sin that is he died a natural death when his time was come as being by sin liable to death as all other men are They further urge that except this be granted them the Name of their Father wil be quite extinct Moses inquiring of the Lord concerning this Case it pleased the Lord to grant these Daughters of Zelophehad their desire which was afterwards punctually performed Joshua as we may read Josh 17.4 According to the Command of the Lord he gave them an Inheritance among the Brethren of their Father Yet withall there was afterwards a Caution added to wit that they might not marry out of their own Tribe * Hence some conclude that when a man died without Issue and his Brother married his Widow to raise up Seed unto his Brother whose Estate he inhetlted his first Son in their Genealogies was reckoned to be the Son of him that died without Issue So it was in this case The first Sons of those that married the Daughters of Zelophehad were accounted the Sons of Zelophehad and so under his Name did inherit his Land see Ch. 36.6 And upon this occasion was the Law for succession in Inheritances made and ordained Numb 27. from 1. to 12. SECT LXXXIV GOd now signifies to Moses that he should die and accordingly Commands him to go up to that Tract of the Mountains of Abarim * See Ch. 33.47 Deut. 32.49 34.1 which are in the Land of Moab over against Jerico and on one of the highest of them called Nebo whose top was called Pisgah he should see that good Land into which he might not enter And when he had seen it his Soul should be gathered unto the Souls of his pious Ancestors who died before him For He and Aaron had rebelled against his Commandment see Ch. 20.12 which was that they should by Faith sanctifie * We sanctifie the Lord when we conceive aright of his Nature and Attributes and when we speak so reverently of Him as to cause his Name to be praised and magnified among men him in the eyes of the people at the Wilderness of Zin but they sanctified him not Moses humbly and earnestly begs of the Lord that he might be permitted to go over and see that good Land Deut. 3.23 25. but the Lord was not pleased to grant his Request Humbly therefore submitting to his holy Will he now earnestly prays to God Who is the God of the Spirits of all flesh and not only the Creator but the Searcher and Trier of men spirits and knows what is in man and can frame and fashion mens spirits as he pleases and give them Gifts and Graces requisite for the Places he calls them unto to appoint a Successor to him that might as a good Shepheard go out and in before the Flock God upon his prayer appoints Joshua to succeed him a man in whom was the Spirit that is the Spirit of Wisdom and understanding the Spirit of Counsel and Might the Spirit of Knowledge and the fear of the Lord. God Commands him therefore to lay his hands * The like Ceremony was afterwards used in the days of the Gospel when men were separated and set apart to Preach the Gospel 1 Tim. 4.14 upon Joshua to intimate to Him by this Ceremony that the hand of God should be upon him to defend and prosper him in all his ways and that he would confer upon him a great measure of the Gifts of his Spirit answerable to the Dignity whereunto he had advanced Him and accordingly 'tis said Deut. 34.9 That Joshua the Son of Nun was full of Wisdom for Moses had laid his hands on him Moses was also to set him before Eleazar and the Congregation and to give him a Charge concerning what he was to do and what to forbear in the administration of his Office And Moses was further commanded to put some of his own honour upon him that is admit him into some Partnership of Authority and Dignity with himself and so cause the people to give him that Honour that was due unto Moses's Successor and the Judge Elect of Israel And Moses tells him further That upon occasion he shall present himself before Eleazar that he may inquire of the Lord for him after the Judgment of Vrim that is putting on the Ephod to which the Pectoral * See Pharaphrase on Exod. 28.30 was fastened wherein was the Vrim and Thummim And at Eleazar's word speaking from the Lord He and the people shall go out to War or return from it and so in all weighty Affairs which were extraordinary by his direction they should govern themselves And Moses did all these things which the Lord commanded him Numb 27. from 12. to the end SECT LXXXV THe Children of Israel having as it seems omitted their Sacrifices and solemn Feasts the most part of the 38 years last past by reason of their travels wherein the Sanctuary the Alar and other holy things were made up fit for removal from place to place And the most part of the Generation from twenty years old and upward that had been mustered in Sinai being now dead see Ch. 26.64 The Lord hereupon causeth the Law of sacrificing to be again here repeated thereby intimating to them that when they came into the Land which he promised them they must not any longer neglect his Ordinances as they had done in the Wilderness see Deut. 12.8 And therefore first in the general he charges them that they be sure to give Him all the Sacrifices and Offerings which he had at several times appointed them to offer And then 2ly He sets down particularly what they were to offer First For their daily Sacrifice from vers 3. to 9. Secondly For their weekly Sacrifice every Sabbath * The Sacrifices appointed for every Sabbath-day are full double to those appointed for every day And yet the daily Sacrifice the continual Burnt-Offering was not then to be omitted day from vers 9. to 10. Thirdly For their monthly Sacrifice every new Moon from 11. to 16. And fourthly For their yearly Sacrifices First At the Passover from vers 16. to 26. 2ly At Pentecost from 26. to the end 3ly He mentions the Offering appointed at the Feast of Trumpets Ch. 29. from 1. to 7. 4ly The Offering on the day of Expiation from 7. to 12. 5ly On the eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles from vers 12. to 39. Numb Ch. 28. whole Chapter Numb Ch. 29. from 1. to 39. SECT LXXXVI BEsides those set and solemn Sacrifices which God Himself had injoyned there were other Sacrifices which were to be offered to the Lord namely such as men voluntarily offered or upon a particular Vow Ch. 29. v. 39. And upon this occasion it seems several Precepts concerning Vows were added to shew who were necessarily obliged to perform their Vows and who not And Moses made known these Laws to the Heads of the Tribes because they were the men that according to these Laws were
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—
word and performed thy promise to thy servant David in raising me his Son up to build a Temple for thee perform also I pray thee unto my father what thou didst further promise him * 2 Sam. 7.13 to wit that there shall not fail a man lineally descended from him to sit upon the Throne of Israel and to reign in thy sight provided his children take heed to their way to walk before thee with that integrity that he did Now let thy word I pray thee be verified and fulfilled which thou spakest to my father concerning this matter But why do I speak of my building an house for thee Will God indeed dwell on earth Behold thou art an infinite and immense being Thou canst not be contained within any compass or space The Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee much less this house that I have builded But though thou canst not be contained within this house yet I pray thee have regard to the prayer and humble supplication of me thy poor servant which I make to thee in behalf of this house namely that the eyes of thy favour and providence may be open towards it day and night seeing thou hast said of it that thy name †Deut. 12.11 shall be there call'd upon and worshipped I humbly beseech thee therefore when ever either my self or any of thy people shall pray unto thee in this place or towards it (a) V. 30. Versus hunc locum quasi respiciens ad promissionem praesentiae tuae in hoc loco exemplum in Daniele cap. 6. v. 10. that then thou wouldst please to hear in Heaven thy dwelling place where thy glory is most eminently manifested and when thou hearest be pleased to forgive and pardon our transgressions against thee For there is no comfort in obtaining any other mercy if our sins be not forgiven Particularly I humbly request of thee that if any man be charged that he hath trespassed against his neighbour and he be brought before thine Altar (b) Tacto Altare jurare mos omnium prope Gentium Intrepidi quicunque altaria tangunt Juv. in the Court of this house to clear himself by Oath sufficient proof by witnesses being wanting that thou wouldst please to deal with him according to innocence or guiltiness punishing him if he be faulty and bringing his wicked way upon his own head but justifying and acquitting him if he be innocent Or if thy people be smitten before their enemies in the field because they have sinned against thee and shall turn again to thee and confess thy name to wit thy justice in suffering their enemies to prevail against them and shall acknowledg thy mercy and power and so seek to thee for pardon and help and shall make supplication to thee turning their faces towards this house then hear thou in heaven and forgive their sin and bring them again into the land which thou gavest to their fathers Or when the heaven is shut up and there is no rain because thy people have sinned against thee if they shall pray towards this place and confess thy justice in punishing of them and turn from their sin then hear thou in heaven and forgive their sin and teach them the good way (c) V. 36. Et ostende eis viam bonam wherein they should walk and then give rain upon the land which thou hast given thy people for an inheritance Or if any of these great judgments fall upon the land to wit famine pestilence and blasting or if there be any plague or sickness upon thy people what prayer and supplication shall be made by any man singly or by all thy people jointly who shall know every man the plague (d) 2 Chron. 