God the Word that spoke this to the People the ancient Church could not doubt as we see in the Book of Deuteronomy where Jonathan tells us that thus Moses minded his People of what they had heard and seen at the giving of the Law Deut. iv 33. Is it possible that a People should have heard the voice of the Word of the Lord the Living God speak out of the middle of the fire as you have heard and yet live Again v. 36. Out of Heaven he hath made you hear the voice of his Word and ye have heard his words out of the midst of the fire Again he puts them in mind of the fright they were in Deut. v. 23. After ye had heard the voice of the Word out of the midst of the Darkness on the Mount burning with fire all the Chiefs of you came to me and said Behold the Word of the Lord our God has shewed us the Divine Majesty of his Glory and the Excellence of his Magnificence and we have heard the voice of his Word out of the midst of the fire why should we die as we must if we hear any more of the voice of the Word of the Lord our God for who is there living in flesh that hears the voice of the Word of the Living God speaking out of the middle of the fire as we do and yet live Again Deut. xviii 16. he minds them of the same thing in some of the same Words Many more such Quotations might be added but these are sufficient to prove that it was the undoubted Tradition of the ancient Jewish Church That their Law was given by the Word of God and that it was he that appeared to Moses for this purpose As the Word gave the Law it was he that made those many Appearances to Moses throughout his whole Conduct of the People of Israel through the Wilderness To begin with that Divine Appearance which was continually in sight of all the People of Israel for forty years together throughout their whole Travel in the Wilderness namely the Pillar which they saw in the Air day and night Where this Pillar is first spoken of namely at the coming of the People of Israel up out of Egypt there it is expresly said That the Lord went before them in the Pillar of Cloud by day and fire by night Exod. xiii 21. Afterward indeed he is called the Angel of God Exod. xiv 19. where we read that the People being come to the Red-Sea and being there in imminent danger of being overtaken by the Egyptians by whom they were closely pursued the Angel which had gone before the Camp of Israel all day removed at night and went behind them That this Angel was God it is certain not only because he is called God Exod. xiii 21. xiv 24. Numb xii 5. But also because he was Worshipped Exod. xxxiii 10. which was a sure Proof of his Divinity Being therefore God himself and yet the Messenger of God it must be that this was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Word and that this was the Tradition of the ancient Church we are taught not only by Philo in the place above mentioned Quis rer Div. haeres p. 397. F.G. but also by the Jerusalem Targum on Exod. xiv 24. and Jonathan on Exod. xxxiii 9. and by Onkelos on Deut. i. 32 33. as has been mentioned When the Children of Israel after the first three days march found no other Waters but what were too bitter for them to drink at which they murmured Moses cried unto the Lord who thereupon shewed him a Tree which they threw into the Waters and thereby made them sweet Exod. xv 25. Here was a Divine Appearance and it was of the Word of the Lord according to the Jerusalem Targum A Month after their coming out of Egypt for want of Bread they murmured against Moses and Aaron at which God shewed himself so much concerned that he made his Glory appear to them in the Pillar of Cloud Exod. xvi 7 10 That according to the sense of the ancient Church this was the Shekinah of the Word has been newly shown both from Philo and from all the Targums and the same we find here in this place v. 8. where Moses tells them your murmurings are not against us but against the Word of the Lord according to Onkelos and Jonathan When Exod. xvii 8 c. the Amalekites came against this poor people that had never seen War and smote the hindmost of them God not only gave his people a Victory over them but also said unto Moses write this for a Memorial in a Book That I will utterly put out the Remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven Exod. xvii 14. See how Moses performs this v. 15. In the place where they had fought he set up an Altar inscribed Jehovah Nissi The Lord is my Standard meaning that it was the will of God they should be in perpetual War against Amalek and this reason for it he entreth in his Book v. 16. according to Jonathan for the Word of the Lord has sworn by his Glory that he will have war against Amalek for all Generations The next Divine Appearance we read of was at the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai whereof enough has been already said and we must avoid being too long For which reason we omit much more that might be said of the following Appearances in the Wilderness which are all ascribed to the Word in one or other of the Targums But I ought not to omit to take notice of some special things So for their places of Worship God promised according to the Jerusalem Targum Exod. xx 24. Wheresoever you shall mention my Holy Name my Word shall appear to you and shall bless you and the Temple is called the place which the Word of the Lord your God will chuse to place his Shekinah there according to Jonathan's and the Jerusalem Targums on Deut. xii 4. Especially at the Altar for Sacrifice which was before the Door of the Tabernacle God promised Moses both for himself and the People according to Onkelos and Jonathan on Exod. xxix 42. I will appoint my Word to speak with thee there and I will appoint my Word there for the Children of Israel Above all at the Mercy-seat where the Ark stood God promised to Moses according to those Targums on Exod. xxv 22. xxx 36. Numb xxvii 4. I will appoint my Word to speak with thee there And in sum of all the Precepts in Leviticus it is said at the end of that Book according to those Targums on Levit. xxvi 46. These are the Statutes and Judgments and Laws which the Lord made between his Word and the Children of Israel When they entred into Covenant with God obliging themselves to live according to his Laws Hereby they made the Word to be their King and themselves his Subjects So Moses tells them Deut. xxvi 17. according to the Jerusalem Targum You have
