coming on upon him and he was not willing to ingage them till he had made his supplication before the Lord 1 Sam. xiii 11 15. But God had commanded the contrary he was not of himself to make a Vertue of that Necessity without an express permission therefore says Samuel Thou hast done foolishly and thy Kingdom shall not continue whereupon God chose to himself a Man after his own heart one who to avoid such future presumption should be a Prophet as well as a Prince and therefore the eating of the Shew-bread upon an extream necessity was not in him so notorious a violation of Sacred and Ecclesiastical Order This was that David who called for his Sword which hung behind the Ephod 1 Sam. xxi 9. Give it me says he for there is none like that he goes forth with the Prayers and the Blessing of the Priests to battel 1 Sam. xxiii 9. still I would urge a Testimony from Scripture though it may be sadly observed a new way of spinning out discourses without any the least regard had to the Law and the Prophets Bring me hither the Ephod says David that Ephod from behind which he took his Sword and so it was consecrated for the Lord's battels thus doth he enquire of the Lord upon every enterprise and that in no other way then according to the Divine Institution with a linen Ephod The answer from God to him was either a speedy return of Peace and safety or else a sure caution certainly to prevent and escape the Danger Upon this doth Doeg that wicked Edomite put forth his hand to fall upon the Priests of the Lord kills them onely to take possession of their inheritance and is Abiathar escaped unto David with the Ephod in his hand there was a strange Providence in the escape and a wonderful security unto Both in that flight 1 Sam. xxii 23. Abide with me says the King unto the Priest and fear not for he that seeketh my Life seeketh thy Life but with me thou shalt be in safeguard Both these for a while may be hunted after upon the Mountains by the sons of violence and yet they travailing together in yea and persecuted through a wilderness shall even there find a Sanctuary at the Mount of God and in God's due time which is the best for Both these Two keeping still close together the Consecrated Sword in the hand of the One the linen Ephod upon the breast of the Other the Kingdom shall be established in the hand of the One the Priesthood shall be confirmed to the house of the Other these are the sure mercies of David and of the Son of David to them Both But let not David in his prosperity forget the House of Abiathar which was afflicted with him in all his affliction nor let Abiathar in his eminency and prelacy be unmindful of the servants of David so oversee them as to overlook them who were formerly a security to him when he fled from the face of Tyranny and Oppression let Both together live in that mutual Dependance in which God hath set them carrying on the same designe so advantagious to Both keeping as sacred this Union which I must still re-inforce to be the Divine Institution lest the last errour prove worse then the first and again some rebellious Sheba do blow the Trumpet God in his mercy prevent such doleful Alarms that they never more be heard amongst us To your Tents O Israel we have no part in David nor inheritance in the son of Jess Now see to thine own house David And would David look well to his own house it must be by having a due regard unto and a tender care of the House of God Thus Psal cxxxii 1. God remembers David and all his trouble in that this was his Oath unto the Lord this was his Vow unto the mighty God of Jacob that he would not come within the Tabernacle of his house nor climb up unto his Bed until he found out a Place for the Lord and with this most pathetick repetition of the words of his vow an Habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. The instance in the Text is the conclusion of the whole matter v. 27. Aaron met Moses in the Mount of God and kissed him Oh happy interview Moses and Aaron mutually embracing locus honestat the very Place bespeaks both Love and Honour it was at the Mount of God and then the Ceremony denotes both Veneration and endearment Osculum dignitatis he kissed him as a Token of subjection to him thus acknowledging his Majesty and Supremacy deosculatus est ex amore he rejoyced in his heart when he saw him and because he loved him he gave the seal of his affections with his lips an intimation at this first greeting that his Mouth joyned unto those lips quasi coalescebant in Unum Os was now become but One Mouth with which he was resolved to proclaim Liberty to the Captives and after that enjoyn obedience to those ransomed ones This was Aarons promise unto Moses and that because of the Divine appointment the Brethren being doubly dear to each other both in the flesh and in the Lord that he would be Moses's Spokesman unto the