves or break off (r) V. 34. Scietis abruptionem meam i. e. abruptionem à me Pisc their Obedience to Him They shall find that it was their own Infidelity and Disobedience to him and not his breach of Promise with them that kept them out of that good Land to the borders of which he had now brought them They ought to have considered that his Promise was Conditional and the performance of it was to be expected only by those that performed the condition of it and towards them it shall never fail Numb 13. from 23. to the end Numb 14. from 1. to 36. Joshua 5.6 Numb 32. from 8. to 14. Deut. 1. from 26. to 40. Deut. 9.23 24. Psal 95. from 8. to the end Psal 106. from 23. to 27. SECT LIX THe ten Spies who had caused this meeting among the people were smitten by God with an extraordinary Plague and died presently see 1 Cor. 10.10 With this Judgment the people were grievously terrified and mourned exceedingly And in remembrance thereof the Jews keep a Feast upon the seventh day of the sixth month call'd Ebul Numb 14. from 36. to 40. SECT LX. THe people being much terrified with this Judgment and more especially with Gods Decree against them which Moses had acquainted them with and being very sensible that they had greatly provoked the Lord they would needs now in all hast gird on their Swords and go forward to take possession of the Land God had promised them resolving to fight all Enemies in the way But Moses charges them from the Lord that they should not stir see Deut. 1.42 He tells them that the Amalekites and Canaanites had pitched in the Valley beyond the Mountain at the foot whereof they were now encamped and lay there with their Forces to hinder their passage He tells them If they went up the Lord would not be with them but they would be smitten before their Enemies However some of them presumptuously would march up to the top of the hill though Moses and the Ark (s) The Ark removed not but at the removal of the Cloud Numb 9.15 which God not taking up now shewed thereby his dislike of their Enterprize staid behind And the Amalekites and Canaanites as had been foretold them came out against them and chased them as Bees which being angred use to come out in great Swarms and to fight with great eagerness and fury see Psal 118.12 and killing many of them pursued the rest even unto Hormah a place so called afterwards upon another occasion see Numb 21.3 And such of them as escaped cried and wept before the Lord but he regarded not their prayers and had as little respect to their tears as they had before to his Preceps And so they abode in the large Wilderness of Kadesh many days as the days they stayed there did sufficiently manifest For they were made to wander about 38 years longer in the Wilderness Numb 14. from 40. to the end Deut. 1. from 40. to the end SECT LXI UPon this Calamity and the continual dropping away of the Israelites in the Wilderness God having sentenced to death all above twenty years old but Joshua and Caleb as is before related Moses composed the 90th Psalm in which he sheweth that the ordinary age of man was reduc'd to 70 or 80 at the utmost Therefore the age of man was now a third time contracted and cut short a third part of what it was before SECT XLII THough the Lord had thus manifested his Wrath and Severity against those disobedient Israelites whom he had sentenced to die in the Wilderness yet that he might shew that He intended to bring their Children into the good Land he had promised he now enlarges and explains those Laws he had formerly given concerning the Sacrifices which he would have them offer to him when they came thither as particularly what Meat-Offerings and Drink-Offerings should be offered together with their Sacrifices whereof part was to be burnt upon the Altar as accessories and appurtenances thereunto And according as the Sacrifice was greater or less so must also the Meat and Drink-Offerings be more or less And He appoints particularly what shall be prepared for a Lamb or a Kid and what for a Ram or a Bullock that there might be a proportion observ'd betwixt them Numb 15. from vers 1. to 13. 2ly He injoyns that the Stranger that is brought to embrace the same Religion with them shall be under the same Laws and Ordinances that they were under One Law and one manner shall be for you and for the stranger that sojourneth with you from vers 13. to 17. 3ly He injoyns them to offer a Cake of the first of their Dough for an Heave-Offering that is about the same quantity that they offered of their first Corn they should offer of their Dough and both to be offered with the same Ceremonies These they were to offer to the Lord that is to the Priests the Lords Receivers for the First-fruits were their portion Ezek. 44.30 The first of all the Fruits of all things and every Oblation of all of every sort of your Oblations shall be the Priests from vers 17. to 22. 4ly Laws are given concerning Sacrifices to be offered when either the whole Congregation or a single person had sinned thorow ignorance Levit. 4.13 There is a Law given concerning Expiation of Sins ignorantly committed but that seems to be made in reference to Errors and Faults committed in common course of life and this to be meant of those only which are committed in things which belong to the external Worship and Service of God from vers 22. to 30. 5ly A Law is given for the cutting off those who sin not of ignorance inadvertency or infirmity but wilfully boldly and presumptuously in contempt of the Laws which God hath enacted concerning his publick Worship From vers 30. to the 31. 6ly To deter presumptuous Sinners a relation is made of a bold and presumptuous Sinner who refused to conform himself to the Law which God had made concerning his outward Worship and Service It seems whilst they were in the Wilderness one of the Congregation went out presumptuously to gather sticks on the sabbath-Sabbath-day This being a direct violation of the Law given concerning the Sabbath they put the man inward till they had inquired of the Lord what should be done to him * See Levit. 24.12 That a Sabbath breaker was to be put to death they know see Exod. 31.14 35.2 but what kind of death he should die or whither this gathering of sticks made him obnoxious to that Sentence they were not fully resolved though it was evident enough to them he had done it presumptuously Moses not willing to take away his life without certain direction inquires
Therefore says he keep your selves all of you from the accursed thing Take none of the accursed banned things to your own use lest you bring a Curse upon your selves and upon the Camp of Israel thereby Joshua having given the people these Instructions he gave order to the Army to march round about the City seven days in the manner that was prescribed the sabbath-Sabbath-day being one of them and that by Command of him who is Lord of the Sabbath The armed-men marched before the Ark and the remainder of the people that were in the Rear not armed followed after and thus they did six days on the seventh day they rose early and compassed the City after the same manner seven times and at the seventh time when the Priests that blew with the Trumpets made a long blast Joshua bad them shout for the Lord had given them the City The people hereupon gave a great shout and the wall of the City fell down flat viz. all that part of it over against which the Israelites in a long train marched and so all the armed men went up every man right from the place where they were and entred in at the breach into the City And they utterly destroyed all that was in the City Men Women young and old and the Oxen and Asses and Sheep and what ever they met with excepting Rahab and her Family whom Joshua sent the two Spies unto whom she had preserved to bring them forth and to leave them without the Camp till they were cleansed from their former pollutions according to the Law Numb 31.19 and were instructed in the Israelites Religion and admitted into the Congregation and so they and their Posterity continued among the Israelites and Rahab was afterwards married to Salmon a Prince of the Tribe of Judah one of Christs Progenitors Matth. 1.5 Luke 3.32 Then they burnt the City with fire and all that was therein excepting only the Silver and Gold and Iron and Brass which were reserved to be put into the Treasury of the House of the Lord none of them offering to meddle with one jot of the Spoil save only Achan of whom more presently In the judgment of reason one would have thought it must needs be grievous to the Israelites to destroy so brave a City and so goodly Houses wherein they might so conveniently have setled themselves and the Prey and Spoil of so fair and rich a City whereby they might have so greatly inriched themselves The more remarkable therefore and commendable was their ready Obedience herein to Gods Commands And Joshua by a special Inspiration of the Holy Ghost adjured them not to go about to build that City again and pronounced a Curse upon that man that by rebuilding it should as it were endeavour to blot out the memorial of this miraculous Work of God in giving this Idolatrous City after so strange a manner into their hands Whosoever shall go about to do it says He he shall lay the Foundation thereof in his First-born and in his youngest Son shall he set up the Gates thereof that is it shall cost him the loss of his Children of the first when he begins it of the other as he goeth forward with the work and of the youngest when he finisheth it and hangeth up the Gates thereof This Curse afterwards fell upon Hiel the Bethelite who in Ahab's Reign built this City again 1 Kings 16.34 This man was very ignorant if he knew not of this Curse but if he did know of it he was very audacious and impudently profane in not regarding it But though he was in his own particular severely punish'd for thus transgressing Gods Command and neglecting this Curse yet the City being rebuilt it was afterward allowed for a fit Habitation even for good men to lodge in as Elijah and Elisha 2 Kings 2.4 18. yea our Saviour himself did honour this City with his presence and Miracles Luke 19.1 5. Josh Ch. 5. from 13. to the end Josh Ch. 6. whole Chapter SECT XCIX JOshua now sent Spies to Ai not to go into it as those sent to Jericho did but to bring him Intelligence in what posture the City and Country thereabout was The Spies return and make a Report as if the place were of no great strength and might easily be taken by a few of the Israelites and therefore there was no need to carry up the whole Host of Israel against it Let only about two or three thousand say they go up and finite it Joshua accordingly sent up about three thousand against it But the men of Ai couragiously sallying out upon them the Israelites fled presently before them which plainly shewed that God being offended with them for something amiss among them did in an extraordinary manner strike them with fear and astonishment The men of Ai chased them from their City Gates to Shebarim and killed 36 of them in the going down of the Hill so that it seems the Israelies fled at the first On-set and were slain only in flying The whole people of Israel were extreamly terrified and dismaid at this For God seemed to have withdrawn his supporting Hand from them and in such a case the most stout and valiant will soon shrink and be afraid Joshua and the Elders of Israel hereupon rent their Clothes * A Ceremony used in great Mournings see 2 Sam. 1.11 Job 2.12 Ezek. 27.30 put dust upon their Heads and fell to the earth on their faces before the Ark. Neither was it their loss so much as the apprehension of Gods displeasure that so much afflicted them God had promised that no man should stand before them Ch. 1.5 and that they should drive out the Inhabitants out of the Land Their flying therefore now before the Enemy especially in such an inglorious manner was a plain Demonstration that God was offended with them and had withdrawn his gracious presence from them And the smallest Affliction if it be looked upon as an effect of Gods anger is very dreadful Joshua lying thus prostrate before the Lord said Alas O Lord God wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us I wish we had been content to have staid and dwelt on the other side Jordan * Joshua seems here a little too much transported thorow humane frailty O Lord what shall I say when Israel turneth their backs before their Enemies For the Canaanites the Inhabitants of this Land will hear of it and will inviron us round and cut off our Name and Memorial from off the Earth and what wilt thou then do to thy great Name How wilt thou preserve thy Glory when the Canaanites shall say Thou hadst not power to subdue them nor defend us against them and thou wast not able to give us this Land which thou hadst promised us See Deut. 33.27 Then the Lord spake to Joshua saying Get thee up why liest thou prostrate on thy face
His heart was so overwhelmed with grief and sorrow that he could not speak much now but afterwards he confessed his sin more fully to the whole Church in the 51 Psalm wherein he acknowledges the greatness of his transgression and professes his unfeigned repentance for it And this Psalm he committed to the chief Musician to be sung publickly in the Congregation as one of the Penitential Psalms Nathan perceiving him truly penitent tells him the Lord had put away his sin out of his sight it should not be imputed to him to hinder his eternal blessedness neither should he die by the sudden stroke of some temporal judgment as his sin deserved even according to his own sentence Howbeit says the Lord because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to my enemies to blaspheme and to speak evil of what I have done in raising thee up and favouring thee so highly seeing thou hast committed such heinous sins and they will thereupon blaspheme the Religion I have appointed and the professors of it as though it either taught or favoured such wickedness or at least that the professors of it were all hypocrites making only a shew of godliness and honesty but not practising it see Rom. 2.24 therefore by many severe corrections inflicted on thee I will vindicate my justice and the truth of my Religion against all the reproaches and calumnies of wicked men And pursuant hereunto I will first smite the child begotten by thee in adultery with death Nathan having faithfully delivered his message departed and immediately the child fell sick And though Nathan had told David the child should die yet he apprehending as it seems the threatning to be only conditional and that upon his tears and repentance the sentence might be revers'd (d) As was that of Hezekiahs death and the destruction of Nineveh and though the child if he lived was like continually to grieve them by daily representing to them their sin and shame yet he prayed and fasted and humbled himself greatly both with inward contrition and outward afflicting of his body begging the life of the child (e) Fuisse Davidem liberorum amantissimum non ex hac tantum historia sed ex indulgentia circa Absolomum Adonijam apparet because the innocent babe was threatned with death as a punishment for their sin However as God had threated on the seventh day after he was born or after he fell sick the child died Davids servants at first feared to tell him of it lest they should too much grieve him but upon his strict inquiry they told him he was dead When the will of the Lord was plainly manifested he patiently submitted to it and arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his apparel and went into the house of the Lord the Tent which he had erected for the Ark to worship that he might further bewail and acknowledg his sin before God and beg his pardon and intreat him that he would please to lighten and lessen those punishments he had threatned against his family or at least sanctifie them to him and give him strength and patience to bear them And though he had fasted seven days while the child lay sick taking only some small repast in the evening yet now so earnest he was to ratifie his peace with God that he would not taste any food before he had been at Gods house and then he commanded them to set bread before him and he did eat His servants wondring at this carriage of his as something strange he tells them that whilst the child was alive he fasted and wept hoping that God would reverse the sentence of death passed upon him but now he was dead wherefore says he should I fast I cannot bring him back again I shall go to him viz. into the state of the dead but he shall not return to me into the state of the living Bathsheba being much dejected under a sense of her sin and the displeasure of God threatned against them and begun to be executed in taking away their child David like an indulgent husband laboured to comfort her and went in again unto her and she conceived and bare him a Son whom he by Gods direction called Solomon that is peaceable because the Lord intended when he came to the Crown to give him rest from all his enemies round about and to give peace and quietness to Israel in his days see 1 Chron. 22.9 And the Lord sent Nathan to David to tell him that this his Son should not only be called Solomon but Jedijah that is beloved of the Lord. Thus the Lord manifested his love to Solomon before he had done either good or evil 2 Sam. Ch. 12. from v. 1 to the 26. SECT CXCV. GOD now inflicts upon David many sore and grievous chastisements to punish him for his heinous sins of adultery and murder First Amnon his Eldest Son ravishes his Sister Tamar David had two Children by Maacha the daughter of Talmai King of Geshur viz. Absalom and Tamar and he was sorely punished in them both as we shall see in the sequel of the story Tamar was a very beautiful young woman and Amnon David's Eldest Son by Ahinoam the Jezrelites was smitten with an unlawful love to her but she being a Virgin and carefully kept being David's only Daughter for ought appears among so many Sons he despaired of having an opportunity to satisfie his lust with her whereupon he droop'd (a) Medici morbis aâ—censent eum qâ—i ex amore contrahitur Pallidus in Lyâ—lcen silvis errabat Orion and pin'd away with vexation Amnon had a friend who was his Cousin-german with whom he was very intimate Jonadab by name who though a very subtil man and wise to do evil was no true friend to him for a true friend advises to nothing but that which is good Jonadab perceiving by his carriage that he was rather sick in mind than body said to him Why art thou being the Kings Son lean from day to day surely thou that art the Kings Son yea his Eldest Son and heir to the Crown maist have what thou wilt therefore what is it that thou art troubled about Amnon told him he was in love with Tamar but knew not how to accomplish his desire upon her Jonadab advises him to counterfeit himself sick and when his Father came to see him as undoubtedly he would he should desire him to permit his sister Tamar to come and dress him some meat which he should like better from her hand than any bodies else Amnon accordingly feigns himself sick Indeed it had been better for David and himself too that he had been really sick for a naughty child is better sick than well however it being given out that he was sick his Father came to see him of whom he earnestly desired that his sister Tamar might come to him and make a couple of Cakes for him pretending they would do him more good if they
did but in the good only Howbeit the people did yet very corruptly and by their Priests who too much complied with them therein offered sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places which had Jotham removed he might have prevented the people's corrupting themselves in that thing and therefore his not doing it is noted as a blemish of his government About this time namely in the year wherein Vzziah died the Prophet Isaiah saw that glorious vision of the Lord sitting on his throne and compassed about with his holy Angels singing Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbath And he foresaw the people of the Jews from this time forward growing more and more obdurate and blind every day than other resisting the counsel of the Prophets and so obstructing the means God afforded them for their conversion and healing Isa 6. Jotham was a great builder he built or renewed and repaired the high-gate of the house of the Lord which was as it seems the Gate whereby they went into the Kings Palace 2 Chron. 23.20 And on the wall of Ophel * Ophel was a Tower on the outside of the City and was the place where in those times the Nethinims dwelt Nehem. 3.26 he built much He built also divers Cities in the hills of Judah and in the Forrests he built Castles and Towers to prevent incursions of enemies He subdued the Ammonites and forced them to pay him tribute by the space of three years viz. an hundred talents of silver and of wheat and barley ten thousand measures of each So he became mighty because he ordered his counsels and actions as in the sight of the Lord and so as he might please him The Prophet MICAH In his days the Prophet Micah began to Prophesie and under him and his two next successors he executed his Prophetick function together with Isaiah and Hosea He prophesied a great while as appears Jer. 26.18 He is very like the Prophet Isaiah both in matter and loftiness of stile He prophesied both against Judah and Israel He declareth Gods wrath against them he laments their condition and foretells their destruction and captivities by the Assyrians and Babylonians for the manifold sins that all sorts had committed viz. Princes Prophets and people Ch. 1.2 3. Then he comforteth those that repent with promises of temporal blessings and deliverances from their enemies but chiefly with promises and predictions of Christ foretelling the place of his nativity and the manifold blessings of his Kingdom Ch. 4. 5. In the next place he expostulates with all sorts for their so ill requiting Gods great kindness and mercy to them and provoking him so highly by their manifold sins Ch. 6. Then he complains of the paucity and scarceness of good men and he endeth his Prophesie with consolations to the Church exhorting her to expect Gods time to plead her cause to the shame of her insulting enemies and her own marvellous comfort Ch. 7. Towards the latter end of Jotham's reign Rezin King of Syria and Pekah King of Israel began to conspire against Judah but they did not invade the land till his Sons days the Lord therein shewing mercy to him in taking him away before those heavy calamities fell upon Judah He was buried in the City of David and Ahaz his Son reigned in his stead 2 King 15. from 32 to the end 2 Chron. 27. whole Chapter The 12th that reigned in Judah AHAZ AHAZ succeeded his father Jotham in the very end of the seventeenth year of Pekah He was twenty * Object If he was only 20 years old when he began to reign and reigned only 16 years then how could his Son Hezekiah be 25 when he began to reign 2 King 18.2 for then he must be born when Ahaz was but 11 years old Ans Ahaz was 20 years old when he was first designed King in his Fathers life time it being the manner of Kings in those troublesome times to set up their Sons in the Throne with themselves in their life time that they might hold it the more sure after their death But when he began to reign by himself alone after his fathers death from which the 16 years of his reign must be reckoned he might be 24 or 25 and so his Son Hezekiah might well be 25 at his death years old when he began to reign and reigned sixteen years He did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God like David his Father The Lord was his God as to outward profession and David was his Father by lineal descent but he would neither faithfully serve God nor imitate David Soon after his Father was dead Rezin King of Syria and Pekah King of Israel confederated together and conspired against him intending with their joint forces to go up and besiege Jerusalem and to depose him and to make the Son of Tabeal probably some eminent Syrian King in his stead The King and people of Judah were exceedingly startled at these tidings as apprehending a sudden and final destruction of their Kingdom God hereupon sends the Prophet Isaiah to Ahaz to comfort him and bids him take his Son Shear-jashub along with him whose name intimated that though the Jews should be brought low yet a remnant of them at least should return to their former condition again and should encrease and enjoy the happiness of being a people and a Commonwealth of themselves It seems the names of Isaiahs Sons (a) The Sons of Isaiah were for signs and for wonders C. 8. 18. by reason of the signification of their names which presignified the goodness of God to the Jews were imposed upon them by a spirit of Prophesie and so they were for signs and significations of the goodness of God which he intended to the Jews see Isa 8.18 And thus Isaiah brought his Son Shear-jashub to Ahaz to confirm him and his people with this sign that they should not utterly be destroyed by these two confederate Kings Therefore he advises him to take heed of distrusting God and to be quiet and not to be afraid of those two Tails or ends of smoking fire-brands viz. Rezin and Pekah whom he so calls because they should soon be extinct and their attempts vanish into smoke though they thought to have burnt up all before them For within the compass of 65 years reckoning from the Earthquake in the 22 year of Vzziah's reign * See more hereof in the life of Uzziah the Kingdom of Syria shall be swallowed up by the Assyrian and Ephraim shall be broken †This was brought to pass by Salmanassar 2 King 17.6 that it be not a people But Ahaz seems still incredulous and believed not the Prophets words Isaiah therefore tells him if he doubted of the truth of what he had said to him in Gods name he might freely ask a sign of the Lord to be shewn him either in the heaven or in the earth for the confirmation of his faith But he
captives that were almost naked and clothed them out of the spoils that were taken and gave apparel and shoes to them that wanted and gave them to eat and drink and refreshed them and anointed * Or possibly anointed some of the better sort of them to revive and refresh them according to the custom of those Eastern Countries such of them as were wounded and then setting all the feeble of them upon asses carried them back to Jericho and there delivered them to their Brethren in Judea Thus the Lord inclin'd the hearts hearts of the Israelites to deal mercifully with the men of Judah Shortly after as it seems the Edomites invaded Judah and carried from thence many captives The Philistines also whom Vzziah whilst he trusted in God had subdued 2 Chron. 26.6 now brake in upon the Cities of Judah in the low Countries and the South parts thereof and took six of them and dwelt therein Thus God gave the people of Judah over to the spoil and brought them low because of the sins of Ahaz their King who made them naked that is depriv'd them of the help and protection of God by his great transgressions in practising Idolatry himself and drawing his people also into it Ahaz being thus forsaken of God and sore distressed on every side he takes the gold and silver that was in the Lords house and in the Treasures of his own house and sends it for a present to Tiglath-pilesar King of Assyria saying to him I am thy servant and thy son that is I am willing to be Tributary to thee and to serve thee and will be obedient to thee as a Son to his Father if thou wilt come and deliver me out of the hands of the King of Syria and the King of Israel The King of Assyria being an ambitious Prince and affecting rule and domination over all Nations about him readily embrac'd this occasion of invading Syria and coming with a great Army to Damascus he took it and carried away the inhabitants thereof to Kir a City of Media and put to death Rezin King of Syria fulfilling therein the forementioned Prophecy of Isaiah Ch. 7.16 Before the Child shall have knowledg to refuse evil and choose good the lands which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both their Kings * Of Pekah's death see 2 King 15.30 Hoshea conspir'd against him and slew him about the fourth year of Ahaz See more in the life of Pekah And Chap. 8. Before the child shall have knowledg to cry My Father and my Mother the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the King of Assyria that is it shall be plundred and wasted in his sight and by his command And Ch. 9.11 Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him and join his enemies together Amos also prohesied of these things Ch. 1.3 4 5. Thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof but I will break the bar of Damascus and cut off the inhabitant from the plain or Aven and him that holdeth the scepter from the house of Eden and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir saith the Lord. Thus the Kingdom of Damascus and with it that of Hamath of which as being then in a flourishing condition mention is made Isa 37.13 and Jer. 49.23 which was begun in Rezon 1 King 11.23 24. now ended in this Rezin after it had continued about ten Generations Ahaz now goes to Damascus to Tiglath-Pilesar to congratulate him for his late victory obtained over the Syrians he seeth there an Idolatrous Altar the fashion and pattern of which with all the workmanship thereof he took and sent to Vrijah the Priest at Jerusalem with command that he should make the like there which he accordingly did against his return And Ahaz took a resolution as it seems to sacrifice to the gods of Damascus which he vainly thought had smitten him and helped the Syrians against him whereas he saw they could not defend their own worshippers from the power of Tiglath-Pilesar However he said because the gods of the Syrians help them I will sacrifice unto them that they may also help me But this Idolatry proved fatal to him and to all that joined with him therein for thereby they provoked God to give them over into the hands of their enemies Ahaz being now return'd to Jerusalem and this new Idolatrous Altar provided for him he commanded Vrijah to remove the Brazen Altar which Solomon had made from the forepart of the Priests-Court where it stood and to set it on the North-side as it were in a corner out of the way and to place this new Altar in the place of it telling him that Solomon's Altar should be for him to inquire of the Lord by when he thought fit Then on this new great Altar he offered a burnt-offering and a meat-offering and poured out a drink-offering to dedicate it He commanded also Vrijah to offer the morning and evening-sacrifice on this Altar and all other sacrifices that either King or people should offer * Râ—cte Tertullianus oportet nos in omni obsequio esse subditos Principibus Magistratibus potestatibus sed intra limites disciplinae Peccavit Uriah malens placere Regi quâ—m Deo Secus fecit Ambros Epist 5.32 Vrijah like a wicked false hearted wretch and a fellow that would do any thing even forsake God and his Religon to please his Prince readily did what Ahaz commanded him Ahaz then proceeded further and defaced and cut in sunder many of the Sacred vessels and utensils of the house of the Lord that they might never be used again in his service He cut off the borders of the bases and removed the lavers from them and took down the Molten Sea from off the stately Brazen oxen on which it stood and set it aside And the Covert of the Sabbath viz. the retiring place for the guard and watchmen that on the sabbath-Sabbath-day and whole week were to keep the watch of the Temple which they had built in the house he removed and put by or stopt up the Entry and stately Gallery whereby the Kings us'd to pass from their Palace to the house of the Lord. And he shut up the doors of the covered Temple that the Priests might not enter into it to perform the services there requir'd and it seems it was not opened again till his sons days See 2 Chron. 29.3 Further he made him Altars in every corner of Jerusalem and in several Cities of Judah he set up high places to burn incense to other gods and so provoked the Lord exceedingly against him And all this it seems he did to ingratiate himself with the King of Assyria and that he might shew that he had forsaken the Religion of his Fathers and had embrac'd Heathenism And because he did all this when he had been lately so heavily afflicted of
therein and possibly gave some special orders for the manner of their attendance Then Ezra proclaimed a fast that they might humble themselves before the Lord for their sins and might seek of him a right way for themselves and their little ones that is that he would please to conduct them in a right way and preserve them and their children and their substance from being a prey to their enemies For he was asham'd to desire of the King to send a band of souldiers and horsemen with them to guard them in the way which favour yet he might easily have obtained because he had declared unto the King the glorious power and goodness of that God whom they worshipped telling him that his hand was upon all them that seek him for their God but his power and his wrath was against all them that forsake him So they fasted and earnestly sought unto the Lord for this thing and he was pleas'd graciously to answer them Then Ezra chose and separated twelve choice men of the Priests and as many of the Levites whereof Sherebiah and Hashabiah were two see v. 18 19. to take care of the silver and gold and the vessels which were offered for the service of the house of God by the King and his Nobles and the Israelites in those parts and to carry them safe to Jerusalem and there rightly to dispose of them So he weighed unto them and committed to their care six hundred and fifty talents of silver and of silver vessels an hundred talents and of gold an hundred talents also twenty basons of gold with a thousand drams a piece * Viz. Three hundred and twelve pounds ten shillings of the value of drams see 1 Chron. 29.7 and two vessels or some excellent and curious shining brass or copper almost as precious as gold And he said unto them ye are persons consecrated to God as these dedicated things are therefore keep them safe till ye weigh them before the chief of the Priests and Levites and the chief of the Fathers of Israel at Jerusalem And the forementioned Priests and Levites took care of this Sacred Treasure accordingly So upon the twelfth day of the first Month they removed from the river Ahava and through the good hand of God upon them they were delivered from their enemies and such as lay in wait by the way to surprize them and arrived safe at Jerusalem and there rested themselves three days Upon the fourth day of the fifth Month the gold and silver they had brought was weighed out and with the other furniture was laid up in the house of the Lord and the account was taken by number and weight of every one and written down and registred And they which returned out of captivity offered their burnt-offerings to the God of Israel viz. twelve bullocks according to the number of the twelve Tribes and 96 rams and 77 lambs and twelve he-goats for a sin-offering Then they delivered the Kings Commissions unto the Kings Lieutenants and Deputies on that side the river who thereupon shewed all favour to the Jews and were assistant to them in all things according to the Kings command and afforded them such things as were requisite for the service of the house of the Lord. Ezra Ch. 8. whole Chapter It being known that the principal cause of Ezra's coming was to reform such abuses as were crept in among them contrary to Law some of the Princes and chief men who were best affected came presently to him and informed him of this as one of the most heinous evils tolerated among them to wit that not only the people but the Princes also yea the Priests and Levites that could not pretend ignorance of the law had married wives of those Idolatrous Nations their neighbours about them and so the holy seed had mingled themselves with the people of those lands and were tainted by that means in many things with their abominations and the Priests themselves who should have restrained the people from this wickedness had a chief hand in it and been boldest in this transgression Ezra understanding this rent his Mantle and pluckt off the hair of his head and beard and sat down on the ground as one amazed at these high provocations It seems the report was quickly carried about how mightily he was afflicted and displeased when he heard how his brethren had taken wives of Idolatrous Nations and thereupon many of the godly inhabitants that heard of it being themselves afraid of the judgments of God threatned in his word against those transgressions came presently to him to advise with him what was fit to be done in that case but till the evening sacrifice he sat like one overwhelmed with grief and astonishment at that which had been told him At the time of the evening sacrifice he rouzed up himself from his great dejection and then falling on his knees * At the time when Sacrifices or incense were offered up pious people used to pour forth their prayers to God and spreading out his hands unto the Lord he prayed saying O my God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee For our (a) This good man putteth himself into the number of those transgressoâ—s because he was of the body of that state whereof many of the members had committed that sin so as he might be involved in the judgment that might fall on them see Dan. 9.5 iniquities are increased over our heads that is they are risen so high that like a great flood of waters they are even ready to overwhelm us see Psal 38.4 our trespasses are grown up unto the heavens (b) Beyond Heaven nothing can ascend that is they are so great they can scarce be exceeded and cry to heaven for vengeance against us Since the days of our Fathers and Predecessors before the captivity whose sins caused the captivity we have been great transgressors one generation after another continuing in their sins and for our iniquities have we our Kings and our Priests been delivered into the hands of Heathenish Kings and exposed to the sword to captivity and to spoil and to confusion of face as it is at this day with some of our brethren who are yet in captivity And now it is but a little while since grace and favour hath been shewed unto us from the Lord our God who hath left us a remnant to â—scape and to be brought back again into our own Country and hath given us a nail (c) Significat firmum statum sedes certas fixas stabiles firmam habitationem quae hactenus inconstans erat Pisc in his holy place that is by his providence hath fixed and setled us in Jerusalem his holy City again and hath given us some prop and support of our faith and hath enlightned our eyes and refreshed and cheared our drooping hearts and given us a little reviving in our bondage For we were bondmen yet our God hath not forsaken us in our
make with Man assuring to him the continuance of his Life and Happiness upon condition he performed perfect Obedience to the Will of his Creator as the other Tree namely that of Knowledge of Good and Evil should signifie and assure unto him death and damnation in case of his disobedience Gen. 2.8 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every Tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food The Tree of Life also in the midst of the Garden and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Garden being in the lower part of the Country of Eden a River ran down out of it to water it and from thence was parted into four Capital Streams or Rivers The name of the first was Phasis h See D. More 's Triplex Cabala or Phasi-Tygris which compasses the whole Land of the Chaldeans where there is excellent Gold and Bdellium and the Onyx-stone The name of the second is Gihon which encompasses the Arabian Ethiopia The name of the third is Tygris that is it which goeth toward the East of Assyria And the fourth is Euphrates On the fourth day Fourth Day the Sun Moon and Stars were created to make a difference between Day and Night and to garnish the World They were made also for Signs of Weather for the causing variety and different temperature of Seasons for setting Periods to Days Months and Years and also to exert their Influence Vertue and Efficacy on things below Psal 104.19 He appointeth the Moon for Seasons the Sun knoweth his going down that is where and when he is to go down in all the Seasons of the Year The Sun is the greatest of all the heavenly Lights and the Moon is the least except Venus and Mercury of all the Planets and is made lightsom by the Suns shining upon it and so by reflexion shines upon the Earth Moses therefore here speaks of the Sun and Moon as they appear to the Eye of Man to which the Moon seemeth the greatest Light next to the Sun because 't is nearest to the Earth of all the Planets Gen. 1. from 14. to 20. Fifth Day On the fifth day Fish and flying Fowl were created and God blessed them and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply The Fowl were created out of the Waters and out of the Ground also Gen. 2.19 Out of the Ground the Lord God formed every Beast of the Field and every Fowl of the Air. For though the Waters did at first bring them forth yet there was in those Waters of which they were made a mixture of Earth and in that regard it might be said that they were also formed out of the Ground Sixth Day On the sixth day God commanded the Earth to bring forth all sorts of Creeping things and Four-footed Beasts And last of all he made Man the Master-piece and Chief of all his Creatures here below His Body he made of the Dust of the Ground working it to such a Temper that it was fit Matter whereof to make the Body of Man And by his Almighty Power he created and infused into that yet liveless Body a living reasonable Soul which being instantly united to it in a wonderful manner his Body was quickned and enlivened which soon appear'd by the Breath in his Nostrils so Adam became a living Soul that is by a Synechdoche of the Part for the Whole a living Man and his name was called Adam because he was made of red Earth Thus we see his Soul was not as his Body made of the Earth but created by the Insuffiation of God and had its immediate Original from the Father of Spirits Heb. 12.9 Numb 16.22 Eccl. 12.7 And to this purpose Elihu speaks Job 33.4 The Spirit of God hath made me and the Breath of the Almighty hath given me life I have made the Earth and created Man upon it saith the Lord Isa 45.12 Moreover this is farther to be remembred concerning the Creation of Man That God created him after his own Image which consisted principally in the divine knowledge * Col. 3.10 Ephes 4.24 Gen. 1.26 of his Mind and in the natural sanctity of his Will and in the Dominion he gave him over the Creatures here below And in making of Mankind he made not only the Males after his own Image but the Females also Adam presently after he was created had all living Creatures by the Power of God brought before him as to a Lord appointed over them and he gave them Names either agreeable to their Natures or such whereby they might be fitly distinguish'd one from the other But though God had placed Adam in so delightful a Paradise yet he saw that his Happiness would be imperfect except he had a fit Companion Therefore to the high commendation of Matrimony the Lord said It is not good for Man to be alone I will make him an help meet for him And accordingly casting him into a deep sleep and taking one of his Ribs out of his Side whilst he slept he fashion'd it into a Woman and gave her to him for a Wife Whereupon Adam said This is Bone of my Bone and Flesh of my Flesh Then God establishing a Law of Marriage between Man and Woman Matth. 19.4 5. He that made them at first made them Male and Female therefore shall a Man leave Father and Mother and cleave to his Wife and they twain shall be one Flesh He blessed them and said unto them Increase and multiply and replenish the Earth and subdue it Gen. 1.28 that is Keep it in a State of subjection to you For he had given them Dominion over all living Creatures here below and for them he had provided a large proportion of Sustenance and Food i That Food they were to live upon at first But after the Fall Beasts and Birds of Prey and Fishes devoured one another to live upon namely the Fruits of the Earth But to Man and Woman as 't is probable he allowed liberty to eat Flesh For though Gen. 1.29 only Herbs and Fruits are mentioned as given them for Food and Living things are not mentioned as given for Meat as after the Flood they were Gen. 9.3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you even as the green herb have I given you all things yet we may also take notice that neither Corn nor Bread nor other things are named which no doubt were in use before the Flood And Abel being a Keeper of Sheep surely he did not keep them that their Bodies might only rot above or under ground And Mans Body being in a decaying condition since the Fall stood in more need of nourishing Meats than while he abode in Innocency Neither were the Herbs or Fruits of that vertue for his nourishment after the Curse as before Neither is it likely that Man should be barr'd so needful a nourishment as Flesh or Fish for so long a time as till after the Flood because they were
Thornes and Thistles it should bring forth to him in abundance and he must now eat of such herbs and fruits as the Earth by tillage and husbandry would produce but not any more of the herbs and fruits of Paradise With labour and the sweat of his brows he must eat his bread and get food and nourishment till he die and his body return to dust out of which it was at first form'd Thus we have seen how God was pleased to relax his own Law and to reprieve our first Parents and not to execute the Sentence of Death immediately upon them For our infinitely-wise and gracious God foresaw how he could bring good out of this great evil and make this fall of our first Parents tend to the manifestation of his own justice and mercy whereas had he instantly destroyed them He had put an end to the World as to mankind and must have made a new new stock and race of men if he would be glorified by them God therefore in his infinite Wisdom and Goodness immediately made another Covenant with our first Parents viz. a Covenant of Grace giving them this glorious promise That the seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head which imported that all repenting Sinners who should unfeignedly believe in this Seed of the Woman should not perish but have eternal life And all that would desperately go on in their sins not regarding this Saviour should be damned and perish everlastingly These Sentences being passed Adam called the name of his Wife Evah because she was then ordained to be the Mother not only of all Men and Women that should live a natural life but of those that should live a spiritual life by faith (n) So Sarah was afterward call'd the Mother of the faithful 1 Pet. 3.6 in her Seed namely the promised Messias Now the day on which our first Parents fell seemeth to have been the 10th day after the Creation of the World which day probably in Remembrance of so remarkable a thing which brought so much misery on Mankind was appointed afterwards by God himself for the most solemn yearly Fast and the day of Atonement wherein all Strangers as well as Home-born people of the Jews were commanded to afflict their Souls under this severe threatning that every man who did not afflict his soul that day should be destroyed from among the people Levit. 16.29 Ch. 23.29 SECT III. SIn being now come into the World God teacheth Adam and Eve the Rite of Sacrificing and how to cloath themselves with the Skins of the sacrificed Beasts so that the first thing that dieth in the World is a Sacrifice or Christ in a Figure (o) Thus He was a Lamb slain from the beginning of the World Rev. 13.8 not only in Gods decree but in a Type Then the Lord upbraiding our first Parents for their vain Imagination and thinking by eating of the forbidden fruit to become like unto God in an ironical way He says Behold the Man is become like one of us to know good and evil meaning that by their sin they were become most unlike Him And upbraiding them also in like manner for the certainty of Death they had brought upon themselves and lest they should flatter themselves that they might now take of the tree of Life and eat and live for ever as they had flattered themselves about the other tree He ejects them out of the Garden of Eden and set Cherubims with a fiery flaming Sword to keep the way leading to the Tree of Life to shew them they had now no right to it nor might meddle with that Sacramental Seal of Life having by their Disobedience and Sin made themselves justly liable to Death Gen. 3. from 21. to the end SECT IV. ADam being now expell'd Paradise and appointed to till the ground begat of his Wife Cain and Abel though in what Year of the World is not expressed Cain was the first of all Mortal Men that was born of a Woman And next to him Abel Cain was a tiller of the Ground and Abel a keeper of Sheep In Cain evidently appeared the poyson the Devil had breathed into fallen Man And in Abel the Grace which is given to Gods people in and thorow Jesus Christ In process of time they both Sacrifice Cain of the fruits of the Earth Abel of the firstlings of his Flock and of the fat and best thereof And by Faith Abel offered a more excellent Sacrifice then Cain By which he obtained witness that He was Righteous Heb. 11.4 For God shewed by some outward visible sign that he had respect to Abels Sacrifice either by firing (p) See Levit. 9.24 Judg. 6.21 1 King 18.38 it from Heaven as some conceive or some other way but depised wicked Cains This much incensed Cain Whereupon the Lord tells him that he had no reason to be thus angry For if he did well he should surely be accepted but if he did ill the punishment of his sin would lie watching at his door to seize upon him And further to allay his anger towards his Brother He tells him that Abels desire should still be subject to him as to the first born and He should be content that He should be prefer'd before him See Ch. 2.16 But Cain notwithstanding being implacably angry with his Brother meeting him one day in the Field He slew him Having committed this Execrable Murder God calls to him and asks him Where his Brother was He answers I know not Am I my Brothers keeper Then the Lord tells him that the Voice of his Brothers blood cryed unto Heaven for vengeance against him and that He had drawn down upon himself by his hainous transgression this punishment that the Earth that receiv'd his Brothers blood should plague him by being unfruitful under all his pains of husbandry and that he should be a Fugitive and a Vagabond on the Earth Cain being thus sentenced was presently seiz'd with a great terrour and fear and vented the anguish of his Soul in such expressions as these My punishment is greater then I can bear Behold O Lord thou hast driven me out this day from the face of this Earth and Land where I now dwell with my Parents and Kindred and I shall be hid as it were and shut up and excluded from thy Grace and Favour so that thou will not vouchsafe any gracious glance towards me nor accept of any oblation from me and I shall be in a continual fear that every one that meets me will slay me And indeed Seth being born soon after the murder of Abel and in the 130th Year of Adam in that space of time so many might be born as might justly occasion Cain's guilty Conscience to suspect that every one that met him would kill him But God tells him He might be secure as to that for he would have him preserv'd alive as a miserable Spectacle to terrifie others from that hainous Crime of Murder And accordingly he would
set a mark upon him possibly some strange trembling of his head or some frightful ghasty look which would make him a horrible Spectacle of Divine Vengeance to terrifie others from so detestable a Crime And whosoever should slay him thus marked and do unto him as he had done to his Brother more then a single Vengeance should be taken of him Gen. 4.15 (q) Seven-fold that is manifold according to the usual expression of the Scripture See Psal 12.6 79.12 Job 5.19 Prov. 26.25 The Lord having and probably in a visible Apparition thus sentenced Cain as soon as he was got out of the place where God manifested his presence He fled as a banished man from his Native Soil and the Land where his Father dwelt to a Land East of Eden which afterwards from his wandring there was call'd the Land of Nod. Sometime after his Wife bare him a Son whom he named Enoch and in process of time He and his Posterity (r) If Abraham's Posterity in less then 400 years amounted to six hundred thousand persons how many might Cain's Posterity be ere he built this City beginning to build a City in that Country He called it by his Sons Name Unto this Enoch was born Irad unto Irad Mehujael unto Mehujael Methusael and unto Mâ—thusael Lamech This Lamech being a Branch of that wicked root of Cain bringeth into the World the Abomination of Polygamy or having more Wives at once than one For He took to himself Ada and Zillah By the former he had Jabal who first invented at least among Cain's Posterity the use of Tents and taught the right ordering of the Flock and Jubal who invented Musical Instruments such as the Harp and Organ By the latter viz. Zillah He had Tubal-Cain (s) Ex quo Gentibus Dei Vulcani nomen who wrought in Brass and Iron and Naamah who they say (t) Hartman found out the way of ordering Wooll and of Carding and Weaving This Lamech presuming possibly upon the strength of his Family and priding himself in the Arts invented by his Sons especially by Tubal-Cain who was an Artificer in Brass and Iron and possibly made Swords and such Instruments of War He thought himself able to resist and oppose any that should offend Him Therefore in a boasting vanting fashion he speaks thus to his wives who seemed afraid of him lest his fierce and boisterous humour should expose him to danger Fear ye not my Wives concerning me For if any man should attempt to set upon me I would slay that man by my wounding him and though a young man I would dispatch him by my hurting him * Vide Frid. in loc pag. 36. And if Cain a Fratricid shall be avenged seven-fold surely Lamech that kills a man in his own defence shall be avenged seventy times seven-fold Gen. 4. from 1. to 25. SECT V. AFter the death of Abel Adam begat Seth in his own likeness and after his own Image (u) Yet God was still the Father and Creator of the Spirits of all Flesh Heb. 12.9 Numb 16.22 that is such as he himself now was namely sinful and not such as he was created Seth was born in the 130th Year of Adam In the Race of Seth the account of Years is carried on from the Creation to the Flood And among these as it seems principally the true worship of God was maintained which by the Race of Cain was very miserably corrupted To Seth at the age of an 105 Years a Son was born whom he called Enoch that is sorrowful intimating thereby the woful and lamentable condition the World was in at that time by reason of the corruption and wickedness that was found in the Progeny of Cain However Seth and his Off-spring did then more openly and solemnly set up and establish the Worship of God than formerly it had been Whence it came to pass that they that persisted in that way of Worship were known by the Name of the Children of God * Deut. 14.1 and they who forsook God and his sincere Worship were called the Children of Men Gen. 6.2 Gen. 4.25 26. SECT VI. ENoch being ninty years old begat Cainan Cainan when he was 70 begat Mahalaleel Mahalaleel at 65 years old had Jared born to Him Jared at 162 years old had Enoch born to him Enoch at 65 years old had Methusalah born to him Methusalah at 187 had Lamech born to him Now Adam the Father of Mankind died when he had lived nine hundred and thirty years Seth the Son of Adam died when he had lived 912 years Noah the tenth from Adam was born when his Father Lamech had lived 182. And his Father prophesied of him that he would be a man of eminent Piety and such a Son as would much comfort his Parents notwithstanding all the miseries labours troubles and sorrows which Sin had brought upon Mankind and notwithstanding the many Evils they met with in that wicked and uncomfortable time Enos the third from Adam died when he had lived 905 years Mahalaleel the fifth from Adam died when he had lived 895 years Jared the sixth from Adam died when he had lived 962 years As for Enoch the seventh from Adam He was a very holy person one that walked with God and followed not the wickedness of that Age but with great courage set himself against it and being a Prophet as we read Jude v. 14 15. He plainly told them of and set before them the day of Judgment Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him I say this holy Person God was pleased to translate immediately into Heaven (x) Per Enochi migrationem beatam patet nimium eos falli qui in hujus mundi caeno spem universam defigunt ut aeternitatis cognitione ex animis omnino deleta And besides this instance before the Law we have a like example of the translation of Elias after the giving of the Law c. 2 Kings 2.11 not suffering him to die as other men ordinarily do when he had lived as many years as there are days in our Year viz. 365. Thus it pleased God to shew to that Age that there was a future Coelestial State of Bliss and Happiness that good men both in Soul and Body shall enjoy hereafter Gen. 5. whole Chapter SECT VII IN the 480th Year of the life of Noah the Lord seeing that the generality of the World had corrupted their ways and that the Professors of his true Worship namely the Posterity of Seth without any regard to their Profession had scandalously and promiscuously (y) Gods Law afterwards forbad such Marriages with such as were out of the Church Deut. 7.3 4. Exod. 34.16 2 Cor. 6.14 married with the Daughters of the profane Race of Cain who
mental reservation at first to accept his kindness and profered to lodge in the Streets all night which possibly they intended to have done to observe the manners and behaviour of that people had he not been so importunate with them to turn in to him Therefore upon his importunity they accepted his courteous offer (b) Thus both Abraham and Lot intertained Angels unawares Heb. 13.2 and did go with him to his house and there he made them the best Intertainment he could and for hast baked unleavened-Bread for them and they did eat See Ch. 18.6 But the appearance of these two Angels now intertained by Lot being as 't is like of young men of rare and extraordinary beauty notice hereof was taken by some of the wicked Inhabitants of that City and the Report thereof soon spread abroad and so they presently flocked together from all quarters of the City to Loâ—s house requiring to have these Guests brought out to them intending abominably to abuse them Lot goes out to them to intreat them and to disswade them from so detestable an attempt but they seeming bent upon it to take them off from so horrid a villany in that great and sudden disturbance of his mind he profers very unwarrantably and sinfully to yield up his two Virgin Daughters (c) Thus Lot to prevent one sin gives way to another Magis filiarum pudicitiae debuit consulere quam indemnitati peregrinorum to their Lusts rather then his Guests should be violated who had taken shelter under his Roof and according to the Laws of Hospitality ought to be kept safe and free from all harm and violence But these wicked Sodomites were so far from being perswaded by what Lot said unto them that instead of desisting they fall upbraiding and twitting him that he that was but a Stranger in their City should take upon him to be a Judge and Censurer of them and their actions And therefore it seems he had not only inwardly grieved and vexed his righteous Soul with their unclean Conversation but as occasion was offered had often reproved them for their wickedness and had done what lay in him to disswade them from their abominable courses But they nothing mov'd either by what He had before or at this present said unto them began to press hard upon Him intending to break open his door Hereupon the Angels pulled Lot into the house to them and shut the door and presently smote that wicked Crue with such a blindness that they could not see the door Then the Angels commanded Lot that whomsoever he had there nearly related to him whether Sons in law or Daughters he should bring them out of that place for God had sent them to destroy it and the other Neighbouring Cities to it for their great and crying abominations Lot accordingly went out to his Sons in law the Husbands as it seems of his other Daughters that were married into the City to perswade them to come away with him but he seemed to them as one that jested or talked idly so supine and secure usually are carnal men when Gods Judgments are ready to fall upon them When the Morning approached the Angels urged Lot and his Wife and two Daughters that were in the house with him to get them going lest they should be involv'd in the common Calamity But yet Lot it seems lingred as loth to leave his other Children behind him to be destroyed Thereupon the Angels laid hands on him and his Company and hurried them out of the City the Lord therein shewing himself very merciful unto them Then the Angels charged them to make hast and escape for their lives and not so much as to look behind them nor to stay in all the Plain but to fly to the Mountain nor so much as to mind or regard House Cattel or Riches or what ever they had left behind them Lot tells the Angels that the Mountain was so far off that he feared lest the destruction would overtake them before they could get thither and therefore he earnestly desires that Zoar formerly called Bela might be the place they might be permitted to fly unto which was near at hand and that God would please to spare that place for his sake The Angel undoubtedly by Gods direction grants his request but bids him hast away for he could not do any thing against Sodom till he was got thither for God had decreed in mercy to save him It was break of day when the Angel hasted Lot and his Company away and by that time the Sun was well risen the Lord (d) V. 24. Jehovah from Jehovah that is the Son from the Father who worketh by the Son Joh. 5.17 rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah Admath and Zeboim Deut. 29.23 Hosea 11.8 fire and brimstone from Heaven (e) This is a Type and forerunner of the everlasting punishment of the wicked in that Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone for ever Rev. 21.8 And so the Apostle says Jud. v. 7. That Sodom and Gomorrah suffered the Vengeance of eternal fire viz. that temporal destruction was as a forerunner of those eternal torments in Hell which they now suffer and so may well be a terrifying Example and warning to all that fall into the like sins See Apostol Histor pag. 422. But it seems while Lot and his Company were hastning towards Zoar his Wife either doubting whether any such Judgment would fall upon Sodom as was threatned or lingring in her desires after those Friends and the Wealth and Estate they had left behind them looked back against the express Command of the Angel before given whereupon she was immediately turned into a Pillar or Statue of a rocky mineral Salt which will indure all weathers as a standing Monument of her Infidelity and Disobedience and to season others with more wisdom Abraham getting up early that Morning and looking towards Sodom and the Cities of the Plain whose destruction the Lord had acquainted him with before he saw the smoak from that Country go up as the smoak of a Furnace and God remembred the Intercession of Abraham for Lot neither did he forget the Piety and Righteousness of Lot himself which we find mentioned 2 Pet. 2.7 8. Lot quickly finds that it had been better for him to have followed the advice of the Angel at the first and gone immediately to the Mountain for now he was afraid to stay any longer in Zoar. Possibly the wickedness he saw among them might make him afraid that a like Judgment to that of Sodom would fall upon them or it may be he feared lest the people of that place would fall upon him as the Cause of the overthrow of those Neighbouring Cities seeing he and his Family only had escaped So he and his two Daughters left that Town and betook themselves to the Mountain and dwelt there in a Cave where being in a manner immured up his Daughters began to think that by that solitary life they were
unto the Lord to prosper him in his business and that by such a sign he might know the Damosel God had appointed for his Masters Son and this sign he found pointed him clearly to Rebecca These things being all true and real he desired them that they would please to deal kindly and uprightly with his Master and to let him have a direct answer concerning this great and weighty matter that he might know whether to turn to the right hand or to the left that is that if they consented not he might somewhere else look for a Wife for his young Master Then Laban who as 't is like had the managing of all their affairs his Father being old spake in the Name of them all and told the Servant that the thing seemed to proceed from the Lord and from his all-wise Providence and therefore they could not speak unto him either good or bad Good reasons they had none against this motion and bad they would not urge so that they had nothing to say against it And therefore he should have their free consent to have Rebecca for his Masters Son provided she were willing seeing God had declared his good pleasure therein by pointing Her out to him by that sign When Eliezer heard this he worshipped God bowing himself to the ground Then he presented Rebecca with some rich picces of Gold and Silver plate and with rich Suits of apparel and presented her Mother also and her Brother with rich Gifts All things having thus prosperously succeeded Eliezer and his Company were now willing to eat and drink with Laban which having done they reposed themselves there that night Then rising early the next Morning Eliezer like a man that seriously minded his business desired them to hasten him away with his young Mistress Her Mother and Brother were not willing so soon to part with her but desired that she might stay with them at least ten days before she went But Eliezer was impatient of so long a stay and therefore intreated them that seeing the Lord had so eminently prospered him in his business hitherto he might now hasten home to his Master They replied They would call Rebecca and see what she said to it Rebecca expressing a modest willingness to go provided it might be with their good liking They said They saw the thing was of God and therefore she should go Then solemnly blessing her and praying that she might be the Mother of thousands of Millions that is of an innumerable Posterity who might possess the Gates of their Enemies they forthwith sent her away with Deborah her Nurse and some young Maids to attend her Rebecca with Her Attendants being thus committed to the Care of Eliezer they began their Journey towards Canaan and after some days travel they drew near to Beersheba where Abraham and Isaac dwelt It being now Eventide Isaac was walking in the Fields to pray and meditate His walk was in the way (n) Veniebat ea via qua itur ad puteum that leads to the Well Lahai-roi where on a sudden lifting up his eyes he saw the Camels coming towards him Rebecca seeing him at some distance ask'd Eliezer who He was and he telling her it was Isaac his young Master she immediately lighted off from her Camel and took a Veil and covered her face in token of modesty and subjection When they met the Servant told Isaac all that had happened and presented Rebecca to Him Isaac joyfully receiv'd and welcom'd Her and forthwith conducted her into his Mother Sarahs Tent (o) Women it seems had their Tents apart see Ch. 31.33 which it seems at her death about three years before had been reserv'd with its Furniture for his Wife And soon after He took her for his Wife by solemn marrying of her and loved her exceedingly and was highly pleased with Her So that the great grief he had before lien under for his dear Mothers death was now well mitigated and abated by the Comforts he had in his new Wife Ch. 24. whole Chapter SECT XV. ABraham having thus happily dispatched that weighty business of his Sons marriage he took to himself another Wife (p) Non libidine motus sed amore prolis ex divino instinctu ut ex eo semen inter gentes quoque multiplicaretur by name Keturah when he was about 140 years old For though forty years before that time his body was as it were dead Rom. 4.19 as to any humane likelihood of begetting Children yet God who strengthen'd him then to beget Isaac did it seems now renew that Masculine vigor and strength to him to make good his Promise of multiplying his Seed Ch. 17. 5. in others also though principally in Isaac that he inabled him to beget six Sons of Keturah in his old age To these he gave portions as he had done before to Ishmael the Son of Hagar being his Children by his Concubines (q) By this it appears that not only they were called Concubines who as Hagar were taken after a man was married to be as it were partner-wives or by-wives for the right of the Bed and propagation of Children though not solemnly betrothed nor taken with Dowry nor to be partners in the Government of the Family but to be subject to the lawful Wife and their Children were not to inherit except the Father pleased as Bilhah's and Zilpah's did extraordinarily becoming heads of Tribes I say not only such as these were called Concubines but second Wives taken after the first was dead were so called because their Children had no right of Inheritance and before his death sent them away into the East-Country into part of Arabia a good way off from Isaac the Heir of the Promise whom he made the sole and full heir of all his remaining Estate thus testifying his Faith that only Isaac and his Seed should enjoy the Land of Canaan Chap. 25. from 1. to 7. SECT XVI REbecca continued 19 years barren after her Marriage but at last upon Isaac's prayer who had prayed many years for her the Lord was intreated to bless her with power to Conceive and she conceived Twins who strugling in her Womb she said If it be so why am I thus that is if it be so that I am indeed with child why am I thus what is the reason I feel such a strange and extraordinary and painful strugling in my Womb more than other women do that are in my Condition Hereupon she betook her self either by her own private prayer or by some Prophet to inquire of the Lord what the meaning of it should be The answer she received was That she had two Sons in her Womb that should be the heads of two several Nations viz. Edomites and Israelites that these two Nations should differ very much one from the other They should be divided in habitation and should differ very much in their Laws Religion and Manners that Esau for some time should be greater than Jacob
18. SECT LIX MOses being now confirmed partly by Miracles partly by the promise of Divine assistance and having his Brother Aaron given him for his Partner he undertook the Work Returning therefore to his Father-in-law Jethro and concealing as 't is probable from him the glorious Vision he had seen and the honourable Employment he was called unto lest Jethro should by proposing Difficulties and perils in the undertaking discourage him He in a respectful manner desires him to permit him to go into Egypt to visit his Brethren and see how they did Jethro readily consents to it and bids him go in peace Notwithstanding Moses it seems after he had obtained leave of Jethro made not such hast as he ought to have done Therefore God appears to him a second time in Midian and quickens him to the Journey assuring him that all those in Egypt that sought his life were dead Then Moses took his Wife and his two Sons Gershom and Eliezer Exod. 18.3 4. and setting them upon Asses intended to carry them with him into Egypt and he took his Rod with which God appointed him to work Miracles in his hand and the Lord appointed him when he came into Egypt to do all those Wonders and Miracles before Pharaoh which he should put into his hand that is give him Power to do But the Lord tells him That he will harden Pharaoh's heart that is he will withdraw and withhold his Grace from him as by withholding Light he causeth Darkness and would permit Satan to excite and spur on his corrupt Nature so that notwitstanding the many things that should be offer'd to him for his Conviction he should more and more harden his own heart against God and should refuse to let the People go However he commands him to speak thus unto Pharaoh Thus saith the Lord The People or Posterity of Israel are my First-born being chosen of my free Grace first out of all Nations to be my peculiar People and are as dear to me as the First-born are to their Parents Therefore let them go that they may serve me If thou refuse to let them go behold I will slay thy Son even thy First-born and not thine only but the First-born of all the Egyptians thy Subjects also and so accordingly it afterwards came to pass Ch. 4. from vers 18. to 24. SECT LX. AS Moses was now upon his Journey towards Egypt with his Wife and Children the Lord as it seems visibly appeared to him and either by a Sword drawn in his hand or by inflicting some sudden violent Sickness upon him put him in great danger of his life and revealed to him the Cause thereof to be because he had neglected to Circumcise his youngest Son see Gen. 17.14 there being a great Incongruity in it that He should take on him the Government of God's Circumcised People who had neglected to impose this Badge of the Covenant on his own Son 'T is like the reason why Moses neglected to Circumcise this his younger Son was because his Wife had been so highly displeased at his Circumcising of the elder But however it was Zipporah seeing the danger her Husband was now in by reason of this neglect and that he was at this time through sickness so disabled that he himself could not do it she took a sharp Knife possibly made of Flint and Circumcised him her self and then cast the Foreskin newly cut off at her Husbands feet saying in a discontented humour Surely thou art a bloody Husband to me For for thy sake and for the sake of thy Religion I am forced thus to shed the blood of my Son This being done the Lord let Moses go and released him from his Sickness And 't is like upon this occasion and trouble Zipporah with her Children was sent back from thence to her Fathers house again as appears Exod. 18.2 3. Ch. 4. from vers 24. to 27. SECT LXI MOses being now freed from all Incumbrance went on his Journey towards Mount Horeb where his Brother Aaron being before warned of God to come thither met him and at their meeting kissed and embraced him Then Moses acquainted him with all these wonderful Passages and with all that the Lord had said unto him and what Miracles he had impowered him and commanded him to work and what Service he had employed him about and how Aaron was appointed to joyn with him therein This done they went on and when they came into Egypt they called together the Elders of the Children of Israel and Aaron spake to them what Moses had directed him to say from God and Moses wrought as was appointed him those three Miracles before mentioned Sect. 57. for the confirming their Faith See Ch. 4. from vers 2. to the 10. The people of Israel when they heard and saw these things they greatly rejoyced and believed that God had now in mercy visited them and had looked down with Pitty and compassion on their Afflictions and they bowed their heads and worshipp'd God with great Reverence Humility and Thankfulness Ch. 4. from 27. to the end SECT LXII SHortly after this Moses and Aaron make their first Address to Pharaoh several of the Elders of Israel accompanying them therein See Exod. ch 3.18 They Represent to Him that the God of their Fathers had appeared unto them and commanded them to offer a Sacrifice and to celebrate a Religious Feast (p) Part of the Sacrifices were to serve for a Feast and both for the honour of God This Feast they should have celebrated to the Lord but they performed it to an Idol the work of their own hands Exod. 32.6 19. to him in the Wilderness Therefore they humbly beseech him that they may have liberty to go three days Journey in the Desart namely to the Mount Horeb to perform this which the Lord required of them lest if they should neglect to obey Him therein he should punish them with the Pestilence or Sword or some such dreadful Judgment for their Disobedience Pharaoh like a proud and imperious Prince answers Who is the Lord that I should obey his Voice to let Israel go I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go Then looking upon Moses and Aaron with Indignation He asks them What they had to do to seduce the People and take them off from their work And then looking upon the People with anger Get you to your Burdens says he and see that you perform your daily Task or I will take a course with you I understand very well that you are a great and numerous People indeed too many and these two men Moses and Aaron design to get ease and rest for you from your Burdens that so you may increase more and possibly may then think of rebelling against me But I shall take Care to prevent that And accordingly that very day he charged the Task-Masters that were Egyptians and the Officers under them which were Israelites appointed to take the Over-sight of their Brethren in
for seven days together who would then come to walk by the side of the River Nilus and to tell him That seeing he had refused to obey the Voice of the Lord he would bring a grievous Plague upon Him and his People They had shed the bloud of the Israelites Children and drowned them in that River Therefore God had commanded him to give order to Aaron with his Rod to smite the waters of the River and he accordingly stretched forth his Hand over the Rivers Streams and Ponds probably over some of them in the Name of the rest and striking those Waters they were immediately turned into bloud Yea by the influence of God's Almighty Power upon that percussion all their other Streams and Rivers Ponds and Pools yea Cisterns of water whether of Wood or Stone were turned into bloud for seven days together By which Plague the Fish that were in the River died whereby the Egyptians were deprived of that which was their chief Food (a) The Egyptians abstained from the flesh of many Beasts of Superstition especially such as the Hebrews used in Sacrifice as may be gathered from Numb 11.5 We remember the Fish that we did eat in Egypt freely and Isa 19.8 God threatens this as a great Judgment to Egypt The Fishers shall mourn and all that cast Angles into the Brooks shall lament and they that spread Nets upon the Waters shall languish So that this was a sore Plague on the Egyptians who fed much on Fish and traded much with them and maintained themselves by them And one great evil followed this also for hereupon the River stank so horribly that they could not drink of the waters of it which used to be their ordinary Beverage see Jer. 2.18 but were fain to dig Pits near the River that they might have some water to drink But all this did not work upon Pharaoh's obdurate heart For his Magicians and Sorcerers getting some water either from the Sea or out of the new-digged-Wells or from the houses of the Israelites dwelling here and there intermixed with them did by their Enchantments and the Devil's help get some blood whereby they tinctured the waters or else unperceiveably removed the water and substituted bloud in the place thereof Which when Pharaoh saw done by them he went away to his own house and heeded not nor laid to heart the foregoing Plague inflicted on him by Moses Exod. Ch. 7. from 14. to the end 2. God Commands Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh again Second Plague Frogs and to require him to let his People go and to tell Him That if he refused to do it He would smite all his Borders with Frogs They accordingly resolutely pursue their Commission and evidence their Courage and Fidelity in God's Cause notwithstanding the ill success they had had before But Pharaoh would not give ear to them Hereupon Aaron stretched forth his Rod (b) The Rod is called sometimes the Rod of Moses sometimes of Aaron sometimes of God to shew that it was the Instrument they all used in working these prodigious things over the Rivers (c) Non singulos adiit fluvios sed virga eminus eos intenta designavit extendit eam versus Nilum intentione versus omnes aqas Aegypti over the Streams and over the Ponds and the Frogs came up in great abundance upon the Land namely not only those that were in the Rivers before but an innumerable number of new ones were produced and they crawled into Pharaoh's house and into his Bed-Chamber (d) How easily can God cast contempt upon Princes and how favourable is he to men who by his ordinary Providence makes such Creatures loth to come where man hath to do which are so lothsome to him yea upon his Bed and into the Houses of his Courtiers and the rest of his people yea into their Ovens and Kneading-Troughs so that they were grievously annoyed with them Pharaoh calls for his Magicians to see if they could imitate this Miracle and they by stretching forth their Rods over the River did by the Power of the Devil (e) The Devil it seems much delights in their monstrous shape For we find in the Scripture three unclean Spirits like Frogs coming out of the mouth of the Dragon bring forth some true Frogs by unperceptible Conveyance to the place where the Contest was which possibly at this present was not covered with Frogs by Moses's Working though it is like they were but very few in comparison of those Moses and Aaron had produced And when they had brought them they could not remove them again Pharaoh and his people being thus grievously distressed with this Plague he began to stoop a little and to acknowledge God whom before he would not know and therefore desires Moses and Aaron to intreat the Lord to remove these Frogs and he would let the people go that they may Sacrifice unto the Lord their God Moses knowing that he was constituted as a God to Pharaoh Ch. 7. vers 1. to bring Judgments upon him and romove them at God's appointment and having in him the Faith of Miracles and being directed by the Spirit of God He told Pharaoh He would do him the honour (f) Honorem tibi sume ut des mihi tempus in quo orem pro te to let him appoint the time when he should pray to the Lord for him and by his power deliver him from this Plague And says he if my prayer take no effect then do thou glory over me and say I am no better than one of thy Magicians but if I do deliver thee then own and obey the great God of Heaven whose Servant I am Pharaoh desires the Frogs may be removed by the next Morning Moses Replies Be it according to thy word that thou mayst know that there is none like unto the Lord our God Moses then cried unto the Lord to remove this Plague from Pharaoh and the Lord heard him and immediately the Frogs died that were in the Houses Villages and Fields only some remained in the River and they gathered the dead Frogs together and cast them upon heaps so that the Land stank by reason of them But when this Plague was removed and Pharaoh saw there was some respite he hardened his heart and hearkened not to Moses and Aaron as the Lord had foretold Exod. Ch. 8. from vers 1. to 16. Third Plague Lice 3. Pharaoh having thus mocked God promising and not performing the Lord to manifest his Indignation against him Commands Moses now to strike him with a new Judgment without giving him any warning as at other times he had done Aaron therefore is commanded forthwith to stretch out his Rod and to strike the dust of the Land that it may become Lice through all the Land of Egypt Which Aaron accordingly doing abundance of Lice came on Men and Beasts the dust in very part of the Land that is a great deal of it turning into that
either to Man or Beast And when all this shall come to pass then says he you shall know how great a difference the Lord doth put between the Israelites and the Egyptians And then shall these thy Servants and Courtiers be sent by thee unto me and shall bow themselves unto me saying Go forth thou and all the people that follow thee over whom thou hast the Government and after that I will go forth with all the people of Israel with me and with all that we have Moses having thus spoken went out from Pharaoh in a great anger i his zeal for the Glory of God heightening his indignation against the obstinacy of Pharaoh Ch. 10. from vers 21. to the end Ch. 11. from vers 4. to the 9. (l) See Numb 12.3 Eph. 4.26 Tenth Plague The destruction of the First-born 10. The Israelites when they first came down down into Egypt being but few part of the Province of Goshen was sufficient for them but afterwards they multiplied so much that they spread all over that Country and besides had many mixed Habitations in other parts of Egypt (m) Habitant Egyptii Hebraeis permixti The evening therefore of this 14th day of this Month being come Moses called for the Elders of Israel to draw out their Lambs according to their Families and to kill the Passover and to sprinkle with a bunch of Hyssop the Door-posts of their Houses with the bloud of the Lamb and that none of them should stir out of the doors where they did meet to eat the Passover till the morning The Children of Israel doing as the Lord had commanded them by Moses at Midnight the Angel of the Lord smote all the First-born (n) Ica nullus Pater alii possit esse solatio cum clades omnibus communis esset in the Land of Egypt from the First-born of Pharaoh that sat on the Throne to the First-born of the Captive that was in the Dungeon and all the First-born of their remaining Cattel Pharaoh upon this and his Servants and the Egyptians rose up in the night and there was a great and hideous Cry thorow out all the Land for there was not an house in Egypt which had a First-born in it where there was not one dead and in houses where there were no Children probably the eldest and chief of the Family was slain Pharaoh hereupon presently sent his Servants that were about him to Moses and Aaron and commanded them to speak to them in his Name That they should presently go away and should take their Wives and Children Herds and Flocks and all that they had along with them and he desires they would bless him and pray for him at their departure that He might not perish by this Plague (o) He had desired their prayers for him several times before Exod. 8.8 9.28 10.16 17. And the Egyptians were very urgent with the Israelites and used humble and earnest Intreaties to them to be gone see Exod. 11.8 saying among themselves that if they did not hasten them away they were all dead men that is in extream danger of death and like to perish The Egyptians being in this dreadful Consternation the Israelites as Moses had commanded them borrowed of them Jewels (p) Solebant Idololatrae in colendis idolis se gemmis in auribus decorare Credebant autem Egyptii hoc petentes Israelitas suis Diis sacrificaturos prout antea fecerant ideoque nec abituros è terra Nam Moses hactenus tridui tantum itineris mentionem fecerat and Vessels of Silver and Vessels of Gold and fine Raiment (q) V. 35. Et Vestem i. e. pretiosiores vestes tapetes similia Jans and rich Furniture and such like precious things for their use in keeping the Festival And God thus disposed their hearts thorow the great and pannick fear they were in For it seems they thought that if the Israelites were not sent away presently the next Plague would destroy them all And besides that the Lord gave the Israelites favour in their eyes so that they very readily lent them and furnished them with any thing they desired of them And possibly they thought the Israelites intended only a three days journey into the Wilderness there to sacrifice unto the Lord and then would return and so they should have their rich things again And that which in likelihood inclined their hearts the more to favour the Israelites was the high opinion that both Pharaoh's Courtiers and the people of Egypt had generally of Moses For him they much honoured and feared in regard of his Wisdom and Conduct and the manifold Miracles that had been wrought by his Ministry both in bringing Judgments and removing them So that whasoever he should ask or require of the Egyptians for himself or the people of Israel was not like to be denied him And thus was fulfilled that which God promised to Abraham Gen. 15.13 14. Thy Seed shall be a stranger in a Land that is not theirs 400 years and that Nation whom they shall serve will I judge and afterwards they shall come out with great substance And the same was also promised Exod. 3.22 and all now exactly performed For now the Israelites carried away a great deal of the riches of the Egyptians and that not only by Gods permission but express Command Ch. 11.2.3 who is the Supream Lord of all and all that is in the World is his and He may do what he will with his own Mat. 20.15 And just it was with the Lord thus to recompence the Israelites for the hard Service Injuries and Oppressions they had suffered in Egypt and as it were to pay them their wages which the Egyptians had most unjustly detained from them Exod. 12. from 29. to vers 37. CHAP. IV. The Fourth Age of the World from the coming of the Israelites out of Egypt to the laying the Foundation of Solomon's Temple in the Fourth Year of his Reign containing a space of 480 Years and ending in the 2988th Year of the World SECT I. THe Egyptians being now in great distraction and fill'd with sorrow for the death of their First-born pressed the Israelites to depart The very next day therefore after the Passover (a) See Numb 33.3 the term of 430 Years from the first Promise made to Abraham and his removing from Vz of the Chaldees being just now compleated (b) See Gal. 3.17 the Israelites carring away with them their unleavened Dough which was not well seasoned nor made up by reason of their hast even lumps of Dough bound up in Cloaths upon their Shoulders together with the Spoils of the Egyptians began their Journey and marched away with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians Numb 33.3 from all Quarters to Rameses their general Rendezvous and there they all met who either dwelt mix'd among the Egyptians see Exod. 3.22 and were scattered up and down in Egypt or else dwelt in
of Israel were fled from Etham and it was so represented to Him as if they had run away from thence being terrified whereas they marched back with an high Hand and with displayed Banners Pharaoh hearing this and that they were pitched at so inconvenient a place as Pihahiroth He and his Courtiers said among themselves They are entangled in the Land and the Wilderness hath shut them in Let us therefore pursue after them Pharaoh accordingly with his Horses and Chariots (h) Of old they used Chariots with Sithes at their sides to mow down men in their way They had other Chariots out of which they fought as men do now out of Ships But where had Pharooh horses seeing 't is said Ch. 9.6 All the Cattel of Egypt died Answ All here is taken for many See the Notes on that place of War to the Number of 600 all that could be got together on the suddain with his Horse-men and Army pursues after them and found them Encamped in those Streights near the Sea When Pharaoh with his Army drew nigh the Children of Israel were dreadfully affrighted Fly they could not having the Sea before them the Egyptians behind them and steep and unpassable Hills on either side of them Yet God so order'd it that the Egyptians overtook them not their Camps being parted by the Pillar of Cloud which from going before the Camp of Israel now removed and went behind them and it cast a great darkness on the Egyptians but gave light to the Israelites However the people being in great Consternation they Cry unto the Lord for help and cry out in a high discontent against Moses What say they were there no Graves in Egypt that thou hast brought us forth to die in the Wilderness Did we not desire thee to let us alone with our Bondage in Egypt rather then expose us to such dangers as these Moses desir'd them to be quiet fear not says he but stand still and see the Salvation of the Lord which he will shew you this day For the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day ye shall see them no more for ever The Lord will fight for you you need only to be quiet and hold your peace and to keep your selves from doubting or murmuring and humbly to trust in God whose help is readiest when the danger of his people is greatest However Moses though he firmly relied on God yet sent up many strong Cries and Ejaculations to the Lord mixed with some perturbation of Mind upon the peoples Clamour against him The Lord hereupon calls to him not to employ himself further in praying to him at that time but to march on directly with the people to the Red-Sea which he doth accordingly and coming thither the Lord bids him Stretch forth his Rod over the Sea and upon that action of his the Sea should divide it self Moses does as he was commanded and a strong East-wind blew and the Sea miraculously divided it self standing on heaps on each side Then the Israelites by God's Command Moses leading the way passed thorow it safe as upon dry ground and the Waters were a Wall unto them on the right hand and on the left (i) The Apostle says Heb. 11.29 That by Faith they passed thorow the Sea and 1 Cor. 10.2 That they were all baptized to Moses in the Cloud and in the Sea See Apostol History pag. 169. the explication hereof Pharaoh and his Host coming to the Sea and seeing it thus divided they thought they might pass thorow it as well as the Israelites and accordingly entred the passage (k) Quos excidio destinat occaecat Deus to follow them but they were much hindred in their march after them by the falling off of their Chariot wheels For the Lord in the Morning-Watch (l) Anciently the nights in stead of hours were divided into many Watches 1 Sam. 11.11 the number of which is not certainly known and the day into Morning Mid-day and Even looking out of the Pillar of Fire and Cloud upon the Egyptians testified his Displeasure against them by Lightnings and Thunder and Rain with which he much distressed and disorder'd them as David more largely relates Psal 77.18 19. Insomuch that many of the Egyptians themselves were now sensible that God appear'd against them and for the Israelites and therefore desired to retreat and not to pursue after them any further The Israelites at last got all safe to the other side of the shore viz. to the Desert of Etham and then God commanded Moses to stretch forth his Hand again over the Sea which being done the Waters came together again and so overwhelmed (m) This was a just Judgment of God upon the Egyptians who had cast the poor Infants of the Israelites into the water and had drowned them without remorse the whole Host of the Egyptians not one of them escaped The Israelites saw some of their Carcasses floating upon the Sea and cast upon the shore Thus God with an out-stretched Arm saved the Israelites that day out of the hands of the Egyptians and the people feared the Lord and believed in him and believed the word which Moses spake unto them in the Name of the Lord. Gen. 14. whole Chapter SECT V. THe Israelites being thus Miraculously delivered from the Egyptians Moses (n) See Rev. 15.3 compos'd a Song of Praise and Thanksgiving to God for this wonderful and transcendent Mercy and He and the Children of Israel sang it before the Lord. This Song is the first of that kind * Canticum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we find any where in the Scripture 'T is partly Historical setting forth a triumphant Narration of Gods admirable Mercy in destroying his and their Enemies partly Prophetical containing Prophesies of future Bessings assured to Israel set down not only in the Future but often in the Preter-tense for the greater Certainty First 'T is Historical It begins I will sing unto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously the Horses of the Egyptians and their Riders hath he thrown into the Sea The Lord is my strength and my Song that is we being weak in our selves He fought for us and subdued our Enemies 'T is the Lord therefore of whom we will sing and whose Praise we will set forth in our Song 'T is by him that we are saved and delivered out of the hands of our Enemies He is our God and we being his people He hath by the Spirit of Prophesie fore-shewed us that we shall build a Tabernacle for his Worship and Service He is our God and the God of our Fathers therefore we will lift up his high Praises and exalt him He is a mighty and all-powerful Warrior indeed Jehovah (o) See Annotations on Ch. 3.14 15. is his Name Pharaoh's Chariots and his Host hath he cast into the Sea his chosen Captains also are drowned in the Red-Sea The Depths have covered them they sank into the bottom as a stone Thy right
Hand O Lord is become Glorious in Power Thy right Hand hath broken and destroyed the Enemy and by thy glorious and excellent Power thou hast overthrown the Egyptians who in rising up against thy people did rise up against thee Thou didst send forth thy Wrath which consumed them utterly and speedily even as stubble is consumed by the fire With the blast of thy Nostrils the Waters were gathered together that is by a mighty Wind raised by thine Almighty Power accompanied with a great Noise (p) To this the Prophet seems to have reference Hab. 3. 10. the Sea was divided and the Waters were heaped up on either side and stood like congealed or compacted Walls in the heart of the Sea The Enemy said I will pursue overtake and divide the Spoil my lust shall be satisfied upon them I will draw my Sword my Hand shall destroy them But thou O Lord didst soon confound their vain Imaginations For thou didst blow with a mighty Wind and immediately the Waters came together again and the Sea covered them they sank as lead in the deep Waters Who is like unto thee O Lord among the Gods who among all the false Gods of the Heathen or the mightiest men on the Earth is in any degree worthy to be compared to Thee who art glorious in holiness fearful in praises that is to be praised with a great measure of filial fear and awfulness doing Wonders Thou stretchedst out thy Hand and the Earth swallowed them that is those of them whose bodies were cast up by the Waves upon the shore were thrown into Pits by us and there buried Thou in thy great Mercy hast brought forth thy people whom thou hast redeemed out of the Land of Egypt and hast thus far led them by thine Almighty Power and Strength towards the Land of Canaan where thou hast determined to set up thy holy Temple thy resting Place Psal 132.14 The Place which thou hast chosen where thy holy Worship shall be set up and established and where thou hast promised to dwell that is to afford thy special Presence See 1 Kings 9. vers 3. The Second Part of this Song is Prophetical beginning at v. 14. The people shall hear and be afraid sorrow shall take hold on the Inhabitants of Palestina That is the report of this dreadful overthrow of Pharaoh shall so amaze and astonish the Inhabitants of Palestina the Dukes of Edom and the mighty men of Moab (q) See this Prophesie fulfilled Numb 22.3 Josh 2.9 5.1 and the Inhabitants of Canaan that their very hearts shall faint and melt with fear as wax does before the fire insomuch that they shall be as still as a stone and Israel shall pass over Jordan into Canaan without opposition Thou wilt bring them in and plant them in the Mountain of thine Inheritance that is in Canaan a mountanous Country Deut. 11.11 and particularly thou wilt bring them to Mount Moriah which thou hast chosen as thine Inheritance and where by thy own Hands and Power thou intendest to establish thy Sanctuary and where thou hast promised to dwell and to afford thy gracious Presence The Lord will Reign for ever and ever in spight of all his Enemies Miriam (r) She was the Sister of Moses also but her reference to Aaron was best known by reason of Moses's absence She is said to be the wife of Hur by the Hebrews the Sister of Aaron who had the Spirit of Prophesie Numb 12.2 and was one of the three Principal Guides which God gave his people Mich. 6.4 took a Timbrel in her hand and the Women followed her playing on their Timbrels also according to the Custom in publick Rejoycings Judg. 11.34 and they expressed their exultation and rapture of Mind by lively motions and tripudiations of their Bodies and when the Men had sang a Verse of this Song then She with the Women sung it over again at least they repeated the first Verse of it Sing to the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously the Horse and his Rider hath he thrown into the Sea And possibly they added For his Mercy endureth for ever as 't is Psal 136. 2 Chron. 5.13 With this Song of Moses for Victory over the Egyptian-Pharaoh the Holy Ghost compares the Song of them that shall be Victorious over the Spiritual Pharaoh viz. the Beast and Antichrist Rev. 15. from 1. to 5. Exod. 15. from 1. to 22. SECT VI. THe Israelites being now come on the other side of the Red-Sea they marched three whole days thorow the Wilderness of Shur (s) Called also the Wilderness of Etham Numb 33.8 one might be the general name of the whole Wilderness and the other of some part of it It seems the Wilderness on both sides of the Red-Sea was called the Wilderness of Etham but found no water all the way As for Food 't is probable they were sustained with that unleavened Bread and other provisions they had brought with them out of Egypt At last they came to Marah their fifth Encamping where they found water indeed but it was so bitter they could not drink it hereupon they murmur against Moses asking him in a discontented mood What they should drink Moses upon this Cries unto the Lord who shewed him a Tree which when he had cast into the waters the waters were made sweet But the changing of the nature and tast of the waters was to be attributed to the Power of God and not to any vertue in that Tree After God had thus tried them and proved them not only by their want of water but by his present favourable dealing with them in not punishing them for their murmuring as he might justly have done He then admonishes them by Moses to take heed of this sin of murmuring against Him or distrusting of Him and to carry themselves more obediently towards Him for the future And so he made this a Statute and an Ordinance That if they would do that which was right in his sight and would obey his Commandments and keep all his Statutes he would bring none of those Diseases and Plagues upon them which he had brought on the Egyptians For He was their Healer (t) V. 26. Medicus quia ex omnibus periculis malis tam animarum quam corporum quae morbis morti saepe comparantur homines sibi confisos liberat Psal 103. v. 3. Glasius and could heal not only their Bodies but their Souls also by forgiving their sins and sanctifying their natures Exod. 15. from 22. to 27. SECT VII FRom Marah they removed to Elim their sixth Station famous for twelve Wells of water and 70 Palm-Trees And here it seems they stayed many days because the Place was so pleasant and convenient by reason of the waters and the shade Exod. 15. vers 27. SECT VIII FRom Elim they turned back again to the Red-Sea which was their seventh Station as appears from Numb 33.10 the Lord so ordering it as 't is probable that
he might try them again and might make them take a second View of that Sea that so their Deliverance thereat might make the deeper impression on them SECT IX THey came now on the fifteenth day of the second month to the eighth place of their Encamping in the Wilderness of Sin which lieth between Elim and Sinai where for want of Food they murmured against Moses and Aaron and wished in a desperate discontent That they had died by the Hand of the Lord in Egypt where they sat by the Flesh-pots (u) V. 2. Murmurabant piscibus in Aegypto volatilibusque assueti At unde Carnium inopia Multa enim illis erant pecora nisi pâ—percisse dicantur vel quia minus foecunda ab inopiam pascuorum vel quod in sacrificia servarent Sed verisimile est alias eos Carnes desiderasse Quales in Aegypto habere poterant Unde Deus noscens quid desiderarent to genere Carnium eos satiat Aug. quaest Exod. 62. They had Cattel in the Desart but if they should have eaten of them they might soon have killed them all up 'T is probable they longed not for such kind of Flesh as they had at hand but for the Flesh of Fowls such as they used to eat in Egypt and wanted now Willet and did eat bread to the full rather than that they had been brought into that Wilderness to die there by hunger The Lord took notice of these their murmurings and was highly offended at them Therefore he said to Moses I have heard the murmurings of the Children of Israel I will yet prove them whether they will walk in my Law or no and therefore tell them at the Evening I will give them Quails and they shall eat Flesh and in the Morning I will rain Bread from Heaven for them and they shall see that glorious Work of mine which I will work for them See Joh. 11.40 Numb 14.21 22. Moses and Aaron acquaint the people herewith and tell them They shall now see that it was the Lord that brought them out of the Land of Egypt and that He and Aaron were but his Instruments and had not done it of their own heads but did only what He commanded them and therefore their murmurings against them were indeed against the Lord Himself Then the Congregation of the Children of Israel being charged to come near before the Lord and there being at that time before the Tabernacle was built no nother visible sign of his Presence among them but only the Pillar of Cloud which was now in the front of their Army leading them towards the Wilderness they turned their faces towards that and perceived that God did in a more glorious manner than ordinary manifest the brightness of his Presence For from thence the Lord tells Moses That He had heard the murmurings of the people and might justly Chastize them for it however he would give them Quails (x) Here God gave them Quails for that one time only but at Kibroth-Hattavah Numb 11.31 they had them for a whole month together in the Evening and Manna in the Morning And accordingly at Even the Quails came and covered their Camp and in the Morning the dew lay round about their Camp and when the dew was gone there lay a small round thing as small as the Hoar-Frost (y) Unde patet fuisse Manna instar grani grandinis vel sacchari minuti on the ground It was a substance so solid that it would endure grinding in a Mill or pounding in a Mortar yet so friable and brittle that it melted at the rising of the Sun It was little and round like Coliander-seed but of a whitish colour like bdellium * Quod est genus gummi pellucidi Numb 11.7 8. It was ready meat to eat when gathered and so eaten the tast of it was like Wafers made with Honey (z) It was a different thing from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the honey-dew called Manna at this day by the Apothecaries which is not Food but Physick The Book Of Wisdom saith Ch. 16.20 21. That it was able to content every mans pallat and agreed to every tast and tempered it self to every mans liking But if God had given this miraculous Bread such an extraordinary gift to satisfie every appetite and to relish according to every mans desire and to tast like any meat they longed for why did the Israelites murmur against Moses that they had no Flesh and repine because they had not the Cucumbers and Melons and Leeks and Onions and Garlick of Egypt Numb 11.4 5. vers 31. but if they baked it in Pans the tast of it was like fresh Oil. But to return In the Morning when the Israelites saw it lying on the ground they said one to another Man-hu (a) Man pro Mah dialecto Aegyptiacâ vel Man ipsum hoc est praeparatum a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 praeparare scil cibus praeparatus à Deo vel quod cibus in sâ—ipso praeparatus fuit non indigens alia praeparatione fuit enim in scipso bonus esui aptus Vatablus What is this as if they should have said this is a strange Food prepared and given us from above but we know not particularly what it is or what to name it Moses tells them It is the Bread that God had given them to eat It is Man that is a prepared portion Then Moses gives them some Commands from God concerning it 1. Every man might gather according to his eating that is proportionably as he had more or fewer in his Family The quantity of an Omer the tenth part of an Epha which is thought to be about a pottle of our measure is allowed to every single person as his proportion for a day And the Children of Israel according as their Families were gathered some more some less And when they had brought home what they had gathered the Head of the Family measured it out and gave every one his Omer * An Omer is the tenâ—h part of an Epha or Jewish bushel containing about three of our pecks as his share and proportion and no more So that they that gathered much had but their Omer for their daily allowance and the rest 't is like they gave to them that gathered less that they might have their Omer also (b) Hence it is that the Apostle by this Example of the Israelites helping one another exhorts the Christian Corinthians in like manner to supply the necessities of their Brethren 2 Cor. 8.13.14 15. And though every one had an Omer allowed him which shews how liberal an allowance God did make them for their daily Food yet it cannot be imagined that every one did eat their whole allowance every day but though they did not yet they might not reserve any of it till next day but what they left they were either to burn or cast forth God intending hereby that they should live in daily dependance on his