by the Father to save the World This is a Subject of moment our Adversaries are Men of Parts and Wit And because to rid themselves of all Difficulties in these Mysteries they maintain that the Gospel proposes only this one fundamental Article of Faith That Jesus as man is the Messias It will be convenient to add to what has been observed out of the Gospels some more Observations drawn from the Writings of the Apostles and the first Christian Writers to shew what Notions they had of these things Namely the very same which are exprest in the Gospels and were then acknowledged by the Jews CHAP. XX. That both the Apostles and the first Christians speaking of the Messias did exactly follow the Notions of the Old Jews as the Jews themselves did acknowledge IT being of great moment to shew that the Apostles did not make a new Platform out of their own heads when they Preached the Gospel I will examin several Hypotheses of Philo which the Apostles did follow in their Doctrine and ordinary Expressions when they spoke of our Saviour Jesus Christ Philo maintains that the Ideas of the World were in the Word of God therefore he calls him the Vertue which made the World which came out of the True Good as its Original De Opif. p. 3 4 5. That the World was made by the Word Lib. 2. All. Seq p. 60. and Lib. quod Deus sit Immut p. 255. F. He says he is Sermo omnium artifex Lib. Quis rerum divin haeres p. 388. F. That by it as by an Instrument God made the World Lib. de Cherubim pag. 100. That it is the Word of him who is not begotten which made all things Lib. de Sacr. Abel pag. 109. That he is the Wisdom which created all things and that the Wisdom is the Word manifestly alluding to the 3d. and 8th chap. of Proverbs Lib. de Temul pag. 190. E.F. and pag. 144. B. and Alleg. Lib. 1. pag. 36. F. and de eo quod deterior pag. 128. And these very things are taught by St. Paul Col. ii and Heb. i. and by St. John in the first chap. of his Gospel Philo affirms that the Word of God governs the World Lib. de Cherub p. 87. F. G. Lib. de Agric. pag. 152. And he affirms according to the Notion which Solomon gives Prov. 8. that he presides over the Revolutions which happen in Kingdoms Lib. Quod Deus sit Immut p. 248. And this very thing St. Paul affirms Heb. i. 2 3. where he says he is the heir of all things and upholds all things that is guides and governs them Philo says that the Eternal Word appeared to Abraham Lib. de Sacrif Abel pag. 108. And else where he names that Angel or Word Jehovah Lib. de Confus Ling. pag. 290. In the same sense St. John saith that he was the Eternal Word though made flesh in time chap. i. v. 14. Philo maintains that Wisdom which according to him is the same with the Word was the Rock in the Wilderness Lib. 3. Alleg. Seg. p. 853. A. In the same sense St. Paul affirms that the Rock was Christ 1 Cor. x. 4. Philo saith that it was the Word which appeared to the Jews upon Mount Sinai Lib. de Conf. Ling. pag. 265. D. That God spoke to the Jews when he gave them his Laws Lib. de Migr. Abrah pag. 309. D. E. F. That himself immediately gave his Law Lib. de Decal pag. 576. and 592. And Lib. de Praem p. 705. That he created the Voice which was heard by the Jews Lib. de Decal pag. 577. F. And this very thing St. Paul affirms Heb. xii 25 26. where he supposes that Christ uttered that Voice upon Mount Sinai R. Solomon owns that the Messias is pointed at Psal xxxvi 10. by the Light of which the Psalmist there speaks And Psal cxix 105. Isaias likewise means him ch lx 1. and v. 19 20. he says that the Lord was to be that Light naming him God Micah also ch xii 18. says that the Lord was to be a Light to his people Daniel says ch i. 22. that the Light dwells with God And Malachi ch iv 2. names him the Sun of Righteousness These very Expressions St. John has followed ch 1. because the Messias was to be God indeed because he was that Jehovah who had gone before Israel Exod. xiii 21. whom the Jews affirm to have been the Word as we observed before If any one desires to know how the Apostles came to apply to the Messias those things which the Jews understood of God's Word He may for his satisfaction observe the following things Philo owns that the Word was the Eternal Son of God Lib. Quod Deus sit Immut p. 232. F. G. But withal that this Eternal Word is spoken of Zech. v. 12. Behold the Man whose name is the Branch or the East acccording to the Greek Translation Ibid. He calls him the first-born and the Creator of the World Lib. de Confus Ling. pag. 258. Now the Jews did unanimously understand that place of Zechary of the Messias as appears by their Targum by their most ancient Midrashim and by the consent of the latter Jews as Abarbanel who confutes R. Solomon Jarchi by whom they were applied to Zorobabel This being so what could be more natural for the Apostles than to teach that the Messias was to be that Eternal Word and that that Word was to appear as the true Messias Another Ground upon which they applied to the Messias what the Old Jews understood of the Word was this The Old Jews did own that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which guided the Israelites in the Desert was their Shepherd Philo de Agric. pag. 152. From whence they concluded that the 23d Psalm The Lord is my Shepherd was to be understood of the Messias Phil. de Mutat Nom. pag. 822 823. The Apostles therefore did of course apply to the Word as him who was to be the Messias those Prophesies which mention the Messias as the Shepherd whom God was to send to his people Isa xl 10 11. Jer. xxxi 10. Ezek. xxxiv 11 12. and ch xxxiv 24. Mich. ii 12. Zech. xiii 7. For all these places are understood of the Messias by the Ancient Paraphrases and by the Midrashim The Old Jews did own that that Word was God that he had made the World and that he was to be the promised Messias Upon this Ground the Apostles applied to the Messias those places of the Old Testament which say that Jehovah made Heaven and Earth as St. Paul did Heb. i. where he applys to Jesus Christ as the confessed Messias the words of Psal cii 26. Philo affirms that the Word was the true and Eternal Priest Lib. de Profug pag. 364 365. That it was he that divided the Victims when he appeared to Abraham Lib. Quis divin rerum haer pag. 390. A. 399. and 401. That he is God's Priest Lib. de Somn. p. 463. From this common
