in the Old Testament and to shew who they are I need not prove it of the Father since it will not be denied that he is called God by them that will deny it of any other But I shall shew that sometimes the Son is called so whether by that name of the Son or of the Word or some other name without mention of the Spirit Next I shall shew that the Spirit is spoken of as God even he is mentioned without the Son And lastly That the Father the Son and the Spirit are all Three mentioned as God and all Three spoken of together in some Texts of the Old Testament Scriptures To keep to this order I am first to shew that there is some kind of Intimation of a Trinity in places where God is spoken of in these Scriptures I shall name but two or three Texts of many for I call it but an Intimation and it may amount to thus much that we find the Name of God repeated three times over for it was certainly no vain Repetition Thus in the Blessing of Israel Numb vi 24 25 26. The Lord bless thee and keep thee The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace So Isa xxxiii 22. The Lord is our judge the Lord is our lawgiver the Lord is our king he will save us So Dan. ix 19. O Lord hear O Lord forgive O Lord hearken and do defer not for thy own sake O God The like Intimation we find in those words of the Prophet Isaiah which do both shew a Plurality in the Divine Nature and restrain it to a Trinity Isa vi 3. The Prophet heard the Seraphims cry one to another Holy Holy Holy Lord God of hosts These are Titles which taken together can belong to no one but God and the Repetition of them shews something in it which cannot but seem Mysterious especially to any one that considers those other words of God speaking in the same Chapter ver 8. Who will go for us words which clearly note a Plurality of Persons as also in Hos xii 4 5. and in some other places To shew who these are we must consider those places of the Old Testament where the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinctly spoken of as several Persons The Son is expresly spoken of by David who himself was a Type of the Messias and is so acknowledged by the Jews Psal ii 7. The Lord said unto me Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee That the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who as has been already proved is called Wisdom according to the Jewish Notions is the Son of God by Eternal Generation himself sheweth Prov. viii 23 24. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before his works of old I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the Earth was when there were no depths I was brought forth So in Prov. xxx 4. Who hath established all the ends of the earth What is his name or what is his Son's name The Son can be understood of no other than of that Eternal Wisdom that assisted in the Creation as was before mentioned Elsewhere the Son or the Word is spoken of according to the Jewish Expositions of such Texts where he is not named and yet he is called God and Lord as Psal xlv 7. O God thy God hath anointed thee And Psal cx 1. The Lord said unto my Lord Sit thou on my right hand till I make thy enemies thy footstool It was the same Son who appeared oftentimes under the Character of the Angel of the Lord though he was not a Created Angel but the Lord Jehovah himself This I only mention here being to treat of it largely in some of the following Chapters That the Spirit is spoken of as a Person in Scripture none can be ignorant of that reads but the beginning of Genesis where in the 2d Verse he is named the Spirit of God and said to have his part in the Work of the Creation The Jews could not make this Spirit to be an Angel because they all agree the Angels were not yet created when the Spirit moved upon the face of the Waters Nor was the Spirit of God a mighty Wind as some render it in that place for as yet there was no Air much less Exhalations till this Work was past But that Moses meant a Person sufficiently appears by that which followeth Gen. vi 3. Where God saith My Spirit shall not alway strive with man It was the Holy Spirit of God that inspired the holy Patriarchs to give those Admonitions and Warnings to the wicked World of Mankind before the Flood by which he strove to bring them to Repentance It was the same Divine Spirit whose Operations the Israelites were sensible of in his inspiring the Seventy Elders Numb xi 25 26. The Psalmist no doubt thought of those words of Moses in the beginning of Genesis when he said in speaking of the Works of the Creation Psal xxxiii 6. All the hosts of them were made by the Spirit of his mouth and this Spirit he sensibly knew to be a Person for thus he saith of himself 2 Sam. xxiii 2 3. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me and his Word was in my tongue Lastly In some places of the Old Testament there are plainly Three Persons spoken of together and especially in the beginning of Genesis where it ought to be remembred that the word Elohim Gods does naturally import a Plurality R. Bechai in Gen. chap. i. 1. and others quoted in the former Chapter Now there can be no Plural of less than Two in number and therefore at least God the Father and the Word are to be understood in the first Verse the second Verse adds the Spirit of God as it has been just now mentioned And it is very natural to think that God spake to these Two the Word and the Spirit in Verse 26. of that Chapter when he said Let Us make man after Our Image as also afterward Gen. iii. 22. Behold the man is become as one of Us And again speaking of the Builders of Babel Gen. ix 7. Let Us go down and confound their Language This must be to Two at least for had he spoke to One only he would have said in the Singular Number Come thou and let us confound their language The manner of speaking plainly imports a Plurality and they could be no other than those Three which were spoken of in the first Chapter As Moses brings in these Three Persons into his History of the first Creation so does the Evangelical Prophet in speaking of the Mission of Christ Isa xi 1 2 c. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him i. e. upon the Messias according to the received Opinion of the Jews Isa xlviii 16. The Lord hath sent Me and his Spirit Again Isa lix 19 20 21. When the enemy shall