my glorious Presence here and therefore they must not presume to come to up to it However the Lord chargeth him instantly to go down to them and to urge the same again upon them after which He himself should come up again and should bring Aaron (p) Aaron quoque advocari debibat ut sacerdotium ejus quoque divinitâ—s institutum Constaret Jans with him Exod. 19. whole Chapter SECT XIV THe Lord now with an audible Voice and with great Majesty and Terrour Proclaimed and Promulgated his Moral Law (q) Which nevertheless disanull'd not the promise of Grace made to Abraham 430 years before Gal. 3.17 or Ten Commandments containing the prime Dictates of Natural Reason the chief Rules of Piety towards God Equity towards our Neighbour and Sobriety Chastity and Temperance in the government our Selves (r) This Law is expresly call'd a Covenant with that people He declared unto you his Covenant says the Text which he commanded you to perform even Ten Commandments Deut. 4.13 and accordingly was reposed in the Ark hence as it seems named the Ark of the Covenant Deut. 10.2 He wrote upon the Tables the words of the Covenant the Ten Commandments Exod. 34.28 The end and design of these Precepts was to ground them in the true notions of Piety and Religion and to dispose them to the practice of universal Righteousness Our Saviour did not derogate from this Law but declared his intention only to expound it or to ampliate and extend it There is no Commandment herein howsoever accoding to its immediate sense seeming peculiar to that people which according to good analogy or parity of reason doth not concern us also And therefore 't is said Nehem. 9.13 Thou camest down upon Mount Sinai and gavest them right Judgments and true Laws good Statutes and Commandments And the Apostle Rom. 7.12 says The Law is holy the Commandment holy just and good We shall therefore set down these Laws particularly and give a short Paraphrase of them God spake all these words saying that is God Himself declared his own Mind and Will by a loud Voice distinctly audible and intelligible miraculously formed by himself Deut. 5.24 Behold say the people the Lord our God hath shewed us his Glory and his Greatness and we have heard his Voice out of the midst of the Fire we have seen this day that God doth talk with man and yet he liveth I am the Lord or I am Jehovah thy God which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage I am Jehovah who indeed am what this my Name importeth the only true and real God Eternal Independent Indefectible in Essence I am that Jehovah to whose words upon all accounts thou owest Submission Attention and Obedience I am Thy God having chosen thee to be a peculiar people to my Self above all people that are upon the face of the Earth and who in pursuance of my singular Favour towards thee and of my Covenant made with thee have brought thee out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage I then being Jehovah the only true God and thy God by Covenant and particular Engagement do now propound my Will unto thee and upon all accounts of Reason Justice and Gratitude do require thy regard and observance of the Precepts I now intend to give thee I. Commandment Thou shalt have no other Gods before me THis Precept as most of the rest is Negative and Prohibitive but supposeth and implyeth some thing Affirmative and Positive as the rest may also be conceived to do It implies this Affirmative Precept Thou shalt have me for thy God and shalt Serve Worship and Love Me with all thy Heart Soul Mind and Might and shalt trust in Me as a Being endued with Attributes and Perfections superlatively excellent and thou shalt not own nor acknowledge any other for God besides Me. Take heed therefore of imitating them who acknowledge not nor Worship any God at all and such are Athiests or acknowledge and adore many Gods and such are Polytheists Take heed also of framing in your Minds any untrue Idea of Me disagreeable to my most excellent Being and infinite Perfections Take heed also of inordinately loving or relying upon any Creature and so making that your God II. Commandment Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven Image c. THe First Commandment determined the right and true Object of our Worship The Second directs and limits the manner of expressing and exercising it and forbids the manner practised by Heathens of Worshipping their false Gods by Images and Corporeal Shapes and Representations (s) To worship an Idol instead of God is Idolatry forbidden in the First Commandment When the true God is worshipped in or by an Image 't is Idolatry forbidden by the Second Inward Idolatry is opposed to the First Commandment and Outward to the Second We ought not to think says the Apostle Acts 17.29 that the Godhead is like unto Gold or Silver or Stone graven by art or man's device Most reasonable therefore is this Prohibition of making any resemblance of what kind soever by Picture Sculpture or Tusion to represent God or for Religious use (t) The civil use of Images is not forbidden but Images made and used for Divine Worship Neither are those Images only forbidden which are the Images of false Gods but of the true also Papists by worshipping Saints and Angels offend against the first Commandment By making Images of the Father Son and Holy Ghost and worshipping these Images or worshipping God by these Images they offend against the Second As for the Cherubim made by Solomon and the brasen Serpent by Moses they were made by God's special Command but not to be worshipped The Cherubim seem intended as an Emblem to represent the natures and services of the holy Angels and not any likeness of God they being full of zeal and always upon the Wing as it were and ready to obey God's Will The brasen Serpent was made not to be worshipped but as a Type of Christ and now Christ is come all Types are to vanish and to bow down or Prostrate our selves before it For there being but one true Object of our Worship the Eternal Invisible God whose glorious Excellencies infinitely transcend our Comprehension and consequently of whom we cannot devise any resemblance not infinitely beneath him unlike to him and unworthy of him It must needs be therefore a great prophaneness to pretend the representing Him by any Image Moses Deut. 4.15 reports to the people of the Jews the ground of this Prohibition Take good heed to your selves says he for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake to you in Horeb out of the midst of the Fire lest you corrupt your selves and make you a graven Image No shape representing God did then appear at his uttering of these Laws to prevent their framing any resemblance of Him and practising this sort
Practice page 117. V. Commandment Honour thy Father and Mother that thy days may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee CHildren are injoyned by this Precept to honour their Parents in their hearts The subsequent Precepts contain the prime Rules of justice towards Man and of Temperance Sobriety and Chastity in the government of our Selves and highly to love their Persons as the Instruments under God of their being And they are hereby obliged to yield to them Reverence Obedience Thankfulness and Requital as they are able They are bound highly to honour and esteem them and to use due expressions of Respect and Observance towards them in word and deed Parents are presumed to be always full of tender affection and good will towards their Children full of desire and care for their good full of pity and compassion towards them Which dispositions do in reason and equity require answerable Inclinations in Children towards their Parents Children receive from their Parents under God their being and life their maintenance and protection it being a long while ere they are able to provide for or defend themselves The goods acquired by the Parents industry do usually devolve upon their Children And all good and pious Parents think themselves obliged to take care of the Souls and spiritual Welfare of their Children and to instruct them in the fear of God and to set them in the right way to Eternal Happiness And this they do most frankly and freely without regard to any profit that may thereby accrue to themselves It is abundant satisfaction to them to see their Chirldren do well Their chief delight and contentment in this world is usually in their Childrens well-doing Therefore justice and ingenuity do oblige Children to pay to their Parents dutiful Respect and Observanc And they will be no loosers in so doing For to the observance of this Precept is added a very encouraging Promise viz. of length of days The Apostle injoyns Children to be obedient to their Parents in all things that are lawful and pleasing to the Lord Eph. 6.1 And He presses the Observance of this Precept 1. From the equity of it because the Law of God and Nature requires it 2. Because this is the first Commandment of the second Table which hath a particular Promise annexed to it viz. length of days which Promise is either actually fulfilled by God to obedient Children or else by changing of the Benefit He gives them a much better life in his own Kingdom for it And there seems a great congruity in the Reward promised to the Duty to be performed viz. that they who are grateful to those from whom under God they received their life should by God's Dispensation enjoy that life long and with much Comfort and that they who neglect the Authors of their life should soon be deprived of it or of the Comforts and Contentments that others enjoy And we may by analogy and parity of reason reduce unto this Commandment the Obligation we have to honour all those who perform to us beneficial Offices like unto those we receive from our Parents Particularly such Persons from whom we have Protection as Governours and Magistrates Such who watch over us for the good of our Souls as Ministers and Pastors Such who afford us Maintenance and Education as Benefactors School-Masters Tutors c. VI. Commandment Thou shalt not Kill MAn's life being his most precious enjoyment in this World no man may take it away but by Commission or Licence from God God indeed doth allow Magistrates upon reasonable cause for the preservation of the publick Peace Safety and Welfare in a regular Course of Justice to dispose of mens lives who have forfeited them to the Law For the Magistrate beareth not the Sword in vain Rom. 13.4 but is the Minister of God an Avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil 1 Pet. 2.14 And he that kills a man in a way not irregular namely as a Minister of Justice or in a lawful War authorized by a just Commission or in his own just and necessary defence cannot be said to violate the true intent of this Precept For such a person cannot be justly said to kill but rather God himself the Lord of Life and Death doth then kill Vengeance is his and He in this manner by his Ministers doth repay it But in this Commandment is forbidden all voluntary and irregular taking away our Neighbour's life without just and necessary cause upon what motive principle or pretence soever it be either by direct violence or fraudulent contrivance either by our selves or by others and all advising encouraging or any wise becoming instrumental or accessory thereunto This is the Crime here expresly forbidden But a Positive Duty is also here included and accordingly should be understood viz. That we should endeavour as far as we are able to preserve our own life in the first place and then our Neighbours by relieving him in extream need and by succouring him in extream danger by admonishing him of any destructive mischief He seems unawares running into The contrary is in reasonable esteem and in God's sight a killing of him And to kill a man hath this great guilt in it that He that doth it doth thereby violate and destroy God's Image in his Neighbour He that sheds man's bloud by man shall his bloud be shed for in the Image of God created he him Gen. 9.6 And this further is to be observed That the taking away a man's life doth infinitely surpass all the evil or injury which any man can sustain from another in his estate or fame For these things are capable of some reparation but the other is altogether irreparable and therefore includes in it the greatest injury and iniquity For hereby all temporal good is at once ravished from a man and the Soul also of the person killed may possibly incur a great damage and hazard in respect to its future State by being thus suddenly snatched away So that the Slayer oftentimes not only robbeth his Brother of his temporal life but of his time of Repentance and opportunity of making his peace with God Therefore to hate a man to death must needs be accounted the utmost pitch of hatred Such is the direct intent and importance of this Law But our Saviour in his Comment hereon Math. 5.21 hath explained and extended it further so as to interdict all things that any way approach or tend unto this hateful evil as rash causeless outragious anger contumelious and despiteful Language secret grudges or malice in our hearts against our Neighbour For these as they do commonly produce the act of murder so they argue Inclinations thereunto which if fear and self-respect did not restrain would presently produce it and consequently in moral account which regards not so much the act as the will are of the same quality therewith The Apostle tells us 1 Joh. 3.15 He that hates his brother is a murderer
and no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him So that all malice spight envy hatred rancor immoderate anger and animosity are here also forbidden VII Commandment Thou shalt not commit Adultery THis Commandment injoyns Chastity of Mind Heart and Body and the preservation of it in our selves and others Whosoever shall attempt the Affection or Chastity of another mans wife highly sinneth against God commits a great trespass against his Neighbour and defiles himself with the foulest turpitude He violates an Institution to which God hath affixed especial marks of respect and sanctity He wounds his Neighbour's Honour and ruines Him in that wherein the great content of his mind and comfort of his life is wound up He offendeth against the welfare of Families breeding horrible Confusions and Dissentions in them Adultery therefore is a lothsome Vnrighteousness most odious to God and a fire that consumeth unto destruction Further this Commandment forbids all sorts of unlawful and irregular satisfactions to lustful Appetite and all kinds of Impurity and Lasciviousness not in act only but in thought in desire (f) Our Saviour extends this Commandment to forbid all unlawful lustings or desires or Inclinations of the heart Mat. 5.28 I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her in his heart in speech or in gesture and what ever tends to foment the fleshly Concupiscence which we ought to endeavour by all good means to quench and suppress VIII Commandment Thou shalt not Steal THis Commandment injoyns that every man should quietly enjoy those supports and conveniencies of his life which in any honest way he hath right unto or is possessed of And it prohibits all Invasion or Vsurpation by any means what ever either by open Violence or by clandestine Fraud of our Neighbour's Goods or Rights Many sorts of Vnrighteousness are reducible to this Commandment as fraudulent Dealing false Weights and Measures over-reaching in Contracts unfaithfulness in matters of Trust Exaction Oppression Extortion and not making Restitution of ill-gotten Goods when there is ability The Positive Duties to be understood are Diligence and Industry in our Callings whereby with God's blessing we may support our selves and prevent the importunate Temptations of Want and Need and may be able to relieve others that are in want and may be well content with our own estates trusting in God and relying on his Providence to take care of us IX Commandment Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour BEaring false Testimony against our Neigbour especially in matters Capital and wherein his life is concern'd is here prohibited And not only that but also defaming him or unjustly detracting from him and breeding in the minds of others an ill opinion of him We are therefore here forbidden to wrong our Neighbour in his Credit and good Name as well as in his Estate We are forbidden to hurt him either in word or deed Charity obligeth us to think the best of our Neighbour to be candid in our Opinions and Discourses concerning Him to forbear all rash and harsh Censures of Him and to abhor affixing any faults upon Him of which He is not guilty To walk Vprightly and to work Righteousness and speak the truth from our hearts are the good man's Character Psal 15. v. 2. X. Commandment Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours House nor his Wife nor his Man-Servant nor his Maid-Servant nor his Ox nor his Asse nor any thing that is thy Neigbours THis Law is very Comprehensive prescribing universal Justice towards our Neighbour and that not only in outward deeds and dealing but in inward thought and desire prohibiting us unlawfully or irregularly to desire any thing that is his to his detriment We are to be so far from depriving our Neighbour of any good thing belonging to him that we are not so much as irregularly to wish or desire it We are not only to abstain from injurious Actions but to repress in our selves all covetous and injurious Inclinations And the Positive Duty here implied is That we should have a delight and complacency in our Neigbour's good not envying him any of his Enjoyments being in our minds well content with the portion God is pleased to vouchsafe to us and intirely trusting in Him that he will supply us with what is needful and fitting for us without the damage of our Neighbour Thus we see that God's Law is as St. Paul observes Spiritual not only restraining exteriour Acts but regulating our inmost Thoughts quelling all inordinate Appetites and Affections of Heart within us And all these Precepts both of the first and second Table are reduced to these two Heads of loving God with all our Hearts Souls and Spirits and loving our Neighbour as our selves SECT XV. THus was this Law promulgated and proclaimed At the dreadful manner whereof of the people were so greatly terrified that they removed and stood afar off from the Mount Then the Heads of the â—ribes and Elders came to Moses and said Behold the Lord our God hath shewed us his Glory and his Greatness and we have heard his Voice out of the midst of the Fire and have seen this day that God doth talk with Man and yet he remaineth alive This is matter of great wonder to us But yet we are afraid that if we should hear the Voice of the Lord our God again speaking to us in such a dreadful manner the very terrour of it would kill us We are afraid we should be consumed by that great and dreadful Fire out of which we heard the Lord speaking to us For what man is there that ever heard God speaking out of the midst of the Fire as we have done and yet lived Since therefore the Lord hath hitherto been so gracious and propitious to us we humbly intreat him to regard our Infirmity which makes uncapable of enduring his terrible Presence Go thou therefore near unto him and hear all that the Lord our God shall say and speak thou (g) This is still the work of the Law to scare men and drive them to seek for a Mediator between God and them And by this Interposition of Moses was figured the necessity of the great Mediator between God and Man Gal. 3.19 Who was also promised on this occasion Deut. 18.15 16. unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee and we will hear it and do it But let not the Lord speak to us any more immediately by Himself lest the terrour of his Presence kill us Moses encourages them and tells them They should not be so much dismayed and affrighted For God had spoken to them with so much terrour to prove them that is to try whether this terrour would produce in them a holy fear and reverence of his Majesty which is the true spring of Obedience that so they might be afraid to sin against Him Then the people standing aloof off Moses drew near to the thick Darkness on
whereby God is called upon as a Witness shall be between the Parties and if the Keeper do swear that he hath not put his Hands to his Neighbour's Goods neither knows what is become of them then the Owner must rest satisfied with that Oath and he to whom the Cattel were intrusted shall not make them good But if they be stolen from him thorow his own negligence he shall make them good to the Owner And if any of them be torn in pieces he may bring some part of them to witness it was so and then he shall not make them good v. 10 11 12 13. 20. If a man borrow ought of his Neighbour and it be hurt or die the Owner thereof being not with it he shall surely make it good And the reason of this Law seems to be to make them the more circumspectly careful of things borrowed But if the Owner thereof be with it as sometimes the Beast and its Owner might be hired together and the Owner being by might see that the Mischief which happened could not be prevented he shall not make it good If it were hired it came for its hire that is if it were not borrowed gratis but hired he that hired it shall be free paying the conditioned hire vers 14 15. 21. If a man entice a Maid who is not betrothed and lie with her he shall surely endow her that is he shall give her such a Dower or sum of Money as is used to be given with Maids of her condition and so shall marry her But if her Father utterly refuse to give her unto him in marriage He shall pay her so much as may serve to marry her to another of a suitable Condition to Her vers 16 17. Further the Lord gives them these subsequent Laws 22. Thou shalt not suffer a Witch or Sorceress (h) The Devil's Craft most prevails with womens weakness in that kind though he prevails with some men also Deut. 18.10 to live The same is decreed concerning men that had familiar Spirits Lev. 20.27 viz. That they should be stoned vers 18. 23. Whosoever lieth with a Beast shall be surely put to death And the Beast also was to be put to death Lev. 20.15 vers 19. 24. He that Sacrificeth to any God save to the Lord the God of Israel the only true God shall be destroyed as a person execrable and accursed vers 20. 25. You shall neither vex a Stranger nor oppress him for you your selves were Strangers in the Land of Egypt Lev. 19.33 vers 21. 26. You shall not afflict any Widow or Fatherless Child If thou afflict them in any wise and they Cry unto Me saith the Lord I will surely hear their Cry and my Wrath shall wax hot and I will kill you with the Sword and your Wives shall be Widdows and your Children Fatherless vers 22 23 24. 27. If thou lend money to any of my people (i) Unto Strangers they might lend upon Usury Deut. 23.10 that is poor by thee thou shalt not be to him as an Vsurer nor an exacting Creditor neither shalt thou lay upon him Vsury (k) The word is Nesheck which signifies a biting Usury that is a biting consuming Vsury To such as these our Saviour Commands us to lend freely not expecting so much as the Principal if they be not able to pay much less the Vse See Luke 6.34 35. vers 25. 28. If thou take such of thy Neighbours Garments and Coverlids to pledge which he useth to lie in by Night and which he needeth to cover him thou shalt restore them to him before the Sun goeth down For if he Crieth unto Me saith the Lord I am gracious I will hear him So that this Prohibition seems to forbid in effect the taking any such thing to pawn (l) See Deut. 24.12 For it were in vain to take such a thing for a Pawn in the Morning which without paying the money must be restored ere night vers 26 27. 29. Thou shalt not revile the Gods * Psal 28.16 I have said ye are Gods but ye shall die like men See Acts 23.5 that is those that fit in the place of Judgment nor curse the Ruler of thy people vers 28. 30. Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe Fruits and of thy Liquors that is thy Oil and Wine unto the Lord. For it is fit that He that gives All should be acknowledged as Lord of all by having this Tribute paid unto Him and that He should be presented first to procure his blessing upon the rest And the first-born of thy Sons thou shalt give to me saith the Lord or redeem him with five Shekels of Silver which shall be given to the Priests my Servants Numb 18.16 The like shalt thou do with the first-born of thy Bullocks and thy Sheep Seven days shall they be with their damm on the eighth day (m) Lev. 22.27 thou mayst present them unto Me. Thus the Law prescribed yet doubtless when they saw cause they might keep them something longer So that they did not delay to bring them out of an unwillingness to give them to the Lord vers 29 30. 31. Ye shall be a holy people unto Me saith the Lord ye shall not eat any Flesh that is torn of Beasts in the Field but ye shall cast it to Dogs This was injoyned them to teach them not only to abhor to eat the flesh of Beasts thus killed but to abhor all Rapine and Cruelty as sins most odious in the sight of God vers 31. 32. Thou shalt not raise nor readily receive Exod. Ch. 23. nor maliciously spread a false Report against thy Neighbour nor joyn nor combine with the Wicked to be an unrighteous Witness and so to carry on their wicked design and enterprize Thou shalt not follow the multitude to do evil neither shalt thou so speak in a Cause as to decline after the mighty (n) Rabbim signifies the mighty as well as the many to wrest Judgment Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his Cause any further than the merit and desert of it requires For Right is to be regarded in Judgment and not either Poverty or Riches Thou shalt not wrest nor overthrow the Right of the Poor in his Suit Thou shalt not strive against the Evidence of Truth to condemn the Poor in a just Cause or acquit him when his Cause is bad and unjust Keep thy self far from a false matter that is if thou be a Judge be marvellous shy either to admit of a false Testimony from others or to give false Judgment thy self especially against the life of a man The Innocent and the Righteous see thou slay not For God is a just God and will not justifie such wicked Judges And thou shalt take no Gift or Bribe For Gifts blind the eyes of the wise that is of those that seemed to be so making them judge otherwise than they should do being byassed by the
with Nadab and Abihu his two eldest Sons and the 70 Elders (l) They had when they were in Egypt certain Elders in every Tribe which were the principal men among them And it seems God appointed that these 70 should come up with Aaron and his Sons into the Mount And these were chosen now as Witnesses that they might by the sight of Gods presence be confirmed in the Covenant lately made with them and might confirm the rest therein And afterwards at Kibroth Hattavab 70 were chosen for helpers to Moses in his Government And 't is thought God appointed 70 rather than any other number as a Memorial of the 70 Souls that went down into Egypt and consequently of God's great blessing in bringing them within a few years to so great a multitude along with him They accordingly came up into the Mount that is a little way up and there as they were commanded worshipped at a distance and afar off from the top of the Mount And they saw some illustrious Signs of God's glorious presence (m) Not that the Lord shewed Himself in any humane shape Deut. 4.15 For never man saw God nor can see him 1 Tim. 6.16 Forma ipsius Dei nulla describitur sed basis in qua stabat Calvin and at the lower part of that brightness there was a clear shining blew pavement as it were of Saphir and like to the Skie when it is clear And though these Nobles and Elders saw the Glory of God in these extraordinary signs of his Presence yet it pleased the Lord that they received no hurt thereby but returning again unto the people did there feast together with them on their Peace-Offerings * Burnt-Offerings were wholely consumed but of the Peace-Offerings part was reserved that they did afterwards feast upon rejoycing in the goodness of God to them and the honour he had done them But Moses with his Servant and designed Successor Joshua (n) Joshua was not before mentioned vers 1. perhaps because he was Moses's Minister and constant attendant therefore it was not necessary he should be expressed by name abide there still having advanced to to the higher part of the Mount but yet not so high as the Cloud Moses before he ascended gave order to the Elders to tarry there below and to expect his and Joshua's return and that Aaron and Hur in his absence should determine the Affairs of the people Moses waited six days (o) Ut animum sex diebus ab omni cogitatione sorde terrenâ serenaret praepararet ad colloquium Dei Jans more on the top of the Mountain which the Cloud now covered and the signs of God's glorious Presence appeared upon it that his mind in that time might be prepared for Converse with the great God and on the Seventh day God called him up into the Cloud and the sight of the Glory of the Lord on the top of the Mount was like devouring Fire in the eyes of the Children of Israel And there God spake with Him and he continued there forty days (p) The like number of days Elias fasted 1 Kings 19.8 and our Saviour when he was to enter upon the Ministry of the Gospel Matth. 4.2 God could have dispatched Moses sooner but this stay was to give the greater Authority to his Law Some think that the six days that Moses waited are to be reckon'd into the 40. Sic Usserius alii and forty nights without eating or drinking any thing Deut. 9.9 And so his Condition was a shadow of the life of the glorified Saints in Heaven During which time he was employed in beholding the Glory of God's Presence and in receiving Instructions from him about all things that concerned his people and in viewing the Pattern of the Tabernacle and all things belonging thereunto which was shewn him in the Mount Joshua as it seems stayed all this while upon the Mount though below the Cloud waiting for Moses and sustaining himself as 't is probable with the Manna that fell from Heaven and the water of the Brook mentioned Deut. 9.21 that descended out of the Mount For there Moses found him when he came down from God neither did he know what the Israelites had done in the Camp as appears from Exod. 32.17 Exod. 24. vers 1 2. and from 9. to the end SECT XXI MOses during this His long abode in the Mount received from the Lord those Commands and Instructions mentioned in 25 26 27 27 28 29 30 and 31 Chapters of Exodus The Particulars whereof are these following First Touching the framing of a Tabernacle that is a moveable and portable Temple after the model and pattern that was shewed him in the Mount for the solemn Worship and Service of God in which He would dwell among them and manifest his gracious Presence and there He would meet with them and declare His Mind unto them vers 22. In order to which 1st He Commands that the people should make a voluntary and free-will-Offering unto Him of Gold Silver Brass and of Blue Purple Scarlet fine Linnen Goats Hair Rams Skins dyed red and Badgers Skins also of Shittim wood (q) Isa 41.19 'T is called the Shittah-Tree It being a precious wood the Israelites might bring it with them out of Egypt as appears from Exod. 35.24 Some think they had it from Abel-Shittim Numb 33.49 Shittim wood was very durable very portable and light of Carriage and very precious used in most of the utensils of the Tabernacle and Oil for the Lights and Spices for the anointing Oil and for sweet Incense also of Onyx Stones and other precious Stones to be set in the Ephod and Breast-plate of the High-Preist Ch. 25. from 1. to the 10. 2ly He gives Directions concerning framing the Ark (r) The Ark was a sign of Gods Presence among them as He was their Lord and Law-giver ordaining and requiring Obedience to these his Commandments and threatning death to the Transgressors The Ark is the first and chiefest of all the Holy things and for it principally was the Tabernacle made Exod. 26.33 40.18 21. and it sanctified the Tent or House wherein it rested as Solomon said The Places are holy where into the Ark of the Lord hath come 2 Chron. 8.11 Imitati hoc Gentiles Deorum mysteria in capsulis portantes Et levis occultis conscia cista Sacris Tibul. or Sacred Chest wherein only the Testimony (s) Exod. 31.18 38.21 called the Tables of the Covenant Deut. 9.9 And so the Ark called the Ark of the Covenant Numb 10.33 and the Book of the Law is called the Testimony 2 Kings 11.12 and so the Gospel the Testimony of God 1 Cor. 2.1 that is the Ten Commandments written upon Tables of Stone which were a Testimony of the Covenant between God and them and testified what God required of them was to be kept This was to be made of Shittim wood two Cubits * A Cubit among the Hebrews is
supposed to be a Foot and half of our measure The Ark was therefore a Yard and nine inches long and three quarters of a Yard high and broad Gen. 6.15 and half in length and a Cubit and half in breadth and in height It was to be overlaid with plates of pure Gold within and without and they were to make a golden Garland crown or border round about it And two gilt Rings were to be made on each side of it and Staves of Shittim-wood gilt to be put into the Rings by which the Levites and none else were to carry it on their Shoulders see Numb 7.9 And they were to make a Lid or Covering for it called the Mercy-Seat or Propitiatory (t) This Mercy-Seat was a Type of Christ by whom we are covered from the Wrath of God and Curse of the Law of pure beaten Gold and two Cherubims (u) His Angeli designantur assistentes Deo Mat. 18.10 Christo morem gerentes Mat. 4.11 Heb. 1.6 atque in Ecclesiae subsidium parati Heb. 1.14 confer 1 Sam. 4. of Gold at the ends of it stretching forth their Wings and with their Faces looking one towards the other And there God promises to meet with them (x) There especially did God speak to them though not there only See Ch. 29.42 Numb 12.5 and from between the Cherubims on the Mercy-Seat to Commune with them and give them his Oracles and Commandments in an audible Voice Exod. 25. from 10. to 23. 3ly He gives Directions concerning framing the Table of Shew-Bread which was to be of Shittim-wood and according to our measure a Yard long half a Yard broad and three quarters of a Yard high It was to be overlaid with pure Gold and a Border or List of an hands-breath to be made about it and a golden Garland Crown or Fringe to go about that rising from the edge of the Table and bounding it on every side And four gilded Rings on the four corners of the feet thereof and gilded Staves of Shittim-wood to be put into those Rings to carry it by that so it might be born on the Priests Shoulders Four kinds of Vessels belonging to this Table were also to be made of pure Gold 1. Dishes to hold the Cakes or Loaves of Shew-Bread which were to be twelve in number according to the twelve Loaves see Levit. 24.5 that were to be set therein and some of these Dishes possibly were to hold Frankincense which was to be put upon each row of the Shew-Bread Levit. 24.7 to intimate to them that they ought to send up Praises to God for their daily Bread 2. Spoons to put the Frankincense into the Dishes and to take it out again when it was to be burnt upon the Altar of Incense 3. Covers or Plates for the covering of the Loaves 4. Bowles for the covering of the Dishes of Frankincense or which might serve for the burning of the Frankincense Shew-bread was to be set upon this Table before the Lord always 'T was called Shew-bread because it was to be set upon the Table and so shewed and set in view and presented before the Lord. There were every week twelve (y) Per hos panes duodecim Tribus pulchre significabant se a Deo continuo ali gratitudinis ergo perpetuum quasi Sacrificium illi offerre Haec Christi mensam indicat Sanctorum communionem item coeleste Grandium verbique variam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Anonym in loc Cakes (z) Every Cake was to contain two homers or tenth deales of an Epha or Bushel of fine Flour enough to serve two men for one day every one containing eight pounds as Ribera thinks thereof to be made according to the number of the twelve Tribes of Israel These with pure Incense were to be set every Sabbath day new upon the Table in two rows six on a row and the old bread was then to be taken away and eaten by the Priests Levit. 24.5 9. The Bread on this Table was tendred to God as a Quit-rent or acknowledgment that they held all their Food from his Providence and Bounty Exod. 25. from vers 23. to 31. 4ly Concerning the framing of the golden Candelstick which was to be made with a shaft and six branches coming out of the sides of it three on one side one above another and three on the other side all of beaten Gold And seven Sookets were to be made one on the top of the Shaft and the other on the six Branches whereinto the Oil was to be put to feed the Lamps that they might give light round about it See Numb 8.2 And the Tongs and Snuffers that were appointed to raise up the Wick of the Lamps and make them burn brighter were all to be of Gold and a talent of Gold was to be spent in the making of this Candlestick and the things appertaining to it which amounts to 120 pound weight From 31. to the end 5ly The Children of Israel were charged to bring pure * By this pure Oil was signified the Gifts and Graces of the Spirit whereby the Ministers of God are fitted to be as lights among the people Oil-Olive beaten viz. such as ran from the Olives when they were first beaten or stamped which was clearer and purer than that which was crushed out with a Press With this the Priests were to maintain the Lamps and to cause them to burn always that is every night (a) 'T is conceived that the Lamps burnt only in the Night and were put out in the Morning which some infer from 1 Sam. 3.3 where 't is said The Lord appeared to Samuel ere the Lamp of God went out in the Temple to wit before break of day For they were to light them in the Evening and in the Morning to put them out and cleanse them and trim them to be lighted again at Night Exod. 27.20 21. 6ly Concerning the Altar of Incense (b) The Incense did signifie how the prayers of the Saints through Christ are acceptable to God See Rev. 8.3 Psal 141.2 Rev. 5.8 to be made of Shittim-wood foursquare a Cubit in length and a Cubit in breadth and two Cubits in height with Horns or little Pyramids at the four corners thereof and it was to be overlaid with Gold therefore called Numb 4.11 the golden Altar but Ezek. 41.22 't is called the wooden Altar and so it shadowed Christ in both his Natures his Deity giving glory to his Humanity And it was to have a gilded Garland round about the edges of it and two gilded Rings on each side at each corner and Staves of Shittim-wood to be put through those Rings to carry it with when the Tabernacle was to be removed Numb 4.11 And it was to be placed in the holy Place before the Veil that was to separate the most Holy from the holy Place just before the Mercy-Seat And Aaron was appointed not in quality of High Priest but only as a Priest for to this Office the
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
nights were now expired and God had made an end of Communing with Moses on the Mount He gave him two Tables of Stone made by his own Hand and wherein He had written with his own Finger the Ten Commandments Commanding him to get him down quickly telling him what the people had done in his absence Thy (h) God seems to disown them now as His people people says He which thou broughtest out of the Land of Egypt have corrupted themselves They have turned aside quickly after their entring into Covenant with Me and promising to keep all my Precepts They have quickly turned out of the way which I commanded them and have made them a molten Calf and have worshipped it and sacrificed unto it Thou seest that this is a very wicked and stiff-necked people therefore interpose not for them nor hinder Me by thy Intercession that I may in mine anger Consume them and I will make of Thee a great Nation yea a greater and mightier than they Deut. 9.14 Moses was wonderfully surpriz'd and astonish'd at the hearing of this and humbly adoring the Lord his God he said Lord why doth thy Wrath wax hot against thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty Hand Wherefore should the Egyptitians say For mischief did He bring them forth to slay them in the Mountains O Lord turn I pray thee from thy fierce Wrath and let not the Evil and Punishment which this people have deserved fall upon them Remember thy Covenant and Promises made to Abraham Isaac and Jacob to whom thou swarest by thine own self to multiply their Seed as the Stars and to give them the Land of Canaan for an Inheritance Thus Moses stood before the Lord in the Breach to turn away his Wrath Psal 106.23 So that the Lord was intreated not to destroy them at this time as he had threatned Then Moses descending out of the Cloud with the Two Tables in his hand and coming to that part of the Mount where Joshua as it seems had waited all this while for him vers 17. Joshua hearing the Noise and Shout of the people and not knowing what it meant He said to Moses Surely there is a noise of War in the Camp But Moses told him It was no such noise but rather of singing and merriment When they came to the Camp and Moses saw the Calf and the people piping and dancing and sporting about it after the manner of the Heathen His anger waxed hot and in an holy Indignation not unadvisedly but by the motion of Gods Spirit see Deut. 9.16 17. He cast the Tables out of his Hands and broke them before their eyes as a sign that the Covenant between God and them was broken by this their hainous Idolatry Then He took the Idol and melted it and made it brittle and fit to be broken or ground to powder and He cast the dust thereof into the water whereof they drank daily and made them drink thereof for the greater detestation that they might understand the variety of such Gods that could be thus swallowed by them as also to intimate to them that they deserved to drink of the Cup of Gods Wrath for so a great Provocation Then He sharply expostulates with Aaron about this horrid Miscarriage What did this people says He do to thee that thou hast brought so great a Sin upon them Aaron humbly deprecates his Anger and excuseth Himself as well as he could upon the mischievous disposition of the people and by a poor slender and imperfect Narration seeks to extenuate his Fact speaking of the Calf as if it had been produced rather by accident than by any design of his I cast the Gold says he into the fire and there came out this Calf Moses seeing that the people had now deprived themselves of Gods protection and were as so many naked and unarmed and dispirited men exposed to be devoured by their Enemies to which Aaron by consenting to their wicked desire had much contributed He stood in the Gate of the Camp and said Who is on the Lords side Let him come unto me summoning thereby all that had not consented to this wicked Fact to take Gods part against the Offendors and to do in this Case what he should require of them Whereupon the Sons of Levi who had kept themselves innocent from this Fact as it seems most of them had though not all as appears from Deut. 33.9 came unto Moses who according to Gods appointment Commands them to take their Swords in their hands and to go throughout the Camp and slay all the Ring-leaders and principal Offenders in this Rebellion and Transgression that they should meet with not sparing for favour or affection either Brother Companion or Neighbour or any other that were nearest or dearest to them And 't is probable God so ordered it by his Providence that none but the guilty came in their way And Moses told them that hereby they should so Consecrate themselves to the Lord and offer a Sacrifice so well pleasing to him that he would immediately set them apart as his peculiar portion to be his Ministers in the sacred Service of the Tabernacle The Children of Levi did as Moses commanded them and there fell that day of the people by their hand about three thousand Moses though he had already so far prevailed with the Lord that he would not presently destroy all the people as He had threatned vers 14. yet considering that the Lords Anger might still be great against them and that he might still proceed further in punishing of them He tells them That on the morrow he resolved to go up again to the Lord and further to intercede for them and to endeavour to atone him that He might not proceed in wrath against them And accordingly going up again into the Mount and humbly prostrating himself before the Lord he acknowledges the greatness and hainousness of their sin and earnestly intreats the Lord freely to forgive them out of his own abundant Mercy which if He would please to do they should always retain a deep sense of that transcendent favour But if he would not forgive them freely Moses out of the exuberance and greatness of his love to that people desires the Lord that he would accept of his life as an atonement for them (i) Dele me de libro vitae v. 32. and blot him out of the Book of the living that is cut him off by his own Hand and so take his life as a Satisfaction for their Sin And in this Moses shewed himself a Figure of our blessed Saviour who laid down his life for his Sheep Joh. 10.15 and redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us Gal. 3.13 But the Lord was not pleased to accept this his Offer but told him That they that had sinned against him should suffer themselves for their sin yet He would spare them at this time but when He began to
Moses and proclaimed before him now hid in the hollow Cleft of the Rock The Lord The Lord merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth keeping Mercy for thousands forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin upon mans hearty repentance and that will by no means clear the Guilty visiting the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children and upon the Childrens Children unto the third and fourth Generation if they continue in their Fathers transgressions Moses hearing these things instantly bowed his head towards the Earth and worshipped Exod. 34. from 1. to 9. SECT XXV MOses now staying again 40 days and 40 nights in the Mount without Meat or Drink vers 28. He humbly and earnestly besought the Lord with many pressing arguments see Deut. 9.18 19. and from 25. to the end to pardon the people and to own them still for his Inheritance * See Ps 33.12 Zach. 2.12 and to go along with them and to manifest his gracious Presence among them for they were He ackowledges a stiff-necked people and had need both of his Mercy and Conduct The Lord being now appeased renews his Covenant with them upon certain Conditions and promises that his Presence with them should work more powerfully then ever and shew it self in more stupendious Miracles then ever it had done before and that He would do terrible things by them his Almighty Power and Providence accompanying of them and would give them possession of the Land of Canaan and would drive out the Inhabitants thereof before them The Conditions he requires of them to perform were these 1. Not to make a League or Covenant with the Inhabitants of the Land * See Chap. 23.32 whom He had determined to destroy for their sins nor to make Marriages with them lest it should ensnare them and draw them to be Partakers in their Idolatries and so in their Punishments but should destroy their Altars Images and Groves and should not eat of their Sacrifices and should especially be careful not to make to themselves any molten Gods such as the golden Calf was For the Lord was a jealous God and would not endure that any false God should share with Him in the Worship that was peculiar to himself 2 That they should observe the Feast of unleavened Bread * See Ch. 23.15 the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost and the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles At which three Feasts All their Males should appear before him with an Offering to be given to the Priest which He would account as given to Himself and He would take care that none should desire their Land in their absence 3 That the first-born Males both of Men and Beasts should be consecrated unto Him see Ch. 22.29 30. but the firstlings of an Ass should be redeemed with a Lamb see Exod. 13.13 4 That they should carefully observe the weekly Sabbath * See Ch. 23.12 and not violate it either in Seed-time or Harvest 5 That they should not offer the blood (l) Certe removebis fermentatum cum immolas Pascha Vatab. of the Paschal Lamb with Leaven and that nothing thereof should be left till the morning 6 That the first of their Frist-fruits should be brought to the House of the Lord. 7. That they should not seeth a Kid in its Mothers milk Which Laws were all enjoyned Ch. 23. and were now repeated These were the Laws that Moses was to write down in a Book and to injoyn the people to observe Then the Lord wrote the Ten Commandments on the Tables Moses had brought up and gave them unto him who brought them and the other Laws which himself had written unto the people and having seen Gods Glory in so great a measure and degree there was a dazeling brightness imprinted by God on his face while he talked with him so that the skin of his Face (m) The glory of Moses face signified the glory of the Law which he brought 2 Cor. 3.7 8. His Ministration was Death and Condemnation because the Law giveth the knowledge of Sin but no pardon for it shone which he himself was not sensible of * Sic Humilitas propriam jubet ignorare excellentiam by the reflective rays and beams (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to shine from whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Horn is derived which gave occasion to the Papists to paint Mose's face with two Horns like an Ox. The Vulgar Latine says Mose's Face was horned of the divine Splendor which might assure the Israelites he had been with God who taught and instructed him and that thereupon they might the more reverence him might fear breaking this Law again Aaron and the people were not able to bear the splendor of his Face but being afraid fled from him as if he had been some Angel But Moses called them back and put a Vail on his Face (o) Ut ipsum Mosaicae facici splendorem Israelitae non viderunt ob impositum velamen sic Carnales Judaei spiritualem Mosis splendorem hoc est Scriptorum ejus summum finem atque scopum qui est Jesus Christus non intelligebant ob sponte attractam mentis Caecitatem quae instar Velaminis est inter corda eorum verum legis intellectum quasi obducti neque hoc tolli potest nisi per praedicationem Evangelij per veram conversionem ad Dominum c. Vide 2 Cor. 13.14 15 16. whilst he spake with them and then delivered to them all that the Lord had given him in Charge But Moses when he went to the Lord for the people took the Vail off And 't is like that this brightness on his Face continued not all his life after but only during the time of his going to and fro between God and the people Exod. 34. from 9. to the end SECT XXVI MOses now injoyns them again a strict Observation of the weekly Sabbath and that they should not kindle a fire (p) But 't is probable to kindle a fire to warm themselves by in the extream cold of Winter or when any other exigencies of necessity or mercy required it was allowed them thereon to dress meat or to do any work by though for the framing of the Tabernacle threatning death to them that disobey Then He injoyns the people to bring their free-will Offerings towards the framing of the Tabernacle which was now forthwith to be gone in hand with according to the Directions given him by God Ch. 25. The people very readily agree hereunto And to the end that this good Work might the more effectually be promoted all the Males were numbred from twenty years old and upwards who were found to be 603550 who every one according to the Law prescribed Exod. 30.12 13. contributing half a Shekel the total Sum of the Poll-money amounted to an hundred Talents (q) A Talent among the Jews amounted to 3000 Shekels or 50 l. sterling every pound containing 60 Shekels See Bishop Usher's
Annals and 1775 Shekels of Silver See Exod. 38.25 26. And besides this Poll-money the people both men and women brought in their free-will Offerings very chearfully and presented what was agreeable to their Condition viz. The Princes and Rulers brought precious Stones for the Ephod and Breast-plate Those that were rich offered Gold and Silver the middle sort fine Linnen and Brass and Spices and the meanest Goats Hair and Badgers Skins And all of them contributed these things as willingly now after their Repentance for the Service of the Tabernacle as before they had contributed for the making the golden Calf So that the voluntary Offerings amounted to the Sum of 29 Talents and 730 Shekels of Gold and to 70 Talents and 2400 Shekels of Brass Exod. 38.24 29. And the most skilful and most ingenious of the Women spun Blue and Purple and Scarlet and fine Linnen and Goats hair for this Sacred use In so much that for materials requisite for the framing of the Tabernacle there came in more than enough so that the people were forbidden to bring in any more Ch. 36.5 6 7. Exod. 35. from 1. to 30. SECT XXVII NOw that all things appertaining to the Tabernacle might be exactly framed according to the Pattern given to Moses in the Mount the Lord was pleased as was said before to call and appoint Bezaleel and Aholiab to be the chief Artificers for the performance of all things belonging thereunto filling them with extraordinary Wisdom and Understanding for that great undertaking so that they knew how to devise all curious Works and to work in Gold Silver and Brass to cut Stones to carve Wood to engrave to embroider So that being skilful in all Handicrafts to Work and Headcrafts to Contrive and that by divine Inspiration they were able to teach and instruct others that were ingenious how to work and assist in this great business And accordingly the Artificers now fall to work and in the last six months of this year they finished all things belonging to the Tabernacle viz. the Curtains with the Cherubims the Curtains of Goats hair the Covers of Rams skins and Badgers skins the boards with their Sockets and the bars the Vail and the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy-Seat with the Cherubims the Table of Shew-bread with its Furniture the Candlestick with its Lamps and Vessels the Altars of Incense the Anointing Oil the sweet Incense the Altar of Burnt-Offering the Laver of Brass the Hangings for the Court the Cloaths of Service or Coverings to wrap up the holy things in and the Priests Garments and holy Vestments This is the sum or particular of the holy things belonging to the Tabernacle which were Inventoried as it were by Ithamar at the Commandment of Moses and so delivered into the Custody of the Levites that nothing might be lost All these were finished in the Desert at Mount Sinai and brought unto Moses who upon viewing of them approved them all as made according to Gods appointment And he blessed the people for their forwardness in this Work and the Artificers for their care and exactness in the Workmanship of every particular and as Gods Minister pronounced a blessing on them for it from the Lord. Exod. 35. from 30. to the end Exod. 36. whole Chapter Exod. 37. whole Chapter Ezod 38. whole Chapter Exod. 39. whole Chapter SECT XXVIII ON the first day of the first month of the second Year after their coming out of Egypt the Lord commanded Moses to set up the Tabernacle and to put all things in order belonging thereunto and to anoint the Tabernacle and all the Vessels and Furniture thereof with Oil and so Consecrate them to his Service Also he commanded him to wash Aaron and his Sons and to apparrel them and to anoint and Consecrate them for their Ministry so that the Children and Successors of the ordinary Priests should not need to be anointed but should execute their Office by vertue of this first Vnction of their Fathers Only the High Priests were to be anointed in their following Generations See Levit. 4.3 All which things Moses set himself immediately to perform and the Tabernacle being set up He for the present executed the Priests Office see Exod. 29.10 11. and Psal 99.6 and offered Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings and burnt Incense Then the Cloud the Testimony of Gods Presence covered the Tent of the Congregation and as it were took possession of it see Exod. 25.8 and the Glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle And it seems the manner of the Clouds abode and the Lords appearing in Glory at this time was extraordinary insomuch that Moses could not for the present through the dazeling brightness thereof enter into the Tabernacle But usually and ordinarily it was not so else the holy ministration in that place could not have been performed And whilst the Cloud stayed upon the Tabernacle the people were not to stir but when it removed they were to remove also and to go that way in which it guided them Exod. 40. whole Chapter Numb 9. from 15. to the end SECT XXIX FRom the Mercy-Seat out of the Tabernacle God now at several times uttered his Will and gave to Moses those Commandments and Ordinances concerning the the Levitical Sacrifices and Offerings and the Rites appertaining to them contained in the seven first Chapters of Leviticus (r) Leviticus so denominated because it sets down the Laws Sacrifices and Services of the Levitical Priesthood and the whole form of the Levitical Worship appointed by God to Israel and given in one months space viz. the first month of the second year after their departure out of Egypt whilst they stayed at Mount Sinai These Laws were delivered by God to Moses out of the Tabernacle when it was newly reared up Compare Exod. 40.17 with Numb 1.1 And this is the first Oracle given from the Mercy-Seat 1. Laws are given to him concerning the Holocaust or Burnt-Offering with the form or manner of offering it called in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Ascention because it was all to ascend up in flames and the matter of it was to be either Bullocks Sheep or Goats out of their Herd or Flock and a Male without blemish and to be wholly burnt on the Altar excepting the Skin which the Priest was to have Levit. 7.8 excepting only in the Case mentioned Levit. 4.11 and the inwards and guts which were to be cast away That only of the flesh which is usually eaten by men being to be offered on Gods Altar which is called his Table Mal. 1.2 Or else the matter of this Sacrifice might be Turtle Doves or young Pigeons which seems to be appointed in mercy to the poorer sort who could not offer one of the other kind This was the chief of all their Sacrifices and was offered to make atonement for all Sins in general whereas for special Sins there were special Sacrifices and Sin-Offerings appointed Levit. 1. whole Chapter 2ly Laws concerning
the Principal according to the estimation of the Priest and given to him to whom it appertained And then the Transgressor shall offer for his atonement a Ram without blemish for his Trespass-Offering So that upon the whole matter where either God in the external Duties belonging to his Worship or their Brethren in civil affairs were any way damaged by the Offendor there a Trespass-Offering (k) See further concerning Trespass-Offerings Levit. 7. from 1. to 9. was to be offered for other Transgressions the Sin-Offering sufficed All the remainder of the Sin and Trespass-Offering besides what was offered to the Lord the Priest was to have Skin and all whereas in the Burnt-Offerings he had only the Skin Levit. 6. from 1. to 8. Hitherto the substance and matter of the several sorts of Sacrifices hath been prescribed now the several Rites belonging to each of them are set down more particularly And 1. concerning the daily Burnt-Offering which was to be offered first every Morning and last every Evening see Exod. 29.38 39. and Numb 28.3 The Priest was to burn it with a slow fire and by so many pieces one after another that it might last all night which required his intentive care and vigilancy upon the Service and the fire of the Altar was to be nourished continually and never suffered to go out The Priest also putting on his linnen Garment was to carry forth the ashes without the Camp unto a clean place 2ly Concerning the Meat-Offering whereof the Priest was to burn an handful upon the Altar and the remainder Aaron and his Sons were to eat unleavened in the Court of the Sanctuary And upon this occasion we have the Offering set down that Aaron was to offer to God in the day of his anointing and which his Sons successively who shall come to be High Priests after him shall offer to the Lord in the day of their Consecration viz. the tenth part of an Epha of fine Flower half in the Morning and half at Night and it was to be wholly burnt on the Altar 3ly Concerning the Sin-Offering of which the Priest that offered it might eat except of such Sin-Offerings whereof the blood was to be carried into the Tabernacle viz. for the Transgression of the High Priest or of the whole Congregation Levit. 4. v. 5.16 or the yearly Sin-Offering on the day of Expiation Levit. 16.17 for these were to be burnt without the Camp but of other Sin-Offerings the Sons of Aaron might eat * Nihil cedebat offerentibus ex hostiis pro peccato delicto if they were free from legal uncleanness And if any of the blood of the Sin-Offering was casually sprinkled on any of the Garments of the Priest they were to be washed clean again in the Court of the Tabernacle where the washing-Laver stood If the flesh of the Sin-Offering was boiled in an Iron or Brass-pot it was to be rinsed or scoured but if in an Earthen pot because the liquor might possibly soak into it it was to be broken all which things seem to be appointed to shadow forth the Contagion of Sin Levit. 6. from 8 to the end 4ly Concerning the Trespass-Offering of which every male among the Priests might eat in the holy Place The Text says As is the Sin-Offering so is the Trespass-Offering there is one Law for them both that is the Priest was to have of this as He had of the other As to the Meat-Offerings they were to accompany those Sin and Trespass-Offerings if they were baked or fried and so to be eaten hot they were the Priests portion that offered them who might eat them presently but if the Meat-Offerings were mingled with Oil or were dry Flower not mingled with Oil such as was the Meat-Offering for Sin Ch. 5.11 these might be reserved to be dressed afterwards at their leisure and were equally to be divided among all the Priests 5ly Concerning the Peace-Offerings of which there were three sorts First Thank-Offerings for particular Mercies received which were to be accompanied with unleavened Cakes mingled with Oil and unleavened Wafers anointed with Oil and Cakes mingled with Oil of fine Flower fried And besides these Cakes the Offerer was to offer with his Sacrifice leaven'd bread For because this Meat-Offering was only for food to be eaten and no part of it to be burnt upon the Altar leaven is here allowed though otherwise forbidden as we may see Levit. 2.11 And it was allowed possibly that it might be a sign and intimation that this Oblation was before thought upon solemnly prepared and not suddenly offered And out of the whole Oblation the Offerer is appointed to offer one leavened Loaf for an Heave-Offering to the Lord and it was to go to the Priests that sprinkled the blood of the Peace-Offerings the rest was for the Offerer and his Family as the remainder of the Flesh after the Priest hath had his share was to be also Deut. 27.7 and Deut. 12.6 7. But the flesh of the Sacrifice of this kind of Peace-Offering was to be eaten the same day whereon it was offered both by Priest and people and not any of it to be kept until the next Morning 2ly Peace-Offerings that were offered by way of Vow that is which men vowed that they would give unto God if He would please to grant them such or such a Mercy and which when God had satisfied their desires they were to pay unto Him accordingly For these they had two days allowed them for the eating of them and what was left to the third day was to be burnt with fire * God possibly might intend hereby to teach them that He would be worshipped as He himself appointed and not as they in their own reason might think fit which if they did not observe their Sacrifice should not be imputed or reckoned to them as an acceptable Sacrifice by the Lord but rather as an abomination and such persons should be punished for their Iniquity 3ly Such Peace-Offerings as were brought as a voluntary offering by way of acknowledgment of the Lords goodness to them in the general Now the flesh of the Peace-Offerings not being to be eaten in the holy place but carried out thence after it had been killed at the Tabernacle and the fat burnt upon the Altar and eaten elsewhere see Levit. 10.14 if it were casually touched by any unclean person or thing order is here given that it should not then be eaten as an holy Sacrifice but burnt with fire because being so defiled it was not fit to represent Christ who was perfectly holy and pure But as to the flesh of the Sacrifice which remained clean and fit to be eaten all both Priests and Owners that were clean themselves might eat of it But if any being unclean either by reason of any natural uncleanness that was then upon them or by touch of any unclean thing did yet wittingly (l) If they did it ignorantly and unwittingly a Sacrifice of
cleansing of a Leper and the solemn Rites and Ceremonies that are to be used therein 1. The Priest was to take two live Sparrows and with a Scarlet-thread or lace see Heb. 9.19 to bind a sprinkler of Hyssop to a Cedar-stick and to kill one of the Birds over an Earthen-Vessel that had running-water in it and to dip the other living Bird and the sprinkler in it and so to sprinkle him that was to be cleansed seven times and so pronounce him clean and then to let the living Bird fly away and so the cleansed person was to wash himself and his Clothes and to shave off his hair and then to be admitted into the Camp Town or City but to continue apart by himself in some place or house appointed for the purpose seven days and on the seventh day he was to reiterate and repeat these Ceremonies again And on the eighth day if he were a rich man he was to offer two He-Lambs one for a Trespass-Offering vers 12. the other for a Burnt-Offering vers 19 20. and an Ewe-Lamb for a Sin-Offering and three Omers or Pottles of fine Flower as accessory Meat-Offerings to the three Sacrifices afore-mentioned mingled with a Log or half a pint of Oil. And the Priest was to put some of the blood of the Trespass-Offering upon the tip of his right Ear and Thumb of his right Hand and great toe of his right Foot and to do the same with the Oil upon the same parts where the blood was sprinkled and to pour the remainder of the Oil upon his Head after He had sprinkled some of it with his Finger seven times before the Tabernacle and so the Priest shall make atonement for him If he were poor his cleansing for the form and manner of it was to be the same only the matter of his offering was to be less and of less value Levit. 13. from 1. to 33. Lastly Laws are given concerning the Leprosie that might happen to be in an house (y) Aedes non habebant ante ingressum in Canaan Hanc Lepram vestium domorum non naturae sed Dei immissioni tribuunt voluntque eo fine incussam ut ab his veluti admoniti resipiscerent Muis and the signs and marks whereby it might be known to be in the walls thereof viz. hollow strakes greenish or reddish which in sight are lower than the wall and if it spread in the walls of the house then it is a fretting Leprosie For the cleansing of it the House was to be scraped within round about and that which was scraped off was to be carried out of the City into an unclean place and the stones were to be pulled out and new ones put in and the walls to be new plaistered And if the Plague came again and brake out in the House after this then the Priest was to pronounce it to be a fretting Leprosie and the House to be broken down and Stones and Timber and all carried out of the City into an unclean place The manner of cleansing of it if the Plague were healed and stopped was with Birds and running-water and a sprinkler of Hyssop tied with a Scarlet-thread to a Cedar-stick as before Levit. 14. from 33. to the end SECT XXXVI FIfthly Laws concerning the Ceremonial uncleanness in men by reason of their Issues either thorow weakness and disease or in their sleep and how they make other things and persons unclean and concerning the way of their cleansing by washing their Clothes and bathing their Flesh and on the eighth day offering two young Pigeons one for a Sin-Offering and the other for a Burnt-Offering Also concerning the uncleanness of women in their Flowers and how they make other things and persons (z) 'T is not like the Infants that lay in the arms and suckled on the Breasts of their Mothers when they were in this condition or those that performed a necessary and charitable ministration to them when they were in this condition were thereby rendred unclean unclean and the way of their cleansing by the like Sacrifices Levit. 15. whole Chapter SECT XXXVII ON the 14th day of this month at evening the Passover was celebrated according to Gods express Command (a) It seems they would not have kept this Passover without special warrant because by the first Institution they seem bound only to keep it in the Land of Canaan Exod. 12.25 and after this we find not that they kept any till they came into the Land Joshua Ch. 5. And now they kept it according to all the Rites of it excepting those special Rites which belonged only to the first Passover in Egypt as sprinkling of the door-posts and the eating of it standing c. On which day it seems some of the people complained to Moses and Aaron that they could not keep the Feast at that time with the rest of their Brethren because they were become unclean by touching a dead body and by a Law given Levit. 7.20 since the first institution of that Passover if they medled with holy things they were to be cut off Hereupon a Law (b) And by warrant it seems of this Law in Hezekiah's time there was a Passover kept on the 14th day of the second month when there were other occasions than those here mentioned that disabled them from keeping it at the usual time was made That all such persons that were so defiled or were in a journey or possibly under any other unavoidable hindrance should keep their Passover on the 14th day of the second month because they could not keep it on the day appointed Numb 9. from 1. to the 15. SECT XXXVIII AFter the death of Nadab and Abihu Moses seems to have received all those Laws from the Lord which we find recorded in the XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII and to the 10 vers of the XXIV Chapters of Leviticus 1. Laws concerning the High Priests coming into the most holy place once (c) Figuring the Sacrifice of Christ once made in the time of his life and no more Heb. 9.7 8 10 12. He was to enter into the most holy but once a year to minister and by way of Priestly ministration and expiation yet upon other occasions he and his Sons probably might enter at other times as at the taking down and setting up of the Tabernacle in their removals and journeys in the Wilderness and when they took thence the Ark upon several occasions as Josh 6.4 1 Sam. 4.3 a year to make an atonement on the tenth day of the seventh month See Exod. 30.10 Heb. 9.7 At which time Aaron was to be clothed not with the glorious Garments * Some Expositors conceive that those linnen Garments here spoken of vers 4. were those mentioned Exod. 28.39 which the High Priest wore under his other rich attire and that together with these here mentioned all His other rich Garments are to be understood also But others by comparing the 4th
those that profess themselves his people to carry themselves as those that serve a holy God with all possible care fear and reverence or else He will manifest his Holiness and Justice in punishing of them see Ezek. 28.22 And He having given them holy Laws as a means of their Sanctification He expects they should walk answerably thereunto and to the great Mercies He had vouchsafed to them Levit. 22. from 17. to the end 11ly Laws concerning the holy days and festival times to be observed by them 1. The weekly Sabbath which was to be observ'd in all their dwelling see Acts 15.21 Levit. 23. from 1. to 4. 2ly The Passover to be kept on the 14th day of the first month at Even or between the two Evenings that is between our Three a Clock in the Afternoon and Sun-set At the latter of these which was the beginning of the fifteenth day the Feast of unleavened bread began and continued seven days The first day of which and the last were to be holy Convocations and they were to do no servile (f) On the rest they might work unless the Sabbath fell on any of them work therein What the Sacrifices were that were to be offered on each of these seven days see Numb 28. from 18. to 26. On the second day of this Feast they were to bring a Sheaf of the First-fruits of their Barley-Harvest which is first ripe (g) See Exod. 9.31 32. Ruth 2.23 Their Wheat-Harvest was at Pentecost in that Country being ready about the end of our March or beginning of our April to the Priest who was to wave it before the Lord and then and not before they might reap their Harvest and dress of the Corn of it for themselves And an He-Lamb was appointed peculiarly to accompany this Sheaf besides the daily Sacrifice and those appointed for every one of the seven days and the Meat-Offering was to be double to the usual proportion in all other Sacrifices of Lambs * See Numb 15.4 perhaps because this was a gratulatory Sacrifice for the Fruits of the Earth And this is injoyn'd to be always observed by them as long as the Levitical Worship was to last From vers 4. to 15. 3ly The Feast of Weeks or Pentecost For from this second day they were to number seven compleat Sabbaths or Weeks which made 49 days then on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath or Week which was the 50th day reckoning the day on which they began their account inclusively they were to keep the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost and to offer a new Meat-Offering unto the Lord viz. two wave-Loaves of two tenth deals of fine Flower to be made in some of their Habitations of the new-wheat of their Land and to be offered as the First-fruits of their Wheat-Harvest which were to be waved by the Priest together with the Peace-Offerings And these Loaves were to be baked with leaven For though the Meat-Offerings which were in part to be burnt upon the Altar were always to be without leaven see Levit. 2.11 yet these of the First-fruits which were wholly for the Priests food were allowed to be leavened They were also to offer with the Bread seven Lambs of the first year and one young Bullock and two Rams for a Burnt-Offering and one Kid for a Sin-Offering and two Lambs of the first year for a Peace-Offering To these in this Feast were to be added other Oblations as we may see Numb 28.27 And whereas ordinarily the Priest had but the right shoulder and breast of the Peace-Offering * Levit. 7.31 32 33. here he was to have all because this was offered in general for the whole Congreation and no man in such a common concernment having right to challenge a singular portion to himself all was assigned to the Priest This Feast was to be kept as an holy Convocation and no servile work to be done thereon partly by way of thankfulness for the Fruits of the Earth and partly in remembrance of the giving of the Law * See Sect. 13. of Ch. 4. at this time of the year at Mount Sinah Levit. 23. from vers 15. to 22. 4ly The Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the seventh month so call'd because solemniz'd with blowing of Trumpets by way of rejoycing as 't is thought thorow all the Cities of Israel see Psal 81.3 It was to be a Sabbath or an holy day and solemn Feast unto the Lord Numb 29.1 and they were to do no servile work thereon and it was to be a Memorial to them that this was the first day of their new Year as to civil affairs * For Ecclesiastical matters God appointed the month Nisan or Abib which answereth to part of our March and part of our April to be the first month of the year and that in remembrance of their coming then out of Egypt Exod. 12.2 The seventh month from thence was called Tizri and began about the middle of our September and had been formerly the first month of their year yea and so continued still for civil affairs See Sect. 1. of Ch. 1. Therefore the Year of Jubilee began still at this month and was on the tenth day thereof viz. on the day of Expiation proclaimed Chap. 25.9 The first day of every month which was their new Moon they kept as an holy day a day of special Solemnity and thereon the Priests did blow with their Silver Trumpets over their Sacrifices see Numb 10.10 But the first day of this seventh month was kept as a far more solemn Festival the reason thereof was because this was the beginning of their new Year as to civil affairs And it was also to put them in mind of the special holiness of this month For as the Seventh day of every week was a Sabbath and every seventh Year a Sabbatical Year so God would have the seventh month of every Year to be holy to Himself in some singular manner above the rest of the months What the Sacrifices appointed for this Feast were see Numb 29. from 1. to 7. Levit. 23. from vers 23. to 26. 5ly The day of atonement on the tenth day of this seventh month on which day they were to afflict their Souls by fasting and abstinence from all fleshly delights as also by the inward duties of Humiliation and Contrition and that under the severe penalty of being cut off in case of presumptuous neglect The Solemnity began on the Evening or foregoing the tenth day Levit. 23.32 but the tenth day to the evening was chiefly allotted for this Service on which there was to be offered to the Lord just as much as on the first day see Numb 29. from 7. to the 12. on this day was the Jubilee to be proclaimed Levit. 25.9 Levit. 23. from vers 26. to 33. 6ly The Feast of Tabernacles which began on the fifteenth day of this month and lasted seven days On this day it seems they made their Booths
totius populi Deo ministrarent Vide Jansen Jubentur Levitae se convertere ad omnes mundi plagas ut indicarent se illi Deo servituros qui in omnibus mundi plagis erat Potens Freidlib to the Lord which possibly he did by making them turn themselves towards the four Quarters of Heaven thereby signifying they were offered up to the Service of the great God of the whole World see Exod. 29.24 4ly Aaron and his Sons were to offer two young Bullocks one for a Burnt-Offering the other for a Sin-Offering to make atonement for them The Levites themselves were also to lay their hands on the heads of the Bullocks by that Rite testifying their Faith in the Mâ—ssias prefigured by those Sacrifices by whom they expected forgiveness of sins and Sanctification for the work of their Ministry 5ly Then Moses was to present the Levites unto Aaron giving them unto him and his Sons the Priests for perpetual Assistants and under-Ministers These things being performed the Levites were to go into the Court of the Priests for into the Tabernacle it self they might not enter and to do there the Service (l) V. 19. And do the service of the Children of Israel that is the Service which else they themselves must have performed by their first-born if God had not taken the Levites in their stead belonging to them and to be subservient to the Priests when they offered those Sacrifices whereby atonement was made for the sins of the people that so all things being done according to the appointment of God he might be pleased with the people and send no Plague (m) See an example of such a Plague 2 Chron. 26.16 in Uzziah upon them which otherwise he would do if they themselves intermeddled with these holy Services All these things were done according as here enjoyned And so the Levites entred upon the actual execution of their Office Numb Ch. 8. from vers 5. (n) For the four first Verses of this Chapter See the Paraphrase on Exod. 25. v. 37 c. to 23. SECT XLVI MOses having now fully finished the erection of the Tabernacle and ordered all things thereunto belonging and having since numbred the people and placed the Tribes and the Levites in their several stations about the Tabernacle and having Consecrated the Levites and appointed them to their particular Charges the Princes before mentioned Ch. 1.4 that were set over the numbring of the people brought their Offerings for the carriage of the Tabernacle in their Marches and Removes viz. Every two of these Princes offered one covered Waggon six in all and every Prince an Ox twelve in all Moses hereupon gave two Waggons and four Oxen to the Gershonites for their Service and four Waggons and eight Oxen to the Merarites for theirs because under their Custody and Charge were the boards and heavy things of the Tabernacle see Chap. 3.36 and therefore twice as many Oxen and Waggons were allotted to them To the Cohathites because the Charge of the most holy things belonged unto them which they were to carry upon their Shoulders they had no Waggons assigned them These things being done the twelve Princes the Heads of their Tribes brought their great and splendid Offerings for the more solemn and magnificent dedicating of the Altar Indeed Moses first offered Burnt-Offerings and other Sacrifices thereon seven days together for the Consecrating of the Priests Levit. 8. which was in the first month of the second year and the next day after Aaron and his Sons offered Sacrifices thereon for himself and the people in general see Levit. 9.7 But now in the second month of the second year when the Tribes were all placed about the Tabernacle the Princes brought their Offerings twelve days together And because these were the first Offerings that were offered for any particular Tribes they were said to be offered for the dedicating of the Altar that is for the more solemn dedicating of it to those holy Vses and Services to which it was at first ordain'd and they were said to be offered not on the day it was first but on the day it was most fully and completely anointed and dedicated These Offerings being to be offered not altogether but on twelve days successively upon the first day Nahshon from whom David and according to the Flesh our Lord and Saviour came made his Offering for the Tribe of Judah which was one Silver Charger of an 130 Shekels for the use of the Altar of Burnt-Offering one Silver Bowl of 70 Shekels both full of fine Flower mingled with Oil for a Meat-Offering one Spoon of ten Shekels of Gold full of Incense one young Bullock one Ram one Lamb of the first year for a Burnt-Offering one Kid of the Goats for a Sin-Offering and for a Sacrifice of Peace-Offerings two Oxen (o) Of these the Princes with the Priests did eat and so kept a Feast of joy before the Lord for his great mercy to them five Rams five He-Goats five Lambs of the first year This was the noble Offering of Nahshon and every one of the Princes of the other Tribes each one on his day in his order offered the like Offering both for kind and quantity After all these things were thus done Moses went into the Tabernacle to receive further Directions from the Lord and the Lord spake unto him from the Mercy-Seat according as he had promised (p) See Exod. 25.21 to do Numb Ch. 7. whole Chapter SECT XLVII CErtain Laws are now given them which did concern the whole Congregation First Touching removing those that were defiled by Leprosie or had a running Issue or had touched a dead body out of the Camp till they were cleansed and purified according to the Order prescribed in that case For seeing the divine Presence was among them and they encamped round about the Tabernacle it was fit they should keep themselves from all uncleanness Numb Ch. 5. from 1. to 5. 2ly When any man or woman shall commit any sin whereunto by reason of humane frailty they are subject to fall to wit in regard of any wrong done to their Neighbour which is a sin highly displeasing to God then they shall confess their fault and make satisfaction not only by restoring the whole Principal but by adding a fifth part (q) Exod. 22. The Thief that had stolen was appointed to restore double what he had taken away yea in some cases four-fold and five-fold But those Laws were enacted for such against whom the Crime was proved by witnesses in a legal way But this is for those that did voluntarily confess the wrong they had done in which case the Lord imposeth a lighter penalty thereunto But if the party were dead to whom the wrong was done then the recompence must be made to his Heir or next Kinsman (r) This the Hâ—brews understand of trespasses done to strangers For they say there is no man in Israel without an Heir or Kinsman either
He was to wave them before the Lord and so they became his portion with the wave-breast and heave-shoulder the rest of the flesh and bread was to be eaten by the Owners that presented them These are the Offerings which a Nazarite who is to be discharged of his Vow is to offer besides what of his own free will he shall vow to give out of the estate which he hath gotten and wherewith God hath blessed him The former Offerings were prescribed by God and so necessarily to be offered both by Poor and Rich but if the Nazarite being rich vowed any more Offerings He must perform his vow accordingly These things being performed the Nazarite was discharged of his vow and had liberty to drink Wine again if he thought good Numb 6. from 1. to 2â— SECT XLIX THe Lord now prescribes to Aaron and his Sons how they should solemnly bless the people viz. lifting up their hands (x) See Levit. 9.22 they should say unto them The Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you The Lord lift up his Countenance upon you and give you peace Thus they were to put Gods Name upon the people that is to bless them in his Name and the Lord promises thereupon to bless them Numb 6. from 22. to the end SECT L. God now Commands two (y) At first there were but two Trumpets appointed viz. for Aaron's two Sons But the number of Priests increasing in Solomons time there were an 120 Priests sounding with Trumpets 2 Chron. 5.12 These Trumpets were signs of the ministry of the Word and the Office of Teaching discharged by men called and fitted silver Trumpets to be made for Aaron's two Sons Eleazar and Ithamar (z) The Priests are appointed to be Trumpeters that the people might entertain the sound thereof as given by the direction of God and accordingly conform themselves thereunto see Numb 31.6 2 Chron. 13.12 The use of these Trumpets was 1. To assemble the Congregation before the Lord in his Sanctuary 2ly To give warning and direction for their marching towards the Land of Canaan 3ly To encourage the people when they went forth to War 4ly To excite their joy and rejoycing at their solemn Festivals They were to blow with both Trumpets when all the people were to assemble at the door of the Tabernacle and to blow but with one Trumpet when only the Princes and Heads of the people were to come together unto Moses And when the Camps were to remove they were to blow an Alarm or Taratantara (a) V. 7. Clangetis non Tarantarizabitis Hic distinguit inter Clangere Taratantizare Freidlib and so the Camps that lay Eastward or Southward Northward or Westward were to move according to the several soundings of the Trumpet But when the Congregation was to be gathered together they were not to sound in that manner And only the Priests were to blow with Trumpets as long as the Priesthood and this Dispensation was to last And wheh the people were to go out to War the Priests were to sound an Alarm which was to be a sign to them that the Lord remembred their danger and would help them against their Enemies They were also to blow with these Trumpets on their solemn Festivals (b) V. 10. In their solemn days wherein honest chearfulness was not only allowed but injoyned Deut. 16.14 and days of rejoycing and on their new Moons over their Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings and this was to be to them for a Memorial before the Lord that is as a sign and token that if they performed this Service in faith of Gods mercy and with joyful and glad hearts the Lord would remember them and would hear their prayers and accept their Sacrifices Numb 10. from 1. to 11. SECT LI. ABout this time Jethro Prince of Midian a Country lying south from hence towards the Red-Sea Father-in-law to Moses repaired hither to give his Son-in-law a visit and brought with him Zipporah his Daughter Mose's wife and his two Sons Gershom and Eliezer which were left with him when Moses went into Egypt See Sect. 60. of Chap. 3. Moses hearing of his coming went out to meet him and did Obeysance to him and kissed him and bringing him into his Tent He acquainted him with all the wonderful things the Lord had done for them Jethro blesses God and Congratulates to Moses and the whole people of Israel their Deliverance out of the Egyptian Bondage he openly declares both by word and deed his Faith and Devotion towards the God of Israel Now says he I am assur'd the God of Israel is greater then all Gods for in the thing wherein the Egyptians were proud and haughty he was above them And Jethro after the manner of the Patriarchs (c) Forsan obtulit non immediate sed per sacerdotes Sic David sacrificasse fertur 2 Sam. 24.25 Solomon 1 Reg. 8.63 nempe mediantibus sacerdotibus offered Burnt-Offerings and Sacrifices of Thanksgiving * Ex quibus maxima pars cedebat offerentibus unto God and Aaron and the Elders of Israel came to pay their Respects to him and to Feast with him upon those Sacrifices before the Lord (d) See Deut. 12.6 7. 1 Chron. 29.21 that is in the fear of the Lord and having the Lord in their eyes and being sensible of the Majesty of God appearing in the Cloudy Pillar On the morrow after Moses sat to judge the people and the people stood by him from Morning to Evening Jethro observing this and how the people came to Moses to inquire of the Lord for them both concerning religious and civil Affairs he fairly Chides him for his wearing out himself with continual imployment and the people with continual attendance and therefore advises him to take a better Course which he doubted not but by the blessing of God would be much for his own and the peoples ease Be thou says he for the people God-ward that is in matters of greater difficulty and importance where there is need of one to inquire of God there do thou still imploy thy self in seeking to the Lord for them and in returning answers from the Lord to them and shew them the way wherein they should walk and the work that they should do But as to other matters of lesser moment and easily to be decided chuse out from among the people able men men fearing God and men of truth and fidelity and hating Covetousness and make some of them Rulers over Thousands others over Hundreds others over Fifties and others over Tens and let them Judge the people at all seasons in matters of less difficulty but matters of greater moment let them bring to thee And so these Rulers will bear some part of the burden with thee and all will not lie on thy shoulders as now it does and the people hereby will have their matters sooner determined and dispatched without so
long attendance and so will go to their several Tents and Dwellings in peace having their minds quieted Moses consulting with the people about this Proposal they liked it very well see Deut. 1.13 14. and so he immediately put it in practice substituting such Governors under himself so that every Tribune appointed to Judge over a thousand Families had under him ten Centurions or Judges that were over an hundred Families a piece and every Centurion had under him two Rulers that were over fifty Families a piece and every Ruler over fifty had under him five Rulers which were set over ten (e) Parallel to this was the original Institution of our English Tything-men a word still in use in the West-Country being an Officer to oversee ten men with their Families This Tythingman is the same Officer which in other places is call'd the Petty Constable Families a piece And so it is like the inferour Officers gave account of those under their Care to their immediate Superiors Deut. 1. from 9. to 19. Exod. 18. whole Chapter SECT LII ON the 20th day of the second month of the second year after their coming out of Egypt the Cloudy-Pillar arising from off the Tabernacle and going in the forefront of their Camp the Israelites removed from Sinai where they had staid in that their 12th station a whole year (f) They came into the Wilderness of Sinai in the beginning of the third month of the first year see Deut. 1.6 7 8. and Sect. 13. of Ch. 4th within 13 days see Exod. 19.1 towards the Wilderness of Paran (g) In this Wilderness they journied a long time and in several places of it pitched their Tents They marched in such order and array as God had appointed by the direction of Moses Their Camp was divided into four Squadrons every Squadron consisting of three Tribes In the Van marched the Tribe of Judah with its associate Tribes Issachar and Zebulon under their respective Commanders of Thousands and Hundreds with a Standard having the figure of a Lion Immediately after them marched the Gershonites and Merarites who had the charge of the outward Tabernacle They marched formost of all the Levites that so they might be ready when the Army stayed to set up the Tabernacle against the Ark and the other holy things came that were carried by the Kohathites The Tribe of Reuben led the second Squadron in like manner with its associate Tribes Simeon and Gad with a Standard bearing the figure of a man as the Jewish Writers tell us Next to this Standard and so in the middle of the Camp marched the Kohathites bearing the Ark and the most holy Vtensils of the Tabernacle on their shoulders The Tribe of Ephraim led the third Squadron with their associate Tribes Manasseh and Benjamin with a Standard bearing the figure of an Ox. The Tribe of Dan with their associate Tribes Asher and Naphtali made up the fourth Squadron and brought up the Rear with a Standard bearing the figure of an Eagle The Army being thus set in Order and ready to march Moses desires Jethro * Called also Hobab see Sect. 56. of Ch. 3. his Father-in-law to go along with them telling him They would do him good and no hurt for God had promised to be gracious unto them and to own them for his people But Jethro refused to go telling him He would return to his own Country Moses presses him again to go with them telling him He might be in stead of Eyes to them in that howling Wilderness thorow which they were to march that is his prudent Counsel of which they had newly had experience might very much advantage them especially in things not particularly directed by God And if he would please to go along with them what goodness and bounty the Lord should shew to them he should share in and partake of But it seems he refused to go along with them being desirous to return to his own Countrey see Exod. 18.27 However either He or some of his Family returned afterwards unto the Israelites For his Posterity in after-times dwelt among the Israelites in the Land of Canaan as we may see Judg. 1.16 and Judg. 4.11 17. and 1 Sam. 15.6 Numb Ch. 10. from 11. to 33. SECT LIII MOses and the Children of Israel now depart from the Mount of the Lord viz. from Sinai and Horeb where He had appear'd so Eminently to them and given them his Law and the Ark (h) Profecta est in conspectu eorum i. e. arca in mediis castris a sacerdotibus gestata versabatur in oculis omnium Malvenda Pro uno reputantur arca columna cum arca semper sub Columna procederet Bochart went before them or in their sight and the Cloudy-Pillar over that for three days together when they marched to find out a fit place for them to pitch their Tents in And when the Cloud was lifted up and the four Squadrons with the Ark set forward and marched Moses said Arise O Lord and let thine Enemies be scattered and let them that hate thee flee before thee And when the Ark rested according to the direction of the Cloud he said Return (i) Revertere respondet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 surge Nam qui surgit quasi abiturus surgit Certo Nubes cum se attolleret abire videbatur Dr. O Lord unto the many thousands of Israel that is Return I pray thee and remain among thy people for in thy presence their chief joy and safety consist see Exod. 33.14 15 16. Numb 10. from the 33. to the end SECT LIV. THe people being now wearied with their three days march it seems some that were in the rear of the Camp began to murmur that they were forced to so long and tedious marches whereupon the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and He either poured down fire upon them from Heaven or caused it to break forth upon them from the Earth and it consumed many of them see Psal 78.21 The Israelites not knowing what to do run to Moses having a great opinion of his holiness and especial interest in the favour of God and intreat him to intercede with the Lord for them which he accordingly does and so the fire ceased The place where this Judgment was executed was hereupon called Taberah signifying a burning because the fire of the Lord here brake out upon them and consumed many among them Numb Ch. 11. from 1. to 4. SECT LV. THe people not having now any other Food but Manna to eat the mixt multitude among them of which see Exod. 12.38 not being sufficiently warned by the former Judgment began to loath it and to murmur that they had nothing else to eat And the Israelites it seems soon joyned with them in this their Complaint and murmuring saying in a discontented humor Who shall give us flesh to eat as if they had said we had plenty of Flesh in Egypt and great variety of Fowl We
burn Incense was within the Tabernacle at the Altar of Incense but this was an extraordinary occasion and a means enjoyned for the discovery of the Lords will whither these men or only Aaron and his Sons as formerly should enter into the Tabernacle to execute the Priests Office Corah having assembled his Confederates and the generality of the people before the Tabernacle and not finding Dathan and Abiram there as it should seem went to their Tents to talk with them see Ch. 26.10 and probably from them He went to his own Tent before Moses and the Elders came to the Tabernacle as presently they did In the mean time the 250 Conspirators on the one side taking fire from the Altar and putting it into their Censers and laying Incense thereon and Aaron near to whom Moses stood doing the like on the other God now signifies his approach and the actual manifestation of his Presence by the descending of the Cloud which used to hover over the Tabernacle to the door (x) See vers 42. of this Chap. and Ch. 12.5 thereof And the Lord spake to Moses and Aaron saying Separate your selves from among this Congreation that I may consume these Conspirators and all that joyn with them in a moment Then Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before the Lord and said O God the God of the Spirits of all Flesh who formest the spirit of man within him Zach. 12.1 and seest and knowest the spirits and hearts of all men and art able to discern between those that sin obstinately and those that are only seduced by others and drawn hither only to see what would be done Shall one man sin viz. Corah the chief Incendiary and wilt thou be wroth with the whole Congregation Upon this intercession the Lord was pleased to spare the people that would depart from these Rebells And then imparting to Moses what He intended to do commands him to warn the Congregation to get away from the Tents of Corah Dathan and Abiram Moses accordingly rose up many of the Elders of Israel accompanying him to denounce the Judgment of God against these Conspirators and he warns the Congregation to depart from the Tents of these wicked men and to get far from them and to touch nothing of theirs as judging all that they have execrable and accursed lest they perish (y) V. 26. Lest you be consumed in all their sins that is lest you be destroyed in the Judgment that will fall upon them for all their sins the cause is here put for the effect in the Judgment which was ready to fall upon them for their great Sins and Provocations The people accordingly did so and fled from the Tents of these men but Dathan and Abiram impudently came out and stood in the doors of their Tents with their Wives and Children as if they intended to out-face Moses and scorned the Judgment he threatned against them Moses then sayed Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me and hath appointed me to take upon my self the Government of this people and hath conferred the Priesthood on Aaron and his Sons and that I have not done these things on my own head If these men die the common and ordinary death of other men then the Lord hath not sent me But if the Lord by his Almighty Power do work a new and hitherto-unheard of Miracle so that the Earth open her mouth and swallow them up quick then you must needs acknowledge that I am innocent and that these men have highly provoked the Lord. Moses having made an end of speaking the Earth immediately opened her mouth and swallowed up * An undoubted evidence of Gods concurrence with the ministry of Moses and withall an undoubted assurance of the divine truth of Moses's Writings these Rebels and all that appertained to them that were there present And the same it seems happened and probably at the same time to Corah and his Family as appeareth Numb 26.10 only some of his Children who as 't is like joyned not in their Fathers sin or if they did soon repented of it and gave over and departed from their Fathers Tent at Moses's warning were spared And of their Race came such as either composed some of the Psalms or at least were famous Singers in the Temple and Samuel also the great Prophet and Judge in Israel was of that Race see 1 Chron. 6.33 to 38. Thus perished the Ringleaders of this Rebellion All the Israelites that were near them fled at the Cry of them fearing lest the Earth should swallow up them also And as a further addition to the dreadfulness of this Judgment there came fire out from the Lord and consumed their 250 Confederates who had offered Incense and usurped the Priests Office They are punished with fire as by fire they had offended see Levit. 10.2 Moses now by Gods Command appointeth Eleazar the Son of Aaron to gather up the Censers from among the ashes of the dead bodies of these men that were burnt and consumed and to scatter the fire that was in them without the Court of the Tabernacle as shewing that God rejected it and their Service and abhorred their Sacrifice And he tells him That the Censers of these Sinners against their own Souls were now hallowed (z) Sanctificata dicuntur quia ex deputatione Dei servire deinceps debebant divina gloriae illustrandae having been presented before the Lord by his Commandment and he orders him to make broad Plates of them for a covering of the Altar (a) A parte anteriori altaris ponebantur ut a populo conspici possint of Burnt-Offerings which was covered with Plates of Brass before see Exod. 27.2 And the less need there was of them the fitter they were to be a sign of Gods Judgment against presumptuous Conspirators and of his vindicating and clearing the innocency of his faithful Servants and to be a Memorial to the Children of Israel that all Israelites and Levites excepting Aaron's Sons are to be reckoned as Strangers in respect of the Priests Office and may not aspire to it lest they perish as Corah and his Confederates did However the very next morning after those dismal Judgments had been executed all the Congregation of the people that were inclined to this Faction whose lives Moses had saved the day before by praying to the Lord for them murmured against Him and Aaron and peremptorily told them That they had killed the Lords people Moses and Aaron being thus injuriously charged looked up to God as having no other Refuge or Shelter to fly unto and immediately behold the Cloud descended upon the Tabernacle as a sign of the approach and actual manifestation of the glorious Presence of God and that he intended to speak something unto them Moses and Aaron presenting themselves before the Lord the Lord bad them get them up presently from among this rebellious Company that he might consume them in a moment But they fell
comes now to set out their portion which they should have as a reward of their Service And first He tells Aaron that for the sake of his Office to which he was anointed and because He and his Sons were separated from worldly Imployments to attend upon holy things therefore they should have a part in every Meat-Offering Sin-Offering Trespass-Offering and in the Court * See Levit. 6.16.26 Lev. 7.6 Ezek. 42 13 14. of the Tabernacle or Tents round about it called here the most holy place comparatively in respect to the Camp of Israel and the great Court for the people which was without the Priests Court they might eat of them 2ly They should have the Heave-Offerings and Wave-Offerings that is the right Shoulder and wave-breast of the Peace-Offerings with all other Gifts that were heaved and waved no part thereof being burnt upon the Altar And of these the Priests Daughters might eat whilst they remained in their Fathers house but being married to strangers they might not eat of the holy things see Levit. 22.12 13. Neither might any unclean person eat thereof 3ly They should have the first-fruits Some of the first-fruits of the Land were brought to the Lord at their three great Feasts as a sheaf of their Barley at the Feast of the Passover Levit. 23.10 And two loaves of their new-Wheat at the Feast of Pentecost vers 17. And the first of their Wine and Oil at the Feast of Tabernacles But these were brought in the name of all the Inhabitants of the Land in general Besides these particular men were of their own Corn and Fruits to bring the first-fruits unto the Lord as is enjoyned Exod. 22.29 23.19 concerning which there is no other direction given but that they should be of the first and of the best the quantity being left to the liberty and discretion of the Owner to bring according as he had found the blessing of God upon his Grounds 4ly They should have all things devoted that is all votive and freewill-Offerings see Levit. 27.28 except such things as were devoted as a Sacrifice unto God 5ly The first-born of men and beasts The first-born * The first-born of men before they were redeemed were to be presented before the Lord in the Temple Exod. 13.12 Levit. 2.22 And that could not be done before the Mother was purified which required forty days time Levit. 12.4 The first-born of the Tribe of Levi were free from this Redemption of men they were to permit to be redeem'd at a month old (d) V. 16. Secundum aestimationem seu ordinationem tuam Refero ad illud post mensem q. d. Constitues diem quando velles eum redimi Hic dies Communi usu erat 40 a partu ut eadem opera mater purificaretur filius redimeretur Bonfrerius for five Shekels see Levit. 27.6 and the firstlings of unclean Beasts they were to permit to be redeemed after eight days at a lower price but the firstlings of Cows Sheep and Goats were not to be redeemed they must be sacrific'd and their blood sprinkled and their fat burnt on the Altar that they may be a sweet savour to the Lord but their flesh should go to the Priests God tells them He had allotted them these things for their Maintenance (e) The Hebrew Doctors write of 24 Gifts which God bestowed on the Priests with the order and use of them See Ainsworth pag. 113. for ever that is whilst this Dispensation lasted by a perpetual and unchangeable Covenant called a Covenant of Salt because firm and incorruptible Salt having a vertue to preserve any thing from corruption God further tells Aaron That when the Land shall be divided by Lot there shall be no lot for the Levites They should have no Inheritance in it He himself would be their part and portion Indeed they had Cities (f) Concerning the 35 Cities and Suburbs of the Levites and 13 Cities and Suburbs of the Priests See Richardson pag. 32. and Suburbs but they were given them by the other Tribes The Lord further tells Aaron That He had given the Levites all the Tenths or Tythes of the Children of Israel (g) V. 24. Which they offered as an Heave-offering that is an Oblation to the Lord and a sign of their homage and subjection and thankfulness to him for his blessings as a reward of their Service Levit. 27.30 And straitly charges that no Israelite that is not of that Tribe presume to come nigh to the Tabernacle to do any part of the Service belonging to the Levites lest they die for it And He tells him That the Levites should bear the punishment of their own Iniquity if they should transgress yea and of the peoples too if by their not watching over the holy things they suffered the people to transgress about them He further injoyns that the Levites shall offer as an Oblation to the Lord and pay a tenth of all the Tythes they receive unto the Priests and this the Lord would accept at their hands no less than if having Lands as others had they should pay Tythe of the increase of them as the rest of the people did to them and hereby they should testifie their homage and thankfulness to God And they were to offer and separate out of the Tythes paid to them for the hallowed part to be paid to the Priests that which was of all the best And the Priests might eat of these Tythes indifferently in any place And He further declares That if the Levites do heave or separate a tenth part of the best of their Tythes for the Priests use they shall not expose themselves to punishment which they would else do if they neglected it In conclusion here is added a general warning that both Priests and Levites should take heed of polluting or profaning the holy things or suffering them to be profaned by others which might be done many ways that so they might prevent wrath from falling on themselves and others Ch. 18. whole Chapter SECT LXVI THe Lord having appointed the Priests and Levites to do the Service of the Tabernacle and to watch over the people that they might not trangress about any of the holy things He here appoints a water of separation to be made that so if any of the people had contracted any legal uncleanness by the sprinkling of this water upon them they might be cleansed and so might come freely again to the Service of God in the Tabernacle without fear of those Plagues which otherwise their pollutions might bring upon them For the making of this water a red Heifer was to be provided and that by the common charge of all the Children of Israel because it was to be for the common good of them all and for the cleansing of any one among them that was by any accident legally unclean It must be an Heifer without spot and upon which never came yoke For they used in those times to
whom was the Spirit of God and an extraordinary measure of Grace he employs that short time in faithfully instructing the people and earnestly exhorting them to walk steadfastly in the ways of God He rehearses to them several remarkable Occurrences and passages of divine Providence which had happened to them during their forty years travels in the Wilderness not binding himself always to exact order as to times and places in his Narration that they might remember them for their benefit And this being for the most part a new Generation the old rebellious Stock having perished in the Wilderness He sets himself to instruct them in the Laws and Statutes of God not only repeating them to them but explaining and amplyfying many of them and adding some new ones * Hence this Book is call'd Deuteronomy or a second Declaration of the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi secunda vel secundaria Lex Repetitio est praecipuarum Legum ac monitorum in eorum gratiam qui tempore promulgatae Legis aut nondum nati aut per aetatem intelligendi incapaces erant Cum quibus Moses hic instaurat foedus praeterea quaedam hic nova addita to them He causes them to enter into a solemn Covenant to serve the Lord faithfully He Predicts and foretells what would befal them hereafter and solemnly blesses them before his death Chap. I And first He reminds them of Gods calling Israel from Horeb to march towards Canaan He tells them how when they had continued well nigh a full year at Horeb * In journying from Egypt to Kadesh-barnea they spent about two years and from thence to the fields of Moab about 38 years whereas from Horeb or Sinai to Canaan it was but about 11 or 12 days Journey had they not provoked God by their sins to keep them wandring in the Wilderness so long God commanded them to march towards Canaan the borders of which he describes towards the South West North and East Deut. Ch. 1. from 1. to 9. 2. He reminds them how about that time by the advice of Jethro his Father-in-law he set Judges and Officers over the people For says he finding my self not able to bear the weight and burden of governing so great a people alone I said unto you The Lord hath multiply'd you as the Stars of Heaven and the Lord God of your Fathers make you a thousand times so many more as you are and bless you choose out therefore from among you wise and understanding men and I will make them Heads over you I will Constitute some of them to be Rulers over Thousands others to be Rulers over Hundreds others Rulers over Fifties and others to be Rulers over Tens And I charged the Judges at that time that they should judge rightâ—ously between man and man and not respect persons in Judgment but should hear the small as well as the great that they should not be afraid of men for the Judgment is Gods that is it is ordained by him and to be executed in his Name and the Judges representing his Person and sitting in his Seat should in judging follow the Rule by him prescribed and should judge justly as God Himself would do see 2 Chron. 19.6 And I further said If ye find any Cause too hard for you to determine bring it unto me And many other things I delivered and taught the Judges their duty in a more full and ample manner than now I express Deut. Ch. 1. from 9. to 19. 3. He shews them that when they left Horeb they marched thorow all that great and terrible Wilderness a Land where no man dwelt and wherein were fiery Serpents and Scorpions Deut. 8.15 a Land extream barren and destitute of all things necessary for the sustenance of man except by miraculous supply and came to Kadesh-Barnea Then says he I said unto you Ye are come to the Mountain of the Amorites the border of the Land which the Lord our God hath given unto us Go ye up therefore and possess it as God has commanded you fear not nor be discouraged But ye desired that Spies * Atque hic certum est Exploratores esse exigente populi incredulitate missos Deum Ducem sequi dâ—bebant Cananaeos fidenter aggredi Sed Dei promissis fidem non habebant Deut. 9.23 might first be sent to search the Land and to inform you concerning it and concerning the way wherein you must go up to take possession of it and what Cities you must first assault And I having inquired of the Lord concerning it Numb 13.3 and the Lord giving way to it or at least permitting it I was content with it and took twelve men one of a Tribe and they went up into the Mountain and came to the Valley of Eshcol And the Spies brought back some of the fruits of the Land namely Grapes Pomegranates and Figgs and said The Land was a very good Land But ye refused to go up and so rebelled against the Commandment of the Lord. And ye murmured in your Tents and said Because the Lord hated us he hath brought us forth out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites and to destroy us You further said Our Brethren whom we sent as Spies have discouraged us viz. all of them but Caleb and Joshua They tell us The people of that Land are greater and taller then we their Cities are great and walled up to Heaven moreover they tell us That the Sons of the Anakims those great Giants are there Then said I dread them not nor be afraid of them For the Lord your God goeth before you and will fight for you as he did in Egypt and as he hath hitherto done for you in the Wilderness there you have seen how the Lord by his Almighty Power hath born you as a Father takes up and carries his Child in his arms and hath born with your manners and perverseness as a tender Father doth with a froward Child Yet notwithstanding this incouragement you did not believe * This unbelief the Apostle notes to be the cause why they entred not into the Land of Promise Heb. 4.6 in the Lord your God who went before you to search out a place for you to pitch your Tents in in a Pillar of Cloud by day and a Pillar of Fire by night And the Lord was angry at your Murmurings and Vnbelief and sware there should not one of that evil Generation see that good Land Numb 14.23 save Caleb the Son of Jephunneh who followed the Lord fully and Joshua the Son of Nun Numb 14.6 30 38. And says he the Lord hath since that time at the other Kadesh been angry with me for your sakes For being moved with your Provocations I offended both in unadvised Speeches and distrust and thereupon the Lord said I should not go into the Land Numb 20.1 2 12. But Joshua who is continually about me to minister unto me He should go into it therefore