6.29 When every one shall know his own sore and his own grief Grief is put for that which should cause grief viz. Sin of his own heart to wit the sins for which he is punished and shall spread forth his hands towards this house then hear thou in heaven and forgive and do what in thy infinite wisdom seemeth good and give to every man according to his ways not his former sins but his present repentance whose heart thou seest to be sincere and upright For thou and thou only O Lord knowest the hearts of all the children of men And I humbly beseech thee to deal thus mercifully with thy people that they may fear thee and walk in thy ways all the days of their lives Moreover if a stranger that is not of thy people Israel who hears of thy wondrous works and righteous Laws and this holy house shall come from his own Countrey to testifie his high esteem of thy great name and to worship and praise thee and shall pray towards this house (a) Or in this house viz. in the Court of the Gentiles then hear thou in heaven and grant all that he shall pray unto thee for which is agreeable to thy holy will that all the people of the earth may know thy name and learn to fear thee as do thy people Israel and that they may know that thy name is called upon in this house that I have built to wit that it is call'd the Temple of the Lord and the house of God and is so in reality by thy hearing the prayers that are here made unto thee Furthermore if thy people shall go out to battel against their enemies and shall pray unto thee and seek thy favour and help in that enterprize looking towards this City and this house which I have built for thy great name then hear thou in heaven their prayer and supplication and maintain their just and righteous cause by giving them good success But if they by their sins provoke thee for there is no man that sinneth not so that thou givest them up into the hands of their enemies and they carry them away captive either further off or nearer hand however if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive and shall repent and make supplication to thee saying we have sinned and done perversly we have committed wickedness and so shall return unto thee with all their heart and all their soul and shall pray unto thee looking towards this land this City and this house then hear thou in heaven their prayer and supplication and maintain their cause taking part with thy people that repent and pray unto thee against the unjust oppression of their enemies and then turn thou O Lord the hearts of their enemies towards them that they may have pity and compassion on them For remember O Lord they are thy people and thine inheritance (b) This people were to God as a mans inheritance is to him which he hath bought and made his own for ever See Dâ—ut 32.9 which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt even out of an iron furnace (c) Deut. 4.20 And furthermore let the eyes (d) 2 Chron. 6.40 of thy favour be upon me thy poor servant
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
Nations that God had cast out before the children of Israel And moreover Manasseh shed much innocent blood viz. of the Prophets that condemned his wicked courses and of others that opposed his evil ways insomuch that he filled Jerusalem with such kind of slaughters And among others whom he put to death he caused the Prophet Isaiah to be sawn asunder with a wooden saw as the Babylonish Talmud Justin Martyr Jerome and others report who suppose so much may be gathered from Heb. 11.37 They were stoned they were sawn asunder were tempted were slain with the sword Manasseh being guilty of such high and great abominations God sent his Prophets * Thus merciful was God to send his Prophets both to Judah and Israel even in the worst of times to draw them from their impieties to him to declare that because he had done these abominable things which the Lord abhorred and had exceeded the very Amorites and worst of the heathens in their impieties whom God cast out of the land of Canaan for their sins and had made Judah to sin with his Idols therefore he would bring such evil upon Judah and Jerusalem that whosoever heard of it both his ears should tingle with the affrighting news thereof He would stretch over Jerusalem the line †That is the line of confusion as 't is Isa 34.11 whereby he would meet out what was to be pulled down And the plummet of the house of Ahab that is a line with a plummet at the end of it The Prophets in their similitudes have more respect to the things signified by their similitudes than to the things from which they take them and so it is here of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab that is would deal with Jerusalem as he dealt with Samaria and with the house of Manasseh as he had dealt with the house of Ahab And he would wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish wiping it and turning it upside down that is would utterly overthrow the state of Jerusalem turning it upside down and would clear that City of all her wealth and of all her inhabitants and would forsake the remnant of his inheritance that is the two Tribes of Judah and Benjamin which only remained of the children of Israel in whom he did formerly delight as a man doth in his inheritance and would deliver them into the hands of their enemies and they should become a prey and spoil to them and all this because they had done that which was evil in his sight and had one generation after another provoked him to anger even ever since he first brought them out of Egypt 2 King 21. from 1 to 17. 2 Chron. 33. from 1 to 11. 2 King 24.3 4. The King of Assyria now sending fresh Colonies into the land of Israel and with them possibly some forces to settle them there it seems some of his chief Commanders with a party of Souldiers made a sudden inrode into the land of Judea with an intent to surprize Manasseh and they came so suddenly upon him that he was forced to fly and hide himself in some wood or thicket to save himself but thither they pursued him and took him and bound him with fetters and carried him prisoner to Babylon (a) So that it seems the King of Babylon was now King of Assyria When he was in this affliction he besought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly (b) What the word of the Prophets could not do the rod of God did before him and prayed (c) There is a prayer of his set down in the Apocrypha but 't is doubtful whither it be his or no. earnestly unto him and the Lord was intreated of him and heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem into his Kingdom whereby he was convinced that the Lord was the only true God For the Lord by his all-powerful providence so moved the heart of the King of Babylon that he was content to set him free upon condition that he would oppose the King of Egypt which may be the reason why Josiah some years after would needs fight against Pharoah Necho 2 Chron. 35.20 'T is probable that Manasseh's captivity lasted not long because 't is said 2 King 21.1 That he reigned fifty five years in Jerusalem and there is no mention there made of this his captivity After his return he took away the strange gods and the Idol out of the house of the Lord which himself had before set up and all the altars he had built in mount Moriah and in Jerusalem and cast them out of the City This is a good evidence of the truth of any mans repentance when he puts away those evils that formerly he had done with detestation Furthermore Manasseh repaired the Altar of the Lord and sacrificed thereon peace-offerings and thank-offerings and commanded Judah to serve the Lord. As by his example and command he had before caused them to sin so now by both he labours to reform them Yet the people did still sacrifice in the high places but to the Lord only They were brought to embrace the true Religion though they had still a mixture of will-worship with it Manasseh also fortified Jerusalem and other places and put Captains of war into all the fenced Cities of Judah So that he who was before a monster for all manner of evil and wickedness proved now a very commendable Prince so great and happy a change does true conversion make in men 2 Chron. 33. from 11 to 20. The Prophet Habakkuk The Prophesie of HABAKKUK seems about this time to have Prophesied for he speaks of the coming of the Chaldeans against Judah yet not so plainly of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon as Jeremy did Therefore 't is supposed he might be somewhat before him His Prophesie is called the burden * There are four Prophesies in the Volume of the lesser Prophets whose Prophesies are in whole or part called burdens viz. Nahum Habakkuk Malachi and Zachary which Habakkuk the Prophet did see that is his Prophesie was a burdensome Prophesie first to the Jews and then to the Chaldeans His Prophesie is set forth Dialogue-wise between the Prophet and God himself wherein the Prophet first as jealous of Gods honour complains of the extream wickedness of the Jews Ch. 1. from 1 to 5. 2ly We have Gods answer to this complaint wherein he declares that he will punish them by the Chaldeans whom he describes by their bitterness hastiness tyrannicalness and power to bear down all before them as the East-wind and by their pride and haughtiness upon their success robbing God of the glory due to him and ascribing it to their Idols from v. 5 to 12. 3ly We have the Prophets replication to Gods answer wherein he expresses his hope that the Jews should not perish by those threatned calamities grounding his hope on Gods Covenant power and providence and he hoped the Lord ordained the Chaldeans
himself a third time to Demetrius and accused Nicanor as having some treacherous Design in agitation against the King who was so inraged by those Calumnies that he sent Nicanor word That he took very ill those his Intercourses with Judas commanding him forthwith to send him to him bound to Antioch Nicanor was very loath to do this because it was a violation of the Articles of Peace between them which Judas had not in the least manner broken yet because he knew not how to resist the Kings command he watched a convenient time to do it by a Stratagem Judas observing how Nicanor was grown more reserved to him than formerly and that his dealings were more rough than usually they had been began to suspect something and gathering together many of his Associates he withdrew himself Nicanor following him with a great party to Jerusalem under pretence of a Parle with him had prepared some to seize upon him which Judas having notice of got away and would see him no more When Nicanor saw his design was discovered he marched with his forces against Judas and fought with him near Caphersalama in which Encounter Nicanor lost near 5000 of his men and the rest fled to the City of David After this Nicanor came up to Mount Sion and some of the Priests with the Elders of the people went forth of the Sanctuary to salute him peaceably and shew him the Burnt-Offering that was offered for the King But he jearing and scoffing at it demanded Judas to be delivered unto him And they affirming with an Oath that they knew not where he was he stretched out his hand against the Temple and swore that except Judas and his Associates