People he would be even he would be unto him instead of a Mouth Moses embraceth Aaron in the Arms of Love and of Protection the Rod in his hand is a Sceptre of favour held out as a token of good will and kind acceptance to him This is the Rod which shall be stretched out working wonders in the defence of the Priesthood Moses embracing him in his Arms assures him from his very heart to the heart of his Brother that they Two thus clasping together coalescebant in Unum Hominem became now but One Man this being the Promise of Moses that he would never be unmindful of the Word of the Lord as an everlasting Command upon him That he should be unto Aaron instead of God Appl. Let it be known this day that there is a God in Israel that this God is to be worshipped and that in the Administration of this worship the Priesthood is to be secured from Contempt to be had in honour for the works sake about which it doth converse I dare not in the least venture to give directions here he must not presume who is the meanest and unworthiest of all the sons of Aaron who hath not been Eloquent neither heretofore nor since the Word of the Lord came unto him but humbly beg we may and heartily in all Duty and Submission invoke we must the Assistance of the Secular Arm lest both our Message and our Persons be altogether despised Did I say our Message or our Persons alas we can easily venture both these through a bad or through a good report and be unconcerned But sad it is to behold that amongst those that are baptized Christians Atheism and Profaneness should so strangely overspread it self yea and that notwithstanding so many popular Discourses every
MOSES and AARON A SERMON Preached before the KING At Saxham in the County of Suffolk April 17. 1670. By GEORGE SEIGNIOR Fellow of Trinity College in Cambridge Printed by His Majesties special Command CAMBRIDGE Printed by John Hayes Printer to the University 1670. Exodus 4.16 And he shall be thy Spokesman to the people and he shall he even he shall be to thee instead of a Mouth and thou shalt be to him instead of God UPon the first view of the Text and Context we find Moses the servant of the Lord and Aaron the man of God joyned together in one and the same Commission both set over a Captived people to deliver them unto a more glorious liberty and both sent unto an oppressing hard-hearted Tyrant to demand a speedy restitution from slavery and to require satisfaction for injuries done unto the Son of God ver 22. Israel is my Son even my First-born he is now also to be called the Redeemed of the Lord Let my Son go that he may serve me and if thou refuse to let him go behold I will slay thy Son even thy First-born Moses the meekest man in all the earth does mistrust his own ability who is sufficient for these things It is indeed the good will of him who dwells in the Bush to send unto and to work a deliverance for his people But who am I that I should go in unto Pharaoh or bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt I am a man of slow speech and of a slow tongue Surely Moses does not consider the great sight before him the Bush burning and not consumed a lively representation to him in the very figure of it that the more the people were afflicted the more they did multiply and grow notwithstanding the Egyptians made their lives bitter to them with hard bondage in Mortar and in Brick all their service wherein they made them to serve was with rigour yet cap. 1.20 the people multiplied and waxed very mighty and the Egyptians were grieved because of the children of Israel And doth Moses know and see all this the green tree before him encompassed with flames and still alive the people labouring as it were in the fire in the furnace of affliction growing out of weakness and so from strength to strength under the weights of all their pressures and yet is he diffident and distrustful because of some personal infirmities as if that God could not make his strength perfect in weakness Moses had best be careful lest his humility and meekness degenerate into pusillanimity and fear and so the Lord be provoked unto anger for God will send by the hand of him whom he will send and that is by the hand of Moses yea though he be a man of a slow speech and of a stammering tongue even hence has God ordained and perfected his praise that he may still the enemy and avenger what though his lips are not touched with a coal from yet one that waits at the Altar shall be his Mouth Is not Aaron the Levite thy Brother I know that he can speak well v. 14. and cap vii 1. I have made thee a God to Pharaoh and Aaron thy brother shall be thy Prophet So long as you two keep together lo I am with you Both and that to supply all manner of defects in either of you my word is a sure word of promise if so be that you two are as one ye put your selves out of my protection if in the least