hear and rightly consider these Statutes and they will say Surely this great Nation is a wise and understanding people For what other great Nation is there which hath God so nigh unto them and always dwelling among them as these Israelites have as is evident by the miraculous signs of his Presence among them and his readiness always to hear their prayers and to defend and protect them from all evils And indeed what other Nation is there that hath Statutes and Judgments so righteous * Ex legibus de populis fit juditium as is this Law which I am to set before you this day You ought therefore to take heed lest you forget the great things God hath done for you and that they may never be forgotten I exhort you to teach them your Sons and your Sons Sons And especially remember the day when you stood †Most of those that stood then at Horeb were dead see Ch. 2.14 15 16. But many that were then young were now alive before the Lord in Horeb when God commanded me to gather the people together to hear his words that they might learn to fear Him all the days of their life and might teach them unto their Children And ye came near and stood under the Mountain and the Mountain burnt with fire unto the midst of Heaven * Per hyperbolen significat quod vehementer altissime flammas evomeret and there were great Tempests and thick darkness And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire Ye heard the voice of his words but saw no Similitude of Him at all And he declared unto you his Covenant viz. the Condition required on your part namely Obedience and Observance of his ten Commandments which He wrote upon two Tables of stone And besides those ten Commandments which the Lord himself gave you He not long after that time gave me other Statutes and Judgments viz. the Ceremonial and Judicial Laws which he commanded me to teach you Take heed therefore unto your selves lest you corrupt your selves by Idolatry or by making any Image of God for remember you saw no manner of similitude of Him at Horeb or any figure of Man Beasts Birds creeping things or Fishes to represent Him Take heed also of worshipping the Host of Heaven the Sun Moon and Stars which are so far from being Gods that God hath created them for the common use of man and the service of all Nations And you Israelites ought above all people to be careful not to dishonour God by such gross Idolatry because He hath brought you forth by an out-stretched Arm out of the Iron-Furnace of Egypt and hath taken you to Himself as his own peculiar people and as his own Possession as you see this day Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes and sware that I should not go over Jordan but should die in this Land However ye shall go over and possess †Moses being sure of Heaven envies not those that should inherit the earthly Canaan it Take heed therefore lest ye forget the Covenant of the Lord your God and especially take heed of Idolatry or making any graven Image to represent God which he hath so severely forbidden For God is a jealous God jealous of having the Worship due only to Himself given to any Creature He is a consuming fire to those that provoke him by their Rebellions Furthermore I advise you that when you are setled in the Land of Canaan and are mightily increased that you be not secure nor think it a small matter to corrupt your selves by Idolatry for if you do I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you this day that I faithfully admonish'd you of your danger and told you that upon such Provocations God would destroy many of you and drive the small remnant that shall be left out of the Land he hath given you to possess and would scatter you among Heathen Nations where you shall serve their Gods * Quod in patria fecistis ultro facietis attoniti pudore atque inviti exules or at lest those that did serve them viz. such Gods as are the work of mens hands and made of Wood or Stone which neither see nor hear eat nor smell But yet even then when you have thus transgressed and are thereupon under great tribulation if ye shall humble your selves before the Lord and shall seek his Face and turn to him with all your Heart †Some think those verses from 27. to 32. to be a Prophesie of the calling of the Jews and all your Soul He is so gracious and merciful that he will have pity upon you and will not forget the Covenant which he made with your Fathers And that you may remember the extraordinary engagements the Lord hath laid upon you look back upon ancient times and consult the Histories of all things that have happened since the Creation in any part of the world from the one side of the Heavens to the other and from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof and inquire whither there was ever such a thing in the world before That a people should hear the Voice of God speaking unto them out of the midst of the fire and yet live and escape as ye did yea further inquire whither ever God assayed at any time in such a manner to take unto Himself a Nation from the midst of another Nation by Temptations (e) God propounding his Will to the Israelites tried their Obedience whither they would trust in Him They were also temptations to Pharaoh to try whither he would be won to yield to God and let the people go Signs Wonders by War (f) Against Pharaoh whom with his Host He destroyed in the Red-Sea and by a mighty Hand and out-stretched Arm and by great Terrours as he hath done you when he brought you out of Egypt Before your eyes were those great things done that you may know that the Lord he is God and there is no other besides him Out of the Air from on high he made you to hear his Voice to instruct you and upon Mount Sinai he made you see his great fire and you heard his words out of the midst of it And because of his own free Grace and Love and not for any desert of theirs he chose and loved your Fathers and chose their Seed after them for his peculiar people therefore he brought you by his Almighty Power out of Egypt in his sight that is the eye of his Providence being still fixed upon you even as a Father causes his Child to go before him that he may preserve him from danger Exod. 14.19 * Ante se in exitu ex Aegypto retro se posuit ut eos intueretur And he brought you out of Egypt that you might drive out other Nations greater and mightier than you and take their Land to your selves for an Inheritance as you
have in part experienced already in your having conquered Sihon and Og Kings of the Amorites and gained their Countries Which Conquests may be an earnest to you of further Victories over your Enemies Know you therefore this day and consider it well in your hearts that the Lord He is God both in Heaven above and in Earth beneath and there is none besides him Therefore diligently keep his Statutes and Commandments which I command you this day that it may go well with you and your Children after you and that you may live long and happily in the Land which the Lord God giveth you from vers 1. to 41. 9. He comes now to set before them the Law of God viz. the ten Commandments Chap. V and the Testimonies that is the particular Articles or Points of the Covenant which God made with them at Horeb whereby he testified his mind to them and the particulars in which he required Obedience from them He shews how they were terrified at the dreadful manner wherein the Law was delivered and desired Him to mediate between God and them Then calling all the Elders and Chief of the people of Israel together He said Hear O Israel the Statutes and Judgments which I speak in your ears this day that you may learn them and keep and do them The Lord our God made a Covenant with us in Horeb. He made not this Covenant with our Fathers in Egypt nor with the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob for though he made the same Covenant with them for substance and they were obliged to believe in the Messias and to keep the Law so far as it was revealed to them yet this Covenant was not revealed to them with all its Circumstances and particular Laws nor in that form and manner wherein it was revealed to us on Mount Horeb with whom God entred into Covenant as with a Body Politick and a People whom he had separated from all other Nations unto his own Worship and Service You (g) Plurimi eorum qui tempore Legislationis in Horeb fuerunt infra 20 annos poterant eorum meminisse quae ibi gesta dicta fuerunt may remember says he how God when he gave you the Ten Commandments talked with you face to face (h) V. 4. Facie ad faciem loquutus est nobis i. e. praesens praesentibus fine ullo internuncio that is immediately by himself and not by an Internuncio or Messenger But after God had spoken to you the Ten Commandments out of the fire I was fain to stand as a Mediator between the Lord and you for you were afraid to hear the Voice of the Lord immediately any more Now the Ten Commandments the Lord spake to you in Horeb you may find recorded in the 20th Chapter of Exodus (i) Some words are here added by Moses in this fifth Chapter of Deuteronomy to those uttered by God on Mount Sinai Exod. 20. as an explanation of them In the fourth Commandment as it was there delivered by the Lord the Worlds Creation and Gods resting on the seventh day was mentioned as a main ground of it Exod. 20.11 But here Moses omits that and presseth their deliverance out of Egypt as a chief reason of Gods injoyning them to sanctifie this day Deut. 5.15 because by their redemption out of Egypt they were bound to Consecrate themselves wholly to Gods Service as his peculiar people whereof the holy employment of the Sabbath might be a notable memorial and sign and secondly because of that particular charge of suffering their Servants to rest on the Sabbath-day their former Bondage in Egypt being a strong inducement to move them to it ut requiescat servus tuus c. Exod. 20.17 God forbids the coveting of our Neighbours house and then next the coveting of his wife Here the coveting of our Neighbours wife is first forbidden and then afterwards the coveting of his house c so that they that would divide this last Commandment into two as the Papists do cannot justly say which is the ninth Commandment and which is the tenth because one branch of it is first in Exodus and another is first in Deuteronomy and we cannot reasonably think that Moses would pervert the order of the ten Commandments Paul makes but one Commandment of both branches Rom. 7.7 These are the Precepts God spake immediately by himself to you and he added no more moral Precepts and He wrote them in two Tables of stone and delivered them unto me And after this dreadful delivery of the Law the Elders of your Tribes came to me and said Behold the Lord our God hath caused us to see his Glory and Greatness and we have heard his Voice out of the fire and we have seen that God doth talk with man and yet he remaineth alive But you intimated that your present safety was a matter of great wonder to you and though you had escaped that danger for the present yet you were not willing to be exposed to the like danger again For the very terrour of it you apprehended would kill you if God should speak to you again immediately by himself and you said What man is there that ever heard God speaking out of the fire as we have done and yet lived Therefore you desired me to receive from the Lord all that He should command you and to deliver it unto you and you would hear it and do it And the Lord approved of your motion and further said O that (k) Humanitas optanda non speranda designat there were such an heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my Commandments always that it might be well with them and with their Children for ever Therefore God commanded you to betake your selves unto your Tents again and commanded me to stand before him and to receive from him all the Commandments Statutes and Judgments which I should teach you and which you should observe in the Land which He intended to give you that you may walk in them and that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days and that you may increase mightily as the Lord God of your Fathers promised you should do in that good Land that floweth with Milk and Honey Chap. VI 10. Moses now enters upon the explanation of the first Commandment Hear O Israel the Lord thy God is one Lord one Eternal Almighty and divine Essence one in substance though three in persons and alone to be adored and worshipped And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy Soul and with all thy might And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart and so imprinted in thy mind and memory that upon all occasions thou mayst know what thou art to do And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy Children and shalt talk of them when thou fittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest
down and when thou risest up And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine head and they shall be as Frontlets (l) Scopus hujus praecepti est non ad hujusmodi Ceremonias praecisas obstringere sed continuam Legis recordationem inculcare Jans vide Exod. 13.9 The Pharisees followed the literal sense in their Phylacteries which were some written Schedules of Parchment which were fastened to their Foreheads and Arms to keep the Law of God in remembrance see Matth. 23.5 between thine eyes that is thou shalt use all means to keep them in continual remembrance and to set them before the eyes of thy Children that they may live according to them And thou shalt write them on the posts of thy House and on thy Gates see Ch. 11.18 19 20. And when the Lord shall have brought thee into that good Land which He sware unto thy Fathers to give thee and into great and goodly Cities which thou buildest not and into Houses full of all good things which thou filledst not and to Wells digged which thou digedst not and to Vineyards and Olive-Trees which thou plantedst not when thou hast eaten and art full then beware lest thou forget the Lord that brought thee forth out of the Land of Egypt from the house of Bondage Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and sware by his Name that is when thou hast a lawful Call to sware thou shalt perform this religious act by the Name of the only true God and not of any Idol nor by any Creature whatsoever Ye shall not follow after other gods nor worship or serve the gods of other Nations that are round about lest the anger of the Lord who is a jealous God be kindled against thee and He destroy thee from off the face of the Earth Take heed also lest you provoke the Lord by your distrust and murmurings and limiting the holy One of Israel as you formerly did at Massah Exod. 17.2 Psal 78.41 And see that ye diligently observe the Commandments of the Lord that ye may go in and possess the good Land which he promised to your Fathers to give you And when your Children shall ask you in time to come what mean the Testimonies Statutes and Judgments which the Lord our God hath commanded us you shall say We were bondmen in Egypt and the Lord brought us out with a mighty hand and the Lord shewed Signs and Wonders great and sore upon Egypt upon Pharaoh and his Houshold before our eyes and the Lord commanded us to observe all these Statutes and to fear Him for our good always that he might preserve us alive as he hath done to this day And if we carefully observe these Laws as he has commanded us it shall be our Righteosness that is an evidence and manifestation of our Integrity and Vprightness before the Lord and though our Obedience be weak and imperfect yet if it be sincere God in and thorow the Messias will accept of it and will mercifully reward us for it 11. He goes on to give them some further explanation of the first Commandment Chap. VII injoyning them to extirpate the Canaanites and their Idolatry and to have no Communion with them lest they should be seduced by them to the worship of other gods They should remember they were a people holy to God whom he freely chose and will severely punish if they prove unfaithful but if they be faithful he will give them victory over their Enemies He further says to them When the Lord shall have brought you into the good Land he hath given you to cast out the seven Nations of the Canaanites that are greater and mightier than you and hath delivered them into your hands then you shall smite them and utterly destroy them you shall make no Covenant with them nor shew mercy unto them unless they become Proselytes and Converts to the true Religion which I have established among you Neither shall you make Marriages with them your Daughters you shall not give to their Sons nor their Daughters shall you take to your Sons for they will be apt to turn them away from following after the Lord your God and intice them to serve other Gods so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you that he will destroy you suddainly But you shall destroy their Altars and break down their Images and cut down their Groves which they have planted for Idolatrous uses and burn their graven Images with fire For you are an holy people unto the Lord your God the Lord hath chosen you to be a peculiar people to Himself above all people that are upon the face of the Earth And the Lord did not set his love upon you and choose you because ye were more in number than any other people as in worldly Kingdoms Dominion over a great and populous Nation is more desired than over few For the truth is you were very few till God made such a miraculous multiplication of you in Egypt The Lord loved you freely and chose you of his own free Grace not finding any thing in you more than in others to move him so to do And because the Lord loved you and intended to keep the Oath which He had sworn unto your Fathers He hath brought you out of the house of Bond-men out of Egypt with a mighty hand Know therefore that the Lord your God he is the only true God the faithful God which keepeth Covenant and Mercy with them that love him and keep his Commandments to thousand Generations and repayeth them that hate him to their face that is will so apparently take Vengeance on them and will not be slack or slow to do it that they shall plainly perceive as men do a thing set before their face that he doth it for their wickedness Wherefore if you shall carefully observe the Commandments Statutes and Judgments which I command you this day from the Lord then will He keep and perform unto you the Covenant and Mercy which he sware unto your Fathers and will love you and bless you and exceedingly increase you Will bless you in the fruit of the Womb and your Corn Wine and Oil and the fruit of your Cattel shall be increased You shall be blessed above all people There shall not except very rarely be any Male or Female barren among you or among your Cattel And the Lord will take away from you all sickness and will not inflict upon you any of those dangerous and noisome Diseases wherewith as it is well known to you he punished the Egyptians for your sakes Exod. 9.10 and wherewith the Inhabitants of that Country were usually troubled Deut. 28.27 but will lay them upon all them that hate thee You shall therefore destroy all the Nations that the Lord your God shall give into your hands you shall have no pity upon them neither shall you serve their Gods for that will be a snare to you and a cause of your
it is this day And it shall be that if thou do forget the Lord thy God and walk after other Gods and serve them and worship them I testifie against you this day that you shall surely perish because ye would not be obedient to the Voice of the Lord your God 13. He admonishes them to walk humbly with God laying aside all conceits of Chap. IX their own worth and righteousness To this end they should remember their many rebellions against God Hear O Israel says He thou art now shortly to pass over this Jordan to go in and possess the Lands of Nations greater and mightier than thy self whose Cities are great and fenced up to Heaven Ch. 1.28 and the people great and tall the Children of the Anakims of whom thou hast heard it spoken by way of Proverb Who can stand before the Children of Anak understand this therefore thou must not expect to Conquer these great and potent Nations by thy own strength or power but the Lord thy God will go over before thee as a consuming fire to destroy them before thy face and thou shalt drive out quickly and destroy those people whom thou shalt fight with immediately upon thy entrance into Canaan though all the Inhabitants of the Land shall not be quickly destroyed but by little and little see Deut. 7.22 And when thou hast by the miraculous power and assistance of God thus cast them out take heed of saying in thy heart for my Righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this good Land For know that not for thy righteousness or the uprightness of thy heart the Lord will do this but to punish the wickedness of the Inhabitants of the Land and that he may perform his Word which he sware unto thy Fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Remember thou art a stiff-necked people and didst highly provoke the Lord thy God in the Wilderness yea from the day you came out of Egypt even unto this place ye have in many things been rebellious against the Lord. Remember how in Horeb ye provoked the Lord your God so that he was ready to have destroyed you when I was gone up into the Mount to receive the Tables of Stone even the Tables of the Covenant which the Lord made with you I abode there 40 days and 40 nights and did neither eat bread nor drink water And the Lord delivered to me two Tables of Stone on which were written with his own Finger the ten Commandments word for word as he spake them from the Mount out of the midst of the fire on the day when ye assembled at the foot of the Mount to hear the Law from his mouth At the end of 40 days and 40 nights God gave me these two Tables and said unto me Arise get thee down quickly from hence for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them They have made unto themselves a molten Image Further the Lord said unto me I have seen this people that they are a stiff-necked people Let me alone that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under Heaven Intercede no more for them and I will make of thee a Nation mightier and greater than they Then I prayed unto the Lord for you that ye might not be destroyed Exod. 32.11 14. And I came down from the Mount with two Tables in my hands and the Mount burned with fire the terrour of which sight one would think might have kept you from Idolatry but I beheld and lo you had made you a molten Calf and I took the two Tables and cast them out of my hands and brake them before your eyes And I took your Sin that is the Calf wherein you had so hainously sinned Idolatrously worshipping it instead of the true God and burnt it with fire and stamped it and ground it very small even until it was as small as dust and I cast the dust thereof into the Brook that descended out of the Mount and made the people to drink thereof to make them loath and detest so great an abomination And I went up into the Mountain a second time and fasted 40 days and 40 nights more by reason of this great sin of the people and I fell down before the Lord as at first and interceeded for them being much afraid of the great anger which the Lord had conceived against them And I prayed unto the Lord and said O Lord God destroy not thy people and thine Inheritance which thou hast redeemed by thy great Power and brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand Remember thy Servants Abraham Isaac and Jacob look not unto the stubbornness of this people nor unto their wickedness nor to their sin Lest the Land whence thou broughtest us out say because the Lord was not able to bring them into the Land which he promised them and because he hated them he hath brought them out to slay them in the Wilderness Remember O Lord they are thy people and thine Inheritance which thou broughtest out of Egypt by thy mighty Power and by thy stretched-out Arm. The Lord was pleased to hearken unto me at that time also And the Lord was very angry with Aaron who made the Calf for them and was ready to have destroyed him but I interceded for him also and prevailed But though I insist chiefly on this sin at Horeb because it was a most transcendent and grievous Transgression yet alas many other Rebellions of yours I might reckon up as particularly at Taberah Numb 11.1 3. at Massah Exod. 17.7 at Kibroth-Hattaavah Numb 11.34 likewise at Kadesh-Barnea when the Lord commanded you to go and take possession of the Land that He had given you you would first send Spies to search the Land and ten of them discouraged you from entring into it Whereupon you rebelled against the Lord your God and believed him not nor hearkned to his Voice see Numb Ch. 13. Ch. 14. You have been a rebellious people all along since I had the Charge and Government of you Chap. X 14. Having mentioned their many Rebellions he comes now to shew them Gods great Kindness to them notwithstanding and especially in renewing the two Tables of the Law In leading them on towards Canaan in continuing the Priesthood in separating the Tribe of Levi and in hearkening unto his Prayer not to destroy them He further tells them How upon his earnest intercession for them the Lord was pleased to be reconciled to them and this he proves to them by several instances As 1. That the Lord gave him charge to hew out two new Tables of Stone (p) Herein they differed from the first Tables which were the work of God Exod. 32.16 and to come up with them into the Mount and He would write on them the words of the first Tables which he had broken and He commanded him also to make an Ark or
Chest of Shittim-wood to keep those Tables in viz. the Ark of the Testimony which he took care to have made by Bezaleel and there he placed them and there he tells them they were at that day Further he shews them That the Children of Israel having gone many Journeys forward and backward in the Wilderness as the Lord commanded them at last they went from Beeroth (q) Contentus hoc loco Moses recitatione historiarum seu rerum neque superstitiosè circumstantias locorum tractavit Non fuit illi propositum mansiones recensere sed beneficia Dei in certis mansionibus praestita celebrare Gerar. of the Children of Jaakan to Mosera (r) Abulensis duo distincta loca conjectat Mosera Moseroth Illum locum quendam in monte Hor hunc mansionem Israelitarum vide Numb 33.30 quae solutio videtur probabilis which was a part of the same Mountain with Hor though it had different names and there Aaron died and was buried and this might humble them for the sin of the golden Calf whereby God was so displeas'd with Aaron that he would not permit him to go into Canaan Yet that God permitted Eleazar his Son to succeed him in the Office of the High Priest was a proof of his being reconciled to them upon Moses's prayer Moreover he shews how they removed from Gudgodah and God brought them to Jotbath a Land of waters which was a great mercy to them in their travels through the Wilderness and another proof of his grace and favour to them and that he had regard to their Infirmity that they might not have occasion to murmur against Him for want of water as formerly they had done Then returning to the history of things done at Mount Sinai He instances in the separating the Tribe of Levi wherein not only the Levites but the Priests also are comprehended to bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to stand before the Lord to minister unto him in divine Offices and to bless the people in his Name as a special sign of Gods having received them into Favour again upon his prayer and intercession And because the Tribe of Levi are thus to be imployed He shews they are to have no part of the Spoils taken in War no Inheritance in the Land of Canaan which was to be divided among the other Tribes see Numb 18.20 26.53 57. 35.2 Deut. 18.1 but the Lord himself would be their Inheritance maintaining them by the First-fruits Tythes Vows and Oblations made unto Himself These Gifts the Lord hath given him they are his Inheritance see Numb 18.8 9 c. Deut. 12.19 And Moses further shews them That God did manifest he had received them into Favour again in that He said unto him Arise take thy journey before the people that they may go in and possess the Land which I sware unto their Fathers to give them whereby the Lord intimated that he was willing they should presently have entred into the Land had not they by their murmuring excluded themselves for many years after Ch. 10. from 1. to vers 12. 15. He now presses them with many pathetical Arguments sincerely to love and obey the Lord. And now O Israel says he what does the Lord require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God to walk in all his ways to love him and serve him with all thine heart and with all thy Soul to keep his Commandments and Statutes which I command thee this day for thy good Behold the visible Heaven and the Empiraean or third Heaven the Heaven of Heavens is the Lords thy God and the Earth with all that therein is He is Lord of all and he needeth not any of his Creatures And he set his love on thy Fathers and chose their Seed after them out of his free Grace above all other Nations to be his peculiar people Circumcise therefore the fore-skin of your hearts that is put away from your heart all that opposeth his holy Will and be no more stiff-necked and disobedient to his Will For the Lord your God is Lord of Lords a great and mighty and terrible God who regardeth not persons meerly for their outward Condition nor taketh Reward that is will not pervert Judgment by condemning the Innocent or acquitting the Wicked for Gifts or Rewards as unrighteous Judges use to do He doth execute righteous Judgment to all that are oppressed Psal 103.6 particularly to the Fatherless and Widow and loveth the Stranger and giveth him Food and Baiment Ye shall therefore in imitation of Him love Strangers for ye your selves were sometime Strangers in the Land of Egypt Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and cleave to him and swear by his Name Ch. 16.13 He is thy praise that is He it is whom thou oughtest to praise continually and in whom thou art to glory And this shall be thy chief glory and praise among other Nations that this great and mighty Jehovah is thy God and that thou art his people He is the God that hath done for thee these great and wonderful things so terrible to thine Enemies which thine eyes have seen Remember thy Fathers that went down into Egypt were but threescore and ten * See Notes on Gen. 46.27 persons and now the Lord hath made thee as the Stars of Heaven for multitude 16. He addresses his Speech to the ancienter sort who being under twenty years Chap. XI old when they came out of Egypt and of capacity then to observe had seen how miraculously God delivered them out of that house of Bondage and whose Eyes had seen all the great things the Lord had done for them in the Wilderness And to you says He of the ancienter sort I now direct my Speech To you I speak and not to your Children who have not known nor seen all that the Lord did for his people nor the Miracles and wonderful things which He did in Egypt by his mighty Hand and out-stretched Arm and how he destroyed Pharaoh and his Host in the Red-Sea so that you injoy the benefit of that destruction that fell upon the Egyptians even to this day their Power being thereby so sweakened that they have not been able since to attempt any thing against you You also have seen what He hath done for you in the Wilderness till you came even to this place You have seen also what he did to Dathan and Abiram the Sons of Eliab the Son of Reuben how the Earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their Housholds and their Tents and all the substance that was in their possession in the midst of Israel These glorious Acts that God did in the Wilderness you have seen and therefore have great reason to be obedient to his Commandments that ye may be strengthened both in body and spirit to go into the good Land that floweth with Milk and Honey and may fight against your Enemies and subdue them and may possess
but you shall come to the place (z) Now these places were first Shilo Josh 18.8 where the Ark continued to the days of Samuel viz. 243 years Then Nob 1 Sam. 21.6 lastly Jerusalem which the Lord your God shall chuse out of all your Tribes namely the place where the Ark of the Covenant by his appointment shall rest where he will manifest the signs of his powerful Presence and will make known his Name that is his Glory to you which place shall be called by his Name viz. the House of God and shall be consecrated to his Worship and Service And ye shall come to this His Habitation or Dwelling-place (a) The reasons why the Lord appointed his people to offer Sacrifices in one place only were 1. Because he would teach them that there was but one only way to obtain pardon for their Sins and acceptance of any Service they performed unto God and that was by Christ their promised Messias of whom the Tabernacle and Temple was a Type 2. Because hereby they might be kept to an uniform way of Worshipping God that corruptions in his Worship might be prevented whereinto they might easily fall had they been allowed to offer their Sacrifices some in one place and some in another For this cause it was that the Kings of Judah were so often blamed because they did not remove the high-places but suffered the people to Sacrifice there to serve Him and ask Counsel of Him And hither ye shall bring your Burnt-Offerings and Sacrifices as Sin-Offerings Trespass-Offerings c. and your Tythes viz. your second Tythes the Tythe (b) For â—hat or the money for which they sold it they were to carry up yearly to Jerusalem and therewith to keep a holy Feast before the Lord see Ch. 14. vers 22 27. of that which remained after the first Tythe was paid to the Levites see Deut. 14.23 see also vers 17. of this Chapter and the Heave-Offerings of your hands that is the several first-fruits which you are to bring in your hands and heave them before the Lord and then leave them to the Priests for their portion and your Vows or Free-will-Offerings that is all such Sacrifices and Offerings as you shall extraordinarily bring either upon some Vow you have made or freely and on your own accord and the firstlings of your Herds and Flocks see Numb 18.17 18. And when you have carried your Sacrifices and Offerings to the place the Lord shall chuse there shall you and your Housholds (c) Though the Males only were bound thrice a year to appear before the Lord Exod. 23.17 yet at these times the Masters of Families were wont of their own accord to carry their Wives Daughters and Maid-Servants with them as Elkanah did 1 Sam. 1.4 Feast with your holy things and rejoyce before the Lord praising of him and ye shall rejoyce in all the good things which you have gotten through the Lords blessing upon your labours Furthermore you must know That God will be served after a more exact manner when you come into Canaan than you serve him now For now many Sacrifices Rites and Feasts cannot be observed by reason of your unsetled state so that every man does in a manner what seems right in his own eyes but when you come to be setled in the Land of Canaan you must not think to do thus For ye are not yet come to the place of Rest and the Inheritance which the Lord your God intendeth to give you But when the Lord hath brought you thither and hath given you rest from all your Enemies round about then there shall be a Place which the Lord will chuse and shall be call'd his House or Dwelling-Place the place where he will manifest his Name * Nomen quod implorant illic orantes Tum si qui sint alibi praecati mentem tamen huc atque oculos oportebat inflectere 1 Reg. 8.29 44. and Glory and thither shall ye bring all your Sacrifices and Oblations and your choice things that you freely vowed to offer unto the Lord. And ye shall rejoyce before the Lord your God ye and your Sons and Daughters your Men-Servants and Maid-Servants and ye shall make the Levite that dwells within your Cities or Habitations to rejoyce also in the participation of the Offerings forasmuch as he hath no part nor Inheritance with you in the Land but must live upon what is offered to the Lord as he hath appointed see Ch. 10.9 Take heed therefore of offering your Burnt-Offerings Sacrifices and Oblations in any other place than that which God shall chuse But in your own private dwellings you may kill and eat of those kinds of Beasts which are appointed for Sacrifice as freely as of the Roe-buck and Hart which are not to be sacrificed yet allowed to your Table Neither shall there be any difference of persons observed in those private meals in respect of legal cleanness or pollution but all may partake of any of them according as through the Lords blessing they can provide for themselves Only ye shall not eat the blood †This restraint possibly was laid upon them to make them the more fearful of shedding mans blood ye shall pour it upon the Earth as water and cover it with dust Levit. 17.13 Further he shews them That they may not eat within their Gates the Tythe (d) Non sunt hic intelligendae decimae Levitis Sacerdotibus debitae sed aliae quas post solutas decimas ordinarias solvâ—bant Deut. 14.22 23. Ex illis instituebant â—pulas Fridlib of their Corn or Wine or Oil that is the second Tythe of those things the first being paid to the Levites nor the firstlings (e) Quae deo osterre debueris vel volueris ad locum constitutum deferas vel ea vel pecuniam qua ea commutaveris of their Herds and Flocks by which he means not those firstlings spoken of Numb 18.17 18. which as holy things consecrated to God were allotted for the Priests portion but either the Female firstlings the Male-firstlings being only challenged by the Lord as his own Exod. 13.12 or the First-born after those first which were given to the Lord which indeed were the first that were the owners own or the chief and best of their Lambs Kids and Calves call'd here the Firstlings by way of excellency Nor any of their vowed or free-will-Offerings or Heave-Offerings but must eat them before the Lord in the place which he shall chuse they and their Housholds and the Levite together and there they should rejoyce in all that the Lord allows them to put their hand to and to eat and partake of Further he cautions them to take heed of forsaking the Levite by withholding their Offerings and Oblations (f) Decimarum varia erant gen ra 1. Decima Levitica quae tota Levitis cedebat 2. Decima secundaria quae post primam separabatur absumenda in his
58.10 11. and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him and for this thing the Lord shall bless thee in all thy Works and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto For the Poor shall never cease out of the Land (l) Mark 14.7 Matth. 26.11 Joh. 12.8 for God will suffer it so to be to make trial of the Charity and Compassion of the Rich towards them therefore the Lord commands thee to open thy hand wide unto thy poor and needy Brother And if an Hebrew-man or woman be sold unto thee and serve thee six years from the year of Release in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free and thou shalt not let him go away empty but shalt furnish him liberally out of thy Flock and out of thy Floor and out of thy Wine-presses and with such things as the Lord hath blessed thee with And to make thee the more willing hereunto thou shalt remember that thou thy self wast once a Bondman in Egypt and the Lord thy God graciously redeemed thee out of that miserable Servitude and did not send thee away empty and therefore 't is fit thou shouldst imitate the Mercy and Compassion of God which he manifested towards thy self But if this Servant shall say unto thee I am not willing to go away from my Master for I love him and his house and it is well with me see Exod. 21.6 then thou shalt take an awle and thrust it through his Ear and fasten it unto the door and this shall be a signification that he yieldeth himself to be a perpetual Servant in thy house all the days of his life And to thy Maid-Servant * Some think that her Ear was to be bored for a perpetual Servant if she refused to go out at the six years end that is an Israelite and sold unto thee thou shalt do likewise setting her free at the six years end and shalt furnish her liberally at her going from thee And he tells them That this kind usage which they were injoyn'd to use to a Servant that was sold to them and had served them six years ought not to seem a hard Injunction because such an one had been worth to them double (m) Among us the Service of an Apprentice is counted more profitable than that of an hired Servant to what an hired Servant was For hired Servants had great wages besides meat and drink which Servants that were sold to them had not from 1. to 19. Having given them these Laws concerning the poor and the Israelitish Servants he now reinforceth a Law which concerned the relief of the Priests that served the Lord and his people He injoyns them to sanctifie unto the Lord that is to set apart for his use the firstling-Males that came of their Herd and Flocks see Deut. 12.6 The ground of this Law was because God smote all the first-born of Egypt from man to beast but spared the Israelites Thou shalt therefore says he do no work with the firstling of thy Bullock nor shear the firstling of thy Sheep because these Beasts were the Lords they were not to use them as their own for their own profit or service These being the Priests they were to eat them they and their Housholds year by year in the place that God shall chuse to put his Name and place his Sanctuary there But if any of these firstlings be lame or blind or otherwise blemished they were not to sacrifice them to the Lord see Levit. 22.19 but in such a case the Priests * V. 20. Is not spoken to the Owner but to the Priest to whom God gave all the firstlings of Israel Numb 1.15 17 18. may eat them in any of their ordinary Habitations as freely as any ordinary meat the unclean and the clean may eat of them together Only the blood they must not eat but must pour it out as water upon the ground Chap. XVI He comes now to give them several Ordinances concerning the three solemn Feasts and the several Offerings to be then offered And first he charges them to observe the month Abib (n) When the Barley-Harvest began to be ripe and the first Ears were to be offered on the second day of the Feast of unleavened-bread Levit. 23.10 viz. on the 16th day of that month answering to part of our March and part of our April and the Feast * All which Festival time is call'd the Passover and so Joh. 18.28 of the Passover then to be celebrated for in that month God brought them out of Egypt by night (o) Noctu surgebant occisis media nocte primogenitis profectionem anspicabantur licet Egypto non exierint ante diem Vide Exod. 12.29 30 41 42. and after they had eaten the Paschal-Lamb they were to keep a Feast for seven days with other Sacrifices of the Flock and Herd such as are appointed Numb 28.18 c. and this they were to do in the place (p) Id est In loco Tabernaculi aut Templi ubi stabiliter coli invocari voluit which the Lord should choose to place his Name there and no where else And for these seven days they were to eat only unleavened-bread the bread of affliction viz. which should be a Memorial to them of their great affliction in Egypt this being usually the bread of those that lived in affliction and poverty not being toothsome or pleasant to the Palat or tast and of their hasty coming out from thence before their bread had time to be leavened Exod. 12.15 During this Feast they were not to have any leaven in their houses They were to kill the Passover that is the Paschal-Lamb at the even of the fourteenth day of this month at the going down of the Sun at the time they were preparing to come out of Egypt (q) V. 6. Egresti sunt i. e. inchoativè quia vespere egressum praeparabant and that only at the place which the Lord should chuse as he did Jerusalem * There in any private house they might kill and eat the Passover Matth. 26.18 only their Sacrifices that they offered at that Feast might only be offered in the Temple afterwards and they were not to reserve any part of the flesh of it till the morning And the morrow after this Feast which was to continue seven days was ended they might depart to their several dwellings Yet they were to observe that the last day of the seven was to be an holy Convocation to the Lord wherein they were not to do any servile or unnecessary work Ch. 16. from vers 1. to 9. 2ly He comes now to speak of the Feast of Weeks * Call'd the Feast of Weeks because it was seven weeks after the bringing of the sheaf at the Passover and it was on the fiftieth day after and so call'd Pentecost Acts 2.1 The Moral Law was given at this time of the year see Sect. 13. of Ch. 4. Exod. 23.16
or Pentecost see Levit. 23.10 15. which was to be reckoned from the second day of the Feast of unleavened-bread see note a and from thence they were to reckon seven compleat Sabbaths or Weeks which made 49 days then on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath or Week which was the fiftieth day reckoning the day on which they began their account inclusively they were to keep the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost This Feast they were to keep unto the Lord with the Tribute of a free-will-Offering of their Fruits according as the Lord had blessed them over and above the Sacrifices appointed for the day Levit. 23.17 20. and with those they were to rejoyce together before the Lord in chearful feasting they and their Families and the Levite Stranger Widow and Fatherless in the place which the Lord should chuse remembring how their Fathers were Bondmen in Egypt and how wonderfully God had delivered them from thence from vers 9. to 13. Next he comes to the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths made with the boughs of Trees Levit. 23.34 40. which they were to observe seven days after they had gathered in their Corn and the fruit of their Vines and this Feast they were to Celebrate not only with inward joy but with the outward expressions thereof viz. by Sacrifices of Thanksgiving unto the Lord with sober and religious feasting of the Poor and the Levites the Stranger and the Widow rejoycing before the Lord in contemplation that he had so eminently blessed their increase Three times a year viz. at these three solemn Feasts He tells them All the Males shall appear before the Lord in the place which he shall choose and they must not appear before Him empty but every one must come with such a Gift and Oblation as he was able and willing to give from vers 13. to 18. He comes now to shew them That they must appoint Judges to sit in the Gates the usual places of Judicature in all their Towns and Cities who must judge the people with just Judgment and not wrest or pervert Judgment nor partially respect Persons in Judgment nor take Bribes For a Gift blindeth the eyes of the wise that is of those that seemed so to be making them judge otherwise than they ought to do being byassed by the love of lucre and maketh those that should be righteous in Judgment to pass a perverse Sentence But it must not be so with their Judges but they must follow that which is altogether just that they may live and inherit the Land which the Lord shall give them Further he tells them They must not plant Groves * Notwithstanding the Israelites corrupted themselves herein several times as Judg. 3.7 6.25 1 Kings 14.15 23. and there were Prophets of the Groves 1 Kings 18.19 They planted Groves placed Idols in them served them as the Canaanites and other Heathens did Deut. 12.2 Thus it was in the times of the Judges Ch. 3.7 In the times of the Kings of Israel throughout 2 Kings 17.16 This was in them gross Idolatry Yet the Patriarchs did formerly worship God in Groves and that without sin near to the Altar or Temple which might seem in sanctity to vie with them and be an occasion of Idolatry and would be an imitation of the Heathens who us'd to have their Idols in Groves (r) V. 21. Non plantabis lucum Ne in ritibus colendi veri Dei Idolatras imitari videamini Illis enim familiare erat in lâ—cis Sacra sua mixime obscaena peragere Eadem de causa vetat ne constituant sibi statuam qum instar Idoli more gentilitio colant Jans And further that they should not set up any Image or Statue to Worship as the Heathen did which thing the Lord hateth from vers 18. to the end He now comes to shew them that the things sacrificed to the Lord must be without Chap. XVII blemish Thou shalt not says he sacrifice to the Lord thy God any Bullock or Sheep wherein is any blemish or any ill-favouredness for that is an abomination to the Lord see Levit. 22.20 21. Deut. 15.21 He shews that if any among them were found guilty of Idolatry in that they had worshipped the Sun or Moon or any of the Host of Heaven and consequently any other Creature they must be ston'd to death whether it were Man or Woman because they had wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord and transgressed his Covenant whereby they had bound themselves in Obedience unto God and did openly as it were renounce God and the true Religion and chuse unto themselves other gods If he be convicted by the testimony of two or more credible Witnesses one not being sufficient the Witnesses shall throw the first stones at him which was to make them more afraid to bear false witness and to bring the guilt of innocent blood on their own heads and then the rest of the people assembled were to have a hand in the execution of him hereby to inure them to be fervent and zealous in Gods Cause against all those that should despise and disregard his Laws and so they should put away evil from among them He further shews them That when in their Towns or Cities any difficult matter did arise as in the case of bloodshed it being doubtful whether it were to be reckoned Murder or only Chance-medly or concerning any plea about their Estates or any stroke given or any thing of the like nature in that case they were to go to the place which God should chuse which in the after-times was Jerusalem and there resort to the Priests as Expounders of the Law and to the Judge or Judges as the civil Magistrates who were to shew them the Sentence of Judgment that is what is just and right in this matter that so the thing in question might be decided see 2 Chron. 19.8 9 10. and they were to do according to the Sentence which the Priests and Judges should give because in cases of greater difficulty the Priests were to inquire of the Lord that they might not give wrong Judgment And death was to be inflicted on him that would not hearken to the Priest so expounding the Law or the Judge passing Sentence according to it especially if he stubbornly and presumptuosly opposed their Judgment though they proved it never so clearly out of the Law and the Priest had inquired of the Lord about it And all the people shall hear and fear and do no more presumptuously Further when they were come into Canaan and should desire to have a King over them like other Nations he prescribes certain Laws and Rules to them concerning their electing of him and His duty And first he injoyns that they set only such an one to be King over them who is one of their Brethren and Nation an Israelite not a Stranger lest he change their Religion into Idolatry and so bring them into Sin and Slavery and only such an
one whom the Lord should choose * Which was observ'd accordingly in Saul but fully in David and his Progeny And this was thus appointed because the Kings of Judah were to be Types of Christ 2ly The King thus chosen was not to multiply horses to himself viz. in a greater proportion than the state of a King requires lest he should put confidence in worldly strength whereof horses for War were a principal part and not in God And that he might not hereby be puffed up and exalted in mind to the despising and perhaps oppressing of his Subjects and might not by the excessive Charge thereof be burdensome to his people (s) Herein Solomon did not keep so close to this Rule as he ought to have done in that he had forty thousand stalls of horses for his Chariots and twelve thousand horse-men 1 Kings 4.26 and in that he fetched his horses out of Egypt 2 Chron. 1.16 He shall not cause his Subjects to go down into Egypt to buy horses where there was great plenty of them and they counted the strength of their Country lest they be corrupted with the Idolatry and other sins of the Egyptians * So Jeremy from the Lord disswaded the Jews from going into Egypt Jer. 42.15 c. For God would have them to have such a sense of their former Deliverance out of that Bondage as to abhor the very thought of going thither again For besides all former intimations from the Lord to the same purpose (t) See Exod. 13.17 the Lord had now commanded him to say unto them That they should henceforth return no more that way viz. which leadeth down to Egypt Further he injoyns That their King shall not multiply Wives (u) Si ne Regi quidem permissa sit polygamia quid aliis indultum credimus Confer Lev. 18.18 to himself that his heart turn not away from the Lord to sensual pleasures nor to Idolatry by the allurement of his Wives as Solomons did 1 Kings 11.4 Neither shall he too too excessively desire to multiply to himself Silver and Gold lest by such an extraordinary greediness after riches he oppress the people and heap up Gold and Silver by rapine and unjust exactions and so his mind be pufft up with pride by reason of his wealth Further he was to send for the Original Copy of this Law which was to remain with the Priests and to be kept in the Sanctuary Deut. 31.26 and to write or cause to be written a Copy of it for his own use and he was to read therein all the days of his life that he might learn to fear the Lord and to keep all the words of this Law and these Statutes to do them That his heart be not lifted up above his Brethren and that he turn not aside from the Commandment to the right hand or to the left and that he may prolong his days Chap. XVIII In the next place he shews them that seeing the Priests are to have no part nor Inheritance with the rest of the Tribes they shall eat of the Offerings made by fire on the Altar as the Meat-Offering Sin-Offering and Trespass-Offering Numb 18.9 and of all other things (x) Of these see Numb 18. where as some reckon 24 Gifts were bestowed on the Priests which the Lord challengeth to himself as his Right and Inheritance and hath reserved for his Service and the sustenance of his Servants the Priests for God would not have them cumbred with the affairs of this life lest by them they should be hindred from doing their duties Therefore he declares that He himself will be their Inheritance and will supply all their wants out of his abundance And this shall be the Priests due from them that bring a Sacrifice of a Peace-Offering They shall give to Him the Shoulder the two Cheeks and the Maw The wave-breast mentioned elsewhere is here left out possibly as comprehended under the Shoulder to which it is joyned in the Sheep being both parts of the same quarter But the Maw and two Cheeks added here are no where else mention'd Further he tells them They were to give to the Priest the first fruit of their Corn of their Wine and Oil and the first of the fleece of their Sheep see Exod. 22.29 Numb 18.12 Because the Lord hath call'd them to stand and minister in his Name that is by authority received from him see Deut. 10.8 Further he orders That when ever any of the Tribe of Levi out of his own voluntary devotion had an earnest desire to come and serve in the Tabernacle or Temple they should be admitted to live of the holy things there even as the rest did that in their turns (y) There seems some order observ'd in this at first though by David afterwards this was more exactly contriv'd when they were divided into 24 Courses 1 Chron. 23. did serve in that place For such as out of singular devotion to the Service of the Sanctuary did go up to serve there God would have them to live of the Altar and not be put thereby to spend their own private estate what ever it was or that money which came of the sale of their private Patrimony (z) Forte Levitae morantes in loco Tabernaculi negarent illi partem suam quod secum haberet pecuniam sive pretium rei domus vel agri venditae Statuit ergo Lex sive habeat pretium sive non habiturum tamen portionem suam q. d. Ne exluditor a parte commodi quod habeat unde se alere possit Fruatur ea pecunia propria insuper portione ei ex ministerio debita quia qui Sacris ministrat is debt ex Sacris non ex bonis paternis vivere quia rem venditam redimendi jus perpetuum habet Levit. 25.32 redimere autem non possit si absumeretur pretium rei venditae from 1. to 9. In the next place he exhorts them to take heed of doing after the abominations of the Canaanites Let not there be found among you any one says he who makes his Son or Daughter to pass through the fire to Saturn or Moloch (a) Haec hostia petita est partim ab exemplo Abrahami partim quod audierint non nisi sanguine humano humanum scelus olim expiandum Inde Galli teste Caesare lib. 6. de bello Gallico Diti suo quam maxime innocuos immolabant see Levit. 18.21 2 Kings 16.3 or that practices Divination (b) This sin was common among the Heathen practis'd among the wisest of them Numb 24.1 1 Kings 20.33 see 1 Sam. 6.2 Ezek. 21. 21 22. by making use of familiar Spirits 1 Sam. 6.2 1 Sam. 28.8 or an Observer of Times crying up some days for lucky others unlucky or an Inchanter using Songs or Verses or other words or Ceremonies to produce supernatural Effects or a Witch or a Charmer or a Consulter with familiar Spirits or a Wizard or a
* See Prov. 22.28 Hos 5.10 V. 14. Non transferes terminos i. e. lapides vel alia signa quae fixa fuerint ad distinguendos agros tuos ab agris proximi hoc enim genus furti infame quod difficulter convinci potest see Deut. 27.17 which would be a piece of great injustice and might occasion quarrels about the bounds of their Lands and Possessions Next he declares That the testimony of a single man rising up as a witness against another shall not be admitted as sufficient to prove the Crime laid to his Charge and to cause him to be condemned for it But by the testimony of two or three witnesses matters shall be established setled confirmed and stand good see Joh. 8.17 And in case two or more witnesses did rise up against a man and only one of them spake home as to the proof of that whereof he was accused if here the party accused did alledge that this man bare false witness against him then both these men between whom the Controversie is shall stand before the Lord that is shall be brought to the place which the Lord shall choose and shall be set before the Ark or Sanctuary and there the witness shall be examined as in the presence of God and possibly if they could not find out the matter by examination then the Priest was to inquire of the Lord according to that 1 Kings 8.31 32. And if the Judges find that the man hath testified falsly against his Brother then they shall do unto him as he thought to have done to his Brother that is the civil Magistrate (f) Indeed the Pharisees in Christ's time expounded this of private revenge viz. that a private person might take life for life eye for eye tooth for tooth c. this is that which our Saviour condemns Matth. 5.38 39. shall without tenderness or pity inflict such punishment on him as should have been inflicted on the party accused had he been found guilty according to that Law Exod. 21.23 And so they should put away evil from among them and those which remain should hear and fear and should no more commit any such abominable thing Chap. XX In the next place he comes to give them directions concerning War and how it should be managed 1. The Priests * Ordinarily some of the Priests went along with the Army with the holy Trumphets to animate them to the battel see Numb 10.9 31.6 should encourage the people when they drew nigh to battel with their Enemies exhorting them not to be afraid though they were more than they And they should say to them Hear O Israel you approach this day unto battel against your Enemies Let not your hearts faint fear not neither be ye terrified because of them For the Lord your God is with you and goeth forth with you to fight for you against your Enemies and to save you 2ly The Officers should proclaim to the people before the battel That if there were any man there that had built a new house and had not dedicated (g) Dedicari res dicitur quando cum solenni aliquo ritu vel convivio usus inchoatur Menoch See Title of Psalm 30. and Neh. 12.27 it or initiated it that is taken possession of it and begun to use it and dwell in it which was to be done with praying singing Psalms and feasting he might go home if he would (h) Ratio hujus legis 1. Ne quis otiosus fruatur alienis laboribus 2. Ne desiderio eorum remissius agerent in praelio sibique parrentes vel etiam fugam capessentes aliis scandalo essent damno God in this and the two next particulars manifesting a special Compassion that men should not suddainly be taken off from those Comforts which they had long laboured for even when they were first entring upon the fruition of them that being threatned as a Curse Ch. 28.30 Thou shalt build an house and shalt not dwell therein Or if any man had planted a Vineyard (i) They might not in the Land of Canaan eat of any Trees they had planted till they had consecrated the fourth years fruit unto the Lord. The fruit of the first three years was lost as uncircumcised The fourth years fruit was holy to be given to God and then the fruit of the fifth year was free for the Owner and others to eat Levit. 19.23 c. and it was not yet made common that is such as himself and others might freely eat of which he could not do by the Law till the fifth year from the planting of it he might also return to his house lest he should die in the battel and another injoy his Vineyard Or if any man had betrothed a Wife * The ancient custom was to have some time interposed between betrothing and marriage see Deut. 22.23 Matth. 1.18 whither Maid or Widow and had not yet taken her to himself he might have liberty to go home also and take her to wife And lastly If any were fearful and faint-hearted they might also depart if they would lest by their fear and faint-heartedness they should infect their Brethren also God hereby testifying how much he disliked a timerous fearful spirit in those that serve Him whom he would have by faith to trust in him and to rest secure of his Protection see Judg. 7.3 The Officers having proclaimed these things they were then to order the battel and appoint every Captain in his place to lead the several Companies of Souldiers from 1. to 10. Further he injoyns them that when they went to besiege any City out of the Land of Canaan they should first proclaim peace (k) See Richardson's Notes on vers 10. to it And if it did accept of the conditions of peace proffered to them then they should spare that City and only make them Tributary to them But if they refused the Conditions of peace tendred to them then if God delivered them into their hands they should kill every Male they found there but the Women little Ones and Cattel and all the Spoil of the City they should take unto themselves and so they should eat and injoy the Spoil of their Enemies which the Lord had given them But when they went to besiege any of the Cities of the seven Nations * Unto which the Hebrews add from Deut. 25.19 the Amalekites in the Land of Canaan see Ch. 7.1.2 which God had commanded them to destroy then they were not to spare Man Woman or Child lest being left alive they should teach them to do after their abominations which they had practised towards their gods and so occasion them to sin against the Lord. Further he injoyns them that when they besieged a City they should not cut down the Fruit-Trees that grow about it for their use in the siege except upon unavoidable necessity because those are very useful for mans food and with these the Land could not be
pollute it more if they should die upon it and were therefore to be trussed up in the Air as not fit to be among men that others might look upon them as Spectacles of Gods Indignation and Curse because of the wickedness they had committed which was not so legible and apparent in other kinds of death And therefore they were to bury them that were hanged that very day that the Land might not be defiled which otherwise it might be by such a monument of Gods Curse remaining so visibly upon it And the burial was to abolish the Curse from appearing in the Lords Land from vers 22. to the end He now prescribes love and faithfulness in one Neighbour towards another which Chap. XXII they were to testifie in these or the like cases When thou seest saith he thy Brothers Ox * Hinc nostra Lex de proclamandis ut vocant pecudibus erraticis or his Sheep go astray thou shalt not demean thy self as not concerned or as if thou hadst not seen them yea though he be thine Enemy Exod. 23.4 but shalt bring them again to him And if the Owner dwell afar off or be altogether unknown to thee then thou shalt drive the Cattel home to thine own house and keep them there till the Owner doth seek them and then thou shalt restore them And thus they were to do by any thing else of their Brothers that was lost whither Rayment or any such thing they were not to conceal it but restore it And so if they saw their Brothers Ox or Asse fall by the way they were not to refrain from helping him up again vers 1 2 3 4. Further he injoyns that the difference of Apparel to distinguish the Sexes should be constantly observed * This Precept concerneth natural honesty and seemliness which hath a perpetual equity in it and it is injoyned to prevent many evils which might arise if men and women were clad alike and never altered except in case of necessity and to avoid some present and suddain mischief The woman sayes he shall not wear that which appertaineth to a man nor a man put on a womans Garment for all that do so are abomination to the Lord vers 5. In the next place he injoyns them that when they find a Birds-nest they should not destroy the Dam with her young ones or with her Eggs in breeding-time but should let the Dam go taking only the young ones because she might ere long have other young ones and so might still continue the store of Birds for the good of men This Law might intimate unto them how well pleasing it was unto God that his people should be merciful and pitiful and in so doing it should be well with them and they should prolong their days vers 6 7. Furthermore the houses of the Israelites being usually built flat on the tops on which they used to walk and recreate themselves and sometimes to pray see Acts 10.9 they are here injoyned to make battlements round about their house tops to prevent the casual falling of any from thence and so to prevent all occasions of bloodshed and other evils that might redound to their Brethren through their default vers 8. In the next place he tells them they must not sow their Vineyards with divers Seeds * Agrum vintae non seres alio aliquo semine ut oriatur mixtura quaedam ex jacto semine vitibus that is with Seeds different and divers from that of the Vine see Levit. 19.19 for that is the way to have the Seeds and consequently the Fruits to be mixed and not pure and so defiled and rendred unfit to be offered to the Lord in the first-fruits or otherwise vers 9. Further they must not plow with an Ox and an Asse together †God hereby seemeth to intimate how simple and sincere he would have the state of the Church to be God would not have his Church mixed with profane and unbelievers He seems also hereby to warn them against mixtures in Religion and Manners with other Nations the one being a clean Creature the other unclean hereby God seems to intimate that ye would not indure the unequal yoking of his people with Infidels see 2 Cor. 6.14 vers 10. Further they must not wear a Garment of divers sorts * See Levit. 19.19 as of Woollen and Linnen together This Law seems also to be figurative and to intimate to them what simplicity and sincerity God requir'd in them that were his peculiar people vers 11. In the next place he injoyns them to make Fringes upon the four quarters of their Vestures and Garments The end of those Fringes was to put them in mind of the Commandments of God see Numb 15.38 39. and that they might remember by looking on them that they were Gods peculiar people and by these Fringes distinguished in their habits from other Nations vers 12. He comes next to shew how that man shall be dealt with that slandereth his wife pretending he found her not a Virgin when he married her In that case the Parents of the Damsel shall produce the Cloth containing the Tokens of her Virginity and attested by good witnesses to be so as the Hebrews say which they carefully kept for their own honour and the honour of their Daughter Then the Elders of the City shall Chastise that man and amerce him at an hundred Shekels of silver to be paid to the Father of the Damsel because he hath defamed her and she shall continue to be his wife all her life He shall not send her away by a Bill of Divorce as other men were permitted to do Deut. 24.1 But if she be guilty and no Tokens of her Virginity were found when he married her then she shall be stoned before the dâ—or of her Fathers house because she hath wrought folly in Israel and hath play'd the whore in her Fathers house So says He shall ye put away evil from among you from vers 13. to 22. Next he injoyns That Adultery both in man and woman shall be punished with death see Levit. 20.10 vers 22. Or if a man lie with a Damsel in the City betrothed to another man they shall both be stoned to death she because she cryed out not He because he hath humbled his Neighbours wife For so she is to be reckoned after betrothing which was done by mutual promise in the presence of witnesses before marriage Matth. 1.18 But if a man find a betrothed Damsel in the field and force her and she Cry out then the man only shall die If an unmarried man find a Damsel that is a Virgin which is not betrothed and lay hold on her and lie with her and this be discovered then the man that lay with her shall give to the Damsels Father fifty Shekels of silver and she shall be his wife because he hath humbled her He may not put her away all his days from vers 22. to 28.
them to observe and do lest God should smite them with Leprosie as he did Miriam who was by Gods special Command shut out of the Camp seven days until she had been purified according to the Law And if she could not be exempted none of them must hope for exemption in that case from what the Law required vers 8 9. 6ly When a man did lend any thing to his Brother upon a Pledge he was not to go into his house and pick and chuse what Pledge he pleased but should be content with that which the Borrower brought out to him poor men being unwilling that strangers should see their penury and want And if the man were very poor so that he gave his Covering or Garment wherein he lodged to Pledge see Exod. 22.26 the Lender was to return it to him again before the Sun went down that he may sleep in his own Rayment and so may bless the Lender and pray for him for his mercifulness to him and it should be esteemed as a righteous * See Psal 106.31 thing and a good work in him before the Lord who will reward him for it from vers 10. to 14. 7ly They were not to oppress an hired Servant whither of their own Brethren or a Stranger that was poor and needy but to pay him his wages †See Levit. 19.13 at the day appointed and not put him off further For being poor he setteth his heart upon his hire as that by which he must maintain himself If they did otherwise the poor man might Cry unto the Lord against them and God might thereupon be provok'd to punish them for their unmercifulness vers 14 15. 8ly Neither the Fathers * Ad judices haec dici patet ex sequentibus Regula haec ordinaria est Interim in casibus quibusdam extraordinariis Magistratibus mandatum fuit filios cum Parentibus occidere vide Deut. 13. Jos 7. Judic 20.21 2 Sam. 21. shall be put to put to death for the sin of the Children nor the Children for the sin of the Fathers but every man shall suffer for his own sin vers 16. 9ly They were not to pervert the Judgment of the Fatherless or Stranger or take a Widows Garment to Pledge but should remember how they themselves were Bondmen in Egypt and how God delivered them thence and therefore they should be merciful to others vers 17 18. 10ly In time of Harvest if they have forgotten a sheaf in the Field they shall not go and fetch it but leave it for the Stranger Fatherless and Widow that God may bless them in all the works of their hands Levit. 19.9 23.22 And so when they gather their Grapes and Olives they shall leave the gleanings for the poor vers 19. to the end 11ly The Judges are appointed to judge righteously in all cases that shall come Chap. XXV before them to justifie the Righteous and condemn the Wicked And if a wicked man or Malefactor deserve to be beaten they shall order him to receive forty stripes and no more lest if they should proceed to what extremity they listed their Brother should seem vile in their eyes and fit to be used with no more regard than if he were a beast The Jews were so superstitiously careful not to transgress this Law that their custom was to stay at 39 stripes even when they meant to go as high as they might and that for fear they should exceed from vers 1. to 4. 12ly They were not to muzzle the Ox when he treadeth out the Corn. The Israelites used not to thresh their Corn with Flails as we do but trod it out with the feet of Beasts Hosea 10.11 yea sometimes with Cart-wheels see Isa 28.27 28. By this Law the Lord taught them to be merciful to the bruit Beasts they had occasion to make use of and by necessary consequence to beware of depriving their Brethren of that which was due to them for the service they did them but to let them eat and enjoy the fruit of their Labours see 1 Cor. 9.9 13ly If a man die leaving no Child his wife may not marry out of her Husbands Family but her Husbands next Brother or next Kinsman shall marry her and the first-born which she beareth him shall be counted the legal Son of his Brother * Hence Obed whom Boaz begat of Ruth is said to be Naomi's Son Ruth 4.17 because he was counted the legal Son of Elimelech her deceased Son Ruths former Husband though he was withall counted the natural Son of Boaz Luke 3.32 See Sect. 35. of the third Chapter of this History that died without Issue that so his name may be continued in Israel But if the next Brother refuse to marry her she shall complain to the Elders and if he still persist in it before them that he will not take her to wife she shall loose his shoe (s) In all resignations of House or Land from one man to another this Ceremony was used so that He that did resign the House or Land pulled off his shoe and gave it to his Neighbour to whom he passed it over Ruth 4.7 thereby signifying that He passed it over Ruth 4.7 thereby signifying that He would from thence forward be disabled from going any more upon such Land or into such a House or any part of the Estate from off his foot as intimating thereby that he was unworthy to enter upon and possess his Brothers Estate and shall spit in his face (t) This was only done when the woman did claim and press her right before the Elders and the next Kinsman did obstinately refuse her For when by free agreement the next Kinsman did resign his right to another the Widow also consenting then this note of Infamy was not put upon Him as we may see Ruth 4.8 where no spitting on the face of the next Kinsman is mentioned but only by pulling off his shoe he resigned his right to Boaz and so he married Ruth by way of disgrace and contempt thereby declaring him a man unworthy to shew his face among his Brethren and shall say Thus shall it be done to the man that refuses to build up his Brothers house And when in after-times this mans Family shall be spoken of they shall speak of it as the House or Family of a man that had his shoe loosed and so a note of Infamy shall rest upon him and his Family that men may thereby be made the more careful to submit to the directions of Gods Law from vers 5. to 11. 14ly If a woman see a man beating her Husband and run in to help him she may not take him that strove with her Husband by the Secrets thinking thereby to make him give over smiting him if she do her hand shall be cut off by the Magistrate without pity God thereby intimating to them how much he abhorred all bold shameless and impure behaviour in those that professed themselves to be his people
vers 11 12. 15ly He forbids all fraud in buying and selling and commands that they should not have divers Weights and Measures to wit great ones to buy with and small ones to sell with or great ones to shew to the Officers when they come to view and try their Weights and Measures and less to sell their Wares by They are commanded to do just things that so their days may be lengthened in the Land which the Lord giveth them For all that do such things and deal unrighteously are an abomination to the Lord from vers 13. to 17. 16ly He puts them in mind of executing what God had declared against Amalek who smote the hindmost and feeblest of them when they came out of Egypt see Sect. 11. of Ch. 4. which was a great act of inhumanity and cruelty to seek to hurt them that had been lately so horribly oppressed in Egypt and it was a sign the Amalekites feared not God who had so visibly owned that people and so in fighting against the Israelites they fought against God Himself Therefore when they were peaceably setled in the Land which God intended to give them they should blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven This Judgment God appointed Saul to execute 1 Sam. 15.2 3. but he failed in the performance of it as we may see vers 9. Afterwards God stirred up the Simeonites in Hezekiah's days to do it who smote the rest of the Amalekites 1 Chron. 4.42 43. And what befel Haman and his Sons is largely related in the third Chapter of the Book of Esther from vers 17. to the end Chap. XXVI 17ly He gives directions that when they were come into the Land of Canaan every man should every year bring a Basket of his first-fruits at the Feast of Tabernacles Exod. 23.16 to the Priest to be by Him presented to the Lord as an acknowledgment that the Lord had freely given them this Land as He had promised to their Fathers and that of Him they still held it and therefore to Him as Lord in Chief by way of Tribute they brought these first-fruits testifying also thereby that to him they owed the yearly fruitfulness of their Land And when the Priest hath set down the Basket before the Altar the Offerer shall make this solemn Profession Our Ancestor Jacob was forced to fly into Syria and in respect of his long abode and continuance there with his Uncle Laban he may well be call'd a Syrian though born in the Land of Canaan There he was near lost and ready to perish by reason of the wrongs he received from his hard Father-in-law When he returned thence into the Land of Canaan after a few years by extremity of Famine he was constrain'd to remove into Egypt and there sojourned with a few who afterwards became a great mighty and populous Nation Then the Egyptians evil intreated us and laid upon us hard Bondage but when we cried unto the Lord He looked down with pity upon our Affliction and Labour and Oppression And brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty Hand and an out-stretched Arm and with great terribleness and with Signs and Wonders and hath brought us into this good Land flowing with Milk and Honey And behold I have brought to thee the first-fruits of the Land which thou O Lord hast given me Then leaving his Basket before the Altar for the use of the Priest who with the rest of his Brethren was afterwards to eat of them all first-fruits by Gods appointment appertaining to them Deut. 18.4 and humbly worshipping the Lord He shall depart and after he hath thus testified his thankfulness and done this Service he shall go and feast with the Levites and Strangers upon the Peace-Offerings He had brought thither even as they used to do at all other Feasts rejoycing in every good thing which the Lord hath given them see Deut. 16.11 15. from vers 1. to 12. 18ly He comes now to shew what profession and prayer that man was to make that paid his third years Tythes In the two first years after the Sabbatical year there were only two Tythes to be separated from their Estates The first for the Levites the second to be spent in their Journeys to Jerusalem and in holy feasting there before the Lord. But in the third year they were to separate a third Tythe which was for the Poor in the places where they dwelt The first of these Tythes was wholly the Levites * Out of this the Levitâ—s paid a tenth part again to the Priests Numb 18.24 to 29. Neh. 10.37 38. portion and therefore often called the Lords Inheritance the second or the price of it was to be carried up by the Owners to the Lords dwelling-place and there spent in holy feasting before the Lord but this third Tythe †Therefore this third year was peculiarly call'd the year of Tything because this year they separated three Tythes from their Increase one more than in other years The first was the Levites yearly livelihood the second was to be expended in their Journey to Jerusalem and feasting before the Lord there The third was to be laid up for the Poor see Deut. 14.28 was to be laid up in some publick place in the Towns and Cities where they dwelt and was not only for the use of the Levites but also of the Stranger Fatherless and Widdow as is said vers 12. that they might eat also within their Gates and be filled He that paid this third years Tythe was to make such a profession as this O Lord I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house and have given them to the Levites the Stranger the Fatherless and the Widow according to thy Commandments I have not transgressed thy Commandments nor forgotten them I have not eaten thereof in my mourning that is in my greatest wants and necessities and when I was in the greatest straits I have not ventured to supply my self from them Neither has it caused any mourning * Scil. pressus dolorâ— luctu quod tantum deberem auferre bonis meis aliis elargiri Jansen or repining in me that I was bound to part with so much of my Increase to the Poor Neither have I taken ought thereof for any unclean use that is for any use besides that for which they were appointed nor given ought thereof for the dead that is for the burying of the dead or to be provisions for a Funeral Feast †Non expendi in rem Funebrem Pompum vel Convivium de quo Jer. 16.7 Ezek. 24.17 Hos 9.4 Having made this solemn Protestation that He had not failed in paying his Tythes exactly according to the Law He was then to add this Prayer Lord look down from thy holy Habitation from Heaven and bless thy people Israel and this Land which thou hast given us as thou swearest to our Fathers from vers 12. to 18. 19ly He exhorts them to observe all
the Statutes and Judgments which the Lord had given them and that with all their Hearts and Souls Which if they really consented to do then they should consider that that day they did in effect renew their Covenant with the Lord and avouch Him to be their God promising to hearken unto his Voice and to obey Him And the Lord did avouch them to be his peculiar people separate from all others and devoted to walk in his Statutes thorow his Grace working in their Hearts and would make them high above all Nations in praise in name and in honour and an holy people unto Himself from vers 16. to the end 20. Having now again assembled the Elders and people of Israel together He Chap. XXVII commands them that after their entrance into Canaan at their first opportunity they should build a Monument of great stones plaistring them with mortar on Mount Ebal and to write the Law of God thereon viz. the ten Commandments very plainly that it might be a Monument * Joshua 8.30 We find this Monument was erected after their taking of Ai. to put them in mind of keeping Gods Law Together with this Monument they were to build an Altar (u) To teach them that Righteousness and Salvation is not to be attained by the works of the Law but to be sought by Christ of whom this Altar was a Type of whole stones and not to lift up any iron Tool upon it see Exod. 20.24 25. and thereon to offer Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings and to eat there and to rejoyce before the Lord their God And because they had at this time renewed their Covenant with God Moses together with the Priests and Levites advise them to take heed unto themselves and to obey the Voice of the Lord their God and to observe his Commandments and Statutes from vers 1. to 11. 21. Moses now injoyns the people that when they had set up this Monument of stones on Mount Ebal and written the Law plainly upon it and had built the Altar before mentioned and had offered Sacrifices thereon as God had commanded them they should then afterwards give their consent to the Blessings * See Deut. 11.29 and Curses that should be pronounced by the Priests upon those that should keep and upon those that should break Gods Laws and the manner injoyned for the doing thereof was this viz. six of the Tribes were to stand upon Mount Gerizim to wit Simeon and Levi Judah and Issachar and Joseph and Benjamin where by the Tribe of Joseph are meant the two Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh who are here joyn'd together as one because Levi is reckoned as one of the twelve and all these were the Posterity of Leah and Rachel and then the other six Tribes were to stand on Mount Ebal to wit Gad and Asher Dan and Napthali who were the Sons of their Hand-Maids and with them the Tribe of Reuben who for his sin lost his Birth-Right and Zebulun the youngest of Leahs Sons And the Tribes being thus divided the Priests * V. 14. Pronunciabunt Levitae i. e. aliqui sacerdotum qui erant Levitae Caeteri enim erant in monte Gerizim ad benedicendum see Joshua Ch. 8. v. 32 33 34. were to come with them into the little Valley that was between these two Mountains and there first they pronounced the Blessings turning their faces as 't is like towards Mount Gerizim and then all the Tribes that stood on that Mountain answered Amen and then turning their faces towards Mount Ebal they pronounced the twelve Curses here mentioned and then all the Tribes that stood on Mount Ebal answered Amen Moses omits the Blessings possibly because they might be easily enough gathered from the contrary Curses which are here expressed First Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten Image though he keep it never so secret for it is an abomination to the Lord. 2ly Cursed be He that setteth light by his Father or Mother see Exod. 21.17 3ly Cursed be He that removeth his Neighbours Land-mark 4ly Cursed be He that maketh the Blind to wander out of the way and much more those that mislead the people into pernicious Errours or give them knowingly pernicious Counsels 5ly Cursed be He that perverteth the judgment of the Stranger Fatherless and Widow 6ly Cursed be He that lieth with his Fathers wife †V. 20. Quia retexit oram Patris sui i. e. oram vestimenti Patris sui Per vestimentum Patris intelligitur vestimentum quod est in potestate Patris ut possit illud retegere Piscator 7ly Cursed be He that lieth with any manner of Beast 8ly Cursed be He that lieth with his Sister the Daughter of his Father or the Daughter of his Mother that is his half-Sister see Levit 1.8 9. 9ly Cursed be He that lieth with his Mother-in-law that is his Wives Mother 10ly Cursed be He that smiteth his Neighbour secretly either by secret practices procuring his blood to be shed or smiting him secretly with his Tongue 11ly Cursed be He that taketh a Reward to slay an innocent person see Ezek. 22.12 12ly Cursed be He that confirmeth not all the words of this Law to do them To every one of these the people were to say Amen And so subscribe to the justice of Gods Law as it were wishing that the Curses might fall on them if they should in any of these things transgress Gods Commandment from vers 11. to the end Chap. XXVIII Upon observing Gods Commandments He shews them that many blessings would follow and overtake them from vers 1. to 13. particularly these 1. God would set them on high above all Nations both in respect of temporal and spiritual blessings and they shall be the head and not the tail vers 13. that is shall be highly esteem'd above other Nations and not scorned and despised as a base and contemptible people 2. They shall be blessed in the City and in the Field that is whither they dwell in the City or the Country and manage business belonging either to a Citizen or a Farmer 3. They shall be blessed in the fruit of their Bodies their Children in the fruits of their Grounds and the fruits of their Cattel so that they shall abound in all these vers 11.4 They shall be blessed in their Basket wherein they put the fruits of their ground it shall not be empty and in their store they shall have plenty of Provisions they shall be blessed in their Barns and Store-houses vers 8. and God will command his blessing on all that they set their hands unto 5. They shall be blessed when they come in and when they go out see vers 19. that is at home and abroad and in all their employments and businesses publick and private 6. They shall be blessed with Victory over their Enemies who shall flee before them many ways 7. The Lord will establish them for an holy people unto Himself that is will
renew their Covenant which their Fathers made with God at Horeb and to bind themselves more firmly thereby unto the Lord. And possibly the same Ceremonies were observed now in this renewing of the Covenant which were before observed at Horeb see Exod. 24. when their Fathers first entred into it And to prepare them the better for it 1. He repeats the great and manifold Favours God had bestowed on them He tells them That many of them who were then young might remember what God did to Pharaoh and his Servants in Egypt and the great Plagues whereby He tempted and tried whither he would let Israel go or no. But though they had seen all those great Signs and Wonders with their bodily eyes yet by reason of their great perverseness and manifold Provocations it was not given * V. 4. God hath not given you a heart to perceive simul ostendit hic Moses sine adjutorio Dei eos intelligere obedire non posse tamen si illud adjutorium Dei desit non ideo esse excusabile hominis vitium suo enim demerito caret Augustin unto them to understand Gods meaning in them see Matth. 13.11 neither had those great Wonders and Deliverances made such Impressions upon them as they should have done nor inclin'd them to turn to God and yield sincere Obedience unto Him And so God punished the wickedness of their hearts with the blindness of their minds And the Lord by Moses further spake unto them saying I have led you forty years in the Wilderness your Clothes waxed not old upon your Backs nor your shoes upon your Feet see Deut. 8.4 Ye have not eaten common and ordinary bread for I have fed you with Manna †Doubtless ordinarily they had no other bread though at sometimes they might see Deut. 2.6 you have not drunk Wine or strong Drink for your drink has been as miraculous as your bread viz. water fetcht out of the Rock Numb 20.11 Psal 78.15 16. and these things I have done for you that you might know that I am the Lord your God and yet how little have you considered it Moses further tells them That they might remember how since they came hither they had conquered Sihon King of Heshbon and Og King of Bashan and how He had given their Land to the Reubenites Gadites and half the Tribe of Manasseh Therefore says he considering all these great Mercies God hath bestowed on you you ought to be very careful to observe the 〈◊〉 â—ditions and Articles of the Covenant which you are now to enter into and to confirm with an Oath that so it may go well with you and that you may prosper in all that you do Attend therefore all of you with all seriousness to this solemn business you are now about Behold you all stand this day before the Lord your God the Captains of your Tribes your Elders and Officers you your Wives and little Ones and the Strangers that are in your Camp even from the Hewer of Wood unto the Drawer of Water ye are all met together and stand here before the Lord your God to enter into Covenant with Him and to confirm it with an Oath whereby you bind your selves to perform it that so He may establish you for a people unto Himself and that He may be your God as He promised your Fathers Neither do I bind only you who are here present to the observance of this Covenant but your Posterity also who are not yet born And there is great reason you should now enter into this Covenant because having dwelt in the Land of Egypt at least many of you in your younger years and having gone thorow the Confines of some Idolatrous Nations in your Journey towards Canaan and seen their several Idolatries and Abominations there is some cause to fear lest some of you may be tainted with their evil Manners And therefore to prevent this it is fit that ye should all solemnly enter into Covenant with God lest there be found among you any Man Woman Family or Tribe whose hearts are inclined to serve the gods of these Nations and lest there be found among you any Root that beareth Wormwood that is any root of Idolatry or Rebellion against God which is as displeasing and distastful to Him as Gall and Wormwood is to us and which will prove to the Sinner and who ever is infected therewith bitterness in the latter end see Heb. 12.15 c. And he tells them If there shall be found any such evil-spirited and infectious persons among them who when they shall hear the words of this Curse yet shall bless themselves in their own hearts saying They shall have peace though they walk in the evil imaginations of their own hearts and so add drunkenness to thirst that is being wicked already do yet encourage themselves to be more wicked as Drunkenness increases thirst and so draws on another Drunkenness the Lord will not spare such persons but his anger and jealousie will smoke against them and all the Curses in this Book will light upon them and the Lord will blot out their names from under Heaven and will separate them out of all the Tribes of Israel unto punishment mischief and destruction answerably to the threatnings that are denounced against the Breakers of this Covenant and are written in this Book of the Law So that when your Children that shall be born hereafter and the Strangers that come from a far Country shall see the Plagues and Sicknesses that the Lord will bring upon the Inhabitants of the Land for these Transgressions and how the Land by Gods just Curse is so defaced and altered that it is become in a manner like Sodom and Gomorrah Admah and Zeboim which Cities the Lord overthrew in his wrath and anger they and other Nations also that shall hear of it shall say Wherefore hath the Lord thus punished this Land what meaneth the heat of his great anger against it Then men shall answer It is because they have forsaken the Covenant of the God of their Fathers which He made with them when he brought them forth out of Egypt For they went and served other gods and worshipped them viz. gods of Gold and Silver Wood and Stone whom they knew to be no gods nor to have given them any thing nor could or would do them any good And they knew also that the Lord had forbidden them to worship Him by such Idols and Images and thereupon his anger was kindled against them and he was provoked to bring upon them all the Curses denounced in his Law against the Violators of his Covenant And hence it was that after those great Judgments He had sent upon them in their own Nation He was provoked to root them out of their own Land in wrath anger and indignation and to scatter them into other Nations as you see it is now come to pass But says he if you shall ask me When will these
things be when will our Posterity by their Rebellions thus provoke God and bring such heavy Judgments on themselves and the Land I answer That is only known to God Himself secret things belong to Him but things revealed belong to us and our Children and therefore we may safely conclude That if they do thus provoke God then all this Misery and Calamity will certainly befal them except by true and timely repentance and turning unto God they prevent this ruine This says He God hath revealed and what he hath revealed it becomes us and our Câ—â—ldren always to consider and lay to heart that we may not provoke Him by transgressing any of his Commandments Ch. XXXI Moses now calling the people together He tells them He was at this time an 120 years old and therefore by the course of Nature it could not be expected that he should be able much longer to go in and out before them and to lead and govern them as before he had done And besides the Lord had told him He should not go over Jordan However he bids them be of good courage for the Lord Himself would go before them and by the Conduct of his Servant Joshua would subdue their Enemies for them as he had already done Sihon and Og Kings of the Amorites and they should destroy them as he had commanded and therefore he bids them not to be afraid of them for the Lord would go along with them and would not fail them nor forsake them Then he addresses his Speech to Joshua and in the sight of them all bids him be strong and of a good courage trusting in Gods Providence and Assistance who would not fail him nor forsake him He tells him He must lead the people over into Canaan and cause them to inherit it Then Moses having put into writing (x) Videtur Scripsisse tuâ—â— Deuteronomium tum Canticum sequens antequam ea populo pronunciaret this Law that is this Book of Deuteronomy he delivered it solemnly unto the Priests who upon some extraordinary occasions did carry the Ark as well as the Levites see Joshua 3.17 Josh 6.12 and unto all the Elders of Israel thereby giving them to understand that they were the men to whom it did especially belong to see that this Original Copy of the Law were safely kept and that the Laws therein commanded were duly observed both by themselves and the people And Moses commanded the Priests to read this Book this Original Copy of the Law every seventh year which was the year of Release among the people at the Feast of Tabernacles 'T is like some part of the Book of the Law was read among them by the Levites every Sabbath-day see Acts 15.21 and 't is like the people had Copies of the Law for their own private use in the reading whereof they did daily exercise themselves (y) If this were required of their Kings Ch. 17 18 19. much more may we think it was required of them But yet once in seven years God would have this Book to be read by the Priests from the beginning to the end among the people both that it might make the deeper impression on them and cause them to fear the Lord their God and to observe and do all the words of this Law and that it might appear to them that those Copies of the Law which they had among them and were read to them every Sabbath-day did agree with this Original Copy which Moses had given them And God appointed this to be done in the year of Release because then they had most liberty to mind and attend that Service the Land lying that year at rest themselves being freed from the danger of having their Debts exacted of them It was also an holy year the Sabbath of years and so the fitter for this extraordinary duty And it was appointed to be done at the Feast of Tabernacles because all Israel used then to appear before the Lord. For though the Males only were bound to appear at the three solemn Feasts Exod. 23.17 yet at this Feast it seems they carried their Wives and Children and the Strangers within their Gates along with them as appears vers 12. Neh. 8.3 And hereby their Children who had not seen the Wonders and Miracles that God had wrought for them as their Fathers had done might by hearing this Original Book of the Law read openly among them learn to fear the Lord their God and to serve him faithfully as long as they lived Then the Lord tells Moses That the day of his death did now approach and therefore he should call Joshua and they two should present themselves before Him in the Tabernacle of the Congregation that there he might give Joshua his Charge They accordingly went to the Tabernacle and the Pillar of Cloud stood over the door of it and the Lord said unto Moses Behold thou shalt lie down to sleep in the dust as did thy Fathers but I know that after thy death this people will go a whoring after the gods of the Canaanites and will forsake me and break my Covenant Then my anger will be kindled against them and I will forsake them and hide my Face from them and withdraw my Favour Blessing and Help and then they shall be devoured by their Enemies as by wild Beasts and many evils and troubles shall befal them so that they will say in that day Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us The Lord therefore commands Moses to write this following Song set down in the next Chapter containing a Prophesie of their falling off from God and his just Judgment upon them for it And the Lord was pleased to give it to them in the form of a Song that it might be the better remembred by them and might work more upon their affections and the Israelites were to learn it and sing it that in time to come when they should so provoke God by their sins as is there set forth and God should thereupon punish them with those very evils that are there foretold this Song as out of their own mouths might be a Witness for God against them viz. that He had given them sufficient warning and yet notwithstanding by their willful and hainous Provocations they had brought these Miseries on themselves For says the Lord I know their secret Imaginations and the base apostatizing thoughts and purposes which some of them already have in their hearts even now before I have brought them into the Land which I sware unto their Fathers to give them see Amos 5.25 and Acts 7.43 and I do foresee what they will do hereafter Moses accordingly wrote this Song the same day and taught it the Children of Israel God then gives Joshua his Charge saying to him Be strong and of a good courage for thou shalt bring this people into the Land of Canaan V. 23. Hoc loco primum alloquitur Dominus Joshuam ut
ei authoritatem coram populo Conciliet and I will be with thee Moses now commands the Priests the Sons of Levi to put this Book of the Law which he had written in some safe Repository or Chest on the outside of the Ark where was the Pot of Manna and Aaron's Rod see Heb. 9.4 Indeed in the Ark it self were only the two Tables 1 Kings 8.9 but on the outside of it and by it was this Volume of the Law to be kept This Book was many years after found in the Treasury of the Temple in Josiah's Reign 2 Kings 22.8 2 Chron. 34.14 and therefore it seems it had been removed from the Ark and kept elsewhere wherein seeing they transgressed the directions that God here gave to the Priests no marvel if this precious Treasure was for some years lost and not looked after Moses having commanded them to place this Book on the outside of the Ark He said to them O Israel if thou art disobedient this Book shall be a witness against thee wherein thou art sufficiently warned to the contrary and shewed the Judgments that will thereupon insue But alas I know thy rebellious Disposition and thy stiff Neck Ye have been rebellious against the Lord while I was with you how much more will ye be so when I am dead Gather therefore unto me all the Elders of your Tribes and your Officers that I may speak unto them and call Heaven and Earth to witness against them For I know that after my death you will corrupt your selves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you and evil will befal you in the latter days because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and thereby provoke Him to anger The Elders and Officers of the people being met Moses spake in the ears of all the Congregation of Israel the words of this following Song Ch. XXXII Give Ear O ye Heavens * See Isa 1.2 and I will speak and hear O Earth the words of my mouth He beginneth this Prophetical Song with a Rhetorical Scheme calling the Heavens and Earth and all the Creatures in them to be witnesses of his word the more to affect the hearts of the people to reprove their hardness and to excite their attention I wish says He my Doctrine which I have received from God might so fall upon your hearts as the sweet and gentle Showers and fruitful Dew falleth upon the Herbs and Flowers and Grass of the Earth and causeth them to spring forth and flourish Isa 55.10 Hear therefore for I will now publish unto you the Name of the Lord that is his glorious Excellencies viz. his infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness and therefore see that ye ascribe Greatness and Majesty to Him and that ye magnifie Him as ye ought to do saying Thine O Jehovah is the Greatness and the Power and the Glory 1 Chron. 29.11 and that ye attend to what is spoken with all humility and lay it to heart and yield Obedience thereunto Know ye therefore that God is the Rock * In times of danger men use to fly to Rocks to shelter themselves 1 Sam. 13.6 He is an All-sufficient stable and sure Refuge for all those that fly to Him neither is there any sure Shelter any where else but in Him His Work is perfect for all his ways are Judgment All his Works are perfect (z) Even in those works of God that seem to have some imperfection in them as Children that are born blind or lame c. yet as they are acts of Providence there is a perfection of Wisdom Holiness and Justice in them and there is nothing at all in them for which God can justly be blamed and without any blemish there is no defect or fault to be found in any of them All his ways are Judgment his dealings with his people have been always right and just He is a God of truth and without Iniquity just and right is He. But as for this people they have corrupted themselves by their Idolatry their spot is not the spot of his Children for it proceedeth not of weakness and infirmity to which all are subject but of wilfulness and perverseness and an impenitent heart They are a perverse and crooked Generation for both their hearts and ways are evil and turned aside from the right Rule of Gods Law Do you thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise Is not God thy Father that made thee Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee that is ransomed and brought thee forth out of Egypt with a mighty Hand and the power of Miracles Hath not He made thee his people and established thee by Covenant to continue so if thou art not wanting to thy self and thy duty Remember the days of old and consider the years of many Generations ask thy Father and he will shew thee thy Elders and they will tell thee how God when by his Providence He disposed the several Nations that came out of the Loins of Adam into several parts of the Earth allotting to one Nation one Country and another to another did then set the bounds of the people according to the number of the Children of Israel that is did then chuse the Children of Israel to be his peculiar people and Inheritance and where they were there it might be said was his people and where their bounds ended there was the end and utmost bound of his people and the bounds of the Heathen then began and according to his secret purpose he gave and allotted to the Canaanites such bounds and limits as he knew would serve for the number of the Israelites For the Lords portion is his people Jacob is the lot of his Inheritance that is the Israelites are that portion of Mankind whom he was pleased to make his peculiar people they are his Inheritance and therefore dear to Him as Inheritances use to be to men which are divided to them by lot and they were to acknowledge no other Lord over them but Himself and they and their Children after them were to be His successively He found them in a desart Land in a wast howling Wilderness inhabited only by wild howling Beasts of Prey He found them there in desperate danger but came in seasonably to their succour when they were ready to perish He led them about he instructed them both by his Word and Works by his Spirit and the several Dispensations of his Providence He kept them as the apple of his eye with tender care and love As an Eagle stirreth up her nest that is awaketh her brood or young ones in her nest rousing them up with the Cry that she maketh to signifie to them that she intends to teach them to fly and spreading abroad her wings taketh them up and beareth them thereon so did the Lord carry Israel towards Canaan leading them Himself thither and there was no strange god with him that is no strange God had any hand in