were delivered up unto him he would when he should return in peace set the Sanctuary on fire demolish the Altar and build there a stately Temple to Bacchus The Priests hearing this went in and standing before the Altar with Tears begged of God That he would frustrate this wicked mans intention and avenge his Blasphemies on him and his host Nicanor hearing that Judas was gone from Jerusalem into the parts of Samaria he went and pitched his Tents in Bethoron where he met new supplies out of Syria But Judas pitched in Hadasa with only 3000 men Nicanor did what he could to engage in battle on the Sabbath-day vvhich the Jews vvho vvere constrained to follovv him friendly dehorting him from out of reverence to the day and to God the Institutor thereof he with most horrid Blasphemy slighted what they said As for Maccabaeus he encouraged his Party recalling to their minds their former Encounters and declaring unto them a Dream of his wherein there was represented unto him Onias the 3d. praying for the people and the Prophet Jeremy reaching unto him a golden Sword whereby he much cheared their Spirits The Jews being now well armed with Prayers and a sure confidence in God on the 13th day of the last month Adar fell upon the Enemy Nicanor himself was one of the first that fell in the fight which when his Army saw they cast away their Arms and fled and the Israelites following the chase slew 30000 of them Then they fell upon the Spoil and finding Nicanors Body they cut off his head and hands and carried him to Jerusalem where they hung his head upon an high Tower with his right hand which he had stretched out so proudly against the House of God and his blasphemous Tongue Judas commanded should be chopp'd in pieces and given to the Birds of the Air. In commemoration of this Victory it was Enacted That the 13th day of the month Adar the day before the Feast of Mordecai should be yearly kept as a day of thanksgiving and publick rejoycing as the Author of the second Book of Maccabees tells us who with this story finished his Work being the Epitome of the Five Books of Jason a Jew of Cyrene After Nicanor's death Judea for a while had rest from Wars During which time Judas hearing of the great power of the Romans and their Humanity towards such as were in distress understanding also in what great fear Demetrius stood of them he sent Eupolemus the son of John and Jason son of Eleazer as Agents to the Senate of Rome in the name of himself his Brother and the Common-wealth of the Jews to negotiate an Alliance and Association with them hoping thereby to free their necks from that heavy yoak of Demetrius and the Empire of the Greeks After Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his Army were cut off in the late fight with Judas he dispatch'd Bacchides and Alcimus a second time into Judea and with them the right wing and better part of his Army who marching on the way that leads to Galgala took in their march Massadath which is in Arbela and put multitudes to the Sword From thence they removed to Jerusalem and from thence to Berea with Twenty thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse to seek out Maccabaeus Judas pitched in Eleasa having only 3000 men with him The Jews seeing the number of the enemy so great began to be afraid and many of them fled away in so much that all forsook Judas save only 800 with these he charged Bacchides's great Army and fought from morning to night and routed the right wing in which Bacchides himself was but they on the left wing perceiving this and pressing hard upon Judas and those that were with him slew him fighting valiantly and as soon as he fell the rest of his men fled and shifted for themselves Judas was slain in the 6th year after he had led the people from the death of his Father and A. M. 3844. After the death of Judas wicked men discovered themselves in all the Coasts of Israel who before play'd least in sight for fear of Him And by reason of the great Famine that hapned in those days almost the whole Country joyned with them and submitted themselves to Bacchides that they might the more commodiously be supplied with provision Bacchides advanced those wicked men to be Governours in the Country who when they lighted upon any of Judas's Friends brought them to him who reviled them and revenged himself upon them so that there had not been so great an Affliction since the days that the Prophets ceased from among them 1 Mac. 9.23 27. But such of the Jews as could do it assembled themselves together and chose Jonathan Judas's Brother Captain in his room which Bacchides hearing of sought to kill him but he understanding thereof fled into the desert of Tekoa and sent his Brother John with a bâ—â—d of Soldiers to desire the Nabathites that were Arabians that they might leave their Carriages with them But the Children of Iambri out of Medaba met with them upon the way and slew John and his Company and having seized upon the Spoil went their way But no great joy had they of their Booty for Jonathan and his Brother Simon hearing they were about to make
Southern part of Canaan and there dwelt he sent Messengers before to him to give him notice of his coming charging them to address themselves to him in a very respectful and submissive manner and to tell him that his Servant Jacob had sojourned with Laban in Mesopotamia for 20 years and God had now blessed Him with Flocks and Herds and with Men-Servants and Maid-Servants and therefore He did not come to beg any thing of him but only desired his favour that he might quietly pass thorow his Country The Messengers having dispatched their Message return and tell him that his Brother Esau was coming to meet him attended with 400 men and 't is like they possessed him that they apprehended he came with no good intention towards him Jacob hearing this was greatly afraid his Guard of holy Angels in likelihood being gone and contriving to secure himself as well as he could he divided the people that were with him and his Flocks into two Bands or Companies thinking that if Esau fell upon the one the other might possibly have time to escape And being in this distress he set himself to call not upon the Angels that had lately appeared to him for their help and mediation but upon the true and ever living God praying unto Him after this manner O God of my Grandfather Abraham and Father Isaac to whom thou hast made many great and glorious Promises and to their Seed Thou commandedst me to leave Mesopotamia and to return to my Fathers house (u) See Ch. 31.13 and didst promise to deal well with me and Lo I am now obeying thy Command I acknowledge I am altogether unworthy of the great Mercies thou hast bestowed on me and of that Faithfulness thou hast expressed towards me For when I came from my Fathers house I was in a mean and poor Condition I passed over the River Jordan that I have now in mine eye only with my Staff in my hand and now behold I am become two Bands And seeing thou hast hitherto been so gracious unto me I humbly pray thee now help me and save me from my Brother Esau who I fear without thy Interposition will come upon me and slay me with my Wives and Children Lord thou hast promis'd to do me good and to keep me in all places Ch. 28.14 15. 31.3 and to make my Seed as the Sand of the Sea Therefore I pray thee of thy great mercy make good these thy gracious Promises unto me Jacob having thus prayed and reposed his Trust in God yet He judged it fit to use all good and fair means for his own Preservation And therefore resolved with himself to send a Present to his Brother to propitiate and atone him And accordingly he cull'd out some of all his Cattel for this purpose but the approaching of the night and his hast to prevent his Brothers coming would not suffer him to make any curious choice However he took out of his Flocks 200 She-Goats and 20 He-Goats 200 Ews and 20 Rams 30 Milch-Camels with their Colts 40 Kine and 10 Bulls 20 She-Asses and and 10 Foles in all 580 Head of Cattel a rich and noble Present being an excellent and large Stock for breed These several sorts of Cattel he delivered into the hands of so many several Servants and charged them to pass over the Ford of Jabbok with them and to put a good distance and space between Drove and Drove that so his Present might make the fairer shew and that by degrees the heat of his Brothers Rage might abate and cool Then he charged the first Servant that went with the first Flock that when he met Esau and he should ask him Whence he came and to whom he belonged he should say This is a Present of thy Servant Jacob sent to my Lord Esau and behold he himself is behind coming to wait upon my Lord. And he charged the rest of the Servants that went with the other Flocks to do accordingly And he thought with himself that by this means in all likelihood he should appease his Brother and melt his Rage and dispose him to be kind and favourable to him The Present being sent away His next care was to pass his Wives and Children and his Company and his Flocks and Substance over the River Jabbok but he himself stayed behind that he might spend the night in private prayer unto God And having wrestled with the Lord several hours by fervent prayer not without many tears as we read Hos 12.4 He wept and made Supplication c. at last the Son of God the Angel of the Covenant appeared to him in an humane shape and set upon him and wrestled with him and he was pleased not to prevail over him with that measure of strength which in that assumed Body he did take and use at that time to intimate to him and to assure him that though he was to wrestle with many Difficulties and many Afflictions yet he should be Victor in them all However to keep him humble and that he should not be exalted above measure but know by whose Indulgence he did prevail he touched the hollow of his Thigh and put it out of joynt and the Sinews shrank so that he halted of it for the present to intimate to him that it was not the hand of a meer man that strove with him Then the Angel speaking to him after the manner of men said Let me go for the day breaketh but Jacob now perceiving the Person he wrestled with to be more than a meer man said I will not let thee go except thou bless me Then the Angel asked him his Name which he knew well enough but to take occasion for what he meant to say concerning the change of his Name He answers Jacob. The Angel replies That his Name should henceforth not only be called Jacob but Israel (x) The Jews are never called Jacobites but Israelites that is One that hath Princely Power with God Gen. 46.2 Ch. 35.10 and should also prevail over men Then Jacob desired the Angel to tell him his Name (y) Some Angels had names as Gabriel Luk. 1.19 Christ the Angel of the Covenant is called Michael Dan. 10.21 Jude v. 9. Apoc. 12.7 hoping he would have given him some peculiar Name whereby he might have the clearer knowledge of Him and might better remember and honour him The Angel refused to satisfie his curiosity in that as likewise He did Judg. 13.17 18. but he blessed him So Jacob called the name of the Place Peniel because he had there seen the Son of God in an humane shape face to face who had there manifested himself more clearly to him than ever before and he had escaped death notwithstanding this glorious sight which the Godly us'd to fear when they saw Visions of God See Exod. 20.19 Judg. 6.22 23. 13.22 And now he looked upon his life as safe and that God would preserve him from Esau Then the Sun rising Jacob passed
