Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n
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A66899
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Moses and Aaron, the king and the priest by the author of the examination of Tilenus before the triers, in the time of the late rebellion.
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Womock, Laurence, 1612-1685.
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1675
(1675)
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Wing W3346; ESTC R20340
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27,170
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67
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and therefore it is so much the fitter to determine upon what Tribe the Sacred Priesthood a special branch of the right of Primogeniture is to be transferred 2. For the number of these Rods there is some difference amongst Interpreters because the Tribe of Joseph was divided into two Families and had a double portion in the land of Canaan and so upon that civil account there were twelve Tribes besides the Tribe of Levi therefore some think there were twelve Rods besides the Rod of Levi. But such an inequality had been apt to breed another quarrel and therefore it is more probable there were but twelve Rods according to the number of the Tribes in their Original and that these Rods were all of the same stock the same growth the same gathering and preparation that there might be no disparity to beget new cavils touching the decision And because the Tribe of Levi was divided into two Families though Corah head of the second House and Aaron's Competitor or Numb 26. 11. Adversary at least was extinguished and his Sons being preserved by special Providence probably had yielded the pre-eminence to Aaron deeming it sufficient honour for them to be dignified with that lustre that would be reflected upon them from the Glory of the head of their Elder Family yet to take off all colour of dispute about the Succession God gave express order That Aaron's and not Levi's name should be written upon the Rod for the Tribe of Levi. 3. For the place where this Jury of Rods were put together it was the Tabernacle of Vers 3. the Covenant before the Testimony before the Tables of the Law by the Pot of Manna Psal 94. to signifie that the Rod is an excellent Vsher of obedience to the Law and if it prevails not to that effect that then it is a ready instrument to drive us from the comfort of the Pot of Manna the benefit of the Sacrament Or it might be intended that the sacredness of the place should take away all suspition of fraud and add Authority to the miraculous obsignation of Aaron's office This being the place where God did vouchsafe to exhibit his Gracious presence to determine them upon appeal in all doubtful Cases the Rods were placed here to signifie that this being a kind of Sacred Lottery the event was wholly at Gods disposal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Nyss That the grace of Priesthood is not of men but of God Ideo Aaron Sacerdotem ipse elegit ut non humana cupiditas in eligendo sacerdote praeponderaret sed gratia Dei non Ep. l. 10. Ep. 82. voluntaria oblatio nec propria assumptio sed caelestis vocatio Ambros And now this Emblematical Grand Jury will afford us an excellent Definition of a Priest or Bishop he is a person slipt off the common stock of Mankind by a special act of separation not rooted in the earth not fed with the crude juices of nature to soften and infeeble him to make him pliant to the bent of evil inclinations but mortified to the motions of the flesh dead to the Temptations of the World that being impregnated with blessings supernatural with grace and knowledg he may bring forth abundant fruit for the service of Gods Church And the Verdict which went for Aaron represents him to be such a person For behold his Rod had budded buds and brought forth leaves and bloomed blossoms and yielded Almonds Vers 8. Here is a production which nature never had a due conception of at least never travel'd for it A dry Rod swell'd into turgent buds and buds dilated into lovely blossoms and digested into wholsome fruits and all ex tempore a threefold miracle to render Aaron's election the more certain and unquestionable Buds and Flowers and Fruit here 's provision for posterity by an orderly succession And the order of their pullulation is an evidence that Gods Grace does not destroy Nature or pervert the common course of it but only assist quicken and advance her in her operations Austin calls this Rod Sacramentum Sacerdotale De Temp. Ser. 99. ep l. 1. ep 50. Lib. 10. ep 82. Origen Pelusiot Ambr. Austin Fructus nucis amaram quidem aspiram cortium habet sub qua latet quod est esculentum c. Theod. Hier. in Jer. 1. and Is Pelusiot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Type of the Priesthood And what doth it signifie Nisi quod nunquam Sacerdotalis marcescat gratia saith St. Ambrose The Fathers observe further of this Tree that the outside the rinde the husk the shell are hard and astringent sharp and bitter but the inside the fruit the kernel are sweet nutritive and refreshing This is a significant Hyerogliphick of the Priests duty It instructs him to be vigilant and active in his office austere and mortified in his life patient and hardy to endure the storms of reproach and opposition while he is discharging himself in a salutary fruitfulness Let him be cloathed with the leaves and blossoms of a decent Conversation but laden with the fruits of all good works that the Church under the inspection of such Pastors may be as a Garden of Nuts and the Spouse delight to descend into it with his train of Graces and inconceivable consolation In short all Priests have their Rods but all Rods are not thus florid thus fruitful Such as are so without all peradventure are of Gods election and establishment as was Aaron And now I hope such as are of Israel of what Tribe soever will submit to Gods Arbitration and be reconciled to Aaron and kiss his Rod pay a due regard a dutiful veneration to that Office and Ministry which God hath vouchsafed to dignify with a threefold miracle To this end a publick Record is made of it to be kept inviolable And the Lord said unto Moses bring Aarons Rod again before the testimony c. 1. Before the testimony That whensoever they came to consult God about any emergent difficulty they might not presume to seek his assistance to degrade the Priesthood or cut off the line of succession which he had established by such wonderful Prodigies and to which he had assigned Sanctuary in his holy place for thither the Rod is brought and brought thither it is 2. Vt servetur that it might be kept such as attempt to undermine Gods sacred Constitutions by the rudeness of popular tumults do but make them take the firmer roots and ingage God the more to shew signs and wonders for their preservation Aarons Rod shall find Sanctuary and be preserved in perpetuam rei memoriam 3. Vt servetur in signum It shall be kept for a sign Mans memory is naturally treacherous and nothing can spoil it sooner than ingratitude and envy Therefore God does here teach us an Art of Memory by prescribing tokens to cure us of our forgetfulness such memorials being significant to Hic et Chap. 16. 38. the use of edifying