Israelites over against Beth-Peor and there buried it Neither doth any man know the place where he laid it to this day And this the Lord seems to have done that the Israelites might not in a preposterous Zeal give superstitious honour either to his dead body or Sepulchre Indeed 't is said Jude v. 9. That Michael the Arch-Angel contended with the Devil and disputed about the body of Moses whereby it appears that the Devil would have had the place of his burial made known that it might have been the occasion of Idolatry as Chrysostome in his First Homily on Matthew and Theodoret upon Deut. quest 43. with others do conjecture but the Lord prevented the Devils design herein And possibly God foresaw that if the Israelites had known the place where the body of Moses was buried they would in an unwarrantable way have taken it up and carried it with them into the Land of Canaan as they did Joseph's bones whereas God had declared He should not come thither Moses being dead the Israelites mourned for him 30 days * So long they mourned for Aaron Numb 20.28 And there was great reason for it for there arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face that is spake to in a wondrous familiar manner with an audible articulate Voice as one friend speaketh to another and discovered to him more of his Glory than ever he did to the eye of mortal man see Exod. 33.20 There was none like unto him if we consider the great Miracles which the Lord inabled him to do in the Land of Egypt before Pharaoh and his Servants and the wonderful Works of mighty Power which he since performed in the Wilderness in the sight of all Israel whereby the Lord magnified his own Majesty and Power and put a great honour on his Servant Moses and his Ministry But though this great Moses was gone yet God left not his people without a Governour for He had before-hand appointed Joshua to succeed him who was a man endued with a great measure of wisdom which the Holy Ghost had given him for the right execution of his Office For Moses had laid his hands on him according to Gods Command Numb 27.18 by that Ceremony consecrating him unto God and engaging him faithfully to administer the Charge and Office He was appointed unto And the Children of Israel hearkned unto him and obeyed him as the Lord commanded Moses to injoyn them SECT XCIV WE are now come to the Book of Joshua The Book of Ioshua which was not probably written by himself (a) If we should suppose this Book for the main to be written by Joshua yet some passages might be inserted afterwards by some other holy Penman So in the Books of Moses we find some passages which could not be written by Moses himself but were afterwards added by some other holy men as Deut. 34.5 Qui hanc historiam ex Sacris Annalibus conscripsit usus est sui seculi nominibus Masius at least not all of it though it contains his Acts and Atchievements Indeed Joshua either wrote himself or ordered some of the Priests to write the words of the Covenant which he caused the people to enter into with all the Circumstances of it Ch. 24.26 in the Book of the Law of God which was written by Moses and put in the side of the Ark that so it might be a Witness against them if they transgressed it But there are some things contained in this Book which are thought to be done after Joshua's death as the conquering of Leshem or Laish by the Danites Ch. 19.47 Judg. 18.7 to 29. and Ch. 24. from 29. to 32. his death and burial are mentioned Some other things seem to argue that it was written by some Prophet * A Propheta aliquo collectus videtur hic liber ex antiquis diariis annalibus Masius long after his death as that phrase (b) See Ch. 4. 6. 6.29 7.26 8.29 9.27 10.27 13.13 14.14 15.63 remains unto this day so frequently used doth intimate And the Book of Jasher (c) See Sect. 102. is here named Ch. 10.13 which seems written at soonest in David's time as recording an Act of his 2 Sam. 1.18 unless we should suppose which is not improbable that this Book of Jasher was begun in Moses's time and continued on and inlarged afterwards by adding several memorable Acts and Passages unto it Joshua was of the Tribe of Ephraim Numb 13.8 He was six full years in Conquering the Land and in the seventh divided it by lot among the nine Tribes and an half And divers years he lived and governed after that time but how many is uncertain yet it is supposed to be about ten years And so this Book contains an History of seventeen years from the beginning of Joshua's Government to his death which happened when he was an hundred and ten years old Ch. 24.29 And so much by way of Preface We now come to the History it self After the death of Moses the Lord spake to Joshua Moses's Minister who had for many years daily and continual conversation with him and so could not but have learned much thereby to fit him for this great Service But whither the Lord spake to him by audible Voice or the secret instinct of his Spirit or in some Dream or by the High Priests inquiring for him by Vrim and Thummim we cannot determine But however it was he spake to him and commanded him to arise and lead His people over into the Land of Canaan which he had before promised them and intended now actually to give them He tells him That every place in the Land which the sole of their foot should tread upon from the Wilderness of Zin which was the South-bound to Lebanon which was the North-bound and the great Sea or Midland-Sea which was the Western-bound and the River Euphrates (d) That the Israelites did never extend their bounds thus far is evident For though in the days of David and Solomon all the Nations as far as Euphrates became Tributary to them 1 Kings 4.21 yet they never destroyed the Inhabitants there and planted themselves in their Country as they did in the Land of Canaan And the reason of this was because the Israelites failed of keeping Covenant with God and it was only upon condition of their Obedience that God promised thus to inlarge their borders which was the Eastern-bound even all the Land of the Hittites which seem here mention'd by a Synecdoche for all the seven Nations should be their Coast The Lord tells him That not a man should be able to stand before him all the days of his life but as He was with Moses so He would be with him and would never leave him nor forsake him He bids him therefore be strong and of a good courage for he should divide the Land of Canaan to the people of
Jordan and there Encamped that night Joshua commands them to sanctifie and prepare themselves by bringing their hearts into an holy frame that with reverence they might observe the great things God would do for them the next day He also gave Orders to the people that when they saw the Ark of the Covenant born by the Priests to remove they should then prepare to follow it but yet so as there should be a space of about 2000 Cubits interpos'd between it and them to teach them to fear the Lord their God of whose presence among them the Ark was a sign and that the Lord by the Ark that went before them might shew them a safe way for them to go in before they set one foot in the Channel and intimates to them they needed this Guidance having never passed this way before Now the Lord tells Joshua That He would that day magnifie him in the sight of all Israel that they might know that He was with him as He was with Moses Joshua then commanded the Priests to take up the Ark and when they came to the brink of the waters of Jordan they should make a little stand upon their first setting their feet into the waters which then overflowed * By reason probably of the melting of the Snow from the neighbouring Mountains the Banks vers 15. it being the time of Barley-Harvest (g) 'T is very observable that the Lord brought his people into Canaan in Harvest-time when the Land was ready furnished with the Fruits of the Earth that were to be for their provision and store the following year which in that Country was in the month Abib namely till of the Lord had miraculously divided the waters and opened a passage for them and the people to go thorow Then Joshua call'd the people together and said to them Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Nations that now possess this Land of Canaan behold the Ark of the Covenant even the Ark of the Lord of all the Earth passeth over before you into Jordan And take ye twelve men out of the Tribes of Israel out of every Tribe a man that they may go along with the Priests and may be present and Eye-witnesses of this miraculous Work of Gods dividing the River of Jordan For as soon as the soles of the Priests feet that bear the Ark shall rest in the waters of Jordan the waters that are above shall stand upon an heap firm as a wall swelling continually and rising higher and higher even as far backward (h) Psal 114.5 What aileth thee O Jordan that thou art driven back as from the City Adam that is besides Zaretan unto the place where you are to pass over And by reason of the successive coming down of the waters from above and their stay in that place you will discern that they were bounded and barred up by the Almighty Power of God And as for the waters below according to their ordinary course they shall pass away and run towards the Dead-Sea and so shall fail being cut off as it were from and not supplied by the waters from above And accordingly it came to pass as Joshua foretold them And on the tenth day of the first month the Israelites by the leading of Joshua a Type of Jesus Christ went up out of the River of Jordan into the promised Land of Canaan a Type of Heaven In this passage the people hasted and passed over immediately to the other side right against Jericho But the Priests that bare the Ark stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan till all the people were passed over which commends the strength of their Faith Patience and Obedience in that they stirred not till Joshua call'd them to come up out of the River notwithstanding the dreadful sight of those hideous Mountains of water which were every minute ready to overwhelm them unless they had been miraculously stayed by the Hand of God When the people were all passed over Joshua by Gods direction appoints the twelve men before mentioned vers 12. to take out of the River of Jordan where the Priests feet stood twelve great stones and carrying them upon their Shoulders to Gilgal where they were to Incamp that night there to set them up in that place He also ordered twelve great stones to be set up in the midst of Jordan where the Priests stood which possibly at a low Ebb might be seen afterwards on the Shore Both these were to be a Monument to the Children of Israel that when their Children in after-times should ask their Fathers the meaning of them they should tell them These were a Memorial of this great Miracle which the Lord was pleased to work when he divided Jordan before the Ark that the twelve Tribes might pass over And they should say to them The Lord dried up the waters of Jordan before you vers 23. until ye were passed over as the Lord did formerly at the Red-Sea that is in as much as he did it for your Ancestors he did it for you who were then in their Loins And He did it that all the Earth might know his Almighty Power and that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever Thus as Moses had commanded Joshua to see that all things should be done according to the direction of the Lord so Joshua in this their passage over Jordan did all things as the Lord commanded The Children of Reuben and Gad and the half-Tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the Children of Israel as they had promised Moses they would do Numb 32.27 About forty thousand of them ready armed for battel passed over which were but few more than one third part of their military men see Numb 26.7 18 34. The rest stayed behind to defend their Wives and Children and to look to their Cattel In that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel and they feared and reverenc'd him as they did Moses all the days of his life All these things being done Joshua commanded the Priests that bare the Ark to come up out of Jordan which as soon as they had done the waters that were before restrain'd and kept back by the power of God flowed down according to their ordinary course and at last flowed over all the Banks as they did before When the Kings of the Amorites and Canaanites heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan for the Children of Israel to pass over their hearts fainted neither was there any more spirit or courage in them Joshua Ch. 3. whole Chapter Joshua Ch. 4. whole Chapter and Ch. 5. v. 1. SECT XCVI THe next day Joshua is commanded by God to renew the use of Circumcision which had been forborn and intermitted these forty years last past and to Circumcise (i) Sensus est revoca consuetudinem circumcidendi longo tempore in
deserto intermissum Non jubetur idem homo iterum circumcidi sed idem populus those that were born in their Travels thorow the Wilderness who had not been hitherto circumcised And the Reasons why it was now injoyned as we may suppose were these 1. That this might signifie to them that it was by vertue of that Covenant which God had made with their Fathers whereof Circumcision was an outward Seal that they were now put into the possession of the Land of Canaan 2ly That they might more couragiously Encounter the Canaanites having upon them this Badge of their Adoption 3ly Because on the fourteenth day of this month at even they were to eat the Passover of which none might eat that were not circumcised Exod. 12.48 4ly When they came into the Land of Canaan they were to observe all the Precepts of the Ceremonial Law Deut. 12.8 9 10. and therefore this of Circumcision among the rest 5ly Circumcision was now injoyn'd them that hereby God might make trial of their Faith and Obedience And indeed a very hard trial it was if we consider that those that were the very flower and strength of their Armies were now to be circumcised viz. all that were under forty years of age and when they lay sore how easie had it been for their Enemies to have overcome them as may appear from the slaughter Simeon and Levi made upon the Sechemites when they lay in the same condition Gen. 34.25 26. So that nothing could be more dangerous in the eye of reason than that which God now injoyn'd them But thus God was pleased to try their Faith viz. whither in confidence of his Protection they would do what he injoyn'd them though it seem'd in it self so exceeding perillous Joshua therefore in Obedience to Gods Command and for these Reasons before-mentioned renewed now this Sacrament of Circumcision and 't is probable that all that were before circumcised were imployed in this Service that it might be the sooner dispatched and so the place where this was done was upon this occasion call'd the Hill of Fore-skins because there they did cast away or bury the Fore-skins of those that were that day circumcised The Israelites thus circumcised abode in their places in the Camp till they were whole no Enemy attempting any thing against them or once offering to molest them no not so much as to scare them or put them in any fright This being done the Lord said to Joshua This day have I rolled away from you the Reproach of Egypt as if he should have said Had these Israelites continued in their Vncircumcision they would rather have seemed to be uncircumcised Egyptians than the Israel of God but now being circumcised this Reproach of Egypt is rolled away from them see 1 Sam. 17.26 Gen. 34.14 Josh Ch. 5. from 1. to 10. SECT XCVII UPon the fourteenth day of this first month in the evening the Israelites celebrated their first Passover * Which was likewise intermitted in the Wilderness saving only the second year see Numb 9.1 2. in the Land of Canaan and on the morrow after did eat both unleavened Cakes of the old Corn and parched Corn of the new even the very same day whereon the Sheaf of the first-fruits of their Harvest was offered to the Lord after the offering whereof they might lawfully eat of the new Corn and not till then And Manna ceased the very day after they began to eat of the Fruits of the Land so that after that they saw it no more By which it was evident to them that Manna came not all that time they had injoyed it from any natural Cause in the Clouds but was provided for them in an extraordinary way by the Almighty Power of God Josh Ch. 5. vers 10 11 12. SECT XCVIII JOshua now approaching nearer to Jericho possibly to observe the Country about it and to contrive how he might best assail it and perhaps retiring a little alone to pray unto the Lord for direction in this matter on a sudden he beheld a man standing over against him with his Sword drawn in his hand Joshua went to him and said Art thou for us or for our Adversaries The man said Nay but as a Captain of the Host of the Lord am I come unto thee Then Joshua fell on his face to the Earth and worshipping him said What saith my Lord to his Servant And he said Loose thy shooe from off thy foot for the place whereon thou standest his holy and Joshua did so This Captain of the Lords Host was not Gabriel or any other created Angel but Michael the Arch-Angel Jude v. 9. the great Prince of Gods people Dan. 10.21 12.1 the Angel of the Covenant Mal. 3.1 Christ the eternal Son of God who appeared here and sundry other times in the shape of a man as a foregoing Presage and pre-signification of his future Incarnation and this appeareth by Joshua's adoring him as the Lord Jehovah Ch. 6.2 and his acceptance of it which a created Angel would have refused Rev. 19.10 and by his commanding Joshua to put off his shoes because the place was holy like to that Exod. 3.5 not that the place was capable of any inherent holiness in it self but hallowed by Gods holy presence in it and in relation to that only to be so esteemed and which ceased to be so when his appearance was withdrawn from it This Captain instructs Joshua about the manner of besieging and conquering Jericho He commands him for six * Thus God loves to try the saith and patience of his people to see whither they will wait for the accomplishment of his Promises when they are not presently fulfilled days together to march his Army round about the City that the Priests should carry the Ark about it and seven Priests with Trumpets of Rams-horns should blow before it and on the seventh day to do it seven several times At the last of which when the Priests blew with a long blast all the people should give a great shout at which the Walls of Jericho should fall down and so the Israelites should enter into it and destroy it Joshua having received these Directions from the Lord acquaints the people with them who believed the Lord would work this Miracle for them as he had newly divided the waters of Jordan and therefore the Apostle says Heb. 11.30 By Faith the walls of Jericho fell down Joshua tells them That the Lord would give the City into their hands but it should be accursed or devoted †See Levit. 27.28 even it and all that was therein to the Lord except Rahab and her Family who hid the Spies that is shall be offered to divine Justice as a kind of First-fruits thereby intimating that the whole Land was his but that he was pleased to give it them He tells them All the Silver and Gold and Vessels of Brass and Iron were to be consecrated to the Lord and brought into his Treasury
them to make a better use of the Successes he had given his people than their Neighbours did Accordingly they sent some of their City unto Joshua as if they had been Ambassadors from a far Country with old Sacks upon their Asses and old Wine Bottles patched and mended with old clouted Shoes on their Feet and old Garments upon their Backs and old mouldy and dry Bread and they came to Joshua at Gilgal and told him They were come from a far Country for they had heard as it seems that God had forbidden the Israelites to make Peace with the Inhabitants of Cannan vers 24. to desire him to make a League with them which the Israelites might do with the Inhabitants of remote Countries provided they would submit to become Tributaries unto them see Deut. 20.11 The men of Israel replied That peradventure they dwelled near them in that very Land that they were come to take possession of and then they might not make a League with them nor let them dwell among them see Deut. 20.15 16. The Gibeonites applying themselves to Joshua whom they discovered to be the General of the Army said unto him We are thy Servants We pray thee look upon us not as Enemies to thee as the Canaanites are but as those that are willing to be thy faithful Allies yea thy Servants and wholly to submit themselves to thy pleasure and to accept of any Conditions thou shalt please to impose on us Joshua asks them Whence they came They replied They came from a very far Country where they had heard of the Glory of the God of Israel and the mighty Works He had done in Egypt and to Sihon and Og but they mention nothing of the taking Jericho or Ai lest the taking notice of these things might have discovered them to be near Neighbours therefore say they our Elders * V. 11. They mention their Elders but no mention of their King so that they seem to have been at Commonwealth and the Inhabitants of our Country spake to us to take Victuals for our long Journey and to come and address our selves to you and to desire you to make a League with us on what terms you please And you may the rather be induc'd to believe that we came from a far Country for this Bread of ours that you see now to be dry and mouldy we took hot out of our Houses on the day we came out and these leathern Wine-sacks or Bottles which we filled with Wine were new when we came out and behold they are now rent and torn and our very Garments and Shoes you see are become old by reason of our very long Journey Then the men of Israel took and looked on their Victuals and thorow too much Credulity judged by their mouldy Bread that they were indeed come from a far Country never inquiring of the Lord by the High Priest what Answer they should give them Hereupon Joshua made Peace with them and a League promising that they should live and not be destroyed by them and the Princes of the Congregation sware to them to perform this Covenant This they might lawfully do as we said before to Cities that were far off and not of the Cities of the Canaanites But after three days they understood these Gibeonites were their Neighbours and that their Cities were nigh unto them upon this the people murmured against their Princes for this rash and hasty League But the Princes told them They had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel to perform that Covenant and therefore might not destroy them lest wrath from the Lord should come upon them if they should violate their Oath as it happened afterwards in the days of Saul who 400 years after this slew some of the Gibeonites and so brake the Oath which their Fathers had made with them upon which God sent a Famine upon the Land see 2 Sam. 21.1 2. Joshua and the Israelites finding themselves thus deceived by the Gibeonites they marched up to them but smote them not Joshua highly expostulates with them and asks them Why they had thus beguiled them They replied It was certainly told thy Servants that the Lord thy God commanded his Servant Moses to bring you to this Land and to give it you in his Name and that you should destroy all the Inhabitants thereof before you therefore we were sore afraid of our lives and upon that account we have done what we have done And now behold say they we are in thy hands being willing to submit unto thee so that thou maist do with us and impose upon us what Service thou pleasest Joshua tells them They were cursed that is of those cursed Nations whom God commanded them to destroy but yet because of the Oath they had made to them this Curse should be upon them only in bondage and should not extend to the taking away their lives He tells them That none of them should be freed from being bondmen they should be Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water for the House of God And so the Curse was literally and particularly fulfilled on the Gibeonites which Noah pronounced against the Canaanites in general Gen. 9.25 Cursed be Canaan a Servant of Servants shall he be unto his Brethren But yet this Curse thorow Gods mercy became in some respects a great Blessing to these Gibeonites seeing by these Services though base in themselves they had a near approach to God in the Service of the Sanctuary for the good of their Souls and were in a sort given and consecrated to God as the Name Nethinims afterwards given them doth import see 1 Chron. 9.2 and Ezra 8.20 Josh Ch. 9. whole Chapter SECT CIII ADoni-zedek King of Jerusalem with the Kings of Hebron Jarmath Lachish and Eglon hearing Gibeon was fallen off from them which was a great City and that the Inhabitants thereof were among the Children of Israel that is had incorporated themselves with them to be one people with them and to live under the same Laws and Government and that the Israelites and Gibeonites had daily free intercourse one with another they join'd their Forces together and came and besieged Gibeon resolving to Chastize it for its falling off from them and thereby to prevent the like Revolt of other Cities The Gibeonites immediately dispatch away Messengers to Joshua imploring him not to slack his hand but to come up speedily with his Forces to save and help them for these five Neighbouring Kings whose Cities were situate on Hills and Mountains were come up against them The Lord appears to Joshua and bids him not fear them for He had delivered them into his hand they should not be able to stand before him Joshua accordingly made hast and marching his Army all night came upon them suddenly and the Lord discomfited them before Israel and they slew them with a very great Slaughter near to Gibeon and chased them along the way that goeth to Bethhoron * There were
two Cities of this Name One fell to the lot of the Ephraimities and the other to the Benjamites So that it seems there were an upper and nether Beth-horon which were afterwards rebuilt beautified and fortified by Sherah a famous woman of the stock of Ephraim 1 Chron. 7.24 and smote them unto Azehah and Makkedah And as they fled some towards the upper and some towards the nether Beth-horon the Lord cast down great and prodigious Hail-stones upon them which destroyed more of them than the Israelites had killed with the Sword This storm of Hail was miraculous not only in regard of the exceeding greatness of the stones but in that they fell only on the Canaanites and not on the Israelites who pursued after them Joshua being now with his Army in the heat of pursuit and execution of their Enemies and fearing he should want day-light to finish his Work His spirit was excited humbly to beg of God that the Sun and Moon might stand still in the Heavens and give them light till they had done their work The Lord was pleased by some special instinct of his Spirit to assure him that his Request was granted whereupon in the presence of his Souldiers and for their future Encouragement looking up to Heaven He said Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon and thou Moon in the Valley of Ajalon †This was a Plain into which men descended from Beth-horon v. 11. and in respect of the small distance between it and Gibeon it is by the Prophet who alludeth to this story call'd the Valley of Gibeon Isa 28.21 And accordingly the Sun and Moon stood still and the whole frame of the Heavens by the space of almost an whole day till they had avenged themselves on their Enemies So that both these great Lights beginning and ending their standing still together the Astronomical Account was no way confounded by this stay even as in Musick the Harmony is not in any sort broken if all the Voices rest at the same time and then begin again every man in his own part going on until the end of the Lesson as Laurentius Codomannus observes This is written in the Book of Jasher * Fuit hic liber quasi Sanctorum Catalogus de Heroum Sanctorum gestis-scriptâ—s metrico versu Bonfrerius which seems to be some continued Chronicle of the memorable Acts of Gods Worthies in those times which Book is since lost though 't is mentioned again 2 Sam. 1.18 see also Numb 21.14 And there was no day like this either before it or after it wherein God at the prayer of a man made the Sun and Moon to stand still and made the day twice as long as it should have been Indeed in Hezekiah's time the day was miraculously lengthened by the Suns going backward 2 Kings 20.11 and Isaiah the Prophet cried unto the Lord and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward by which it had gone down in the Dial of Ahaz and yet it was not lengthened so much by far then as it was now to wit not above two hours and an half Neither was that done in such a manner as this was viz. upon Joshua's prayer to God first desiring it and then commanding in his Name that it should be done see Hab. 3.11 Joshua having the day thus miraculously lengthened out for him and following the Chase those five Kings fled to a Cave in the Country belonging to Makkedah and there hid themselves Joshua being informed thereof commanded that the entrance into the Cave should be rammed up with great stones and a Guard set upon it but that the rest of the Army should pursue after their Enemies and smite the hindmost of them and not suffer them to get into their fenced Cities lest they should put them to a new trouble For says he God fights for us and hath delivered these our Enemies into our hands therefore let us not by sloth and negligence lose this opportunity of destroying them which he now affordeth us Accordingly Joshua and his Souldiers made that day a great Slaughter of their Enemies so that only a few of them escaped which got into their fenced Cities For though he at present destroyed the Enemy in the Field yet it seems he did not take their fenced Cities till some time after though they are related in this Chapter as taken presently because the Writer of this Book did resolve to give as it were one short Draught of the War Now those whom Joshua had sent forth to pursue the Enemy returned to him in peace that is sound and safe to Makkedah where his Camp was at present And now the Canaanites were very quiet and durst not offer the Israelites the least Disturbance no not so much as a Dog barked against them to allude to that proverbial Speech Exod. 11.7 Then Joshua caused the five Kings to be brought out of the Cave to him and He called for his Captains and chief Commanders and bad them put their feet upon their Necks not in a proud insulting manner but to teach them that they were to shew no mercy to this people and to intimate to them that thus they should tread all their Enemies under their feet Then Joshua commanded that these five Kings should be slain and hanged * Quia Regum stagitia plurimis exemplo nocent ideo acerbiore supplicio merito debebant Expiari Masius on five Trees where they hung till evening and then they took them down and cast them into the Cave where they had been hid and laid great stones in the Caves mouth which remained when this History was written See Josh 8.29 and Psal 91.13 and Psal 149.8 110.1 Joshua 10. from 1. to 27. SECT CIV JOshua like a prudent General pursueth his Victory while the Canaanites were under so great a terrour and consternation upon the defeat of the five Kings and their Armies And therefore now He resolves to set upon their Cities And first He took Makkedah (c) A City in the uttermost Confines of the Tribe of Judah towards the West see Ch. 15.41 and destroyed all the people therein Men Women and Children reserving the Cattel to themselves for a Prey see Ch. 11.14 And he did unto the King thereof as he had done unto the King of Jericho that is He hanged †Hoc non indicat Scriptura ex caeterorum tamen Regum exemplo colligunt eum suspensum fuisse Bonfrerius him From Makkedah he marched the whole Army that was with him to Libnah (d) A City situate in the Tribe of Judah Ch. 15.42 and given to the Priests Ch. 21.13 and the Lord delivered that City also into his hands and he put all to the Sword he found therein and did unto their King as he did unto the King of Makkedah From Libnah he marched to Lachish (e) A strong City in the Confines of Judah restor'd Ch. 15.39 whose King was one of those that made War against Gibeon and besieged it
Horam King of Gezer a City near to Lachish understanding this comes forth with his Forces to relieve it but Joshua utterly routed and defeated him and then the day after the Lord delivered Lachish into his hands whose Inhabitants he utterly destroyed as he had done those of Libnah Then he marched to Eglon (f) A City in the Tribe of Judah Ch. 15.39 five Leagues Southward from Jerusalem and took it the very day he encamped against it and put all to the Sword he found there From thence he marched to Hebron (g) A famous ancient City see Numb 13.23 in the Tribe of Judah call'd formerly Kirjath-jearim The King hereof was one of those hanged at Makkedah but He being dead either his Heir succeeded him or they chose another How this City is afterwards said to be taken by Caleb see Notes on Ch. 15.13 14. and took it with the new King thereof for the old one was lately hanged at Makkedah and all the Cities it had under its Jurisdiction and utterly destroyed all the Inhabitants thereof Joshua then bending his Course towards Gilgal he took Debir (h) A City in the Confines of Judah butting upon Simeon before call'd Kirjah-sepher Josh 15.15 five or six miles Southward of Hebron and the King thereof and all the Towns belonging to it utterly destroying all the people therein and as he had done to the King of Libnah so he did to the King of Debir All these Kings and their Land did Joshua take in one Expedition because the Lord fought for Israel He subdued also all that part of the Country which lay to the South both those Cities that were built on Hills and those that were seated in the Plains He subdued and vanquish'd all from Kadesh-Barnea the utmost Southern bound unto Gaza upon the Sea-Coast and all the Country of Goshen in the mountainous parts of Judah even to Gibeon and destroyed their Inhabitants to a vast number doing therein according to what the Lord God of Israel had commanded him Deut. 20.16 17. Then Joshua returned with his Army to the Camp at Gilgal Joshua Ch. 10. from 28. to the end SECT CV FRom the Autumn of this year wherein after the failing of Manna they began to till the Ground and sow it is to be reckoned the first year of their Tillage and the rise of the Sabhatical year is hence to be taken Exod. 23.10 11. Levit. 25. from 2. to 7. SECT CVI. THe five Southern Kings being thus destroyed all the rest of the Northern Kings combined together against the Israelites and with them Joshua had a long War see vers 18. which lasted till about the end of the sixth year of his Government by which time He subdued them Very observable was the Providence of God that he did not suffer all the Kings of the Canaanites at once to joyn their Forces together against the Israelites but ordered it so that only some of them fought against Israel at one time and some at another by which means the Israelites were heartned with frequent Victories and had leisure to refresh themselves between them And though Joshua's wonderful Successes and Victories are succinctly related in this Chapter one after another yet these Wars lasted a great while after the Battel of the waters of Merom and there were about six years spent in the subduing these Nations as may appear by considering Caleb's age of which more afterwards see Ch. 14. from vers 6. to 15. 'T is true God could have subdued these Nations in a shorter time but he was pleased to have it done by degrees that the greater Opposition and Difficulty the Israelites met with in the Work the more they might own his Power and Providence in carrying them thorow All. The Lord also hereby exercised their Faith and Patience and stirred up the Spirit of prayer in them and drew forth their Dependance and Reliance on Himself And hereby also He discovered the obstinacy of the Canaanites which rendred them the more inexcusable The Lord also had determined that they should drive out these Nations by little and littlâ— and not consume them all at once lest the wild Beasts might increase upon them for want of people to inhabit the Land see Deut. 7.22 And we may add this as a reason to all the former why the War continued so long namely God leaving these Canaanites to the hardness of their own hearts none of them besides the Gibeonites desired to make Peace with the Israelites but desperately and obstinately resolved to fight with them and to oppose them to the uttermost and God did judicially thus suffer them to harden their hearts more and more that so they might have no favour but be utterly destroyed vers 20. But to return The Northern Kings that had combined against Israel were Jabin King of Hazor a City lying in the upper Galilee not far from Kadesh who sent to Jobab King of Madon (i) A City near Dan. and to the King of Shimron (k) A City in Zebulun near Mount Carmel call'd Shimron-meron Ch. 12.20 and to the King of Ackshaph (l) In Asher near Accho or Ptolemais and to the Kings that were towards the North on the Mountains and those that were in the Plains that lay on the South-side of the Country of Cinneroth called afterwards Tiberias and Genne-sereth and in the Valley or low Grounds and in the Borders of Dor (m) A City and County in the Tribe of Manasseh on the Coast of the Mediterranean-Sea on the West and to the Canaanites that dwelt both on the East and West and to the Amorite Hittite Perizzite and Jebusite in the Mountains and to the Hivite under Hermon a Hill in the North of Canaan which were another sort of Hivites much differing from those of Gibeon who had submitted to Joshua All these upon Jabin's Sollicitation combined together and went out against Israel with a mighty Army even like the sand that is upon the Sea-shore for multitude that is with such a vast number as was not easily to be numbered and they had Horses and Chariots very many They pitched together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel Joshua might possibly be now in some apprehension how the Israelites that were all Foot should be able to encounter so vast an Army as this which consisted so much of Horse and had so many Iron-Chariots But the Lord bad him not be afraid of them for on the morrow by that time he would deliver them up into his hands and He should hough their Horses that is cut their hamstrings and so make them unserviceable either in War or for any other use and burn their Chariots Accordingly Joshua very early next morning fell upon them with his whole Army probably before they were in any Order and made a vast Slaughter among them and chased them to Zidon * The Metropolis of Phaenicia Tyre is call'd the Daughter of it Isa 53.12 the Great and to
That if those woody Hills and Mountains were made fit to inhabit and were added to their portion yet there would not be Land enough for them And as for the Canaanites that dwelt in the Valleys and Champion-Countries they were not so easily to be conquered for they were a formidable people and used Iron-Chariots in their Wars which having Hooks and Sythes fastened to them did usually do great Execution in a Fight and mowed down all before them Joshua tells them He could give them no other Answer than he had done They were a great people and had great Power they excelled in number and strength and had no cause to complain that they had but only one lot or that their portion was too straight for them for if their own Sloth Cowardize and Diffidence of Gods Power and Providence did not hinder them they might inlarge it when they would If they were not wanting to themselves they would find the portion allotted to them was more than one lot for if they took the course he prescribed them the mountainous Country would be theirs they might plant it and possess it from one end to the other and all the adjacent Vallies and Champion-Country would be theirs also seeing if they did with Courage and Faith in God attempt to gain it God would surely enable them to drive out the Canaanites notwithstanding all their strength and the advantage they had by their Iron-Chariots Thus we see how uprightly Joshua carried himself in this matter being no ways partial to his own Tribe the Tribe of Ephraim nor to that of Manasseh so nearly allied to him Joshua 14.1 to 6. Ch. 15. from 1. to 13. and from 20. to 63. Ch. 16. from 1. to 10. Ch. 17. from 1. to 12. from vers 14. to the end SECT CX WE return now to the Tribe of Judah whose lot as we have shewn falling to them in the richest and best part of Canaan an eminent Person of this Tribe namely Caleb descended of Kenaz 1 Chron. 4.13 15. attended with the chief Men and Elders of Judah made his Address to Joshua and spake to him after this manner Thou maist remember the thing that the Lord spake to Moses the Man of God at Kadesh-Barnea concerning thee and me when we returned thither from searching the Land namely that we only of all those that were above twenty years old at that time should see this good Land Numb 14.30 I was forty years old when I was sent by Moses to spy out the Land (p) The Israelites after this wandring 38 years in the Wilderness this must needs be the seventh year since they came into Canaan and I brought him word again as it was in my heart I told him faithfully what I thought of the Land and did neither for fear nor favour of any man speak otherwise than I thought in my Conscience My Brethren that went up with me viz. ten of them made the hearts of the people melt and faint within them by telling them of the invincible strength of the Canaanites but I wholly followed the Lord my God as thou also didst and shewed my Obedience to him faithfully and perswaded the people without fear to enter into the Land resting upon the Promises and powerful Assistance of the Almighty And Moses sware to me on that day to wit by the motion and direction of God saying Surely the Land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine Inheritance and thy Childrens for ever namely some special part of it and particularly that wherein Hebron (q) And this place of the Land was given him rather than any other because when the other Spies had seen those Giants the Anakims Numb 13.23 near Hebron and had thereupon discouraged the people Caleb resolutely opposed these his faint-hearted Brethren and when they objected the invincible strength of the place and people He encouraged the Israelites and told them they might with God's help easily vanquish them And hereupon it seems there was some particular promise made to him concerning this Inheritance Josh 15.13 is situate because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God Thus Moses sware to me And now behold the Lord hath kept me alive these forty and five years since He spake this word unto Moses so that I am now fourscore and five years old and yet I am as strong this day as I was on the day Moses sent me As my strength was then so is it now both for War or any other business Thus the Lord hath wonderfully preserv'd my life and strength and reserv'd me as it were to enjoy that portion of Land which was then promised me Give me therefore I pray thee this mountainous Country where Hebron and Debir are situate and if the Lord will please to be with me as I trust He will I make no doubt but that I shall be able to drive out these Anakims and get this portion for an Inheritance to me and my Children as the Lord graciously promised me Joshua readily granted his Request and blessing him gave him Hebron for an Inheritance that is the Country and Territory in which Hebron and Debir were situate with the Towns belonging to them It is plain that Hebron and Debir were taken by Joshua and the Israelites in their Expedition against those five Kings that had joyned their Forces together to besiege Gibeon as we may see Ch. 10.36 37 38. He then took Hebron and cut off many of the Anakims from the Mountains about it but in process of time the Israelites as it seems not leaving Garrisons in those Towns the Inhabitants that got away and especially the remaining Anakims did again sieze upon Hebron and repossess it Wherefore Joshua would not permit Caleb alone without the assistance of some of his own Tribe to go up and assault it but he himself went with his Army and took it and he utterly destroyed the Anakims and their Fortresses and cleared the Country of them saving only that there remained some of them in Gaza Gath and Ashdod Cities of the Philistines There these Giants remained many years after For Goliah was of Gath 1 Sam. 17.14 and those four huge Giants mentioned 2 Sam. 21.16 c. were all of the Philistines Joshua having taken Hebron gave it to Caleb namely the Land and Villages thereunto adjoyning reserving the City it self and the Suburbs thereof for the Priests and to be a City of Refuge Josh 21.11 12. Hebron being thus retaken 't is probable Joshua sent a great Brigade of his Army under the Command of Caleb who had been very active with the assistance of those of his own Tribe as it seems before in slaying the three Sons of Anak Sheshai Ahiman and Talmai and driving their Adherents out of the Coasts of Hebron to take in Debir where He to excite the valour of his Souldiers promised to give his consent * See Judges 1.12 We cannot hence infer that he might lawfully force upon his Daughter what Husband he
had been done and the reason of it And accordingly they sent Phineas the Son of Eleazar and ten Princes of each chief House a Prince unto them When they came to them Phineas in the name of the rest spake to them after this manner What Trespass is this Brethren that you have committed against the God of Israel in building you an Altar that you might rebel this day against the Lord Is it not enough and too much that we did many years since highly provoke God to Displeasure against us by suffering our selves to be drawn by the Daughters of Moab to the Worship of Baal-Peor and shall we now afresh provoke Him against us by a new Rebellion against his Law and by a new way of Idolatry The stain and infamy of that sin of Peor still lies upon us and we have all cause to blush at the remembrance of it even now at this day And I am afraid the Infection of that Idolatry does still cleave to some particular persons among us And seeing ye have now rebelled against the Lord this I tell you before-hand will be the fruit and effect of it He will immediately and forthwith be angry with the whole Congregation of Israel and we must expect a dreadful punishment to fall upon us all for this your Transgression as you may remember when Achan transgressed in taking the accursed thing Ch. 7.1 wrath fell on the whole people for it and that Man perished not alone for that Sin but several others with him If you think the Land without Jordan unclean because you have not Gods Tabernacle and Altar with you as we have then pass over to us We had rather diminish our own Inheritances to give you a share of them than that you should fall off from the true Worship of God Gods Glory and your Salvation obliges us to make this kind motion to you The Children of Reuben Gad and the half-Tribe of Manasseh having heard these words made this reply First They appeal to the great God the Searcher of all Hearts that they had not built this Altar with any such intent as their Brethren suspected The Lord God of Gods say they the Lord God of Gods he knows how hateful the very thought of any such thing is unto us and you our Brethren shall know by our constancy in the Worship of God how far we were from building that Altar with any intent to Sacrifice thereon If we did it in rebellion against the Law of God we desire the Lord should not spare us but punish us according to the hainousness of so great a Sin Alas say they our true and only intent in doing it was this for fear lest in time to come your Children might say to our Children What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel The Lord hath made Jordan a border between you and us You have no part in the Lord. And thus in Generations to come your Children may come not to suffer our Children to offer their Sacrifices on God's Altar alledging They were not of the Church and People of God nor of Abraham's Seed and so shall your Children make our Children cease from fearing and serving the Lord. Therefore we agreed to build this Altar not to offer any Sacrifice thereon but only to be a Memorial and Witness between you and us and our Generations after us That we were the people of God as well as you and had liberty to come and offer our Sacrifices on the Altar that is before the Tabernacle equally with you and that your Children might not in after Ages bar our Children from this Priviledge Phineas and the Princes that were sent with him hearing this were very glad and much pleased therewith and Phineas replied This day we perceive the Lord is indeed among us in that He hath kept you from falling into that scandalous Sin which we feared you had committed Now we perceive that you have delivered the Children of Israel out of the Hand of the Lord by having kept your selves from that Sin which might have drawn some heavy Judgment not only upon your selves but upon the whole body of the people had you fallen into it Then Phineas and the Princes took their leave of them and returning to Shiloh made their Report hereof to the Elders of Israel there met who were exceedingly well satisfied therewith and blessed God who had hereby prevented them from going against their Brethren And so the Altar was called Ed that is a Witness or Token that they did all on both sides Jordan acknowledge and own Jehovah for the true God and their God whom they would Worship in no other way than that which He Himself had prescribed Josh Ch. 22. whole Chapter SECT CXX JOshua rebuilt the City of Timnath-serah in Mount Ephram in which he dwelt several years after God had given rest to the Israelites And having lived 110 years which was the age of Joseph and finding his death to approach He called for all Israel that is the representative body of the people viz. the Elders of each Tribe with their Magistrates Judges and Officers to come to him He tells them He was now old and stricken in years They had seen the great things the Lord had done for them and how he had fought for them and vanquished the Canaanites 'T is true they were not all yet subdued but yet He had divided the Inheritances of those that remained unto them by lot and though he died and left the Work unfinished yet they might assure themselves if they continued stedfast to the Lord He would in due time perfect the Work He had begun and perform all that He had promised and drive out the Nations that were not yet driven out He bids them therefore to be of good courage and carefully to observe the Commandments of the Lord not turning aside from them to the right hand or to the left He exhorts them to take heed of any familiar Converse with those Nations that remain'd among them or to make Marriages with them or to have any thing to do with their gods He would not have them so much as to take the Name of their false gods into their Lips with any liking of them see Psal 16.4 nor cause the men of these Nations to swear by their Idols to justifie their Sayings or confirm their Promises Neither should the Judges admit of an Oath by their Idols in the trial of any Cause much less should they bow down to them and serve them but they should cleave to the Lord their God as they had done since they came under his Government * Since that time we read not of any notable Rebellion of this people against God see Judg. 2.7 The Lord says He has driven out for you great and potent Nations None of them that you encountred were able to stand before you And He will still be with you if you will be faithful unto Him He will so Arm you with
that they should forsake the Lord to follow them though it were left to their own choice He intimates to them that except they chose the Lord for their God and served Him out of judgment and their own choice V. 15. Eligite Tenta vita dictum ut Ruth 1.15 Joh. 6.67 and willingly and freely without any constraint God would not regard their outward compliance Well says he whatever you shall determine for your selves and your own practise I do declare to you That this is my firm Resolution That as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. The Elders of the people hearing these things said God forbid that ever we should forsake the Lord that brought us and our Fathers out of Egypt and has done such great things in our sight and has hitherto preserved us and driven out the Amorites and Canaanites for us God forbid that ever we should be so wicked as to forsake Him and serve Idols No the Lord is our God and Him we are resolved to serve Joshua advises them them to consider well what they said He tells them They cannot serve the Lord if they retained Idols in their Houses or in their Hearts and mingled false Worship with the true For God says he is an holy and jealous God and will no more admit of mixture of true and false Worship than a jealous Husband will of a Corrival in his love or that his Wife should divide her self between him and a stranger I tell you plainly God will not forgive your Transgressions nor your Sins if you continue in them and if you turn from Him and serve other gods He will turn from doing you good and will severely punish and chastise you The people answered Nay but we are firmly resolved to serve the Lord and Him only Then Joshua said You are â—itnesses against your selves this day if you do otherwise For ye have freely chosen the Lord to be your God and have faithfully promised to serve Him They said We do acknowledge it and if we do otherwise we are Witnesses against our selves and our own Consciences will convince and condemn us Well says he if ye be willing to renew your Covenant with God this day then let me in the first place strictly charge you if there be any Idols secretly kept and worshipped among you that they be put away presently and let them have no place in yours hearts and affections but incline your hearts faithfully to serve the Lord God of Israel The people answered The Lord God will we serve and his Voice alone will we obey Then Joshua as God's Servant and Minister caused the people to renew their Covenant with God and probably it was done in a very solemn manner being accompanied with Sacrifices and the usual Rites of that sacred Service and He established and confirmed it as a standing and perpetual Law for them and their Posterity that they should constantly continue in the Service of the Lord God alone as became his peculiar people and utterly renounce all Idols and all Idolatry whatsoever And Joshua either wrote himself or caused some of the Priests to write in the Book of the Law which was written by Moses and put on the side of the Ark these Promises of the people and the whole carriage of this business and how solemnly they renewed their Covenant with God that the people knowing there was such a Record kept of this matter and the circumstances thereof in God's Tabernacle might be the more careful to keep their Covenant Then Joshua took a great stone and set it up there under an Oak that was by the Sanctuary of the Lord as a Memorial of this Covenant now thus solemnly renewed between God and this people Some think this was the very Oak under which Jacob had many years since buried all the Idolatrous trash which he found among those of his Family Gen. 35.4 and that Joshua did purposely for that cause set up this Stone under that Oak * Hic Abrahamo Deuâ— apparuisse creditur Gen. 12.6 7. In future times this place where this Stone was set up was from hence called the Oak of the Pillar Judg. 9.6 And Joshua said This stone shall be a witness unto you for it hath heard (t) Hyperbolica Contestatio vide Deut. 4.26 all the words of the Lord that is of the Covenant between the Lord and you and it shall serve as a Witness to convince you of your Sin if you do not keep your Covenant seeing all men in future Ages will take notice that it was purposely erected to be a Monument and Memorial thereof and this stone when you see it shall represent to your Minds and Consciences the Covenant which ye have now made as if it could both hear and speak so that if in after-times you deny your God and fall into Idolatry this very stone will witness against you See a like expression to this Jer. 2.12 These things being done they now solemnly interred the bones of Joseph which they had brought with them out of Egypt (u) See Sect. 48. of Chap. 3. in that parcel of ground here at Shechem that Jacob * Whereas 't is said Acts 7.15 16. that the Fathers were laid in the Sepulchre that Abraham bought c. the meaning is which one of the Posterity of Abraham viz. Jacob bought of the Sons of Hamor See Apost Hist on the place bought of the Sons of Hamor see Gen. 33.19 and which He upon his death-bed gave to Joseph as a special Legacy Gen. 48.22 and was now within the lot of the Sons of Joseph And it seems from Acts 7.15 16. That the bodies of all the rest of the Patriarchs the Sons of Jacob were brought up also out of Egypt and here likewise buried When these things were done Joshua dismist the people to their own Inheritances Shortly after this the great Joshua dies aged an 110 about ten years as is conceived after the Conquest of the Land He had approved himself a faithful Servant of God all his days living in his Fear and dying in his Favour and was buried in his own Inheritance in Timnath-serah (x) Timnath-serah vox imaginem solis denotat quae Joshua Sepulchro erat imposita ob celebris illius solstitii Memoriam Josh 10.13 in Mount Ephraim Some say the Israelites placed upon his Monument the Figure of the Sun as a Memorial of the great Miracles of the Suns standing still at his prayer And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua * Non autem multo diuitius ut patet ex Jud. 2.8 9 10. Hinc patet quantum sit in unius hominis probitate positum qui in republica dominatur Masius and of the Elders that out-lived Joshua who had known all the Works of the Lord which he had done for them Not long after Eleazar the High Priest died also and they buried him in an Hill in Mount Ephraim which by special and extraordinary Gift
course we can to bring these desperate Offendors to deserved punishment Judg. Ch. 19. whole Chapter SECT CXXXI THen all the Children of Israel that is the chief of them viz the Elders Officers and Captains from Dan to Beersheba together with those without Jordan met together as one man at Mizpeh (d) In the Tribe of Benjamin or in the Confines of Judah and Benjamin and so reckoned among the Cities of both Tribes Josh 15 38. Ch. 18.26 which was a place they usually held their publick Assemblies in 1 Sam. 7.5 Judg. 10.15 as being in the heart of the Land excepting only the Benjamites who it seems refused to come to this meeting or to send any Messengers to them resolving to defend the men of Gibeah against them The Israelites came together to act this weighty business as in Gods presence and to ask Counsel of Him and to hear what He would give them in charge about it No less then four hundred thousand men now met who expressed their Zeal to punish this abominable Fact of the men of Gibeah But though they were sensible of the injury done to the Levite and his Concubine yet it seems they took no notice of the great and provoking Injury done to God by tolerating the Idolatry of the Danites for which we shall see that God now intends to reckon with them This great Assembly being thus met the Levite came and declared his Case to them He shews them how barbarously the men of Gibeah had used his Concubine and how they had abused her even till they had killed her and they thought to have done the like to him also which rather than he would have endured he would have lost his life And therefore seeing they were all Israelites they ought to take to heart that such and so foul an Abominaiion was committed in Israel and ought to revenge it accordingly The people were so inflamed hereat that they vowed they would not so much as go home to their own houses till they had executed Judgment upon those that were guilty of so abominable a Villany Then they sent Messengers to the Tribe of Benjamin to desire them to deliver up these Sons of Belial in Gibeah to deserved punishment who were guilty of this Crime that so wrath might not be poured forth upon the whole Land for it and herehy they would prevent a Civil War and great blood-shed which else was like to ensue The Benjamites it seems thinking it a dishonour to them that the other Tribes should intermeddle with punishing any within their Territories and being highly conceited of their own strength and ability for Martial Affairs and presuming possibly that they were able to make good their part against all the other Tribes of Israel they would not hearken to their Brethren but prepared to fight it out The Israelites perceiving that the Benjamites would not deliver the Malefactors into their hands but were resolved rather to defend them they vowed that if they vanquished the Benjamites as they doubted not but they should they would not give any of their Daughters in marriage to any of them that were left alive see Ch. 21.1 and likewise that they would destroy every Town throughout the whole Land of Israel that would not send some of their people to this Assembly nor help them in this War Ch. 21.5 Then they determined to cast lots who among them should go up to fight against Gibeah and who should go forth to fetch in Provisions for the Camp For they thought that one in ten had need be set apart for this Service and who they should be the lot should decide Then they went to Shiloh to inquire of the Lord by the High Priest having on the Ephod Numb 27.21 which of them should go up first to the battel against the Children of Benjamin They did not inquire of the Lord Whither they should go up against the Benjamites or whither they should prevail They did not pray to God for his help nor by Fasting and Humiliation and true Repentance humble themselves for their manifold Sins nor by offering up Sacrifices of atonement seek to make their peace with God but relying on the justness of their Cause and their great Numbers and strength like men presuming of the Victory to prevent variance among themselves and striving for the honour of the day They desire only to know which of the Tribes should go up first against Benjamin They concluded that having eleven Tribes against one and four hundred thousand fighting men on their side they must needs prevail The Lord tells them Judah shall go up first The Children of Benjamin also on the other hand prepared themselves for the Encounter and numbring their Forces they found they were twenty six thousand fighting men besides the Inhabitants of Gibeah which were seven hundred chosen men and in this their Army they had seven hundred choice men left-handed every one of them could sling a stone at an hairs breadth (e) An hyperbolical expression signifying they were exceeding skilful in slinging stones and could commonly hit a small mark and not miss Matters being thus ordered on both sides the men of Israel went out to battel against Benjamin and the Benjamites drew out their Forces out of Gibeah against them and they joyning battel the Benjamites prevailed and cut down to the ground and destroyed twenty two thousand of the Israelites that day The Israelites upon this ill success retired to Shiloh and wept before the Lord but it seems it was more for the shame of the defeat and their loss of men than for their sins They inquire of the Lord again whither they shall go up a second time against Benjamin their Brother but neither crave his Assistance nor inquire of the Success whereby they intimate that they supposed the cause of their ill Success before was because God was not pleased with their warring against their Brethren but they think not of their sins the true cause and therefore God answers them accordingly Go up says He against Him as if He should have said though Benjamin be your Brother yet you may fight against him So the Children of Israel encouraged themselves and went up against the Children of Benjamin the next day The Benjamites drew out again out of Gibeah and defeated the Israelites a second time and slew eighteen thousand more of them Upon this second overthrow the Israelites run to Shiloh again and there fast and mourn and repent of their sins in good earnest Now they perceived that though God liked their Cause yet he was displeased with their persons They saw that God did avenge his Own Cause upon them because they would not avenge his Cause against Idolaters Therefore they now afflict their Souls in a most solemn manner and offer Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings to make atonement for their Sins that so they might obtain Gods favour They now inquire again of the Lord by Phineas the High Priest and by Vrim and
raise up the Name of the dead upon his Inheritance that it may not be cut off from among his Brethren and from the Gate of his Place that is from among the Inhabitants of Bethlehem who daily go in and out at the Gates of the City and upon all civil Occasions resort thither as to their place of Judicature Hereupon the Elders and all the people there present declared that they were all Witnesses to these Transactions And so they wished Boaz all happiness with Ruth whom he intended to take for his Wife praying unto the Lord that she might be to him what Rachel * Here Rachel is named before Leah because she was Jacob's true and lawful wife Leah was fraudulently put upon him and Leah which two did build the House of Israel were to Jacob viz. that she might be very loving and comfortable to him and might bear him many Children as they did that thereby the Israel or Church of God might be increased Then speaking to Him they said As for thy self we heartily wish thou mayest do worthily in Ephratah and be famous in Bethlehem We heartily wish thy House may be like the House of Pharez †See Sect. 35. of Chap. 3. that is as Pharez of whose Stock thou art was blessed in his Posterity though his Mother was a Stranger and not of the Stock of Israel so that his Children and Childrens Children have been most honourable in the Tribe of Judah so we wish that thou maist be blessed in thy Children begotten of this poor Stranger and that they may still uphold the Honour of that House So Boaz took Ruth to wife and God gave her to conceive and she bare him a Son Upon this the Women congratulated Naomi saying Blessed be the Lord who hath not left thee this day without a Kinsman a pious Kinsman indeed who hath raised up Seed to his Kinsman thy Son deceased and let his Name be famous in Israel for it He will comfort and revive thee and restore thee as it were to a new life He will be a Nourisher of thy old age and make thee as it were young again For Ruth thy beloved Daughter-in-law who is better to thee than seven Sons hath now born him * Vers 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 poterit verti peperit ei scil vindici Pronomen enim affixum saepe ponitur Et exponendum est per dativum separatum Capel a Son which must needs be matter of great joy to him Then Naomi took the Child and laid him in her Bosom and became a dry-Nurse to him And the Women her Neighbours said There is a Son born to Naomi because this Son of Ruth was to raise up the Name of her deceased Husband Mahlon the Son of Naomi and to be accounted his Son rather than the Son of Boaz. However they gave their advice that his Name should be called Obed importing that they hoped he would be very serviceable to his Mother and Grand-Mother Indeed every where in the Genealogies Obed is reckoned the Son of Boaz but that is because there it is fit the line should be drawn according to the natural Descents that we may truly know the Ancestors of whom Christ came without any respect to this legal Ordination This Obed was the Father of Jesse who was the Father of David The principal end of setting down this Genealogy †By the Genealogy of David set down in the end of this Book 't is manifest it was written after David's time unless that were added to the Book in succeeding times by some other Author here seems to be to shew the truth of Jacob's Prophesie concerning Christ's coming of the Tribe of Judah and therefore it begins with Pharez Juda's Son and so descendeth to David of whose Stock it was also known that the Messiah was to come Ruth Ch. 4. whole Chapter SECT CXXXVI WE return now to the History of the Judges When Ebud was dead the Children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord. Vnder none of the Judges did they enjoy so long a peace as in the days of Ehud as we may see Ch. 3.30 viz. 80 years And now we shall shew how ill they requited the Lord for so great a Mercy As standing waters are wont to putrifie so they were corrupted by their long Peace and by degrees fell off from God unto Idolatry as they formerly had done Upon this God gave them up into the hands of Jabin King of Canaan that is of those Canaanites that dwelt in the Northern parts Successor to that Jabin slain by Joshua whose chief City Hazor he burnt Josh 11.1 10 11 12. yet this Son or Successor of his it seems re-inforcing himself recovered from the Israelites that part of Land and Territory that lay about Hazor and repairing the City reigned there as his Predecessors had done And now at last not contented with his own Kingdom he made War against the Israelites in general and brought them into Subjection to him and cruelly oppressed them in Revenge no doubt of what Joshua had formerly done against that Kingdom and City The Text says He mightily oppressed them vers 3. which Expression is no where used concerning any other Bondage the Children of Israel were under and he oppressed them a long while viz. twenty years Third Oppression under Jabin twenty years and this Oppression must needs be the more grievous to them because they were brought under the Canaanites that accursed Nation whom God promised to cast out before them and would have done it had not they by their grievous Sins prevented their own Mercies And observable it is that whereas their first Bondage under Cushan-rishathaim King of Mesopotamia continued but seven years the next under Eglon continued eighteen years and this under Jabin continued twenty years Thus we see when lighter Corrections did no good the next were sorer and of longer continuance and because they abused God's Mercy and readiness to withdraw his Hand when they cried unto him therefore he continued the next Judgments longer upon them But to go on The Captain of Jabin's Host was Sisera who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles in the lot of Naphtali whither many of the Canaanites in the timâ— of Israels prevailing fled as unto a place of Strength and there fortified themselves Jabin had a great Army and 900 Chariots of Iron and continuing to Oppress Israel very sorely they cried unto the Lord and humbled themselves Deborah the Third Judge and He was at length pleased to hear their Cry and send them a Deliverer It seems at this time * Namely whilst Jabin oppressed them so that those 20 years or within 〈◊〉 those 40 yâ—ars of Dâ—brorah vers 31. Populum judicabat sine Principatu tamen Jus populo dixit litesque composuit sed absque jurisdictione sive potestate judiciariâ Quia Prophetissa mulier prudens erat sponte populus ad eam controversias suas detulit Judices
ordinarios ut probabile est Tyrannus Sabin è medio sustulerat Deborah a Prophetess judged Israel not Governing chiefly and properly as a Judge whose Office was to hear and determine Causes and in those times especially to make War against their Enemies but as a Prophetess counselling and directing the people that came to her in hard and difficult Cases and revealing to them the Will of God by the Spirit of Prophesie which God had given her 'T is like the Tyrant Jabin would not have suffered any man to have been Judge or Governour among them but as for Deborah a Woman possibly he took no notice of her Deborah as it seems used to give forth her Directions and Counsel sitting under a Palm-Tree that was between Rama and Bethel in Mount Ephraim Deborah now by the special Direction from God sends for Barak Son of Abinoam who dwelt at Kedesh-Naphtali and imparts to him what God had revealed to her either by the secret Inspiration of his Spirit or perhaps by the Ministry of an Angel †That some Angel did appear to her either before or after the battel sought with Sisera may appear from Ch. 5.26 She tells him God had commanded him to go and draw together to Mount Tabor an Army of the Israelites and to take ten thousand of the Children of Naphtali and of the Children of Zebulun because they were nearest at hand and those of Naphtali were likely to be forwarder in this Work because Barak was of that Tribe and they also were most oppressed by Jabin and Sisera Hazor and Harosheth being both in their Tribe She tells him When he had gathered this Army together the Lord would incline the heart of Sisera Jabin's General to come with his Multitudes and Iron-Chariots to fight him at the River Kishon that runs near to Mount Tabor and would deliver him into his hands Barak it seems believed what Deborah told him viz. that Sisera should be vanquished by him and therefore his Faith is commended Heb. 11.32 33. but yet his Faith was assaulted with some doubts and fears for he tells her If she would go with him He would go else not 'T is like he was desirous to have her at hand being a Prophetess to give them Counsel and Advise upon every Emergency she readily yields to go with him but withall shews him that because of his fear the Lord would deprive him of a great part of that glory he should otherwise have had And because he would not undertake this Enterprize without the presence and encouragement of a Woman therefore a Woman should carry away a part of the Honour of the Victory to wit Jael the Wife of Heber into whose hands Sisera should fall and by whom he should be slain Deborah therefore accompanying Barak he went to Kadesh in Naphtali the place of his Birth and here gathering together an Army mostly consisting of the Tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali though some of the other Tribes did voluntarily joyn with them as appears Ch. 5. he marched with ten thousand men following him towards Mount Tabor whither he was commanded to go Near unto this City of Kedesh-Heber the Kenite had his Tent (r) The Kenites lived in Tents and not in Houses who for some Reasons not here mention'd had severed himself from the rest of the Kenites who were seated among the Children of Judah see Ch. 1.16 and now lived in the Tribe of Naphtali Sisera hearing that Barak had got together an Army about Tabor He gathers together speedily all the Forces he could make which were very many and with them and his 900 Chariots he marches to Kishon to encounter him Deboral hearing of his approach encourages Barak to go out and fight him telling him That the Lord was gone out before him as General of his Army to fight for him and would certainly give him Victory over Sisera So Barak marched down from the hill with ten thousand men following of him They joyning battel Sisera was totally discomfited insomuch that he himself lighting out of his Chariot he was forced to run away on foot His whole Army was routed slaughtered or scattered not a man left in the Field to make resistance Those that fled fled towards Harosheth whom Barak vigorously pursued but Sisera himself fled to Hebers Tent the Kenite who though joyning with God's people in the profession and practise of the true Religion yet paying possibly to Jabin some kind of Tribute he had taken him under his Protection and the rather because he lived only as a Sojourner among the Israelites and laid no Claim to the Land and lived a Peaceable and Pastoral kind of life and so was not like to rise up in Rebellion again Jael the wife of Heber meeting Sisera desired him to turn into her Tent and bids him fear * V. 20. Timere quidem probibet nil tamen spondet nothing He accordingly does so and she gave him Water to drink and Milk and Butter to eat and covered him with a Mantle that he might repose himself being very weary He desires her to stand in her Tent door and if any came to enquire after him she should not acknowledge he was there Jael seeing he was fallen asleep by a special and extraordinary Instinct of the Spirit of God took a long Nail such as they us'd to fasten their Tents with and drove it on a sudden into his Temples and so fastned his head to the ground Barak pursuing Sisera Jael went out to meet him and told him She would shew him the man whom he sought after Barak coming into the Tent found Sisera dead and the Nail driven through his Temples So God subdued Jabin that day and his Host before the Children of Israel And the Israelites prevailed so far against him that they brought him and his people to an utter and final destruction But however the Lord made use of Barak and his Army as Instruments in obtaining this great Victory yet He himself was the Principal Agent in it partly by taking away the Courage of the Enemy and possessing them with fear and partly by fighting against the Canaanites from Heaven and sending into their very faces an impetuous storm of Hail unto which Deborah alludeth Ch. 5.20 Judg. Ch. 4. whole Chapter SECT CXXXVII AFter this Victory Deborah being a Prophetess composed as 't is thought a Triumphant Song and She and Barak and the Commanders of the Army and the Elders of the people Sang it together to the Glory of God who subdued their Foes before them They begin thus Praise ye the Lord for avenging of Israel when the people offered themselves willingly principally hereby intending Zebulun and Naphtali who first appeared and came in as Voluntiers at the sound of the Trumpet Barak having no Authority to press them to this Service But with them also some others joyn'd in the day of Battel viz. Ephraim Manasseh Issachar vers 14 15. Then in a Poetical strain she calls upon Kings
and Princes to hear what she had to say concerning this great Work which God had done for Israel and she addresseth her Speech the rather to them because they are wont oftentimes in their Pride to Oppress others and therefore she desires they might understand what God had done to Jabin and Sisera and so might take heed of provoking God by Oppressing his people as these had done And the better to express how terrible God had now been to their Adversaries she compares the Terrors of this day with those when the Law was given on Mount Sinai Lord when thou camest out of Seir when thou marchedst out of the Field of Edom the Earth trembled that is when the Children of Israel stood at Mount Sinai from the East where was Edom and Mount Seir a divine Splendor from the fiery Cloud began first to appear to them and seeming to come from that Region drew nigher and nigher to them till it rested on the Mountain see Deut. 33.2 Psal 86.7 8. Then the Earth trembled and the Heavens dropped that is the Clouds seem'd to be dissolved into extraordinary Showers and Storms The Mountains melted and trembled and shook even Sinai it self (s) Elegans poëtica Hyperbole Etiam Reges ferocientes comparantur montibus Psal 68.17 and seem'd to flow away at thy presence And as thou didst at that time wonderfully appear at Sinai causing those prodigious Effects of thy Presence to be felt so did thy Majesty and Power now at this battel no less appear for us against our Enemies She goes on The Case was very sad with us before For from the days of Shamger who was indeed a Deliverer of us from our Enemies unto this present time wherein Jael appeared and shewed her self a worthy Instrument of our good we lay under great Oppressions insomuch that the High-ways being kept by Souldiers all Trading was cut off people not daring to travel but in by-ways nor to live in Villages but only in walled-Cities whither they fled to secure themselves till God was pleased by me a poor woman to set on foot this glorious Work of our Deliverance who as a Prophetess teaching them God's Will and what He would have them to do and with no less care seeking their good than a loving Mother doth her dear Childrens I encouraged them to this War which hath succeeded so well If any ask a reason of the Calamities we were under Alas we must needs acknowledge the Israelites by shameful Apostacy fell away from God and his true Worship and worshipped Heathen Idols hereupon the Lord raised against them cruel Enemies on every side who made Inroads into their Land and many times came up to the very Gates of their Cities And they were so dispirited with fear and faintness of heart that not a man among the many thousands of Israel durst take up a Shield or Spear against their Enemies see Levit. 26.36 She goes on I cannot but highly honour the Heads and Rulers of the people who though having great Estates were as willing to hazard themselves in this War as the meaner sort who have scarce any thing to lose and such grave and ancient Persons are not usually so fit for War as younger men and therefore it argued an Heroick Spirit in them to put to their helping hand among the meanest in this Cause of God and their Examples no doubt had a great influence to draw on many of the meaner sort And says she let all those men of honour and eminency viz. Magistrates and Judges that sit in the Seat of Judgment and use to ride up and down on white Asses * Riding on Asses was it seems a Note of great and honourable Persons in that time see Judg. 12.14 and it seems white Asses were in principal esteem and so likewise let all the common sort of people that travel on foot from one place to another let them all in their several places speak of this great Deliverance which God hath wrought for his people For whereas before all the High-ways of the Land were pestered with Souldiers so that there was no stirring with any safety from one place to another and so all the whole course of Justice was in a manner stopped now the Judges might sit in Judgment as formerly and might ride up and down upon their white Asses according to their wonted manner which before they could not do and the common people of all sorts might now pass to and fro and travel safely about their occasions Now the Country-people that us'd to be assaulted and surprized by their Enemies when they went to the Wells and Fountains to fetch water are delivered from this danger and may freely go thither and there declare the righteous Acts of God in destroying their Enemies and may also now freely frequent the Cities on Court or market-Market-days Upon consideration of all these Mercies Deborah rouses up her self to praise the Lord with all her Soul and Strength Awake Deborah awake utter thy Song Arise Barak and lead thy Captivity Captive that is now after thy Victory lead those Captive that kept us formerly in Captivity Psal 68.18 And after thou hast led them in Triumph let those of the Canaanites whom thou hast taken be slain as God hath commanded and let those of other Nations that are taken with them be reserved for Slaves Thus God made the poor despised remainders of his people rescued by this Victory out of the Tyranny of the Canaanites to have Dominion over their Nobles even their great and mighty men Yea the Lord hath made me says Deborah though a weak woman to have Dominion over the Mighty and by my Counsel and Encouragement to subdue great Princes and Commanders Then Deborah relates how the several Tribes acquitted themselves in this Expedition praising or blaming them according to their Deserts First She begins with Ephraim out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek that is one rising of the Israelites against our Enemies did spring up from Ephraim and those of this Tribe that armed themselves for the War were assign'd by Barak to go against the Amalekites to Encounter them and keep them from coming and joyning their Forces with those of Jabin's whilst Barak with his Army went against Sisera Machir was the only Son of Manasseh and so by the Children of Machir are meant the Tribe of Manasseh And after thee that is after you of Ephraim were in Arms some of Benjamin came and mixt themselves among you to go against Amalek And out of Machir that is out of the half-Tribe of Manasseh seated within Jordan some of them yea even of their Governors came down to assist Barak and out of Zebulun even some of their Doctors Scribes and Lawyers and others that were better at their Pen than Sword yet came among them to assist in this Cause And both the Princes and common people also of the Tribe of Issachar did readily come in to Deborah and Barak with
of divers Colours of divers Colours of Needle-work so wrought that both sides are alike and of equal beauty and fit to be worn about the Necks of those to whom the best Prey belongeth as great Officers and Commanders and such as have done best Service in the Fight But alas she will find her self miserably deceived and her Son to be in another condition So let all thine Enemies perish O Lord but let them that love thee become Prosperous Glorious and Renowned and let their Prosperity grow and increase daily as the Sun when it riseth in a clear Morning doth shine brightly and gloriously and that more and more until it shew it self in its greatest strength and brightness at Noon-day Prov. 4.18 And upon this Victory the Land had Rest until forty years were up since the former Rest or Peace restored by Ehud Ch. 5. whole Chapter SECT CXXXVIII Fourth Oppression under the Midianites seven years THe Children of Israel falling again to Idolatry and doing evil in the sight of the Lord He delivered them into the hands of the Midianites who oppressed them seven years We read not indeed that they brought them into such Bondage as other Oppressors had done but only made every year Inroads into their Land and so robbed and pillaged their Country The Midianites though the Posterity of Abraham were always deadly Enemies to the Israelites and in the latter days of Moses the Israelites had destroyed multitudes of them as we may see Numb 31.17 Possibly the Midianites resolved now to take Revenge on them for it However when the Lord intends to punish a people for their sins he can raise up against them what Nation he pleases And in this time that the Midianites thus vexed Israel many of those Dens and Caves and strong Holds in Rocks which were in the Land of Canaan were made by the Israelites to hide themselves and their Goods from the Midianites These Midianites having got as it seems some of those Eastern Nations that bordered upon them as the Ishamelites Arabians c. to join with them who dwelt not in Cities or Towns but in Tents only which they used to remove from one place to another every Spring when the Israelites had sown their Corn these Midianites and their Confederates came with their Tents and Camels and Cattel that they might eat up the increase of the Land and therefore are compared to Grashoppers or Locusts vers 5. And they entred on the East passing over Jordan and went quite through the Land even as far as Gaza that lay on the Western-Sea destroying all as they went leaving in a manner no sustenance for Israel or very little and driving away their Cattel So that the Israelites were hereby greatly impoverished In this their Distress they cried unto the Lord and he sent a Prophet unto them his Name is not recorded who said to them Thus saith the Lord I brought you out of Egypt and delivered you from all those that oppressed you and drave out the Canaanites before you and gave you their Land and said to you I am the Lord your God See that you Worship not the gods of the Amorites in whose Land you dwell Because Religious Worship is always accompanied with fear and reverence of that God whom we worship therefore fear is often put for the whole Worship that we give to God but you have not obeyed my Voice and therefore you need not wonder at what is come upon you Sometime after this the Angel of the Covenant the Son of God called Jehovah vers 24. appeared unto Gideon the Son of Joash of the Family of Abiezer of the Tribe of Manasseh at Ophrath where he dwelt and not desiring to seem to Gideon any other than some Prophet sent to him by God He sate down under an Oak as a man wearied with travel and that desired to rest himself having as a Traveller a Staff in his hand Thus the Son of God did often in the Old Testament take on him an humane shape to prefigure his Incarnation And accordingly now he appeared unto Gideon who was threshing Wheat by the Wine-press to hide it from the Midianites By which it appears that Gideon though a man of Note and having many Servants under him vers 27. yet was a man also of an humble spirit and disdained not to employ himself in any honest labour The Angel salutes him thus The Lord is with thee thou mighty man of Valour Gideon the Fourth Judge this He spake as pre-signifying that great Courage and Valour the Lord intended to endow him with Gideon reply'd Oh my Lord if the Lord be with us why then is all this befallen us where are all the Miracles our Fathers told us of but the Lord hath now forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites The Angel replies Thus saith the Lord go in this thy might which I have given thee and rely on my Promise to assist thee in this great Work which I call thee to and thou shalt save Israel from the hands of the Midianites Have not I sent thee and therefore having both Authority from Me and a Promise of Success thou maist without all scruple undertake this Service And he said unto him O Lord wherewith shall I save Israel These words of Gideon seem to proceed from weakness of Faith but do not argue a total want of it for his Faith is commended Heb. 11.32 but as a man apprehensive of his own weakness he desires Direction how to carry on so great a Work and what means he should use for the atchieving so great a Design Alas says he the thousand that I belong to is poor in Manasseh I am not only weak in my self but also in Friends and Allies The Lord said unto him I will be with thee and I am All-sufficient and able to give thee such Wisdom and Power as is requisite for thee to effect it I will surely be with thee and thou shalt smite the Midianites as easily as if thou hadst to do but with one man Gideon said If I have found Grace in thy sight I pray thee shew me a sign that thou talkest with me from God and art sent of Him thus to speak unto me and tarry I pray thee a little that I may entertain thee with such Provisions as I can on a suddain make So Gideon went in and made ready a Kid and unleavened Cakes of which he provided a large quantity * V. 19. Of an Ephah of flour intending possibly to oblige this Stranger to take some of them with him to sustain him in his Journey see Gen. Ch. 18. 19. and Judg. 13.15 The Flesh and Cakes he put in a Basket and the Broth in a Pot and brought it out to Him sitting under the Oak and presented it to him For apprehending Him at present to be only a Prophet sent of God to him He desireth to give Him such Entertainment as was fit for him to
give to a Stranger and a Traveller as Abraham Lot and Manoah in like Cases did The Angel bids him take the Flesh and unleavened Cakes and to lay them upon the Rock that was hard by and then to pour out the Broth upon them Which being done the Angel with the end of his Staff that was in his hand touched the Flesh and the unleavened Cakes and there arose up fire (y) Here fire comes out of a Rock as water formerly did Exod. 17.6 out of the Rock and immediately consumed them and then He presently vanished out of his sight Thus what Gideon intended for a Feast was miraculously turned by the Angel into a kind of Burnt-Offering or Sacrifice that thereby his Faith might be strengthened and that he might be assured that the Service God called him to should be accepted and that he should have good Success in it Gideon perceiving now that it was an Angel that had talked with him both by his miraculous consuming the Provisions he had brought as also by his sudden vanishing out of his sight he was sorely afraid Oh says he because I have seen an Angel of the Lord face to face in that visible form which he assumed I shall surely die In those days it seems it was a receiv'd Opinion among the Jews that if they had seen an Angel * Vetustissimus hic hominum metus ne morte aut male aliquo gravi afficerentur conspecto coelitus aliquo quod indignos se tali spectaculo crederent ut docet Callimachus Grot. it was very perillous to their lives see Judg. 13.22 and Deut. 5.24 26. The Lord seeing Gideon in so great a perplexity about this Vision the next Night comforts him and bids him not be afraid for he should not die Then he Commands him these three things First To take his Fathers young Bullock the second in order of those that were prepared and set apart to be sacrificed to Baal see vers 28. and of seven years old and to offer her in Sacrifice unto the Lord intimating possibly that the Midianites Tyranny that had lasted now seven years should have an end and together with it there should be a suppression of Baal's Worship in the Land 2ly He Commands him to throw down Baal's Altar which his Father had made for his Family and the Inhabitants of Ophrath and to cut down the Grove by it For before Gideon might go to fight against the Midianites the Enemies of God and his people he must first set on foot the Reformation of Religion and the Extirpation of Superstition and Idolatry which had provoked the Lord to Displeasure against them And he must begin at Home viz. with his own Family and Friends 3ly When he had done this He must build an Altar to the Lord in that very place upon the top of the Rock where the Lord had before ordered him to place the Provisions he had brought and given him a sign by causing fire to come out of the Rock and consume them And on this Altar he must offer the Bullock before-mentioned for a Burnt-Offering with the wood of the Grove which he should cut down Gideon having received these Commands took ten of his Servants who it seems were ready to joyn with him in this Enterprize and fearing lest those of his Fathers house or the Inhabitants of the City should hinder or interrupt him in what he had to do he took the advantage of the Night to do it in and setting so many hands at work the business was done before any of the City knew it to make Opposition or Resistance And having built an Altar to the Lord and sacrificed (z) Here Gods special Command was a sufficient warrant for what Gideon did though otherwise it was not lawful for any but a Priest to offer Sacrifice or to do it any where but in the Tabernacle the Bullock thereon as he was commanded he called it Jehovah-Shalom as if he should have said The Lord send peace which Name continued when this History was written The people of the City understanding next morning that Baal's Altar was thrown down and his Grove also cut down and the second Bullock offered upon a new Altar built on the Rock they inquired who had done these strange things It was told them That Gideon had done them They hereupon run violently to Joash requiring him to bring forth his Son that he may be put to death for casting down the Altar and Grove of Baal And this they require before they heard what he could say for himself so unreasonable are men when transported with an Idolatrous Rage Joash though it seems before he had been himself a Worshipper of Baal yet now his mind being extraordinarily changed possibly upon Gideon's acquainting him with the Vision he had seen He resolutely opposes them What says he will ye dare to plead for Baal will ye go about to save him For my part he that will plead for Baal let him be put to death and that presently without any further delay I wonder what aileth you If Baal be a god let him plead for himself and revenge the wrong that is done to him in throwing down his Altar but if he be not he is not worthy to be defended by you who is unable either to defend you or himself Having said these things in memory of that Heroick Fact done by Gideon and in honour of Him Joash that day call'd Him Jerubbaal saying Let Baal plead against him if he can Then the Midianites and the Amalekites and their Confederates came over Jordan into Canaan and pitched in the Valley of Jezreel in the Tribe of Manasseh not far from Ophrah where Gideon dwelt And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and acting him above himself he blew a Trumpet and Abiezer that is those of his own Family gathered themselves unto Him and he sent Messengers throughout the Tribe of Manasseh Asher Zebulun and Naphtali viz. to all the Neighbouring-Tribes excepting Ephraim which occasioned afterwards a great Quarrel between them as we shall see Chap. 8. and many of those Tribes came and joyned themselves with the Forces he had got together Gideon being now shortly to engage in battel against the Midianites He desires to be further assur'd of God's Mind as to the event of the Fight for the confirmation of his own Faith and for the Encouragement of his Followers For though the Apostle Heb. 11.32 commendeth him for his Faith yet he did not attain to the strength of it all at once but by degrees as he was more and more confirm'd by God In the mean time he needed all these helps to support him against his Doubts and Faintings Gideon therefore prays unto the Lord and beseeches him that if he intended to save Israel by his hand He would please to give him this sign thereof He would put a Fleece of Wool in the Floor and if in the morning there were dew on the Fleece only and
his Mother That is he shall not stay till the usual years of other Levites which was 25 or 30 years of age but shall be brought to the Tabernacle and trained up there even from his Childhood and all that while shall continue under the strict vow of a Nazarite which ordinarily the Levites were not bound unto It seems at this very time when Hannah poured forth her prayer to the Lord and made this Vow that Eli the High-Priest sate upon a seat by a post of the Temple of the Lord that is the Tabernacle which possibly at this time had some house built for it to preserve it from weather for Ch. 3.15 we read that Samuel opened the doors of the house of the Lord whereas the Tabernacle had no Gates but only a Vail that was hung up at the entring of it Exod. 26.36 Eli sitting upon his seat and seeing Hannah stand a great while near him mumbling with her lips after an unusual manner and possibly expressing some incomposedness in her gesture through the vehemency of her affection he thought she had been drunk wherefore he said unto her How long wilt thou continue here in thy drunkenness and profane this holy place thou art come into go home and sleep out thy distemper and then come with a penitent heart and make thy peace with God Hannah replys No my Lord I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit and therefore very unlikely to be guilty of such an excess I have neither drunk wine nor strong drink this day but have been pouring * Psal 62.8 Lam. 2.19 forth my soul before the Lord count me not therefore I pray thee such a daughter of Belial nor imagine me guilty of so great a crime as drunkenness is I have only been opening my griefs and sorrows to the Lord and have been earnestly imploring help from him Eli hearing this said Go in peace and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition which thou hast asked of him Hannah desires him that he would always retain that good opinion of her and would still pray to the Lord in her behalf so being encouraged by the Spirit of God upon the prayer she had poured forth and the gracious encouragement she had received from the High-Priest she departed with inward joy and did eat bread and her countenance was no more sad The next morning Elkanah and his family before they set forth on their journey homewards presented themselves before God in the Tabernacle to worship him and to pray for a prosperous journey and success in all their other lawful affairs leaving therein to posterity a good precedent for their imitation When they were come home Hannah conceived by Elkanah the Lord remembring her and hearing her prayer and when the time was come about for her delivery she bare a Son and called his name Samuel †We read not that Samuel ever was High-Priest but an extraordinary Prophet and Judg in Israel A Sacrificer though only a Levite a rare and worthy person that is asked of God rejoicing most in this that this Son was given her in answer to her prayer Elkanah with several of his family went up to the Tabernacle to offer unto the Lord the yearly Sacrifice and his vow that is besides the yearly and ordinary Sacrifice some other oblation that he had vowed namely a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving for the birth of his Son But Hannah desired of her Husband that she might not go up till the child was weaned (d) V. 22. Educatus i. e. eo usque provectus ut ministrare possit Nam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non tantum est a mamma disjungere sed educare 1 Reg. 11.20 donec maturescat sive maturus siat puer ministerio Nazaraeatui Donec efformetur puer ie ut satis membris robore efformetur ad ministrandum in Tabernaculo Mas 'T is like she would not wean him and so put him from her till he was of some age to shift for himself among strangers being also before that time unable to do service in the Tabernacle A like example we have in Sarah who would not wean her beloved Isaac till he was of some more than ordinary years for a weanling See Gen. 21.8 9. and educated and fitted in some measure to do some kind of service in the Tabernacle and then she would carry him thither and leave him there that he might continue in the service of the Lord for ever that is all the days of his life But 't is plain that Samuel sometime dwelt in Ramah and there judged Israel which hapned either after the age of fifty which was the time prefixed for the Levites service Numb 8.25 or by Gods especial dispensation who dispensed with his Vow to make him a Magistrate Elkanah consents to what his wife desired viz. that she should stay till the Child was weaned and educated Only says he let the Lord establish his word whereby he seems to mean that especial promise which God had made either to him or his wife before or after the conception and birth of the child though it be not expressed particularly what it was When Hannah had weaned and educated her Son she took him with her to Shiloh there to present him to the Lord according to her Vow and she took with her three Bullocks one Ephah of flour and a bottle of wine One of these Bullocks was offered when they presented the child and delivered him up to the service of the Lord the other 't is like were offered in other Oblations or the one might be offered as a Burnt-offering the other two for a Peace-offering The Ephah of flour contained ten Omers or tenth-deals now the Law prescribing three tenth-deals to be offered with a Bullock Numb 15.9 nine tenth-deals of this Ephah were for the three Bullocks and the other tenth-deal which was overplus might be intended for a voluntary meat-offering The bottle of wine was to be used in their meat and drink and Peace-offerings Then Hannah presenting her Son to Eli she said O my Lord as sure as thou art alive I am the woman that stood by thee here praying for this child and the Lord having granted my petition I have lent him to the Lord as long as he liveth that is I have dedicated him to his service having asked him of the Lord for that very end that I might return him to him again As he was freely given so he shall be freely devoted to Gods service And Elkanah Worshipped the Lord there and thankfully praised him for giving him this Son and also prayed unto him for his blessing upon him and that he would sanctifie him by his Spirit and inable him in an holy manner to perform that Religious service unto which he and his wife had devoted him 1 Sam. Ch. 1. whole Chapter SECT CLII. THese things being done Hannah now in a solemn manner praises the Lord for giving her a Son and prays * Orandi genâ—â—
their own hearts and therefore no wonder they minded not the reproofs and counsel of their aged Father whereupon there came a man of God some Prophet extraordinarily raised up to Eli and said unto him thus saith the Lord Did not I eminently appear unto the house of thy father viz. Aaron of whom thou art descended by Ithamar joining him with Moses for the deliverance of the Israelites when they were in bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt (b) Tota Aegyptus Pharaonis domus appellatur quod ejus possessio erat Mendoza Did not I chuse him out of all the Tribes of Israel to be my Priest to offer Sacrifices upon mine Altar to burn incense and to wear an Ephod before me Did not I give unto the House of thy father some part of all the offerings (c) Partem ex victimis omnibus quas pertinere volui ad sacerdotes Ex omnibus sacrificiis aliquid nam etiam ex holocaustis pellis cedebat sacerdoti Levit. 7.8 Menoch made by fire and offered by the children of Israel unto me And are all my special favours to thy Fathers family come to this Thy Sons kick at my Sacrifices and at my offerings which I have commanded to be offered to me in my holy habitation they as it were despise and contemn them and make a scorn of them before the people as though I had afforded them too little and therefore they will take from the Sacrifices for their own use what they please themselves And though thou didst not do thus thy self but thy Sons only yet because thou didst not restrain them from these evil practises and punish them for these their great transgressions thou art guilty as well as they Nay thou shewest by thy over great indulgence to them that thou honourest thy Sons above me and chusest to please them rather than me not daring to provoke them by sharply reproving them much less by punishing them as thou oughtest to have done though thou knowest they have sacrilegiously incroached upon the fat of the offerings that belonged unto me and upon other parts also of the Peace-offerings that belonged unto the people and all this to pamper their own greedy bellies Wherefore thus saith the Lord I said (d) When God made his promise to Eli is uncertain the Scripture being silent therein indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me for ever that is should be perpetually established in the office of the Priesthood but this promise was only conditional namely if you carried your selves well in that high calling but this condition being not performed by you the promise which I made unto you shall be reversed For those that honour me I will honour but those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed Further thus saith the Lord Behold the days come that I will cut off thine arm and the arm of thy fathers house that is deprive thee of thy strength and make both thee and thy family weak and ignoble And this was done first by cutting off him and his two Sons Chapt. 4.17 2ly By cutting off his posterity in the flower of their age which was partly accomplished in the death of Hophni and Phineas slain in the field and partly by that bloody execution that was done upon Ahimelech and eighty-five of the Priests of his family Ch. 22.16 c. And 3ly by removing the dignity of the High-Priesthood from Eli's family unto Zadok the faithful Priest spoken of v. 35. of the stock of Eleazar which was done at least eighty years after this in the days of Solomon 1 King 2.27 And thou shalt see (e) 'T is usual in Scripture to speak that of the Father which shall be accomplished in his posterity long after See Gen. 27.29 viz. in thy posterity an enemy in my habitation that is Zadok executing the High-Priests office in the Temple whom thy posterity shall envy and malign because placed in the High-Priesthood and that in all the wealth which God shall give Israel that is in those days when Israel shall flourish most in wealth and glory and when consequently the High-Priesthood shall be most desirable to wit in the days of Solomon And there shall not be an old man or a man of dignity (f) v. 31 Ut non sit senex in domo tua i. e. vir dignitate praeditus vide v. 36. in thy family (g) v. 32. Haec severa comminatio non est extendenda ad omnes Ithamaraeos sed tantum ad domum Eli. Alii senem hic ut prius accipiunt de dignitate sacerdotali qua in perpetuum abdicata est familia Eli. At in ea familia senes aetate semper desecisse non est credibile Mendoz. And the men of thy posterity whom I shall not quite cut off from serving at mine Altar shall live so miserably pining away with grief and vexation to see the adversary family enjoy their honour that if thou shouldst live to see the misery they shall be in it would make thee almost weep out thine eyes to behold it and it would grieve thee to the very heart And most of thy family shall die in the flower of their age And that which I now foretell shall come upon thy two Sons Hophni and Phineas may be a sign to thee that all my other threatnings shall in due time come to pass viz. I do foretell thee that they shall both die in one day And I will raise me up a faithful Priest that shall do according to that which is in my heart to wit Zadock (h) He did faithfully cleave to Solomon whom the Lord had appointed to succeed Dovid in the Throne when Abiathar who was of the posterity of Eli conspir'd with Adonijah against David and against Solomon 1 King 1.7 8. of the family of Eleazar and I will build him a sure house and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever that is I will multiply his family and make it prosperous and establish his off-spring in the Priesthood And accordingly we find that the High-Priesthood was continued in the line and posterity of Zadock unto the time of the Babylonian Captivity see Ezek. 44.15 And so Zadock being of the posterity of Phineas the Son of Eleazar that promise was made good which the Lord made to Phineas Numb 25.13 He shall have it and his seed after him even the Covenant of an everlasting Priesthood And he shall walk before mine anointed for ever that is Zadock and his posterity shall perform such services as belong to the High-Priest for Solomon and his Successors viz. they shall inquire of the Lord for them they shall offer Sacrifices for them and shall be ready to assist them with their counsel and advice upon all emergent occasions And those of thy posterity that shall not be cut off shall come and crouch to Zadock and his successors to beg some relief of them and shall sue to them that they may be imployed though
and give them most injuriously to his servants and favourites Sixthly he will take the tenth of their seed and of their Vineyards either that which of right belonged to the Levites or another tenth after theirs is paid and give it to his Officers and Courtiers Seventhly he will take their men-servants and and maid-servants and their goodliest young men their asses and put them to his work Eighthly he will take the tenth of their sheep as a tribute to himself and they will he forc'd to be his servants and vassals not living like free-born Israelites but in a servile and slavish condition and then they will cry out in that day by reason of the grievous oppressions they are under but the Lord will not regard their cryes or prayers because by their own obstinate wilfulness they brought these evils upon themselves Samuel having received these words from the Lord faithfully represented them unto the people but they notwithstanding like desperate resolute fellows cried out they would have a King that they might be like other Nations they would have a pompous and royal Monarchy among them instead of the mean Government of Judges which made so little noise or shew in the world they would have a King that should rule over them with Royal Authority in time of peace and should command their Armies as Generalissimo in time of war and they had now more especial need of such a King seeing Nahash King of the Ammonites was coming against them Samuel hearing these words of the people he spread them before the Lord in prayer humbly desiring directions from him what he should do in this great and weighty business The Lord answered him saying Hearken unto their voice and make them a King as if he should have said seeing no reasons nor warnings will prevail with them let them have their desire though it will be to their cost So Samuel having commission from God to make them a King he dismissed the Assembly for the present to their own homes that he might gain thereby some time to consider of the manner and means how this weighty business might be best effected 1 Sam. 8. from 4 to the end SECT CLX THE people of Israel being so earnest for a King King Saul and seeming to themselves so undone without one the Lord now resolves to give them one but he gave him in his anger and took him away in his wrath Hos 13.11 The History of this King we come now to set forth There was a man of the Tribe of Benjamin (a) The Tribe of Benjamin thorough the desolation they brought upon themselves Judg. 26.46 was now become the least and most obscure Tribe yet yields to Israel her first King and in the victories of this King Jacob's Prophesie was was in part fulfilled Gen. 49.27 Benjamin shall ravine like a wolf c. And this shews that the Kingdom was not to be setled upon the Posterity of this first King but on one of the Tribe of Judah whose name was Kish a man of great authority and power and as it seems of great estate and substance among them (b) Nulla hic mentio patriae Saulis quae erat Gibeah forte quia infamis erat propter illud stuprum Jud. 19. who had a Son whose name was Saul a goodly and comely person taller by the head and shoulders than any of the people a man fit to make a Prince and to be honoured of his Subjects when he was set over them It happened at this time that some of the Asses of Kish were gone astray of which 't is like he had an excellent breed and such as were of great value (c) Asini in Syria sunt praestantiores Europaeis unde filii Principum iis vehebantur Jud. 10.4 12.14 Hebraei enim equis vix utebantur idque ex Dei monitu Deut. 17.16 non ergo mirum si ad asinas quaerendas Saul a parente destinetur Quemadmodum viri Principes venatoriam nunc exercent ita olim exercere poterant Pastoritiam in that Country where persons of the greatest rank and condition used to ride upon them see Judg. 10.4 12.14 Kish bids his Son Saul to take a servant with him and to go and seek for them Saul in obedience to his Fathers command went in quest of them through the Mountainous Country of Ephraim and through Shalisha a plain Country in the Tribe of Benjamin and through the land belonging to the City called Salim Joh. 3.23 but he found them not and when they were come to the land of Zuph namely the Counrry where Ramah Samuel's City was situate which thereupon was called Ramahthaim-Zophim Ch. 1. 1. Saul said to his servant come let us return lest my Father leave caring for the Asses and take thought for us The servant replied Sir there is in this City of Ramah a venerable person highly esteemed for his supernatural and wonderful knowledg of secret (d) God gave the gift of Prophesie to his Servants to be employed in directing them in weightier matters than such as these But perhaps he did permit them to exercise it in these also that he might keep his people from seeking to Witches or to the Oracles of the Heathens 2 King 1.3 God would not have his people think that he had less care of them as to their private concerns than the Idols of the Heathen had who being consulted with did by the Ministry of Satan speaking in their Oracles return them Answers though oftentimes very frivilous and ambiguous v. 9. Credo hunc versum ab Esdra huic loco insertum qui Prophetico spiritu afflatus erat things insomuch that all that he foretelleth surely cometh to pass now let us go to him peradventure he can shew us the way we should walk in for the finding out the Asses we seek after But Saul reply'd If we go to him what shall we present him with as a civil and honourary gratuity to testifie our respect and thankefulness to him See 1 King 14.2 3. 2 King 4.42 For our provisions that we brought with us in our Wallet are spent and we have nothing left that is fit or worthy to be presented unto him The servant said he had the fourth part of a shekel which makes about seven pence half-penny of our money see Gen. 23.15 a small present indeed to be presented to a Prophet or Seer who by special revelation is acquainted with the mind and will of God and foresees things to come and from God reveals them to the people However says he let us present it as a token of our respect and thankefulness to him Saul agrees hereunto so they went to Ramah where Samuel dwelt as they drew near to the City they met some young maidens going out to draw water and enquiring of them for the Seer they told them he was newly returned to the City having been out upon some occasion and there was a sacrifice (e) It was lawful