you sever but whilst Union is promoted neither of you shall fail and as a most certain indication that you are like to stand and fall together lo this is my everlasting ordinance betwixt you Both v. praeced Thou shalt put words into his mouth which shall no longer be his Mouth but thine who hath made it so have not I the Lord And lest his message should be despised his person hated because of the truth which he is to speak Lo thou art to defend him to be on his side to withstand Pharaoh see thou to that have not I said it nay I have set thee so Thou art unto them both instead of God Thou art as God to Aaron to protect him thou art as God to Pharaoh to execute wrath and vengeance upon him and therefore upon this double account shall Aaron be thy spokesman to the people his office is again renewed upon and confirmed unto him he shall be even he shall be unto Thee instead of a Mouth because that thou on all accounts and upon every occasion shalt be to him instead of God The words as you hear having this relation to the Context are in themselves an account given us of the two standing Ordinances of Magistracy and Ministry a King as Supreme and an High Priest both constituted by God himself to live to love and to rule together and this institution confirmed and settled by way of supply to something that was wanting an amends made for a personal insufficiency whilst Moses out of a principle of self-denial would not ambire Magistratum be too hasty in taking upon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the burden of this honour since he was conscious to himself of his own inability ver 10. O Lord my God I am not eloquent neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant This humility and modesty in Moses at the first was commendable but honour follows those who shun it especially where so exemplary a meekness goes before it God therefore renews his command with a promise of affistance in the work drawn from his own omnipotence ver 11. who hath made mans Mouth have not I the Lord now therefore go and I will be with thy Mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say Yet this would not do the meekness of Moses hath betrayed him to diffidence and distrust fain would he be rid of the imployment fearful he is that he shall not go through with it but sink under the weight of it ver 13. O my Lord send I pray thee by the hand of him whom thou wilt send In which words whether Moses requested that his brother Aaron might be joyned as a fit companion with him or whether he had an eye to the promised Messiah Him whom thou wilt send Christ in the fulness of time to be sent to work a great Redemption of which this present Deliverance was to be but a Type and therefore none like Him to accomplish Type and Anti-type at once I say whether it were one or other is not much to our purpose further then the just naming of it to inquire This we are sure of that Moses's unbelief was reproveable his sin of distrust aggravated because he could not take heart from Gods express Promise Notwithstanding the wonderful sight which he saw the gracious words which he heard still he was faithless and not beleeving hence ver 14. the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses However to make way for an all
means to be excluded Senates Aaron is to be the Mouth of Moses in every thing in which Moses ought to be his God and that is reciprocally and Universally upon all accounts and at all aventures They are the words of him who was both a King and a Preacher Eccles 12.9 The Preacher must be wise to teach the people Knowledge how can he find out acceptable words such words as may be as goods or Nails fastned in a sure place unless he be permitted to converse with those that are the Masters of Assemblies and so may he speak such words as are given from one Shepherd But I need not magnifie the Priest's Office in this particular the happy temperament of the Constitution under which we live is an abundant demonstration to us that the laws by which we are governed were instituted in the fear of God and consequently the Obligation is greater upon the subject to obey them since the Authority that confirms them is both Spiritual and Temporal I pass by this double honour possibly some think it too much for those that labour in the Word and Doctrine and I follow that which is the great designe of the Text the Union that is here fixed and everlastingly to be promoted and therefore the Word is singular Regis sacerdotis unum est Os there is but one Mouth assigned both to King and Priest the one is to think the other to speak the same thing Moses and Aaron to go hand in hand together Hence it is observable that they were Both of the Tribe of Levi ver 14. is not Aaron the Levite thy Brother The Levite and thy Brother and his Mouth to be thy Mouth to speak the words which Thou shalt put