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
Boils and Blains breaking out upon them So that they were forced to go away and cease fighting against God But yet Pharaoh's heart was so hardned that he would not let the people go for all this Exod. Ch. 9. from 8. to vers 13. Seventh Plague Hail 7. Some few days after God sends Moses again to Pharaoh to require him to let his people go that they may serve him and to let him know that though his Hand had been already heavy upon him yet there were far sorer Plagues still behind which he had determined to bring upon him and his people if he continued obstinate and which should sting him to the very heart And these he would presently pour forth thick and threefold upon him that he might know there is no God like to the great Jehovah in all the World Moses is further commanded to speak thus to Him from the Lord I have stretched out my Hand and destroyed a great part of thy Cattel by Murrain and Pestilence and I should have destroyed thee and thy people thereby also (p) Sic ergo vertendum v. 16. Modo enim cum extendi manum meam percussissem non tantum pecus sed te etiam populum tuum veruntamen seci ut restares c. J. T. as you well deserved but that I have raised thee up for this very purpose that the World might see my Justice in punishing of thee and my Power in my Conquest over thee And dost thou yet so impudently exalt thy self against Me and my People Behold about this time to morrow I will cause it to rain a very grievous Hail upon Thee such as hath not been in Egypt since it became a Land inhabited by Misraim Son of Cham who gave Name to that People and Country And Moses the more to set forth the terrour of this Plague that was coming upon them advises the Egyptians to send for and get home their Cattel and Servants and all that they had in the Field For all that was found there would be destroyed by the Hail Some of Pharaoh's Servants believed this threatening of the Lord and got their Servants and Cattel into houses and so had them preserved but Others regarded it not On the morrow Moses stretched forth his Rod towards Heaven and the Lord sent Thunder and Hail mixed with Fire that ran upon the ground which destroyed not only a great part of their Corn viz. the Barley (q) V. 32. But the Wheat and the Rie were not smitten for they were not grown up that is so much as the Barley It seems in Egypt they sowed their Barley at the same time with their Wheat which we do not and there the Barley would be by far the forwardest Hordeo laeso incolume mansit triticum quippe cum hordei culmus aliquantum arefactus adeoque induratus non cederet grandini sed obniteretur itaque frangebatur Triticum autem tenerum adhuc in herba velut abditum licet non sub terra lenta flexilique sua mollitia procellae impetum devitavit Drufius that was eared and the Flax that was boll'd and in the Stalk and their Herbs but brake a great part of their Trees and killed both Man and Beast that were in the Storm vers 25. so saith the Psalmist Psal 78.47 48. He destroyed their Vines with Hail and their Sycamore-Trees with Hail-stones He gave up their Cattel also to the Hail and their Flocks to the Thunderbolts And this dreadful Hail fell on all the Land of Egppt only in the Land of Goshen there was none Pharaoh terrified with this dreadful Judgment sent for Moses and Aaron and told them He did now plainly see and accordingly did acknowledge That he (r) The Wicked do sometimes confess their sins to God's Glory but will not truly repent and reform that they may be received to Mercy had sinned against God and confess'd That God was Righteous and he and his people wicked He desires them therefore to pray unto the Lord to remove this Judgment and that there might be no more such dreadful Thunder and Hail and he would let them go they should stay no longer Moses promises as soon as he should be out of the City he would stretch forth his hands in prayer to the Lord. He knew by Inspiration from God that then the Thunder and Hail should immediately cease and Pharaoh might hereby be instructed that the Earth is the Lord's and the whole Creation is at his disposal But as for thee and thy Servants says he I know before-hand that ye will be never a whit the better for the removal of this Judgment And the event proved it to be so For when upon Moses's prayer the Thunder and Hail seased the heart of Pharaoh and his Servants were hardened as before and they would not let the people go Exod. Ch. 9. from 13. to the end Eighth Plague Locusts 8. About the seventh day of this Month God sent Moses to Pharaoh again telling him He had hardened (s) See Sect. 58. his heart and the hearts of his Servants that he might glorifie his Power and Justice in bringing more signal Judgments on him However though Pharaoh be obstinate yet thou Moses says God shalt for a remembrance of my Power and Justice declare to thy Children and Childrens Children the Wonders I have done in Egypt upon Pharaoh and his people that so you in your several Generations may know and be assured that I am the Lord. Then Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh again and expostulating with him asked him How long he would refuse to humble himself before the Lord and keep his people from going to serve him They tell him If he continued still obstinate on the morrow the Lord would send Grashoppers and Locusts into all his Quarters and they should be sent in such vast numbers that they should in a manner cover the face of the Earth from man's sight and should devour the residue of the Grass Herbs and what was green on the Trees and the Wheat and Corn which had escaped the Hail and they should fill his house and the houses of his Servants and of all the Egyptians in such a manner that neither he nor his Ancestors nor any that lived in Egypt before him did ever see such vast numbers of Locusts nor any that did did so much mischief as these should do And Moses and Aaron when they had delivered their Message came away and left him Then Pharaoh's Courtiers and Servants said to him How long shall this man Moses be a Snare to us that is an Instrument and means to bring Ruine and Destruction upon us We beseech thee lâ—t these people go Seest thou not that the Land is already almost ruined by the Plagues and Judgments that have been brought upon us Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron again to him and told them He was content they should go and serve the Lord their God But then recalling himself He
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
inferiour Priests were afterwards admitted as appears Luke 1. when he had dressed and trimmed the Lamps of the golden Candlestick in the Morning (c) Manè mundabantur vesperi accendebantur Vatab. and made them ready to be lighted again at Night to burn sweet Incense upon this Altar and when he lighted the Lamps at Night to burn Incense again upon it (d) Luke 1.9 10. when Zachary burned Incense in the Temple the whole multitude were without at prayer while the Incense was ascending possibly to intimate to them how God's people should daily and constantly pray unto the Lord and that the prayers of his faithful people are very acceptable unto him while Jesus Christ doth incense them by his Merits and Intercession And this Ordinance was to be perpetually observed by (e) The Incense seems to be burnt in Chasing-dishes upon this Altar Numb 29.7 them in their Generations while that Dispensation lasted Further they were injoyned to offer no strange Incense thereon that is made of any other materials than what is injoyned vers 34 35 c. where the Ingredients are prescribed to be sweet Spices with pure Frankincense beaten small and mixed together and to be applied by the Priest only to this holy use and no other They were not to make any like to it to smell to or for their own private use Whosoever should contemptuously offend against this Ordinance are threatn'd to be cut off by Divine Vengeance And Aaron once a year as High Priest viz. on the great day of Expiation on the tenth day of the seventh month see Levit. 16.18 was appointed to put the bloud of the Sin-Offering upon the Horns of this Altar to make Expiation for such Errours and Failings as might have been committed in the administration about it And this Rite was to be religiously observed by them in their Generations till Christ the Substance of these Ceremonial shadows should appear Exod. 30. from 1. to 11. and from vers 34. to the end 7ly He gives Directions concerning framing the Tabernacle Now the Tabernacle taken in the largest sense contained two parts one that was covered which was properly called the Tabernacle and one that was open viz. the Court belonging thereunto Concerning the first these Directions are given It was to be 30 Cubits long accounting a Cubit a Yard ten Cubits high and ten broad The walls of it were to be 20 boards of Shittim-wood gilt all over standing upright each a Cubit and half in breadth so that the breadth of the boards joyned together made the length of the Tabernacle the height thereof being the length of the boards that is ten Cubits and the breadth thereof of the same proportion Each board was to have two Tenons fastned in silver Sockets or moveable Footstalls having hollow Mortaises for the Tenons of the boards to fall into These boards were also to have gilded Bars of the same wood running along their breadth in an even proportion through golden Rings to strengthen their Conjunction And these boards were to be as the walls of it But the Tabernacle it self was to consist of curious Curtains of fine twined Linnen Blue Purple and Scarlet with Cherubims curiously embroidered in them representing the Ministry of Angels in the Church and a three-fold Covering over it one of Goats hair spun and woven into Stuff possibly like our Chamlet another of Ram Skins died red a third of Badgers Skins This covered Tabernacle was to consist of two parts The one to be called the Holy of Holies at the upper end of it taking up ten Cubits or one third part of it In this were to be placed the Ark with the two Tables of the Law in it and by the Ark the Pot of Manna before the Testimony Exod. 16.33 34. and Aarons Rod Numb 17.10 and the golden Censer Levit. 