Kingly calling so that he should not as before set his heart on Husbandry and Cattel c. but upon such things as tended to the good Government of his Kingdom both in Peace and War And Samuel tells him that if he found all these things to fall out just as he had foretold him he might from thence assure himself that he was chosen of God to be King over Israel and when any occasion or opportunity was offered him of doing any thing for the benefit of his Kingdom he need not fear to undertake it for God would be with him while he walked in his wayes to assist and prosper him Samuel also injoins him that when he was to make war against the Philistines upon such a weighty business he should go down to Gilgal and there wait for him seven days that he might offer Sacrifices for him and direct him from the Lord what he should do And 't is probable this seven days waiting was injoined because Samuel might be hindred from coming sooner by some necessary intervenient occasion or rather for the trial of Saul's faith and obedience to God in waiting his appointed time upon which condition and not otherwise he was to be established in the Kingdom and possibly Samuel expressed his Charge more fully and amply to Saul than is here related These things having passed between them Saul now took his leave of him and when he was gone from him God gave him another heart that is wrought in him a sensible change taking him off from his former thoughts and designs about private Country-affairs and endowing him with magnanimous thoughts and Heroical gifts fit for a King and the Government of a Kingdom And all the signs Samuel foretold him of exactly came to pass as particularly when he came to the Hill of God before mentioned he met a company of Prophets and the Spirit of God came upon him and he prophesied among them and spake of Divine matters above his former abilities and sang the praises of God as 't is probable with musical skill as they did and the inhabitants of Gibeah his friends and acquaintance who had known him and his education were amaz'd to see this sudden and extraordinary change in him and said one to another what is this that is come to the Son of Kish Is Saul also among the Prophets How comes Saul on a sudden to be furnished with such gifts and abilities of Musick and Prophesying who has not been trained up among the Sons of the Prophets but in his Fathers Country-affairs Unto whom one of the same place who it seems was wiser than the rest made answer by asking another question But who is their Father As if he should have said wonder not at this seeing all these whom ye hear and see thus Prophesying have not these gifts from their Parents but from God who is a free agent and inspireth whom he pleaseth and having conferred these gifts on them is alike able if he please to confer them on Saul also therefore it became a Proverb when they saw any man raised to parts and abilities above his birth and breeding to say of him Is Saul among the Prophets And when Saul had made an end of Prophesying he went to the high-place to praise God for his singular favour unto him and his high advancement and to pray to him for the further assistance and guidance of his holy Spirit and for his protection and blessing upon his endeavours Next Saul's Uncle the Father of Abner Ch. 14.15 meeting him either in this place of Religious worship or else as he was coming down from it into the City and hearing how he had Prophesied among the Prophets inquir'd of him where he had been and how he came to be endued with this extraordinary gift and understanding He had been with Samuel He askt him what he said to him He told him that Samuel acquainted him that the Asses were found but he forbear to tell him what he said to him concerning his Election to be King being unwilling as 't is like to give to his Vncle or any of his kindred any occasion to envy him the honour to which God had advanc'd him and Samuel having been so private in the carriage of the business it was an intimation to him not to discover it till God should himself openly make it known 1 Sam. Ch. 9. whole Chapter Ch. 10. from 1 to 17. SECT CLXI SAmuel now calls the people together to appear before the Lord at Mizpeh in order to the chusing of a King when they were met he spake to them after this manner Thus saith the Lord I brought you up out of Egypt and delivered you out of the hands of the Egyptians and out of the hands of all Kingdoms and Nations that oppressed you And you have this day rejected your God who himself saved you out of all your adversities and tribulations and you have rejected his Prophet and said unto him Nay but set a King over us so that by asking a King you have as it were shaken off Gods Government over you Well therefore seeing you are so bent upon it and resolved to have a King present your selves before the Lord by your Tribes and your Families (a) The Tribes of Israel were divided into certain companies each company consisting of a thousand men Mich. 5.2 this day that by casting lots it may be known whom God will make choice of for this purpose Accordingly they casting lots the Tribe of Benjamin was taken then the Family of Matri then the houshold of Kish and lastly the person of Saul Saul as it seems understanding how things went out of modesty withdrew and hid (b) Modeste prudenter fecit Saul ut apparerer eum vocante Domino non malis artibus aut ambitu ad regnum venisse Et cum audivisset Samuelem Israelitas objurganeem quod Regem postularunt inde novum quendam timorem accedendi ad regnum concepit himself so that they could not find him Therefore they inquired of the Lord either by the High-Priest and by Vrim and Thummim or possibly by Samuel whether the person chosen would come thither to them or else how they should find him The Lord answered he hath hid himself among the stuff that is among the furniture of his own Tent. Immediately they ran and fetched him thence and when he stood among the people he was higher than any of them by head and shoulders Samuâ—l then said to them Behold the person whom God hath chosen to be your King there is not so goodly and proper a person (c) Nota hic Samuelem nullis invidentiae acultis stimulari imo eâ—m laudat commendat among you all The people hereupon gave a great shout and said God save the King Then Samuel told them the manner of the Kingdom * V. 25. Aliqui intelligunt bene regnandi praetepta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quales habet egregrias Socrates
more careful to avoid those ways of injustice and oppression which he had told them before the Kings of the earth were prone unto see Ch. 8.11 As also that he might hereby convince them of their sinful folly in rejecting him and with him the upright and impartial Government of Judges and chusing to be under Kings from many of whom they should find but hard and oppressive usage Having thus justified himself he goes on further to argue with them concerning Gods dealing with them and their carriage towards him Now therefore says he stand still that I may reason with you concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord wherein he hath approved himself faithful and hath performed his Covenant which he made with you and your fathers and hath given you help and deliverance out of the hands of your enemies and therefore you are guilty of great ingratitude in not relying upon him but distrusting him and rejecting his Government Recollect I pray you and call to your remembrance Gods former dealings with you when Jacob was come into Egypt and his posterity exceedingly multiplied they being grievously oppressed cried unto the Lord for deliverance he then made Moses the Governour of his people and Aaron the High-Priest and sent them to deliver your Fathers out of that bondage which they accordingly did and then they led them through the Wilderness and brought them into the Land which the Lord had promised to give unto them And Moses put them in possession of that part of the land which was without Jordan and substituted Joshua in his place who gave them possession of the rest But they soon forgot the kindness of the Lord and regarded not his Commandments So he sold them into the hand of Sisera Captain General to Jabin who dwelt at Hazar and into the hands of the Philistines and into the hand of the King of Moab And when they were in these distresses they cried unto him and confessed their sins and how they had wickedly fallen to Idolatry and had worshipped Baalim and Ashtaroth and then humbly besought him to help them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies and promised faithfully to serve him The Lord being moved with compassion towards them he sent them several Saviours and Deliverers particularly Jerubbaal or Gideon and Bedan that is Samson so called because he was of the Tribe of Dan and Jephthah * He mentions not these Judges in the order of time in which they lived and insisteth only on some of them to put them in mind of the rest V. 14. Eritis post Jehovam i. e. Jehovah antecedet vos defendet vos Pisc And to come down to your own times I hope I may without vanity mention my self also as one under whose conduct by the blessing of God you have had great deliverances and have enjoyed great tranquillity and safety But when ye understood that Nahash King of the Ammonites was coming against you nothing then would satisfie you but to have a King set over you whereas the Lord your God was your King and held in his own hands the right of governing you and ruled over you by Judges as his Substitutes and Deputies And with his Government you should have been well contented and satisfied till he was pleased to alter it And now behold seeing nothing else would content you he hath set a King over you But though you have greatly offended him and deserve to be rejected of him and cast off from being his people as you have rejected him from being your King yet if you will fear him and serve him and obey his voice the Lord will not forsake you but will be to you and your King a Leader Guide and Protector and you shall continue to be his people following of him as dutiful children do their father which will be a great honour and advantage to you But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God his hand will be against you as it was against your Fathers whom for their disobedience he caused to fall in the Wilderness But possibly you will think that all that I have said unto you in blaming you for desiring a King are but the words of a weak old man but ye shall know that I speak to you from the Lord who hath sent me unto you as his Prophet and Ambassadour and seeing you are so difficult to believe me in this thing except my words be confirmed by Miracles you shall see a Miracle to confirm you Is not this a fair and bright day as the days use to be in Wheat-harvest * Their Wheat-harvest in those dry Countries of Syria and Canaan was in the heat of Summer which dried up the vapours and exhalations that are the causes of thunder at that time especially when the day on which Samuel spake to them was fair there was no likelihood of such weather Tonitru illud tempore messis praeter naturam fuit idâ—oque mirabile propterea quod vere tanâ—um autumno fiunt tonitrua Cujus rei causa est quod concitantur ex conflictu calidi frigidi qui conflictus neque hyeme superante frigore neque aestate superante aestu fieri potest praesertim in aestuosis terris qualis Syria est Castalio you know we use to have no rain or thunder at this time of the year see Prov. 26. you see now no sign of any approaching tempest yet ye shall see me at this time by my prayer obtain both rain and thunder from God by which you may be convinced that your wickedness is great in desiring a King and thereby rejecting the Lord who is so powerful a Protector and hath thunder and rain heaven and earth at his command and is able to destroy all his and his peoples enemies as you have had lately experience Ch. 7.10 as also in rejecting me his Prophet who by my prayers can procure thunder and rain from heaven Samuel accordingly prayed unto the Lord that day and immediately the Lord sent thunder and rain in a very extraordinary manner insomuch that the people were not only convinced thereby that they had heinously sinned in desiring a King but also were much afraid that by this terrible tempest they should be destroyed They hereupon desired Samuel to pray for them saying they had added to all their former sins this also in asking a King (a) They failed in the manner of asking him 1. Asking him very unseasonably not waiting Gods time 2. They askt him with impetuous impatience brooking no delay 3. Proudly they would be like other Nations 4. Distrustfully resting more on their King than on Gods power and promises 5. Rebelliously shaking off Gods Government as weary of it and desiring to exchange it for that of a King and casting off his holy Prophet Samuel a most innocent and upright Judge Samuel encouraged them and bad them not despair of Gods mercy towards them provided they turned not aside from
following of him but served him sincerely and with all their heart And though they had committed a great wickedness yet the Lord would be gracious unto them if they ceased from sinning and following after Idols which cannot profit them nor deliver them for they are vain and have nothing of power or vertue in them see 1 Cor. 8.4 Deut. 32.21 Nay are so far from being able to help them that their following after them would most certainly bring down Gods wrath upon them However he bids them be of good comfort for the Lord would not forsake his people upon whom his name is called seeing of his free grace and not for any merits in them he had chosen them to be his people and therefore being in Covenant with him it would not stand with his glory to leave them or cast them off (b) V. 22. Verba negantia pro contrariis affirmantibus per quandam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saepius ponuntur Glass except they did first reject and cast off him for other Nations would then be apt to say God was unfaithful in his promises or not able to perform them which would highly tend to his dishonour And as for me says he though the unkindness you have expressed towards me may make you afraid I will not regard you and the thunder I have prayed for and obtained may seem to argue some displeasure conceived in my mind against you yet God forbid that I should so far sin against him as to neglect my duty in praying for you and faithfully instructing you No assure your selves I will still pray for you and teach you the good and right way only be you careful to fear the Lord and to serve him in truth and sincerity remembring what great things he hath done for you But if ye and your King shall do wickedly remember what I say unto you you will be both of you consumed and destroyed neither will my prayers do you any good 1 Sam. Ch. 12. whole Chapter SECT CLXIV SAVL having reigned one year from the time that he was chosen and publickly declared King at Mizpeh Ch. 10.24 to his solemn Inauguration at Gilgal and another year (a) vide Malvendam in loc since his Coronation and seeing the people lamentably oppressed by the Garrisons of the Philistines that were in the land and kept in such miserable bondage by them that they would not suffer them to have any weapons of war but what they got by stealth or kept hid in some secret place nor would suffer a Smith to remain among them lest by that means they should get them Swords or Spears c. See Ch. 13. v. 19. He resolved now to raise an Army to drive the Philistines out of those Forts wherefore appointing the people to assemble themselves and come unto him he chose out of them three thousand men whereof two thousand he kept about his own person and marched with them to Mickmash a tract of ground in the border of Benjamin near the mountain of Bethel and a thousand he left with his Son Jonathan in Gibeah the rest of the people he sent to their own homes Jonathan having a thousand of these new raised forces under his command he presently set himself to the work and went and smote the Garrison of the Philistines that was in Gibeah on the Hill near his own City see Ch. 10.5 The Philistines were hereat greatly enraged and presently raised a great Army consisting of three thousand (a) V. 5. Triginta millia curruum At incredibile hoc videtur Nam Pharaoh tantum 600 currus habuit Exod. 14.7 Jabin 900 Jud. 4.3 Solomon 1400 1 Reg. 10.26 Nimium hoc pro numâ—ro equitum qui sequitur Aliqui mendum ignoscunt menda in numeris passim accidere remo negaverit qui non sic harum literarum rudis atque imperitus Itaque sunt qui postremas duas literas abjiciendas censent sic 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat tria millia Et sic habent Syr. Ar. quomodo illos legissem probabile â—st in Hebraeis quibus usi sunt exemplaribus quod ipsum valâ—le multum est Sed in his tribus millibus for asse plerique currus fuerunt sarcinarii Et sic ap a erit proportio currum equitum Vide Pol. in loc Chariots of War and six thousand Horsemen and an innumerable company of Foot intending to be revenged on the Israelites Saul hearing of their vast preparations presently dispatched his Agents into all parts of the Kingdom to proclaim by sound of Trumpet the victory obtained by Jonathan (b) V. 4. The victory is ascribed to Saul though obtained by Jonathan because he put his Son upon this service Victoria militum Principi ascribitur for their encouragement and also to make known to them that the Philistines being hereupon extreamly enraged were preparing to come against them with an huge Army And because Samuel had before appointed Saul Ch. 10.8 that if he came to be in danger or intended to attempt any thing against the Philistines he should first go down to Gilgal and there wait for him seven days till he came and advised him what he should do and offered Sacrifice both for him and the people therefore Saul now removed with his forces from Michmash to Gilgal and the people were commanded to gather together and come to him thither The people were much terrified at this news of the approach of the Philistines Army and some of them hid themselves in Caves and Thickets some in clefts of Rocks some in high places and places of strength some in pits and dens and some of them fled over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead And those that followed Saul to â—ilgal followed him trembling They formerly were confident that if they had a King he would save them from all their enemies and now they have one they are perplexed with fear not finding themselves any whit more secur'd by his presence from the dangers that threatned them and so are taught by their own experience that there is no safety but in Gods protection Saul now at Gilgal expects Samuel six days and having stayed till the seventh was almost expired he began to conclude that he would not come and seeing his Souldiers continually dropping away from him and fearing lest the Philistines might fall upon him on a sudden before he had by Sacrifices sought the Lords favour and hâ—lp he resolved not to stay any longer for Samuel but commanded Sacrifices to be immediately offered intending after that to pitch upon some course with the advice of those about him for the defence of themselves and their Country against the Philistines As soon as he had made an end of offering the Burnt-offering behold Samuel came and thus by not waiting a small time longer he transgressed Gods Commandment and brought a great punishment upon himself Saul hearing that Samuel was come to Gilgal he went out to meet
him to salute and welcome him Samuel understanding how things had gone angryly said to him What hast thou done Saul tells him that having waited for him till a great part of the seventh day was spent he conceived he would not come within the time appointed and so being constrained by necessity even against his will (c) The true cause why he hastened to Sacrifice seems to be because his Soldiers run away so fast from hâ—m in whom he put more confidence than in God he had offered Sacrifice (d) V. 12. Roboravi itaque me i. e. Obfirmavi animum q. d. etiam reclamante animo obtuli holocaustum prae timore Quare cum inter se confligerent voluntas necessitas tandem vicit necessitas sed nulla erat necessitas offerendi Sacrificia contra voluntatem divinam Tali enim Sacrificio non placatur Deus sed irritatur V. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat durationem longam non tamen aeternam q. d. longo tempore dignitas illa Regia mansisset in tua stirpe In sempiternum i. e. quam diu Saulis posteritas viveret Gr. for how could he stay any longer except he would have had the enemy to come upon him and his weak and unarmed company before he had made supplication to the Lord for them and sued for his help which would have been the way to expose them to ruin and destruction Samuel said Thou hast done foolishly in not waiting full seven days as I appointed thee from the Lord Ch. 10.18 Hadst thou obeyed the Commandment of the Lord herein he would have established thy Kingdom over Israel for ever that is for a long time even as long as any of thy posterity lived But now thy Kingdom shall not continue that is shall not be established upon thee and thy posterity but shall be rent from thee and given to another It may perhaps seem strange that Saul should lose his Kingdom for this which to the eye of reason appears not so great a transgression if we consider what Saul pleaded for himself but we must also consider that there may be much wickedness of heart in doing that which outwardly seems but a small offence and Saul being the first King of Israel God was pleased by this severity against him for his violation of his command to make him an example to all that should afterwards succeed in that Throne that they might fear to transgress the Commandment of the Lord as he had done Thus the Lord did with great severity punish the first sin of Nadab and Abihu Levit. 10.1 that all the succeeding posterity of Aaron might take warning thereby and beware how they carried themselves in their Priestly Office But to go on Samuel tells Saul that because he had not obeyed the Lord he knew by revelation that the Lord intended to reject him and that he had found out a man after his own heart though he knew not at present who it was whom he had appointed and designed to be King and Captain over his people in his stead Samuel having delivered to him this sad message went up from thence to Gibeah Saul now numbring the Souldiers he had left found them to be but about six hundred the rest of his two thousand being run away with this small party he goes up to Gibeah where Jonathan joins with him the Philistines great Army was now encamped at Michmash from whence they sent out parties to spoil the Country and to fetch in booty to their Camp and therefore they went out three several ways one to Ophrah a City of Benjamin that lay North-â—ast from Michmash the other to Bethoron a City of Ephraim that lay North-west and the third towards the Valley of Zeboim which was South-East Saul had but a very small Army as we have seen before and those only armed with Clubs Bows or Slings not a Sword or Spear found among any of them but only Saul and Jonathan and the reason of it was this The Philistines when they gave the Israelites that great defeat Ch. 4.10 and took the Ark of God they disarmed them taking away their iron armes and weapons and to keep them from getting any more for the future they took away all their Smiths and would not let one of that Trade live among them lest they should make them Swords and Spears (a) The chief victory that the Israelites got over the Philistines after this was miraculous not gotten with Sword or Spear but with thunder from heaven 1 Sam. 7.10 Nebuchadnezzar also carried away the Craftsmen and Smiths out of the land of Israel possibly for the same reason 2 King 24.14 Naâ— the Israelites were in such miserable bondage that they were feign to go to the Smiths that were in the Philistines Garrisons to sharpen their Shares and Coulters their Axes and Mattocks only they allowed them Files at their own houses to sharpen their Tools when they were blunted 1 Sam. Ch. 13. from v. 1 to 23. SECT CLXV THE body of the Philistines Army remaining in the Plains about Michmash it seems a party of them went and took a passage near to them which was the passage from Michmash towards Gibeah and kept it against the Israelites Jonathan the Son of Saul being moved by a special instinct of the Spirit of God and endued not only with Heroick gifts of valour and fortitude but also with an extraordinary strong faith in Gods promises that if his people obeyed him One of them should chase a thousand of their enemies and two of them put ten thousand to flight Deut. 32.30 He had a design in his head to set upon that Court of Guard of the Philistines which kept the Michmash-passage but he acquaints not his Father with it who in likelihood would have disswaded him from undertaking so dangerous and desperate an enterprize Saul was now encamped with his six hundred men in some field or plain near unto Gibeah called Migron where having fortified himself he observ'd the motions of the enemy Abiah (a) God threatned Eli that his children should die in the slower of their age See 1 Sam. 2.21 23. the Son of Ahitub the eldest Son of Phinehas being now High-Priest came thither with the Ephod and Ark for the peoples better encouragement Jonathan now acquaints his Armour-bearer with his design Come says he let thou and I go and surprize that Court of Guard which the uncircumcised * For being aliens and not in Covenant with God they are not under his protection and we being His people and in Covenant with him have his promise that he will give us victory over his and our enemies yea a special promise that Saul shall save us out of the hand of the Philistines Ch. 9.16 Philistines keep near Michmash come let us try it may be the Lord will work for us for there is no restraint to him to save by many or by few His Armour-bearer replied Do all that is in thine heart
message from the Lord against them therefore they presently asked him whether he came peaceably he said yes for I come to sacrifice unto the Lord sanctifie therefore your selves and come with me to the Sacrifice and particularly let Jesse and his Sons prepare and sanctifie themselves both legally and spiritually that they may eat of the Sacrifice 'T is like Samuel had acquainted Jesse privately with the cause of his coming and that thereupon Jesse brought in his Sons one by one into some private place whether before they sat down to eat of the Sacrifice they had retired themselves for that purpose that that person might be anointed whom God should point out to Samuel Accordingly Eliab Jesse's eldest Son was first brought forth when Samuel saw him he thought within himself surely this is the man the comeliness of his person made him think this was he whom God had chosen but herein he was led and guided only by his own spirit for the Lord presently said to him Look not on his countenance or the heighth of his stature consider the Lord seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but God looketh on the heart Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him appear before Samuel and Samuel was admonished by a secret voice of Gods Spirit that neither was this the man whom he had chosen Then Shammah was called he also was refused Jesse then called four more of his Sons in order and set them one after another before Samuel but he told him never an one of these was the person whom the Lord had chosen Jesse wondring at this Samuel asked him whether these were all his Sons DAVID chosen to be King and first anointed by Samuel He told him he had one more viz. the youngest whom he imployed in keeping his sheep he had omitted to bring him as imagining it could not in any likelihood be he of all the rest whom God would chose and this possibly was so ordered by Providence that it might more evidently appear that David was meerly chosen of God Samuel orders that this youngest Son should be immediately sent for for says he we will not sit down till he come At last David came who was of a ruddy and beautiful * Solet pulcher animus etiam in vultu apparere vide Platonis convivium Erat in Davide forma non mollis sed virilis militaris Oculi ipsius bellicam quandam ferociam spirare videbantur Unctus est non ut statim regnaret sed ut Sauli morienti in regno succederet countenance and comely to look on and as it is probable about twenty two years of age The Lord now by a secret voice of his Spirit said unto Samuel This is the man arise and anoint him then Samuel took the horn of oyl and anointed him in the midst of his Brethren whereby he incurred their envy see Ch. 17.28 no less than Joseph did of his Brethren And from the very day of his anointing the Spirit of the Lord came upon him namely the Spirit of Wisdom Courage and Fortitude so that he was moved and led on by the Spirit of God to undertake great and noble enterprizes such as was that of killing a Lion and a Bear For it seems as he was keeping his fathers sheep there came a Lion at one time and a Bear at another and took a Kid out of his flock and he pursued after them and when the Lion turned upon him he took him by the beard and slew him and took the prey from him which he had selzed upon and so he served the Bear also see Ch. 17.35 36. and other famous and valourous exploits it seems he atchieved soon after he was anointed whereby he became famous even among Saul's Courtiers see v. 18. and probably from that time forward he had an extraordinary measure of the gifts and graces of the Spirit poured forth upon him and particularly the Spirit of Prophesie and the gift of Poetry and composing Divine Psalms and Hymns together with the gift of Musick wherein afterwards he became very eminent insomuch that he was called the sweet Singer of Israel and has left such Divine Psalms and Hymns as may serve to instruct the people of God to the end of the world Samuel having thus anointed David he returned to his own house at Ramah 1 Sam. Ch. 16. from v. 1 to 14. SECT CLXVIII SAVL now was bereaved of those Heroical gifts that God had before bestowed upon him and Satan by Gods permission taking advantage of his extream melancholy and discontent for the loss of Gods favour and his Kingdom filled him with frights and fears with disquietness of mind and grief of heart which so distempered and distracted him that he fell into fits of Phrensie and sometimes grew outragious and ready to kill any body that came in his way and was for a time as one possessed with a Devil He had preferred his own reason before Gods directions in the business of the Amalekites and so made an Idol of it and now God justly deprives him of the use of it His Physicians tell him that an evil spirit sent of the Lord to execute his righteous judgment troubled him and therefore advise him to seek out a man that was skilful to play on the Harp who by his Musick might chear and revive his spirits and allay his melancholy passions and thereby he would be less subject to the Devils operations One of Saul's servants that stood by said he had seen a Son of Jesse that was very skilful in playing on the Harp and was also a man of war and prudent in matters (e) Ego existimo ex quo David cum unctione alia quoque dona accepit plane rara eum viciniâ— fuisse notissimum nam eximia erant illa dona inopinata atque nova Sanct. and a comely person and the Lord was with him and assisted him in all his designs and prospered him in all his enterprizes Saul hearing this sent messengers to Jesse to desire him to send that Son of his that kept his sheep (f) Hereby we see that tho' David was chosen by God and anointed King yet in humility of spirit he returned unto his former employment of keeping his fathers sheep waiting upon God till it should be his good pleasure in his own way to raise him to the Kingly dignity unto him Jesse sent his Son David to him with a small present (g) Such a Present Jacob sent to Joseph under the notion of the Lord of all Egypt that his Sons might find favour with him Gen. 43.11 namely an Asse laden with bread and a bottle of wine and a Kid for great persons do many times kindly accept of small presents from their inferiours seeing they are signs that they do respect and honour them But Jesse knowing that God had anointed his Son David to succeed Saul in the Kingdom might well have been afraid to put him into
thus to defie the armies of the Living God And possibly he inquired after the reward promised only to let the standers-by perceive that he himself had some thoughts of undertaking the combate but not so much for the sake of the reward as to vindicate the honour of God and his people The people told him the King would enrich that man with great riches that should undertake it and would give him his daughter to wife and make his Fathers house free in Israel that is free from Taxes and other impositions and so innoble his family Eliab David's eldest brother perceiving by the manner of his talking with the people that he had some inclination to undertake this Giant his anger was kindled against him and very sternly he askt him for what purpose he came thither and with whom had he left sheep he was appointed to keep intimating that he was fitter to keep sheep and play on his harp than to be a Souldier and then upbraiding him with arrogance and ambition I know says he thy pride and the naughtiness of thy heart for thou art come hither that thou maist see the battel and try if thou canst by some desperate action get thy self a name David meekly answers What have I done to deserve so sharp a reproof from thee Is there not sufficient cause that I should come when my Father hath sent me and being come have I not cause to be concern'd with other Israelites and to speak as I have done when I hear God thus dishonoured and his own peculiar people thus scorn'd and reproach'd by a blasphemous wretch an uncircumcised Infidel Then David finding such harsh usage from his brother turned from him to others to whom he spake after the same manner he had done before and intimated his willingness to fight with this Giant if no body else would undertake him and 't is like he spake the more freely that so what he said might come to the Kings ears Saul hearing of it sent for him to whom humbly addressing himself he said My Lord let no mans heart fail him because of this hideous monster for I my self though the weakest of many trusting in Gods power and assistance will encounter him if no body else will do it Saul said alas thou art not able to go against him for thou art but a youth and not bred in war and he a man of full age and vast stature and trained up in war from his youth David humbly replies that he had had experience of Gods extraordinary assistance vouchsafed to him for keeping his Fathers sheep there came a Lion and a Bear one at one time and the other at another and seising each of them a Lamb out of the flock he pursued after them and when the Lion turned upon him he took him by the beard or hair of his nether chap and slew him and took the prey from him and so served the Bear also and he doubted not but this blasphemous miscreant who defyed the armies of the Living God should through the Divine assistance be as easily conquered as one of them for that God says he who delivered me out of the paw of the Lion and the paw of the Bear will I trust deliver me also out of the hands of this uncircumcised Philistine Saul hearing him express so great courage and confidence in God and that grounded upon the former experience he had had of his extraordinary assistance he gave him leave to enter the lists with this Giant and wished him good success and prayed that God would be with him in it But he thought fit first to arm David well with armour taken out of his own armoury and so he put on his head an helmet of brass and armed him with a coat of mail and David girded his sword upon his armour and assayed to go with his armour on but he quickly found himself uneasie and therefore said I cannot go * V. 39. Non sum assuâ—factus talia ferre Vatab. with these having not been used to wear such arms they are a burden to me So he put them off and took his staff in his hand and his sling and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook and put them into his shepherds bag and so went out to meet the Philistine When Saul saw him thus going forth he askt Abner whose Son he was for it seems having been distempered with frantick fits he had forgotten him though he had formerly known him and greatly loved him and Abner being General of the Army and so much absent from Court had not it seems taken any notice of him when he was there and therefore told the King he knew not Saul bad him enquire whose Son that stripling was David now armed only with his staff and sling goes out to meet the Philistine who came up towards him with his armour-bearer carrying his great shield before him V. 43. Baculis Enallage numeri est ut Gen. 21.7 when this monstrous Giant saw David come towards him who was but a youth and his countenance rather amiable than terrible not like the countenance of a Souldier he disdained him and said What am I a dog that thou comest out to me with a staff then cursing him by his gods he said let Dagon and the other gods we worship confound thee Come to me and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air and beasts of the field David reply'd Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts the God of the Armies of Israel whom thou hast defyed This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand I know it by the inspiration of the Spirit of God and I will smite thee and take off thine head and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the field that all the earth may know that there is a God who is Almighty and the only true God who watcheth over Israel and all this present assembly both of Israelites and Philistines shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword or spear but he can save without these and is not tyed to such outward means for the battel is the Lords and he governeth it and giveth victory to whom he pleaseth and I know that he will this day give you Philistines into our hands Goliath now prepared himself for the Combat and came and drew night to meet David and David accordingly hasted to meet him and putting his hand into his Bag he took thence a stone and slung it with extraordinary force and smiting the Philistine in his forehead the stone sunk into his head God so guiding and directing it and he fell upon his face to the earth then David ran to him and trampled upon him and having no sword with him he drew out the Philistines sword out of its
servants along with him * See v. 2. and Mat. 12.3 4. and some few others that voluntarily joined themselves to him 1. He first flies to Nob a City in the Tribe of Benjamin near to Anathoth about twelve miles from Gibeah whither it seems the Tabernacle was now removed from Shiloh though the Ark still remained at Kirjath-jearim see Chap. 7.1 and possibly Saul caused it to be removed hither for his own conveniency that he might with more speed and ease upon all occasions resort to it And hence it was that there were so many Priests now dwelling here namely that they might attend upon the service of the Tabernacle David being resolved to fly for his safety out of the land came hither first not only to get some supply of his present want but also to visit the Tabernacle that he might there worship the Lord before his departure and seek unto him for help and comfort in this his day of adversity Leaving therefore his small company in some place nigh he went himself to Ahimelech the High-Priest at Nob It seems Ahiah his brother being dead he was High-Priest in his room who it seems was also call'd Abiather see Mark 2.26 and had a Son also of that name as we may see Ch. 22.20 Ahimelech was much troubled when he saw David come to him alone fearing that he was fled from Saul upon some displeasure and if so it would be dangerous for him to entertain him He asks him therefore how it came to pass that he was alone David replies that the King had sent him about a secret business and enjoined him to let no body know of it and so he had appointed his servants to stay for him in a place nigh at hand This was indeed a direct lye and proved afterwards the occasion of that horrible Massacre which Saul made of Ahimelech and the rest of the Priests of that City even eighty five persons that wore a linnen Ephod yea of the utter destruction of the City and the inhabitants thereof both men and women and children yea even of the very beasts as we read Ch. 22.18 19. Just cause had David to bewail this pernicious lye of his as long as he lived and so no doubt he did for he charges it upon himself when Abiathar the Son of Ahimelech brought him the sad tidings thereof Ch. 22.22 I have occasioned says he the death of all the persons of thy Fathers house And 't is supposed that the remorse for this very sin was fresh in his heart when he wrote that passage in the 119. Psal v. 28 29. My soul melteth away for heaviness strengthen thou me according to thy word Remove from me the way of lying c. David now desires Ahimelech to furnish him with some bread and provisions for himself and his servants that were at hand they being in great want of food Ahimelech tells him he had no bread there at the Tabernacle but the shew-bread * Davids hast was such thorough the apprehension of danger that he must presently be gone therefore he could not stay for other bread which was not to be eaten by any but the Priests see Levit. 24.9 much less by any that were unclean Yet considering that charity is to be preferred before all ceremonies and that in case of necessity the Ceremonial Law was to give way to the Moral he condescends in this exigence to relieve them with the shew-bread and what he did therein is approved by our Saviour Mat. 12.3 4. provided the young men had kept themselves from their wives (a) Hic sacerdos ni nis videtur scrupulosus Quid enim si David fuisset immundus Ideone voluit illum fame mori which it seems the Priests that were to eat the shew-bread thought themselves bound to do by a laudable custom grounded on Exod. 19.15 though not expresly by the Law commanded And it seems the High-Priest thought that if the young men had not thus abstained they would be under a double impediment David tells him 't was three days since they came out and all that time they had been absent from their wives therefore the bodies of the young men were clean and on this account not unfit to eat of this bread Besides says he the shew-bread is in this case of necessity to us but as common bread so as we may lawfully eat of it especially seeing it is this day (b) Hereby it appeareth that it was the sabbath-Sabbath-day on which David came to Nob whereon new shew-bread was put in the place of the old removed from standing upon the Table before the Lord and there is other bread consecrated according to the Law and set hot in the room of it upon these considerations the High-Priest gave him the shew-bread But it so happened that there was one of the servants of Saul there that day by name Doeg the chiefest of Saul's herdsmen by Nation an Edomite but by profession a Proselyte to the Religion of the Israelites yet a notorious wicked man and a great enemy to David it seems he was detained there before the Lord that is in the Court of the Tabernacle to pay some Vow he had made or to offer some Sacrifice he was engag'd to offer This man diligently observed David and his actions that he might relate them to Saul David askt Ahimelech whether he had not there a Sword or Spear that he could lend him for he told him he had not brought his Sword or his weapons with him because the Kings business required hast Thus one lye making a breach in the Conscience another quickly follows it and finds an easie passage thorough it The High-Priest told him there was no Sword there but Goliaths (c) The rest of Goliath's armour David had dispos'd of elsewhere see Ch. 17.54 but his sword was brought to the Tabernacle there to be reserved as a memorial of that victory to the praise of God which was wrapt in a cloth and kept behind that holy place where the Sacred Vestments and Ornaments were laid up of which the Ephod was the chiefest see Exod. 28.4 6. if he pleased he might have that David answered There is none like to that give it me for as oft as I look upon it it will put me in mind of Gods wonderful assistance vouchsafed to me in conquering Goliath and will strengthen my faith and affiance in him that he will help me in the like difficulties and dangers Ch. 21. from 1 to 10. 2ly Having gotten Goliath's sword he now flies into the Country of Achish King of Gath call'd also Abimeleck which was the common name of the Kings of the Philistines here he hoped to have sojourned at least for a time secretly and undiscovered It seems he had more hope of safety there than in his own Country at present The servants of Achish after some time discover who he was and apprehend him Possibly Goliath's sword might be some means of discovering of him and so
have shewed me that my Son hath made a league with the Son of Jesse and there is none of you that is sorry for me or discovers to me that my Son hath stirred up my servant against me to lye in wait to destroy me as you see it is at this day Then Doeg the Edomite of whom before telleth unto Saul the story of David's coming to Ahimelech at Nob and what passed between them maliciously wresting all they did to the worst sense David composes the 52 Psalm on this occasion as appears by the Title and concealing all that might any way excuse them and this caused David to charge him with lying and slandering as well as with malice and mischief and to threaten against him utter ruin and destruction Psal 52.3 4 5. which Psalm was composed on this occasion I saw says Doeg the Son of Jesse coming to Ahimelech and he inquired of the Lord for him and gave him victuals and the Sword of Goliath the Philistine but he spake not a word of David's pretence wherewith Ahimelech was deceived The King hereat was greatly enraged and sent for Ahimelech and all his Fathers house viz. the Priests that dwelt at Nob being the most of those that remained of Eli's house whom God threatned to cut off Chap. 2.31 He asks him why he had conspired with David against him and had inquir'd of the Lord for him and given him bread and a sword Ahimelech acknowledges the doing of the things Saul charges him with but utterly denieth that they were done with any treacherous mind against him but rather therein to do him service for he thought David had always approved himself faithful to the King in all his undertakings for which the King had highly honoured him and made him his Son-in-law and as far as he knew he had been ever obedient to the Kings commands going out readily on all services which he appointed him though never so full of difficulty and danger and as he understood he was a person greatly honoured in the Kings family And for his inquiring of the Lord for him he says he had often done that in former times when he was to go out on the Kings service and to lead out his forces against his enemies and that which I have done says he without blame at other times I had no reason to think would be blamed now but to aid or assist one that intended and designed to rebel against my Lord and Soveraign was never in my heart far be it from me let not the King therefore impute this as a fault to me or to my fathers house for of any conspiracy against thee thy servants knew nothing at all neither less nor more We may see by this Apology that this good man was loth to declare he had been deceived by David and drawn on to do all that he did by those untruths which he had told him He would not to excuse himself of a seeming fault accuse David of one that was real and thereby incense Saul the more against him But Saul like a bloody Tyrant shut his ears against Ahimelechs just defence and told him that not only himself but all his Fathers house should die though he had not so much as any colour of a crime to lay to their charge And whereas by the Law none were to die under two or three witnesses he condemneth so many upon the bare and single and malicious testimony of one false and flattering Sycophant Neither doth he take time further to examine the cause or the reasons or testimonies which might be produc'd in excuse of Ahimelech and the Priests but in a rage and fury from a rash sentence proceeds to a present execution without any delay And thus this wretched man that could out of a seeming pity and mercy spare Agag who was by God appointed to die now sticketh not to murder and massacre a multitude of innocent persons Accordingly he commanded his guards that were about him to slay forthwith the Lords Priests But the servants of the King that attended upon him would not do it chusing rather to obey God who had forbidden murder than this wicked King Then Saul commanded Doeg that he should fall upon them Doeg accordingly taking unto himself such persons as were alike bloody-minded with himself and so fit for his purpose fell upon them and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that wore a linnen Ephod And thus that which the Lord had threatned against the house of Eli Ch. 2.31 32. was in part fulfilled for of that family these Priests were Then Doeg having as it seems Saul's Commission for it went to Nob and there destroyed men women and children and sucklings yea the very oxen asses and sheep that belonged to that City so great an abhorrence and detestation did he manifest against all that seemed favourers of David Upon the occasion of destroying of this City at this time the Tabernacle was remov'd from hence to Gibeon where it continued to the days of Solomon 2 Chron. 1.3 1 Sam. Ch. 22. from v. 5. to 20. 6ly Keilah a City in the Tribe of Judah being now on a sudden besieged by the Philistines their neighbours and David lying with his forces not far from them in the forrest of Hareth and so in a capacity to afford them some speedier succour than Saul could do who was at a greater distance it seems some of them came to him to acquaint him with their present distress namely that the Philistines now besieged their City and that they had robbed the threshing floors of the Corn that was brought unto them they being without the City and therefore they humbly crave his speedy help David was not willing rashly to engage in such an enterprize especially with so little strength as he had about him without a special commission and promise from God therefore he inquired of the Lord probably by the Prophet Gad who was come to him before as we have seen Ch. 22.5 what he should do and the Lord encouraged him to go against the Philistines and to save and rescue Keilah David's men when they understood what enterprize he was about mightily disswaded him from it speaking to him after this manner We are afraid here in the land of Judah even among our friends and acquaintance lest we should be surprized by Saul and his Troops how much more dangerous must it needs be then for us being but a few to go against such a potent enemy as the Philistines and that in the borders of their own land David to satisfie his followers inquired again of the Lord and God bad him go for he would deliver the Philistines into his hands So David and his men went to Keilah and smote the Philistines with a great slaughter and brought away their cattel either such as they had brought out of their own Country for the provision of their armies or such as they had brought with them to carry the spoils of the
forces to resist the common enemy Hereupon David called the place Sela-Hammahlekoth that is the Rock of Divisions 1 Sam. Ch. 23. from 14 to 29. 9ly Hence David flies to the strong holds in the Wilderness * Here 't is thought he penned the 57 Psalm adjoyning to Engedi (b) A place exceeding fruitful with Vines and other fruit-trees Cant. 1.14 a City of Judah Saul returning with his forces from pursuing the Philistines it was told him whither David was fled and he took 3000 chosen men out of Israel and went to pursue David and his men upon those high steep and cragy rocks upon which wild beasts used to live and he came to the sheep-coats where was a Cave and Saul (c) Nisi somnum Saul captasset motus in spelunca sensisset militares Some Caves in that and other Countries are of that vast wideness that they are sufficient to contain great numbers of men being weary went into the entrance of it which was narrow to cover his feet that is to sleep See note in Judg. 3.24 But though the entrance of the Cave was narrow yet it seems it was roomâ—by within for David and several of his men had hid themselves in the sides and innermost parts of it David's men perceiving that Saul was come into the entrance or mouth of the Cave and that there he had laid himself down to sleep they tell him that God had now put such an opportunity into his hands of cutting off his enemy that thirsted after his blood as if he had from heaven called unto him and commanded (d) V. 4. dicit h.e. dicere videtur quia praebet ansam him to do it But David arising went softly to Saul and only cut off the skirt of his Robe that he might thereby make it evident to him that he could as well have killed him if he had had a mind to it and yet David's heart smote him for this little that he had done because it had an appearance of an injury offered to the King But it seems his men were almost ready to mutiny that he would not kill Saul at this time and so put an end to his and their tedious troubles Whereupon David mildly spake unto them saying God forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against my Master the Lords Anointed I cannot I dare not do it And with these words he stayed his Souldiers from offering violence unto Saul Saul awaking rose up and went on his way David immediately gets out of the Cave and following him cried after him My Lord the King When Saul looked back David bowed himself to the earth before him and then humbly addressing himself to him said Wherefore hearknest thou to mens words that tell thee that David seeketh thy hurt Thou seest that this day the Lord delivered thee into my hands when thou wast in the Cave some bad me kill thee but mine eye spared thee and I told them I would not put forth my hand against my Lord seeing he is the anointed of the Lord. Moreover my father see yea see the the skirt of thy robe in my hand for in that I cut off only the skirt of thy robe and killed thee not when I might so easily have done it thou maist assure thy self that there is no evil intention in my heart against thee neither have I transgressed against thee as those base Sycophants that are about thee do suggest And yet thou huntest my life to take it The Lord judge between me and thee and in this my innocent cause wherein I so unjustly suffer do me right against thee But however though it should not please him to do it yet I am resolved not to avenge my self on thee neither shall my hand be upon thee The Proverb of the Ancients tells us That wickedness proceedeth from the wicked that is wicked men will not stick to do any wicked thing But thou needest not fear any such thing from me seeing thou hast found the contrary by thine own experience I am resolved to refer my cause to God and not to avenge my self in my own quarrel Besides consider I pray thee who it is that thou pursuest with so much eagerness and violence even a weak and contemptible man and in comparison of thee no more to be esteemed than a flea (e) Valde Pathetica oratio Index summa Davidis modestiae vid. Psal 131. or a dead dog (f) Canâ—m mortuum pulicem persequi dicitur de iis qui tenuissimos homines magno conatu insectantur Having therefore neither power nor will to do thee hurt the Lord judge between me and thee and plead my cause and deliver me out of thy hands David having ended Saul was so affected with what he had said that he lift up his voice and wept and said Is this thy voice my Son David Thou art more righteous than I for thou hast done me good and I have rewarded thee with evil I am convinced that thou hast dealt exceeding kindly with me For when the Lord had delivered me into thy hands thou didst not take away my life If a man find his enemy and have him at an advantage will he let him go away without doing him any hurt This is not the common course of the world The Lord therefore reward thee for the great kindness thou hast shewed me this day And now I know assuredly that thou shalt be King see Ch. 15.28 23.17 seeing God hath endued thee with such heroick and Kingly virtues and does so eminently prosper thee in all thy undertakings I know that the Kingdom of Israel shall remain firm and established to thee and thy posterity after thee Swear now therefore to me that thou wilt not cut off my seed after I am gone as other jealous Princes use to do nor blot out my name by destroying my posterity And David sware unto him accordingly having in effect bound himself by Covenant and Oath before unto Jonathan to do the same that Saul here required But how can David be said to have observed this Oath when as afterwards he delivered the five Sons of Merab Saul's daughter and the two Sons of Rizpah his Concubine to the Gibeonites to be hanged see 2 Sam. 21. I answer David had a full intention to observe this Oath as far as lay in him as appears by his putting to death those that murdered Ishbosheth though he had risen against him 2 Sam. 4. and by his preserving and cherishing Mephibosheth 2 Sam. 9. But in the case before mentioned he was not left to his own choice but necessitated by a special command from God to deliver them into the hands of the Gibeonites for their satisfaction that Gods wrath being appeased the heavy judgment of famine under which they lay might be removed from the land see 2 Sam. 21.6 9. and therefore in this he brake not his Oath * Omnia pacta promissa vota jurejuranda ad hoc caput referenda
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 David David answers It is my voice my Lord O King And I pray thee wherefore doth my Lord thus pursue after his servant What have I done or what evil is in my hand Now therefore let my Lord the King vouchsafe to hear the words of his servant If the Lord hath stirred thee up against me let him receive an offering * Placato iram ejus Sacrificio munere Chald. Paraph. suspiciat oblationem meam cum voluntate that is let him be appeased with a sacrifice and oblation which I will offer for the sin whereby I have provoked him But if they be Court-Sycophants and malicious persons that by their lyes and slanders have incensed thee against me I leave them as cursed creatures to Gods just vengeance who will plead my cause against them For they have endeavoured to drive me out from abiding in the Inheritance of the Lord and from enjoying his Ordinances and by forcing me as an exile to flee into Idolatrous Countries They have in effect said to me Go and serve other Gods And now seeing thou knowest my innocency let not my blood I pray thee be shed without cause for the Lord will see it and will not let it go unpunished Besides it is not honourable for the King of Israel to pursue me with so many men who have so little power to hurt him For I am but as a flea forced to skip hither and thither to save my self or a partridge on the mountains forced to flee from place to place to escape thy hands Then said Saul I have sinned Return my Son David to thy former condition for I will no more do thee harm seeing my life was precious in thine eyes this day and thou hast spared me when it was in thy power to kill me Behold I have played the fool and erred exceedingly I do acknowledg my fault and folly and openly take shame to my self for it in the hearing of all that are about me David desires him to send one of his young men to fetch his Spear having taken it from him only to evidence his innocence and that he had no evil intention in his heart against him And therefore says he let the Lord recompence every man according to his righteousness and faithfulness Thy life was indeed in my power this day but I would not stretch forth my hand against the Lords anointed And as thy life was precious in mine eyes so let my life be precious in the eyes of the Lord my God and let it please him to preserve it though thou shouldst fail of thy promises made to me and shouldst seek again to take it away Then Saul said unto David Blessed be thou my Son David thou shalt do great things and shalt at last prevail maugre all the malice of thine enemies Then David retired and betook himself to some place of safety not trusting Saul for all his goodly words and promises having formerly found him so false and malicious And Saul returned to Gibeah where he kept his Court. 1 Sam. Ch. 26. whole Chapter 12ly David now seriously considering the condition of his affairs began through the weakness of his faith to think that he should at one time or other notwithstanding all his former deliverances perish by the hand of Saul if he did not speedily get himself out of his reach therefore he thought there was nothing more adviseable in his present circumstances than that he should send to the King of the Philistines and try if he could be received with his forces into his protection This indeed was no warrantable course that he now pitched upon for his preservation For first God had once before commanded him by the Prophet Gad to abide in the land of Judah see Chap. 22.5 2ly He having before been such a formidable enemy to the Philistines and having so hardly escaped with his life once before when he sought privately to shelter himself among them there was no likelihood he should be entertained by them on any other terms than that he and his Souldiers should turn to the Philistines and declare themselves enemies to Saul and the people of Israel 3ly This must needs tend to the great grief of those that were righteous in the land and would give his enemies occasion exceedingly to triumph and to say that now he discovered what he was seeing he had deserted his own people and religion and had joined himself to their uncircumcised enemies But thus it is when mens hearts sink through distrust of God as it seems Davids now did they seek to help themselves by any means they can David therefore having as 't is probable sent his Agents before hand to the King of the Philistines and having obtained assurance from him under the publick faith that he and his Souldiers should live safely in his land which 't is like out of meer policy he consented unto knowing the hatred that Saul bear him and believing that David and his forces would be ready to join with him and his subjects against Saul he passed over with six hundred men that followed him to Achish King of Gath. He carried also his two wives along with him Ahinoam and Abigail and his followers likewise carried their wives and families not thinking it safe to leave them behind them in the land of Israel and for some time by Achish's permission they dwelt in Gath or about it When it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath he gave over any further thoughts of seeking after him he being in the land of his enemies and so out of his reach David being desirous to dwell apart by himself with those that followed him that he might have the more freedom for the exercise of his Religion and might keep his Souldiers from being corrupted with the Vices and Idolatries of the Philistines and that he might from thence go out and prey the more secretly upon the enemies of Gods people without having any notice taken of it he humbly desired Achish that his Officers might assign him and his followers some place in the Country to live in it not being fit for him a stranger to live with the King in the Royal City especially having so many people with him who must needs be burdensome and might sometimes prove offensive to him and the inhabitants of his City Achish consents thereunto and accordingly gave him Ziklag which being allotted to the Tribe of Judah Josh 15.31 was afterwards given to Simeon Josh 19.5 but the Philistines having gotten possession of it had kept it to this day and now Achish giveth it unto David and so it was not only joined to Judah's portion * Hac donatione justos ad Heredes rediit Achish dedit Davidi non solum ad inhabitandum sed ut in illius dominium cederet but was also upon this occasion designed to be ever after a part of the Crown-land of the Kings of Judah Here David dwelt a full year and four months
17. Faciet enim tibi dominus Strigelius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 malui legere quod est in margine quomodo Hieron Septuaginta verterunt quam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tertia persona sumitur pro secunda sic mos Hebraeis permutandi personas Saul then perceived him in that form though it were not the true Samuel but the Devil in his likeness and stooped with his face to the earth and bowed himself to him This counterfeit Samuel now asked him Why he had disquieted him to bring him up thither Saul answered I am sore distressed the Philistines make war upon me and God is departed from me and answereth me no more either by Prophets or Dreams therefore have I called for thee that thou maist make known to me what I should do The evil spirit now counterfeiting not only Samuel's person but his words and actions replied Why dost thou ask counsel of me seeing the Lord is departed from thee and become thine enemy Alas I cannot help thee for the Lord will do to thee as he hath spoken by me He will rend the Kingdom out of thine hand and give it to thy neighbour even to David because thou obeyest not his voice nor executest his fierce wrath upon Amalek and therefore it is that this judgment will fall upon thee And moreover the Lord will deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines and to morrow (h) To morrow is not to be understood precisely of the next day following but indefinitely of some time near approaching So to morrow is taken Exod. 13.14 Mat. 6.34 and so here to be understood For it was not the next day after that Saul and his Sons were slain in which the Philistines were but preparing for the battel and sent away David from among them see Ch. 29. but as it seemeth by the History some few days after thou and thy sons shall be with me (i) First God may reveal things future and contingent unto Satan who may reveal them to Witches and to Sorcerers before they came to pass to encourage and harden their hearts in their Diabolical practices and the hearts of others also that resort unto them 2ly God sometimes useth Satan as an instrument to execute his judgments as he did in the case of Job and the four hundred false Prophets that were deluded by him 1 King 22.22 and then 't is easie for him to reveal those things he hath in commission to execute Permittit Deus Daemones aliquando responsa dare Idololatris quia ex malitia sua demerentur ut sic in erroribus exerceantur ut Ancilla illa Act. 16. quae nisi vera prae dixisset magnum Dominis suis quaestum non prae buisset Multa de oraculo Delphico referant omnes Historiae Craeso sciscitanti num futurum esset ut filius mutus loqueretur respondit infausto die loquuturum esse quod accidit that is shall be dead as the true Samuel was who was personated by this evil spirit Saul hearing these dismal tidings and being very faint through fasting all the day before even to that time of the night he fell on the ground in a swoon and there was no strength in him The Witch hereupon came to him and told him that she had so far obeyed him as to put her life into his hands therefore she desired him so far to gratifie her as to receive a little refreshment from her that he might have strength to return to the army But he utterly refused it till his servants together with the woman by their earnest importunity prevailed with him so he arose from the earth and sat upon the bed and the woman having a fatted calf in the stall she caused it presently to be kill'd and drest and prepar'd some of it and took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened * Panes azymos quos statim curavit coquendos non enim expectavit donec farinae illa subacta fermentaretur bread thereof and so brought her provisions and set them before Saul and his servants and they did eat of them and then arose and went their way 1 Sam. Ch. 28. from v. 1 to the end 14. The Philistines now gathered all their forces together to Aphek a Town in the Tribe of Asher and the Israelites pitched by a fountain near Jezreel The Four Lords of the Philistines led up their forces and marched with their hundreds and thousands but David and his men marched in the rear with Achish who seems to be chief among them if not their General The Princes of the Philistines observing this askt in some passion what those Hebrews did among them Achish reply'd the chief commander of them was David a servant of Saul's a man of great wisdom and fortitude who had been with him some days or rather some years he having dwelt with him one full year and four months see Ch. 27.7 and in all that time since he fell to him he had found no fault in him But the Princes of the Philistines were not satisfied with that but imagined that Achish was meerly deluded by him and that he would endanger their Army therefore they urge Achish to send him back and to cause him to return to the place he had appointed for him viz. to Ziklag lest in the battel he should fall off from them and help their enemies For how can he better contrive say they to reconcile himself to his master than by betraying the lives of this whole Army into his hands They further add that he was a most dangerous person of whose abilities they ought to be very apprehensive being highly renown'd for his military prudence and valour among his own Nation insomuch that the women sang of him in their dances Saul hath slain his thousands but David his ten thousands See Ch. 18.7 21.11 Hereupon Achish called David and told him that as sure as the Lord lived he had found him faithful to him and he could not but highly approve all his carriage since he came into the Army nay he had found no evil in him since the first day he came up to him Nevertheless he must acquaint him that the Lords of the Philistines favoured him not therefore he advised him to return with his forces to Ziklag that he might not give them any further cause of jealousie David replies what evil hast thou found in thy servant since I have been with thee even unto this day that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my Lord the King (k) Necessaria querela ne si taceret suspitionibus Philistaeonum suffragari videretur Menoch Achish answers I protest thou seemest unto me to be a person of such excellencies of such probity and goodness as if thou wert an Angel (l) Hunc loquendi modum Philistaei a vicinis hauserunt Hebraeis Conterminae enim regiones ut experientia docet multas voces phrases communes habent sent from heaven unto me I
to revenge Ishbosheth's death Accordingly these Conspirators came to Ishbosheth's house who was then reposing himself on his bed and they came it seems in the disguise or habit of Country men or Merchants that came to buy wheat (h) Non mirum Tirticum in Regia domo repositum esse Nimis delicati sunt antiquae simplicitatis ignavi qui ad hodiernam Aularum elegantiam pristinas Regum Aulas exigunt whereof Ishbosheth's lands yielded great store or of Porters that came to carry some away that had been bought and by this colour having free access into his house and finding him asleep upon his bed they desperately murder'd him and cutting off his head took it away with them and travelling all night from Mahanaim through the Plain of Jericho to Hebron they brought it to David and presented it to him saying Behold the head of Ishbosheth thine enemy who sought thy life and the Lord hath avenged my Lord the King this day on Saul and on his seed David being enraged at this their desperate wickedness and treachery against their Lord and Master said As sure as the Lord liveth who hath hitherto deliverd me out of all my troubles I will inflict upon you the punishment that your heinous crime deserves when the Amalekite came to me and told me that Saul was dead thinking to have brought me acceptable tidings and said moreover that upon Saul's request he had helped to kill him and rid him out of his pain See 2 Sam. 1.10 I took hold of him and slew him in Ziklag though he thought I would have given him a reward for his tidings how much greater reason then have I to execute severe justice on such bloody and wicked Assasinates as you are who have murder'd one that was just and innocent as to you having done you no wrong but contrary deserved well of you and that so basely and treacherously in his own house and upon his bed where he lay secure suspecting no such danger Have not I reason therefore to require his blood at your hands and to take you away from the earth for committing such an abominable villany Having thus spoken he commanded the young men about him to fall upon them and slay them which they immediately did and cut off their hands and their feet and hanged them up over the Pool in Hebron that all men might see how much David abhorred this fact of theirs and how far he was from knowing any thing of it or giving the least encouragement to them that did it As for the Head of Ishbosheth they took and buried it in the Sepulcher of Abner in Hebron 2 Sam. Ch. 4. whole Chapter SECT CLXXXIII IShbosheth being dead the Elders and Heads of the several Tribes of Israel and the Captains and many thousands of the people that bare armes came unto David to Hebron to settle the Kingdom of Saul upon him as God had appointed and some of them addressing themselves to him in the name of the rest spake after this manner We are thy bone and thy flesh that is Israelites as thou art and therefore doubt not but we shall find favour with thee And when Saul was King over us thou wast our Captain and didst lead forth our Armies against our enemies and broughtest them back again crowned with victory and laden with spoil And therefore the experience we have had of thy wisdom and prowess moves us to desire thee for our King And further God did by Samuel appoint thee to rule over us and said unto thee Thou shalt feed my people Israel and be a Captain over them And we are bound to accept him for our King whom God shall chuse for us Deut. 17.15 upon all these accounts we are willing to accept of thee and submit to thee as our King David graciously received them and their address and declar'd himself ready to forget all that was past and to receive them as his subjects into his protection And so he made a league with them promising to govern them according to the rule prescribed in Gods Law and they promised to obey him as his loyal and liege people And this being done with invocation of God as a witness of their league it is said to be done before the Lord and so they anointed * David now a third time anointed David King over all Israel He was thirty years old at this time he had reigned seven years and six months over Judah in Hebron before and after this he reigned over all Israel thirty three years so that his whole reign was almost forty years In the 1 Chron. 12.23 we have the number of those who out of the several Tribes came to Hebron upon this solemn occasion Of the Children of Judah six thousand and eight hundred ready armed they had before anointed David King over them therefore it was not necessary they should appear in greater numbers at this time Of Simeon seven thousand one hundred mighty men of valour Of Levi four thousand and six hundred though this Tribe was set apart peculiarly for the service of God yet many of them being men of valour did it seems go out into the wars and David being now to be inaugurated and anointed King the Levites were willing to shew their forwardness also to establish him in his Kingdom Of the Aaronites or Priests three thousand and seven hundred with Jehojada their leader And Zadok (a) This Zadok seems to be the man who in Davids reign was joined with Abiathar 2 Sam. 8.17 and by Solomon was put into Abiathars room and made High-Priest 1 King 2.35 a young man of great valour was another leader among the Sons of Aaron and with him came twenty two Captains that were Priests and of his Fathers house Of the Chilren of Benjamin three thousand no more of them it seems appeared because they being of the same Tribe with Saul a multitude of them endeavoured to continue the Kingdom in Sauls race (b) V. 29. Observabant observationem domus Saulis i. e. adhaerebant domui Saulis capessentes mandata Ishboshethi Pisc and were unwilling the Royal dignity should go from them Of the Children of Ephraim twenty thousand eight hundred mighty men of valour and famous in their Tribe Of the half Tribe of Manasseh that was seated within Jordan eighteen thousand which were chosen by name to be imployed in this service Of the Children of Issachar that were singularly prudent and able to give advice for the doing of any thing that was to be done in the fittest time * Vide Esth 1.13 and season (c) They had much given themselves to observe seasons wherein matters of moment were meetest to be done and whose brethren were at their command out of the high esteem they had of their prudence and wisdom of these the Heads or Captains were two hundred and therefore undoubtedly had divers thousands under their command who came along with them Of Zebulon no less than
Church and people in regard whereof in times of great joy they used it seems to sing this Psalm as may be gathered from Isa 12.4 it begins Give thanks unto the Lord call upon his name make known his deeds among the people set forth his glorious Attributes seek to know the Lord and his strength and resort to the Ark from whence he uses to give forth his Oracles Exod. 25.22 and is the Symbol of his Almighty presence among us and therefore call'd the Ark of his strength Psal 132.8 yea seek his favour continually day after day as occasion requires Remember the judgments of his mouth which he first threatned and then executed O ye seed of Jacob who are his adopted and peculiar people freely chosen by him He is our God he executeth his judgments on his enemies throughout the whole world O let us be mindful always of his Covenant wherein he hath declared what duties he expects from us and what rewards we may expect from him upon our obedience Gen. 17.7 9. which Covenant he hath commanded to be observed by us and the generations following us even the Covenant which he made with Abraham Gen. 17.7 15.18 and his Oath unto Isaac Gen. 26.3 4. renewing the same Covenant to him which by Oath he had confirmed unto Abraham Gen 22.16 17. and which he gave to Jacob for a Law or Statute and to Israel for an everlasting Covenant Gen. 28.13 saying unto thee and thy seed will I give the land of Canaan for an inheritance And this promise he made to them when they were but few in number and strangers in the land and when they travelled from Nation to Nation and from one Kingdom to another his Providence was visibly and remarkably over them He suffered not the Inhabitants of the places where they sojourned to do them wrong but reproved Kings for their sakes as particularly Pharaoh Gen. 12.17 and Abimelech Gen. 20.3 saying Touch not mine anointed and do my Prophets no harm that is wrong not those whom I have consecrated to my self by the anointing of my holy Spirit and to whom I do familiarly reveal my will in dreams visions and by the ministry of my holy Angels that they may teach and instruct others and God did thus defend them because by special Covenant he had taken them under his protection That which follows from hence to the 34 ver the Psalmist it seems afterwards made a new Psalm of viz. the 96 the drift of which is to stir up all Nations to praise the Lord and consequently includes a Prophesie of Christ and the gathering all Nations into the Church by the Preaching of the Gospel It begins Sing unto the Lord all ye Nations of the earth shew forth from day to day and time to time as occasion is offered his salvation viz. the redemption and salvation purchased by the Messias Great is the Lord and greatly to be feared above all Gods For the Gods of the heathen are Idols but our God made the Heavens God is a King of infinite Majesty Glory and honour most strong and mighty the fountain of all strength and gladness to his people such his people find him in his Sanctuary where he reveals himself unto them and such with glad hearts they acknowledg him to be See Psal 96.6 O ye kindreds and families of the earth ascribe unto the Lord glory and strength give unto him the glory due unto his name that is which is due unto him in respect of his Glorious Attributes bring an offering and come into his Court the place appointed for his solemn Worship and worship him in his glorious holy Sanctuary (c) 1 Chron. 16. v. 29. Worship him in the beauty of holiness Sanctitas pro Sanctuario per metonymiam adjuncti vel in ornatu sanctitatis i. e. pura mente Fear before him all ye inhabitants of the earth by him the world was made at first and by his supporting Providence it is established and firmly setled and therefore we need not fear but he will also support his Church and people Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice and let men say one to another the Lord reigneth Let the Sea roar (a) Humane affections are here ascribed to insensible creatures thereby to set out mans duty with the fulness thereof that is with all that therein is thereby as it were expressing its joy Let the fields also rejoice and the trees of the wood sing out before the Lord when he cometh to judg the world that is to rule and govern it which he will do with righteousness and faithfulness O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good his mercy endureth for ever Save us O God of our Salvation and gather us together and firmly unite us who have been before too much rent and divided and deliver us from the Heathen that we may glory in thy praise-worthy works and count it our happiness and glory that we may serve and praise thee Blessed be God for ever and ever and let all the people say Amen 1 Chron. Ch. 16. from v. 4 to the end SECT CLXXXVIII DAvid at this present enjoying peace and quietness being not disturb'd with the invasion of neighbouring Nations he began to take into his pious thoughts the building of a Temple for God and his Ark. In order hereunto he sent for Nathan the Prophet to advise with him about it He tells him he was come to dwell in a stately house which he had built for himself Hiram King of Tyre having furnished him with Cedar-trees and Carpenters and Masons for that purpose but he thought it unfit that he should dwell in so stately a Palace and the Ark of God should be lodged in the mean time only in a Tabernacle covered with Skins and Curtains Indeed while the Israelites were in the Wilderness in a flitting condition the publick place of Gods Worship was only a Tent or Tabernacle which might easily be removed with them but now they were setled in Canaan he thought it more suitable to their present state that the house allotted to Gods service should be no longer a Moveable Tabernacle but a standing Temple especially considering that he had said that when they were come into the land of their inheritance he would chuse out a place for them to cause his name to dwell there Deut. 12.10 11 14. And therefore upon these considerations and in zeal to the honour of God he had thoughts of building a Temple for his publick Worship Nathan was much pleased with the design and greatly encouraged him in it saying to him Go on (b) Hence it appears that the Prophets had not always the spirit of Prophesie upon them but spake sometimes as private men as Samuel did 1 Sam. 26.6 build an house for the Lord as thou hast designed he seems to have moved thee to it and undoubtedly will answer thee in it This approbation of Nathan so far encouraged David that as some think he
Is the young man Absalom safe Ahimaaz answers that when Joab sent away Cushi the Kings servant and him to bring tidings he saw a great tumult but knew not what the matter was He knew undoubtedly of Absalom's death but through humane frailty fearing to displease the King he here miserably faulters Then came Cushi who cried out Good tidings my Lord the King for the Lord hath avenged thee this day of all those that rose up against thee Then said the King is the young man Absalom safe Cushi replied let the enemies of my Lord the King and all that rise up against him be as that young man is David was smitten with a wonderful consternation at this news and his grief and passion brake out so violently that it almost overwhelmed him he now retires into the Chamber over the Gate there in secret to pour out his sorrow and as he went up he cried out O my Son Absalom my Son Absalom would God I had died for thee my Son Absalom if my temporal death would have saved thee from eternal misery 2 Sam. Ch. 18. whole Chapter 15. The King taking on so immoderately for the death of Absalom his excessive grief came to be known in the Army and caused great trouble of spirit among them also so that the victory was turned into mourning neither came they up like a victorious army with joy and triumph to the City but dispersing themselves secretly stole into it not as if they had been Conquerours but rather as if they had been beaten and fled away from their enemies The King still took on excessively and covered his head in token of extream sorrow and cried out O my Son Absalom O Absalom my Son my Son Joab understanding this and seeing in what a discontent the Souldiers were hereupon and how their hearts began to be alienated from the King so that they were even ready to fall quite off from him he comes in a great rage to him and highly expostulates with him and tells him He had shamed the faces of all his faithful servants that day who had saved his life and the lives of his wives and children with the extreme hazard of their own and had frustrated them of their deserved praise and reward this strange carriage of thine saith he sheweth as if thou lovedst thy enemies in that thou mournest so excessively for this Traytor Absalom and hatedst thy friends seeing thou dost thus discountenance their faithful service Thou seemest not to regard thy faithful subjects let them be of what degree or quality they will I perceive that if that Arch-Rebel Absalom had lived thou hadst not much cared if all we had died I solemnly protest to thee if thou wilt not give over thy whining for that Rebel and go forth presently and speak comfortably to thy people and congratulate their victory and give them thanks for their venturing their lives for thee I believe they will all forsake thee as a person unfit to govern them who canst not govern thine own passions and possibly they will think of chusing another * Prospicient sibi de alio rege site aequum habere non possint and that will be worse to thee than all the afflictions thou hast hitherto met with in all thy life David being startled at this bold speech of Joab's which though harsh and tart yet was needful at this time he took his counsel and went and sat in the Gate and there shaking off sorrow manifested his kindness and grace to his Souldiers to win their hearts again to him As for those that had followed Absalom and escaped in the battel they were fled to their own houses 2 Sam. Ch. 19. from v. 1 to 9. 16. The people now through all the Ten Tribes of Israel began to blame one another for siding with Absalom against his Father and to call upon one another and upon their Elders and Officers to submit themselves unto David and to go and fetch him back again to the City of Jerusalem with honour they began to recount the great and manifold benefits they had enjoyed under his Government and how he had saved them out of the hands of their enemies especially the Philistines And they saw that God was against them in that attempt of making Absalom King and therefore there was great reason they should go and seek reconciliation with David whom they had so highly injured and offended This resolution of the Israelites to fetch their King home with honour coming to his ears and he perceiving that the men of Judah who had been first and chief in siding with Absalom and had delivered up to him the City of Jerusalem and the strong fort of Sion being conscious to themselves of their great ingratitude against him were now afraid to address themselves to him or to go to fetch him home therefore he sent to Zadock and Abiathar who had stayed all this while at Jerusalem that they should acquaint the Elders of Judah how ready he was to pardon them and to forget all that was past They were also to assure them of his singular affection to them they being his brethren and of the same Tribe therefore he would not have them to be the last in fetching home their King who ought to be the first He sends also unto Amasa whom Absalom had made General of his Army and who if he should despair of pardon might draw a great party of the Israelites after him to assure him that he was ready to receive him into his favour and to regard him as his nephew nay he intended to prefer him and to make him General of his Army as long as he lived in the place of Joab Indeed Joab had incurred his displeasure by killing Abner and several other unjustifiable acts yet he had also done him great services and had been always faithful to him whereas Amasa had been faithless and rebellious Besides the place of General belonged to Joab both by Davids promise and his own purchase he having hazarded his life in that dangerous service of assaulting and taking the strong fort of Sion However David being now offended with him for killing Absalom he resolv'd to prefer Amasa before him thinking by that policy to reduce all Absaloms party that stood out against him under his obedience By this kind message to the men of Judah and to Amasa David bowed the hearts of the men of Judah even as the heart of one man so that they sent this word unto the King Return thou and all thy servants we are most willing to receive thee and submit unto thee David considered that it might cost a great deal of blood to subdue them by force therefore he thought it best by these tenders of grace to bow their hearts to him and it happened according to his desire for the men of Judah now agreed to meet together at Gilgal and from thence they passed over the river Jordan to meet the King and to bring him
back to Jerusalem with these men of Judah Shimei the Benjamite join'd himself who had before so unsufferably cursed and reviled David bringing with him a thousand Benjamites so that it seems he was a potent man in his own Tribe He took this opportunity of coming to reconcile himself to the King and obtain his pardon hoping to speed the better because the men of Judah also now came to make their peace with him Ziba also the treacherous servant of Mephibosheth who had so falsely accused his Master was very forward to come with his fifteen sons and twenty servants to meet the King hoping thereby to keep himself in the Kings favour though his falseness to his Master should be discovered All these went over Jordan to meet the King and to conduct him back And there went a Ferry-boat to bring over some of the chief of the Kings houshold as his wives and children and whom he pleased and to be imployed as he should appoint The rest passed over the fords on horses or as they could Shimei now coming before the King fell down on his face before him and said Let not my Lord impute iniquity unto me neither do thou remember what thy servant did perversely on the day that my Lord the King went out of Jerusalem neither let the King take it to his heart or regard it for thy servant doth acknowledg that he hath heinously sin'd against thee But I am come the first and before any others of the house of Joseph * The Scripture is wont ordinarily to divide the 12 Tribes into Judah and Israel Judah having Benjamin adjoin'd to it and Ephraim comprehending the other Ten Tribes which are all called by its name because it was the chief of them See Isa 7.2 Psal 80.1 Zach. 10.6 viz. of the Ten Tribes to meet my Lord the King And therefore as I have given a good example to others so if I obtain pardon others will be encouraged by my example to come in likewise to submit to the King Abishai standing by and hearing what he said What says he shall not Shimei be put to death who cursed the Lords anointed to his face If thou spare him spare all The King replied What have I to do with you ye Sons of Zerviah why should you advise me to that which is so prejudicial to me as if you were my very adversaries seeing God hath given me so signal a victory over my enemies and hath made this day a day of rejoicing to me I will not damp nor stain the joy of it by sheding any mans blood I am this day restored to my Kingdom again and as it were new-created King and what better becomes a King especially on the day of his Inauguration than clemency and mercy It will not be wisdom in me to discourage those that are willing to submit to me nor to endanger my yet unsetled State by exercising severity on them who stooped and acknowledged their faults Therefore as for Shimei I do here swear unto him before you all and pass my royal word that he shall not die (a) This must be understood in reference to his former faults if he committed any new offence this Oath did not bind to secure him from punishment therefore David 1 King 2.8 9. gave order to his Son Solomon to watch and observe him well that if his malice and wickedness did break forth any other way he should proceed against him in a way of justice Non morieris i. e. hodie vel jam vel manu mea meo jussu non propter hanc causam Nec praecepit Solomoni ut propter eum puniret eum sed solum dicit noli pati eum esse impunitum sed eo modo quo juste poteris Id ergo committit prudentiae Solomonis Among others that met the King Mephibosheth the Grandson of Saul was one who had neither washed his feet as in publick mournings they used not to do nor trimmed his beard nor wash'd his linnen from the day the King departed from the City to that day but had behaved himself as a true mourner for the Kings long absence and sore afflictions The King asks him why he came not to him sooner he answers My Lord O King my servant deceived me for I said I would have the asses sadled that I might ride to the King and behold he went away secretly with them leaving me behind a poor lame man unable to help my self And besides this he hath also horribly slandered me to the King and hath thereby as I understand gotten a grant of my lands I do protest I never spake those words he hath accused me of but my Lord the King is wise even as an Angel of God to discern between truth and falshood therefore let him do unto me what seemeth good in his eyes for I acknowledg all my fathers house were but as dead men before my Lord the King we were all in thy power thou mightest have put us all to death if thou hadst so pleased for the attempt made upon thy Royal dignity by Ishbosheth and therefore what cause have I to complain if that which was freely given me by thee be now taken from me David tells him he was full of weighty business at that time and therefore he would not have him for the present trouble him any further about that matter I have said says he and my sentence shall stand Thou and Ziba divide the land It may seem strange that so wise and just a King as David was should pass so unjust a sentence against Mephibosheth the Son of his dear friend Jonathan with whom he had made a solemn Covenant to be kind to him and his seed after him and the poor pitiful plight and condition Mephibosheth was now in might have induc'd David to think that he was far from aspiring to the Crown Besides Ziba did not offer now to justifie to his masters face what he had before accused him of But it seems David was loth to displease Ziba who had lately brought him relief in his distress and was not willing to take back from him all that he had given him especially at such a time as this when he so much desired to endear himself to all his subjects and therefore he appointed Mephibosheth and him to divide the land between them But notwithstanding the hardness of this sentence honest Mephibosheth was so far from being displeased at it that he said Nay let him take all seeing my Lord the King is come to his house in peace Besides these Barzillai the Gileadite a man of eighty years of age who had supplied the King with Provisions while he was at Mahanaim see Ch. 17.27 being a very rich man came from Rogelim the City where he lived to conduct the King over Jordan The King received him very kindly and invited him to go along with him to Jerusalem where he would entertain him as his friend Barzillai told him he was at
soever they be they are all thy servants and ready to be imploy'd at thy command and therefore if thou dost this thing I am afraid thou wilt be a cause of trespass (c) Sed quid in to commisit populus consensit assentatus est Regi Merc. unto Israel and wilt hereby occasion them to be too carnally confident and to relye too much on the arm of flesh But the King declar'd he would have it done though Joab and the Captains that were with him did what they could to disswade him from it Joab seeing the King so bent upon it like a servile Courtier though the Kings command was abominable to him 1 Chron. 21.6 and his judgment against it and his mind did presage that some judgment would come upon the Kingdom for it yet to please the King he and the Captains with him set upon it and so taking their journey towards the East they passed over Jordan and began the work at Aroer a City of the Gadites situate on the river Arnon thence marching to Gazer they passed Northward and entred into Gilead and so came to Dan in the North of Palestine and then turned towards the Mediterranean Sea and so came along the Northern Coasts by Zidon and Tyre and then came to the South of Judah even to Beersheba and so after nine months and twenty days Joab came to Jerusalem and gave in the sum of the number of the people unto the King The sum that he gave in as it is here set down 2 Sam. 24.9 was in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword and in Judah five hundred thousand But in 1 Chron. 21.5 't is said he gave in the number of Israel eleven hundred thousand and in Judah only four hundred threescore and ten thousand so that here is a double diversity three hundred thousand short in the one and thirty thousand over in the other For the reconciling of this some think that Joab when he gave in the account eight hundred thousand he left out the Trained bands which were before enrolled and did their service in Jerusalem every month of which there were twenty four thousand for every month which will make 288000 and left out also their Colonels Captains Commanders and Officers of all sorts which might amount to twelve thousand more and so make up three hundred thousand which being added to the eight hundred thousand make up altogether eleven hundred thousand As for the other diversity concerning Judah viz. that in the Chronicles he is said to have given in of them only four hundred threescore and ten thousand and in Samuel five hundred thousand for the reconciling of that possibly when he came first to Jerusalem he gave in but only four hundred threescore and ten thousand but then there was an addition of thirty thousand more out of Jerusalem which made it up five hundred thousand But yet he did not number Levi and Benjamin which still join'd themselves to Judah being weary of the work and the plague soon after breaking out he gave it quite over The total of all was sixteen hundred thousand scarce a Kingdom in the world of no larger extent was ever so prodigiously fruitful The next morning after the number of the people was given in to the King the Prophet Gad was sent unto him by the Lord to make known his sin and how God intended to punish him for it Hereupon David's heart smote him and he humbly confessed and acknowledged he had sinned greatly and done foolishly and earnestly begged pardon of the Lord. The Prophet Gad tells him that the Lord was resolved severely to chastise him but yet he would offer him his choice of three judgments viz. either * In 2 Sam. 24.13 't is seven years famine as if God should have said you have lately suffered three years famine for the sin of Saul against the Gibeonites and this fourth year being a Sabbatical year hath an harvest indeed but for want of seed sown a very poor one and no ways able to supply the necessities of the land Now to these four years of famine art thou willing the Lord should add three years of famine more which will make the famine continue in all upon the land seven years three years famine or to fly three months before the enemy who should overtake and slaughter his people in the flight or three days pestilence (b) Not an ordinary pestilence arising from the infection of the air but by the immediate stroke of an Angel See 1 Chron. 21.12 So that the Lord now dealt with David as a Father doth that bringeth forth three or four rods some greater than others though he means to use but one of them and possibly the least yet thereby he doth the more scare his child and humble him with the fear of his anger thus the Lord shewed three dreadful judgments to David but yet he manifested so much gentleness and kindness as to permit him to chuse which of them he had rather suffer David upon this message said I am in a great straight for these are all such sore judgments that I know not which to chuse He knew the Pestilence might destroy as many in three days as the sword in three months or the famine in three years but at last he chose the Pestilence and that because he judged it better to fall into the hands of God (c) Like a loving child David chuses to be chastised by his Father rather than by the hand of a servant or a slave whose mercies are great then into the hands of men 'T is true the sword and famine are sent by God yet in them he useth other instruments besides and when the Lord punisheth by men he usually suffers them to deal with great severity and cruelty even more than himself is wont to deal with when he takes them into his own hand and this was the main cause why David chose the Pestilence yet withal this is to be observ'd that he chose such a calamity as would not spare the Prince any more than the people For no antidotes or preservatives could secure him against the sword of the Angel whereas in war he might have got into some strong fort and in famine might have stored up provision for himself and so have escaped but what fence is there against the destroying Angel but only the protection of the Almighty David therefore having chosen that judgment the Lord sent a Pestilence from the morning of that day that Gad came first to him until the evening of the third day after and there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand And thus was David punished in the very way wherein he had sinned His heart was proud and lifted up because of the number of his people and now their number is sadly diminished by this sore judgment The Angel went still on destroying and at last stretched out his hand over Jerusalem and as he
Solomons posterity did ever sit in the Throne of David after Zedekiah was carried captive into Babylon nor ever had the supream power of Government after that Now my Son the Lord be with thee and prosper thee that thou maist build the house of the Lord thy God as he hath said thou shalt do And the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding and give thee charge concerning Israel that is give thee Divine direction and counsel to instruct and direct all thy people that thou maist keep the Law of the Lord thy self and teach others to keep it viz. the statutes and judgments which the Lord first revealed to Moses with a charge that he should reveal them to the people Be strong therefore and of good courage dread not nor be dismayed at the difficulties thou maist meet with I have my self met with many troubles and great molestations in my government from enemies abroad and insurrections at home and yet I have so set my heart on building this house for the service of God that I have even in my troubles gathered a great treasure together for this work viz. an hundred thousand talents of Gold and a thousand thousand talents of silver and brass and iron without weight and abundance of timber and stone to all which thou thy self maist add if there be occasion Moreover I have provided for thee all manner of workmen and cunning artificers for every manner of work appertaining thereunto Arise therefore and be doing and the Lord be with thee 1 Chron. 22. from v. 6 to 17. SECT CCXI. DAvid then assembles to Jerusalem all the Princes and Rulers of the Tribes all the Captains and Commanders of the Army together with his own Sons and his servants and Officers and in this general Assembly of Princes and people standing upon his feet though possibly supported by some of his servants he made his last and farewell speech and exhortation unto them He begins Give ear unto me my brethren and my people it was very much in my heart to build an house for the Ark the footstool (b) The Lord being represented as sitting between the Cherubims the body of the Ark was as it were his Footstool See Psal 99.5 132.7 of God and I made considerable preparations in order thereunto But God said to me by Nathan the Prophet Thou shalt not build an house for me because thou hast been a man of a war The Lord may chuse and employ whom he pleases in any service he has to do none can justly say to him why dost thou so Among our twelve Tribes he chose the Tribe of Judah who was the fourth Son of Jacob Gen. 29.35 that out of it a King (c) See Gen. 49.8 10. should be taken to rule over his people In the Tribe of Judah he chose the house of Jesse my Father which was none of the greatest families of the Tribe 1 King 12.16 and of that family he chose me the youngest of eight Sons 1 Sam. 16.11 to be King over Israel for ever that is as long as I lived And now of all my Sons he hath chosen Solomon who has six brothers elder than himself see 1 Chron. 3.4 5. * There 19 Sons of David are reckoned up to sit upon the Throne of this Kingdom after me which in a peculiar manner belongs unto him And he hath promised to be a Father to this my Son Solomon and to establish his Kingdom for ever that is for a long time if he be careful to keep his commandments and statutes as he does at this day Now in the presence of this great congregation the representative body of Israel who are the Lords peculiar people and in the audience of God himself who heareth this charge that I give you I solemnly exhort you all to keep the commandments of the Lord your God which are made known to you and if you be ignorant in any thing that belongs to your duty seek to be instructed in it that you may quietly possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you from generation to generation Having ended his Exhortation to the Princes and people he now turns his speech to Solomon saying And thou Solomon my Son know thou the God of thy Father and serve him with an upright heart and with a willing mind for the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations and workings of the thoughts If thou seek him he will be found of thee but if thou forsake him by a total and final apostasie he will renounce thee and cast thee off for ever Take heed therefore to thy self and to thy ways and seeing the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for his name which is to be to him for a Sanctuary wherein his Ark is to rest be thou strong and couragious and see that thou frame it according to this pattern that here I now give thee Behold this is the pattern of the whole building as it was revealed to me by the Spirit of God this is the model of the Porch and the distinct parts of the Temple and of the place of the Mercy-seat as also of the Chambers Treasuries inward Parlours and Courts and here I give thee also the order and courses of the Priests and Levites and what work and service they are to perform in the house of the Lord. I give thee also a pattern of all the sacred utensils and vessels that are to be made for the service of the Temple As for the vessels that are to be made of Gold I have weighed out so much Gold as will be sufficient to make them and as for the vessels of silver I have also appointed a sufficient quantity of silver I have appointed gold for the Candlesticks (a) There was but one Golden Candlestick in the Tabernacle but there were to be ten in the Temple and Tables of shew-bread and for the bowls cups and basons and for the Altar of Incense and for the chariot (b) That is of the two great Cherubims to be made of Olive-wood and covered over with plates of gold which were to overshadow the Ark. See 1 King 6.23 They are called here the chaâ—iot of the Cherubims because the Angels are called the Lords Chariots Psal 68.17 Insedit Cherubimis Deus 1 Sam 4.4 of the Cherubims that are to spread out their wings and cover the Ark all this the Lord made me to understand through his good hand upon me and gave me this pattern in writing by his Prophet Nathan Therefore be thou strong and of good courage fear not nor be dismayed for the Lord God even my God will be with thee he will not fail thee nor forsake thee but carry thee on till thou hast finished all things belonging to the Temple and the service thereof And the Priests and Levites in their several courses will assist thee in what belongs to them and thou wilt have many skilful artificers that