into it Why then should there be any difference betwixt Moses and Aaron since they are Brethren They are Both of the same Tribe which the Lord had chosen out of all the Tribes of Israel to come and Minister before him the One was to deliver the Other to teach and instruct Both together to establish and confirm in a perpetual and never ceasing Oeconomy what are the judgements and the statutes of God and Man And all this not to Jacob and Israel onely but to Pharaoh and the Egyptians also 1. Aaron is the Mouth of Moses to the People that is to Israel to tell them that they are the Visited and Beloved of the Lord to proclaim to them the Royal Law of liberty out of the house of bondage from their slavery to wish them to follow the directions of their Law giver Moses who will rule them according to the integrity of his heart and guide them with the skilfulness of his hand with the skilfulness of his hand with great and wonderfull Dexterity will he extricate them out of all their miseries remove their shoulders from the burdens and their hands from making the pots 2. And so Aaron to be the Mouth of Moses to Pharaoh and his servants to denounce and execute as many Plagues on him and his people as are the Tribes of Israel if you reckon the plagues and signs together from first to last a Plague for each Tribe because of the hard and cruel bondage wherein he made each of them to serve neither would he permit them to depart in peace from amongst them that they might worship the Lord their God And here by the way we may take notice how necessary is this Union betwixt King and Priest how comfortable is their mutual assistance then especially when there is danger of a common enemy both to Church and State when there are a Generation of Men like Pharaoh who will not permit the people to be at quiet onely because Moses and Aaron would have them to serve the Lord how should Moses at such a time stand at the door of the Tabernacle with the Rod of God in his hand for the defence of Aaron and how should Aaron lift up his voice in the behalf of Moses hold up his hands lest that Amalech prevail in a word The Commandment is to go forth from Both to restore and to build the Temple the One must stand like stout Nehemiah with his sword in his hand that so the work be not hindered the Other not unlike holy Ezra a Prophet of the Lord with the sword or the keys of the Kingdom in his Mouth that so it may be perfected in Righteousness great is the care which Both together must take for many are the kindnesses which Both together must do unto the House of God and the Offices thereof O then may Aarons Bells never ring backward if ever let it be to call the people as One man to the quenching of a common flame let it be to stand between the living and the dead when a plague is begun that it may be staid pro Te loquetur He shall speak for Thee to the people surely then he is not so to speak as to inveigh against him to aggravate his failings to exasperate and calumniate his Person before the people he may lift up his Voice like a Trumpet but it must not be the Trumpet of sedition the Alarm of War sounding to battel from the Pulpit let him cry aloud yea and he may not spare to tell Judah and Israel of their sins but it is not fitting to say to a Prince that he is wicked Such language as this does least of all become the Mouth of Aaron Much more unseemly is it for him to say before the People be they Israel it will increase their murmurings be they Egyptians it will add to their hard-heartedness that Moses is ungodly God doth hear the blasphemy of those who do in the least though it be but in a thought slander the footsteps of his Anointed Aaron himself was too sad an instance of this when he murmured against Moses saying Num. 12.2 hath the Lord indeed spoken onely by Moses hath he not also spoken by us Yes he hath spoken by you Both and yet the Leprosie upon Miriam's forehead may be an intimation unto Aaron that he do cover his Mouth and shut his lips such language as this hath defiled them Unclean unclean But the meekness of Moses was soon intreated and the God of mercy did accept of his intercession so that immediately there was a healing of this breach and Aaron is still continued to be the Mouth of Moses to the People To the people if to Moses surely much more to them and the People are to attend to him with reverence upon this treble account because that he is the Mouth of God of the King and also of the People Heb. 5.1 Every High Priest is Ordained for men that is is set over men in things pertaining to God the manner of expression in the Original is the same with the Septuagint in my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every High Priest is set over men as concerning those things which are to God-ward that is the interpretation may fairly be admitted