16.12 * See Apost Hist on Heb. 9.4 And the Book of the Law (f) This seems to be the Book that was found in Josiah's time and to be lost in the days of wicked Manesseh and Amon The matters of that Book when read to Josiah and the people seemed so strange unto them as if no Copy of it at all or wondrous rare had been extant among them in the outside of the Ark Deut. 31.26 that is the whole Law Writings and inspired Books of Moses Into this Holy of Holies none but the High Priest and He but once a year was to enter Levit. 16. The other part of the Sanctuary was called the Holy containing 20 Cubits In this was to be placed the Altar of Incense on the right side whereof was to stand the golden Candlestick and on the left the Table of Shew-bread Into this part of the Sanctuary the ordinary Priests were to enter and there to Minister These two parts were to be divided by a Veil to be made of Blue Purple and Scarlet with embroidered Cherubims and 't was to be a partition between the Holy and Holy of Holies and this was the inner Veil There was also an hanging to be made for a door or entrance into the Tabernacle or holy Place to be made of Blue Purple and Scarlet and hung on Pillars of Shittim-wood overlaid with Gold which was to be the outward Veil Exod. 26. whole Chapter And so much of the covered Tabernacle now for the outward Court belonging thereunto It was to be in length an 100 Cubits and in breadth 50 and to be inclosed with Hangings of fine twined Linnen hung upon Pillars of Shittim-wood five Cubits high and filleted with Silver and set in Sockets of Brass and moveable Footstalls And for the Gate of this Court Eastward was to be an Hanging of 20 Cubits of Blue Purple and Scarlet and fine twined Linnen wrought with Needle-work and to be hung on four Pillars 8ly Concerning the Altar of Burnt-Offering which was to be made of Shittim-wood five Cubits long and five broad and so to be four square and three Cubits high It was to have Horns or little Pyramids on the four Corners thereof to which they were to bind their Sacrifices see Psal 118.27 They were to make for it a Grate of Net-work all of Brass with four brasen Rings in the corners thereof to take it out upon occasion It was to be overlaid with Brass to defend it against the heat of the fire the widness and length being such that the fire might be kept within the compass of the Grate which was to be set even to the midst of it They were also to make several Instruments belonging to this Altar as Panns to receive ashes Shovels Basons Flesh-hooks Fire-panns all of Brass * There was no Iron to be used about the Tabernacle and Staves of Shittim-wood overlaid with brass to be put into the Rings on the sides of the Altar to bear it withall And it was to be made hollow with boards without either bottom or cover according to the Pattern shewed to Moses in the Mount Exod. 27. from 1. to
man see Exod. 33.20 And when he spake to him he did not make known his mind to him in obscure figurativ expressions as he did to some of the Prophets see Ezek. 17.3 but plainly and clearly and seeing he had manifested so great favour to Moses How comes it to pass says the Lord that ye were not afraid to speak against my Servant Moses And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and the Cloud the sign of his presence removed from the door of the Tabernacle and possibly for some time disappeared God intending thereby to testifie his Indignation against them And immediately Miriam became Leprous and white as Snow * See Deut. 24.9 God was pleased to spare Aaron though Partner with his Sister in this Sin lest in his Dishonour the Priesthood should suffer Aaron intreats Moses to Intercede with the Lord for them that the punishment of this sin wherein they had done foolishly may not be laid upon them He begs that Miriam may not by the continuance of this white Leprosie upon her be as a Child dead in the Womb whose flesh when it comes into the World looks white and putrified as if it were sodden and half consumed And though says He she is for the present alive yet as one dead she is to be excluded from the Communion of the Church see Numb 5.2 and this fretting Plague if it continue upon her will in the end utterly consume and kill her Moses was prevailed with to pray for Her and upon his prayer the Lord was pleased to heal her of her Plague yet gives order that she should be carried out of the Camp for the present For says God if her earthly Father had in great displeasure spit in her face surely she would have been ashamed to shew her self for a time and therefore much more fit is it that in such a Case as this she should be secluded from the Congregation to instruct all the people to take heed of being corrupted with Her example The people upon this Sentence mourned for Her and journied not till she was brought into the Camp again which argued the great honour and respect they had for Her being a Prophetess and the Sister of Moses and Aaron After this the people removed from Hazeroth and pitched in another place in the Wilderness of Paran called Rithmath see Ch. 33.18 Numb 12. whole Chapter SECT LVII THe people being now come near to the Mountain of the Amorites upon the Borders of Canaan Moses encourages them to go up and take possession of the Land which God had promised them Deut. 1.20 21. but they fearing the Event desire that they may first send some Spies to search the Land Moses not knowing their distrustful hearts likes well their motion Deut. 1.23 and seeking Counsel of the Lord about it the Lord was pleased to permit it though in displeasure and accordingly Commands that at the time when Grapes first grew ripe they should send twelve Principal men such as were of authority and esteem among them of every Tribe one of which Caleb was for the Tribe of Judah being then forty years old see Joshua 14.7 and Hoshea (q) Hoshea signifies a Saviour but by adding Jah the Contract of Jehovah which is the proper Name of God Psal 68.4 thereby was signified that He should by the help and assistance of God be a Saviour of the people the Son of Nun whom Moses called Jehoshua or Joshua for the Tribe of Ephraim to discover and spy out the Land These men accordingly went entring into Canaan by the Desart of Zin lying on the South and so went quite thorow it to the very North part thereof even to Rehob 'T is probable they divided themselves else 't is like they would have been suspected neither could they otherwise have viewed the whole Country in so short a time Numb 13. from 1. to 23. SECT LVIII THese Spyes after forty days return from searching the Land and come to the Camp at Kadesh bringing with them one branch of a Vine with one Cluster or Bunch of Grapes upon it which was so big that they carried it between two of them upon a staff with some Pomegranates and Figgs of the Land Ten of these twelve Spies that were sent praised indeed the goodness of the Land but magnified also the strength of the Cities thereof and the Giant-like stature of the Inhabitants thereby disheartning the people from marching any further towards it At Hebron a City in the South-parts of it which was one of the ancientest Cities in the World being more ancient then Zoan the chief City of Egypt which vaunted it self to be of very great Antiquity see Isa 19.11 they tell them they met with Giants the Sons of Anak men of mighty stature in comparison of whom they seemed but like Grashoppers They tell them The Cities of the Canaanites were great and walled up to Heaven Deut. 1.28 They further tell them That the Amalekites dwelt in the South Country the Hittites Jebusites and Amorites in the Mountains nigh unto the Wilderness where the Israelites now lay so that there would be no entring the Land on the South because of those mighty Nations that would be there ready to oppose them And in case they should think to fetch a compass about and to enter in on the East-side there they would be kept out by the River Jordan which ran along on that side and the dead-Sea and by the Canaanites who dwelt by the Sea and by the Coast of Jordan and they being a valiant and a strong people would improve those advantages for the best defence of their Country Thus these ten Spies discouraged the people bringing an evil Report upon the Land telling them It was a Land that eateth up the Inhabitants thereof by reason of the Civil Wars and frequent intestine Commotions that arose among them and by reason of the Tyranny of the Gyants who oppressed those that were less powerful than themselves And if several of the Natives of the Land were expos'd to so much danger how much more had they need to fear that were Strangers and were held their Common Enemies and what could they expect but to be eaten up with continual Wars The people at this Relation being greatly terrified Caleb and Joshua rose up and contradicted this false Report and encouraged the people telling them they might easily by Gods assistance Conquer the Land see Ch. 14.6 7. They said all that they could to still and quiet them and to hearten them to go on but all in vain For they now fall into an high rage and discontent and murmur against Moses and Aaron and wish they had died in Egypt or the Wilderness Nay their discontent and impatience grew so high that they said Deut. 1.27 Because the Lord hated us he hath brought us out of the Land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorite to destroy us and that our selves our Wives and Children should