will readily assist thee about things of Gold Silver Brass Wood or any other materials And I doubt not but the Princes and all the people will be wholly at thy command Then David turned his speech again to the whole Assembly and said to them Solomon my Son whom God alone hath chosen to succeed me is yet young and tender the work that he is to do is great For this Palace or Royal Temple that he is to build is not to be built for man but for the Lord God and therefore must be most magnificent As for my self I have provided with all my might and to the uttermost of my power for the building of it and the finishing of all things appertaining to it And I declare before you all not out of pride or ostentation but to stir you up to follow my example that I have provided gold and silver and brass and iron and timber and marble stones in abundance for this great work yea I have provided all manner of precious stones as Onix-stones and glittering stones of divers colours Yea I have so set my heart on the building of this house for God that I have of my own proper goods which I had gathered for my self * David got very rich spoils in the many wars he was engaged in and the wealthy enemies he conquered after I had consecrated to God his part which was the greatest given three thousand talents of Gold viz. of the Gold of Ophir seven thousand talents of refined silver The gold is for to overlay in thin plates the walls of the Temple and the silver to overlay the walls of some particular rooms in the houses and buildings adjoining And now let me exhort you all to follow my example and to assist my Son with heart and hand with your counsel and with your purses in this great work And truly you have great reason to do it Is not the Lord your God among you to bless you Hath he not given you rest on every side Hath he not given the people the inhabitants of the land into my hand so that they peaceably submit to my government Is not the land subdued before the Lord and before his people so that being freed from their enemies they may quietly enjoy their possessions Therefore set your hearts to seek the Lord your God and faithfully to serve him Arise and build the Sanctuary of the Lord your God and bring the Ark and the holy vessels of God into it And now let me see who among you is willing to fill his hand with gifts this day and freely to offer them to the Lord for the building of this house Upon this motion of the Kings the Princes Rulers and Captains and all sorts offered very willingly and liberally for the service of the house and 't is like subscribed what they intended to give and that which they gave amounted to five thousand talents of Gold and ten thousand drams and ten thousand talents of silver and eighteen thousand talents of brass and one hundred thousand talents of iron And they that had precious stones gave them to the Treasure of the house of the Lord for this sacred use And there was great joy among all the people because of the great willingness and forwardness that was in all sorts to contribut to this work And David also rejoiced exceedingly at it and was much pleased with their large free and willing contribution Whereupon he brake out into an holy and zealous praising of the Lord for it and said Blessed be thou Lord God of Israel our Father for ever and ever To thee O Lord belongs greatness power glory majesty and victory For all that is in heaven or in the earth is thine Thine is the Kingdom O Lord and we do willingly exalt thee and acknowledg thee to be head above all and higher than all Both riches and honour come from thee and thou reignest over all and in thine hand is power and might In thine hand it is to make great and to give strength to all to whom thou pleasest Now therefore O Lord we exalt and praise thy name for thy glorious excellencies and thy benefits conferred on us But who am I and what is my people that we should have hearts and abilities to offer so freely and so largely as we have done And yet we have no manner of cause to boast or glory For all things come of thee and of thine own have we given thee We do acknowledg that we are not proprietors of the goods that we possess but only thy stewards The land we dwell in is thine we are but strangers before thee and sojourners as all our fathers were And our days on the earth are as a shadow and there is no abiding for us here and therefore seeing we are to continue but a short time in this life and have but a short enjoyment of the things of this world how can we better dispose of them than for thy service who art able to give us in exchange for them an eternal inheritance in thy Kingdom O Lord we do willingly acknowledg that all this great store we have provided for the building of an house for thy holy name was given us by thy free bounty and is all thine own and therefore we present unto thee only what thou thy self didst first give us I know O Lord thou triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness As for my self in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things and now to my great joy and comfort I have also seen this people here present to offer willingly unto thee O Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob our Fathers I pray thee keep and preserve this holy zeal in the minds and hearts of this people and establish their hearts and make them ever firm to thy self And give unto Solomon my Son an upright heart to keep thy commandments testimonies and statutes and to do all things required of him and enable him to build and finish this stately Palace for thy name for which I have made so great provision David having ended his prayer he call'd to the whole Congregation to bless the Lord which accordingly they did with loud acclamations and bowed down their heads and worshipped the Lord with divine honour and adoration which being done they bowed themselves to the King and paid him civil honour and respect and so departed The next day they sacrificed Sacrifices and offered Burnt-offerings unto the Lord namely a thousand bullocks a thousand rams and a thousand lambs with the drink-offerings appertaining to them which they offered in the name of all the people and in such abundance that all the Israelites there present might eat of the Peace-offerings that were then offered And they did eat and drink before the Lord that day with great gladness of heart and anointed Solomon a second time King his first anointing having been done on the sudden and almost in a tumultuary
from their Idolatries to serve the true and living God And hereunto the Psalmist seems to allude Psal 45.10 Hearken O daughter and consider incline thine ear Forget thine own people and thy fathers-house 1 King Ch. 3. v. 1. SECT CCXVII SOlomon was now quietly setled and strengthened in his Kingdom and the Lord was with him and magnified him exceedingly and he loved the Lord and walked in the ways and statutes wherein David his Father walked It seems the people after the Ark and Tabernacle were separated did not think themselves bound to bring their Sacrifices to the Altar at the Tabernacle but did offer them in such places as they thought meetest for such services to wit upon high hills and mountains Indeed the high places of the heathen-Idolaters were always abominable to the Lord and those God commanded the Israelites to destroy and pull down Numb 33.52 But there other high places it seems were thought at this time lawful (a) See 1 Sam. 9.12 c. and Ch. 10.5 13. and accordingly resorted unto but when the Temple was built then all other high places for Gods solemn and prescribed worship and service were counted abominable (b) And in this sin the Ten Tribes lived they made Priests of high places in the mountains and in all the Cities of Samaria and their Altars were as heaps in the furrows of the fields 1 King 13.32 Hos 12.11 Yea Solomon himself in his latter days fearfully offended in permitting this kind of Idolatry 1 King 11.7 8. And Judah it self fell into this sin in Rehoboams reign 1 King 14.23 and in aftertimes they built high-places to Baal and to the Idols of the neighbouring Nations 2 Chron. 25.14 And especially in the reigns of Ahaz Joram and Manasseh It seems Solomon and the people did offer sacrifice and burn incense on such high places as these before mentioned that were devoted to the service of the true God and Gibeon it self where the Tabernacle and Altar now were was accounted the great high place the most famous and most resorted unto Solomon therefore now gathering together the Princes and Rulers and Judges of the land and the chief Captains and Commanders of the people with them he went up to Gibeon there in solemn manner to praise the Lord for his great mercy to him in thus peaceably setling him in the Throne And there on the Brasen Altar made by Moses which he and the great Congregation now with him chose to worship God at rather than any other Altar he offered a thousand burnt-offerings to the Lord in the time he stayed there And in that night after they had made an end of offering those burnt-offerings God appeared to him in a dream Among the manifold ways whereby God of old made known his mind to his people dreams was one And in dreams sometimes men heard a voice and apprehending the sense thereof returned an answer thereunto and the things God so made known unto them were true and certain and his servants to whom he made them known were assured thereof God therefore in such a dream appearing to Solomon and asking him what he should give him He answered O Lord thou hast shewed to David my Father great mercy according as he walked before thee in truth and righteousness (c) All these must be understood of Davids inward disposition outward conversation as to the general course of his life his frailties and failings still excepted and uprightness of heart and hast reserved for him this great kindness to set his Son upon his Throne after him as it is this day which is a favour thou didst not vouchsafe to Saul And now O Lord thou having graciously made me King instead of my Father I am sensible that I am as it were but a little child and unfit to sway so great a scepter as this is how shall I be able to go out or come in before this great people How shall I be able to lead them or govern them without thine especial direction and assistance I am indeed set up as supream Governour under thee of this vast multitude which thou hast chosen for thy peculiar people and hast so increased them that they are almost innumerable according to thy gracious promise Gen. 15.5 Give therefore thy servant I pray thee an understanding heart that I may rightly discern between good and evil for who is able rightly to judg and govern this great people without wisdom given him from thy self Solomon having thus prayed the Lord was well pleased with the request he had made and said to him Because thou hast not asked for thy self long life nor riches nor victory over thine enemies but hast asked an understanding heart that thou maist rightly govern this people and in hearing causes maist know what judgment to give behold thy request is granted I will give thee a wise and an understanding heart and such a measure of wisdom and knowledg as no King before thee ever attained unto neither shall any after thee be like (a) Some Heathen Monarchs that possibly exceeded Solomon in riches came far short of him in wisdom unto thee see Chap. 4.29 30 31. Moreover I will give thee that which thou didst not ask viz riches and honour so that there shall not be any of the Kings of Israel like unto thee either for riches or glory see 2 Chron. 1.12 And if thou wilt walk in my ways and keep my statutes as thy Father David did I will lengthen out thy days also Then Solomon awoke and perceived that God had indeed appeared to him in this wonderful dream and he returned to Jerusalem with his Nobles and there before the Ark of the Covenant offered up many Burnt-offerings Peace-offerings in way of thankfulness to the Lord for this great and extraordinary kindness manifested to him and he made a great Feast for his Nobles and Officers and the Rulers of the people that were there gathered together 1 King Ch. 3. from v. 2 to 16. 2 Chron. Ch. 1. from v. 1 to 13. SECT CCXVIII SOlomon being now come to Jerusalem a very difficult case was brought before him in the deciding of which he gave a great evidence of that extraordinary wisdom the Lord had furnisht him with There came to him two women that were as it seems Victuallers by profession but secretly Harlots and one of them said to him O my Lord the King this woman and I dwell together in the same house and I was delivered of a child she being present at my Labour and three days after she was delivered of a child also and both our children were boys and we were all alone in the house there was no stranger with us And thus O King it happened as I verily believe and am confident this woman over-laying her own child in the night and awaking and finding it dead by her and being afraid of the disgrace that was like to fall upon her for her carelesness about her child
receiving it see Mark 7.11 Having spoken of the Ornaments of the Temple it will not be amiss to speak something also of the Temple-Officers The Temple-Officers were Priests Levites Nethinims The Priests were distinguished into Chief Priests Inferiour Priests of the twenty four Courses 1. The chief Priests were two the High Priest and his second The High Priest was by Gods appointment that person who was the right heir in Aaron's line or the Eldest that descended in a direct line from his loyns One great part of his office was upon the day of expiation to perform the solemn rights of that service in entring into the Holy of Holies with blood and to perfume the Oracle Exod. 30.10 Levit. 16.34 Heb. 9.7 2. The second Priest was the most eminent among the rest who in case of the sickness or pollution of the High Priest or any other emergency did supply his place (a) So Annas and Caiphas are called the High Priests Luk. 3.2 not that there were two in that great office at once but the one was a substitute to the other 2 King 25.18 3. The ordinary Priests were such as sprang from the loyns of Aaron and were in a Collateral line of kindred allied to the High Priest they were all Levites as descending from Levi the great Grandfather of Aaron But the Priests were separated from the rest of the Levites for the more immediate service of God and the term Levite is restrained to all others of the posterity of Levi besides the line of Aaron These Priests for the more easie carrying on of Temple-service were divided into twenty four Courses by lot as we have shewed before each Course ministred to the Lord for eight days together viz. from Sabbath to Sabbath The work of the Priests was 1. The Government of the Sanctuary and house of God 1 Chron. 24.5 2. Sacrificing with all its rites on the Altar of Burnt-offering 1 Chron. 6.49 2 Chron. 29.22 3. They set the new prepared shew-bread on the Golden Tables within the Sanctuary every Sabbath and removed the old 4. They ordered the lamps of the Golden Candlesticks 5. They kindled the daily incense to make a sweet perfume in the Temple 6. They were the Judges of Leprosie and jealousie betwixt man and wife Levit. 13.2 3. 7. They blew the Trumpets to the Solemn feasts also before the Ark at its removals and were also to accompany the Captains of the host in war with their silver Trumpets Joel 2.15 2 Chron. 13.12 1 Chron. 15.24 Chap. 16.6 Numb 10.8 Chap. 31.6 8. They were to look to the burning of wood continually upon the brazen Altar that the fire that descended from Heaven might not be extinguished Levit. 6.12 13. 9. They were to make the holy ointment with the appointed spices Exod. 30.22 1 Chron. 9.30 10. They were to instruct the people in the Law of God Mal. 2.7 2. Of the Levites The Levites strictly taken were all such as came from the root of Levi excepting the children of Aaron they were divided into four ranks and accordingly appointed to four sorts of work 1. Some of them were appointed to wait on the Sons of Aaron in the Courts of the Temple and in the Chambers and in the purifying of all the holy things belonging to the service of the house of God 1 Chron. 23. from 28 to the end They were at first to enter upon their office at the age of thirty years but after the days of David at twenty because then they did not carry the Tabernacle nor the vessels thereof 1 Chron. 23. from 24 to 28. Their number in the latter end of David's reign was computed at thirty eight thousand whereof twenty four thousand were appointed for the work and service of the house of God six thousand to be Officers and Judges four thousand to be Porters and four thousand to be Singers and players on Instruments 1 Chron. 23.3 4 5. 2 Chron. 8.14 1 Chron. 16.4 So that out of the Levites were taken their Judges Lawyers Scribes Recorders Genealogists and the greatest dignities and offices excepting only the Royal dignity of the Tribe of Judah were enjoyed by those of this Tribe They were the only persons that preferred learning and knowledg the Schools of the Prophets being under their Institution 3. Of the Nethinims These were the most inferiour sort of persons that were imployed in any Temple-service being the race of the Gibeonites Josh 9.17 and called Nethinims because they were given and delivered over to that service Some think that David a little before his death did dispose them into their set courses as he did other Officers of the Temple see Ezra 8.20 but of this we shall not determine Concerning the Priests garments their solemn times of worship their various Sacrifices and Offerings with their appendant rites and the revenues and profits assigned to the Priests and Levites we have spoken before when we went over Exodus Leviticus and Numbers and shall not need here to repeat them SECT II. IN the 11th year of Solomon 's reign the building of the Temple was finished with all things belonging thereunto having been seven years and an half in finishing 1 King 6.38 2 Chron. 3.2 but the Dedication thereof was put off till the next year because of the Jubilee And in the seventh month (a) The whole Edifice and most material things were now finished but possibly they were perfecting some things till the 8th month 1 King 6.38 of that year call'd Ethanim and the seventh day of that month was the first day whereon Solomon celebrated with great magnificence the Dedication of this glorious Temple so that from the seventh day to the fifteenth the tenth day which was the great fast and day of expiation being excepted * On which the Jubilee was to be proclaim'd with sound of Trumpet Levit. 25.9 was this feast of Dedication celebrated and from the 15th to the 23. was the Feast of Tabernacles and the 23d was the last day of this feast and always very solemnly kept and the day following the people were dismissed Having thus described the parts of the Temple and the Ornaments and Officers thereof we shall now return to speak of the great and magnificent solemnity of this Dedication which was on this wise 1. Solomon assembled the Elders and Heads of all the Tribes and a mighty Congregation of all the Nation to meet at Jerusalem on this solemn occasion 2. By the Ministry of the Priests and by such rites as were appointed by the Law he hallowed the middle of the Priests Court wherein either they did erect other Altars or made use of the pavement for that present occasion because the brazen Altar was too little to receive so many Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings as he intended then to offer 1 King 8.64 2 Chron. 7.7 3. The Princes and Elders of the people being now assembled waited upon the King to Mount Sion where the Ark was and whither as 't
and upon this thy people and let thine ears be attentive unto the supplications we shall make unto thee and hearken to us in all that we shall pray unto thee for according to thy will For thou didst separate us unto thy self from among all the Nations of the earth to be thy peculiar people and inheritance as thou spakest by thy servant Moses Solomon having ended this his devout prayer rose up from his knees and standing with his face toward the Temple he repeated part of the 132 Psalm saying Arise O Lord and take possession of this house which I have built for thee as a resting place and fixt habitation and not an ambulatory and moving one as the Tabernacle was And let thy Ark whereon thou dost manifest thy glory (e) Psal 78.61 He delivereth his strength into captivity and his glory into the enemies hands strength and power for the good of thy people be here setled and constantly abide Let thy Priests O Lord God be clothed and adorned with such graces as may bring salvation to themselves (f) Psal 132.9 This clause is thus expressed Let thy Priests be clothed with righteousness and may enable them to be instrumental in the saving of others and let thy Saints rejoice in thy goodness and favour manifested unto them O Lord God hear me I pray thee and turn not away the face of thine anointed with shame and confusion by denying me my request but remember the promises thy mercy moved thee to make to David my Father and to his posterity Solomon having ended his prayers the Sacrifices were brought in and laid upon the Altar and immediately fire came down from Heaven and consumed them and the glory of the Lord probably covered with a cloud filled the house and such an orient splendour shone through it that the Priests could by no means enter into the Temple The people seeing the fire came down from Heaven and the glory of the Lord upon the house they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground and worshipped and praised God and sang as 't is probable the 136 Psalm as the Singers had done before the burthen or foot whereof was For he is good for his mercy endureth for ever Then Solomon turned his face and blessed all the Congregation of Israel again as he had done at the beginning and said Blessed be the Lord God who hath given rest to his people Israel as he promised of old And indeed he hath not failed of performing any of his gracious promises which he made to his people by the ministry of his servant Moses Now therefore the Lord our God be with us as he was with our Fathers and let him not leave us nor forsake us but let him incline our hearts to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments * Viz. The Moral Ceremonial and Judicial Laws statutes and judgments which he commanded our Fathers And let my words wherewith I have made supplication to the Lord this day be in his mind and memory continually that he may maintain the cause of me his servant and the cause of his people Israel at all times as the matter shall require and as it shall appear just and equal to him that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord he is the only true God from whom all blessings come and that there is no other God besides him Let your heart therefore be upright and sincere before the Lord and walk in his statutes and keep his commandments as now you do Then the King the Princes and people offered abundance of Peace-offerings (a) They were call'd Peace-offerings because God having bestowed some benefit upon them seemed to be appeased towards them and they were offered as a kind of retribution and to return thanks to God for it And in offering the same they also testified their hope that God was reconciled towards them to the Lord and kept this feast of Dedication seven days During which time they offered unto the Lord two and twenty thousand oxen and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep By a multitude of Sacrifices the pious Jews were wont to testifie their zealous and grateful affection towards God and we never read of any Sacrifice like this And thus Solomon the Princes and people by their joint prayers praises and sacrifices dedicated the house of God and set it apart for his worship and service And they rejoiced before the Lord seven days and seven that is they kept the first seven days as the Feast of Dedication and the next seven as the Feast of Tabernacles And the day after Solomon dismissed the people to their own homes and they blessed the King and prayed unto the Lord for him and went home with joyful and glad hearts rejoicing in the goodness which the Lord had manifested to the house of David and to Solomon and to all the people of Israel 1 King Ch. 8. whole Chapter 1 Chron. Ch. 5. whole Chapter 1 Chron. Ch. 6. whole Chapter 2 Chron. Ch. 7. from v. 1 to 11. SECT III. SHortly after * Some read 1 King 9.1 And it came to pass when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord and afterwards finished the Kings house and all his desire which he was pleased to do that the Lord appeared to him the second time c. Solomon had made that devout prayer before mentioned the Lord as it seems appeared to him in a dream (b) Ch. 6.11 We read that the word of the Lord came to Solomon but that was by some messenger or Prophet sent unto him but this was the second time that the Lord appeared to him in a Vision as he had done before at Gibeon 1 King 3.4 5. and the Lord said I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication which thou hast made before me and I have hallowed this house and set it apart to those holy uses which thou didst intend it for and it shall be called by my name as long as it shall last and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually I will always be ready to take notice of the prayers there made and the services there performed and will graciously accept them And if I shall shut up heaven at any time so that there be no rain or send the locusts or pestilence among my people that are called by my name if they shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear in heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land And if thou wilt walk before me in integrity and uprightness as thy Father David did and keep my statutes and judgments then I will establish the Throne of thy Kingdom for ever that is thou and thy posterity shall continue time after time to be Kings over Israel so as no other stock but thine shall sit on that Throne so long as the Kingdom of Judah shall remain as I
wives yea furthered it by suffering them to build Temples for their Idols and thus his Idolatrous wives turned his heart from the Commandments of God which enjoin'd him to root out Idolatry but it seems his carnal love to them devouring his zeal for God he was so far from rooting it out that he permitted it and thereupon is said to have followed * Dicitur sequutus Deos alienos quod eorum cultum non repulcrit Debuit quatenus vir ab Idololatria uxores reprimere quatenus vero Rex ditionem suam in vero Dei cultu retinere Horum neutrum praestitit sed uxorum blanditiis dilinitus Templa Fana extruxit impensas ad Sacrificia Sacerdotes suppeditavit after Ashtaroth (e) See Judg. 2.13 the Goddess of the Zidonians and Milcom (f) Levit. 18.21 or Molech the Abomination of the Ammonites namely because he connived at the worship of these Idols And to the great aggravation of his guilt he permitted (g) V. 7. Aedificavit scil permisit ut uxores aedificarent Non increpavit eas a Temple or an Image or both to be built for Chemosh (h) Numb 21.29 the Abomination of Moab and for Molech on Mount Olivet (i) And there it seems they continued till Josiahs days 2 King 23.13 nigh unto Jerusalem even in the very face and as it were to affront the Temple of the living God And though at first possibly he granted this favour but only to two or three of his Idolatrous wives yet the rest by degrees so far wrought upon him that he was fain to gratifie all of them that sought to him for it and undoubtedly many of the people were hereby ensnar'd And thus he shewed that his heart was not so upright with God as his Father Davids was For though David was guilty of many gross sins yet he never yielded to any Idolatry but kept the worship and service of God pure all his days And a great aggravation of Solomon's guilt it was that he turned from observing the Commandments of the Lord who had in so extraordinary a manner twice appeared to him viz. once at Gibeon Ch. 3.5 and a second time at Jerusalem Ch. 9.2 and had commanded him particularly to take heed of this thing namely not to go after other Gods The Lord therefore had just cause to be angry with him for this and accordingly he sent Ahiah the Shilonite or some other Prophet to him to speak to him after this manner Thus saith the Lord Forasmuch as thou hast done this and hast not kept my Covenant (a) A Covenant when applied to God signifies a Law appointed or enjoyned to be kept and that with promise of reward to them that keep it and of penalty to such as transgress it Deut. 29.9 25. and my statutes which I commanded thee I will surely rend the greatest part of thy Kingdom from thee and will give it to thy servant But I will not do it in thy days because of my promise to David thy Father 2 Sam. 7. from v. 12 to 16. but I will rend it out of the hand of thy Son and so thou shalt be punished (b) Monentur hinc Parentes ut sancte vivant ne filiis poenas intempestive attrahant in him Yet I will not rend away the whole Kingdom from him but will give him one (c) He speaks here of one of the Tribes that belonged to the Kingdom of Israel considered as separate from the Kingdom of Judah which in regard of its eminency was reckoned apart from the rest of the Tribes See 1 Sam. 11.8 So much also of Simeon as lay within Judah was comprised under Judah See Josh 19. from 1 to 9. of the Tribes of Israel viz. Benjamin besides the Tribe of Judah See 2 Chron. 11.12 And this I will do for David my servants sake and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen for the place of my publick worship and the seat of the Kings from whom the Messiah who I have promised is to come 1 King 11. from v. 1 to 14. SECT XVI SOlomon as 't is conceived was so terrified with this threatning that he repented of his sin and as an evidence of his repentance wrote his Book call'd Ecclesiastes in which he publisheth to the world his remorse for his former sins and follies and the vanities to which he had been too intemperately addicted * Ecclesiastes or the Preaching Soul truly penitent gathering it self to the Church and by wholsome admonitions gathering others also that were going astray after vanity In this Book he reflects upon the honours pleasures and wealth he had so abundantly enjoyed the errors and miscarriages he had fallen into the observations he had made of things Natural Moral Domestical Civil Sensual and Divine and the curious enquiry he had made after true happiness And in the first six Chapters he shews wherein it doth not consist and in the six last wherein it doth And first he shews it doth not consist in knowledg either Natural or Moral 2. Not in pleasures or sensual delights 3. Not in honour greatness and power which is so far from making men happy that without the fear of God to correct and temper it it is ordinarily the occasion of much wickedness in them that have it and of much misery to others 4. Not in an outward formal religiousness 5. Not in riches and great possessions which are often snares and occasions of much hurt to the possessours who must leave them and many times they know not to whom Then he shews wherein mans happiness doth consist 1. In contentation of mind and the free and regular and joyful fruition of Gods blessings and the comforts he gives us with humility moderation and thankfulness 2. In a quiet and humble acquiescence in the will of God 3. In sincerity of heart in the worship of God and in a due care that we offend not in vows prayers and addresses unto him 4. In patience of spirit under all oppressions 5. In a composed preparedness of mind to undergo afflictions 6. In a pious and prudent behaviour towards all men that so we may preserve our names from calumny and our persons from danger 7. In meekness charity and patience towards such as offend us considering humane frailty 8. In a due deportment of our selves towards our Superiours that our lives may not be made uncomfortable to us by their dispeasure 9. In a practical prudence or wisdom rightly to judg and discern of times wherein things are to be done 10. In submission to the holy and invincible Providence of God admiring his works and adoring his judgments 11. In a conscionable industriousness in our particular Callings And lastly he concludes that in old age elegantly described by him and at death it will appear that to fear the Lord and keep his commandments is both the duty and the happiness of man and the chief thing wherein it consists And so
marrying a wife from thence did soon set up his wifes Idolatry in the land and the worship of the true God was in a manner neglected and disregarded and the Prophets and servants of God that would not bow to Baal were persecuted see Ch. 19.10 yet there were never more Prophets sent to them than at this time we see Ch. 18.13 that Obadiah had hid an hundred of them in caves nor never more eminent ones than now And of all the Prophets that God raised up in the Kingdom of Israel we find not any of whom so strange things are recorded both for courage and miracles as there are of Elijah And therefore at the Transfiguration of Christ Mat. 17. Elijah as chief of the Prophets appeared together with Moses talking with Christ to signifie that both Moses and the Prophets had in their several seasons given testimony of him This Prophet Elijah was at this time sent to the Israelites a man of transcendent courage and zeal as being fitted for those corrupt times whence 't is said of the Baptist who in his Ministry was very zealous and fervent Luk. 1.17 that he should go before our Saviour in the spirit and power of Elias Ahab and Jezebel were very zealous to promote Idolatry and now God raises up a Prophet as zealous to oppose it and to defend Gods own worship Elijah seeing how things went in the Kingdom of Israel and being exceedingly moved with the horrible wickedness of Ahab and Jezabel and particularly perhaps with the contempt and scorn they cast upon Gods Prophets did it seems by the instinct of Gods Spirit pray that the Lord would shut up the heavens for some years and not suffer it to rain till he sought unto him for it that so the wrath of God against the iniquity of that time might be discovered and the precious account he makes of his Prophets might be manifested And being by the same Spirit of God assured that his prayer was heard he came to Ahab and threatned him beforehand that he might see it was of God with an approaching drought for three years and an half and a great famine that should ensue thereupon As the Lord God of Israel liveth saith he whom I continually serve and in whose presence I now stand and who is a witness of the truth of what I say there shall not be dew or rain these ensuing years but according to my words and as I have declared to thee from God And according as he threatned so it came to pass For during the space of three years and six months it rained not See Jam. 5.17 * See Luk. 4.25 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months The drought now beginning and Ahab seeing there was no rain for some time together as Elijah had threatned he was greatly enraged against him and being also stirred up as 't is probable by Jezabel his wife he sent presently out to take him that he might be revenged on him See Ch. 18.10 but the Lord foreseeing what would happen gave his Prophet warning of it and appointed him to withdraw and hide himself by the brook Cherith in Manasseh beyond Jordan that is in some solitary place or cave near the brook where he should be fed by Ravens with bread and flesh morning and evening and should drink of the brook Elijah did as the Lord commanded him and was accordingly fed by Ravens who being a very greedy and ravenous kind of bird so that they often neglect the feeding of their young ones to feed themselves it was the more miraculous that God should make them Caterers for Elijah and in such an orderly manner to bring him his provision morning and evening he directing them where they should have it possibly out of some rich mans pantry or storehouse Thus we see by what unlikely means God can provide for his servants when they are in their straits After some time possibly about six Months the brook quite dried up thus the Lord was pleased again to try the faith of his servant Elijah Then the Lord commands him to go to a widow of Sarepta in the Country of Sidon telling him that he would command her that is dispose her heart to entertain him Accordingly he went thither and when he came to the Gate of the City he found a widow-woman gathering sticks he desired her to fetch him a little water She going for it he desired her to bring him also a morsel of bread She knowing him by his habit to be a Prophet of the Lord she said to him As the Lord thy God liveth I have not a cake to give thee I have but an handful of meal in a barrel and a little oyl in a cruse and behold I am gathering two or three sticks that I may go and dress it for my self and my son that we may eat it and so die Hereby its manifest that the drought * There is not the least intimation of any want of rain that was in the land of Judah at this time and yet Elijah is sent to a stranger rather than to the widows of Israel or Judah such an one being very unlikely to relieve him especially the famine being there as well as in Israel but herein was shaddowed forth Gods further mercy intended to the Gentiles when the Jews should be rejected whence that of our Saviour Luk. 4.25 26. and famine was in the Country of Tyre and Sidon as well as among the Israelites and indeed it being sent among the Israelites for the Idolatry of Baal which Jezabel the daughter of the King of the Sidonians had brought in among them no marvel if the Sidonians were involv'd in the same judgment Elijah bids the woman not to fear but to do as she intended but only to make for him a little cake first for saith he thus saith the Lord God of Israel The barrel of meal which thou hast shall not wast nor the cruse of oyl fail until the day that the Lord sendeth rain on the earth The woman did as Elijah enjoined her and she and her house did eat thereof many days viz. for about three years neither the meal nor oyl failing but being miraculously supplied and renewed This recompence had this poor widow for entertaining the Lords Prophet she for giving unto him one meal hath many meals from him and by his procurement But great blessings are oftentimes mixed with some imbittering afflictions For some time after the Prophet had been with her the womans Son fell sick and died Upon this she comes to the Prophet and crys out What have I done to thee thou man of God wherein have I offended thee art thou come to bring my sins to remembrance †When God punisheth any for their sins whom for a while he did forbear he is said in the Scripture to remember
be God follow him The people answered nothing being afraid to offend the King Then Elijah said Behold there is not a Prophet of the Lords that doth openly appear for the true God and his worship besides my self But here are four hundred and fifty of Baals Prophets that are for Idolatry let them therefore give us two bullocks and let them choose which they will for themselves and let them cut it in pieces and lay it on wood and put no fire under and I will dress the other bullock and lay it on wood and put no fire under and let them call on their gods and I will call on the name of the Lord and the God that answereth by fire and consumeth the Sacrifice let him be acknowledged for the true God The people cried out it was well spoken they were willing to put it upon that trial Then Baals Priests took the bullock that was given them and dressed it and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon and said O Baal hear us But there was no voice nor any that answered Then they danced and skipped about the Altar they had made in a frantick manner as was usual in the worship of Baal And at noon when the time limited for their sacrifice was almost ended Elijah mocked them and bad them cry aloud for possibly their god Baal was at this time talking or pursuing his enemies or in a journey or perhaps he was asleep and must be rouzed up with very loud calling Baals Priests it is like were vext at these sharp taunts of the Prophet however they cried aloud and cut themselves with knives and lances till the blood gushed out as the heathens used to do in their great sorrows See Deut. 14.1 the more to move their God to have compassion on them and not to be wanting at this time to his own honour as well as theirs But no answer could they get notwithstanding they went on praying and calling upon Baal and with many strange gestures as men inspired sang the praises of their Idol-god labouring by all means possible to prevail with him to send fire to consume their Sacrifice but all in vain There was none that answered or regarded them Then Elijah called the people to come near and mount Carmel having been one of the high places whereon they us'd to sacrifice in former times unto the Lord there were still the ruins of an old Altar which the Idolatrous Israelites had broken down see Ch. 19.14 and this the Prophet did now repair thereby intimating to them that his design was to restore and set up the worship of the true God in the land Then he took twelve stones according to the number of the twelve Tribes and with them he built an Altar in the name of the Lord to intimate to them that they ought all to be united in the worship of the God of their fathers or else it would be in vain for them to reckon themselves the Israel of God And he made a Trench about the Altar as great as would contain two measures of seed and he put the wood in order ahd cut the bullock in pieces and laid it on the wood and bad them fill four barrels with water out of the Sea that was near and pour it on the Sacrifice and on the wood He bad them do it three times which they accordingly did and the water ran about the Altar and filled the Trench so that it was evident that there was no fraud used to hide any fire secretly under the wood Then at the time of offering the Evening-sacrifice Elijah came and prayed saying Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob * To these three Patriarchs God made and ratified his promises of the good things which he did for Israel and God took this stile to himself Exod. 3.6 to move the Israelites that came from those Patriarchs to take him for their God and oft to call to mind his promises let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel and that I am thy servant and that I have done all these things at thy word and by thy command and direction Hear me O Lord I pray thee hear me that this people may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou hast appointed these things to be done to the end that their hearts may be turned from their Idols unto thee Immediately the fire of the Lord fell from heaven and consumed the Burnt-sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the Trench And when the people saw it they fell on their faces and cried out the Lord he is the God the Lord he is the God Elijah seeing them so wonderfully affected with this miracle and so clearly convinced of the juglings and deceits of Baals Priests He bad them presently apprehend those Prophets of Baal and to let none of them escape and to bring them down to the brook Kishon at the foot of Carmel and there to slay them The people being at this present under a great dread of the Majesty of God who by this miracle had testified so loudly against their Idolatry they without any fear of the King were ready to do whatever Elijah advised them unto and accordingly they took those Priests and carried them down to the brook Kishon that the place where Elijah had sacrific'd unto the Lord might not be defiled with their blood and slew them there according to the Law Deut. 13.5 18.20 The King as it seems thought it not adviseable to set himself against the torrent of the people's zeal at this time or possibly he tacitely consented to it upon hope that rain would presently be given thereupon These Prophets of Baal that were slain at this time seem to have been those that were dispersed up and down in the Villages and Towns and not the Prophets of the Groves who attended at Court and performed their Idolatrous service in the Groves planted by Ahab near Baals Temple in Samaria For after this we read Ch. 22.6 of 400 Prophets that were called together by Ahab Ahab having fasted all day to see the event of this business Elijah bids him now go eat and drink and refresh himself for he heard a sound or noise in the heavens that was some intimation to him that much rain was coming Ahab accordingly going to refresh himself the Prophet went up to the top of Carmel and there kneeling upon the ground and bowing his face down to his knees in this humble posture he earnestly prayed unto the Lord for rain For though he knew that the Lord had promised to send rain yet he knew also that it must be obtain'd by prayer Then he sent his servant seven times * He sent him seven several times to teach us that we must not be discouraged though we have not presently that which we pray for but must with patience be content to wait upon the Lord for it
to spie whether he could see any likelihood of it At last the servant discern'd a little cloud arising out of the Sea as big as a mans hand upon this Elijah presently sends to Ahab to make hast home lest he should be stopped by the rain that was now coming And immediately the heaven was black with clouds and wind and there fell a great rain Ahab getting into his Chariot went to Jezreel a City of Issachar where was one of his houses and Elijah being extraordinarily moved and enabled by God girded up his long garment and ran †V. 46. Currebat ante Ahab ut officium honorarium Regi suo praestaret Is qui caelum clauserat tanquam unus e servis currit ante Regem Neque enim viri sancti hanc externam rerum pompam assis faciunt before his Chariot to shew him how ready he would be to honour and serve him if he would proceed on to remove Idolatry out of the land and perfect that work which was so happily begun by the slaughter of Baals Prophets 1 King 18. Ahab coming to Jezebel tells her the event of that contest between Elijah and the Prophets of Baal and the unavoidable execution of the Baalites that followed thereupon and to excuse himself to his imperious wife he represents their Execution as Elijah's act not his she falling into a great rage and passion like a rash and unadvised woman sent one to Elijah to tell him that she desired the gods might do so to her and more also if she did not make his life like one of theirs by to morrow about that time And hereby she gave him as it were fair warning to be gone Elijah hereupon flies for his life to Beersheba God suffering him to be overborn with fear of Jezebel now who e're while feared not Ahab and all his Baalites that he might see his own weakness and not be exalted in mind by reason of those great miracles that had been wrought by him so he now fled into another Kingdom viz. that of Judah where good Jehoshaphat reigned yea to the uttermost Southern part of it and from thence withdrew himself into the Wilderness as fearing lest Ahab or Jezebel should send some thither to dispatch him And therefore when he went from Beersheba he left his servant there because he would not expose him to the wants of the Wilderness and going a days journey in the Wilderness and sitting under a juniper tree he even wished for death and said it is enough O Lord I have lived long enough take away I pray thee my life I know I must die at one time or other for I am not better than my Fathers that have all died before me and seeing my life is so full of troubles and miseries I desire if it be thy holy will to end my days presently Then laying himself down to sleep under the tree as he slept behold an Angel touched him and said Arise and eat And he looked and behold there was a cake baking on the coals at his head and a cruse of water by him So he did eat and drink and laid him down to sleep again The Angel awoke him a second time and bad him arise and eat again for the journey that he was to take was too great for him except he were well refreshed beforehand by that provision which God by his holy Angels had now sent him Accordingly he did eat and drink again and in the strength of that food he travelled forty days and forty nights (a) Christ Moses and Elijah who all appeared together at Christs Transfiguration did each of them fast in their several times forty days and forty nights without any sustenance without any other sustenance even to Horeb (b) Non recta via progrediebatur alioqui tantum 4 aut 5 dieram iter erat sed fugientium more vias invias inopinatas sectatus est interdum substitit quievit latuit Et forte a principio non ei erat propositum ad Horeb proficisci sed per 40 dies per desertum vagatiis eo pervenit At Deus illum huc perduxit ut ibi institueret where the Lord formerly appeared unto Moses in a burning bush Being come thither and lodging in a cave the Lord asks him what he did there he answers I have been very zealous for the honour of the Lord God of hosts For the children of Israel have forsaken thy Covenant thrown down the Altars that have been erected to thee and have preferred Baal before thee and have slain thy Prophets and I even I only am left this he speaks according to his own apprehension * See Rom. 11.2 3. and they seek my life to take it away The Lord bad him go forth and stand upon mount Horeb where he would manifest his presence to him And behold the Lord immediately passed by in some visible manifestation of his glory 1. There was a great strong wind that rent the mountains and brake the rocks in pieces 2. An earthquake 3. After that a fire but the Lord was in none of these to wit did not in these speak to Elijah nor make known his mind to him These were the dreadful foregoing signs of Gods majesty and power to prepare Elijah with the more awe and reverence to hearken to what he should say to him and to strengthen his faith in Gods power who had all creatures at his command Then there came a still and small voice It seems Elijah stood all this while in the mouth of the Cave but kept himself somewhat inward till knowing that in that still voice the Lord would speak to him then he went to the very entrance of the Cave casting his mantle about his face out of an awful fear of Gods Majesty as Moses did Exod. 3.6 The Lord asks him by this still voice the same question he did before viz. what he did there and Elijah gave the same answer he had done before The Lord to comfort and support his spirit intimates to him that he took notice of and was sufficiently displeased with the Idolatry of the Israelites and intended to punish them severely for it And in order thereunto he bids him go to the Wilderness of Damascus and there anoint Hazael to be King over Syria and to anoint Jehu the Son of Nimshi to be King over Israel that is to anoint them himself or take order they should be anointed by others at the appointed times and to anoint Elisha to be a Prophet in his room to succeed him in the Prophetick office And the Lord tells him that he that escapes the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay For though the greatest destruction wrought by Hazael was towards the end of Jehu's reign 2 King 10.32 and after it 2 King 13.3 yet he began to destroy Israel before Jehu's time 2 King 8.28 and many of those who escaped Hazael's hands Jehu slew as Jehoram and others 2 King 9.24 And him that
Souldiers into Samaria than there are handfuls of dust in that City Ahab hearing of this proud speech of his bad them say to him Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he may do that putteth it off intimating thereby that the issue of war was uncertain and 't was a foolish thing to triumph before the battel was ended Benhadad and the petty Kings that were with him were drinking themselves up to drunkenness in his Pavilion when this was told them from Ahab whereupon in a rage he charged those of his Commanders that were about him to attack the City presently and to place their Engines against it to batter it down to the ground It seems there was at this very time a true Prophet of the Lords secretly lurking in Samaria and being sent of the Lord to Ahab he went confidently to him though he knew he had cut off many of the Lords Prophets before Ch. 18.4 and said unto him Thus saith the Lord Hast thou seen from the towers of Samaria all this vast host and great multitude of the enemy I will deliver them into thy hand this day and thou shalt know that I am the Lord that give victory and not Baal Ahab greedily asks him by whom this deliverance should be wrought he tells him he should not by his experienced Captains or old Souldiers prevail over the Syrians but by a forlorn of the young men that waited on the Princes of the Provinces Ahab then asks him who shall order the battel He tells him he himself should do it Whereupon Ahab numbred the young men before mentioned and found them 232 then he numbred all the rest that were fit to bear arms in Samaria and found them to be seven thousand And at noon they marched out first the young men as the forlorn and then the body of the Army followed Benhadad understanding that there was a party come out of the City he gives this insolent order that if they came out to sue for conditions of peace they should take them prisoners and bring them to him though it was against the Law of Arms and if they came out as Souldiers he commands his men thinking it scorn to fight with them to take them all alive that so he might put them to cruel deaths or imprison them or deal with them as he saw cause The forlorn and the army of the Israelites now approaching the enemies Camp fell upon them and slew every man his man that is as many of the enemies as they themselves were in number viz. 7232 whereupon a panick fear seising upon the rest of the Syrians they fled and Benhadad himself made shift to escape with his Horsemen to his own Country Ahab with such Troops of Horse as he had pursued them and smote many of their Horses and Chariots and slew them with a very great slaughter Shortly after this the Prophet that had foretold this victory to Ahab having by Divine revelation knowledg of the enemies intentions and designs he came to him again and said Go strengthen thy self and be not secure and careless as if thou wert free from all danger for at the return of the year when the time is seasonable the King of Syria will come up against thee again Accordingly the servants of the King of Syria were forward to engage their Master to another encounter telling him that the gods of the Israelites were Gods of the hills possibly they thought so because the Israelites did use to worship God and sacrifice to him on hills and high places They reflect not at all on the true cause of their overthrow viz. their own sensuality pride and insolence but assign this only for the cause of it viz. the Gods of the Israelites were Gods of the hills and this battel being fought in an hilly Country they were worsted but say they let us fight with them in the plain and then surely we shall be stronger than they Further they desired the King that if he intended to make a new invasion into the Israelites Country that he would please to dismiss those petty Kings he had in his Army before who were fitter to drink than fight and to put valiant Captains and experienced Souldiers into their rooms and to provide such an Army both of Horse Foot and Chariots as he had before and then say they we will fight them in the plain and doubt not but we shall prevail against them Benhadad hearkened to their counsel and accordingly at the return of the year he mustered a great Army and marched with them to Aphek in the Tribe of Asher and he intended if he could to fight with the Israelites thereabout not only because it was a plain Country but because this was one of those Cities which his Father had formerly taken away from the Israelites and hither they might fly as to a place of retreat if the battel should go against them Upon this second invasion the children of Israel put themselves into the best array they could to resist the Syrians and all the Israelites that were appointed came to their general Rendezvous and they divided their forces into two bodies and they were but like two little flocks of kids before the Syrians that filled the Country Then the Prophet before mentioned came again to Ahab and said to him Thus saith the Lord because the Syrians have said the Lord is God of the hills but not of the vallies therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hands and though you by reason of your great wickedness deserve not this favour at my hands yet to confute this blasphemy of the Syrians even in the vallies I will overthrow them and thereby give you a plain evidence and demonstration that I am the only true God So the two Armies faced one the other for seven days and on the seventh day the battel was joined and the Israelites slew of them an hundred thousand footmen in one day so that they slew now many more than every one his man and the rest fled to Aphek and Benhadad himself among them who was fain to hide himself in an inner chamber in a private house in the City The Israelites drawing up their forces now to Aphek and the Syrians as it seems placing themselves round about upon the wall of the City to defend it the wall either by an earthquake or some immediate hand of God fell upon twenty seven thousand of them and killed them Benhadad being now in a deadly fear of being taken his servants that were about him gave him this advice The Kings of Israel say they as we have heard are merciful Kings * It seems their merciful dealing with those they had taken in battel had got them this good report Let us therefore put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our necks and go out to the King of Israel peradventure he will be perswaded to save thy life Benhadad consenting hereunto in this abject posture they
first fitted for that glorious state and there shall live with God in everlasting bliss and glory Elisha seeing his Master thus ascend to heaven he cried out My father my father the Chariot of Israel and the Horsemen thereof so he stiles him in allusion to the present manner of his triumphant ascending in a fiery chariot into heaven as also in allusion to his former course of life who by his prayers and other good endeavours to bring men unto God had been a better defence to Israel than visible Chariots and Horsemen could possibly be Elijah thus vanishing out of his sight Elisha took hold of his own clothes and rent them in testimony of his great grief for the loss of his Master Elijah's mantle as he went up to heaven fell from him which Elisha readily took up and as 't is probable afterwards wore it as a token that God had design'd him to succeed in his place * Elisha began to be a famous Prophet in the second year of Jehoram and continued so about sixty years and died in the days of Joash Grandson of Jehu Elisha having now seen this glorious translation of Elijah he returned to Jordan and with Elijah's mantle in his hand standing on the bank of the river he said Where is the Spirit of the Lord God of Elijah O that the Lord would now please to work by me as he did by him So that his words are not to be lookt upon as words of distrust but as words of invocation As if he should have said O Lord who by thy servant Elijah didst divide these waters make it now manifest by inabling me to work the same miracle that thou hast given me the spirit of Elijah my Master Then smiting the waters with Elijah's mantle the waters immediately parted asunder and so he went over and this was the first miracle that he wrought When the fifty Prophets before mentioned who were come come out to see Elijah's assumption and dwelt at Jericho saw him come through Jordan they said the spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha that is such gifts of the Spirit as were bestowed on Elijah are now conferred on Elisha for like miracles argue a like spirit Then they went to meet him and bowing themselves to the ground before him congratulated the gift the Lord had bestowed on him It had been revealed to them as we shewed before that Elijah should be carried up to Heaven but whither he should be so taken up as there to remain for ever or only for a certain time that it seems they knew not wherefore they had a mind to go and see whither they could not find him set down some where or other on the earth again accordingly they said to Elisha Behold there are with us thy servants no less than fifty strong men fit to undertake a journey let us go we pray thee and seek thy Master for possibly he is not taken away from thee for ever but for a certain time only possibly the Spirit * What was done by the supernatural power and working of God they us'd to say was done by the Spirit of God of God hath carried him to some remote place as he used sometimes to be carried see 1 King 18.12 †The like we read concerning Philip when he had baptiz'd the Ethiopian Eunuch Act. 8.39 and hath set him down upon some mountain or some valley and there we may find him He tells them that he knew that Elijah was carried up both in soul and body to heaven and was there to remain for ever and it would be in vain to seek him on the earth any more But they urged him still to let them go insomuch that he was ashamed they should be so importunate without any reason however seeing they were so bent upon it he let them go that they might by their own experience see their error and folly and might be the more fully assured of Elijah's ascent into heaven ever after They accordingly went out and sought Elijah very diligently three days Elisha tarrying at Jericho till their return but they found him not and so through their error and mistake the ascension of Elijah to heaven was the more confirmed as was our Saviours Resurrection by Thomas's doubting The men of Jericho now possibly to try whither Elisha had indeed the Spirit of Elijah told him the situation of their City was pleasant as he knew very well but the water was naught and the ground about it barren The sins of the inhabitants and perhaps the presumptuous reedifying of Jericho by Hiel the Bethelite in the days of Ahab 1 King 26.34 had brought this curse upon the place Elisha being willing to exercise the power of that Spirit the Lord had given him bad them bring him a new cruse and putting salt therein he went to the spring-head and cast salt thereinto being directed by God to use that means and he said thus saith the Lord I have healed these waters there shall not be henceforth any deadly or poysonous quality in them neither shall the land here about be barren Accordingly the waters were healed and made good and so continued even to the time that this History was written And this was Elisha's second miracle Then from Jericho he went to Bethel to visit the Colledg of the Prophets there and to confirm them in the truth by his counsel and exhortations As he was going up to the City some young children that were as 't is like the children of Idolaters or other wicked men that lived there who it seems had by their example taught their children to scoff at the Lords Prophets and to laugh at the report spread abroad of Elijah's being carried up to Heaven cried after Elisha and said Go up thou bald-head Go up thou bald-head as if they should have said You that report your Master is gone up to heaven why do not you follow him and go up after him Elisha turn'd and lookt upon them and by a special instinct and commission from God He cursed them in the name of the Lord who now intended to punish the wickedness of the Parents in the death of their ill nurtured children and to shew how severely he would revenge the reproaching of his servants the Prophets and immediately there came forth two she-bears out of the wood that was hard by and tore two and forty of them to pieces And this was Elisha's third miracle Then he went into the City 'T is strange he durst go into Bethel after he had brought such a death upon so many of their children But he went under Gods protection who he knew was able to defend him as he had done his Master against the fury of Ahaziah And accordingly neither the Parents of these children thus destroyed nor any other Idolatrous persons in that City durst set upon him God so over-awed their spirits From Bethel he went to mount Carmel whither Elijah often resorted having as 't is probable an
habitation there and that being a private place possibly Elisha chose now to go thither that he might be the more retired and might the more give himself to prayer from thence after some time he went to Samaria in which being a populous City he had more work to do and more opportunity to instruct the people and from thence he went along with the Army that shortly after went against the Moabites which undoubtedly he did by the special instinct and direction of the Spirit of God 2 King Ch. 2. whole Chapter Mesha King of Moab upon Ahab's death refused to pay the Tribute which the Moabites formerly paid to the Kings of Israel see v. 5. and Ahaziah being King but a little while and most part of that time possibly bedrid by reason of the hurt received by his fall he could not undertake the reducing of them Jehoram therefore now attempts it as soon as he came to the Crown * The Moabites being formerly Tributary to David and Solomon they had revolted from the King of Judah and given themselves to be vassals to Jeroboam and his Successors and so had continued till this time wherefore going through all the Tribes of Israel he mustered all that were fit for war and sent to Jehoshaphat King of Judah to desire his assistance in this war against the Moabites who were enemies to both Nations and had not long before join'd with Ammon and Edom against him See 2 Chron. 20. Jehoshaphat sent him word he would willingly join with him against them and that himself his people and his horses should be ready to go and do for him according as he should order and as if they were all his own See 1 King 22.4 It may seem strange Jehoshaphat should so readily join with Jehoram having been so sharply reproved before from the Lord for joining with Ahab his Father see 2 Chron. 19.2 and afterwards punished by the Lord for joining with Ahaziah his Son to make ships to go to Tarshish 2 Chron. 20.3 But possibly he thought this Jehoram a better man than either his Father or Brother seeing he had put down the image and worship of Baal and so had given some hopes he would proceed to a further reformation When their Armies were met together Jehoram askt him which way they should go up to fight against Moab Jehoshaphat advised that they should go through the Wilderness of Edom that they might take the King or Viceroy of Edom and his forces along with them who at this time were Tributaries to Judah and so might come upon the Moabites by a way they little expected They agree to take this course and so they fetcht a compass of seven days march about the Wilderness of Edom at last when they came near the Moabites they were sore distressed for water insomuch that all these three Armies and their horses were in great danger of perishing for want of it Jehoram seeing their present distress cried out Alas that the Lord should bring three Kings together to deliver them into the hands of the Moabites we are so infeebled through want of water that we can neither go forward nor can return back and so must needs become a prey to our enemies Thus he impiously reflecteth the blame of their distress upon God and not on their own sins that had brought them into this great strait And God hereby discovered to Jehoshaphat his sin in joining with Jehoram without consulting him first about it but now being by this judgment made wiser he asks Is there not some holy Prophet here who may inquire of the Lord for us and direct us what we should do One of the Kings servants answered Here is Elisha who poured water * Sic solvere corrigium calceamenti idem est quod servire on the hands of Elijah that is ministred unto him and was his servant It was undoubtedly by the special instinct of the Spirit of God that Elisha was come along with the Army into these deserts of Edom and that he was not far from the Camp at this time Jehoshaphat was glad to hear that he was there being the disciple of so great a Prophet and possibly known at this time by his own fame for says he the word of the Lord is with him intimating that he was a Prophet of the true God and consequently able to counsel them from God Upon this all these three Kings went down to him to speak with him 'T is strange they did not send for him to come to them But possibly Jehoshaphat knowing how much the Prophets of the Lord were at that time slighted and despised advised the other Kings rather to go to him that by doing him this great honour they might let the people see how much they esteem'd him When these Kings were come to Elisha he looking upon Jehoram said What have I to do with thee Get thee to the Prophets of thy Idolatrous Father and Mother whom thou toleratest in Israel and some of which are now in the Camp and see if they can help thee in this thy extremity Jehoram mildly answered nay Elisha do not speak of these things now the Lord hath brought us three Kings together with our Armies and hath brought us into such great straights that we are like to fall into the hands of the Moabites if he do not presently help us Elisha replies As the Lord of hosts liveth before whom I stand were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat King of Judah I would not look towards thee nor regard thee Having said thus and finding his spirit something disturb'd at the thoughts of Jehoram's Idolatry he calls for a Minstril that is one skilful in singing or playing on instruments to compose and calm his affections And when the Minstril played and possibly sang some songs of praise to God the hand of the Lord was upon Elisha viz. the spirit of Prophesie came upon him * Prophetia est donum actuale non habituale whereby he was inabled to give counsel and advice to these Kings and to foretell what should come to pass Which abilities the Prophets had not at all times but only then when it pleased the Lord to give them to them and sometimes they were to prepare themselves for the receiving of them Elisha hereupon being instructed from the Lord bids them make the valley where they were full of ditches and though they should perceive no wind which is the ordinary means of gathering the clouds together and causing them to shower down rain nor see any rain falling from heaven yet the valley should be fill'd with water so that they and their cattel should be abundantly supplied Nay says he besides the mercy which ye so much desire viz. a supply of water the Lord will do a greater thing for you than that viz. He will deliver the Moabites into your hands and ye shall smite every fenced City and every choice City that had the fairest Edifices in it
there came a man from Baalshalisha * It was called Shalisha before 1 Sam. 9.4 but since Baal was set up there Baalshalisha a place in Ephraim and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits viz. twenty loaves of barley and full ears of corn in the husk thereof such as were under the Law appointed to be brought to the Priests Deut. 18.4 This was certainly some pious man and one that feared God seeing in obedience to the Law he was willing to dedicate of his first fruits unto the Lord but because he could not carry them to the Lords house as the Law required Exod. 23.19 Numb 18.12 nor to the ordinary Priests they being retired into Judah he brought them to this extraordinary Prophet and to this Colledg of Prophets who instructed the people instead of the Priests and the rather that he might supply their necessities in this present dearth Thus he honoured God with his first fruits Prov. 3.9 Elisha bids his servant to set those loaves this man had brought before the Sons of the Prophets that they might eat His servant answered What shall I set this small quantity of provision before an hundred men The Prophet again bad him do it telling him from the Lord that they should not only have enough for the present but should leave some for another time So he set this provision before them and they did eat and left thereof See Joh. 6.11 And this was Elisha's ninth Miracle 2 King 4. from v. 42 to the end Naaman the King of Syria's General was a person of great honour and power in his own Country 't is probable that the Army that fought against the Kings of Israel and Judah 1 King 22.29 was commanded by him and under his conduct the victory was obtained For though the Syrians were heathens and enemies to the Israelites yet God then gave them victory over his own people and the victory is attributed to the Lord for the Syrians were but his instruments This Naaman was a mighty man of valour but he was a leper so that the greatest of men are not exempted from the worst of diseases The Syrians used often by their Troops to make inrodes into the land of Israel to spoil and pillage and in one of their incursions among other prisoners they carried away one fair and comely young damsel who thereupon was brought as a present to Naaman and by him given to his wife to wait upon her This was ordered by a special providence of God as the sequel of the story will shew This young maiden observing Naaman to be a leper she said one day to her Lady I wish my Lord were with a famous Prophet we have in Israel I doubt not but he would soon cure him of his leprosie * Though she had not heard of any leper cured by Elisha for saith our Saviour Luk. 4.27 Many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elizeus the Prophet but none of them was cleansed c. but by other miracles he wrought she believed he could cure this disease also Naaman understanding this told the King of Syria thereof The King had so great a kindness for him that he readily yielded he should take any course that might be thought conducing to his good and though the leprosie was generally thought among them to be incurable yet he was willing he should make trial whither he could be cured or no. So he consented he should go and told him he would send a Letter to Jehoram King of Israel in his behalf Naaman accordingly provided himself for his journey and set out with a very great retinue and a noble equipage carrying with him ten Talents * A Talent of silver amounts to 375 l. sterling of silver and six thousand pieces of gold and ten changes of raiment to make presents to the Prophet and possibly to some of Jehoram's Courtiers And he brought also to the King from his Master the King of Syria a Letter which spake to him after this manner When this Letter is come unto thee be pleased to understand that I have with it sent Naaman my servant that thou maist recover him of his Leprosie that is maist take care to have him recovered if thou hast any body in thy land that can do it When the King of Israel read the Letter he rent his clothes testifying thereby the great passion he was in What says he doth the King of Syria think that I am a God or have power like God to kill or make alive whom I please that he sends to me to cure a man of a Leprosie the cure of which is as hard as to raise a man from the dead Then turning to his own Courtiers and Counsellors that were about him You see says he how this man seeketh a quarrel against me and a pretense of a new war in requiring such a thing of me that he knows I cannot do It seems he never thought of Elisha of whose power in working miracles he himself had had so much experience But some about the King that bare a good respect to Elisha quickly informed him of Naaman's coming and of the Letter he had brought and how angry the King was at it and how ill he resented it Elisha hearing this sent to the King that he wondred he should express so much passion at the receiving of this Letter seeing he knew there was a Prophet in his land that had by the power of God done as great a miracle as was the cure of the Leprosie and that before his own eyes See Ch. 3.16 c. Let him come to me says he and he shall know that there is a Prophet of the Lord in Israel Jehoram having received this message from Elisha he sent Naaman to him Accordingly Naaman came in his Chariot and with all his Train and Attendants to the house of Elisha The Israelites had not at least the generality of them taken so much notice of this eminent Prophet that was among them as they should have done and therefore God will now make him more taken notice of by the application of this great man who was a stranger unto him When he came to the Prophets house Elisha went not out to him himself as he expected but only sent a messenger to him for the further trial of his faith and obedience to tell him that he should go and wash in Jordan seven times and so he should be cured Naaman being a person of so great quality look'd upon this carriage of the Prophet as a great neglect of him and resented it accordingly what says he is this all the help I shall have from this famous Prophet I thought he would have come out to me and stood and called on the name of the Lord his God for me and would have stroked his hand over my flesh where it is infected with the leprosie and so have cured me And is this all the direction I shall have from him to go
shew him which of them were for the King of Israel and secretly gave him intelligence One of them replied Thou hast no cause to suspect that any of us are treacherous or false to thee for assure thy self we are not but there is one Elisha a Prophet in Israel who by the inspiration of God can discern the most secret things that are done in any place and I believe telleth the King of Israel the very words thou speakest in thy bed-chamber The King of Syria being enraged at this bad them go and inquire where he was for he would endeavour to catch him and if he once had him in his hands he would do well enough with him They told him they heard he was in Dathan a City not far from Samaria Immediately he sent horses and chariots and a considerable host by night to encompass the City that they might take him Elisha's servant whom he had chosen to attend him in Gehazi's room going out early in the morning saw a great host about the City whereupon he ran back and told his Master thereof and cry'd out Alas Master what shall we do Elisha bad him fear nothing for says he those that be with us are more than those that be with them Then Elisha going out of the â—ity with his servant prayed unto the Lord that his servants eyes might be opened that he might see that great host of Angels that were sent for their defence and the young mans eyes being opened he saw the mountains near Dothan full of horses and chariots of fire the holy Angels appearing in that shape because the enemy that incompassed the City had horses and chariots and those appeared to him to incompass his Master Elisha to * Solum visio fuit vidit imaginem â—eu speciem Elisei residentem in medio castrorum quem defendebat ille exercitus ut nemo hostium illi nocere potuerit Munsterus secure and defend him Elisha being come out of the City some of the host of Syria seeing him but not knowing him came to him to inquire about the Town and about the Prophet He then prayed to the Lord to smite them with blindness which immediately he did but not with a perfect blindness but only such a dazeling of their sight * Such a blindness as the Sodomites were striken with Gen. 19.11 that they could not well discern things or persons He told them that was not the way they must go neither was that the City wherein they might expect to find Elisha Follow me says he and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek They accordingly following him he led them to Samaria 'T is like he sent a messenger to Jehoram who was now in that City to give him notice that he was bringing his enemies into Samaria that so he might have all his militia in readiness against they came When he had brought them into that City he prayed to the Lord to open their eyes which being done they saw themselves to their great astonishment in the midst of Samaria and so in the midst of their enemies Jehoram having them now in his hands spake to Elisha saying My Father shall I smite them shall I smite them What says Elisha wouldest thou smite them If thou hadst taken them prisoners with thy sword and with thy how having given them quarter surely thou wouldst not kill them much less oughtest thou now to do it seeing by an extraordinary providence they are brought unto thee surely thou shalt not smite them Thus easily the Prophet forgives their mischievous intention who came out on purpose to carry him prisoner to his enemies Instead of smiting them he advises Jehoram to set bread and water before them that they might eat and drink and go back to their King and declare what kindness they had found in Israel notwithstanding their ill intentions towards it Jehoram hereupon made great provisions for them and feasted them royally and then peaceably dismissed them After this the Syrians gave over their inrodes into the land and came no more as yet †So these words v. 23. are to be interpreted See Lightfoot pag. 69. into the land of Israel And thus we see how many miracles were wrought about this one matter 1. The Prophet discovered the King of Syria's secret plots and contrivances 2ly The Angels appeared as an host for his defence 3ly His servants eyes were opened to see those Angels 4ly The Syrians were smitten with blindness 5ly Their eyes were opened again and all this upon the prayer of Elisha 2 King 6. from v. 8. to the 24. Benhadad King of Syria who had once before besieged Samaria in Ahab's time 1 King 20.1 but was then repulsed with shame and loss being now desirous as it seems to blot out the reproach of that his shameful flight and being encourag'd perhaps by the great overthrow he had given the Israelites at the battel at Ramoth-Gilead wherein Ahab was slain 1 King 22.34 he now attempts to besiege this City again with a collection of all his forces During which siege Samaria was so sorely distressed with famine that an Asses-head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver * Which was as some account about ten pounds of our money though an unclean and forbidden meat Exod. 13.13 and the fourth part of a cab or pottle of corn which they had taken out of the crop of Doves (a) Quidam esse ervum credunt quo saginantur columbae that is a kind of pulse or tares wherewith they fed Pidgeons which in that extremity they were glad of for food for themselves for five pieces of silver (b) Which was about 12 s. 6 d. of our money One day as the King was walking upon the wall to see whither the Soldiers duly kept the watches a woman cried unto him Help my Lord O King The King replied Alas if the Lord do not help thee how shall I be able to help thee I cannot supply thee either from the barn-floor or the wine-press But tell me what aileth thee she said This woman my neighbour and I being extreamly distressed with famine agreed between our selves that my Son should be first killed and eaten by us and afterwards her Son accordingly we boiled my Son and did eat him but when her Son should have been eaten by us she hid him to save him alive or else did eat him alone by her self and gave me none of him The King hearing these sad words of the woman his heart was so deeply pierced with them that he rent his upper garment so that the sackcloth that he had next his flesh appeared which he wore as a sign of his humiliation and affliction for the present distress of his people though he was not so truly penitent for his sins as he should have been Then he said The Lord do so to me and more also if I do not take off the head of Elisha before night for I look upon him as
the cause of all our misery seeing he hath perswaded me to hold out the City thus long assuring me of help from God but I see none comes And thus being transported with rage against Elisha he sent a messenger immediately to cut off his head The Prophet was at this time in his lodging and some grave and Religious persons of the City were with him who possibly came to him for counsel and comfort in that their great extremity He understanding by Revelation from God the Kings bloody purpose against him even as he knew the King of Syria's secret plots and Gehazi's secret practices he says to the Elders that were with him behold this wicked Joram shews himself the true Son of wicked Ahab who was the murderer of Naboth for he hath sent a man to cut off my head though I have deserved no such usage from him I tell you his Messenger is coming to kill me but when he comes shut the door and hold him fast and prevent him from executing his bloody purpose and behold the sound of his Masters feet is behind him that is I perceive the King himself follows hard after him And while he was speaking the messenger came who being stopt at the door immediately the King himself came thither also who as it seems having his heart toucht with remorse for the rash and cruel order he had given when he came to the Messenger now detain'd at the door he gave him a countermand So quickly can God change the cruel minds of men Then Elisha discoursing with him and perswading him to have patience a little longer and to wait upon the Lord for deliverance he said This great evil and calamity that is upon us is certainly from the Lord and we have waited long for help but none comes and I despair that any will come and therefore why should I wait upon the Lord any longer I had better surrender the City than that my self and my subjects in it should perish by famine The Lord then reveals to Elisha the deliverance he intended to give them the very next day and that there should be then great plenty in the City Whereupon he said to the King I do assure thee from the Lord that about this time to morrow a measure * That is about a peck and a pottâ—e of fine flower shall be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel (a) A shekel is 2 s. 6 d. of our money in the gate of Samaria A great Officer of State a Lord on whose hand the King leaned hearing the Prophet say this answered If the Lord should make windows in heaven and rain corn down upon us there could hardly be such a plenty as thou speakest of Well says Elisha seeing thou art so unbelieving †Infidelity deprives men of the benefit of Gods promises which others enjoy thou shalt see this plenty with thine eyes but shalt not eat of it It so happened that there were at that time four leprous men that dwelt at the entrance of the Gate who being almost famished said one to another Why sit we here until we die If we say we will venture to go into the City alas the famine is there and there we shall certainly die and if we continue here we shall die also for our provisions are all done What shall we then do and what course shall we take Come lâ—t us go to the host of the Syrians in a desperate case we must take a desperate course Possibly they may shew us mercy and give us some relief But if they should kill us we shall but die which we are sure to do if we stay here and 't is better to be slain by the enemy than to perish by hunger Hereupon agreeing to take that course that very night in the twilight they went to the Camp of the Syrians and when they came to the outermost part of it to their great astonishment they found no man there for the Lord had a little before terrified the Syrians with an hideous noise which he made them to hear of the ratling of chariots and neighing of horses See the like 2 Sam. 5.24 the shouting of souldiers and the sounding of Trumpets as if some great host had been upon them This noise they heard but neither the City nor the Lepers heard any thing of it It seems the Syrians when they first heard this noise being in a great consternation said the King of Israel hath hired the Kings of the Hittites (b) Hereby they might mean such Hittites and Canâ—anites as remain'd in the land or else some other people that dwelt in Islands See Jer. 2.10 and the Kings of the Egyptians and Ethiopians to come upon us And so being dreadfully affrighted they arose and fled in the twilight a little before the Lepers came and being so terrified they left their horses and asses not daring to stay to saddle them and left their Tents and their Camp as it was and fled for their lives The Lepers thus coming to their empty Tents they ventured to go into one of them where finding good provisions they fell to eat and drink and refresh themselves being almost starved and finding also silver and gold and raiment there they took it as spoil and carried it out and hid it that it might not be taken from them then going into another Tent and finding the like there they carried it out and hid it also Thus at first they thought only of providing for themselves But then better bethinking themselves they said one to another We do not do well thus only to provide for our selves this is a day of good tidings we see the enemy are all fled we do not do well to conceal this gladsome news from our brethren of the City If we tarry till morning light till they themselves perceive the enemy to be fled possibly they will inflict some severe punishment on us for concealing the matter so long now therefore let us go and acquaint the King and the City therewith So they came to the Gate of the City and call'd to the Porter and Watchmen and told them that they being sorely distressed ventured to go out to the Camp of the Syrians to seek some relief and when they came thither they found no man there but they found many horses and asses tyed and the Tents furnished with provisions as they used to be when the Camp lay there The Porter of the Gate immediately ran and call'd up the Porters of the Kings Palace and acquainting them with what the Lepers had said they acquainted the King with it The King immediately suspected that the Syrians had only drawn off themselves in policy They says he know that we are almost starved and therefore they have withdrawn themselves and hid themselves in the field that when we come out they may surprize us and so enter the City This shews that he little regarded or believed what the
Joram to fly drew a bow with his full strength and smote him in the back between his shoulders and the arrow went out at his heart and he sank down in his Chariot and died Jehu â—hen call'd to Bidkar his Captain to take and cast his body in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite for remember says he when thou and I being Commanders under his Father and following him as his attendants at that time when he took possession of Naboths vineyard * Which was the day after his death heard this dreadful judgment (c) The Lord laid this burden on him v. 25. Onus Vocat Prophetiam gravem onerosam denounced against him by Elijah from the Lord Surely I have seen the blood of Naboth and the blood of his Sons who it seems were put to death with him that none of them might afterwards challenge the inheritance †Filii ejus contra legem Deut. 24. una interfecti erant licet nulla hujus caedis mentio facta est 1 Reg. 21.13 Sic multa a sacâ—is historicis omissa videmus que ab aliis per occasionem dicta sunt Sanctius and I will requite thee in this plat now therefore cast him into that portion of ground according to the word of the Lord that the dogs may lick his blood see 1 King 21.19 When Ahaziah King of Judah saw this he fled but they pursuing him first wounded him and afterwards killed him in Megiddo as may be seen more fully in his life Then Jehu march'd into Jezreel and Jezebel hearing of his coming painted her face and tired her head thinking possibly by her Majestick bravery to daunt him and looking out of the window when Jehu entred the Gate of her Palace she cried out Had Zimri peace who slew his Master see 1 King 16.10 as if she should have said Remember what he did and fear the like event Jehu looking up to the window askt who is there on my side who Two or three Eunuchs (a) Such were Chamberlains of Queens and Princesses for the most part in those times attendants on the Queen looking out he call'd to them to throw her down which they God so working upon their hearts and possibly fearing Jehu immediately did And he and his followers trod her under their horses feet and so pash'd her to pieces that some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses Jehu having done this great work and having taken much pains in this expedition from Ramoth to Jezreel and seeing all was quiet in the City and that none oppos'd him he went now to refresh himself After a little time he bad some about him to go look after the body of that cursed woman Jezebel and to take it up and bury it for says he she was a Kings daughter viz. the King of Zidon's This order 't is like he gave on the sudden not remembring the Prophecy of Elijah nor what the Prophet that anointed him said unto him ver 10. but they bringing him back word that the dogs had eaten all but her scull and feet and the palms of her hands then he said this is the word of the Lord which he spake by Elijah saying Near * â— Reg. 21.23 In pro juxta In eo territorio in quo injuste damnatus est Naboth the portion of Naboth in Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel and so much of her body as is left by the dogs shall be as dung upon the face of the field and shall lye and rot in the open air so that none shall be able to say of it this is Jezebel 2 King 8.28 29. 2 King 9. wh Ch. JEHV being thus come to the Crown The 10th King of Israel JEHU and having already executed his Commission on Jehoram Ahaziah and Jezebel he now proceeds on to root out the house of Ahab It seems Ahab had many Sons born to him of several wives and many grand-children in all about seventy who were bred up under several great men and some of them Rulers in Jezreel who upon these distractions fled with them to Samaria a well fortified City to secure them there Jehu understanding this wrote a Letter to those who had the tuition of these children and to the Elders of Samaria which spake after this manner Seeing your Masters Sons are with you and there are with you chariots and horses and you are in a fenced City and have arms look out therefore the best and meetest of your Masters Sons and set him on his Fathers Throne and fight for your Masters house This he wrote in an Ironical way but gave them thereby an intimation that if they stood out against him or offered to oppose him he doubted not but he should easily subdue them And indeed the Lord having appointed him to destroy the whole stock of Ahab did in order thereÌ„unto put such a fear into the hearts of these Rulers that they said among themselves Behold two Kings could not stand before him how then shall we be able to deal with him Hereupon he that was chief over all those that appertained to Ahabs house and the chief Magistrate of Samaria and the Senators of the City and the Governours of the Kings childreâ— returned this tame answer to Jehu we are thy servants and will do whatever thou commandest us they interpose no such condition as this if the thing be honest and just or the like so slavish does fear make men we will make no King nor set up any to oppose thee thou maist do what thou pleasest as for us we are ready to obey thee in every thing Jehu then wrote another Letter wherein he told them that if they were his servants in reality and would be obedient to him as they professed then he required them forthwith to cut off the heads of those seventy Sons and Grandchildren of Ahab and to bring them to him to Jezreel the next day This was indeed a very severe command and 't is strange they did not utterly refuse to obey it but they â—â—garding more their own safety then either humanity or the charge and trust committed to them without any more ado complied with it and cutting off the heads of these young Princes put them in baskets and sent them to Jezreel and followed after them themselves When they were come thither a messenger acquainted Jehu that these Rulers of Samaria had brought the heads of the Kings Sons unto him according to his command It being as it seems late Jehu ordered that they should be laid in two heaps at the entring of the Gate till the morning certainly a most sad and ruful spectacle it was to see so many young Princes heads lying on heaps together but this seems so ordered by Providence that all the people might see the dreadful judgment of God upon the house of Ahab for his cruelty and Idolatry and might be deterred from going on in it In the morning Jehu went out
there whereupon the dead man as soon as he touched the bones of Elisha revived and stood upon his feet By this miracle God gave testimony to the sanctity and holiness of Elisha that the people might be induced to believe what he had Prophesied concerning their smiting the Syrians and hereby also he confirmed to them the hope of a resurrection and a future life after this But to proceed though Hazael oppressed Israel all the days that Jehoahaz reigned alone as we shewed before yet it pleased the Lord to make Joash very successful against the Syrians so that in the days of Benhadad Son of Hazael he did according to Elisha's Prophesie obtain three notable victories over them and recovered out of their hands the Cities his Father had lost For the Lord was gracious unto the Israelites and had compassion on them because of his Covenant * This Covenant is often set down as the ground of Gods doing good to Israel Psa 105.8 with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and would not destroy them as yet nor cast them out of his favour nor out of the land which he had chosen for his habitation though he did it afterwards they persisting in their Idolatry and other sins Joash also conquered Amaziah King of Judah and took him prisoner and brake down four hundred cubits of the wall of Jerusalem even from the Gate of Ephraim to the corner-gate And having gotten from him all the Treasure both of the Temple and of the Kings house returned to Samaria as is more fully related in the life of Amaziah Joash now died and was buried in Samaria and Jeroboam his Son reigned in his stead 2 King 13. from 10 to the end 2 King 14. from 8 to the 17. JEroboam the second the third of the race of Jehu reigned forty one years to wit fourteen years and upwards with Amaziah The 13th King of Israel JEROBOAM the second and twenty seven in the days of Vzziah he did evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the Idolatry of Jeroboam the first the Son of Nebat 2 King 14.23 24. In his days those three eminent Prophets Jonah Hosea and Amos Prophesied God sending to Israel extraordinary Prophets and more in number than he did to the Kingdom of Judah intending by them to supply the defect and want of the ordinary Priests and Levites Jonah The Prophesie of JONAH was of Gath-Hepher a Town in the Tribe of Zebulun in Galilee of the Gentiles Isa 9.1 which confutes that of the Pharisees to Nicodemus Joh. 7.52 who said that out of Galilee arose no Prophet This Prophet when the Syrians sorely oppressed Israel foretold that Jeroboam Joash's Son should deliver Israel out of their hands and avenge the wrongs they had done them We read not indeed before of any such Prophesie but hence it is certain that there was such an one and it might be in the days of Jehoahaz when in his trouble he prayed unto the Lord and the Lord heard him Ch. 13.3 4. Jeroboam accordingly recovered all the land of the two Tribes and half beyond Jordan taken by the Syrians even from Hamath a City near Damascus which was the Northern entrance into Canaan to the Sea of the Plain or Dead-Sea in the South and also so far prevailed against them that he recovered from them Damascus and Hamath which formerly belonged to Judah and joined them to his own Kingdom see 2 Sam. 8.6 2 Chron. 8.3 for the Lord saw the affliction of Israel which in the days of Jehoahaz not long before this was very bitter for at that time none were safe whether shut up in a place of defence or left abroad neither could the King of Israel or any of his Princes help them against their enemies nor could they get any foreign succour And the Lord had not as yet determin'd to blot out the name of Israel from under heaven nor utterly to destroy them from being a Kingdom though afterwards he did so determine they going on in their sins and therefore for the present he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam 2 King 14. from 25 to 29. The Israelites continuing as it seems impenitent under the preaching of Jonah the Lord sent him to Nineveh the Metropolis and chief City of the Assyrian Empire to cry against it for its great wickedness But being afraid to go he fled to Joppa and there taking ship intended to go to Tarshish in Cilicia the clean contrary way but he was followed with a tempest and being thrown overboard was swallowed up by a Whale he continued in the Whales belly three days and three nights which was a resemblance of Christs lying in the grave and to that end thrice alluded unto and alledged by our Saviour himself Mat. 12.40 Ch. 16.4 Luk. 11.29 * Not that the correspondence is in all points exact and absolute either for the space of three whole days or three whole nights but this of Jonas was the fittest and nearest shadow of Christs lying in the grave that the Scripture did afford Being miraculously kept alive in the Whales belly he prayeth earnestly to the Lord to have pity upon him and so the Whale vomited him out upon the dry land Being sent a second time to Nineveh he obeys and going thither He cried Forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed This threatning implied a condition viz. if they did not repent in that time †Intelligenda est haec comminatio rebus sic manentibus Deum autem miserturum si resipiscerent And they repenting God spared the City for that time and justified his sparing of them against the angry Prophets repining at it And this is the sum of the History of Jonab but there is no Prophesie of his left either against Israel or Judah Another eminent Prophet whom the Lord raised up at that time was HOSEA The Prophesie of HOSEA he Prophesied very many years some think about seventy in the days of four Kings of Judah viz. from Vzziah to Hezekiah and of seven Kings of Israel viz. from this Jeroboam the second to Hoshea He threatens the ruin and desolation of this Kingdom of Israel though it was now in its highest flourish under Jeroboam the most prosperous and victorious King that ever reigned over the Ten Tribes which ruin he himself lived to see continuing in his Prophetick function to the reign of Hezekiah in the sixth year of whose reign the Kingdom of Israel came to its final end He is sent principally to Israel yet hath a word of Prophesie to Judah also This Prophet delivers his Prophesie 1. In types and figurative representations in his three first Chapters 2. In plain and express terms in which he charges them with their heinous Idolatry and other horrible iniquities against both Tables whereof all conditions among them were guilty He threatens judgments exhorts them to repent promises mercies to the penitent All these are intermix'd and gone over and over again in the
out of his sight that is out of that land where he manifested the evidences of his gracious presence 'T is further added that when the Lord had rent Israel from the house of David they made Jeroboam the Son of Nebat King and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord and made them sin a great sin And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did they departed not from them until the Lord removed them out of his sight as he had threatned by all his servants the Prophets And for these reasons was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria where they remained as exiles when this History was written 2 King 17. from 7 to the 24. 2 King 18.10 11 12. This was the end of the Kingdom of Israel when it had stood severed from the Kingdom of Judah by the space of two hundred fifty four years Their many great and crying sins highly provoked the Lord against them especially their notorious idolatry their contempt of the Lords Prophets and their contumacy and bold persisting in their wicked ways For after the great blow they received by Tiglath-Pilesâ—r 2 King 15.29 they were so far from any amendment that they used in the pride of their hearts that Proverb Isa 9. v. 10. The bricks are fallen down but we will build with hewn stones the sycamores are cut down but we will change them into cedars intimating thereby that they would build their towns that were spoiled better than they were before For these sins therefore the Lord was provoked to reject and cast them off and to suffer them to be led away captive Tobit or Tobias the elder saith of himself that he at this time with Anna his wife and his Countrymen the Naphtalites was carried away into the land of Assyria and there made purveyor or provider of corn and other victuals for Salmanasser's houshold and also that he was carried into Media and there placed in a principal City called Ruges c. Tobit Ch. 1. Salmanasser having thus carried away the Israelites captives he planted Colonies there of five Nations of his own people taking them out of Babylon Cutha Ava Emath and Sepharvaim and placed them in the Cities of Samaria in the room of the Israelites And these were they that after this time were called Cuthaeans by a Synecdoche because the major part of them came out of Cutha a Country in Persia many of these at their first coming thither not fearing the Lord nor worshipping the true God of Israel were devoured by Lions therefore a Jewish Priest was at the request of the rest of them sent out of Assyria to teach them the manner how the God of Israel would be worshipped But this being as it seems one of Jeroboam's Priests and making his residence at Bethel he taught them not the pure worship of God nor to serve him as they ought in his Temple at Jerusalem but in their own Country after the way of Jeroboam Neither were these people brought to worship the true God alone but every City had also a several Idol of their own which they worshipped according to the custom of the Nations from which they were descended and from whence they had been transported So though they feared the Lord that is acknowledged the God of Israel to be the true God yet they served their own gods also after the manner of the Nations from whence they came * Ex ritu Gentium illarum unde ipsos deportaverant vel è quibus deportati fuerant Pisc And as for the Israelites that were carried away captive into Assyria they were nothing amended by their captivity but 't is said of them 2 King 17.34 That unto this day they do after their former manners they fear not the Lord neither do they after their statutes or after their ordinances appointed and enjoin'd them by God or after the Law and Commandments which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob whom he named Israel to observe with whom he made a Covenant and charged them saying Ye shall not fear other gods nor bow your selves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them But the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm him shall ye fear and him shall ye worship and to him shall ye do sacrifice And the statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandments which he wrote for you ye shall observe to do for evermore * Viz. as long as that dispensation shall last and ye shall not fear other gods And the Covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget neither shall ye fear other gods but the Lord your God shall ye fear and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies Howbeit they did not hearken but they did after their former manner But as for those Nations whom the King of Assyria brought out of other Countries and placed in Samaria they went on in their mungrel way of Religion they and their children from generation to generation After these first Colonies there were other Colonies brought thither by Esarhaddon King of Assyria who was also called Asnapper the Great Ezra 4.2.10 Son of Sennacherib and Grandchild to Salmanasser This seems to be the last of the Assyrian Kings and the person that carried Manasseh prisoner to Babylon which was then under the Assyrian Empire 2 Chron. 33.11 So that the Prophesie of Isaiah seems now to be fulfilled Chap. 7.8 The head of Syria is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken that it be not a people For though the greatest part of the Israelites were carried away by Salmanasser some years before and their Kingdom utterly abolished yet among them that were left there remained some shew of a Government But now by reason of the great multitude of forreigners which came to dwell there the small remainder of the Ephramites were accounted as nothing yet they were not utterly extinct in their own Country as appears from 2 Chron. 34.6 7. v. 33. Chap. 35.18 2 King 23.19 20. 2 King 17. from 24 to the end These Samaritans before mentioned were succeeded by a second sort of Heretical Samaritans in the time of the Government of Nehemiah in whose time one of the Sons of Ioiada the Son of Eliashib the High Priest married the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite and therefore he chased him from him Neh. 13.28 This Priest thus driven away from Ierusalem went with other Iews that had made the like mungrel marriages to the Samaritans their wives kindred who there as the Iewish Writers relate assisted them in building an Anti-Temple on mount Gerizim where a medly Nation devised a Miscellaneous worship of God rejecting all the Scriptures save the five Books of Moses and maintaining many abominable superstitions So that between these Samaritans and the Iews there grew
run to and fro through the whole earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards him Herein therefore thou hast done foolishly and from henceforth thou shalt have wars with Baasha 1 King 15.16 Asa was very wroth with the Seer for this his plain and faithful dealing with him and put him into prison and dealt very harshly also with some of his subjects at the same time who possibly shewed their dislike of these his proceedings In the 39th year of his reign he was diseased in his feet probably with the Gout and his disease proving exceeding painful he sought not so much to the Lord for help as to the Physicians He died in the forty first year of his reign having reigned in the time of seven Kings of Israel viz. in some part of Jeroboam's and all the time of Nadab Baasha Elah Zimri Omri and in some part of Ahab's and they buried him in a Sepulcher which he had made for himself in the City of David and they laid him in the Bed or Coffin which was filled with all kinds of odours and sweet spices prepared by the Art of the Apothecaries and they made a great burning for him that is they burnt sweet perfumes at his burial in very great abundance and Jehoshaphat his Son reigned in his stead 1 King 15. from v. 9 to 25. 2 Chron. 14. wh Ch. 2 Chron. 15. wh Ch. 2 Chron. 16. whole Chapter The 4th King that reigned in Judah was JEHOSHAPHAT JEhoshaphat began his reign in the fourth year of the reign of Ahab he was thirty five years old when he began to reign and reigned twenty five years in Jerusalem He walked in the ways of Asa his Father doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. And the Lord was with him because he walked in the first ways of David his Father which were purer and more free from sin than were his latter days He sought not to Baal as did Ahab but sought to the Lord and walked in his ways and commandments and not after the doings of Israel And the Lord established the Kingdom in his hand and all Judah brought him presents and he had riches and honour in abundance and his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord that is he was very zealous and couragious in the cause of God and went on with an high and magnanimous spirit without any fear or discouragement At his first coming to the Crown he placed forces in all the fenced Cities of Judah and Garrison'd the Cities of Ephraim which his Father Asa had taken See 2 Chron. 15.8 And strengthened himself against Israel The remnant of the Sodomites which remain'd in the days of his Father he took out of the land He took away also such high-places as were dedicated to the worship of strange gods but those wherein the people served the true God of Israel he took not away but the people offered and burnt incense still in them See 1 King 22.43 'T is true his Father had twice removed them 2 Chron. 14.5 15.8 16. yet it seems some escaped or else the people in his Fathers declining time when he was diseased in his feet renewed them But those high-places wherein they served the true God of Israel he took not quite away but the people offered and burnt incense still in them for they had not at least not a great many of them disposed their hearts to follow the Lord intirely and his commandments and injunctions See 2 Chron. 20.33 Some reformation indeed they had yielded unto but yet their hearts hankered still after their old superstition See 2 Chron. 15.17 And though Jehoshaphat did endeavour to reform what was amiss among them yet from the high-places * Docemur hinc Deo displicere Electitios cultus a Deo non prascriptos Osiander the people would not be reclaimed In the third year of his reign finding as we said before that the people were in many places much addicted to Idolatry and had set up the high-places which his Father Asa had pulled down he sent some choice Priests and Levites as Visitors into several parts of his Kingdom to see whither they were rightly taught and instructed and by their own personal teaching to confirm those that were well instructed and to convince those that were corrupted or misled and to shew them how expresly the Law did forbid and threaten all Idolatry whatsoever and with them he sent some Princes and men of note to countenance and encourage them and possibly to punish those who should oppose them or be obstinate in their errors Jehoshaphat thus setting himself to the work of Reformation a great terror from the Lord fell upon all the Kingdoms round about him so that they made no war nor gave any disturbance to him Also some Philistines that were deadly enemies to the Jews brought presents to him and tribute-silver Asa having subdued a considerable part of them as we may see 2 Chron. 14.14 And the Arabians brought him flocks their chief calling being to breed and feed cattel and so brought such presents as they had viz. seven thousand and seven hundred rams and as many he-goats These were all clean cattel and so fit both for meat and sacrifice Jehoshaphat now waxed great exceedingly great in riches great in power and great in honour and esteem and he built Castles in Judah and Cities of store viz. to lay up his ammunition and provisions in And he had much business in the Cities of Judah that is he took great care himself and employ'd others under him about such things as were of publick concernment for the good of those Cities in particular and the whole Kingdom in general but his chief Commanders and Captains with some choice Companies of Souldiers he kept about his own person in Jerusalem Moreover he had a great Militia ready to attend him upon any emergent occasion and these were under the command of five able leaders successively The Trained bands of Judah being first under the command of Adnah and when Adnah was dead under the command of Jehohanan and when he was dead under Amaziah the Son of Zichri who willingly offered himself to the Lord viz. to fight the Lords battels against the enemies of the land So likewise the Trained bands of Benjamin were first under Eliada and next after him under Jehozabad and their numbers were in the several times of these Generals sometimes more and sometimes less This was his Militia besides the Souldiers he had in Garrisons and these in their courses some at one time and some at another came up to Jerusalem to wait upon the King About the eighth year of his reign he join'd in affinity with Ahab and married his eldest Son Jehoram to Athaliah Ahab's daughter It may seem strange that so pious a King as Jehoshaphat was should ever be induc'd to marry his Son and heir of his Crown to the daughter of wicked and