Exposition Page 52. Chap. V. Of the Authority of the Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament Page 66. Chap. VI. That the Works which go under the Name of Philo the Jew are truly his and that he writ them a long while before the time of Christ's Preaching the Gospel and that it does not appear in any of his Works that ever he had heard of Christ or of the Christian Religion Page 75. Chap. VII Of the Authority and Antiquity of the Chaldee Paraphrases Page 84. Chap. VIII That the Authors of the Apocryphal Books did acknowledge a Plurality and a Trinity in the Divine Nature Page 99. Chap. IX That the Jews had Good Grounds to acknowledge some kind of Plurality in the Divine Nature Page 115. Chap. X. That the Jews did acknowledge the Foundations of the Belief of the Trinity in the Divine Nature and that they had the Notion of it Page 138. Chap XI That this Notion of a Trinity in the Divine Nature has continued among the Jews since the time of our Lord Jesus Christ Page 158. Chap. XII That the Jews had a distinct Notion of the Word as a Person and of a Divine Person too Page 181. Chap. XIII That all the Appearances of God or of the Angel of the Lord which are spoken of in the Books of Moses have been referred to the Word by the Jews before Christ's Incarnation Page 201. Chap. XIV That all the Appearances of God or of the Angel of the Lord which are spoken of in Moses have been referred to the Word of God by the ancient Jewish Church Page 214. Chap. XV. That all the Appearances of God or of the Angel of the Lord which are spoken after Moses his time in the Books of the Old Testament have been referred to the Word of God by the Jews before Christ's Incarnation Page 233. Chap. XVI That the ancient Jews did often use the Notion of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Word in speaking of the Messias Page 253. Chap. XVII That the Jews did acknowledge the Messias should be the Son of God Page 265. Chap. XVIII That the Messias was represented in the Old Testament as being Jehovah that should come and that the ancient Synagogue did believe him to be so Page 278. Chap. XIX That the New Testament does exactly follow the Notions which the Old Jews had of the Trinity and of the Divinity of the Messias Page 293 Chap. XX. That both the Apostles and the first Christians speaking of the Messias did exactly follow the Notions of the Old Jews as the Jews themselves did acknowledge Page 313. Chap. XXI That we find in the Jewish Authors after the time of Jesus Christ the same Notions which Jesus Christ and his Apostles Grounded their Discourses on to the Jews Page 327. Chap. XXII An Answer to some Exceptions taken from Expressions used in the Gospel Page 339. Chap. XXIII That neither Philo nor the Chaldee Paraphrases nor the Christians have borrowed from the Platonick Philosophers their Notions about the Trinity But that Plato should have more probably borrowed his Notions from the Books of Moses and the Prophets which he was acquainted with Page 413. Chap. XXIV An Answer to some Objections of the Modern Jews and of the Unitarians Page 365. Chap. XXV An Answer to an Objection against the Notions of the Old Jews compared with those of the new Ones Page 380. Chap. XXVI That the Jews have laid aside the Old Explications of their Forefathers the better to defend themselves in their Disputes with the Christians Page 392. Chap. XXVII That the Unitarians in opposing the Doctrines of the Trinity and our Lord's Divinity do go much further than the Modern Jews and that they are not fit Persons to Convert the Jews Page 413. A Dissertation concerning the Angel who is called the Redeemer Gen. XLVIII Page 433. THE JUDGMENT OF THE Ancient JEWISH Church Against the VNITARIANS c. CHAP. I. The Design of this Book and what Matters it treats of IF the Doctrines of the Ever-Blessed Trinity and of the Promised Messias being very God had been altogether unknown to the Jews before Jesus Christ began to preach the Gospel it would be a great prejudice against the Christian Religion But the contrary being once satisfactorily made out will go a great way towards proving those Doctrines among Christians The Socinians are so sensible of this that they give their Cause for lost if this be admitted And therefore they have used their utmost Endeavours to weaken or at least to bring under suspicion the Arguments by which this may be proved It is now about sixty years ago since one of that Sect writ a Latin Tract about the meaning of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Chaldee Paraphrases in Answer to Wechner who had proved that St. John used this word in the first Chapter of his Gospel in the same sense that the Chaldee Paraphrases had used it before Christ's time and consequently that it is to be understood of a Person properly so called in the Blessed Trinity which way of interpreting that word because it directly overthrew the Socinian Doctrine which was then that St. John by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 understood no other than Christ as Man it is no wonder that this Author used all his Wit and Learning to evade it The Construction which Socinus put upon the first Chapter of the Gospel of St. John was then followed generally by his Disciples But some years since they have set it aside here as being absurd and impertinent And they now freely own what that Socinian Author strongly opposed That the Word mentioned by St. John is the eternal and essential Vertue of God by which he made the World and operated in the Person of Christ Only they deny that Word to be a Person distinct from the Father as we do affirm And whereas Socinus taught That Christ was made God and therefore is a proper Object of religious Worship now the Unitarians who believe him to be no other than a meer human Creature following the Principles of Christianity better than Socinus condemn the Religious Worship which is paid to him As they do believe that the Jews had the same Notions of the Godhead and Person of the Messias which they have themselves so they think they have done the Christian Religion an extraordinary service in thus ridding it of this double Difficulty which hinders the Conversion of the Jews Mr. N. one of their ablest Men having read Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho in which Trypho says that he did not believe that the Messias was to be other than Man makes use of this Passage of Trypho for proof that the Doctrines of the Divinity of the Messias and by consequence of the Trinity were never acknowledged by the Jews This he does in a Book the Title whereof is The Judgment of the Fathers against Dr. Bull. His design being to prove that Justin Martyr about 140 years after Christ was