former favour to them and might also consider and consult together of the best means that were to be used to deliver themselves from the Philistines Tyranny And accordingly being met together at Mizpeh they there kept a solemn fast and humbled themselves exceedingly before the Lord insomuch that they are said to have drawn water that is plenty of tears from their contrite hearts and to have poured them out before the Lord †See Jer. 9.1 Job 16.20 Psal 6.6 using withal perhaps some external effusion or pouring forth of water to represent and signifie their inward repentance and mourning for their sins And after they had reconciled themselves to God Samuel as a Judge composed and arbitrated the controversies and private differences that were among the people The Philistines hearing that the Israelites were met together at Mizpeh they presently suspected that they were plotting some rising and contriving some means to deliver themselves from under their yoke and to prevent this they presently raised their forces and marched to suppress them (c) Habrei cum paenitentiam egerunt gravius a Philistinis oppugnantur Sic qui ad meliorem frugem redire volunt acrius a Diabolo tentantur majores ab hominibus persecutiones patiuntur Samuel dum studet populum liberare videtur accersisse ei gravissimum periculum Illum igitur imprudendentiae temeritatis accusare possent Quare cum inimus consilia quae Deus approbat si quid sinistri contigerit ne paeniteat nos facti neque a recta via deflectamus sed voluntati Dei acquiescamus Calv. The children of Israel hearing of their coming were very much afraid knowing the strength of their enemies and their own present weakness and unpreparedness being met together to pray and not to fight In this extremity they desire Samuel to be instant in prayer to the Lord for them for they had no hope but in his help and assistance who is the Lord of Hosts and giver of victory Samuel hereupon took a sucking Lamb and either caused it to be offered by a Priest not being of that order himself or did it as a Prophet immediately inspired by God and warranted to do it by some special dispensation as Elijah also did 1 King 18.31 32 c. see also Judg. 6.26 Upon the same warrant likewise he offered his Burnt-offering here at Mizpeh on an Altar of his own erecting and not on the Altar in the Tabernacle And Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel and the Lord heard him as appears by what followed for the Army of the Philistines drawing near the Israelites as it seems put themselves into the best posture they could to resist them and the Lord thundred with a terrible thunder upon the Philistines see Ch. 2.10 striking them as 't is like with dreadful Hailstones * See Josh 10 11. and Thunderbolts so that they were discomfited that day before Israel and the rest of the Israelites that stayed at Mizpeh upon the news of their defeat came out and joined in the pursuit and slaughter of them and they pursued them till they came under Bethear which it seems was a Rock where the Philistines having a garrison the Israelites were hindred from prosecuting their victory any further The Army of the Philistines being thus discomfited Samuel as a Monument of their victory and in thankefulness to God for his gracious assistance by which alone they had obtained it took a great stone * Idem fecerunt Jacob. Gen. 28.18 35.14 Josh 4.8 9. and set it up between Mizpeh and Shen which was a Rock over against it calling it Eben-ezer that is the stone of help saying hitherto God has helped us And 't is remarkable that in the very same place where before the Israelites were vanquished and the Ark taken captive Ch. 4.1 they should now erect a Trophy of victory by them obtained The Philistines were so subdued at this time that they came no more into the land while Samuel governed alone †After Saul was chosen to be their King 't is plain they did often with their Armies enter the Land for they saw the hand of the Lord was against them and they restored to Israel the Cities they had formerly taken from them reserving only some places of strength see 1 Sam. 10.5 wherein they kept Garrisons for the better awing of the Israelites And after this there was a cessation from open War between the Israelites and the Philistines and possibly the rest of the Canaanites who being terrified with this victory which God had from Heaven given the Israelites ceased for the present from troubling of them 1 Sam. Ch. 7. from v. 3 to 15. SECT CLVIII SAmuel from the time he was made Judge judged Israel to the day of his death For though Saul after he was made King had the Supreme Power in his hands yet Samuel as long as he lived exercised the jurisdiction of a Judge which God had called him unto as appears by his killing of Agag whom Saul had spared Ch. 15.32 33. And also as a Prophet he directed him in his Government admonished him of his duty reproved him when he did amiss Ch. 15.23 13.13 yea threatned him when he rebelled against Gods command with the loss of his Kingdom Ch. 15.28 and anointed David King in his stead Ch. 16.13 Sometimes indeed they joined together in the Government as in making War against Nabash the Ammonite and relieving Jabesh-Gilead when it was besieged Ch. 11.7 and in this regard the years of both their Governments are joined in the same account of forty years as we may see Act. 13.20 21. Samuel therefore went as a Judge from year to year in circuit to Bethel Gilgal and Mizpeh to hear and determine the causes of the people and as a Prophet to teach and direct them Neither was Samuel bound by his Mothers Vow Ch. 1.11 22. whereby he was devoted to the service of the Sanctury to continue his residence there and that not only because for the sins of the Priests and people the Lord had withdrawn the Ark the visible sign of his Presence from the Tabernacle at Shiloh but also because the Lord himself had taken him off from that Levitical service and called him to another imployment namely to be an holy Prophet and a Judge over his people When he had gone his Circuit he returned to Ramah where his usual dwelling was and his most ordinary place of Judicature and there he built an Altar * Thus we read of divers Altars erected as by Joshua upon mount Ebal Josh 8.30 by Gideon Judg. 6.24.26 by Samuel here and Ch. 11.15 Ch. 16.2 5. by David 2 Sam. 24.25 by Solomon 1 King 8.64 by Elijah 1 King 18.32 to offer Sacrifices Indeed God appointed but one Altar to be ordinarily used for Sacrifices as there was but one Tabernacle but upon extraordinary occasions he allowed holy men by a particular dispensation to build other Altars when it
the people spared him (c) Saul now spared Agag whom God had by an absolute command devoted to destruction but shewed himself afterwards so bloody and barbarously cruel that he caused Gods Priests to be slaughtered whom he should have preserved and that upon a meer suspicion Ch. 22.11 either to make their triumph more glorious or out of covetousness * Ecce quantum abstrahit homines avaritia ab obedientia mandatorum Dei to get a great ransom for him or out of foolish pity because he was a King (e) So Ahab spared Benhadad 1 King 20.35 They spared also the best of the sheep oxen and lambs pretending to reserve them for Sacrifice but doing it out of a covetous desire to enrich themselves but God having anathematiz'd and devoted them all to destruction he would have esteemed it as a pleasing sacrifice if they had thus offered them unto him as he required in the case of Jericho Josh 6.17 but they following their own reason and not Gods command spared all that was good and every thing that was vile and refuse they destroyed Then the Lord spake to Samuel saying It repenteth †Dicitur Deus resipiscere cum id agit quod resipiscentes agunt homines nimirum cum opus suum demoliri statuit vid. Jacob. 1.17 me that I have set up Saul to be King for he is turned from following me and hath not performed my commandments God is said to repent when he does as men do that repent and are grieved for what they have done men are said to repent when they undo what they have before done so God now resolved to alter the course of his dispensations towards Saul and to retract and revoke the benefits he had bestowed on him Samuel hereupon was exceedingly grieved for Saul and prayed earnestly all night for him hoping to have obtain'd of the Lord not to cast him quite off But the Lord would not hear his prayer see v. 23 26. However Samuel going out early in the morning to meet Saul it was told him that he came to Carmel a Town belonging to Judah lying in the way from Amalek Josh 15.55 and that there he had set up a Monument of Triumph for this victory obtain'd over the Amalekites having the picture of a hand upon it to signifie that by his hand and sword he had conquered his enemies V. 12. Et paravit sibi manum i. e. fornicem triumphalem nam trophaeis imponebatur manus ad significandum quod homines valida manu essent profligati Freidlib They further told him that from thence he was gone to Gilgal Samuel going thither to him Saul hearing of his coming went out to met him and said Blessed be thou of the Lord I have performed the commandment of the Lord. How hypocritically and vain gloriously doth he boast of his obedience to God when he was so great a transgressour Samuel said if thou hast obeyed the Commandment of the Lord what meaneth this bleating of sheep in mine ears and this lowing of oxen which I hear Saul replies the people saved the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God that is to the Lord whom thou intirely lovest and servest and therefore canst not sure but allow of the means of his Worship but the rest we have utterly destroyed Samuel answers that he would tell him what the Lord had said to him that night Saul bids him say on as expecting possibly some good message from him so far doth hypocrisie blind men even then when they have done that which is notoriously evil Samuel said when thou wast little in thine own eyes and but of mean condition as thou didst confess Ch. 9.21 God advanced thee to be King over all Israel and the Lord sent thee on an expedition against the Amalekites peremptorily charging thee to destroy those great and notorious sinners who had so much malice in them against his people and to fight against them till they were consumed wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord but didst fly upon the spoil as an hungry hawk doth upon his prey converting that to thy own use like Achan which God had devoted to destruction see Josh 7. Saul justifies himself and says he had obeyed the voice of the Lord he had gone the way the Lord had sent him and had brought with him Agag King of the Amalekites and had destroyed all the rest of the Amalekites he could light on but indeed the people had saved the chief of the sheep and oxen which should have been destroyed to sacrifice unto the Lord in Gilgal * Qui locus erat ad sacra facienda idoneus if this says he be a fault 't was they not I that committed it But it seems to me to be no fault at all seeing they did it out of a good intention and reserved the best of the spoils to sacrifice them to the Lord in token of their thankfulness for this great victory Samuel answers hath the Lord as great delight in Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices as in obeying his