without any great stress upon the words set over the ordinary sort of men to tell them with Authority and with Power what is their duty either to God or his Vicegerent to the Lord of Lords or to those who are instead of God and they who do resist or despise either One or the Other do not despise or resist the Man in either of them but the God that is in them Both. And this brings me to the Second thing I observed from the Text which is the due Execution firm Establishment and sure Administration of both these Authorities together and that no otherwise then by a Divine Dispensation Whilst the Prince doth defend the Priests of the most High God he doth so stand by himself the Throne is thus established to him in Righteousness the Kingdom confirmed in the hands of Moses whilst he is unto Aaron and to his sons instead of God Instead of God in his quae ad Deum Vulg. That is in the letter of the Text in those things which pertain to God Tu eris illi in Principem quaerentem Doctrinam à facie Domini Targ. Jonath Thou shalt be a Prince to him a Prophet as well as he yea and somthing more then a Prophet he shall seek the Word which he is to speak from Thee and that as it were from the face of God Numb xii 6 9. If there be a Prophet among you I the Lord will make my self known to him in a Vision or I will speak to him in a dream but my servant Moses is not so this is the difference betwixt him and Aaron with him will I speak Mouth to Mouth even apparently not in dark speeches and the Similitude of the Lord that is of God-man to come in the flesh this Similitude of the Lord as praelusory to the reality of his Incarnation shall he behold So that what was Jethro's counsel betwixt Moses and the People seems here to be Gods institution betwixt him and Aaron cap. xviii 19. Moses was to be to Aaron to God-ward to bring the causes unto and to receive the Law from God and Aaron being to be his Oratour or his Herald was to make Proclamation of the Divine Law unto the People and upon all occasions to consult the Face of Moses the Face which did shine because of the Divine Glory on it and was therefore to be consulted as an oracle This Paraphrase though it may be true in the Letter of the Text yet to take in the scope of the whole Paragraph which is a Union fixed by God himself betwixt these two we must as to this expression further improve our search Instead of God that is to defend him that so he may speak boldly for thee as he ought to speak that his Mouth which is no longer his but Thine may be opened for Thee in confidence We find in this book of Exodus that Princes and the chief Ministers of justice amongst men are first called Gods cap. xxi 6. the servant that had a mind to continue with his Master for ever was to come unto the Judges that is unto the Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Original and before them was the perpetual service to be ratified and again cap. xxii 8. The thief was to be brought to the Judges that is to the Gods the same word in the Original to see whether he had put his hands to his neighbour's goods and v. 28. such Magistrates are secured from all manner of slander that may be cast upon them by malice or evil speaking Thou shalt not revile the Gods nor speak evil of the Ruler of thy People They are called Gods upon several accounts I briefly instance but in two the Ubiquity of their Presence the Omniscience of their Knowledge 1. The Ubiquity of their Presence they are every where their influence is unlimited the fancy is not new ancienter then a modern Poet and I hope may now be better applied that Kings and Princes do in this resemble the Deity being like a Circle whose centre is every where and whose circumference is no where God and the King can do no harm the reason is that Diffusive influence that is from Both directing managing swaying and conveying all the good and all the happiness that is felt or enjoyed by the lower world or the inferiour sort of mankind all which is purely the product of Providence from the One and Government from the Other and if the Sun shining upon a Dunghil doth exhale vapours that are offensive it is not because there are spots in the Sun in Heaven but there is corruption in the Dunghil upon earth 2. The Omniscience of their Knowledge they do as it were know every thing Prov. xvi 10. A Divine sentence is in the lips of the King His Mouth erreth not in judgement Who could have thought that the way to find out the bowels of a Mother was to make the Child a sacrifice till King Solomon as the first effort of his Princely Spirit tried the experiment but says the Text 1 Kin. iii. 28. The wisdom of God was in the King to do judgement And this kind of Omniscience is a gift bestowed upon Judges and other Ministers of Justice when they execute the laws of God and the King upon Capital offenders the indictment against whom is that they have not the fear of God