the time to have been 430 years from the promise made to Abraham at his coming into Canaan till the giving of the Law upon Mount Sinai which was but 50 days after their coming up out of Aegypt In like manner from Tradition they filled up that place Gen. IV. 8. where it is said that Cain talkt with Abel his Brother by adding the words which he spoke Let us go into the field This Insertion is not only in the Alexandrian LXX but the Samaritans have it in their Bibles and they had it there in S. Hierom's time It is also extant in the Jerusalem Targum Lib. qd. det p. 120 124 125. Philo the Jew Philosophises on these words much after the same manner as doth the Targum 4. It is certain that they have had very common among them the knowledge of the most illustrious Prophecies of the Messias This we may see in the Answer of the Samaritan Woman to our Blessed Saviour Joh. iv 25. where she saith I know that when the Messias is come he will tell us all things For though it is no where plainly said yet the Samaritans knew full well that the Messias should explain all things according to the Traditional sense of that Prophecy in Deut. xviii 15 18 19. which hath been so constantly referr'd to the Messiah that we find till this day in the Midrash upon Ecclesiast c. 1.9 that the last Redeemer shall be like the first that is Moses And in consequence of this knowledge commonly received among the Jews Joh. xii 34. did they of Christ's time hold for certain that the Messiah should remain for ever which their Posterity not knowing how to reconcile with their Notion of the Messias they fancied that the Messias should dye after a long Reign and leave his Crown to his Children from Generation to Generation Hence it was that the Sanhedrin answered Herod without delay Mat. ii 5 6. that the Messiah should be born at Bethlehem according to Micah's Prophecy though it is not plainly said in the Text of that Prophecy Micah v. 2. Hence also it was that John Baptist Mat. iii. 5 6. found the people of the Jews so disposed to repentance that they might escape God's Judgments threatned on the Nation at the coming of the Messiah according to Joel's prediction recited Act. ii 26. and that other Prophecy in Malach. iv 5. Hence it was that when John the Baptist sent his Disciples to our Saviour to ask him Whether he were the Messias or no our Saviour gave them this Answer Mat. xi 4. Go and tell John the things which you hear and see The Blind receive their sight the Lame walk the Lepers are cleansed the Deaf hear the Dead are raised and the poor have the Gospel preached to them This is commonly taken to be a Quotation from Isaiah xxxv 1. There some indeed of these Characters do point out the Messiah But our Saviour did not content himself with those but added others that are not in that Text nor in any other but such as no doubt the Jews had at that time in their common Tradition This Remark is of great moment to confound the boldness of some Criticks as Grotius who suppose that some places in the Apocryphal Books which shew that they were exactly acquainted with the Ideas of the Prophets upon the Divinity and the Glory of the Messias such as we see in the Book of Wisdom in Ecclesiasticus and in Baruch have been foisted in by Christians in those Books when to the contrary they were to judge that the Jews have laid aside these Books for that very reason viz. Because they were a strong proof that the Apostles did apply the Prophecies of the Old Testament according to the sense of the Synagogue before Jesus Christ It was from hence that our Blessed Saviour in the same Chapter Mat. xi shew'd the multitude that John Baptist was the Messenger promised by God in Malach. iii. 1. as he that should be the fore-runner of the Messiah and that should prepare his way by exhorting the People to Repentance and he proves that John the Baptist was so by the great Effect of his Preaching in the Conversion of those that seemed the most corrupt of the Nation 5. It is as certain that they had by Tradition sundry Explications of the Scripture grounded upon Allegories Philo affirms this positively lib. de Therapeutis p. 691. St. Paul gives us several Examples of it We have one in Heb. iv 9. where St. Paul thus argues from the Words of David in Psal xcv 11. There remains therefore a Rest for the people of God His Argument depends upon the Jewish Exposition of the six days of the Creation as foreshewing that the Age of the World should be 6000 years and understands the Sabbath or Rest of the times after founding their Exposition on the Words of the 90th Psalm A thousand years in thy sight are as but one day That is to be seen in R. Abraham bar Hiya Hannashi Megillat ha Megillat Saar 2. in Ramban upon Gen. ii 2. in Abarbanel Miphaloth Eloh lib. 1. c. 4. See Menasseh Ben Is Concil q. 30. in Genes de Creat Problem XI Another Example we have in the same St. Paul Galat. iv 24. drawn from Sarah and Hagar as being Types of the two Covenants Philo the Jew de Cherub p. 83. found a Mystery there before St. Paul as we see in a Book of his that was much more ancient than that Epistle A third Example may be found in the same St. Paul who uses it Rom. v. 14. 1 Corin. xv 47. in comparing the first Adam with Jesus Christ whom he calls the second Adam The Jews have the same Idea of the Messias as of the second Adam who shall raise all his Followers from the Sepulchre as we see in Pirke Eliezer ch 32. This method of explaining Scripture ought to be carefully considered because it gives us to understand the Reasons why the Jews have regarded the Song of Songs as a part of Canonical Scripture and have referred it to the Messias as we see they do in their Targum in Cant. i. 8. iv 5. vii 14. viii 1 4. The same reflection may be made on their acknowledging of the Divine Authority of the Book of Ruth wherein their Targum mentions the Messias chap. iii. 15. And the like may be said of Ecclesiastes certain Texts of which as ch i. 18. and ch viii 25. they refer to the Messias which otherwise seem not to have much relation to him In truth one cannot well deny that the Jews had this common knowledge of great Truths of their Religion and a Traditional Exposition of great Prophecies from their Ancestors to clear their Ideas thereof if he considers attentively these following Remarks First That since their return from the Babylonian Captivity they were never guilty of Idolatry Except for a little while in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes when some wicked men apostatiz'd and