voice Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken to the voice of God than to offer the fat †Adeps hic ponitur pro victimis adipatis pinguibus of Rams or present to him the best of Sacrifices And the reason is plain for obedience preserveth from sinning whereas sacrifices were ordained only to cleanse us from the guilt of sin when committed and 't is much better to prevent a disease than to be cured of it when contracted And further God always accepted of obedience (a) See Jer. 7.22 23. Isa 1.13 c. and 66.3 Psal 50.8 14. Prov. 15.8 Hos 6.6 Mat. 12.7 and is well pleased with it but rejecteth sacrifices as but a dead carcass when obedience which is as it were their life is wanting He further tells him That rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubborness is as iniquity and idolatry for an act of rebellion against any command of God though had it not been for that command the thing would not have been of its self unlawful is as manifestly a sin as as those things are that are against the law and light of nature and contrary to the truth and glory of Gods Essence as Witchcraft and Idolatry are And such was this act of Saul's in sparing Agag and the best of the Cattel for being done expresly against the command of God it was no less than rebellion and stubborness against the Almighty which is as hateful to him as any wickedness or iniquity is yea as Idolatry it self whereby men forsake God and serve Idols Lastly he tells him Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord therefore he hath rejected * Denuntiat ei privationem regni cujus executio Paulo post faciendae erat Saulem enim postâ—a Regem mansisse patet quia eum ut Regem suum habuit populus ipse David
as were not of the Tribe of Levi but of other Tribes Indeed the basest of the people were Priests good enough for his Golden Calves but because he pretended to have erected them for the worship of the true God this also is charged upon him as a provocation And he ordained a Feast to be kept in the eighth month in imitation of the Feast of Tabernacles which God ordained to be kept on the 15th day of the 7th month Levit. 23.34 he ordains it to be kept in another month that the people might not take it for the same Feast of Tabernacles and so think themselves obliged to go to Jerusalem to keep it And to grace this Idolatrous worship that he had set up even he himself did sacrifice upon the Altar that he had built to work in his peoples minds an higher esteem of it and also burnt incense to his Idols whereby he usurpt the Priests office * So did Uzziah 2 Chro. 26.16 intrude himself into the Priests office Whilst he was thus sacrificing at Bethel a certain Prophet sent by God out of Judah came unto him thus timely did the Lord give him warning and called him to repentance and in the zeal and fervency of his spirit he cried in the word of the Lord inventing nothing of his own head against this Altar saying O Altar Altar thus saith the Lord Behold a child shall be born unto the house of David Josiah †About 300 years after this Prophesie was fulfilled See 2 King 23.16 by name and upon thee shall he offer the bones of the Priests of the High-places that do now or shall hereafter burn incense upon thee so that this Altar shall one day have a goodly sacrifice burnt upon it viz. the bones of the Priests that sacrific'd upon it and the defiling and polluting of this Altar in this manner will be a sacrifice very pleasing unto God Possibly O Jeroboam says he thou wilt not believe this therefore I will give thee a sign from the Lord that this shall certainly come to pass Behold this Altar shall now be rent in sunder and the ashes upon it shall fall upon the ground to signifie the utter demolishing of it hereafter Jeroboam hearing this and being enraged at the Prophet put forth his hand from the Altar where he was burning incense and cried out lay hold on him and immediately his hand was dried up and the flesh withered and the sinnes shrank so that he was disabled from hurting the Prophet himself and the people were scared from obeying their King in what he required And immediately the Altar was rent and clave asunder The King then intreated the Prophet to pray * 1 King 13.6 To intreat the face of one that is offended is earnestly to desire the change of his countenance that his angry look may be turned into smiling for him that his hand might be restored which he accordingly did and it was upon his prayer restored and became whole as it was before The King was so taken with this kindness that he invited the Prophet to come home with him and to refresh himself and he would reward him for it The Prophet replied If thou wilt give me half thine house I will not go with thee neither will I eat bread or drink water in this City for so God hath commanded me intending I should shew my detestation of your Idolatry by avoiding all communion with such Idolaters And he hath commanded me also that I should not return the way I came but some other way as abhorring the very way that brought me to the sight of such abominations So he returned another way and not the way by which he came to Bethel Now there dwelt an old Prophet in Bethel whose Sons came to him and told him all that this Prophet had said to the King and what he had done to the Altar and in healing Jeroboams hand the old Prophet presently enquired which way this Prophet went and commanding his Asse to be presently sadled he rode thereon and following after him found him sitting under an oak and then invited him to come home with him to eat bread He told him could not do it for he was expresly forbidden it by the Lord. The old Prophet said I am a Prophet as well as thou art and an Angel spake unto me by the command of the Lord that I should bring thee back to my house to eat bread and drink water But he lyed unto him However the poor deluded Prophet upon this did go back with him and did eat bread and drunk water And as they sat at the Table the word of the Lord came to the Prophet that fetcht him back by some internal inspiration or Prophetick extasie whereby he was as it were constrained to denounce against his deluded guest the judgment that would fall upon him for coming back and eating and drinking with him and so consequently to condemn himself for the gross lye he had told He tells him thus saith the Lord seeing thou hast not kept my commandment but camest back and hast eaten and drunk in this place that I forbad thee behold thy carcass shall not come into the Sepulcher of thy Fathers and thou shalt not die among thy own kindred nor be buried with thy progenitors which intimated to him that he should die in his return before he gat home to his own land and this was a gracious warning to him that he might repent of his sin before his death So when they had eaten and drunken the old Prophet caused his own Ass to be sadled for the Prophet he had brought back and so dismissed him He was not gone far from the old Prophets house before a Lion met him and slew him and his body being fallen in the way the Ass stood by it as also the Lion That the Ass should not fly from the Lion nor the Lion prey upon the living Ass nor the dead body of the Prophet but that both of them should stand rather as a guard to preserve it from other creatures and that the Ass should stay there as it were on purpose to carry back the dead Prophets body to Bethel to be buried there these are strange passages of Providence and do shew that 't was not hunger that provoked the Lion to kill the Prophet but the over-ruling hand of God and that God had regard to the Prophets body and would preserve it for burial though he testified his displeasure against his sin for the warning of others And behold men passed by and saw the carcass cast in the way and the Lion standing by the carcass and they came and told it in the City where the old Prophet dwelt who thereupon said undoubtedly it is the man of God that was disobedient unto the word of the Lord therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the Lion which hath slain him as the Lord threatned So he went immediately and found his carcass cast in the way
their sins 1 Sam. 15.2 before the Lord and to punish me for them by taking away my Son Possibly she thought that Elijah had besought God thus to punish her as by his prayer he had brought the drought and famine upon the land or that he was sent as the minister of Gods wrath to take away her Son from her Elijah said to her Give me thy Son and he took him out of her bosom and carried him to an upper loft and laid him on his own bed and cried unto the Lord and said O Lord my God let me humbly plead with thee why hast thou brought so great an evil upon this widow with whom I sojourn as to take away her Son I am afraid thy name will hence come to be blasphemed and thy Prophets despised and it will be said it had been well for this woman if this Prophet had never come into her house Having thus said he stretched himself upon the child three times putting his mouth upon the childs mouth and his eyes upon the childs eyes and his hands upon the childs hands and he cried unto the Lord and said O Lord I pray thee let this childs soul come into him again And the Lord graciously heard his prayer and the soul of the child came immediately into him again and he revived So the Prophet took the child and deliverd him to his mother alive * See the like miracle wrought by Elisha 2 King 4.34 and by Paul Act. 20.10 See also Heb. 11.35 Cum graves imminerent vexationes religionem magis indies piis Deus aperire aliquid voluit de immortalitate animarum Grot. Then said the woman By this I know that thou art a true Prophet and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth namely the things that were foretold by thee concerning the continuance of the drought and the increase of my meal and oyl And this child is the first that we read of in the Scriptures that being dead was restored to life again The drought having now continued well nigh three years and six months Elijah goes to present himself unto Ahab and to give notice to him that they should have rain that so what he had said to him before might be made good to wit that there should be no rain but according to his word The Governour of Ahabs house at this time was Obadiah an excellent person and one who feared the Lord greatly and worshipped him in spirit and truth and kept himself from the Idolatry of the times though he went not up to Jerusalem to peform the Ceremonial worship there required 'T is a wonder there should be such a pious person in so corrupt a Court but God ordered it so by his alwise Providence for the good of his Prophets