before their eyes our Law taking special notice of the malice of the heart and proving that by some Overt-act whilst many times the Judge upon the Bench to the admiration of the standers by through a little very little glimpse of a most improbable circumstance doth unravel a whole mystery of iniquity so that on a sudden the Prisoner stands self-condemned at the Bar he might spare both Judge and Jury the trouble of bringing in and pronouncing their Verdict since the sentence of Death is to be read in his countenance and his face gathers blackness what can all this be but an immediate assistance a special illumination from God himself in the moment of judgement Psal lxxxii 1. God standeth in the Congregation of the Mighty he judgeth among the Gods v. 6. I have said ye are Gods Grotius upon these and the like expressions in Scripture tells us that whereever the name of God is given unto men significat judiciariam potestatem jus vitae necis it implies a judiciary power and that no less then of life and death Our blessed Saviours Comment upon the compellation which certainly is the best runs thus Saint John x. 35. he called them Gods D. Ham. unto whom the Word of God came it is observed by a learned Paraphrast of our own that the coming of the Word of the Lord signifies Gods appointing a Man to some particular Office and giving him power and ability for the performance of that Office to which he is appointed and so it is constantly used in the writings of the Prophets who do most of them begin their Prophecies with this
solemn form of Words The Word of the Lord came unto me saying which is no more then as it were the Opening of their Commission the Reading of their Patent the first shewing and vouching of that Authority by which they act all which is an intimation unto us that the Supreme Magistrate and other subordinate Rulers and Governours sent by Him for the punishment of wickedness and vice and the praise of those that do well have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 something of Divinity stampt both on their Persons and their Office and consequently that Both are Sacred This account you have of the Compellation as it may be applicable either to King Priest or any Ministerial Dispensour of Publick Justice whence by the way it is again observable That the Priest had all along from the beginning his share in the Civil Government if the Word of God came to Moses in that he was instead of God yet it was to be spoken or published from the Mouth of Aaron and therefore S. Paul when he had spoken less warily to the High Priest begs pardon with an acknowledgement of his fault as a transgression of that inhibition beforecited Num. xxii 28. Thou shalt not revile the Gods I wist not brethren that he was the High Priest for it is written Thou shalt not speak evil of the Ruler of thy People Act. xxiii 5. So then if they Both act by one and the same Commission he of the two that hath the Preeminence for a Supremacy and Subordination must be admitted else there could be no Government does no more then vindicate to himself his own Royal Prerogative whilst he secures as firm and inviolable to the other his Priestly priviledges and immunities and in this sense most properly and to best purpose is Moses to be unto Aaron instead of God Instead of God yea and that in as many respects as Aaron was to be to him instead of a Mouth the Relation being all along mutual and reciprocal Instead of God to Aaron whether it be before the Israelites or the Egyptians 1. Before the Israelites yea though they be the two hundred and fifty Princes of the Assembly Num. xvi 1. Men of renown famous in the Congregation gathered together in a grand conspiracy to invade the Priesthood Moses must then speak as from God himself and declare who it is that is holy amongst them whom the Lord hath chosen to come nigh unto himself v. 11. What is Aaron that ye murmure against him 2. Before the Egyptians Pharaoh his servants and his People cap. vii 1. I have set thee as a God to Pharaoh and Aaron thy brother shall be thy Prophet Thou shalt speak what I command as from me to Aaron and He shall speak what Thou shalt suggest as from me to Pharaoh and thus Thou shalt be as God to them Both Mine Oracle to the One to reveal all my mind my Rod and Scourge upon the Other to execute all my wrath though he will not as a man of wisdom should hear the Rod and him that hath appointed it yet thou shalt multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt Jannes and Jambres though they may withstand shall not altogether prevail when they see the dust from under them to crawl up in Vermin on them they shall lay their hands upon their Mouths and abhor themselves in that Dust acknowledge this to be the Finger of God and throughout all they shall confess that the Rod in the hand of Moses was guided by the Arm of the Almighty