De Confus Ling. p. 258. A. This place of Philo deserves a very particular consideration For it teaches us what Notion the Jews had of the Messias before our Lords Ministry and discovers the Tricks and Fopperies of the modern Jews who having a mean opinion of the Person of the Messias have invented quite another sense of the Memra so frequent in their Paraphrases than what the ancient Jews had of it Nor is it of less use to confound the Socinians For it is a proof not to be denied of St. John's following the Language of the old Synagogue when he speaks of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the first Chapter of his Gospel and shews that they have no other answer to the many Testimonies of the Targum objected against them but what they borrow of the Jews 3. Another place of Philo in the same Book p. 266. F. is much to the same purpose where he calls the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Man We know the Messias is intimated to be a Man in many places as Psal xxii 22. I will declare thy name to my Brethren Psal lxix 9. I am become a stranger to my Brethren Psal cxxii 8. For my Brethrens sake For these Psalms do all regard the Messias So also where he is called David Ezek. xxvii 25. as the Targum and the Modern Jews do own he is Hos iii. 5. and where he is called Solomon as in the Targum on Canticles But saith Philo the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is called a Man which must be understood either upon account of his frequent Appearances as a Man and so he is called Exod. xv 3. or to his intended manifestation in human shape as a Servant This latter is the Notion of Psal xxii above quoted and of Isa xlii 1. Behold my Servant which Jonathan refers to the Messias And again of Isa liii where the Messias is represented as a Man afflicted and tormented which has been their sense so constantly that from hence the Jews since Jesus Christ have taken occasion to assert that the Messias was Leprous As for the Chaldee Paraphrase it is visible from Isa xlix where the Messias is spoken of throughout that the Memra should become the Messias These are the words of Isaiah v. 1 2 3 4 5 6. Listen O Isles unto me and hearken you people from far The Lord hath called me from the womb from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name and he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me and made me a polished shaft in his quiver hath he hid me and said unto me Thou art my Servant O Israel in whom I will be glorified Then I said I have laboured in vain yet surely my judgment is with the Lord and my work with my God And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob again to him tho Israel be not gathered yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength And he said is it a light thing that thou shouldst be my Servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou maist be my Salvation unto the end of the Earth Now as Philo hath observed that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not only called a Man but Israel De Confus Ling. p. 266. which hath a natural relation to this place of Isaiah so the Targum expresly ascribes v. 5. as also v. 16. to the Word which speaks of the calling of the Gentiles And so every Jewish Writer confesses that the Restauration of the Ten Tribes which is foretold there shall be the work of the Messias We read Isa lxiii 14. As a beast goeth down into the valley the Spirit of the Lord causeth him to rest so didst thou lead thy people to make thy self a Glorious name Where notwithstanding the Text hath the Spirit of the Lord the Targum reads the Word whom it treats as Redeemer v. 14. that guided them through the Wilderness that is in the Heavens v. 15. and hath the name of Redeemer from everlasting v. 16. Indeed that the Word should become the Messias i. e. should reveal himself in him according to the judgment of the old Jewish Church may be gathered from the method of the Jews in explaining certain places of the Messias which they referred to the Word of the Lord. Till now they do agree that Moses spake of the Messias Exod. iv 13. Send I pray thee by the hand of him whom thou wilt send R. Meyr Aldabi so interprets it as he treats of the Messias in his Book Sevile Emunoth ch 10. But the Jews formerly referred it to the Word of the Lord as we see in Onkelos on Exod. iii. 12. And God said certainly I will be with thee and this shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt you shall serve God upon this mountain On which words Onkelos observes that God promised Moses to assist him by his Word in the trust committed to him and repeats it on Exod. iv 12 15. from which it is to be concluded that it is whom he intends v. 13. The like remarks are made by Jonathan's Targum on the same Texts from whence the like inference may be drawn I shall only mention a few more places as 1. It was the Word that promised to march among the Israelites and to be their God Philo de Nom. mutat p. 840. this saith Philo in an 100 places it was the Word that promised Israel his Presence saith Onkelos on Levit. xxvi 9 11 12. But it is certain the Word was to manifest himself in the Messias 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the middle of him as saith Rashi whom I have quoted before 2dly The Ancient Targums acknowledge that the Messias should be a Prophet So Jonathan owns on Is xi 2. The same Isaiah declares liv 13. That they shall be all taught of God which is explained by Jonathan of the Messias as also Is liii 5.10 11 12. From whence it is evident that they took the Messias and the Word of God to be the same 3dly You see that God having said Hos i. 7. that he would save his people by Jehova their God which is translated by the Targum by the word of the Lord the Jews kept always for a Maxim that the Eternal Salvation was to come to them by the Messias Rashi refers to that which we read in Isaiah ch xlv 17. and he follows in this the Targum of Jerusalem upon Gen. xlix 18. where the Salvation by the Messias is called by Jacob the Salvation by the Word of the Lord. 'T is upon the same foundation that they refer to the Messias which is spoken Isai xliv 6. that the Messias shall be the last