present them before Aaron the Priest that they may Minister unto him The Investiture is from Moses but the Direction and Authority is from God himself Moses we see had good warrant for this but the Peoples jealousie suggested that he had his own ends to serve under pretence of Gods Institution They suspected he had a design to establish his own Throne and an usurped Prerogative and they thought there was no way so likely to accomplish this as by advanceing his allies his elder brother Aaron to the high-Priests Office And if he could perswade the People that this establishment was by Gods own appointment while the Glory of the Myter did put out their eyes and dazle their judgments he might take his Advantage to make himself an absolute Prince over them That this was their sense is evident from their discourse Ye take too much upon you will ye put out the eyes of this People and wilt thou Moses Vers 3 13 14. make thy self altogether a Prince over us Hereupon as well to vindicate the Integrity of Moses as the Authority of his own Institution God appoints Moses to be the Patron of Aarons Case Dixitque Dominus ad Mosen And the Lord said unto Moses c. 'T is strange an Office that lyes under so much contempt amongst some should be a matter of so much emulation amongst the Princes of Israel Indeed it is a great Priviledg to have so free an access to God as the Priest ever had and a great Dignity to be next Moses the Prince as well in point of Honour as Authority But if their eyes were dazled with the splendour of the Myter Num. 18. 1. their heart should have weighed what a burden it is to bear the iniquity of the Sanctuary and of the Priesthood This haply might have taken off the envy and we should not have had so many Rivals to promote a Faction against the right Incumbent in the vid. Bonfr in Chap 16. 2. holy Office Ambition started the dispute which was promoted by Corah out of envy and the Sons of Ruben his confederates and began upon this pretence Before the Num. 16. 1. Tribe of Levi was separated to the Priests Office the first-born of every Tribe was hallowed as it were by right of Primogeniture Chap. 3. Vers 45. to perform the duty They took it ill to be divested of this Right which the Law of nature had intailed upon them and to see it translated intirely upon Aaron and his Sons created matter of envy and indignation especially in Corah and the Sons of Ruben If one Priest must needs be setled over all the Tribes why not the Son of Ruben the first-born For though his Father forfeited his birth-right yet Gods Law doth Gen. 49. 3. 1. Chron. 5. 1. not extedn the penalty beyond the third or the fourth Generation and by this time the intailed curse being cut off it is just his posterity should be restored to the right of Primogeniture This was very plausible for the Rubenites to plead while they aimed likewise in all probability at the Scepter But this would not serve Corah's turn he affected an Ecclesiastical supremacy himself so Moses tells him But he could not tell Chap 16. 10 well how to make out his Title for though he was of the Tribe of Levi yet he was head but of the Second house Aaron was of the first He was therefore to gratifie Exod 6. 21. his envy by procuring Aarons Jurisdiction to be voted down and his Power levelled that himself might be exempted from all Canonical Obedience and become an Independent And then his Ambition suggested That by his popularity and little Arts of insinuation he might gather a numerous congregation And to this end he courts the People Chap 16. 3. and pleads the cause of a Godly party Ye take too much upon you seeing all the congregation are holy every one of them And therefore sufficiently qualified to choose their own Priest or administer to themselves This Doctrine did so bewitch the People that even after the Ringleaders of the Faction Corah and the Sons of Ruben were removed by a Signal and Stupendous vengeance all the Chap 16. 42. congregation not one Tribe excepted conspired against Moses and against Aaron to carry on the design until fourteen thousand and seven hundred of them were swept away with a new plague and the rest silenced by a Miraculous decision of the controversy In the interim how does Aaron the Defendant behave himself in this quarrel why he shews himself as becomes a Type of Christ worthy that Office which they maliciously contended to wrest from him when he sees Num. 16. 48. that wrath is gon out and the plague begun He takes his Censer to make an Atonement and standing between the dead and the living He exposeth his own life as a sacrifice for these his enemies but for his cause he pleads not one word but submits himself and it wholly to him that judgeth righteously and so we proceed to 2. The Trial. But had not a special Verdict past against them already Had they not acknowledged a judgment upon the loss of 15000 Souls swept away by a threefold Vengeance the devouring earth the consuming fire and a wasting plague But this is thought imputable to some rashness of conduct in the business or to Moses's Interest and importunity with God And so their Spirits being imbittered and their hearts hardened those judgments made no impression upon them In mercy therefore God deals with them in cool blood and summons them to a new Trial wherein he vindicates the Authority of his own Institution and seals Aarons Pattent for the sacred Office with a miracle In this Trial we are to consider 1. The Jury 2. The Verdict In the Jury we may consider 1. The nature 2. The number 3. The place of their meeting 1. They are Rods. Men many times do so far degenerate becom so unreasonable that God appeals to senseless creatures to take up the dispute and decide the controversie that he has with them Hear O ye mountains the Lords controversie Besides the Rod is an Emblem of Authority an Ensign of Jurisdiction The Lord shall Psal 110. Heb. 11. Psal 89. 32. Apoc. 21. 15. send the rod of thy power out of Sion And there is a threefold use of the Rod consonant to that Emblematical signification For 1. Support for 2. Chastisement and 3. Mensuration And it belongs to the justice of Authority to support the weak and innocent to chastise the wicked and impenitent and to mete out reward and punishment respectively unto all The Rods therefore are not unfitly put upon the Jury to find for the Priests office And the Rods of Almond-Trees most opposite to this purpose for this being the first of Trees that awakes out of the dead of Winter and shoots up to cloath and dress it self to it belongs the right of Primogeniture amongst the Trees