Thus God hath fenced against a common enemy both King and Priest in a mutual dependance the One with Power sufficient that he may uphold the Other with a sure defence that he may be sustained and the interests of Both these are so interwoven together that where-ever the Breach is made the injury is alike damage to Both. It is the same God who hath given commandment concerning Princes that they should not be touched by the hands of violence Touch not mine Anointed as they are Anointed they are Mine they are as my self who hath likewise in the very next words given it in charge whether it be to Prince or People to Magistrate or Peasant concerning those who have a more immediate attendance upon him Do my Prophets no harm As therefore Aarons Divine Mouth must be opened for not against Moses he must not traduce speak evil of him before the People So Moses's God-like Power must be exercised and exerted for not against Aaron he must not suffer him to be exposed to the scorn and reproach of a froward and an untoward generation In order to which Defence that their persons may be Venerable whose office is so sacred the maintenance of whom in honour is so great a security unto Majesty to be sure Moses will be careful that Aaron and his sons have an inheritance allotted to them in the Promised Land and that not apart or distinct by themselves but as a Blessing to whole Israel dispersed amidst and throughout all their Tribes This was Moses's last Benediction upon the House of Levi not long before his death Deut. xxxiii 11. Bless Lord his substance and accept the work of his hands smite through the loins of them that rise against him and that hate him that they rise not again It is not to be imagined that Moses will take less care of Aaron and the Levites then did Pharaoh of his Egyptian Priests who in the days of famine had enough their portion of meat assigned to them from Pharaoh's Table insomuch that when all the land of Egypt was bought into the Crown Gen. xlvii 22. Onely the lands of the Priests were not sold In this sense also is Moses to be to Aaron in the stead of God to secure unto him the Lord's inheritance since dreadful are like to be the effects of Sacriledge upon that Nation or People amongst whom it is an iniquity though endeavoured to be established by a Law May the King and his Throne be guiltless the Kingdom established unto him in Righteousness for He onely is as God who doth preserve in the hollow of his hand the Churches portion from the violence of such who pant after nothing but the Dust of the Earth upon the Head of the Poor One inference more The words of the Text are spoken Universally and at large without the least limitation and restriction which may be an intimation to us That this labour of love here required from one to the other must be reciprocal the Union preserved inviolable whatsoever personal provocations may unhappily intervene on either side We do humbly crave pardon whilst we do suppose that which we need not fear since we are assured that Moses was the most true hearted man in all the earth faithfull in all the House of God yet should he refuse to be a God to Aaron withhold his protection from him so put a veil over his face that he should not in the least behold his
countenance and then throw it off again onely to terrifie him with his frowns for all this the Obligation doth not cease on Aaron's side he must still be the Mouth of Moses to the People Again should Aaron shut his own Mouth not speak for Moses when the sons of Belial are against him more out of policy then good honesty keep silence at such a time because it is an evil time for all this Moses must still be unto Aaron instead of God instead of God that is as Supreme and far above him he may visit upon and punish him for his personal miscarriage nevertheless at the same time he is obliged to maintain and defend as sacred the whole Order Doth Aaron make a calf in the absence of Moses hearken to the voice of an unruly people in their despite of Moses As for this Moses we wot not what is become of him though they knew him to be in the Mount with God and in the mean time does Aaron make the people naked to their shame upon this Moses was not so well advised when he brake the two Tables of both which he should have been the Keeper and it was some aggravation of his Passion in that he brake them at no other place but the Mount of God notwithstanding this sore Provocation he must be ready to defend Aaron against the Sedition of Corah and the Rebellion of the Congregation of Abiram We do not read that Moses did ever personally offend Aaron we have heard sufficiently both of his meekness and faithfulness but alas Aaron once and again unhappily miscarried both in the business of the Golden Calf and in the matter of Miriam and notwithstanding both these the sin being justly reproved and in