to St. Athanasius's meaning Jesus Christ himself speaks of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he saith John v. 8. Ye have not the Word of God remaining in you And 't is true that it cannot be understood of the Law and Prophecy which St. Paul affirms to have been trusted to the Jewish Nation And 't is mighty probable that St. John taking the Shekinah and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the same saith that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by an opposition to his Absence from the Jews who had rejected his direction and conduct I answer 3dly That many of the Ancient Doctors of the Church did remark that St. Luke Luk. i. 2. Acts i. and St. Paul Heb. iv 12. used the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the same sense to denote the Second Person of the Trinity and that therefore it was not peculiar to St. John to do so 4thly I say that the word Davar in the room of which the Jews since the Babylonian Captivity do ever use that of Memra to express the Second Person of the Trinity was in use even in David's time as appears by Psal xxxiii 6. where the LXX have render'd it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Version being common among the Jews and generally received St. John could not use a term more proper to express the Divinity of the Second Person taking our Nature upon him And if it is no matter of wonder that the other Evangelists should give to our Saviour the Name of the Messias or that of the Son of God which were first given him by David it ought to be none that St. John has given him that of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which likewise was given him by David and does withal so well express the Author of the Creation who was this very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who said Let such or such a thing be and it was For which reason St. Paul says that God made the Worlds by him Heb. i. 2. and St. Peter 2 Epist chap. iii. 5. where he ascribes the Creation of the World to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Word as it is acknowledged by Grotius The reason why St. John is more particular in his Expressions about the Second Person whom he makes to be the Creator of the Worlds and then represents as being made Man was because the other Evangelists had given so full an Account of his Birth and Genealogy and every thing else that was needful to prove the Truth of his Human Nature against the Simoniani and other Hereticks that would make him a Fantasm that this Evangelist found himself obliged to be the more express in asserting his Divinity against the Ebïonites who abused some places of the other Gospels to maintain that Christ was a mere Man and against the Cerinthians who affirmed that the Word was not inseparably united to the Flesh Lastly St. John used the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to express the Unity of God tho there be Three Persons in the Divine Nature Therefore he says that the Word was with God and that he was God He observes that Christ said that he was in the Father and the Father in him That he and the Father were one as he had before express'd himself in his first Epist chap. v. 7. These Three are One to shew the Unity of the Divine Monarchy after the manner in which the Jews did apprehend it wherein he was followed by the first Christians Another Objection which seems very plausible and therefore is confidently made by the Socinians is grounded upon those places in the Jewish Writers where they attribute to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what is affirmed in Scripture to have been said or done by an Angel in very many Apparitions as Exod. iii. 2. and Acts vii 30. where St. Stephen after Moses affirms that the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in the bush In which places of Scripture a created Angel not the Son of God seems to have appeared to Moses Whereas the Jewish Writers take this Angel to have been the Word as I shewed before Which Mistake must invalidate their Testimony in this case Accordingly some Interpreters as Lorinus the Jesuit and others Papists suppose him to have been a created Angel but which represented the Person of the Son of God and therefore acted in his Name and spoke as if he had been the Lord himself This Opinion they ground upon two things First Because he is expresly distinguish'd from the Lord both by Moses and St. Stephen who call him the Angel of the Lord. And Secondly Because the Son of God never took upon him the Nature of Angels as he did that of Men and therefore can't be called by their Name This has been thoroughly considered before to which I might refer the Reader for an Answer But to save him trouble we shall here shew him reason enough to believe that those Texts speak of one that was more than a Creature First Because the Angel is presently named the Lord or Jehovah both by Moses and St. Stephen even as Gen. xxxi the Angel which wrestled with Jacob is called God Secondly Because he declared formally that he was the Lord when he said to Moses I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob which can never be said of a mere Creature under whatsoever Commission or Dignity The Prophets did formerly represent God and they acted as well as spake in his Name but for all this they never spoke as the Angel mentioned by St. Stephen They said barely Thus saith the Lord or Jehovah I am God c. Likewise Christ represented his Father as being his Ambassador and his Deputy and yet he never took the Name of Father We read of many Apparitions of Angels in the New Testament yet no man can pretend to shew that any of them either spoke or acted as God though sent by him and speaking to Men in his Name It had been as absurd and as great a crime for them to have done so as for a Viceroy to tell the People whom he is sent to govern I am your King tho' he does represent the King's Person It is true the Angel mentioned by St. Stephen is named the Angel of the Lord and as true that Christ did not take the nature of Angels on him He did this favour only to Men for them only he humbled himself and was made like them in all things sin excepted and for this reason he is truly named Man and the Son of Man as well as the Son of God For Apostate Angels he forsook them and left them for ever in their Rebellion But it must be observed that the word Angel signifies properly a Messenger and denotes rather the Office than the nature of those blessed Spirits sent forth to Minister And consequently their Name may well be given to the Son of God who ever had the care of the Church committed to him and by whom the Father