were suspected not to be firm against Judah and therefore were slain by the men of Moab and Ammon fell unexpectedly upon them like men that rise suddenly out of an ambush upon their enemies and when they had destroyed them they fell out among themselves and destroyed one another The Army of Jehoshaphat coming now to the Watch-tower of Ziz in the Wilderness they looked towards the formidable army of their enemies and they saw none but dead bodies on the ground they saw none flying or escaping whom they needed to pursue or fall upon and so that was accomplished which the Prophet foretold v. 17. Ye shall not need to fight in the battel When Jehoshaphat and his people came to the field where their enemies lay slaughtered they found very rich spoils among the dead bodies viz. rings on their fingers chains about their necks jewels in their ears besides the wealth and riches they brought on their beasts and in their carts and carriages and their being so vast a number of the enemy slain the Israelites could not carry away all in one day but were three days in gathering the spoil it was so much so God not only freed them from their enemies but greatly enriched them by them On the fourth day they marched to the valley of Berachah or blessing and there solemnly praised the Lord for this great victory and from thence that valley had this name given it Then they all marched with great joy to Jerusalem Jehoshaphat marching in the front of them for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies And they came to Jerusalem playing on Psalteries and Harps and with the sound of Trumpets and so went to the house of the Lord to offer up there their more solemn praises and sacrifices of thanksgiving And the fear of the Lord fell on all the Kingdoms round about when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of his people So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet for his God gave him rest round about But notwithstanding this signal deliverance and though Jehoshaphat had been reproved by the Lord for joining first with wicked Ahab and then with Ahaziah his wicked Son in building and fitting out Ships to go to Tarshish yet he fell again a third time into the like sin by assisting Jehoram the second Son of Ahab who succeeded Ahaziah and going forth with him and the King of Edom against the Moabites In which expedition he and the two other Kings were in great danger of perishing for want of water had they not been supplied by the prayers of Elisha the Prophet who had a great regard for Jehoshaphat 2 King 3.14 and so they obtained a great victory over their enemies 2 King 3. from v. 4 to the end Of this we may see more in the life of Jehoram King of Israel This seems to have happened about the 22th year of Jehoshaphat and then 't is probable he set up his Son Jehoram again as his Viceroy or took him into Copartnership with him in the Kingdom 2 King 8.16 as he had made him his Viceroy before when he went to visit Ahab Jehoshaphat 2 Chron. 21.2 is call'd King of Israel that is of the Israelites that lived in the Kingdom of Judah He reigned 25 years and they buried him with his Fathers in the City of David and his Son Jehoram succeeded him who reigned eight years which together are 33 years Yet in Chronological account there were not above 29 years in the reigns of them both because Jehoshaphat did set up his Son Jehoram as partner with him in the Kingdom whilst he himself was alive see 2 King 8.16 which was about the 22th year of his reign so that the four last years of his reign and the four first of his Son Jehoram's were not eight but only four years seeing both of them reigned together at the same time 1 King 22. from 41 to 51. 2 Chron. 17. whole Chapter 2 Chron. 18. wh Ch. 2 Chron. 19. wh Ch. 2 Chron. 20. wh Ch. 2 Chron. 21.1 The 5th King that reigned in Judah was JEHORAM JEhoshaphat had designed his Son Jehoram to be King and appointed him to govern the Kingdom in his absence in the 17th year of his reign a little before he went with Ahab against Ramoth-Gilead thence the beginning of the reign of Jehoram King of Israel is counted to be both in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat * 2 King 3.1 and in the second year of Jehoram †2 King 1.17 Son of Jehoshaphat but at his return resumed the Royal power wholly to himself not communicating the same again to his Son until the fifth year of Jehoram King of Israel which was the 22th of Jehoshaphats own reign and then this King being old took Jehoram his Son as partner with him in the Government The cause whereof in all probability was some discord or differences that brake out even then between him and his younger Brethren which moved Jehoshaphat to give to his younger Sons great gifts of gold and silver and jewels and to commmit to their custody some strong fenced Cities in Judah 2 Chron. 21.3 the better to secure them against the power of their Elder Brother and on the other side he put his Eldest Son into the possession of the Kingdom whilst himself was living for fear of tumults and commotions that might arise after his death Jehoram therefore being 32 years old succeeded his Father and reigned eight years in Jerusalem to wit four years together with his Father and four years by himself alone He walked in the Idolatrous ways of the Kings of Israel as did the house of Ahab whose daughter he had married viz. Athaliah and a vertuous daughter she was like to be that sprang from the cursed root of Ahab and Jezebel she soon drew him to follow her Fathers courses so great an influence have bad wives upon their husbands to draw them to evil He did that which was very evil and provoking in the sight of the Lord howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the Covenant he had made with him to give him always a light that is a royal glory in a successor and to continue the Soveraignty in his race as long as that Kingdom should last See 1 King 11.36 When he was setled in the Kingdom he sought to make himself strong as Jeroboam did 2 Chron. 13.7 that he might the better effect his mischievous intents and purposes and accordingly getting his six younger brethren into his hands he like a cruel Tyrant slew them and many also of the great men of the land who he thought favoured them and had a kindness for them He made great innovations in Religion erecting those Idolatrous places in mountains which his Father and Grandfather had with so much zeal destroyed He caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit spiritual fornication in worshipping of Baal and to embrace that Idolatry which himself had learned from
way that horses came into the Kings Palace Thus as she was like her mother in sin so she was not much unlike her in her death See 2 King 9.33 Jehojada then appointed Officers for the watch of the Lords house to prevent any danger that might happen upon this sudden change and the rites of Coronation being finished and the aforesaid Covenants made and Athaliah slain Jehoiada and the Rulers and Officers brought the King down to his Royal Palace and set him upon his Throne and no disturbance followed thereupon but the City was quiet and the people rejoiced Joash was seven years old when he was Crowned and reigned forty years Jehoiada now bestirs himself to rectifie things that had been disordered in Athaliah's reign and first he restores the true worship of God and takes care to have the services of the Temple duly performed Then the people went into the house of Baal and brake it down with its Altars and Images which by the encouragement of Athaliah had been set up and they slew Mattan the Priest of Baal even before the Altars to manifest their greater detestation of that Idolatry and possibly in imitation of Jehu who had with so much zeal suppressed that Idolatry in Israel Joash when he was grown up took two wives whom Jehoiada chose for him and he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada who ceased not to instruct him in the ways of the Lord. But the high places wherein they worshipped the true God were not taken away For the people having been so long used to offer Sacrifices and burn incense on them it seems Jehoiada durst not advise the King to proceed to a reformation of this evil The Temple at this time was fallen into great decay either by the negligence of former Kings or through the wickness of Athaliah whose Sons had broken up the house of God and had bestowed the dedicate things thereof upon Baalim 2 Chron. 14.7 Joash therefore now takes order for the repair of it And indeed it was fit he should be very careful to uphold the Temple that had been the nursery of his infancy and the best means under God of securing his life and upholding his just title to the Crown In order therefore hereunto he enjoined the Priests carefully to gather all the mony of the dedicated things that is all the money dedicated to the service and repair of the Temple Particularly 1. The money of every one that passeth the account that is the half shekel that they were to pay when they were numbred from twenty years old and upwards Exod. 30.12 13. which is therefore called the collection of Moses the servant of the Lord and of the Congregation of Israel for the Tabernacle of witness * So call'd in regard of the Ark and the Tables of stone in it which contain'd the Covenant between God and his people and was a witness between them laid upon the people when the Tabernacle was building So in a like case 't was thought reasonable that a like course should be taken for the Temple 2ly The money that every one is set at that is the money which any man shall by the Priest be appointed to pay for his redemption when he hath vowed himself to God according to the Law Levit. 27.2 3ly All the money that cometh into any mans heart to bring into the house of the Lord that is which any man shall voluntarily give for the repair of the Temple This threefold collection Joash appointed the Priests to gather from year to year in the several Cities where they dwelt and were well known among the people and with this money he orders them to repair the breaches of the Temple as there was need and to expedite it with all convenient speed But it seems the Priests were negligent herein when therefore in the twenty third year of his reign he saw that nothing considerable was done he supposed that either the Priests had been exceeding remiss in gathering this money or had not faithfully paid in what they had received or at least that the people suspecting they did convert it to their own private use did not pay it so willingly as otherwise they would have done He thereupon took the work out of their hands commanding them to pay in what they had received and appointed another way for the gathering of it And that was this the King by the advice of Jehoiada made a great Chest and bored a hole in the lid of it and set it in the great Court at the entrance of the Priests Court and into this Chest for preventing of all fraud in this business he orders that all the money that was brought in for the repair of the house of the Lord should be put The Priests readily consented to this course being willing to be excused from the care and trouble of collecting this money Whereupon a Proclamation was issued out through the whole Kingdom that every man should bring in to this Chest his appointed contribution or voluntary offering which accordingly was done with much alacrity and willingness and they continued their contributions till all that needed repairing was finished And thus money came in in abundance And when they perceived there was much money in the Chest the Kings Secretary and the High-Priest came and took it out and told the money and put it up in bags and gave it into the hands of the Master-workmen that therewith they might provide materials and pay the inferiour workmen And they had such experience of the honesty and fidelity of these Master-workmen into whose hands they committed the money that they expected no particular account of them how it was laid out And till the Temple was fully repair'd they would not employ any of the money so collected to other uses but when it was fully done and the house of God set into as good state as it was before then these overseers of the work brought in the remaining money and with it they made vessels for the Temple such as were made by Solomon viz. Incense-cups Spoons Censers and other utensils of gold and silver But though these contributions of the people before mentioned were brought into this Chest yet the trespass-mony * That is the money which by the Law those men were to pay by way of satisfaction according to the estimation of the Priests that had any way wronged the Lord in his holy things Levit. 5.15 whether it were done ignorantly or wittingly In both cases satisfaction was to be made and the one of these is call'd trespass-money and the other sin-money and sin-money was not brought into it it being properly the Priests Thus when they had made the Temple fit for the service of God they daily performed such worship therein as was required by the Law and this they did continually all the days of Jehoiada Jehoiada being now very old and full of days having lived an hundred
in the enterprize But Amaziah was nothing mov'd with what he said for whom God intendeth to destroy he usually first hardens and God intended to punish him for his abominable Idolatry into which he had lately fallen Joash understanding this would not stay till Amaziah came to him but he enters Judah with a strong Army wisely resolving to make his Enemies Country the stage of the war So they met in a pitcht field at Bethshemesh which belongs to Judah and Judah was worsted before Israel and Amaziah himself taken prisoner and brought in Triumph * Thus in this Amaziah the Son of Joash King of Judah God did yet further revenge the death of Zachariah the Son of Jehniada who was most inhumanely and ungratefully murdered in his fathers days according to what he said at his death the Lord will look upon it and require it and withall Amaziah himself was severely punished for his Apostacy to Idolatry to Jerusalem by Joash which City as it seems standing out against him he battered down that part of the wall by the North-gate which was towards Ephraim even four hundred cubits in length and so took the City by force then he seized upon all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord with the posterity of Obed-Edom who were porters and keepers of the treasures in the Temple 1 Chron. 26.15 as also the treasures of the Kings house And having made what spoil he thought fit in Jerusalem he set Amaziah free upon certain conditions imposed upon him and his subjects and for the surer performance of the Covenants on Judah's part he took hostages of him viz. some noble mens children whom he carried along with him to Samaria And he chose rather to go away with his present spoil than to hazard all by endeavouring to conquer the Kingdom of Judah which he was not like to hold if he did obtain the subjects thereof being so greatly addicted to the house of David Amaziah lived after this fifteen years but a very miserable life for his subjects were so disaffected to him for the Idolatry he had brought in that from that time they began to conspire against him though it broke not forth openly till by his rash unadvised and unprosperous war with Joash he had brought so many miseries upon his Kingdom The conspiracy now breaking forth he fled to Lachish and possibly there hid himself and lived in obscurity so those that had conspired against him as it seems governed the affairs of the Kingdom in his absence About twelve years after these conspirators being men of power in the Kingdom upon some new occasion were so enraged against him that they sent some to Lachish to slay him Amaziah being dead they brought him from Lachish in a Chariot drawn with horses and buried him in Jerusalem with his fathers 2 King 14. from v. 1. to 21. 2 Chron. 25. wh Ch. Tenth King of Judah UZZIAH VZZIAH or Azariah as he is called 2 King 15.1 Son of Amaziah was the next that reigned in Judah In Mat. 1.8 't is said that Vzziah succeeded Joram And Joram begat Ozias whereas there were four that reigned in Judah between Joram and Vzziah viz. Ahaziah Athaliah Joash and Amaziah Some think that these were omitted because of their evil Government and unnatural deaths each of them being slain one after another or because by the mother-side they descended from the stock of wicked Ahab whose house the Lord doomed to be rooted up Vzziah when his Father was slain was about four or five years old and there seems to have been a kind of Interregnum or vacancy in the Throne of Judah for about twelve years viz from the 15th to the 27th year of Jeroboam the second King of Israel at which time Vzziah being sixteen years of age was setled in the Throne by the general consent of the people and not till then And this possibly may be intimated to us by that unusual phrase And all the people of Judah took Vzziah being sixteen years old and made him King instead of his Father 2 King 14.21 And this might happen partly by reason of his minority and partly through the prevalency of some powerful men who perchance had had a hand in putting his Father to death or possibly the Government of the Kingdom might be carried on in his name all that time though he came not to the full exercise of his Regal power till the 27th year of Jeroboam So that the twelve years from his Fathers death which happened in the 15th year of Jeroboam see 2 King 14.23 unto the 27th of Jeroboam when he was put into full possession of the Crown are to be accounted into the number of the fifty two years he is said to have reigned and according to this account in the 26th year of his reign Jeroboam died After which it seems there was an Interregnum or vacancy in the Kingdom of Israel also for about eleven or twelve years viz. to the 38th year of Vzziah's reign After which Zachariah reigned in Israel six months Shallum one month Menahem ten years Pekahiah two years and Pekah had reigned a year or something more before he died which was in the fifty second year of his reign 2 King 15.27 so that he lived in the times of six Kings that sat on the Throne of Israel In the beginning of his reign he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and maintained the worship of God uncorrupt as his Father had done save that the high places were not removed but the people still offered sacrifice and burnt incense on them And during the life of Zachariah Son of that Zachariah that was stoned in the Temple who was an eminent Prophet and had understanding in the visions of God that is was accustomed to see visions and had a singular understanding in ancient Prophesies and so was able to counsel and instruct Vzziah in matters that concerned the knowledg of God and his Laws and possibly was skilful to interpret the dreams and night-visions of others as Joseph and Daniel were I say during the life of this Prophet Vzziah sought the Lord and so long the Lord made him to prosper He recovered Elath a City near the Red-Sea which had been taken from the Crown of Judah by the enemies bordering upon it and repair'd and fortified it In Ahaz's time it was lost again being taken by the Syrians see 2 King 14.22 He was a great warrior he had under his command three hundred seven thousand five hundred fighting men under two thousand and six hundred Captains all which were dispos'd into Regiments and companies and registred that they might be in readiness against any urgent occasion And he furnished all these with Shields and Spears Helmets and Habergeons * Armour for Back and Brest and Bows and Slings to cast stones He was very victorious against the Philistines of whose Towns he brake down the
their sins intermixing exhortations and consolations to the penitent 2. From the 13. Ch. to the 29. he Prophesies against the bordering Nations that were enemies to the Jews viz. the Babylonians Philistines Moabites Syrians Assyrians Ethiopians Egyptians Arabians Tyrians and lastly against the Israelites of the Ten Tribes 3. From the 29. Ch. to the 40. he Prophesies of the Conquest of the Jews by the Babylonians and their leading them Captive into Babylon In which there are four Historical Chapters viz. Ch. 36 37 38 39. occasionally interposed about the invasion of Judea by Senacherib of which we shall speak more particularly in the life of Hezekiah 4. From Ch. 40. to 49. he foretels the deliverance of the people of the Jews from the Babylonish Captivity 5. From 49. to the end are contained Prophesies of the Messiah and his Kingdom This Prophesie was always of very great account in the Church our Saviour himself whose Sermons were all Text took his Text out of this Prophet Luk. 4.17 18. The Ethiopian Eunuch read this Prophet in his Chariot Act. 8.27 30. 'T is oftner quoted in the New Testament than any Book of the Old excepting the Psalms which are quoted sixty four times and this Prophesie of Isaiah no less than sixty as the learned Alsted observes * In Praecogn Theolog lib. 2. cap. 122. And this is all we shall say at present concerning this Prophet Another eminent Prophet whom God raised up at this time and sent him to Prophesie to Judah and Jerusalem was Joel The Prophet JOEL He sets forth to them how the fierce anger of God was manifested against them in that terrible judgment of dearth and famine now upon them occasioned by an extream drought and swarms of Caterpillars with Lionlike teeth and other such destroying insects the one devouring what the other had left Thereupon he exhorts them to true repentance and deep humiliation before the Lord shewing it must be general of all sorts and conditions because they had generally offended and it must be serious and hearty testified by fasting weeping and mourning to which they must join earnest prayer and supplication for mercy which if they would do he promises not only deliverance to them from that terrible plague but that their losses should be repaired and made up to them again by a wonderful plenty And from a promise of these temporal blessings he rises to shew them what spiritual blessings in their due time the true Israel of God should enjoy under the Messiah foretelling the plentiful effusion of the gifts of the Holy Ghost which should then be poured forth viz. on the day of Pentecost He also tells them they should have deliverance from their enemies the heathen round about them and that God himself would judg their adversaries and take vengeance upon them for the wrongs they had done to his people And so much concerning that Prophet Vzziah who had before shewed himself to be a worthy Prince towards the latter end of his reign after he had been so wonderfully helped and blessed by the Lord and made so prosperous grew proud and his heart was lifted up to his destruction so prone are men to abuse the mercies of God to pride and presumption which is usually a forerunner of ruin Vzziah would needs now out of a strange arrogance usurp the Priests office and go into the Temple to burn incense Accordingly he goes presumptuously into the holy place to the Altar of Incense which none but the Priests might do The High Priest as soon as he understood whither he was gone immediately followed after him attended with eighty Priests men of courage who coming to him just as he was ready with a Censer in his hand to burn incense they withstood him and plainly told him he had highly trespassed in coming thither it appertained not to him but to the Priests only and that by Gods appointment to burn incense Therefore they advise him to go presently out of the Temple for he would receive no honour from God for what he had done but contrarily might expect some severe punishment Vzziah was very wroth at this their reprehension Kings and great men usually scorning to be stopt in the career of their sins by the servants of God but his wrath against them did but the more incense the wrath of God against him for immediately the Lord smote him with a leprosie in his forehead as he stood besides * V. 19. Megnal pro Inal juxta the Altar of Incense And thus having sinned with so bold a face and so much arrogance he was punished in his forehead that his sin might be read in his punishment The Priests seeing this and being encouraged by Gods so eminently owning of them and appearing for them they thrust him out of the Temple yea he himself hasted to go out perceiving that the Lord had smitten him And from hence forward to the day of his death he was a leper and dwelt in an house apart by himself and so was cut off from the house of the Lord and he that had so presumptuously gone into the holy place was now excluded from going even to the Court of the people there to worship God Vzziah being thus smitten of the Lord Jotham his Son as Viceroy and Deputy-King governed the Kingdom in his stead as 't is thought about four years Vzziah's Acts were written by Isaiah the Prophet though that Book seems not now extant as not necessary for the use of the Church as neither that of Jasher mentioned 2 Sam. 1.18 Vzziah being dead they buried him in the field where the Sepulchers of the Kings were but in some remote corner thereof where none of the former Kings Sepulchers were because he was a Leper †Supplicium triplex lepra excommunicatio funus inglorium ut a populo vivum lepra defunctum a Regibus aliis dimoverit Anonym in loc When this King died it seems the Philistines greatly rejoiced and triumphed because he had been such a scourge to them as is related 2 Chron. 26.6 Whereupon Isaiah Prophesied that a King should spring from this Vzziah viz. Hezekiah the Son of his Grandchild Ahaz who should sting them worse than ever he had done Isa 14.29 Rejoice not thou whole Palestina because the rod of him that smote thee is broken for out of the serpents root shall come forth a cocatrice and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent 2 King 14.21 22. 2 King 15. from v. 1 to 8. 2 Chron. 26. wh Ch. The 11th King of Judah JOTHAM JOTHAM was twenty five years old when he began to reign and he reigned sixteen years He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord as his father had done before him that is he maintained and encouraged the true worship of God as his Father had done but did not go into the Temple to burn incense as his Father had done so that he was like him not in the evil he
the Lord therefore was his sin highly aggravated and this brand and black mark set on him This is that King Ahaz viz. that trespassed so heinously against the Lord. When Ahaz had thus made himself a vassal and tributary to the King of Assyria which vassalage his Son soon shook off See 2 King 18.7 he quickly found that he had received more hurt than help from him as the Prophet had before intimated to him Isa 7.20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired namely by them beyond the River by the King of Assyria the head and the hair of the feet and it shall also consume the beard For though the King of Assyria to serve his own turn vanquished Damascus yet he impoverish'd Ahaz and did not restore to him any of those Cities which his enemies had taken from him nor did him any other good in recompence of those great treasures which he had given him and perhaps he did otherways distress him As Tiglath-pileser went up against Damascus and took it and slew Rezin as hath been said before so he shortly after as it seems invaded the land of Israel and made that great havock of which we read 2 King 15.29 In the days of Pekah King of Israel came Tiglath-pileser King of Assyria and took Ijon and Abel-beth-Maacah and Junoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee all the land of Naphtali and carried them captive to Assyria See more hereof in the life of Pekah Ahaz towards the latter end of his reign set up a stately Dial which afterwards afforded a miraculous sign to his Son Hezekiah though he himself refus'd to ask a sign In the last year of his reign he set up his Son Hezekiah with him in the Kingdom Ahaz now dying was buried in Jerusalem but not among the Kings he having been so great an Idolater The Prophet Isaiah this year forewarns the Moabites of a great calamity that would befall them within three years after See Isaiah 15.1 Ch. 16.14 2 King 16. wh Ch. 2 Chron. 28. whole Chapter Isai 7. from v. 1 to 17. The 13th that reigned in Judah HEZEKIAH HEZEKIAH being taken by his Father into the Government in the last year of his reign from that time being the latter end of the third year of Hoshea * Though Hoshea was confirmed King in the twelfth year of Ahaz and so is said then to begin to reign in Samaria yet because he reigned then only as Viceroy under the King of Assyria the nine years of his absolute reign are not reckoned till he cast off the Assyrian Yoke and took upon him to reign as absolute King which was it seems two years after viz. in the 14th year of Ahaz and so the third of Hoshea was indeed the first of Hezekiah's reign King of Israel he reigned twenty nine years in Jerusalem His Mother's name was Abi or Abijah the daughter of Zachariah If she was as 't is supposed the daughter of that Zachariah by whom so long as he lived Vzziah was kept in the way of truth 2 Chron. 26.5 we may well think that her piety manifested in this religious education of her Son was a chief means under God that he proved so zealous for the cause of true Religion though his Father was so extreamly wicked He was twenty five years old when he began to reign and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that David his Father had done and removed the high places which neither Jehoshaphat nor any of the good Kings of Judah had done before 2 K. 18. fr. 1 to 4. 2 Chr. 29.1 2. In the first year of his reign in the first month Abib he opened the doors of the Lords house which his Father had caused to be shut up 2 Chron. 28.24 and repaired and adorned them by overlaying them with Gold Then assembling the Priests and Levites together in the East-street * The Street before the entrance to the great gate of the House of the Lord. whom his Father had forced to abide in their Cities and suburbs shutting them out of the house of the Lord he like a pious and prudent Prince spake to them after this manner Hear now ye Priests and Levites and attend unto the words which I shall speak unto you I require you in the first place to sanctifie your selves and to sanctifie the house of the Lord God of your Fathers and to carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place that is to cleanse it of all Idols and all those things which Idolaters used in their worship For our Fathers both mine and yours have trespassed and done that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and have forsaken him and have turn'd away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs upon it that is have openly basely and opprobriously forsaken the worship appointed by him in his Temple see Jer. 2.27 and have shut up the doors of the Porch and not suffered the lamps to be lighted in the Temple nor the incense to be burnt neither have they offered the burnt-offerings unto the Lord in the holy place as they should have done therefore the wrath of God was upon Judah and Jerusalem and he hath delivered them up to great trouble even to the astonishment and hissing of strangers as you have seen with your eyes For lo our Fathers have fallen by the sword and our wives sons and daughters have been led into captivity for their great transgressions Now seeing Reformation is a special means to divert the wrath of God it is in my heart to make a Covenant with the Lord God of Israel and thereby to engage my self and my people to a real reformation that so his fierce wrath may turn away from us Wherefore my Sons stir up your selves be not ye negligent for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him and to burn incense unto him therefore be not wanting to your duties and to perform the ordinances of his house as he requires The King having ended his speech several of the Priests and Levites taking courage thereat sanctified themselves and according to the Kings command which they saw was agreeable to the word of God they came to cleanse the Temple and upon the eighth day of the first month entring in at the Porch they began to cleanse the house of the Lord and spent eight days in cleansing the Holy of Holies and the holy place and the Porch and then spent eight days more in cleansing the Courts appertaining to the house and having brought out all the uncleanness and filthiness and Idolatrous trash they found in the Temple the Levites carried it out and threw it into the brook Kidron Then they came to the King and told him what they had done viz. that they had cleansed the whole house of the Lord and the Altar of Burnt-offering with all the vessels thereto appertaining
and the shew-bread-table with the utensils belonging to it Moreover say they all the holy vessels which Ahaz in his transgression did cut in pieces and cast away we have repaired and renewed and fitted and sanctified for the holy use to which they were appointed Behold they are before the Altar of the Lord and ready to be set in their proper places 2 Chron. 29. from v. 12 to 20. The next morning King Hezekiah called together all the Rulers of the City and went up with them to the house of the Lord where he together with the people by the Ministry of the Priests and Levites offered seven Bullocks seven Rams seven Lambs and seven He-goats as a sin-offering upon the Altar of the Lord to make atonement 1. For the King his counsellors and officers and family 2. For the sins and abominations that were committed in the Temple by Idolatry and false worship 3. For the sins of Judah that is of the whole people And the Priests killed the Bullocks and Rams and sprinkled the blood on the Altar and they brought forth the he-goats before the King and all the congregation and they laid their hands on them thereby acknowledging their sins and that this sacrifice was offer'd up in their stead and the Priests killed them and made reconciliation for the people with their blood For the King commanded that the burnt-offering and the sin-offering should be offered for the whole people that atonement might be made for all that the plaister might be as large as the sore And he took care also to have the praises of the Lord solemnly sung by the Levite-singers and that they should be ready with their Cymbals Psalteries and Harps to do it as David Gad and Nathan being all inspired by God had directed The Levites therefore standing ready with their instruments and the Priests with their Trumpets when the burnt-offering began to be offered then the Song of the Lord began to be sung viz. the 136 Psalm the Trumpets sounding and the Levites singing and playing on their instruments the more to excite their spirits and all this continued till the burnt-offering was offered and then the King and all the people bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord. And the King and his Nobles commanded the Levites that they should sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the Seer which accordingly they did with great gladness of heart bowing also their heads and worshipping Then the King spake to the Priests saying Ye have now consecrated your selves as it were a new to the Lord therefore approach his Altar and bring in the sacrifices and thank-offerings which the people shall be willing to offer The whole congregation being much wrought upon by the Kings words presented their sacrifices and thank-offerings very freely and those that were of a more free and forward spirit offered whole burnt-offerings wherein there was more respect manifested to God than in other sacrifices for in these the offerers themselves had a part but in the other all was consumed on the Altar and yet the number of these burnt-offerings that were now offered was very great viz. seventy bullocks and an hundred rams and two hundred lambs But the other sacrifices of several sorts that were offered viz. peace-offerings and free-will offerings were very numerous viz. six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep But the Priests were too few to slay all the burnt-offerings therefore the Levites did help them * This they did in this particular case it was not their ordinary work till the work was ended and till other Priests had sanctified themselves For the Levites were more forward to sanctifie themselves than the Priests and so there were more of them at this present sanctified than of the Priests Besides the burnt-offerings were very many and the fat of the peace-offerings was to be pulled off and burnt upon the Altar and drink-offerings to be added to every burnt-offering all which required much work which those few Priests were not able to perform at this time Thus the service of the house of the Lord was set in order by good Hezekiah And the King rejoiced and all that were truly pious with him that the Lord had put such a good inclination and zeal into the hearts of the people whereby they were so willing and so readily inclined to this work of reformation And it was evident that the thing was of God because it was done sooner and with more speed than could reasonably have been expected considering how much before under Ahaz they had been corrupted with Idolatry And to have their hearts so soon and so wonderfully changed was an extraordinary work of the Spirit of God 2 Chron. 29. wh Ch. Hezekiah now resolves to have the Passover solemnly celebrated but it could not be kept at the time appointed viz. on the 14th day of the first Month because the purgation of the Temple was not finished until the 16th day of that month neither had the Priests sanctified themselves sufficiently neither were all the males gathered together to Jerusalem according to the Law as they ought to be at that great Festival therefore the King Priests and representative body of the people appointed to keep the Passover on the 14 day of the second month and in order hereunto the King sent to Judah and Benjamin and to all the Israelites that had join'd themselves to them and sent Letters also to the remainder of the ten Tribes that were not carried away by Tiglath-pilesar King of Assyria as many of their brethren were See 2 King 15.29 even to all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba inviting them to come to the house of the Lord to keep the Passover For they had not done it of a long while in such sort as was prescribed So the Posts went out with Letters from the King and his Princes inviting the Israelites to come and keep this solemn Festival at Jerusalem His Letters ran thus Ye children of Israel I exhort you to turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and he will return in grace and mercy to the remnant of you that are escaped out of the hand of Pul and Tiglath-pilesar Kings of Assyria 2 King 15.29 1 Chron. 5.26 And be not like your Fathers and your brethren which trespassed against the Lord who therefore gave them up to desolation as you see at this day Neither be ye stiff-necked as your Fathers were but yield your selves unto the Lord and willingly give up your selves in obedience unto him and enter into his Sanctuary and Temple which he hath consecrated to himself for a place of workship even as long as it shall stand and there appear before him viz. in the Court of the people and serve the Lord your God that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you For if you turn again unto the Lord your brethren and your children that are led away captive shall find compassion from
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
225000 l. of our money as some compute Hezekiah to raise this sum was forced to take the treasures of the Lords house and cut off the Gold even from the doors of the Temple and from the pillars which himself had overlaid But the King of Assyria having gotten the Gold and Silver into his hands notwithstanding most perfidiously went forward in his enterprize of subduing them And therefore he not only continued the siege of Lachish but sent a great Army under the command of three of his Captains whereof Rhabsheka was chief and therefore only mentioned by Isaiah Ch. 36.2 to besiege Jerusalem Rhabsheka at his first coming before the City desired a Treaty with the King and three of the Kings Officers of State viz. Eliakim Joah and Shebna being sent out to him in a proud imperious and braggadocian manner he spake thus to them Tell your King Hezekiah thus saith the great King the King of Assyria what confidence is this wherein thou trustest Thou saist possibly but they are but vain words I have counsel and strength for the war whereas alas thou hast neither Or it may be thou trustest in some foreign aid or else surely thou never durst have rebelled against me And the aid thou expectest I suppose is from Egypt but alas therein thou trustest but upon a staff or stalk of a broken reed on which if a man lean it will not support him but run into his hands and pierce him even such and no other is the King of Egypt to all that trust on him But possibly thou wilt say we trust in the Lord our God but this is a vain confidence also for 't is he whose high places and altars thou hast taken away and therein highly offended him †Vitio illi vertit quod erat laudandum and hast said to the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem ye shall perform your solemn worship before this Altar in Jerusalem and not in other places therefore thou hast little reason to trust in thy God And as for thy own strength it is meer weakness I will deliver thee two thousand horses which thou shalt keep if thou art able to set riders on them provided thou wilt give hostages to my Master to return them again if thou canst not as I am confident thou canst not how then canst thou think to turn away the face of the least of my Masters Captains Possibly thou puttest thy trust in Egypt †Hezekiah sought not at all to Egypt at this time for chariots and horsemen but alas they will miserably fail thee And as for thy confidence in thy God that also is vain for I am not come up without commission from him to destroy this City 'T is he that hath sent me against this land to destroy it Thus spake this bold presumpouous wretch grounding his confidence only on their former success Then turning his speech to the people on the wall and speaking to them aloud in the Hebrew tongue Wherein says he do ye trust that ye think to abide and subsist in the siege of Jerusalem Doth not Hezekiah perswade you when he perswades you to hold out to give over your selves to die by famine and by thirst telling you that the Lord your God will deliver you out of the hand of the King of Assyria Hear you what my Master now speaks to you by me his servant Know you not what I and my Fathers have done unto all the people of other lands Were the Gods of those Nations able to deliver them out of my hands who was there of all the Gods of those Nations which my Fathers destroyed that could deliver their people out of our hands how much less shall your God deliver you Thus blasphemously spake Rabsheka against the Lord and against his servant Hezekiah speaking of the God of Israel as of the gods of the Nations which were wood and stones and the work of mens hands Then Hezekiah's Messengers desired him to speak in the Syrian language for that they understood and not in the Hebrew tongue to affright the people on the wall else they would be gone and break off the Treaty Rabsheka hereupon said to one of them What hath my Master sent me to speak to thy Master only hath he not sent me to speak to them on the wall also that they may know they shall eat their own dung and drink their own piss if they do not yield So he lifted up his voice louder and said to the Souldiers that were on the wall Hearken not unto Hezekiah but unto the King of Assyria who says thus to you by me his servant make an agreement with me by a present and come forth to me and deliver this City into my hands and then ye shall eat every man of his own vine and of his own figtree and shall drink every one waters out of his own cistern And this happiness ye shall enjoy till I come and carry you to a land like your own a land of corn and wine a land of bread and vineyards a land of oyl olive and honey and so ye may live plentifully otherwise ye must expect nothing but desolation and death And do not let Hezekiah deceive you by telling you the Lord will deliver you Hath any of the gods of the Nations delivered his land out of the hands of the Kings of Assyria Where are the gods of Hamath or Arpad Cities of the Syrians or of Sepharvaim Hena and Ivah have they delivered Samaria out of my hands though those gods were there worshipped Thus this Blasphemer went on venting his rage and blasphemies but the people as the King commanded answered him not a word Then the Kings Messengers return'd to him with their clothes rent and told him the words of Rabshekah Hezekiah deeply perplexed hereat being clothed in sackcloth went to the Temple there humbly to seek unto the Lord for help in this woful distress and withal sent Eliakim and Shebna and the Elders and the Priests clothed also in sackcloth to the Prophet Isaiah who said unto him This is a day of great trouble unto us and a day of sad rebuke and a day of blasphemy for Rabshakeh hath blasphemed the living God Therefore we beseech thee pray earnestly to the Lord for us for the children are come to the birth and there is no strength to bring forth that is our sorrow is extream our danger desperate we are brought into such extremities that except help come presently from the Lord and he be pleased miraculously to save us we are sure to perish It may be the Lord will manifest that he hath heard the blasphemous words of Rabshakeh by punishing him for them wherefore lift up thy prayer and pray earnestly for the remnant of the people that are left thou seest the Ten Tribes have been carried away captive and only Judah and Benjamin are left and of them great havock hath been made by the Assyrians in many of their Cities therefore pray earnestly
thou shalt be so perfectly recovered that thou shalt go up to the Temple to render praises and thanksgivings unto me for thy sudden and wonderful recovery and moreover I will deliver thee and this City out of the hands of the King of Assyria and I will defend it for my own glories sake and for the sake of David my servant The Prophet having delivered this comfortable message to the King he then directed him to lay a mass made of dry figs as a plaister upon his boil or plague-sore for so it is conceived to be and though the medicine prescribed was proper for the cure in a natural way yet if we consider the speediness of the cure we may well conclude there was a supernatural and miraculous virtue added by God to hasten the operation of it Hezekiah though he made use of the means prescribed by the Prophet yet for the strengthning of his faith he humbly desired a sign from the Lord that he should recover because this new promise was so contrary to the former threatning Isaiah tells him he shall have this sign from the Lord the shadow on the Sun-dial of Ahaz should suddenly either go backward or forward ten degrees or ten half-hour lines which he should choose The going backward or forward of the shadow which always follows the motion of the Sun ten degrees on a sudden would have been a wonderful miracle yet because it is natural for the Sun and consequently the shadow to go forward and not backward and though it had moved faster away forward now then at other times it had not been so great a miracle as to remove backward which was a course directly against nature therefore Hezekiah chose the going backward of the shadow to be his sign Isaiah thereupon prayed unto the Lord and the Sun went back ten degrees see Isa 38.8 and so caused the shadow on Ahaz's Dial to go back ten degrees also and 't is like the shadow went back in the same manner in all their Dials as we may gather from 2 Chron. 32.31 though here in the Dial of Ahaz it was most observed And thus was Hezekiah's faith confirmed and accordingly he was healed on the third day as was promised 2 King 20. from v. 1 to 12. 2 Chron. 32.24 Isa 38. fr. 1 to 9. v. 21 22. Hezekiah sometime after his recovery composed and set forth an excellent song of praise and thanksgiving wherein he magnifies the mercies and loving kindnesses of the Lord towards him in preserving him from that dangerous sickness which Song he begins thus I said in my extream sickness when the Lord was about to cut off my days and to take away my life I shall go down to the gates of the grave and shall be laid in my sepulchre I said my life is cut short I am deprived of the residue of my years which in the ordinary course of nature I might have hoped to live I said I shall not visit the Temple of the Lord any more among those that will there worship I shall no longer converse with men on the earth I said mine age that is the residue of my years which I might have hoped to live is departed from me and is removed out of my sight as a shepherds tent which we see pitched here to day is to morrow remov'd we know not whither I said I have caused * Est Metonym effecti the Lord by my sin to cut off my life as if a weaver should cut off his web from the thrumb before it be finished I said the Lord will cut me off with a grievous sickness which makes my flesh to consume and pine away I said every day and all the day long that the Lord would make an end of me before the night came and when the night came I thought every hour that as a lion he would break my bones and destroy me before morning and so again after the morning came I thought every hour I should die by reason of the extremity of my pain Like a crane or a swallow so did I chatter that is I made a doleful noise through the greatness of my pain and anguish I did mourn as a dove and so long did I lift up mine eyes towards heaven in prayer that they were weary and dim with looking up I said often O I am oppressed by my disease Lord undertake for me and rescue me from this oppressing pain When he had thus set forth his sad and deplorable condition he then declares Gods unexpected mercy and goodness to him in revoking his former sentence against him stirs up himself to all possible thankfulness What shall I say says he in what words shall I express the loving kindness of the Lord who hath not only graciously removed my disease but hath promised to add to my life fifteen years The Lord hath promised it unto me by his Prophet and I doubt not but he will * Isa 38.15 Himself hath done it a preterperfect tense is put for a future perform it I shall go softly all my years that is I shall pass the rest of my life chearfully and quietly after (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hic valet post i. e. postquanâ—â— expertus sum hanc amaritudinem morbi Pisc this bitterness of my soul after this sharp brunt is past and gone O Lord by these things men live that is by thy promises and performances is the life of man prolonged and mine among the rest whom thou hast graciously restored to health again And thus thou hast * Enallage temporis recovered me and made me to live Behold for health I had bitter sickness but thou hast in great love to me (b) To my soul that is to me a part being put for the whole man by Synecdoche delivered me from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back and freely forgiven them and thereupon hast taken away the punishment which they had brought upon me And thou hast done all this for me that I might praise thee in the land of the living For the dead (c) He puts death for the dead per metonymiam adjuncti that lye in the grave cannot praise thee nor celebrate thy name The dead that go down into the pit cannot hope nor expect thy truth and faithfulness in performing thy gracious promises as the living may The living the living he will praise thee for thy mercy shewed unto him as I do this day The living Fathers will declare to their children thy goodness and mercy which thou hast shewed unto them and I hope I shall transmit to my posterity how ready thou wert to save me when I was brought so very low And accordingly I and my people will sing this and other songs of praise to thee in the Temple with stringed instruments all the days of my life Isa Ch. 38. from v. 9 to 21. Sennacherib hearing of Tirraka King of Ethiopia's coming against him went
begun in Manasseh his Son's time 2 Chron. 33.11 and further accomplished in Jehoiakims and Zedekiahs time as we shall see more afterwards and they shall be ministers and servants in the Palace of the King of Babylon 2 King 24. 25. Hezekiah was wounded to the heart with this dreadful message however he meekly replied Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken that is it is just and righteous and no more than what I and my people had deserved Then humbling himself for his pride and vanity and the people joining with him therein 2 Chron. 32.26 it pleased the Lord by the Prophet to declare to him that the judgment denounced should not come in his days Whereupon he said that though it was a grievous thing to him to think of those judgments that should befall those who were to come after him yet he acknowledged it as a great mercy of God that there should be peace and truth in his days 2 King 20. from 12 to 20. 2 Chron. 32.31 Isa 39. wh Ch. Hezekiah three years after his recovery had his Son Manasses by Hephzibah twelve years before his death 2 King 21.1 In the days of Hezekiah as 't is thought lived NAHVM the Prophet he Prophesied of the destruction of Nineveh and the Assyrian Monarchy and comforted the Jews with a promise of deliverance from the Assyrian Tyranny He mentioneth the evil counsel of Sennacherib against the Lord and foretelleth his death in his Idol-temple Nahum 1.11 There is one come out of thee that imagineth evil against the Lord a wicked counsellor and ver 14. The Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee that no more of thy name be sown Out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image I will make thy grave for thou art vile This Prophet denounceth destruction to Nineveh in very plain terms They had repented formerly at the Preaching of Jonah but now had relapsed to their former wickedness The Israelites had been much oppressed by them First by Pul 2 King 15.19 then by Tiglath-pileser 2 King 16. at last by Salmanassar who carried away the Ten Tribes captives 2 King 17.18 After this Sennacherib invaded Judea and besieged Jerusalem and grew to be like a great cedar in Lebanon Ezek. 31.3 and now the Prophet Nahum declares Gods great power and the furious revenge he would take upon his enemies and that he would make an utter end of Nineveh Affliction should not rise up the second time and no more of the name of the Assyrian should be sown and this should be for Iudahs consolation His Prophesie contains first a general denunciation of Ninevehs destruction and consequently of the Assyrian Monarchy He shews their destruction shall be sudden total irresistible Chap. 1. and the effect of it shall be that the people of Iudah hearing these glad tidings of her destruction proclaimed openly as upon the tops of mountains shall exceedingly rejoice at them as at tidings of peace to them and shall then without disturbance keep their solemn feasts and perform their vows unto the Lord their enemies who disquieted them being cut off Chap. 1. Secondly He gives a particular description of the destruction of Nineveh and lively sets it forth by the dreadful approach of the enemy the terror of their army the taking of the City and the captivity of Huzzah the Queen and her maids and their mournful deportment under their captivity groaning and bemoaning their condition with the mournful voice of Doves and Tabering or beating upon their breasts to express their sorrow Then he describes the spoiling and plundering of the City the astonishment of the inhabitants and how their faces would gather blackness Also the insulting of the enemy at the desolation of this City which had been an habitation of Lions that is of cruel oppressors Ch. 2. Thirdly He sets forth the causes of Ninevehs ruin the Lord setting himself against her for her great sins viz. her cruelty and blood-guiltiness her falshood her robbery and oppression and her filthy Idolatries for all which she should be made a shameful spectacle And lest Nineveh presuming upon her own strength should think these calamities should not befall her he shews she was not comparable to populous No or Alexandria in Egypt which yet was ruined and so should she notwithstanding all her strong holds her numerous inhabitants strong gates repaired towers multitude of Merchants and her many Counsellors Princes and Commanders So that her bruise should be incurable and her wound mortal Chap. 3. Hezekiah now dies his acts were written by Isaiah and by those that wrote the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah He was buried in the chiefest of the Sepulchres of the Sons of David and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him all the honour they possibly could at his death he having been so pious and good a King and Manasseh his Son reigned in his stead 2 Chron. 32.32 33. 2 King 20.20 21. The 14th that reigned in Judah MANASSEH MANASSEH was twelve years old when he began to reign about twenty four years after the ruin of the Ten Tribes and he reigned fifty five years and so longer than any of the Kings of Judah He did worse than all the Kings that went before him being carried away as 't is probable by such Nobles about him as did not in their hearts approve the reformation of his good Father He again set up the high places which his Father had pulled down he reared up Altars for Baal and made a grove as Ahab had done 1 King 16.33 to the honour of Idols he built altars to all the host of heaven to the Sun Moon and the rest of the Planets in the two Courts of the Lords house where God had said that he would put his name that he alone might be there worshipped He made one of his Sons pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom sacrificing him to Molech so that it seems he continued long in his Idolatry for he could not have a Son in the beginning of his reign being but twelve years of age He observed times esteeming some days as lucky others as unlucky he used enchantments and dealt with such as had familiar spirits and with wizards he set up a graven image in the Temple containing a representation of the Idolatrous grove he had made * See 2 King 23.6 where 't is said Josiah brought out the grove from the house of the Lord unto the brook Kidron and burnt it though God had said to David and Solomon that he had chosen that house to put his name there and would have his name alone there worshipped as long as that dispensation should last and promised upon their obedience that he would not suffer them to be carried away captive to other lands But they obeyed not and Manasseh seduced them and made Judah and Jerusalem go astray and do worse than all the
resort so that in his reformation he spared neither the high places of great or small And the Priests of these high places he permitted not to offer sacrifice at the Altar in the Temple yet he permitted them to eat of the unleavened bread that is of the shew-bread and such provisions * Species hic Synecdochice ponitur pro genere q.d. participes erant omnium illorum quibus alii sacerdotes vesci poterant Tirinus as were allotted for the maintenance of the Priests Also he defiled Tophet an high place in the valley of the Son of Hinnon near Jerusalem Josh 15.8 by casting dead mens bones into it that none might hereafter sacrifice his Son to Molech in that place as they had us'd to do Moreover he took away the horses that had been nourished and kept to carry men with speed from the Gate of the house of the Lord †Equitabant ab ingressa Templi ad cameram Nathan-Melech vel ad suburbia Munster to the chamber or house of Nathan-Melech the Chamberlain which was in the suburbs of the City of David where they might see the Sun rise and so might worship it at its first appearing which was an Idolatrous practice of the Persians and it seems the Israelites had learned it from them And he burnt the Chariots wherein the worshippers of the Sun were carried by the help of those horses to see the Sun rise or perhaps the Idolatrous Israelites might set a glorious image of the Sun in one of those Chariots which at sometimes was drawn up and down by those horses for all sorts of people to see and adore And therefore he is said to have burnt the Chariots but to have taken away the horses Furthermore the Altars that were on the flat roof of an upper Chamber of Ahaz which possibly he made to sacrifice thereon to the Sun Moon and Stars see Jer. 19.13 Zeph. 1.4 5. And the Altars which Manasseh had made in the two Courts of the Lords house did he break to pieces For though Manasseh after his repentance did cast out of the City all the Idolatrous Altars that he had made see 2 Chron. 33.15 yet possibly Amon his Son might restore them to their places again and so they might have continued until now but Josiah now tumbleth them down breaks them to pieces and beats them to powder and casts the dust of them into the brook Kidron And the high places which were near Jerusalem on the right hand of the mount of corruption viz. Mount Olivet so called because it was so full of Idols in the days of Solomon * See 1 King 11.7 wherewith the people corrupted themselves Deut. 32.5 he defiled as he had done other high places before 'T is like those high places were defac'd by Asa or Jehoshaphat or Hezekiah but Amon might put them to those Idolatrous uses for which they were before erected and thereupon Josiah took occasion utterly to demolish them that they might never again be used for any such purpose Thus we see how zealously this good King endeavoured a thorough reformation by breaking in pieces Idolatrous Images and cutting down Idolatrous Groves and defiling those those places with dead mens bones that they might never be used for those purposes again 2 King 22. from 3 to the end Chap. 23. from 1 to the 15. 2 Chron. 34. from 8 to the end Josiah now proceeds further in his reformation even to the Cities of the Ten Tribes which he had any power over and first he went to Bethel where coming to the high-place which Jeroboam the first had there made and seeing many sepulchres in the mount of the Idolatrous Priests that had been there buried He undoubtedly by a special instinct from God caused their bones to be taken up and burnt them on that Altar and thereby polluted it according to the word of the Lord which the man of God spake 1 King 13.2 Who cried against that Altar in the word of the Lord and said O Altar Altar thus saith the Lord Behold a child shall be born unto the house of David Josiah by name and upon thee shall he offer the Priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee and mens bones shall be burnt upon thee Then looking about he saw an inscription upon a monument and inquiring what it signified the men of the City told him it was the sepulchre of the man of God who came from Judah and foretold that Josiah should do these things And the old Prophet that seduced him buried him in that sepulchre and gave order that he himself should be there buried also and that there should be an inscription made declaring that there the man of God was buried that when the time came that the things which he had prophesied should be fulfilled his sepulchre might hereby be known from the rest and so neither the bones of the man of God nor his own bones might be disturbed Josiah being satisfied by the inscription whose sepulchre it was he gave order that the bones of those two Prophets should not be disturbed and so the old Prophets desire was fulfilled see 1 King 13.31 32. Then he brake down the high place and the Altar and stampt it small to powder and burnt the Grove where the high place was Then he proceeded to the Cities of Manasseh Ephraim and Simeon even unto Naphtali and caused the Altars and graven Images to be broken down with mattocks and did unto them as he had done at Bethel And such Idolatrous Priests as he met with who sacrificed to false gods and opposed him in this reformation he slew upon their Altars and therein fulfilled what was long since prophesied 1 King 13.1 2. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of the Countries that belonged to the children of Israel over which he had power and caused all of them as much as he could to serve the Lord their God and all his days they departed not from following the Lord God of their Fathers 2 Chron. 34.33 Whereby it appears that though the Ten Tribes were carried away captive into Assyria yet there were some both of the Priests and people that either were left behind or return'd * Abeuntibus Assyriis multi profugi exules qui antea fuga alio alio dilapsi sunt ad suas sedes redierunt cum suis sacerdotibus ibi que ut ante idola sua coluerunt again into the land of Samaria It appears also that the greatest part of the Kingdom of Samaria was at this time under the power of Josiah which possibly the King of Babylon who set Manasseh at liberty might give him with his liberty on condition that he should defend his Territories against the Egyptians who began in those times with great power and success to oppose the Babylonians 2 King 23. from 15 to 21. 2 Chron. 34. from 4 to 8. In the same 18th year of his reign on the 14th day of the
of my sight as I have removed Israel that is out of the land which I chose for my habitation and to manifest my gracious presence in and will cast off this City of Jerusalem which I have chosen and the house of which I said my name shall be there 2 King 23. from 21 to 28. 2 Chron. 35. from 1 to 20. Now after Josiah had prepared the Temple and setled the true worship of God therein and made such a great reformation of all things as we have before shewn yet it so happened that in the thirty first year of his reign Pharoah Necho King of Egypt came up with his Army to fight against Carchemish a City lying upon the River Euphrates which the King of Babylon who was also now King of Assyria had taken from him He entred the Kingdom of Judah with his Army but designed only to pass thorough it to Carchemish without doing any injury or hurt to Josiah but it seems Josiah thought himself bound in faith and honour to hinder his passage and to prevent as much as lay in him his enterprize against the Babylonians to whom he was obliged either by Covenant made at the enlargement of Manasseh or by their giving him that part of the Country which he held in the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes Pharoah Necho understanding he intended to oppose him sent Ambassadours to him one of whom personating their King spake to him after this manner What I have to do with thee thou King of Judah I come not out against thee this day but against the house of the Assyrian with whom I have war For God hath commanded me by some of his Prophets to make hast and to assault them therefore I advise thee to forbear hindring me who go out with Gods commission lest therein thou be found to oppose God himself and he destroy thee for it But it seems Josiah did not believe that he had warrant from God for what he did and therefore resolv'd to oppose him and fight with him and being thus resolv'd he disguised himself that he might not be known in the battel to be the King and that he might fight the more boldly and successfully for he was sensible that if the enemy knew him they would bend their chief force against him The Armies met and came to a battel in the valley of Megiddo in the Tribe of Manasseh near Hadadrimmon the Archers of the Egyptians shot desperately at Josiah either suspecting him to be the King or else observing his valour in the fight they were the more provoked to aim at him and to endeavour to take him off as a principal enemy But so it was that he was thereby sorely wounded in his chariot and thereupon spake to his servants to have him out of the fight which they did and put him into another chariot intending to bring him to Jerusalem but being mortally wounded he died in the way Thus God punished the wickedness of the people by taking away their good King from them And because he died before those troubles and calamities fell upon that Nation which Huldah the Prophetess foretold and which afterwards ensued and whilst the Kingdom was in a flourishing condition and died in the love and favour of God therefore he may be said to be gathered to his grave in peace according to Huldahs prediction He was buried in one of the Sepulchers of his Fathers and the whole people wonderfully lamented his death and the Prophet Jeremiah more especially who knew the evil that would follow after his death and all the singing-men and singing-women spake of Josiah in their lamentations and made mention of his death even in the mournings they made for others insomuch as it came to be a constant custom and as it were a setled ordinance to speak of Josiah's death in their doleful Elegies And it grew almost into a common Proverb The lamentation of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo Zach. 12.11 And possibly upon the loss of so good a King a law or ordinance was enacted that some doleful Elegies or lamentations should yearly be sung for him and these were recorded and set down among other mournful Elegies which upon occasions of publick calamity were us'd to be sung 2 Chron. 35. from 20 to the end 1 King 23. v. 29 30. The Prophet ZEPHANY Prophesied in this Kings reign as Jeremy also did The Prophesie of ZEPHANY His Prophesie may be divided into four parts 1. He denounces dreadful judgments against Judah and Ierusalem which should be distressed by the Caldeans without within and in every corner and there should be a great spoiling of their goods and slaughtering of their people 2. He sets before them the heinous sins that were found among them which would draw these judgments upon them 1. Idolatry in worshipping Baal and the host of heaven 2. Corrupting of Religion and mingling the worship of Idols with that of the true God 3. Apostasie after their solemn Covenant made with the Lord. 4. The pride of apparel among those of the Court and others 5. Oppression 6. Blasphemy denying Gods Providence 7. Security in sinning being setled upon their lees 8. Infidelity 9. Incorrigibleness 10. Stupid incogitancy being not moved to repent by the examples of Gods judgments which they saw poured out upon the Nations round about them 11. Tyranny in their Princes and Iudges 12. Vanity and treachery in their Prophets 3. He exhorts them to repentance and to seek the Lord to seek righteousness to seek meekness and that speedily before the decree bring forth Which if they would do he tells them it may be they may be hid in the day of the Lords anger This he further urges upon them from the exemplary judgments that God would inflict on other Nations that were impenitent viz. the Philistines Moabites Ammonites Ethiopians and Assyrians 4. And lastly he gives some gracious promises from the Lord to the faithful He tells them the Lord would leave in the midst of them an afflicted and poor people and they should trust in his name He prophesies of the conversion of the Gentiles and that they shall be joined to the Church He promises the restauration of the Iews and their return from captivity and that God will destroy their afflicting adversaries and will sanctifie them protect them and take away their punishments in contemplation of which he calls upon the daughter of Zion to rejoice and especially in Gods gracious presence and residence among them and making them the satisfying object of his love in so much he would rejoice over them to do them good and would rest in his love * Câ—â—â—â—â—escit in amoâ—â— suo erga te WE read of four Sons Iosiah had 1 Chron. 3.15 Iohanan Iehoiakim Zedekiah The 17th that reigned in the Kingdom of Judah JEHOAHAZ the son of JOSIAH and Shallum Probably Iohanan the first-born died before his Father for of him we find no where else any mention But the youngest
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
Judah and Jerusalem agreeably to what Jeremy had done for which the King sought to put him to death but he flying thereupon into Egypt the King by his messengers fetcht him back again and slew him with the sword and cast his dead body among the vilest sepulchres of the common people but Ahikam who had been of great authority with King Josiah 2 King 22.12 stickled so for Jeremy that he was not delivered over to the people to be put to death Jer. 26. whole Chapter In the beginning also of this Kings reign the word of the Lord came to Jeremy and gave him a Prophesie which was afterwards to be executed in the days of Zedekiah whereby he intimated to him that Zedekiah should be King of Judah and Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon and that he should subdue the neighbouring Nations and bring them under his power In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the Son of Josiah King of Judah says he came this word unto me from the Lord Make thee bonds and yokes and put them upon thy neck and send them to the King of Edom and to the King of Moab and to the King of the Ammonites and to the King of Tyrus and to the King of Zidon by the hand of the messengers which came to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah King of Judah and command them to say unto their Masters thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel I have made the earth the man and the beast that are upon the ground by my great power and by my out-stretched arm and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me and now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon my servant (a) That is whom I am resolv'd to make use of for the executing my judgments upon many Nations and the beasts of the field (b) That is I have given him power over these Nations and all that they have have I given him also to serve him And all Nations shall serve him and his son and his sons son until the very time of his land come (c) The time appointed by God for his visitation and then many Nations and great Kings shall serve themselves of him (d) Such as serv'd that State before shall then subdue it And it shall come to pass that the Nation and Kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar and will not put their neck under his yoke that Nation will I punish saith the Lord with the sword and with the famine and with the pestilence until I have consumed them Therefore hearken not to your Prophets nor to your diviners nor to your dreamers nor to your enchanters no to your sorcerers which speak unto you saying Ye shall not serve the King of Babylon for they prophesie a lye unto you to remove you far from your land (e) Not that they properly intended it but that would undoubtedly be the issue of what they animated them unto and that I should drive you out and ye should perish But the Nations that bring their neck under his yoke and serve him those will I let remain still in their own land saith the Lord and they shall till it and dwell therein Jer. 27. from v. 1 to 12. Jehoiakim in the second year of his reign according to the accustomed policy of his forefathers the better to prevent all changes and settle the Kingdom in his line made his Son Jehoiakin or Jeconiah King with him being then but eight years old 2 Chron. 36.9 In the latter end of the third and beginning of the fourth year of Jehoiakim Nebuchadnezzar being joined with his father in the administration of the Kingdom of Babylon the things that he was to act are presently revealed to the Prophet Jeremy namely that he should overthrow the Egyptians first at the river Euphrates which immediately after followed he cutting off the forces that Pharoah Necoh left at Carchemish that very year and then that he should conquer the Egyptians in their own Country which came not to pass till after the taking of Tyre in the 27th year of the captivity of Jeconiah as we find Ezek. 29. from 17 to 21. Jer. 46. from 1 to 27. In the self-same fourth year of Jehoiakim which was the first of Nebuchadnezzar * It seems the first year of Nebuchadnezzar concurred with the end of the third and beginning of the fourth year of Jehoiakim see Dan. 1.1 King of Babylon the Prophet Ieremy reproving the Iews for not hearkning to the word of the Lord which from time to time he had spoken to them even from the thirteenth year of King Iosiah to that present fourth year of Iehoiakim which was three and twenty years and for that they had shewed themselves stubborn and refractory to his admonitions as also to the warnings of all the other Prophets the Lord had sent unto them he then again told them of the coming of Nebuchadnezzar upon them and that they should be carried away captive to Babylon and that captivity should last seventy years which term Judah first and then the other Nations there mentioned every one in their order were to serve the King of Babylon and at last the Kingdom of Babylon it self should be destroyed An intimation of which seventy years captivity was long before made by the Prophet Isa 23.15 And it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years according to the days of one King (a) That is so long as one King and his â—ace shall reign viz. Nebuchadnezzar and his seed And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years that the Lord will visit Tyre and she shall turn to her hire and shall commit fornication (b) That is shall trade and traffick and merchandize with all the Kingdoms of the world with all the Kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth Jer. 25. wh Ch. In the same year also Baruch wrote in a roll or scrole of parchment from the mouth of the Prophet Jeremy all the words of the Lord which he had spoken to him concerning Israel and Iudah from the time of Iosiah to that day and he read them in the Court of the house of the Lord in the audience of all the people which were there assembled out of all their Cities on the day of their solemn fast which they yearly kept upon the tenth day of the seventh month As for Baruch himself who was extreamly afflicted in his soul with the apprehension of those direful judgments he had written the Prophet Ieremy comforted him and assured him of his own life amidst all these calamities Ier. 36. from 1 to 9. Ier. 45. wh Ch. Nebuchadnezzar having vanquished the Egyptians about the banks of Euphrates Ier. 46.1 2. and approaching now with his forces towards Iudea to besiege Ierusalem the Recabites of the posterity of Ionadab the Son of Recab 2 King 10.15 leaving their Tents wherein by the rule
first the particulars of his dream and then the interpretation thereof shewing him how the four Monarchies which were in their order to succeed one another was the thing signified by that great image made up of divers metals which he saw in his dream Whereupon the King enriched him presently with great gifts and made him Governour of all the Province of Babylon and chief over all the wisemen thereof And moreover at his request made his three Companions Shadrach Meshach and Abednego principal officers in all that Province Dan. 2. wh Chap. Jehoiakim for three years viz. the fifth sixth and seventh of his reign was Tributary to Nebuchadnezzar but the King of Egypt who had set him up could not bear this and therefore threatned as it seems to restore Jehoahaz his Brother whom he still held prisoner in Egypt And though Jeremy had Prophesied it should never come to pass as we find Jer. 22.11 Thus saith the Lord touching Shallum the Son of Josiah King of Judah which reigned instead of Josiah his Father and who went forth out of this place he shall not return hither any more but shall die in the place whither they have led him captive and shall see this land no more yet the fear of it did much perplex him so that he was now in a great straight he was in danger of the Egyptians if he kept faith with the Babylonians and of the Babylonians if he should revolt again to the Egyptians at length namely in the eighth year of his reign hearing perhaps of great preparations made by the Egyptians against the Babylonians he renounced his subjection to the Babylonians and sided with the Egyptians again 2 King 24.1 Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth year of his reign seems to have erected that huge golden image in the plains of Dura a Province of Babylon to be worshipped Daniel's three companions that were newly advanced are accused for not worshipping of it 'T is like out of envy to them and to entrap them some of the Babylonians got the King to erect this idolatrous image These three worthies being brought before Nebuchadnezzar make a stout profession of their resolution to own and serve only the true God Hereupon they are cast into a fiery furnace but are miraculously preserved and delivered by God The King seeing the miracle was exceedingly astonished at it and blessed and praised God Dan. 3. wh Ch. Nebuchadnezzar being detained for three years after Jehoiakim's revolt by other occasions at last in the seventh year of his reign and the eleventh of Jehoiakim's with an army consisting of several Nations he invades Judea and besieges Jerusalem and takes it and Jehoiakim in it and being enraged against him for his perfidiousness he caused him to be bound in chains intending to carry him captive to Babylon But Jehoiakim through grief as 't is probable suddenly after dying he caused his dead body to be dragged out of the Gate of Jerusalem and cast into the fields to be devoured by birds and beasts so that having no burial he may be said to be buried like an Ass as Jeremy had before prophesied of him Jer. 22.18 19 Ch. 36.30 though he dying of himself and not by violence he also may be said to have slept with his Fathers or to have fallen asleep and died as his fathers did Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and the abominations that he did viz. his killing of Vriah the Prophet and his perfidiousness to Nebuchadnezzar and other evils that were found in him behold they are written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah 2 King 24. from 1 to 7. 2 Chron. 36.6 Nebuchadnezzar carried away at this time three thousand twenty and three Jews prisoners in the latter end of the seventh year of his reign Jer. 52.28 JEhoiakin was called Jeconiah * In the Genealogy of Christ Jehoiakim the Son of Josiah seems quite to be left out Mat. 1.11 And Josias begat Jeconias and his brethren c. for the resolving of which doubt some conceive that Jehoiakim the Father was called Jeconiah as well as Jehoiakin the Son and so whereas it is said that Josias begat Jeconias and his brethren it must be understood of Jehoiakin the Son of Josias who had several brethren whereas Jehoiakim had none And then that which follows ver 12. And after they were brought to Babylon Jeconias begat Salathiel must be understood of Jehoiakin the Son some learned men viz. Beza and Pareus have been ready to think there is an errour in the generallty of the Greek copies crept in by some unadvised scribe leaving out Jehoiakim the father of Jeconias And Rob. Stephen in his Diversae Lectiones collected out of old Copies readeth that eleventh ver thus Josias begat Jakim which is the contract of Jehoiakim and Jakim begat Ieconias and his brethren and some colour there may seem to be for it because otherwise there is one wanting to make up the third or last fourteenth generation mentioned by the Evangelist which he intended as appears ver 18. So all the Generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen Generations and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen Generations 1 Chron. 3.16 and Coniah by way of contempt The 19th that reigned in Judah was JEHOIAKIN Son of JEHOIAKIM Jer. 22.24 As I live saith the Lord though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim King of Judah were as the signet upon my right hand yet would I pluck him thence This Jehoiakin was eighteen years old when he began to reign that is when he began to reign alone after his fathers death for in his fathers life-time as it seems he was crowned King ten-years before this when he was but eight years old as we have shewed before in the life of Jehoiakim He reigned only three months and ten days and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord as his father had done before him Against him therefore a dreadful decree went out from the Lord dooming him childless that is as some interpret it that none of his race should succeed him in the Regality to sit on the throne of David though in a kind of Soveraignty Zerubbabel the son or Grandchild rather of Salathiel by Pedaiah did succeed him 2 King 24.8 9. 2 Chron. 36.9 Jer. 22. from 24 to the end 'T is not expressed whether Jehoiakin were made King by Nebuchadnezzar when he last took Jerusalem and bound his Father in chains or was set up by the people when the Babylonians were marched away from the City If he were set in the throne by Nebuchadnezzar it may well be as Josephus thinks that the King of Babylon shortly after his departure bethinking himself how dangerous it might be to leave the Son in the Throne whose Father he had lately taken and cast his dead body out unburied he changed his purpose and presently sent his Captains back with
an Army against Jerusalem to whom himself in person came a while after and being come again before the City Jehoiakin and his mother and his servants and courtiers went out to him as the Prophet Jeremy advised and yielded themselves to him 2 King 24.10 11 12. Nebuchadnezzar therefore in the eighth year of his reign taking Jehoiakin with his mother and his wives and his courtiers carried them away captive to Babylon also out of Jerusalem he took the Magistrates and every man of strength to the number of ten thousand men and all the Carpenters and Smiths leaving none behind but the poorer sort of people And out of other parts of the land he carried away seven thousand men of able bodies and of Smiths and Carpenters one thousand all strong men and fit for the wars Among which captives Kish Grandfather to Mordecai of the Tribe of Benjamin was one Esth 2.5 6. and Ezekiel the Priest another who therefore in his Prophesie reckons the time all along from this captivity Ezek. 1.2 3. and calls it his deportation Ezek. 33.21 and Ch. 40.1 with these captives Nebuchadnezzar now carried away the treasures of the Lords house †2 King 24.13 't is said He carried away all the treasures of the Lords house viz. all that he pleased For this all must be understood with some limitation for he carried not away all now as may appear from Ier. 27.18 and the treasures of the Kings house and brake in pieces many of the Golden vessels and furniture which Solomon had made for the Temple of the Lord as Isaiah had Prophesied Chap. 39.6 Behold the days come that all that is in thine house and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day shall be carried to Babylon nothing shall be left saith the Lord. 2 King 24. from 13 to 17. 2 Chron. 36.10 Ier. 29.1 2. The King of Babylon having thus carried away Jehoiakin he set up his Uncle Zedekiah in his place and Iehoiakin after thirty seven years of captivity was highly honoured and raised up by Evil-merodach as we shall see hereafter 1 King 24.17 2 Chron. 36.10 The beginning of the Babylonish Captivity of 70 years according to Helvicus From this carrying away of Jeconiah Helvicus begins the Babylonian captivity that was to last seventy years grounding his opinion on these Scriptures Ezek. 1.2 In the fifth day of the month which was the fifth year of King Jehoiakins captivity Jer. 29.1 now these are the words of the Letter that Jeremiah the Prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the Elders which were carried away captives and to the Priests and Prophets and to all the People whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon after that Jeconiah the King and the Queen and the Eunuchs the Princes of Judah and the Carpenters and Smiths were departed from Jerusalem by the hand of Elasah the Son of Shaphan and Gemariah the Son of Hilkiah whom Zedekiah King of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon saying For thus saith the Lord after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you and perform my good words towards you in causing you to return to this place And Jer. 24.5 Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel like these good figs so will I acknowledg them that are carried away captive of Judah whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good But to go on whilst Nebuchadnezzar thus prevailed against the Jews God prepared a worm which should eat into this spreading tree Psal 137.8 O daughter of Babylon who art to be destroyed happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us For in this year was Cyrus the Perso-median born whose Father was a Persian and his mother a Mede and he was by the Prophet Isaiah called by his proper name of Cyrus and stiled the deliverer of the Jews so many years before as we may see Isa 44.28 Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer that saith of Cyrus he is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure saying to Jerusalem thou shalt be built and to the Temple thy foundation shall be laid And Chap. 45.1 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed (a) That is whom he intended to make a great King to Cyrus whose right hand I have (b) That is whose right hand I will hold Enallage Temporis that is strengthen to subdue Nations holden to subdue Nations before him and I will loose the loyns (c) i. e. For whose sake I will strike fear and terrror into Kings that they may open to him the Gates of their Cities they shall not be shut against him of Kings to open before him the two leaved gates and the gates shall not be shut And God himself gives the reason of this so unusual a revelation at the fourth verse For Jacob my servants sake and Israel mine Elect I have even called thee by thy name I have sirnamed thee though thou hast not known me (d) Cyrus at first was ignorant of the Lord but afterwards he came to know so much by the Iews that he acknowledged the Lord for the true God Creator of Heaven and earth Ezra 1.2 The 20th and last that reigned in Iudah was ZEDEKIAH NEbuchadnezzar as was shewed before when he carried away Iehoiakin prisoner made Mattaniah Son of Iosiah and Uncle to Iehoiakin King in his stead He is called Brother to Iehoiakin 2 Chron. 36.10 because he was his Fathers Brother and so near of kin to him and he is call'd his Son 1 Chron. 3.16 because he succeeded him in the Kingdom Nebuchadnezzar changed his name into Zedekiah which signifies the justice of Lord for having made a Covenant with him and taken an oath of fidelity from him by the imposition of this name he purposed to mind him that the just judgment of God would fall upon him in case he did violate his oath 2 King 24.17 Jer. 37.1 Ezek. 17.11 12 13 14. Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he began to reign and reigned eleven years and did evil in the sight of the Lord and humbled not himself before Ieremiah speaking to him from the mouth of the Lord. 2 Chron. 36.11 12. 2 King 24. 18 19. About the beginning of his reign the people it seems began to insult over Ieremy and to reproach him because Iehoiakin with many of his subjects were carried away captive and had yielded themselves to Nebuchadnezzar upon his perswasion Whereupon the Prophet under the type of good and bad figs foretelleth it should be better with those that were gone into captivity than with those that were left behind that the former were as good figs * Comparative hic loquitur Propheta cum alios bonos alios malos vocat nec tam de culpa loquitur quam de poena hoc Deus ostendit Prophetae tum quia captivos desperatio obruere poterat tum quia
might remain to support the faith and keep up the spirits of the Jews in a long captivity First He promises the reduction of the Jews into their own Country but before that they were to endure many calamities from the Babylonians during that day of Jacobs trouble but they should at last be saved out of it God promises to break the King of Babylons yoke from off Jacobs neck and that these Chaldeans shall no longer serve themselves of him But that his posterity shall serve the Lord their God and such of Davids lineage as he shall from time to time set over them but more especially the Messias who should come of Davids stock He promises to correct them in measure and yet not to leave them altogether unpunished He promises many great blessings that he would bestow on his Church notwithstanding their great miseries troubles breaches wounds but that Gods wrath shall remain on the wicked In the next Chapter is contain'd the restauration of Israel and the publication thereof After Rachels lamentation for her Sons as lost followeth Gods consolation of her puting her in hope of their return Ephraim repenting is to be brought home again Christ is promised The Lord will create a new thing in the earth a woman shall compass a man And this shall be the Covenant he will make with his people after those days he will write his law in their hearts and will be their God and this Covenant shall be stable and his Church shall be enlarged Jer. 29. from 24 to the end Jer. 30. whole Chapter Jer. 31. whole Chapter God also by his Prophet Jeremy foretels that Babylon and the land of Caldea shall be over-run and wasted by the Medes and Persians and comforts his own people with the sweet promises of their deliverance Jer. 50. whole Chapter Jer. 51. from 1 to 59. Zedekiah in the fourth year of his reign either went himself or which is more probable sent * Jer. 51.59 When he went with Zedekiah or on behalf of Zedekiah Seraiah a person of great quality about him to Babylon to whom Jeremy delivered the foresaid Prophesies of the destruction of Babylon written in a Book to be first read and then to be thrown into the river Euphrates to signifie that Babylon should so sink and not rise again Jer. 51. from 59 to the end In the beginning of the thirtieth year from that solemn renewing of the Covenant and restauration of the worship of God in the eighteenth year of Josiah which falls in with the fifth of Jehoiakins captivity on the fifth day of the fourth Month God vouchsafed the first vision to Ezekiel one of the captives in Babylon by the river Chebar and from thence he was sent to execute the office and function of a Prophet among the Jews of the Captivity He began thirty four years after Jeremy and continued his Prophetick office about two and twenty years namely to the twenty seventh year of Jehoiakins captivity Ezek. 29.17 It seems many at this time both among the Jews at Jerusalem and among the captives in Babylon murmured and complained against Jeremy as a false Prophet that had misled the people and betrayed them and caused them to yield themselves to the King of Babylon seeing now five years were past and yet Jerusalem stood still Jeremy being thus cried down both at home and abroad especially by false Prophets it pleased the Lord to raise up Ezekiel and pouring out his spirit upon him to set him on work to prophesie and foretell the same things in Babylon that Jeremy had done in Judea though in a more vehement manner so that Jeremy's Prophesies were confirm'd and justified by Ezekiel's The Prophet Ezekiel therefore going to execute his function among the Jews dwelling at Telabib near the river Chebar when he was come thither he sat him down as a man disheartned for the space of seven days After which time God again put him in mind of his charge both with gracious promises if he undertook it and severe threatnings if he refused and then confirmed him with a new sign shewed unto him and gave him courage and boldness by his word and ratified his vocation by a new command Ezek. 1. whole Chapter Ezek. 2. whole Chapter Ezek. 3. whole Chapter Ezekiel is now commanded to make a draught of the siege of Jerusalem in a table of Tile or Slate and to lye along upon one side three hundred and ninety days typifying thereby Gods patience in bearing with the sins and provocations of the Kingdom of Israel 390 years before he destroyed that Kingdom which was the full time from the revolt of the Ten Tribes to their Captivity When he had lain 390 days on his left side he was to turn himself on his right side and to lye so forty days more to typisie Gods patience in bearing with the sins and provocations of the Kingdom of Judah from the time that Iosiah and his people renewed solemnly their Covenant with the Lord unto the Captivity of Zedekiah which was just forty years Then he sets out the grievous famine that should be in the City during the siege Chap. 4. In the three following Chapters he pursues the same matter viz. Ierusalems misery In the fifth he is commanded to cut off his hair and to divide it into three parts by which he was to signifie three dreadful judgments that were to be inflicted on Jerusalem by pestilence sword and dispersion In the sixth Chapter first he threatens desolation to the land of Judea viz. to the Idols Altars and people thereof 2ly Promises mercy to a few that should repent of their evil ways and come to a right knowledg of the Lord from v. 8 to 11. 3ly He sets forth the grief and vexation the rest should feel from the sore judgments that should come upon them from 11 to the end In the seventh Chapter he Prophesies again of the destruction of the Jews and their land from v. 1 to 16. And of the pitiful lamentation that they shall make that escape from v. 16 to 20. And of the pollution of the Sanctuary by their enemies from v. 20 to 23. And of their bondage under the worst of heathens which is represented by a chain from v. 23 to the end Ezek. 4. whole Chapter Ezek. 5. whole Chapter Ezek. 6. whole Chapter Ezek. 7. whole Chapter In the sixth year of Jeconiahs Captivity the sixth month the fifth day of the month Ezekiel was carried in a Vision to Jerusalem and shewed the horrible Idolatry there practised and the plagues that were to befall the City for the same The Vision hath four parts 1. The Prophet is shewn the abominable Idolatry of the Jews in these notorious instances 1. Their having the Image of Jealousie or the Image of Baal among them which highly provoked God to jealousie 2. Their Chambers of Imagery having Idols privately in their Chambers 3. Their women weeping for Tammuz * Some understand it Osiris the Egyptian
God clears himself of and shews that he is most just both in punishing and rewarding and that every one shall bear the punishment of his own sins and not of anothers and that if an unjust man repent of his evil ways he shall find mercy for God hath no pleasure at all that the wicked should die see Chap. 33.11 and if a man that is esteemed a just man turn from his righteousness he shall have judgment wherefore he exhorts all to repent and so iniquity shall not be their ruin And to cast away their transgressions and to make them a new heart and a new spirit * That is to endeavour to get a new frame of heart and spirit seeking to the Lord to work it in them by the power of his grace for God hath no pleasure in the death of him that dies The 19th Chap. contains a lamentation for the Princes of Judah under the Parable of Lions whelps taken in a pit from 1 to 10. 2ly A lamentation for Jerusalem under the Parable of a wasted vine Ezek. Ch. 12. Ch. 13. Ch. 14. Ch. 15. Ezek. Ch. 16. Ch. 17. Ch. 18. Ch. 19. About this time as it seems Zedekiah through a vain confidence of help and assistance from the King of Egypt revolted from Nebuchadnezzar not regarding the Covenant he had made with him nor the oath of fealty and fidelity which he had sworn to him 'T is said 2 King 24.20 that through the anger of the Lord against Judah and Jerusalem for their heinous sins it came to pass that he permitted Zedekiah to rebell against the King of Babylon intending thereby to cast them out of that good land where he had in an especial manner manifested his presence The Prophet Ezekiel Ch. 17. v. 15.16 says of him He rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar in sending his Embassadors into Egypt that they might give him horses and much people shall he prosper shall he escape that doth such things or shall he break the Covenant and be delivered As I live saith the Lord God surely in the place where the King dwelleth that made him King whose oath he despised and whose covenant he brake even with him in the midst of Babylon be shall die 2 Chron. 36.13 2 King 24.20 Ezek. 17. from 11 to 21. In the seventh year of Jeconiahs captivity on the tenth day of the fifth month Ezekiel reproved the Elders for their gross hypocrisie who came again to him requesting him to ask counsel of the Lord for them Ezek. Ch. 20. in which Chapter he sets before them a summary of the rebellions of their forefathers in Egypt in the wilderness and in Canaan and shews them how they trod in their fathers steps for which abominations he severely threatens them He promises to preserve his Church and his true worship therein notwithstanding and to gather his people again by the Gospel He foretels Jerusalem's destruction under the Type of a forrest burnt by fire Chap. 21. He is commanded to prophesie very sharply against Jerusalem and to declare to them that God had drawn out his sword against them therefore he was to sigh with the breaking of his loyns as a sign unto them of their approaching calamity He foretels that the King of Babel shall consult by divination whether he should first set upon Jerusalem or the land of the Ammonites and that he shall first set upon Jerusalem because of their perjury He prophesies again against the Kingdom of Judah as also of the coming of the Messiah and that God will overturn that Kingdom so that it shall never be restor'd to its former luster till he comes whose right it is that is the Messiah to whom it belongeth as Davids successor according to the flesh He prophesies also against the Moabites Chap. 22. He sets down a Catalogue of the sins that reigned in Jerusalem for which God will burn them as dross in the furnace and there he sets down the general corruption of Prophets Priests Princes and people none standing in the gap to divert his wrath Chap. 23. The Idolatrous defection both of Israel and Judah is set forth under the type of two women notorious for whoredoms viz. Aholah and Aholibah the Idolatry of Israel is set forth from v. 1 to the 9. and her overthrow by her lovers the Assyrians v. 9 10. The Idolatry of Judah worse than Israels is set forth from ver 11 to 22. who is therefore threatned with ruin by her lovers the Chaldeans from v. 22 to 36. The Idolatries of them both are repeated and judgments threatned against them both from 36 to the end Ezek. Ch. 20. Ch. 21. Ch. 22. Ch. 23. In the ninth year of Zedekiah Nebuchadnezzar invades Judea again to be revenged on him for his breach of faith This being a Sabbatical year the men of Jerusalem hearing that Nebuchadnezzar approached with his army proclaimed liberty to their servants according to the Law Exod. 21.2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant six years he shall serve and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing And Deut. 15.12 And if thy brother an Hebrew man or an Hebrew woman be sold unto thee and serve thee six years then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee Nebuchadnezzar having wasted all the Country and taken their strong holds came now before the walls of Jerusalem on the tenth day of the tenth month and raised forts round about it In memorial whereof a fast was afterwards kept during the Captivity Zach. 8.19 Thus saith the Lord of hosts the fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness and chearful feasts therefore love the truth and peace 2 King 25.1 2. Jer. 39.1 Jer. 52.4 5. Jer. 34.8 9 10. Ezekiel upon the self-same day the siege was laid to Jerusalem hath it revealed to him in Babylon namely in the ninth year of Jeconiah and the utter destruction of it also represented to him by the type of an hot seething pot with pieces of flesh and bones in it And that evening his wife died for whose death he was charged not to mourn thereby signifying the grievous calamity of the Jews to be such as might justly drown all private sorrow Ezek. 24. whole Chapter The siege being now laid to Jerusalem the Prophet Jeremy was commanded by God to foretel to Zedekiah the utter destruction of it by the Babylonians and that Zedekiah himself should be carried away prisoner to Babylon and there should end his days and yet be honourably interred Jer. 34. from 1 to 8. The Prophet for this his faithful dealing was by Zedekiah clapt up in the Court of the prison of the Kings house where at Gods command he buyeth a field of Hanamael his Uncles son taketh witnesses of it and delivereth the writing to be kept as a token that the Jews should return into their own Country again This being
done the Prophet humbly prays unto God expressing a great admiration of his Majesty and works and representeth unto him the great conflict he had in his spirit for this thing Whereupon God assureth him he will indeed first punish his people for their great sins but afterwards perform his promise of their return and moreover will bestow on his Church the grace of the new Covenant He will give them one heart and one way that they may fear him all their days for the good of themselves and their children after them Jer. 32. During his imprisonment the Prophet hath another promise made to him of their return from their captivity also of the blessed joyful and quiet state they should be in under Christ the branch of righteousness whose name is The Lord our Righteousness whose Priesthood and Kingdom should be continued and his seed be blessed Jer. Ch. 23. Ch. 32. Ch. 33. Zedekiah being now besieged in Jerusalem Pharaoh Hophra King of Egypt came with an army to relieve him The Babylonians thereupon raise their siege and go out to meet the Egyptians Jeremy upon the raising of the siege being set at liberty Zedekiah sent messengers to him to desire him to pray for them and to intercede with the Lord for their deliverance from their enemies But the Prophet returned him answer that those succours out of Egypt should return into Egypt again and that the Chaldeans should return to Jerusalem and take the City and burn it with fire Jer. Ch. 37. from 1 to 11. The men of Jerusalem seeing the siege raised presently took back their Hebrew servants again whom they had formerly set at liberty according to the Law and made them serve as before contrary to their Covenant for which as for an impious act Jeremy reproves them and to requite them according to their doings he from the Lord proclaims a liberty to the Sword Pestilence and Famine to destroy them telling them withal that the Chaldeans should come again to the siege and should take their City and utterly demolish it Jer. 34. from 11 to the end Whilst the Chaldeans who had raised their siege were gone to encounter the Egyptian army Jeremy intended to go out of the City to save himself knowing the City would be taken But Irijah a Captain took him and brought him before the Princes and charged him that he intended to go to the Chaldeans They being highly enraged at him smote him and put him into the dungeon that was in the prison in the house of Jonathan the Scribe and there he lay many days Jer. Ch. 37. from 11 to 17. Nebuchadnezzar at his going out against the Egyptian army took eight hundred thirty two men which had fled out of Jerusalem to him for safety and sent them all away to Babylon Jer. Ch. 52. v. 29. In the tenth year of the Captivity of Jeconiah on the twelfth day of the tenth month Ezekiel uttered his Prophesie against Pharaoh and all Egypt declaring that he should prove but a staff of reed to the house of Israel and that Pharaoh should have an overthrow given him in the desert of Lybia and that Egypt should be miserably wasted by the Babylonians and that that desolation should last forty years Ezek. 29. from 1 to 17. Nebuchadnezzar having routed the Egyptian army returned and laid siege again to Jerusalem The Prophet Jeremy having remained in the dungeon many days the King sent and took him out and askt him privately whither he had any word of Prophesie from the Lord he tells him he had and it was this that he must be delivered up into the hands of the King of Babylon Moreover Jeremy said unto the King Wherein have I offended against thee or against thy servants or against this people that ye have put me in prison where are now your Prophets which prophesied unto you saying the King of Babylon shall not come against you nor against this land Therefore hear now I pray thee O my Lord the King let my supplication be accepted before thee that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the Scribe lest I die there Then Zedekiah the King commanded that they should commit Jeremiah unto the Court of the prison and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the Bakers street until all the bread of the City were spent and so Jeremiah remained in the Court of the Prison Jer. 37. from 16 to the end The siege continuing Zedekiah sent again to Jeremy but he returning the same answer viz. that both King and people must fall into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and that they that would stay in the City should perish either by famine sword or pestilence but they that would go out should have their lives saved The Princes were so exceedingly enraged against him for this answer that they desired of the King that he might be put to death looking upon him as a person that weakned the hands and hearts of the people and the King leaving it to them they cast Jeremy into Malchias dungeon which was in the Court of the prison into which being let down by cords his feet sank in the mire when he came to the ground from which lothsome dungeon he was delivered by the intercession and help of Ebedmelech one of the Kings Eunuchs and put again into the Court of the prison Jer. 21. whole Chapter Jer. 38. from 1 to 14. Zedekiah sends for Jeremy once more and in the principal entry of the Lords house privately consults him The Prophet expressing his fear that the King would kill him or give him into the hands of those men that sought his life if he dealt faithfully with him The King thereupon sware to him saying as the Lord liveth who made us this soul no such thing shall happen to thee whereupon he counselled the King by yielding himself to save his life The King having commanded the Prophet to conceal what passed between them from the Princes he departed and Jeremy continued in the Court of the prison to the day the City was taken Jer. 38. from 14 to the end Jeremy remaining thus in the Court of the prison he assures Ebedmelech who had been so kind to him from the Lord that he should be free from all danger and harm in that approaching calamity because he had put his trust in the Lord. Jer. 39. from 15 to the end In the eleventh year of the Captivity of Jeconiah the first month God by Ezekiel foretels the calamity of the City of Tyre which much rejoiced at the miseries the Jews were fallen into by the Babylonians that she also should fall by the same hand And he foretels also that the like misery should befall the Sidonians their neighbours to the glory of God and comfort of the Church At that time it seems the fame of Daniel's wisdom was grown so great even in foreign Nations that they used to say by way of Proverb As wise as Daniel