For when Jezabel slew and cut off the Prophets †They that gave themselves to be throughly instructed in the will of God and were ready on all occasions to declare the same to others were stiled Prophets of the Lord he took a hundred of them and hid them by fifty in a cave and fed them with bread and water 'T is like some other pious men also in Israel besides Obadiah hid and preserved several Prophets of the Lord from her fury But the drought now being very sore Ahab ordered Obadiah to go one way as he himself would another that so traversing all the land of Israel they might find herbage and water for their horses and mules which were ready to perish for want of it Elijah meets Obadiah who knowing him fell on his face before him and said to him Art not thou my Lord Elijah He answered I am and I desire thee to go and tell thy Lord and Master that Elijah is here Obadiah answered Wherein have I so offended thee that thou shouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab to slay me I protest unto thee that my Lord the King hath sought thee not only in the land of Israel but also in all the neighbouring Countries and among all the Nations that are in league with him and he hath pressed them so far that they were fain upon their oaths to avow that they knew nothing of thee (a) How Elijah was concealed in Sarepta we need not inquire seeing he being inform'd of his danger the widow might use means to hide him and now why enjoynest thou me to go and tell Ahab that thou art here Possibly as soon as I am gone from thee the Spirit of the Lord (b) What was done by any supernatural working of God they used to say was done by the Spirit of God that is some wind from the Lord or some Angel will take thee up (c) It seems in those times Elijah was usually thus miraculously caught up and so perhaps other Prophets too and carried from one place to another whence it was that when Elijah was at last taken up into heaven the young Prophets would needs send out to seek him 2 King 2.16 The like we read of Philip Act. 8.19 and carry thee to some other place and then the King will slay me either because I did not apprehend thee when I saw thee or because I shall seem to have deluded him by telling him that which he will not find upon search to be true I thy servant have desired to fear the Lord from my youth and to cleave unto him and have been kind to his servants the Prophets in hiding many of them from the fury of Jezebel as I suppose thou hast heard and I may be further useful to them and therefore I hope thou wilt not lay upon me so perilous a command Elijah assures him he was resolved to shew himself unto Ahab Hereupon Obadiah went and acquainted the King therewith who presently came out to him and in a very angry manner said What! art thou he that troubles Israel No says Elijah thou and thy Fathers house have troubled Israel in forsaking God and following Baal After some vehement contest between them about the Baal-worship the Prophet having doubtless received it in charge from God before as may appear from ver 36. propounds to the King a way of trial to be peformed on mount Carmel which stood near the Sea whither God were God or Baal were God The God answering by fire says he and consuming the sacrifice from heaven let him be acknowledged for the true God The King being confident that the way of his worship was right agrees thereto and possibly the natural desire that is in all men to see things strange and unusual as this trial was might the more incline him to it Accordingly he assembles the Prophets of Baal viz. those that lived dispers'd up and down in the Country and the heads of the people to see the issue of this strange trial Elijah when the people were met together spake to them saying How long will ye halt between two opinions If the Lord be God follow him but if Baal
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
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
for us Isaiah bids them return this answer to Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard wherewith the servants of the King of Assyria have blasphemed behold I will send a blast upon him which shall blow him out of this land as the dust or chaff is blown before the wind and he shall hear a rumour of the destruction of a vast number of his Souldiers and Commanders in one night and shall return to Nineveh his chief City and there I will cause him to fall by the sword 2 King 18. from v. 13. to the end 2 King 19. from v. 1 to 8. Isai 36. whole Chapter Isai 37. from v. 1 to 8. Rabshakeh finding that he could neither threaten nor flatter the inhabitants of Jerusalem into a surrender leaving his Army before the City he went presently to Sennacherib whom he found risen from before Lachish and besieging Libna to inform him of the state of things at Jerusalem as also perhaps to confer with him about opposing Tirhakah King of Ethiopia who as he understood was now coming with his Army against them Sennacherib therefore that he might use all possible means to terrifie Hezekiah into a speedy surrender that so he might the better attend the motion of Tirhakah's Army he sends other messengers to him who brought a threatning message by word of mouth and spake to him after the same rate that Rabshakeh had done before they did not indeed mention the persidiousness of Egypt nor the weakness of Hezekiab's Army as Rabshakeh had done but understanding that Hezekiah relyed wholly on God therefore they endeavour to affright him from that confidence by telling him with what ill success other Nations had relyed on their gods instancing in Gozan and Haran Rezeph and the people of Eden all as 't is like regions of Mesopotamia and several other people and therefore they would have perswaded him that he had little reason to trust and relye on his God They also brought with them a blasphemous and threatning Letter from the King of Assyria which Hezekiah having received and read he went up to the Temple and there spread it before the Lord and poured forth unto him a most fervent prayer with many tears humbly and earnestly begging his help in this his great extremity He humbly intreats the Lord to take notice of and to revenge the horrible blasphemies of that daring wretch the King of Assyria against his great and glorious Majesty His prayer was after this manner O Lord of hosts God of Israel who dwellest between the Cherubims on the Mercy-seat and thence art wont to manifest thy gracious presence and thy power to thy poor people Thou art God even thou alone and all the Kingdoms of the earth are thine Thou hast made heaven and earth and all things therein are subject unto thee Incline thine ear O Lord and hear the blasphemous words of Sennacherib's Letter which I here present before thee and open thine eyes and see the blasphemies he hath written therein Hear I pray thee and take notice of all these blasphemous railings wherewith he hath blasphemed and reproached thee the living God Of a truth O Lord the Kings of Assyria have laid wast the Nations they warred against and have cast their gods into the fire for they were no gods but the works of mens hands wood and stone and therefore 't is no wonder they destroyed them But thou art the ever living and true God a God of infinite power and might Therefore we pray thee save us save us out of the hands of the King of Assyria that all the Kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art God and thou only Hezekiah having ended his prayer Isaiah sent unto him this message Thus saith the Lord God of Israel whereas thou hast prayed unto me against Sennacherib King of Assyria this is the word which I have spoken concerning him The virgin-daughter of Sion * The inhabitants of any City or Country are call'd the virgin-daughter of it because delicately and tenderly brought up by their mother as a virgin-daughter and because Jerusalem was fair beautiful and comely as a virgin useâ—h to be in regard of the Temple and other excellencies thereof shall (a) Isaiah Ch. 37.22 Hath despised thee Enallage temporis a praeterperfect Tense for a future despise and laugh thee to scorn O King of Assyria and shake her head at thee to wit when she shall see thine Army destroyed And consider O thou blasphemous wretch who it is whom thou hast reproached and blasphemed and against whom thou hast lifted up thine eyes so high and carried thy self so proudly is it not against the holy one of Israel By Rabshakeh and his companions thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord and hast said By the multitude of my Chariots am I come up to the heigth of the mountains as if thou shouldest have said the strongest places of the Kingdom have I subdued and passed through as a conquerour even those that seemed most inaccessible and am come to the sides of * From the famous Forrest of Lebanon Jerusalem is here call'd Lebanon by a Metaphor Lebanon that is to their chief City and strength the City of Jerusalem where the King his Nobles and Princes dwell are like tall cedars and firr-trees in Lebanon and will cut down the tall-cedars and the choice firr-trees thereof that is I will destroy the Nobles and Princes of Jerusalem and will enter into the lodgings of his border that is will possess my self of his frontier-Towns and will enter into the forrest of his Carmel or by an hypallage into the Carmel of his forrest that is his most excellent and pleasant hill viz. mount Sion on which the most pleasant objects in Jerusalem were seated Thou further sayest I have digged and drunk strange waters and with the soles of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places that is when I have come to places destitute of water even there have I digged up new fountains where none were before and where Cities have been invironed with great and deep waters no sooner have I set my foot there to besiege them but with the multitude of my Souldiers I have dried them up †Hereby an intimation is given that he laughed to scorn Hezekiah's policy in cutting off the waters about Jerusalem and in Thrasonical manner seems to boast that there was nothing he could not do by his own strength nor any places he could not subdue by his own power But though thou boastest so much of thy power in subduing Cities and Countries hast thou not heard that I the Lord of Heaven and Earth long ago contriv'd and determin'd what thou shouldst do viz. that thou shouldst lay wast defenced Cities and turn them into ruinous heaps see Isa 10.5 c. And accordingly I have now brought it to pass And thence it was that the inhabitants of those places were of so small
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