some sort punished the Union in my Text was preserved Aaron though the Saint of God did not in one or two instances as he should Oh that he had been careful rule his tongue yet Moses must be cautious that he do not shut his Mouth he is still the Ordinance of God and therefore not to be infringed the Order is to be secured setting aside all personal offences the errour was no sooner acknowledged then forgiven and passed by and all that God's Institution between Both might be observed inviolable Aaron is still to Moses instead of a Mouth before the People and Moses in this like unto God that had appointed him Merciful and Gracious not easily provoked nor long angry he is yet to Aaron instead of God Si non errâssent fecissent minus upon a miscarriage humbly acknowledged the penalty obediently submitted to on the one hand and the same as frankly pardoned as generously remitted on the other the Obligation is hence the stronger between Both even thus much good out of what might have been so great an evil a firmer reconciliation a surer establishment from a little shaking whilst all animosities being laid aside the Unum necessarium that One thing necessary Union is preserved because in that Union is involved and wrapped up the security and safety of Both. And so I pass to the Third and last observable in the Text the utmost bounds of your Patience which is A Promise of Success and Prosperity unto Both an assurance that God will not be wanting where this Union is continued and that taken from the manner of expressing the Phrase in the Text as it relates to the last words of the foregoing ver the words are spoken by God himself as a Precept and a Promise the Precept He shall be and Thou shalt be the Promise I will be with thy Mouth and with his Mouth and will teach you Both what you shall do Blessed of the Lord is that People yea Happy is the Nation which is in such a Case where Aaron is Spokesman for Moses no other then his Mouth and Moses is to Aaron instead of God Aarons Mouth that implies all manner of Gifts and Graces by which he is of God duly furnished and rightly qualified for his Office Moses being as God that denotes the Highness of his Calling the excellency of his Majesty and the Certainty of his Defence he being thus the Signet upon the Arm set there to be a Protection to the Stars that are in the right hand of God and through the tender mercy of the Most Highest they shall none of them be removed cap. vii 1. to which I cannot too often recur it being the Parallel to my Text the Promise which is here made is there endowed the Office which is here designed is there conferred The Lord said unto Moses See I have made thee to be as God and Aaron thy Brother shall be thy Prophet Nothing is in the Text promised or there performed or if it be more agreeable to the scope in both places nothing is commanded or required either in one or in the other but reciprocally and with a mutual respect that so the supplement of all defects in either Government might be one of another in love and good will and the Complement of all from God himself the merciful Maker and Appointer of them Both might be a Blessing of Peace Plenty and Prosperity I will teach you and so be with you in whatsoever ye shall do The word in the Septuagint ver 12 15. is very Emphatical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will go along with you in every thing that you shall speak I will tread an even pace with you in every thing you shall do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Symach I will be a Light and so a sure Direction to you that you do not in the least miscarry This is the sum of the whole That the Priests mouth shall be opened in Righteousness because his words are given forth from the King The Mouth is but One and the same unto Both because so is the Ordinance of God thereupon this is the Blessing of Heaven for Both that the Word shall not return in vain until it accomplish the Work for which it was sent God will prosper the words of his Mouth to the One the Work of his Hands to the Other he will establish the Work and the Word to them Both in Righteousness The Mouth that may imply Eloquence as we may gather from the want of it v. 18. Lord I am not Eloquent Being as God that signifies Power and Dominion Te illi Praeficiam ut sis Princeps Judex Magistratus ejus Fagius I have set thee above him as his Prince whom he must honour before all the people as his Judge and an upright Magistrate for whom thou must do justice be sure to do him right in the sight of that People whose honour he is to bespeak for Thee Now what is Eloquence without Authority to back it it is not a Word with Power What is all Power and Dominion without a Voice to proclaim the Majesty as most excellent it is at the best but a Dumb shew Both these being upheld together as the Ordinance of God no question that