mouths and which was near really in their hearts Come let us kill him and let us seise on his inheritance And not only out of hatred but out of policy also they opposed him that they might keep themselves safe and quiet They lookt for a Conquering Messias who should subdue all Nations and bring all their Enemies under them But here they saw Christ a Man destitute of all human succours necessary to bring about so great a design They thought it therefore more advisable to set him aside without following his Doctrine than to espouse a Quarrel which might incense the Romans against them and cause the ruin of their Nation This they meant by saying The Romans shall come and take away both our place and Nation To be satisfied of this one ought to observe that Speculative Doctrines are not the common Rules of publick Deliberations and Counsels Let the Papists be an instance of it They proceed in their decisions upon the Principle of the Pope's Infallibility when at the same time hardly any one of them believes it and many do confute it both by reasons and matters of fact not to be answered The Jews likewise though they knew themselves to be fallible enough yet Papists like they acted in their publick Assembly as if they had been infallible And this was enough to satisfie those who could not distinguish or would not further inquire into the business which was the case of most ordinary people Accordingly of the two Thieves that were Crucifyed with Christ one had observed the Injustice of that violent hatred the Jews had for him But the other curs'd him looking on him as a false Prophet justly condemned by the greatest Authority known to him in the World Lastly It is certain that when a decision is once made the People for the most part do not much inquire into the justice or reasonableness of it but quietly acquiesce in it and relye upon the Authority of those who made it The Jews had a particular reason to do so being assured that their Religion came from God and not seeing any danger in professing it as it was delivered to them by their Forefathers And this is now the only reason they have for professing Judaism Neither is it to be wondered at that the Notions the old Jews had of it should make but little impression on their minds no more than the Doctrines of their Doctors which they call Cabalists because they follow the Traditions of the old Synagogue For their late Teachers moved by a spirit of contradiction have raised many new Questions about the Characters of the Messias and other like Articles of Religion controverted between them and the Christians by which they have plunged their People into inextricable difficulties and they are so exasperated now against us that they can hardly be calm enough to take notice of those visible Contradictions which may be seen between their ancient Writers and their now Doctors writing upon the same subject They deny now adays what the old Jews freely granted and their whole study is to keep their People in a blind submission to their Authority Insomuch that they have this Maxim amongst them that the People are obliged to believe that the right Hand is the left when their Rabbies have once so declared But I shall make some more particular Reflections upon the proceedings of the now Jews and shew that their obstinacy is altogether unreasonable and that there is no fairness at all in their way of disputing against Christians CHAP. XXIII That the Jews have laid aside the Old Explications of their Forefathers the better to defend themselves in their Disputes with the Christians Eus dem Ev. Lib. iv 1. IT hath been long since observed by Eusebius that the Jews have varied from the belief of their Fathers as to the sense of several places in the Old Testament and it is no more than they themselves freely own in their Disputes with us The spirit of Disputation hath wrought much the same effect among the Papists as Maldonat was not ashamed to confess on St. John ch vi Of this alteration in the Jewish Sentiments which is acknowledged by one of the Socinian Writers viz. Volzogeniùs in Luc. xxiv 27. R. Salomon Jarchi fully witnesses He was the most famous Commentator the Jews had about five hundred years ago yet he in his Exposition of Psal xxi 1. hath these words Our Masters did understand this Psalm of the Messias as indeed they did Gemar on Talm. tr Massechet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ch v. Targ. on this Psalm ver 8 18. but it is better to understand it of David himself that we may the more easily reply to the Hereticks that abuse some passages in it But this is not the only place where the Jews have changed the faith of their ancient Masters There are many others examples of it some of the chief of which I shall produce after I have observed the several degrees by which they arrived to so wide a disagreement with their Ancestors 1. Their Doctors as I have already noted did early introduce new Notions of several Texts of the Old Testament I speak not now of their Fabulous fancies only such as that of Philo who Lib. de Septenar supposes the Voice of God uttered on Mount Sinai to have been heard in all parts of the World to which the Jews Pirke Eliez c. 41. Tankuma fol. 73. col 1. have added many more new conceits but I speak of such their Explications as were contrary to and in effect did overthrow the ancient Notions of the Prophets As for instance where Philo seems in some manner to maintain the Transmigration * Lib. de Somn. pag. 455. of Souls where he delivers the Doctrine of the Souls Preexistence before the Body †De Mund. p. 891. where he seems to hint the Eternity of Matter according to Plato * Mund. op p. 214. De mund Incor pag. 728. A. De Viat off p. 669. F. although it is certain in his Treatise of Providence he doth assert the Creation of Matter 2ly It is observable that after the Emperour Hadrian's time some of the Jews who expected the Messias according to Daniel's Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks but were out in their Accounts of those Weeks had almost intirely lost the hopes of his coming This we gather from the History of R. Hillel in Gemara tit Sanhed fol. 98. col 2. fol. 99. col 1. who maintained that the Promise of the Messias was accomplished in the Person of Hezekiah and that there was no more Messiah to be expected by the Jews Now they say that this Hillel was the Grandson to R. Juda the Compiler of the Misna 3. We see how careless they have been in preserving the Apocryphal Books formerly in esteem with them and which indeed but for the Christians had totally perished Philo has borrowed some of his Notions in his 2d Book of Agriculture and let any