And therefore God upbraiding the King of Tyre with his pride and arrogancy Behold saith he thou art wiser than Daniel no secret can be hid from thee therefore I will bring strangers upon thee the terrible of the Nations and they shall bring thee down c. Ezek. Ch. 26. Ch. 27. Ch. 28. In the same year also in the third month God revealed his will to Ezekiel of sending Nebuchadnezzar against Pharoah to the ruin of the Egyptians In the same month also God declared that the Egyptians could no more avoid his decree and determination than the Assyrians had done before Ezek. Ch. 30. Ch. 31. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah the ninth day of the fourth month when the famine grew extream in the City and the pestilence as 't is like very hot Jerusalem was broken up and the Caldeans entred it Ezek. 4. from 9 to the end Lament 4.10 2 King 25.2 3 4. Jer. 52.5 6 7. Jer. 39.2 3. The City being taken Zedekiah and all the men of war fled away by night by the way of the Gate between two walls which was by the Kings garden being it seems a secret way provided on purpose for escape in such a time of danger but the Caldeans pursuing after them took Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho and brought him prisoner to Riblah where Nebuchadnezzar lay where having judgment passed upon him for his perjury and having seen his children first slain before his eyes to his extream torment together with the Nobles of Judah he had then his own eyes put out and being clogged with chains and fetters he was carried away from thence to Babylon so the Prophesies before utter'd concerning him were fulfilled viz. that with his eyes he should see the King of Babylon and speak with him mouth to mouth Jer. 32.4 34.3 But Babylon he should not see though he should die there For so the Prophet Ezekiel foretold Ch. 12.13 My net also will I spread upon him and he shall be taken in my snare and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Caldeans yet shall he not see it though he shall die there 2 King 25. from 4 to 8. Jer. 39. from 4 to 8. Jer. 52. from 7 to 12. Upon the seventh day of the fifth month Nebuzaradan Captain of the Guard sent by Nebuchadnezzar made his entry into the City and on the tenth day he set fire on the Temple and on the Kings Palace and upon all the Noblemens houses in Jerusalem and burnt all down to the ground and brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about In remembrance of which dismal calamity the Fast of the fifth month was ordained to be kept Zach. 7.3 v. 5. Zach. 8.19 Thus was the glorious Temple destroyed in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzars reign and four hundred twenty four years three months and eight days after that Solomon laid the first stone thereof 2 King 25.8 9 10. Jer. 52.12 13 14. Jer. 39.8 In the same fifth month the walls of Jerusalem being broken down all that were left in the City and all that had before fled over to Nebuchadnezzar and all the common people of the City with all the treasure of the King and his Nobles and furniture of the Temple did Nebuzaradan carry away to Babylon and thus was Judah for their sins removed out of her own land four hundred sixty eight years after David began to reign over it From the division of the Ten Tribes from the Tribe of Judah three hundred eighty eight years and from the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel one hundred thirty four years If any shall enquire why the Lord gave up this his own people into the hands of their enemies you may find 2 Chron. 36. from v. 12 to 20. that the high provocations both of King and people were the cause thereof Zedekiah did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the Prophet speaking to him from the mouth of the Lord and he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear by God but he stiffned his neck and hardned his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel Moreover all the chief of the Priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers rising up betimes (a) That is continually and carefully sendding them a Metaphor taken from careful housholders who with the soonest seek to redress mischiefs causing their servants for that end to rise betimes and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place but they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his Prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people and there was no remedy * After that there remain'd nothing but expectation of judgment Therefore he brought upon them the King of the Caldees who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their Sanctuary (b) That is the Temple whither 't is like many of them fled for refuge and had no compassion upon young man or maiden old man or him that stooped for age he gave them all into his hand And all the vessels of the house of God great and small and the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the King and of his Princes all these he brought to Babylon And they burnt the house of God and brake down the walls of Jerusalem and burnt all the Palaces thereof with fire and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof Jer. 39.9 Jer. 52.15 2 King 25. from 11 to 18. 2 Chron. 36. from 14 to 22. The Scripture saith that they that were carried away captive to Babylon in the eleventh year of Zedekiah were to continue seventy years in their captivity 2 Chron. 36.20 21. And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the Kingdom of Persia To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremy until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath to fulfill threescore and ten years Where by those words until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths we are to understand that so long as the people were kept out of it the land rested there being none to plow or dig it up and so it continued for the most part till the expiration of seventy years as Jeremy had Prophesied Jer. 25.11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment and these Nations shall serve the King of Babylon seventy years And Chap. 29.10 Thus saith the Lord after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you and perform my good word towards you in causing you to return to
their Genealogy they were among others as polluted persons put from the Priesthood and the Tirshatha or Governour said that those Priests that could not prove their Genealogy should not eat of the holy things or partake of the priviledg of Priests till there stood up a Priest with Urim and Thummim to inquire of the Lord for them in that difficult case whereby 't is manifest that the Ephod wherein was the Urim and Thummim was now lost yet Zerubbabel seems to hope that it might by the providence of God be again restored to them yet we never read it was the Lord thereby teaching them that the Ceremonies were going and the Messias coming The whole Congregation together was forty two thousand three hundred and threescore (b) If we compare the number that were carried away captive with those that returned back again we shall find a wonderful great increase of them during their captivity for there were carried into captivity at three times four thousand and six hundred Jer. 52.30 but we see how many returned out of it besides men-servants and maid-servants whose number came to 7377 and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women who were imployed in singing at their weddings and funerals and such solemnities see 2 Chron. 35.25 that is reckoning both those of Judah and Benjamin of whom the particular numbers are in those Chapters punctually set down and those also of the other Ten Tribes that are not there mentioned that were captive with the Jews for Salmanasser swept not all away out of all the Tribes but left a remnant of them in their own Country which afterwards together with the Jews and Benjamites and Levites were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar into Babylon and were now dismissed and sent back again by Cyrus After which as in the first year of Cyrus all the Israelites are said to have dwelt in their own Cities Ezra 2.70 So in the sixth year of Darius they are said to have been present at the dedication of the Temple and to have offered there twelve he-goats for the sin of all Israel Ezra 6.16 17. (c) And long after when Christ preached the Gospel in Galilee that Prophesie of Isaiah is said to have been fulfilled of the people of Zebulon and Naphtali who saw a great light Mat. 4.14 15 16. and Anna Luk. 2.76 is said to be of the Tribe of Aser To which we may add Act. 26.7 Unto which promise our twelve Tribes instantly serving God day and night hope to come Ezra 2. from 1 to 68. Nehem. 7. from 6 to 70. The chief men of their fathers families coming to Jerusalem to the place where the house of the Lord formerly stood offered every man according to his ability towards the restauration of the Temple making a treasure for the work to the sum of sixty one thousand drams of Gold (d) The quantity of a dram of gold is 6 s. 3 d. so that by this accompt 61 thousand drams amounts to 19 thousand 62 pounds 10 sh A pound of silver is counted 12 ounces which is 3 l. sterling so that 5000 pound of silver amounts to 15000 pound sterling and five thousand pound of silver and one hundred (e) Their care to provide these giveth evidence of their desire to have the worship of God duly performed That which is here in general noted concerning the gifts given for the house of the Lord is more particularly set down Neh. 7.70 71 72. but in Nehemiah there is less set down than in Ezra by 2400 for Ezra setteth down all that was given by any of any sort But Nehemiah no more than what was given by the Governor some of the chief Fathers and the rest of the people of Judah and Benjamin Priests garments (f) In Ezra are set down only one hundred Priests garments In Nehem. 7.70 71.530 Priests-garments and 67 more in all 527. 't is probable when they came to Jerusalem they observed more Priests than they thought would have come and thereupon the piety of many moved them to increase the number of Priests garments In Nehem. 7.70 mention is made of fifty Basons whereof no mention is made in Ezra And both Priests and Levites and the rest of the people dwelt every man in his own City that is in the Cities appointed for them by their present Governour Ezra 2.68 69 70. Nehem. 7. from 70 to the end On the first day of the seventh month of that year on the Feast of Trumpets the Israelites came all as one man out of their several Cities to Jerusalem and there Joshua and Zerubbabel and his brethren that is the Princes and chief men that were with him built the Altar upon the foundation where Solomons Altar was built and the reason they laid not a new foundation was because they feared if that business was not soon dispatched they should be hindered by the Samaritans their neighbours who already began to threaten them and bandy against them And this being done they every morning and evening offered the daily sacrifice unto God thereby testifying their piety and desire of reconciliation between God and them that so they might obtain his protection against their enemies And upon the fifteenth day of the same month they kept the feast of Tabernacles (g) With what extraordinary solemnity this Feast was afterwards kept we may see Neh. 8. from 13 to the end and offered the particular offerings that were every day of that feast to be offered up see Numb 29.12 c. And when the feast of Tabernacles was ended besides the continual burnt-offering which was every day morning and evening to be offered they celebrated the first day of every month and all the set feasts that were appointed by the Lord to be kept and offered on the Altar such freewill offerings as in testimony of any blessing received or deliverance vouchsafed from any danger were in thankfulness by any of the people offered to God And though the foundation of the Temple was not yet laid yet they would not forbear to perform such services to the Lord as might be done without a Temple Moreover they took care about providing Materials and Workmen for the building of the Temple giving money to Masons and Carpenters and meat and drink and oyl to the men of Tyre and Sidon who had Cedars in great plenty and great skill in squaring them agreeing with them to Bring Cedar-trees from Lebanon to the Port of Joppa for this service see 1 King 5.9 Ezra 3. from 1 to 8. In the second year after their return from Babylon in the second month they appointed Levites to oversee the building of the house of God and all things being prepared they appointed the Priests in their proper robes with Trumpets in their hands and the Levites the Sons of Asaph with Cymbals see 1 Chron. 15.24 to praise the Lord according to the Ordinance of David 1 Chron. 6.31 and they sang by course observing
men to constrain them by violence to leave off the work So by the malice of these wicked men the building of the Lords house was hindred till the second year of Darius Ezra 4. from 6 to the end Cambyses having reigned seven years died and Smerdis the Magus succeeded him who pretended himself to be Smerdis the younger Son of Cyrus who was privily murdered by Cambyses and reigned only seven months for being killed with the other Magi who had helped him into the Throne by some of the seven Princes of Persia Darius the Son of Histaspis was chosen Emperour by those Princes First year of Darius In the beginning of his reign he married Atossa the daughter of Cyrus who had been first married to her own brother Cambyses and after to the Magus purposing to establish the Kingdom to himself the better by matching into the Royal stock This is he that is called Ahasuerus in the story of Hester and is said to have reigned from India to Ethiopia over one hundred twenty and seven Provinces And this his chief wife Atossa seems to be the same that in the Book of Hester is called Vashti The second year of Darius In the second year of Darius Haggai the Prophet reproved the Jews for that they took care to build for themselves goodly and fair houses and to garnish them with ceiled work The Prophesie of HAGGAI but neglected the building of the Lords house under pretence that the time was not yet come wherein it should be built He declares to them that that long barrenness of the ground and other plagues which one after another fell upon them and Gods blowing upon all they had were all the effects and fruits of their great neglect of that work he earnestly therefore perswades them to mend that fault Whereupon Zerubbabel and Joshua took the work in hand afresh and provided materials necessary for the building on the 24th day of the same month Hag. Ch. 1. whole Chapter In the same year upon the one and twentieth day of the seventh month Haggai animated the Jews to go on with the work with a promise of Gods gracious presence with them and his blessing upon them in it And although the beginning of this present structure seemed mean and despicable in the eyes of such as had seen the glory of the former yet he tels them that if they considered that blessed and so much desired Messias the desire of all Nations should after a time honour that house with his presence they might well conclude that the glory of this latter house should be greater than of the former Hag. Ch. 2. from 1 to 10. The Prophesie of ZACHARY In the eighth month of the same second year of Darius Zacharias the Son of Barachias began to Prophesie and exhorted the people to repentance and not to tread in the steps of their impenitent forefathers He is now added to Haggai as his Coadjutor and Collegue in the Prophetick office Haggai began to Prophesie in the sixth Month and Zachary in the eighth they both carry on the same design viz. to encourage the Jews to build the Temple Zac. 1. from 1 to 7. Upon the 24th day of the ninth month of the same second year of Darius between seed-time and harvest the Temple began to be reared by Zerubbabel and Joshua the High-Priest with the assistance of Haggai and Zachary the Prophets upon the foundation which had been formerly laid For though they had been forbidden by Cambyses Ch. 4.12 21. from building the City yet there was no word in that Letter forbidding the building of the Temple and besides there being now a new King in Persia and of another family they knew not why they might not return afresh to their work having had Cyrus's grant at first for it Ezra Ch. 5. v. 1 2. Hag. Ch. 2. v. 18. Upon the same day the two last Prophesies of Haggai were revealed to him the one of the cessation of those plagues which hitherto had followed them * Hag. 2.19 From this day saith the Lord I will bless you the other of the subversion of sundry Kingdoms and the exaltation of Zerubbabel Hag. 2. from 18 to the end The Samaritans did not hinder the Jews whilst they were only building their own houses but no sooner did they set upon building of the Temple but again they banded together against them Accordingly Tatnai Governour of the Countries on this side the river and Setherboznai and the Apharsakites their Associates coming to Jerusalem endeavoured to hinder the Jews in the work of the Temple asking the chief of them by whose command they did it and enquired very diligently who were the principal agents therein But the Jews though they were at present a poor unsetled and friendless people yet were not scared hereat but encouraging themselves in the Lord they courageously answered them that they did it by virtue of Cyrus's command These enemies of the Jews hereupon wrote a Letter to Darius which spake after this manner Vnto Darius the King all peace and prosperity Be it known unto the King that we went into the Province of Judea and found the Jews very busie in building a Temple for God which they are building with great stones and the work goeth on apace and prospereth in their hands when we inquired by what authority they did it and who were the chief agents therein that we might certifie their names unto thee they returned us this answer We are the servants of the great God of heaven and earth and build again the house that was built many years ago by a great King of Israel viz. Solomon But after that our Fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath he gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed this house and carried the people away into Babylon But Cyrus in the first year of his Empire made a decree wherein he gave us liberty to rebuild the house of God in the place where it formerly stood and the vessels of gold and silver which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the former house of God in Jerusalem he delivered to Zerubbabel whom he made Governour over us to be carried back and that they should be kept safe till the new Temple was built and then they should be placed there for the use thereof And accordingly our Governour with the assistance of the Elders and Priests laid the foundation of this house in the second year of our return but it is not finished to this day The Samaritans tell the King that this was the ansâ—er the Jews gave them and therefore desire him that search may be made in the Kings Treasure-house at Babylon whither ever any such Grant was made by Cyrus and they request the King would please to send his further pleasure to them concerning that matter Upon the 24th day of the 11th month in the second year of Darius the Prophet Zachary had a vision of Horsemen that is Angels galloping up and
things shall go better with them At the evening time it shall be light he prophesies also that the Doctrine of Salvation shall spread to all parts of the world and that Christ shall be King over all the earth and shall be acknowledged as the only Saviour both by Jews and Gentiles and that his name only shall be preached invocated and worshipped and that Idols shall be rejected Further a particular promise is made of the exaltation restitution and safety of converted Israel v. 10 11. and sore judgments are threatned against the enemies of the Church viz. that they shall be cut off as by a consumption v. 12. by intestine discord v. 13. by the hand of the Church v. 14. and that the stroke should reach all those means they had imployed against the Church viz. their very beasts for carriage and service should share in the plague v. 15. Next there is a promise of the conversion of many of these enemies of the Church when they shall see Gods judgments on the rest and that they shall acknowledg Christ and joyn with the Church in this publick spiritual worship which is expressed in terms taken from the outward ceremonial worship of the old Testament v. 16. And if they did not God would impart none of his blessings to them but inflict a curse upon them v. 17 18 19. Lastly there is a promise of the holiness and purity of the Church in that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses holiness to the Lord that is all the superfluities of these new converts shall be turn'd into charity and so consecrated to God and they shall offer frequent sacrifices of thanksgiving described in a way of allusion to the ancient ceremonial service and that in the time of the Messiah no people or Nation shall be excluded from the worship of God for the Nations that were before unclean shall then be holy to the Lord. Chap. 14. whole Chapter Sixth year of Darius In the sixth year of Darius towards the latter end thereof on the third day of the twelfth Month called Adar was the structure of the Temple finished about twenty years after the foundation was laid The Dedication whereof the Israelites which returned out of the Captivity celebrated with great joy and abundance of Sacrifices though it was not to be compared to the magnificent dedication of Solomons Temple of which we read 1 King 8.5 v. 63. 2 Chron. 7.5 And they set the Priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses for the service of the Temple according as Moses had enjoyned Upon the 14th day of the first Month they and the proselytes that had joyned themselves to them celebrated the first Passover in the second Temple keeping also the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great joy for that God had turned the heart of the Emperour of Persia who was now also King of Assyria towards them whereas Cambyses's had been turned against them Ezra 6. from 19 to the end The seventh year of Darius In the seventh year of Ahashuerus's reign when Esther was brought unto the King she obtained favour in his eyes above all other damsels insomuch that he put the Crown of the Kingdom upon her head and made her Queen in the room of Vashti Esth 2. from 12 to 18. Ahashuerus in honour of his new Espousals made a most sumptuous feast for all his Princes and servants and called it Esther's feast at which he eased the Provinces of many Taxes and gave gifts answerable to the state and magnificence of so great a King Esth Ch. 2. v. 18. When there was a second gathering of Virgins possibly to chose some out of them to attend upon Queen Esther Mordecai was one of the Kings Porters and attended at the Gate of the Palace It so happened that two of the Kings Chamberlains being exceedingly offended as 't is probable at the Kings putting away of Vashti on whom as 't is like they had attended and at his taking of this new Queen who was crowned with so great solemnity they conspired to take away his life This as Josephus thinks was discovered to Mordecai by a Jew who was servant to one of them Mordecai immediately discovered it to the Queen and she to the King acquainting him that Mordecai had done him this faithful service that so she might bring him into his favour Inquisition being made about this matter and it being found to be true the Conspirators were both hanged and the thing was registred in the Book that continually lay before the King for him to read in at his pleasure Esth 2. from 19 to the end Sometime after as it seems Ahashuerus promoted Haman the Son of Amadetha of the Royal stock of Agag King of the Amalekites who were ever bitter enemies to the Jews as may appear Deut. 25.17 19. and advanced him above all his Princes and commanded his servants to bow unto him and do him more than ordinary reverence Mordecai was not satisfied in conscience to pay him that respect because he was a professed enemy of Gods people and withal one of that accursed Nation against whom the Jews were by the Law bound to oppose themselves in perpetual enmity Exod. 17.16 The Apocryphal Additions of Esther do assign this as the true reason of Mordecai's refusal whom they bring in saying thus Chap. 13.12 13 14. O Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that it was neither in contempt nor pride nor for any desire of glory that I did not bow down to proud Haman I could have been content with good will for the salvation of Israel to have kissed the soles of his feet but I did this that I might not prefer the glory of man above the glory of God So far that Author But however it was Haman was desperately enraged at it yet thought it a mean revenge for him to destroy Mordecai alone and therefore resolved for his sake to be reveng'd on all his Nation and if possible to root it quite it out And for the better executing of this his bloody purpose that he might find out the most lucky and successful time as he superstitiously thought for the accomplishing of it on the first month Nisan in the twelfth year of Ahashuerus about four years after Esther was married to him he caused Pur that is a lot to be cast before him which was a kind of divination used in those times to find out what month and day would be most lucky for the accomplishing his intended revenge And the lot fell upon the twelfth and last month of the year and the thirteenth day of it And thus by the Providence of God over-ruling the superstition of this wretch a way was made for the preservation of the Jews as we shall see afterwards Haman having found out the lucky time as he thought for the accomplishing his wicked intent he comes now to the King to get leave and authority from him to put it
in execution he tells him there were a certain people scattered * For though some were returned out of captivity into the land of Judah yet many of them especially of the Ten Tribes did remain dispersed here and there not embracing the liberty proffered them up and down his dominions whose laws were diverse from the laws of his Kingdom and who observ'd not his laws 'T is true in matters of divine worship they did not observe them nor could they do it with a good conscience but otherwise they did observe the laws of the land as which concerned the peace and tranquility thereof See Jer. 29.7 Haman further suggests that it was not for the Kings profit to suffer those Jews to live among his own subjects lest they should draw them from their obedience to him Therefore he intreats the King that his subjects among whom the Jews lived might fall upon them and destroy them And whereas it might be objected that the Jews paid a great tribute which the King would lose if they were destroyed therefore in recompence of that loss he proffers to pay ten thousand talents of silver himself into the hands of the Kings receivers Haman had at this time such an ascendent over the King being his chief favourite that he took off his ring from his hand and gave it unto him therewith impowering him to seal what decree he thought fit to make touching this matter and as for the money he proffered the King bad him keep it to himself telling him that that sum was freely given to him and the people of the Jews also to do with them what seemed good unto him 'T is like the King did not yet understand that his Queen was of the Jewish Nation for that Mordecai advised her to conceal So on the 13th day of the first month the Kings Secretaries were called and the decree concerning the destruction of the Jews was written and sealed and Haman took care to have it presently published and sent to all the Lord Lieutenants and Governours of Provinces authorizing them that they should destroy and kill all the Jews both young and old little children and women in one day viz. the 13th of the last or twelfth month and to take the spoil of them to themselves for a prey And 't is like Haman did expedite the sending out of this decree lest the King by the counsel of others or from some relenting in himself or by some means or other should alter his mind The bloody decree being sent forth the King and Haman sit down to drink so far were they from any remorse or touch of conscience for what they had done but the inhabitants of the City of Shushan were greatly perplexed at it Chap. 3. whole Chapter Mordecai understanding what was done rent his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes on his head and went into the midst of the City and cried with a loud and bitter cry and in this mournful posture came before the Kings Gate for into it clothed with sackcloth he might not enter the Persian Kings not allowing their Court-pleasures to be interrupted with any thing that had an appearance of sorrow or sadness And in every Province where the decree came there was great mourning among the Jews and fasting weeping and wailing and many lay in sackcloth and ashes Queen Esther understanding the great mourning of Mordecai and his being in sackcloth was much surprized at it and sent to know the reason of it and withal sent him new raiment to cloth him but that raiment being unsuitable to his present condition he would not receive it Mordecai coming to her informed her what Haman had done and what a sum of money he had proffered to the King for liberty to destroy the Jews and what a decree he had obtained of him for their destruction And soon after he sent her a copy of that bloody decree and charged her to go to the King to make supplication to him for her people He now thought it necessary she should make known to him of what stock and Nation she was though before he thought it not convenient that she should do it The Queen sends him word that he could not be ignorant that whosoever whither man or woman came unto the King into the inner Court where was his apartment without being called for was to be put to death except the King shall of his Royal favour hold out his golden scepter to them And she had not been called to come unto the King these thirty days last past and therefore she did not know whither the Kings affection towards her might not be somewhat abated and if so her going to him uncalled might be very hazardous to her But Mordecai the people of God being in so great danger would accept of no excuse but sent her word that she her self must not think to escape more than the rest of the Jews the Kings house could be no protection to her against this bloody decree and Hamans malice For the decree being general against all the Jews without any exception it might reach her as well as others He further tells her that if she altogether held her peace at such a time as this and would not venture her self when all her people were in such extream danger he doubted not but deliverance would arise to them from another place and some other way but as for her and such of her kindred as were about her he believed they would be destroyed for their faint heartedness and cowardize and not affording what help they could to the people of God in their great extremity And lastly he tells her that she should consider that possibly she came to the Kingdom for such a time as this and that the preservation of Gods people was the end God aimed at in advancing her to be Queen Mordecai's words wrought so powerfully on Esther that she resolved to do what he required yet like a pious and prudent Lady she resolved first to use due means for the obtaining the blessing of God upon her endeavours and to that purpose she sends to all the Jews in Shushan desiring them to keep a solemn fast three days together and neither to eat (a) That is not to take their ordinary repasts but to eat sparingly and to afflict their souls by true repentance and humiliation nor drink night nor day and earnestly to seek to the Lord for her And says she I and my maids (b) 'T is like her maids were Jews or such as she had instructed in the true Religion will fast also and so I will go unto the King though it be not according to law and if I perish I perish (c) That is I will embrace my death quietly and contentedly seeing I could not avoid it without failing in my duty Mordecai and the Jews at Shushan did as Esther desired Esth Ch. 4. whole Chapter This being done Queen Esther on the third day having put on her
purple and the inhabitants of Shushan not only Jews but many others also greatly rejoyced at this change of affairs The Jews had now light and gladness joy and honour most men having them in high esteem and account And in all the Provinces and Cities where this new decree came they greatly rejoiced and feasted together and kept a good day And many of the people of the land became Proselytes and embraced the Jewish Religion seeing the wonders God had done for his people and God struck the hearts of the Heathen with such a fear of the Jews that they durst not execute Hamans Edict against them Esther Chap. 8. In the next place we come to describe the full deliverance of the Jews and the destruction of their enemies and how they exprest their thankfulness for so great a mercy The 13th day of the month Adar being come the enemies of the Jews hoped to have had power over them but it turned quite contrary through the gracious Providence of God and the assistance which the Rulers of Provinces afforded the Jews through the dread they had of Mordecai the new and great favourite and through the fear that seized on the hearts of such as bore them ill will For the Jews in all the Provinces gathered themselves together to resist those that sought their hurt and none of them could stand before them In Shushan some of Hamans faction combined together to revenge his death being possibly put on by his ten Sons but they being suddenly daunted the Jews slew of them five hundred and among them Hamans ten Sons but on the spoil though the King permitted it they laid not their hands to shew that what they did was not out of covetousness but for their own defence The number of those that were slain in Shushan by the Jews was that day brought to the King and he acquaints the Queen with it himself knowing it would be acceptable news to her And says he if they have slain so many in Shushan what have they done in the rest of my dominions Thou seest what I have done for thee and yet I am ready to do more therefore tell me what thou dost further desire of me Esther replied If it please the King let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do to morrow also according to what thy decree allows them to do this day For though 500 were slain in the City yet she understood as it seems that many had escaped who bare a deadly hatred to the Jews and might seek an opportunity another time to be revenged on them for the death of Haman and his Sons therefore to prevent that mischief she desires leave for the Jews to destroy such of their enemies as had escaped She further desires that the bodies of Hamans ten Sons that had been newly slain by the Jews might be hanged on the same Gallows that Haman himself was hanged for their greater reproach and for terror to others The King consented to both her desires and so Hamans ten Sons were accordingly hanged on the same Gallows and the Jews in Shushan gathered themselves together on the 14th day of Adar and slew 300 more of their enemies in that City but on the prey they laid not their hands The Jews also in the other Provinces gathered themselves together on the 13th day of Adar and slew their enemies that assaulted them and then rested and kept a day of feasting and rejoycing on the 14th day whereas those at Shushan slew their enemies both on the 13th and 14th days and so kept not their day of feasting till the 15th day And Mordecai wrote * V. 20. And Mordecai wrote these things c. It may possibly be extended to the whole Book of Esther of which Mordecai in probability was the Penman unto the Jews scattered abroad in all the Provinces and gave them an account concerning the two days which the Jews at Shushan had spent in destroying their enemies and shewed them that that was the reason of their keeping the 15th day as a day of feasting So that though for this time the Jews in the Country kept the 14th day and those at Shushan the 15th day yet in succeeding time year after year Mordecai orders them all to keep both days shewing them that they ought to rejoyce in one anothers welfare and to keep both days as days wherein the Lord gave them rest from their enemies and to remember that month above all months wherein their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into gladness and that they should constantly observe them year after year as days of feasting and rejoycing and of sending portions one to another and gifts to the poor and that they should keep those feasts in remembrance of Purim or the lots that were cast for their destruction and fell in that month and how God turned those lots or divinations to contrary issues and made them vain The Jews accordingly as well for the words of Mordecai's letter as also for what they had seen of those things with their own eyes and what had been related to them by others as of Hamans casting lots c. they ordained it for a law and engaged for themselves and their children and such proselytes as should joyn themselves to them that they would keep those two days yearly according to the writing they had received from Mordecai which was registred And lest they should not hold on in their yearly observing this feast Queen Esther and Mordecai wrote a second letter to enjoyn the continuance of this anniversary feast and authoritatively to press upon them the observance of it And in thesâ— letters he enjoyned them to live peaceably among themselves and with others also and to hold fast to the truth Those days therefore were first enjoyned and afterwards the observance of them confirmed by Esther and Mordecai as the Jews had formerly decreed for themselves and for their seed the matter of the fastings and their cry that is to keep certain days of publick humiliation with fasting and prayer in remembrance of the desolation of Jerusalem and burning of the Temple of which fasts the Prophet Zachary speaks Ch. 7.5 Esther Chap. 9. Ahashuerus now laid a tribute upon all parts both Continent and Islands that were under his dominion which is here set down as an evidence of the good offices that Mordecai did for the Jews for whom he got an exemption as it seems from this tribute so that he sought the weal of his people neither did his greatness though advanced to be the next man to Ahashuerus make him forget them but he was always ready to speak to the King for them and to do whatever might be for their peace and welfare Esther Ch. 10. Ahashuerus having reigned thirty six years dies and leaves the Empire to his Son Zerxes the fourth King of Persia after Cyrus who trusting in his riches as they were indeed exceeding great stirred up his own subjects
some of the Rulers of the people some pious and prudent men be appointed to sit daily here in Jerusalem for the hearing of this business and to take cognizance who they are that have married strange wives viz. such as have not imbraced the faith of Israel or that since their marriage have relapsed to Idolatry and let those that are found guilty herein in every City be brought hither in their turns to appear before these Elders and let the chief men in every City testifie against them if they have found them guilty and so let the business be dispatched first with one City and then with another until at length all the strange wives be put away that so the fierce wrath of our God may be turned from us Hereupon four men being chosen viz. two Priests and two Levites to set forward this business the children of the captivity agreed that the forementioned course should be taken And Ezra with certain chief of the Fathers were chosen and set apart to that great work and began it on the first day of the tenth month and made an end of it on the first day of the first month and so were three whole months about it And upon examination even among the Sons of the Priests who should have known and practised better things there were found some who had taken strange wives yea some of the Sons of Joshua the good high Priest who assisted Zerubbabel were guilty in this matter and divers of their brethren in that function also They being found guilty offered a ram of the flock for their transgression and gave their hands that they would put away their Idolatrous wives And 't is like many others whose names are there recorded did the same though it be not here expressed And some of the Levites who ministred to the Priests and some of the Singers and Porters were also guilty herein and put away their Idolatrous wives yea though they had children by them Ezra Ch. 10. from 6 to the end We are now come to the Book of Nehemiah As in the Book of Ezra we had a relation of the building of the Temple by Zerubbabel and of reforming Religion by Ezra so in this we have a relation of the building of the City and the walls thereof and setling the Commonwealth and redressing many disorders by Nehemiah who came to Jerusalem thirteen years after Ezra's first coming thither In the 20th year of Artaxerxes in the ninth month answering to part of our November and part of our December Hanani and some other Jews came to Nehemiah who was one of the Kings Cup-bearers being then at Shushan the Winter-mansion of the Persian Monarchs and acquainted him that those that were left of the Captivity in the Province of Judah were under great affliction and reproach and that their neighbours round about them did exceedingly despise and wrong them and that which encouraged them the more in those insolences was because the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and the gates thereof burnt with fire by Nebuchadnezzar and so they continued still So that the Jews were disabled to defend themselves against their enemies Nehemiah was so affected herewith that he sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed prostrating himself before the God of heaven with his face towards the Temple the place of Gods presence see 1 King 8.44 and he said O Lord God of Heaven the great and terrible God that keepeth Covenant and mercy for them that love thee and keep thy Commandments let thine ears be attentive to the prayer of thy servant which I make before thee day and night for the children of Israel and wherein I confess and humbly bewail our sins which we have committed against thee Both I and my Fathers have sin'd against thee and dealt very corruptly and have not kept either the moral ceremonial or judicial laws which thou gavest us Yet remember I pray thee the word thou spakest by thy servant Moses Deut. 4.25 saying if you transgress I will scatter you abroad among the Nations but if ye turn unto me and keep my Commandments and do them though you were scattered to the remotest parts of the earth yet thence will I gather you and bring you to the place that I have chosen to put my name there Now O Lord we are thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand Therefore I beseech thee let thine ear be attentive to the prayer of me thy servant and to the prayer of thy servants that desire to fear thy name and prosper me and grant me favour and mercy in the sight of the King to whom I intend to address my self that he may grant the request that I shall make to him Nehem. Chap. 1. About four months after when the time came that Nehemiah in his course was to attend upon the King and to minister to him as his Cup-bearer both King and Queen took notice of his sorrowful and dejected looks The King asked him the reason of it Nehemiah replied Let the King live for ever * That is very long an usual salutation given to Kings See 1 King 1.1.31 Dan. 6.21 There is reason my countenance should be sad when the City the place of my fathers sepulchres where my ancestors lived and died lyeth waste and the gates thereof being formerly consumed with fire are not repaired The King asked him what he desired of him Nehemiah lifting up his heart to God in a fervent Ejaculation (b) The Ejaculation of the heart may be as fervent and as prevalent as a solemn prayer uttered with the mouth witness that of Moses Exod. 14.15 to which God made this answer Why criest thou unto me yet no words of prayer were then uttered by Moses This frequently and heartily used argueth an heavenly mind and 't is one way whereby we may pray always or con inually that is at all times and in all places and on all occasions that he would please to direct him rightly to order his petition to the King and incline the Kings heart to grant it said If it please the King and thy servant hath found favour in thy sight I pray thee that thou wouldst send me to Jerusalem the City of my Fathers sepulchers that I may build it The King said how long wilt thou be absent and when wilt thou return Nehemiah set him a time which it's like was not long and at that time did accordingly return but from this time forward it seems he continued Governour of Judea under the King for the space of twelve years or more during which time 't is probable he often went into Persia to wait upon the King The King graciously granting his request he then humbly besought him that he might have letters to the Governours beyond the river to conduct him (c) This Ezra would not desire when he went to Jerusalem because he had occasionally spoken to the King of
it And because they could not all conveniently hear Ezra they divided themselves into several companies and in each of them there were Pulpits or Scaffolds erected as may be gathered from Ch. 9.4 from whence they expounded the Law unto them there being several teachers in each place that successively discharged that work And in these holy exercises and duties they continued from morning till noon viz. about five or six hours The people were exceedingly affected at the hearing of the Law expounded to them being thereby convinced of their sins and their liableness to the dreadful judgments of God for them and fell a weeping and wept very sore but Nehemiah the Tirshatha or Governour and Ezra the Priest and those Levites that instructed the people comforted and encouraged them telling them that God was merciful to the penitent and that that was a day holy to the Lord their God and therefore on that day they should rejoyce and not mourn and weep So Nehemiah dismissed them and bad them go their way and eat the fat and drink the sweet that is feast together with their peace-offerings and send portions to them for whom nothing is provided see Deut. 16.14 for this day says he is holy unto the Lord our God neither be ye sorry for the joy of the Lord is your strength that is the Lord would have you rejoyce in his goodness and manifold mercies which he has conferred on you and does still continue to you and thereby to comfort your hearts So the people were quieted understanding Gods readiness to forgive them upon their repentance and went and did as Nehemiah directed them Nehem. 8. from 1 to 13. Upon the second day of the same month Ezra was consulted by the Elders of the Families and by the Priests and Levites concerning certain doubts arising upon the reading of the Law the day before and particularly concerning the Feast of Tabernacles whereof as it seems Ezra had purposely spoken to instruct the people about it because that Feast was now at hand Whereupon Ezra shewed them that they were bound to keep that Feast on the 15th day of the seventh month abroad and in booths made of boughs of trees according to the Law Levit. 23.34 v. 40. The people yielded a ready obedience hereunto and accordingly went forth and fetcht in Olive-branches and Pine-branches and Mirtle-branches and Palm-branches and branches of thick trees and made themselves booths upon the roof of their houses and in their Courts and in the Courts of the house of God and in the streets all over the City from one end of it to another and sat under their booths to eat their meat and take their rest and there was great joy and gladness among them so that from the days of Joshua until this time the children of Israel had not kept this Feast * They kept this Feast Ezr. 3.4 1 King 8.65 and at sundry other times with so much devotion and solemnity as now they did for the Law required that only the first and last day of the Feast should be more solemn convocations Levit. 23.35 36. and great holy days whereon they might do no work and their manner it seems had been to assemble the people and on those days only to read the word and though on other days they were to offer sacrifices yet they might therein do the works of their particular callings but such was Ezra's zeal that he did now on every day of the Feast read the Book of the Law and expound it to them and as he was willing to preach so they were willing to hear every day And they kept the eighth day also as a solemn assembly according to the manner which God had enjoyned and his people from time to time had practised On that day they used to beg the pardon of all their sins and failings and to crave a blessing also from the Lord upon themselves and their families for the future Nehem. 8. from 13 to the end The Jews having been so careful according to the Law to keep the Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the month and the Feast of Tabernacles on the 15th 't is likely they omitted not to keep the tenth day which was the day of atonement whereon they were to afflict their souls very solemnly But yet having heard the Law day by day all the Feast of Tabernacles expounded to them Ch. 8.18 and finding thereby how grievously they had sinned and how far short they still were of what God required of them they resolved now to keep a solemn Fast before this great Assembly now gathered together departed to their own houses And accordingly on the 24th of this month they again assembled to keep a solemn fast and to renew their Covenant with God It seems they had not performed what they so solemnly covenanted Ezra 10.3 But by hearing the Law so plainly expounded to them they came to understand how great a sin their taking and living with strange wives was and what great judgments they were liable unto by reason thereof And being deeply priced in their hearts for the same they humbled themselves before the Lord and testified their humiliation by fasting and putting on sackcloth and earth upon their heads thereby acknowledging that they were more worthy to be under the earth than above it And they separated themselves from their strange wives and the children they had by them as also from such strangers as had mixed themselves with them and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers who had given them such an ill example The people stood up in their several places of meeting and being divided as it seems into eight several congregations accordingly eight Levites stood up each of them upon a Scaffold or Pulpit erected for them and the day among the Jews consisting of twelve hours or four Trihoria the first three hours were allotted for the morning sacrifice and the three last for the evening-sacrifice and the other two fourth parts were thus imploy'd one fourth-part the Priests and Levites read in the Law of God and another fourth-part prayed and praised God Thus they continued in these holy exercises from morning to evening The Priests standing upon their several Scaffolds cried unto the Lord with fervency of spirit and extention of voice And they stirred up the people to bless the Lord who liveth for ever and ever going before them in such words as these Blessed be thy glorious name O Lord which is exalted above all blessing and praise and is so high and glorious that we cannot sufficiently praise the same The eight Levites before mentioned had their several companies before whom they prayed and read and expounded the Law But 't is like Ezra did all this before the heads and Governours and other chief men of Judah and that he made the prayer following before them for all that congregation could not hear one man together at one time In this
may do him good And all the Congregation said Amen and praised the Lord that the offenders were brought to see their sin and to reform and that hereby the oppressed were relieved Moreover Nehemiah that he might convince them how unreasonable it was for the richer sort to exact thus upon the poorer he tells them that since the time he was first appointed by Artaxerxes to be their Governour which was now twelve years he and his family had not eaten the bread of the Governour that is the allowance of bread and other provisions which had been usually paid by the people for the Governours maintenance but had lived wholly upon his own estate which the former Governours that had been before him had not done but had been chargeable to the people and had taken of them a certain quantity of bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver or 5 l. a day yea even their servants bear rule over the people and exacted of them what they pleased but he did not so because of the fear of the Lord that ruled in his heart Yea when the wall of this City was building he was continually imployed in the oversight of the work and was still with the workmen to direct and encourage them yea his servants were imployed also where most need was to help in the work yet he had no allowance for this And further though the people being many of them much indebted he might have had great bargains of them yet he bought no land which might convince them that he sought not to advance himself but sought only their good Furthermore he shews them that there were usually at his Table an hundred and fifty of the Jews besides strangers and his daily provisions were one ox six choice sheep and variety of fowls and besides this his ordinary and daily provision every tenth day he feasted them more liberally and gave them store of all sorts of wine (d) Magnificus ergo erat Nehemias Et hinc colligo eum non fuisse in civitate totos 12 annos Quomodo enim tam diu sustinuisset hos sumptus Sanctius Which he mentions not out of vanity but to shew them that yet for all this he required not the allowance that the former Governours had because he would not add to the peoples burdens which he knew were very heavy And doing what he did with an eye to Gods glory he humbly implores the Lord to think upon him for good according to all that he had done for that people Not that he thought that he thereby merited at the hands of God but because God had graciously promised to reward whatsoever good is done unto his people Nehem. Ch. 5. whole Chapter He comes now to reform the enormities that were crept in among them in matters of Religion In Chap. 9. 2. we read that the children of Israel had humbled themselves for their former sins and had separated themselves from all strangers viz. from their strange wives and the children born of them as also such strangers that were Idolaters and had mixed themselves with them but now they had relapsed into the same evils * We see how prone men are to relapse and revolt from good purposes promises vows and Covenants yea and beginnings of reformation See Chap. 10.30 again which Nehemiah understanding he causes the Book of the Law to be read and expounded to them again there being no better way to convince a sinner of his sins than by the word of God In that Book it was written that the Ammonites and Moabites viz. such as retained their Idolatrous principles and practices should not come into the Congregation †Deut. 23.34 that is into their civil assemblies to partake of their offices and priviledges for ever that is so long as the Politie of the Jews remained because they met not the children of Israel with bread and water when they had fought against the Kings of the Ammorites and had destroyed them but hired Balaam against them that he should curse them though God turned his curse into a blessing This passage concerning the Ammonites and Moabites seems here alledged rather than any other because it did so expresly discover the great sin of Eliashib mentioned afterwards in joyning himself in affinity with Tobiah who is often called the servant of the Ammonites Now when the people heard these words of the Law they separated such strangers from them as had been unduly joyned to them whither strange husbands or strange wives or strange children even all those with whom God had forbidden them to have communion or society V. 4. Chamber is indefinitely taken for all the Chambers But sometime before this Eliashib the Priest who had the oversight of the Chambers of the House of God was allied unto Tobiah Eliashib's son having married the daughter of Tobiah and he made ready and furnisht for this his friend and allie Tobiah the Ammonite a great Chamber even in the Chambers of the Temple where aforetime they laid the meal and flower and frankincense and some vessels belonging to the Temple and several sorts of Tythes c. which was done it seems by laying many Chambers into one the partitions being taken down see v. 9. Nehemiah understanding this was greatly grieved at this strange miscarriage of the high Priest it being very dishonourable to God and immediately cast out all the houshold-stuff of Tobiah out of the Chamber with indignation and caused the Levites to cleanse the Chambers possibly by sprinkling them with the water of purifying because they had been polluted and profaned by the lodging of strangers therein that were not of the seed of Israel and he brought thither again the vessels of the house of God and such things as had been before remov'd from thence Nehemiah also understood that the portion of the Levites had not of late been paid them though the people had not long before bound themselves by covenant with God to do it Ch. 10. 35. Yet it seems out of indignation against Eliashib for lodging Tobiah in the Treasuries of the Temple and because they feared thereupon that what they brought thither would be diverted another way and not employed as it ought they forbare to bring in the Levites portions as they had formerly done Then Nehemiah contended with the Rulers and Governours who had before made a solemn Covenant Chap. 10. 39. that they would not forsake the house of God therefore he upbraids them with their own words and condemns them out of their own mouths asking them why is the house of God forsaken that is why did they withdraw maintenance from the Ministers of Gods worship and so in effect hinder the worship it self Then he prays to the Lord to remember him concerning this and not to wipe out his good deeds that he had done for the house of God and for the offices thereof and to procure that his holy ordinances should be duly observed Nehemiah also at that time
found some treading wine-presses on the Sabbath-day and bringing in sheaves and wine and grapes and figs and all manner of burdens into Jerusalem on that day and he testified his dispeasure against them as also against those that sold victuals on the Sabbath-days He understood also that some of Tyre brought fish and other wares to sell on the Sabbath-days and that in Jerusalem it self he chides the Nobles and Rulers of Judah for permitting these things and suffering the Sabbath to be so prophaned Did not your fathers says he do thus and did not God for these sins * See Jer. 17.27 among others bring the captivity upon us And for you to return to the same sins for which such judgments have been executed is the way to incense God the more against you and to pull down the heaviest judgments upon you Therefore to redress this great evil on the evening before the Sabbath when it began to be dark at which time the Sabbath began †Levit. 23.32 he commanded the gates to be shut and that they should not be opened that is set wide open that all might have egress and regress as on other days till the Sabbath was ended and set some of his servants at the Gate that there should be no burden brought in on the Sabbath-day So the Merchants and sellers of all kind of wares lodged once or twice without Jerusalem and he testified against them and asked them why they lodged about the wall so that the Jews that dwelt about the wall might be tempted to buy of them on the Sabbath-day He tells them that if they did so again he would lay hands on them and cast them into prison Hereupon from thence forward they came no more on the sabbath-Sabbath-day Further he commanded the Levites that they should sanctifie themselves and keep the gates of the house of God that no unclean persons might enter into them in that great concourse of people that resorted to them on the sabbath-Sabbath-days He desires the Lord also to remember him concerning this and to spare him according to the greatness of his mercy He saw also some that had married wives of Ashdod of Ammon and of Moab and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod and could not speak in the Jews language but according to the language of those people so that they had a mixture of the manners as well as of the language of their heathen mothers And he contended and highly expostulated with them and reviled them and caused some of them that were most obstinate to be beaten according to the Law Deuteron 25.2 and commanded those that were to beat them to pluck off their hair and made them sware * So they had sworn before Ch. 10.29 30. by God that they should not for the future make interchangeable marriages with them He asks them whither Solomon did not sin by these things yet among many Nations there was no King like him who was beloved of his God and God made him King over all Israel nevertheless even him did outlandish women seduce and cause to sin Is it fit therefore says he that we should yield to you in this matter and suffer you to do the like even to marry strange wives you being more liable to be seduced than wise Solomon was He found also that one of the Grand-children of Joiada whose name was Manasses as Josephus reports and brother to Jaddua the high Priest had married the daughter of Sanballat and was not willing to put her away whereupon he caused him to be excommunicated and banished from among them * But that he might not turn away his wife which either he must do or be turned out of his Priesthood his Father-in-law Sanballat undertook to build a Temple on Mount Gerizzim hard by the City Sichem wherein Manasses should be the chief Priest which he accordingly did and many other Priests and Israelites that had married strange wives resorted to him and hereupon there grew a deadly feud between the Samaritans and Jews which lasted to our Saviours times See Job 4 20. Hereupon he desires the Lord to remember those men and to punish them who had defiled the Priesthood by such unlawful marriages and that more special and strict Covenant that God had made with Aaron and his seed together with the Levites concerning their holy function see Levit. 21.6 7. and Numb 25.12 13. Thus Nehemiah cleansed all Priests and Levites from all strangers that is forced them to put away their strange wives and such children as they had by them or else forced them to leave the Temple and the land Further he appointed such courses of the Priests and Levites as David had formerly appointed 1 Chron. 23.24 c. and ordered that every one should do the work of his own place and function and took care about the wood-offering and the first-fruits of which before Chap. 10.34 35. He closes the whole Book with this Prayer Remember me O my God for good Nehem. Ch. 13. whole Chapter The Prophet MALACHI the last of all the Prophets seems to have been Contemporary with Nehemiah The Prophesie of MALACHI For he no where exhorts the people to the building of the Temple as Haggai and Zachary had done He reproves those disorders that Nehemiah in the last Chapter of his Book saith he found in his absence to be crept in among the Jews as particularly marriage with strange women Chap. 2. 11. with-holding Tythes Chap. 3. 8. and corruptions in the worship of God Chap. 1. 13. and Chap. 2. 8. His Prophesie is call'd The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of Malachi Who ever he was his Prophesie is authentick and the authority thereof notably confirm'd by being so often alledged in the New Testament as in Mat. 11.10 Mark 1.2 Luk. 1.16 17. The occasion and scope of it was this The Jews being newly return'd from Captivity did for a while heartily serve God they built the Altar laid the foundation of the Temple but then for a good while the work ceased partly through the opposition of the Samaritans and partly through their own sluggishness till Haggai and Zachary stirring them up and Darius encouraging them they finished it and set up the worship of God therein aright but after relapsed to corruption and hypocrisie in Gods worship and to loosness in their lives by mixt marriages adultery divorces polygamies and other enormities Hereupon God raised up this Prophet who by his Ministry endeavours to reclaim them and to reform those corruptions In this his Prophetick Sermon he proceeds much in the way of Dialogue In it we may observe two parts 1. A Reproof 2. The effect of it In his Reproof we may take notice of these particulars 1. He aggravates the ungrateful wickedness of the Jews from Gods singular love in electing them in Jacob to be his people and making a Covenant with them when he rejected the Edomites in
from Disobedience thereunto 1. The Precept Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain or as some render it Thou shalt not bring the Name of the Lord thy God to a vanity or to a lye (a) So the word Shaveh frequently signifies see Lev. 19.12 or thou shalt not swear in the Name of God to a falsehood Our Saviour Himself Math. 5.33 seems to point at this Law when He says Ye have heard it was said to the Ancients Thou shalt not forswear thy self So that the prime intent of this Law seems to be to prohibit Perjury that is invoking God or attesting God to a lye and appealing to him as a Witness and Judge that what we assert is true when we know it is not And it seems also to injoyn that in promisory Oaths what we promise or covenant in the Name of God we should sincerely intend to perform and not deal falsly therein as those do who never intend to perform what they promise Swearing * Of Swearing see more in the first Chapter of the second part of the Supplement to Knowledge and Practice is in its own nature imediately an act of Religion and importeth a firm belief and perswasion of God's chief Attributes and Prerogatives viz. of his Omnipresence and Omniscience extending to the knowledge of our most inward thoughts and secret purposes of his Justice in maintaining Truth and Right and avenging Iniquity and Falsehood He therefore that knowingly and willingly is guilty of Perjury seems to despise the Justice of God and to defie his Vengeance This seems to be the first and direct meaning of this Law But it may be extended further so as to prohibite all light and vain swearing in ordinary Communication all irreverent unnecessary using and introducing the great and dreadful Name of God which we should not without great awe of spirit and high veneration ever mention or speak of 'T is an argument therefore of horrible Impiety and Prophaneness without any Reason or Temptation without any Profit or Pleasure arising thence to abuse the glorious Name of God and lightly to toss it in our mouths and so to provoke his dreadful Vengeance who will in no wise hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain IV. Commandment Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy c. GOd ushers in this Precept above all the rest with a Remember intimating how much it importeth man to observe it (b) The Sabbath was a sign of the Covenant that God made with that people Exod. 31.16 17. The Jews so highly valued this Precept that it was a saying among them The Sabbath weigheth against all the Commandments (c) In the Learned Dr. Barrow's Exposition of the Decalogue Because if the Sabbath be duly and carefully observed all the rest of the Commandments will be made known and frequently inculcated upon the people and so the right Observance of this one Precept will tend to procure all the rest to be observed This Commandment as some observe is Morale positivum that is somethings commanded in it are naturally moral and have an innate rectitude in them arising from the nature of the things themselves and some are only positively moral and have their obligation only from the positive sanction of the Lawgiver As particularly To contemplate with a grateful and joful (d) Et haec causa est Cur ab Ecclesia Vetustissima introductus mos fuit ne Sabbato jejunaretur quod laetitiae is esset dies Grotius in Explicatione Decalogi sense God's glorious Work of Creation wherein his Goodness Wisdom and Power are so illustriously displayed wherein so great Accommodations and Benefits are generally dispensed to all the Creatures and to Mankind more especially To remember God's Favours and gracious Providences over our selves our Relations our Country as the Israelites were bound more especially to remember their great and remarkable Deliverance out of Egypt To allot some competent time seriously to attend to the great concernments of our Souls and not to spend our selves and all our time in perpetual carking and labouring about affairs that concern only our Bodies and this present life To set some time apart wherein God our Creator should be solemnly and publickly worshipped by those that own Him for their God and live in a Vicinity and Neighbourhood together To give some time of rest relaxation and refreshment to our Servants and those whom Providence hath disposed into that mean Condition to minister to us that their lives may not by incessant labour be grievous to them but that they may with some comfort serve us and that they may have convenient leisure also to serve God and mind the welfare of their Souls To shew some mercy and pitty even to the poor Beasts that labour for us allowing them some ease and rest from their painful Drudgeries in our Service These are all of them things very reasonable and there seems to be an obligation to them dictated by natural light and grounded in the very nature of the things themselves And Reason must needs approve of them as Duties of Piety Justice and Humanity But now as to the determination of the proportion or quantity of time that should be allotted for these Duties and that the Seventh day or one day in seven should be particularly assigned for these purposes and that a cessation from labour both of Man and Beast should be so strictly injoyned except in cases of necessity or mercy this can be resolved into no other ground than the Will and pleasure of the Lawgiver who saw what was most needful and convenient for man and fit to be injoyn'd him It would not therefore be for the good of the World or the benefit of Mankind to be dispensed with as to the observation of the Sabbath or those fore-mentioned Duties We may also further take notice of the reason which the Lord is pleased to give why He did especially choose this Day * Ut perpetua ejus observatione imprimeretur omnium animis firma notitia mundum non ab aeterno fuisse quae ad impietatem via est sed a Deo conditum Grotius in Explic. Decalog to bless and sanctifie it and appoint it to be set apart for his own Service namely because He himself rested on that day and was refreshed as 't is expressed Exod. 31.17 which is spoken of God after the manner of men that we might be more apprehensive of his Rest for our imitation And that this very time might instruct and excite us gratefully and religiously to meditate on the great and glorious Structure of the World But from our Saviour's Resurrection the day was changed to the first day of the Week in Commemoration that he had finished the great Work of our Redemption on that day And so though not the same day yet the same proportion of time is still to be observed by us Christians (e) See more of this Subject in Knowledge and
of the Giant Rapha Jonathan the son of Shimea called Shammah 1 Sam. 16.9 slew this vast Giant These four fell by the hands of David and his servants For though David did not kill any of them himself yet their death is ascrib'd to him as well as to his Captains because they fought in his quarrel and under his command 2 Sam. Ch. 21. from v. 15 to the end 1 Chron. Ch. 20. from v. 4 to the end SECT CC. DAvid being now delivered from all his enemies on every side both within and without his Kingdom and calling to mind Gods wonderful mercies to him he in a grateful remembrance of them composed a Triumphant Song or Psalm of Thanksgiving that God might have the glory of all that he had done for him This Song is the same for substance with the 18th Psalm only there are some clauses here that are exprest there in other words and in some places a clause is now and then added in one of them which is not in the other So that possibly this Psalm was penned by him many years before when he was delivered from his mighty potent enemy Saul and is here with some little alteration repeated again In this Song first he declares his firm confidence in God and that he might shew what an alsufficient defence he esteemed the Lord to be unto him he useth variety of expressions to set it forth as not being able by one or two to express it He calls the Lord his rock his fortress his deliverer his shield the horn (a) Horn signifies power and glory Christ is call'd the horn of salvation Luk. 1.69 of his salvation by whose assistance he had been enabled both to defend himself and push down his enemies his tower his refuge and his saviour whence he infers that he will still trust in him and call upon him who was worthy to be praised Secondly he sets forth the woful straits and dangers he had been in his enemies came upon him like violent floods of water and like waves rouling one upon the neck of another threatning present death to him he acknowledges their roaring rage made him afraid but that fear drave him to God He says that death-threatning sorrows and dangers so encompassed him that there seemed no more likelihood for him to escape than there is of a sick man that hath the pangs of death upon him he intimates that Saul and his other enemies had so subtilly contriv'd his death and laid their snares so cunningly for him that all means of escaping seem'd to be prevented In these my great distresses says he I cry'd unto the Lord and he heard me and appear'd for me out of his Temple * Heaven is call'd the Temple of God 1st as being the place of his special presence 2. In regard of the the exceeding glory of Heaven which to shadow forth the Temple was built so exceeding glorious 3. In regard of the transient holiness of heaven that is out of Heaven and from thence manifested his power for my deliverance Then the earth shook and trembled and the foundations of heaven mov'd and shook because he was wroth that is the Lord in his hot displeasure fought against my enemies and poured forth his vengeance upon them This vengeance he sets forth under the similitude of a prodigious storm or tempest when the earth quakes and the air is covered with thick black and dark mists and when the Heavens send forth wind rain thunder and lightning (b) David here in sublime expressions sets forth not what historically happened but an a Poetical manner Gods mighty assistance and concurrence with him in his victories over his enemies by all which he intimates that the wrath of the Lord was evidently seen and manifested in the destruction of his enemies as if he had sent such an horribla storm and tempest upon them and so visibly destroyed them The foundations of the heavens shook and were moved In the 18 Psalm v. 7. he says the foundations of the hills moved that is the hills were shaken from their very foundations or bottoms These hills are here call'd the foundations of heaven (a) Job 26.11 calls that the pillars of Heaven because the tops of high mountains seem to touch the clouds and the heavens seem to lean upon them There went up a smoke out of his nostrils and fire out of his mouth devoured coals were kindled by it that is he gave forth such testimonies of his anger and indignation against mine enemies so vehement was his wrath that even smoke seem'd to speak after the manner of men to come out of his nostrils and so hot a fire out of his mouth that even coals were kindled by it He bowed the heavens also and came down and darkness was under his feet that is the lower part of the heavens was so affected as if God to manifest his power had come down into it and if we may describe him according to our weak apprehensions under his feet in the lower region of the air there were dark mists and clouds He rode upon a cherub and did fly yea he did fly upon the wings of the wind * See Psal 18.10 that is he used the ministry of his holy Angels and by them he raised violent and strong winds He made darkness pavillions round about him dark waters and thick clouds of the skies that is as men are wont by Tents and Pavillions to shelter themselves and to hide themselves from the view of others so did the Lord cast darkness and thick clouds about the place of his appearance Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled that is the Lord sent out his flashes of lightning with the flames whereof much combustible matter was kindled The Lord thundered from heaven and the most high uttered his voice he sent out his arrows and scattered them that is his thunderbolts out of the clouds as arrows from his bow He sent out his lightning and discomfited them The channels of the Sea appeared the foundations of the world were discovered at the rebuke of the Lord at the blast of the breath of his nostrils that is by this raging tempest the waters and waves were raised up so high that the very channels and bottom of the Sea was discovered and laid bare By these Hyperbolical expressions he signifies and sets forth the fierce anger of God against his enemies then he comes to set forth the wonderfulness of his deliverance being like a man ready to be drowned and perish in deep waters had not God as it were with his arm stretched out from heaven pull'd him out of them God delivered me says he from many enemies yea from my strong enemies such as Goliath Doeg Saul and Achitophel who would have been too strong for me if he had not of his great mercy helped me In the day of calamity and distress they thought by their subtilty to prevent me from saving my self and to
surprize me before I was aware so that I should not escape so Achitophel contrived but the Lord was my stay and upon him I did relye and trust The Lord also freed me from the great straits I was in and set me at liberty and that not for any merit in me but of his own free grace and mercy and that he might graciously reward me according to my innocency and integrity so that I may with great thankfulness say The Lord hath rewarded me according to my righteousness †He doth not here speak of his righteousness in reference to God for in this sense he prayeth Psal 143.2 Enter not into judgment with thy servant but of his righteousness as to his enemies though the obedience of Gods servants is a due debt which they owe to God and it is God that enables them to do what they do yet God of his free grace rewards them for their works when they are performed with sincerity though they be far short of what they should be the Lord rewards men according to their works that is acding to the nature and quality of their works though not for any merit in their works If their works be good they shall have a good reward if their works be evil their reward will be accordingly according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me that is according to the righteousness of my cause and the innocence of my intentions and actions as to my enemies I being clear of those faults and crimes they slanderously charged me with I have kept the ways of the Lord that is I have desired to walk in his precepts and the ways by him prescribed and though I have had many slips and failings yet I have not wickedly and presumptuously resolved to go on in them and so to make a desperate defection from God For all his judgments and statutes were before me that is I have set the whole Law of God before me as the rule of my life and actions and do endeavour to observe them one as well as another And though I have had many failings yet what I have done in Gods service hath not been in hypocrisie or dissimulation I was upright before him and kept my self from mine iniquity I restrained my self from that sin * Cavi ne scelus admitterem quod antea admississeÌ„ unto which I was otherwise by nature prone to fall into Therefore the Lord hath recompensed me according to my righteousness according to my innocency which he saw in me He now by an elegant Apostrophe turns his speech to God extolling his goodness and mercy towards the godly and his equal and just dealing with the wicked With the merciful thou wilt shew thy self merciful with the upright thou wilt shew thy self to act uprightly with the pure thou wilt shew thy self to act purely and holily but with the froward and perverse thou wilt shew thy self wayward (†) V. 27. Perverse ages i. e. retribues illi secundum perversitatem ejus and unpleasing inflicting sharp judgments upon them As they walk contrary to thee so thou wilt walk contrary to them crossing them in all that they go about according to Levit. 26.27 28. The afflicted people thou wilt save and preserve but as for the haughty thy eyes are upon them to bring them down He now comes to shew how the Lord was his lamp that enlightened his darkness that is that shined upon him and comforted him in the darkness of his afflictions and directed him what course to take He declares also that it was the Lord that enabled him to run thorough the thickest troops of his enemies and by his assistance he had scal'd their walls and taken their Cities And from his own experience he infers that the Lord is perfect in all his ways not failing in any of his promises and that his word is tried and hath been prov'd to be true by unquestionable proof and experience That he is a buckler and shield to defend all that trust in him Then in a way of thankful admiration he crys out Who is a God save the Lord And who is a rock save our God As for me I do declare that I have had all my streâ—gth and power from him He hath made my way perfect or plain removing impediments and prospering my attempts and undertakings so that I have not failed to perfect what I went about He makes my feet like hinds feet that is swift to escape danger and to stand safe upon my high places as hinds speedily run up to the top of inaccessible rocks and there are safe He teacheth my hands to war he hath given me skill in military affairs and to skill he hath given me strength of body fit for war so that I am able not only to draw a strong and stiff bow of steel but if I please I can break it in pieces Yet I ascribe nothing to my self for thou O Lord hast given me the shield of thy salvation that is thou hast been as a shield to me to defend me against mine enemies and thy gentleness (a) V. 36. Et ex exauditione tua magnum reddebas me Heb. per respondere tuum Pisc hath made me great that is by thy right hand thou hast upholden and strengthened me in the day of battel and by thy hearing of my prayers thou hast made me great and victorious Thou hast enlarged my steps under me or widened my passage given me room to walk steadily and safely in so that I was prosperous and successful in my marches so that I have pursued mine enemies and destroyed them and they are fallen under my feet Thou hast girded me with strength in battel those that rose up against me thou hast subdued under me Thou hast given me the necks of mine enemies and I have prevailed against them when they were in extremity they looked for help from man but there was none to save them and then they cried unto God but he did not answer them Thus being helpless I have beaten them to pieces as the small dust of the earth and stamped them as the mire of the streets and dispersed them as men spread dung on the ground By which Hyperbolical expressions he intimates that he had not only subdued his enemies but in a disgraceful manner trodden and trampled upon them Then he acknowledges how God had delivered him from the strivings of the people viz. in the insurrections of Absalom and Sheba and had brought many Nations of the Heathen to be in subjection to him and to acknowledg him for their Lord and head Strangers * This is true both of David and of Christ of whom David was a type viz. in respect of the conversion of the Gentiles who were aliens and strangers from the Common-wealth of Israel says he will now submit themselves unto me and neighbouring Nations will become Tributary to me as soon as they hear of my coming against them they will yield
promised and covenanted with David thy Father See Ch. 8.25 But if thou or thy posterity fail on your part to perform the conditions annext to my promise and shall turn away obstinately and totally from following after me and shall renounce me and my service and will not keep my commandments and statutes which I have made known unto you and set before you to walk in but shall go and serve other Gods and worship them then will I cut off †Thus was the Kingdom of Israel dealt with 2 King 17.20 Israel from the land which I have given them as a rotten branch and pluck them up by the roots and this house which I have hallowed for my name will I cast out of my sight out of my favour and protection and Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word (c) As in the time of the Babylonish Captivity the Jews were a scorn to all Nations but much more since the last destruction of their City and Temple by the Romans and so their great glory was turn'd into vile contempt among the people And as for this house which is now so high in all external glory every one that passeth by shall be astonished at the destruction of it and shall hiss at it in scorn and shall ask why hath the Lord done thus unto this land and this house and they shall receive this answer because the inhabitants thereof have forsaken the Lord their God who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt and have betaken themselves to the worship of other Gods whose worship they pertinaciously hold fast and will not depart from it Therefore the Lord brought upon them all these great evils 1 King 9. fr. v. 2 to 11. 2 Chron. 7. fr. v. 11. to the end SECT IV. SOlomon having thus finished the Temple he now falls in hand with the building of a Palace for himself in Jerusalem and built also a stately Summer-house in Lebanon 5. Ch. 7. from v. 2. to 7. and an house for his Queen the daughter of Pharaoh and his own Throne so splendid and sumptuous that there was none like it In the 13th year after the Temple was built he made an end of these buildings Before his Palace he built a stately Porch of Judgment wherein was to be set his great and Royal Throne wherein he sat in state to judg the people This Throne was a stately and magnificent piece it was made of Ivory and in several parts of it overlaid with pure Gold so as the white Ivory and glittering Gold gave a fair luster the one to the other and made it appear the more glorious The Throne had six steps to it and so was a yard and half from the ground It had a round stately Canopy or covering over it and stayes or Elbows on each side and a Footstool of Gold for the King to set his feet upon * Calcatas opes scabellum designat aureum Two Lions stood on the outside of the Elbows for support and ornament And there were placed twelve Lions besides that stood six on the one side and six on the other of the steps or stairs and standing at an equal distance one from another were the more glorious to behold There was not the like Throne for costliness and exquisite workmanship in any Kingdom of the world The Lions signified the power majesty undaunted boldness courage and magnanimity that ought to be in Princes as also the great vigilancy and watchfulness that ought to be in them so that they had need to wake while others sleep as 't is said of Lions that they sleep always with their eyes open they might signifie also that good Princes are protected by the special Providence of God and their Thrones guarded with Lions 1 King 10. from 18 to 21. Besides this stately Throne he made also two hundred Targets (a) Targets were large Shields such as Captains used to have carried before them that as occasion served they might take and use for the defence of their bodies against Arrows Darts Javelins and such like piercing weapons But Shields were less than Targets and they used to carry them on their left arm for their own defence of beaten Gold not for service but for pomp and state to set forth his Royal Majesty and Greatness These it is likely were ordinarily hung up in his great Hall or Armory and at certain times carried before him by his Guard as afterwards the Brazen ones that were made in the room of these were carried before Rehoboam See 1 King 14.27 He made also three hundred Shields of beaten Gold and three hundred shekels (b) A shekel of silver was in weight half an ounce and in worth 2 sh 6 d. The Jews prized Gold at ten times the value of Silver so a shekel of Gold was 25 sh By this account every Target weighed 25 pounds Troy and was worth 750 l. Sterling of Gold went to make one of them so that the Shields were not above half so big as the Targets which weighed each of them 600 shekels All these he put into the house of the Forrest of Lebanon which for civil use was the most sumptuous building that Solomon made and his Magnificence and Royalty was therein most manifested and accordingly those Golden Targets and Shields were there placed But he that shall consider how soon these Golden Tarkets and Shields became a prey to the enemy will be apt to think there was an excess of pomp in them which was not well-pleasing to God And furthermore all the drinking vessels cups platters basons spoons c. that were used in the house of Lebanon were all of pure Gold this house being made for delight and the glory of his Kingdom none of them were of silver silver †V. 21. Silver was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon This is an Hyperbolical speech for silver was brought to Solomon time after time by Ships v. 22. and given him as an acceptable present v. 25. So that hereby only the great abundance he had of Gold and Silver is intimated comparatively was not esteemed of for plate in Solomon's time for they having such abundance of Gold most of their Plate was made of that metal and silver-plate but little esteemed of in those days But we must speak more particularly of this house of the forrest of Lebanon It was so call'd as being a kind of abridgment of that famous Forrest afar off from Jerusalem and containing in it and in the groves and gardens about it all the delights and pleasures of that Forrest and something more viz. solitary walks sweet musick of birds wild beasts curious water-works and all manner of other delightful things See Eccles 2.4 5 6. And it seems this house was also the chief store-house and magazine of Armes which the Kings of Judah had as appears from Isa 22.8 Thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the Forrest
Thus Solomon finished the Lords house and his own house and all that came into his heart to do he prosperously effected 2 Chron. 7.11 having spent full twenty years in this kind of work 1 King 9.10 whereof seven and an half upon the Temple and about twelve and an half upon his own houses and buildings 1 King Ch. 7. from v. 1 to 13. 1 King Ch. 10. from v. 16 22. 1 Chron. Ch. 9. from v. 15 to 21. SECT V. WHilst Solomon was busied about his Magnificent buildings it seems Gezer a City allotted to the Levites in the Tribe of Ephraim Josh 21.20 21. but never recovered out of the possession of the Canaanites gave to the King some great distaste so that not being at leisure himself he intreated Pharaoh his Father-in-law to take it in for him by his Armes and to rid him of those troublesome neighbours Pharaoh accordingly did it and burnt the City or some part of it with fire and put the inhabitants thereof to the sword and so gave it for a present to his daughter Solomon's wife 1 King 9.16 SECT VI. HIram King of Tyre having furnished Solomon towards these magnificent buildings with Cedar-trees and Firr-trees and sixscore Talents of Gold Solomon in a grateful retribution and to make him amends gave him twenty Cities or Towns in the land of Galilee which were not as it seems a part of the land which God had given for an inheritance to his people but lay in a tract of ground on the outside of the borders of Asher Josh 19.24 betwixt them and mount Libanus and being now reduced under Solomon's Dominion he presented them to Hiram that he might by them receive satisfaction for what he had had of him But it seems Hiram when he saw them liked them not possibly because they stood in a moorish ground or because he thought it would be long e're he should from them receive that satisfaction which he expected Therefore he return'd them to Solomon again and chose rather to expect satisfaction from him some other way and thereupon Solomon repair'd and enlarged them and planted certain colonies of the Israelites in them See 2 Chron. 8.1 2. whereas before they were inhabited only by the Heathen and now that tract of ground was counted a part of Galilee which 't is thought was the reason why Galilee was called Galilee of the Gentiles 1 King Ch. 9. from v. 10 to 15. SECT VII SOlomon having now finished his own houses and built an house for his Queen Pharaohs daughter he remov'd her and brought her up thither out of the City of David for he said My wife shall not dwell in the house of David King of Israel because the places whereunto the Ark of the Lord hath come are more holy than other places 'T is true Davids house ceased to be holy in that respect after the Ark was removed thence yet Solomon out of his superabundant respect to that sign of Gods presence thought it not fit to make that a dwelling place for his Queen and her followers who were aliens and strangers to the house of Israel and possibly retain'd some of their Egyptian profaneness which had been the holy dwelling place of the most High 2 Chron. 8.11 Solomon as it seems reflecting on his Marriage with Pharaohs daughter and his bringing her up to the stately house he had built and prepared for her took occasion from thence to pen that excellent Song called the Song of Songs or the Canticles being the chiefest of those one thousand * See 1 King 4.32 and five Songs composed by him and the most excellent of them all And this Song he composed after he had built his Summer-house in Lebanon as may be gathered by some passages in it see Ch. 4.8 Come with me from Lebanon my Spouse with me from Lebanon And Ch. 7. 4. Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon This Song is clearly a Marriage-song and much of the same nature with the 45 Psalm which is called a Song of Loves And it is a kind of Pastoral composed in the way of Dialogue where the speakers are the Bridegroom and the Bride represented sometimes under the quality of a Shepherd and Shepherdess or Country-damsel and the Bride-men and Bride-maids the friends of the Bridegroom and companions of the Bride And though the most proper aim of it seemeth to be at higher and diviner matters than an earthly marriage and a greater than Solomon is here yet Solomon thought fit to make his marriage with Pharaohs daughter a type of that sublime and spiritual marriage between Christ and his Church The Song is a continued Allegory and full of obscurities yea here we have all the Rhetorick of love and such affectionate compellations and Elogies as are not elsewhere to be found The flowers and ornaments of language used in the praises both of Bridegroom and Bride are not appliable to natural beauties but are mystical representations and emblems of higher things Indeed this Book is all mystical and therefore the Jews forbad the reading of it by any under thirty years of age Here between Christ and his Church are interchangings of mutual praises gloriations and congratulations His divine and glorious excellencies in himself and rich bounties and blessings to her and her precious graces and endowments are in an high character in lofty and stately sayings and similitudes set forth both by him and her And yet withal her failings and his withdrawings from her thereupon and returnings to her again upon her repentance are not omitted In all the interlocutions betwixt them she speaks nine times and he seven In the first Chap. from v. 1 to the 8. the Spouse speaks expressing her ardent desires after Christ and vindicates her own deformities and defects against the uncharitable censures of others and petitions him for further counsel and direction From the v. 8 to the 12. the Bridegroom speaks granting her request and giving her great commendations and making rich promises to her From v. 12 to the 15. the Spouse speaks again then the Bridegroom at v. 15. In the two first verses of Ch. 2. Christ speaks characterizing himself and his Church and then the Church speaks from the v. 3. to the end and throughout all the third Chapter speaking sometimes of Christ and sometimes unto him At Ch. 4. Christ speaks from v. 1 to 15. and at v. 15 16. the Church At Ch. 5. v. 1. Christ granteth the request of the Church and cometh into his Garden and accepteth her entertainment and bringeth his friends with him and feasteth them but this kindness it seems was not so well improved by her as it deserved for she is surprized with a fit of drowsie negligence and so is brought into danger of losing him who after much patient waiting knocking and calling upon her and her unkind answer becomes angry and being not received when he tendred himself departs displeased and is hardly reconciled though she afterwards expresses much care and
first Month in the presence of the people of Judah and Israel and the inhabitants of Jerusalem he kept the Feast of the Passover And he set the Priests in their charges and encouraged them to perform the service of the house of the Lord. And he said to the Levites that is to the Priests of the Tribe of Levi who prepared the holy things of the Lord Put the holy Ark in the house of the Lord. It seems the Ark in Amon's reign had been carried out of the most holy place possibly that some Idol might be set up in its room Or else it had been purposely carried out by some pious Priests that it might not stand there among those heathenish Idols that were brought into the Temple and now Josiah orders it to be restored to its proper place again telling the Priests that it would not now be a burden unto them it must abide in the Temple and not be carried from place to place upon their shoulders as formerly it had been before the Temple was built and they being now delivered from that burden should serve the Lord their God more faithfully and cheerfully and should serve his people also by diligently instructing them and performing those services for them that tended to their spiritual good And because several families of the Levites were appointed to attend upon the sacrifices and offerings of several families of each Tribe some being to be imploy'd in that holy service for such and such families V. 6. Prepare for your brethren Praeparate agnos pro fratribus vestris J. T. and others for others therefore he appoints them to stand in the holy place and to attend the service that was to be done according to the divisions of the families of the people and according to the division of their own families He exhorts them also to sanctifie themselves and to prepare the sacrifices for the Priests to offer that they might do their duty as God had enjoyn'd them Then Josiah gave to the people for Passover offerings viz. of lambs and kids for either of these kinds might be offered thirty thousand and for other offerings three thousand bullocks all of the herds and flocks that belonged to the King see 2 Chron. 30.24 and his Princes gave also willingly and liberally to the Priests Levites and the people and Hilkiah the High Priest and Zachariah and Jehiel who with the High Priest were Rulers over other Priests and Levites in the house of God gave to the inferiour Priests two thousand and six hundred small cattle and three hundred oxen And six eminent Levites who were Fathers and Rulers over the rest of the Levites gave unto the inferiour Levites for Passover-offerings five thousand small cattel and for other offerings five hundred oxen So all things fit and requisite for a solemn Passover were provided and made ready and the Priests stood in their place and the Levites in their order according to the Kings Commandment So they kill'd the Passover every father of a family for himself and his family and the Levites for themselves and for other Levites who were otherwise imployed and the Priests sprinkled the blood on the Altar which they received from their hands and the Levites flayed the sacrifices and they separated such sacrifices as were to be eaten from the burnt-offerings which were wholly to be consumed on the Altar that so of the rest they might give to the people partly for Paschal lambs partly for peace-offerings whereof both Priests and people were to have a share And they rosted the Passover with fire but so much of the peace-offerings as was to be prepar'd for the offerers to eat before the Lord they sod in pots and chaldrons and pans and so divided them among the people Afterwards the Levites made ready for themselves V. 15. Jeduthun is call'd the Kings Ster Heman Asaph also had this Title the reason of which see 2 King 17.13 and for the Priests who being imployed even until night in offering the burnt-offerings and the fat c. had no time to provide for themselves And the Singers stood in their places to perform their service according to the commandment of David The Porters also attended at the Gates and did not depart from their service during that solemnity and thereupon the Levites prepared for them as they had done for the Priests Thus all things that appertained to the service and worship of God and to the keeping the Passover and the offering of the burnt-offerings were duly performed that day according to the Kings command And so they kept the Passover at that time and the feast of unleavened bread seven days after And there was no Passover like to this kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the Prophet neither did any of the Kings of Israel either David or Solomon or any of the Kings of Judah since the division of the Kingdom keep such a Passover as Josiah now kept if we consider the multitude of sacrifices that were offered and freely given by the King Princes Priests and Levites and the exceeding joy of the good people that Religion was restored again to its purity among them Furthermore Josiah took away all witches and sooth-sayers all images and dunghil-gods and all abominations which were found in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem that he might perform all the words that were written in the Book that was found by Hilkiah the Priest in the house of the Lord. And there was no King that was before him in the Throne of Judah like unto him or that followed after him if we consider the fervency of his zeal for the rooting out of Idolatry and other abominations which had prevailed before his time and if we consider the innocence and integrity of his life and his diligent heeding the law of the Lord. We have indeed observed upon 2 King 18.5 that in some particulars Hezekiah excelled him but in others Josiah excelled Hezekiah as in his contrition and deep humiliation for the wickedness that prevailed before his time see 2 King 22.19 His solemn making a Covenant with the Lord and engaging his subjects therein to reform their ways his solemn keeping of the Passover his zealous purging not only Judah and Benjamin from Idolatry but the Cities of Israel under his power besides he was not puft up with pride as Hezekiah was But though Josiah was in his own person so excellent a Prince yet it seems the people though they yielded to his reformation out of awe and respect to him yet in their hearts many of them did still approve Manasseh's wicked ways * 2 Reg. 23.26 Proptet irritationes Manassis quia is Idololatriae ingentem saevitiam addiderat approbante magna parte populi and this soon appear'd after Josiah's death for all his children did quickly return to Manasseh's Idolatry and followed him in his abominations but not in his repentance and conversion The Lord thereupon said I will remove Judah out
this place And so that came to pass which God threatned Levit. 26.34 35. Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths as long as it lyeth desolate it shall rest because it did not rest in your Sabbaths when ye dwelt upon it * See Pag. 169. Hereupon many begin the seventy years captivity from the destruction (c) Here many begin the Seventy years captivity though some begin it from the carrying away of Jeconiah 2 King 24.12 of Jerusalem which are called the seventy years of the desolations of Jerusalem Dan. 9.2 Now the desolation of that City was not till the last fatal destruction of it And the same term also of seventy years is set for the subjection of the neighbouring Nations as we find Isai 23.15 And it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years according to the days of one King after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot c. CHAP. VI. The sixth Age of the World containing the space of time from the carrying of Judah into Captivity unto the liberty granted by Cyrus for their return and consists of seventy years ending in the 3478 year of the World THE City of Jerusalem and the Temple being thus destroyed and burnt down to the ground by Nebuzaradan he left only a few and those of the poorer sort of the people there to dress the Vineyards and to be husbandmen over whom Gedaliah the Son of Ahikam a man of the same Nation was placed Governour but as a Provincial Governour only without any badg of Regality or Kingly Title 'T is like this Gedaliab was one of those that followed the advice which the Prophet Jeremy gave both to Zedekiah and the rest Jer. 21.8 9 10. And unto this people thou shalt say thus saith the Lord Behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death He that abideth in this City shall die by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence but he that goeth out and falleth to the Caldeans that besiege you he shall live and his life shall be unto him for a prey For I have set my face against this City for evil and not for good saith the Lord it shall be given into the hand of the King of Babylon and he shall burn it with fire 'T is like therefore that upon this account he was made Governour by Nebuchadnezzar's command Jer. 39.10 Jer. 40.5 2 King 25.12 22. Seraiah the chief Priest and Zephaniah the second Priest and the three Keepers of the Gate of the Temple and other principal men by whose counsels Zedekiah had been much led to resist the King of Babylon contrary to Jeremy's warnings Nebuzaradan took and carried them to Riblah to Nebuchadnezzar and there they were put to death But Jehozadak the Son of Seraiah who after him came to be High Priest was carried away prisoner to Babylon 2 King 25. from 18 to 22. Jer. 52. from 24 to 28. 1 Chron. Ch. 6.15 The Prophet Jeremy being bound with chains was carried with the rest as far as Rama towards Babylon and had there his irons knocked off and was set at liberty and had his choice given him whither he would go on to Babylon and there to be honourably treated or stay in Judea with those poor people that were there left And he choosing to stay was sent back with money in his purse to Gedaliah the Governour who made his residence at Mizpeh in the Tribe of Benjamin Jer. 39. from 11 to 15. Jer. 40. from 1 to 7. Some of those Captains and Souldiers which upon the taking of Jerusalem had fled away by night and were scattered over the Country and some of the Jews that had fled to the Moabites and Ammonites and other neighbouring Nations returned after a while to Gedaliah into their own Country where they had good provision of wine and oyl and other summer-fruits to subsist withal Gedaliah made his residence at Mizpeh in the Tribe of Benjamin leaving the rest of the Jews that were with him to live in such Towns as they thought fit Jer. 40. from 7 to 13. 2 King 25.23 24. Ismael the Son of Nethaniah of the race of the Kings of Judah had it seems during the siege of Jerusalem kept himself out of the storm with Baalis King of the Ammonites Jer. 40.14 and being of the Royal seed he envied that the Government of the Jews should be committed to Gedaliah who seems to have been but of private condition and being stirred up likewise as 't is probable by the King of Ammon he made a conspiracy with some few more to slay him Johanan of whom mention is made 2 King 25.23 came and discovered this conspiracy to Gedaliah and offered his help to dispatch Ismael to prevent it but Gedaliah would not believe it but thought he spake falsely of Ismael and would by no means consent he should be taken off Not long after Ismael came to him with ten resolute fellows to Mizpeh where Gedaliah friendly entertained him giving no credit to such as informed him of his treacherous intentions against him and in the seventh month Ismael with his associates taking their opportunity wickedly murdered Gedaliah and such Jews and Caldeans as he had then about him And a day or two after fourscore Jews coming from several places of the Kingdom in a most sad and mournful manner with their beards shaven and clothes rent and having cut themselves deploring the desolation that was fallen upon Jerusalem and bringing certain offerings and incense with them which they purposed to offer to the Lord in the place where the Temple before stood now lying in its dust Ismael having notice of their coming went out to meet them and with counterfeit tears making shew that he also bore a part with them in their sorrow he invited them to go with him to Gedaliah feigning himself to be one of his friends thereby to try how they stood affected to him and having gotten them within the City of Mizpeh he and his companions slew them all there in the open streets ten only excepted whom he spared because they promised to discover to him some treasure hid in the fields during the war and the bodies of the slain he threw into King Asa's pit * In the days of King Baasha Asa King of Judah it seems made a pit in Mizpâ—h for a hiding place in case of danger of which we find no mention but only here which he made in Mizpeh for fear of Baasha See 1 King 15.22 Jer. 40. from 13 to the end Jer. 41. from 1 to 10. 2 King 25.25 Ismael having now taken the Kings daughters whom the Caldeans had left behind being hidden possibly at first and afterwards coming forth had committed themselves to the care of Gedaliah and many others of the people captive he was returning with them as his prisoners to the King of Ammon but Johanan meeting him with a band of men