careful to defend their own prejudices than the Opinions of the Ancients II. Another Objection is made from the place in Rev. i. 4. the words are these John to the seven Churches that are in Asia Grace be to you and peace from him that was and is and is to come and from the seven Spirits that are before his Throne and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness c. For John here seems to wish and pray for Grace not only from the Father but also from the Seven Angels that are before the Throne of God and so to be reckoned among the Ministring Spirits This place is indeed abused by those of the Romish Church to shew that Prayers may be lawfully directed to Angels And the Jews themselves have contributed to lead some Men of Note into the mistake For besides the four chief Angels whom they make to preside over the four Armies of Angels which they have chiefly grounded on Ezek. i. they speak of seven other Angels that were created before the rest and that wait on God before the Vail R. Eliezer in capit c. 4. that divides them from the Shechinah The hearing of these things so often repeated by the Jews has given occasion I say to some considerable Divines to believe those seven to be proper Angels whom St. John mentions in his Revelation But then not apprehending how Prayers could be offered to them nor why the precedency is given them before Christ they would not have John here to have spoken a Prayer but only to have wisht Grace on the Seven Churches and this they thought a sense consistent enough with the Angel-worship forbidden by St. Paul Col. ii 18. and even in this very Book Revel xix 10. xxii 9. But to shorten this matter I altogether deny that St. John intended here any created Angels What then did he mean by them Nothing else but the Holy Spirit for whose most perfect Power and Grace on the Seven Churches he here makes Supplication For as Cyril on Zech. iii. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Number seven is always a mark of Perfection in the thing to which it is applied St. John therefore thought of no allusion to the Jewish opinion of seven Angels when he prayed for Grace from the Seven Spirits before the Throne but had in his mind to express the far more plentiful effusion and more powerful efficacy of the Holy Spirit under the Gospel than under the Law and his never ceasing Ministration for the good of the Church for which purposes he hath received a Vicarious authority under God immediately to Christ as Tertullian speaks de Praesc Haeret. c. 13. and for this Interpretation I have Justin Martyr Paraen ad Graec. and St. Austin on my side St. John's way of expressing himself is borrowed from Zech. iii. 9. where God is represented as having seven Eyes running through the Earth to signifie by this Figure God's perfect knowledge of all things as Cyril Alexandrinus Notes Hence we read of Christ Revel iii. 1. These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God And in another place seven Eyes and seven Horns are ascribed to him But we never read which is worth our observation of these seven Spirits as we do of the four Beasts and twenty-four Elders that they fell down and Worshipped God But why does St. John put the Holy Spirit before Christ If I should say St. Paul has done the like in Gal. i. 1. and Ephes v. 5. to teach us the unity and equality of each Person in the Blessed Trinity or because St. John in the following Verses was to speak more at large of Christ I think I should not answer improperly But I shall add another reason which may explain the whole matter In a word I do believe this difficulty must be resolved another way for that which makes this place so intricate according to the judgment of many Interpreters is their referring to the Father the words of the 4th verse Grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come which ought to be referred particularly to Christ himself who is described Chap. iv v. 8. according to the description of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Jonathan's Targum on Deut. xxxii 39. But then some will say Why is there any mention made of the seven Spirits if we conceive that the Grace which is asked for the Church in the first words is asked from Jesus Christ The thing is so clear that Socinus has perceiv'd it Now seven Spirits are here mentioned to denote the Spirit of God which was to reside with his sevenfold Gifts in the Messias according to the Prophecy of Isaiah ch xi 2 3. and from thence it comes that in Revel ch v. 6. the Lamb is described having seven Horns and seven Eyes which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the Earth To Christ there are attributed seven Horns which denote his Empire in opposition to the Empire of the little Horn which is spoken of Dan. vii 8. So there are seven Eyes which are the seven Spirits of God attributed to him likewise to denote the Gracious Providence of Jesus Christ by the Holy Ghost and that in opposition to the little Horn in which there were Eyes Like the Eyes of man Da◠vii 〈…〉 Here then the Grace asked is from the seven Spirits that is from the Holy Ghost who is united in one with the Messias Jesus Christ and is sent by him and so it is said to be asked from Jesus Christ himself who both has those Spirits as his Eyes and does cause the Mission of them to his Church St. John therefore doth not place the Holy Spirit before Christ but mentions him with Christ because he after Christ's Ascension and during the time of Christ's continuance on God's right hand has a more particular hand in the immediate Government of the Church and is especially watchful to do her good And for this reason I think it is the Holy Spirit is placed as it were without the Veil like a Ministring Angel Many of the Ancients knew this as Victorinus Petavionensis Ambrose Beda Arethas Autpertus Walafridus Strabo Haymo Rupertus from whom Tho. Aquinas and Caelius of Pannonia who rebukes those that understand it otherwise and other Elder Divines of the Roman Church learnt it to say nothing of those of the Reformed Church But it is time to give over A TABLE OF TEXTS of Scripture Occasionally Explained in this Treatise GENESIS Chap. Ver. Pag. i. 1 116 119 123 142  2 141  26 101 117 320 323 400 414 iii. 5 118  8 370  15 401  22 42 118 320 iv 7 118  8 21 vi 3 141 ix 7 142 xi 7 118 323 xv 1 5 9 370 xviii 1 2 3 147  18 35  20 21 443 xix  401  24 323 xxi 9 61 xxv 7 118 xxx 24