come in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him and the Redeemer shall come unto Sion Again Isa lxi 1. The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon Me because the Lord hath anointed me They are the words which Christ applied to himself Luke iv 18. It may not be amiss here to answer an Objection against the use that we have made of those Texts wherein God saith WE and US in the Plural which manner of speaking the Jews cannot but see does denote a Plurality R. Kimchi on Isa vi 8. makes that Observation But then he fancies it is spoken with relation to Angels whom God is pleased to call in by way of Consultation In the Text Isa vi those whom God consults with are to send as well as he and those in Gen. i. 26. are to make Man as well as he And surely God would not join the Angels with himself in the sending of his Prophets much less would he give Angels a share in the Glory of making Man the Master-piece of the Creation Angels are Creatures as well as Man and were but a Day elder than he according to some of the Jews a Week older than he they could not be And at the making of Man it is believed with very good reason that those Angels were not yet fallen whom we now call Devils It seems not very likely that as soon as they were made God should call them into Council for making of another of his Creatures much less that he should make them Creators together with himself especially when this gives them a Title to the Worship of Intelligent Beings such as Man who if this had been true ought to have worshipp'd not only Angels but Devils as being his Creators together with God But the Truth is so far on the contrary that as at first Man was made but a little lower than the Angels so there is a Man since made Lord both of Angels and Devils whom they are to worship This I know our Unitarians will now deny But to come to an end of this matter It is certainly below the Infinite Majesty of God in any of his works whatever to say to any of his Creatures Let us make or Let us do this or that And for that idle Fancy of a Consultation it is not only absurd in it self but it is contrary to the holy Scripture that asks Isa xl 13. Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord or who hath been his Counsellor Which in effect is a flat denial that there is any Creature to be call'd into Consultation with God And therefore whoever they were to whom God said this Let us make or Let us do this or that they could be no Creatures they must be uncreated Beings like himself if there were any such then in being But that then at the Creation such there were even the Word and the Spirit has been shewn from the beginning of that History I think beyond contradiction Thus we have collected a number of Places from the Old Testament which speak of a Trinity and consequently do reduce the Plurality which we proved before to a Trinity in the Unity of the Divine Nature We see there Three distinct Characters of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit We see the Generation of the Son express'd and the Mission of the Holy Spirit upon the Son when he came to live in our Nature We see the number Three still observed in begging Pardon of Sins of Blessings and in returning Praises to God intimating there were Three from whom all good things come and who are therefore the Objects of Prayer It remains that we enquire whether the like Inferences which we draw from these Texts were made by the Jews before Jesus Christ which is the second Particular of our proposed Method I shall not repeat here what in the preceding Chapters I proved That both Philo and the Chaldee Paraphrasts had such Notions of the Unity of God as were not repugnant to his Plurality The Reader can't have forgotten already a thing of such importance My business now is to shew that the Ancient Jews plainly own Two Powers in God which they distinguish from God and yet call each of them God the one being the Son of God the other the Holy Spirit who is called the Spirit of God Notwithstanding that I take the Chaldee Paraphrasts to be ancienter than Philo yet I chuse to begin with Philo's Testimonies rather than theirs for three Reasons First Because he writ in the way of Treatises and therefore much larger and clearer than they did that writ only in the way of Translation or Paraphrase adding nothing of their own but only sometimes a very short Note on the Text And therefore their Writings are much likelier to be explained by his than his by theirs 2dly Because the Passages in Philo for the Existence of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Person coeternal with the Father are so evident as to leave the Socinians no other way of answering them but to deny with Mr. N. that the Books that contain them were written by Philo the Jew 3dly A third Reason is because these Passages of Philo being written at Alexandria and abounding with Expressions used by the Apostles when they speak of Jesus Christ as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will contribute to explain some of the Quotations we shall take out of the Paraphrases in use at Babylon and Jerusalem These three great Cities Babylon Jerusalem and Alexandria were the three great Academies of the Jews till the destruction of the Temple under Vespasian So that whatever was received among the Jews in these three Cities before our Saviour's time may well pass for the Opinion of the Jewish Church at that time Let us proceed then to some of those Passages in Philo the Jew wherein he declares that there are Two such Powers in God as we call Two Persons and no one shall make sense of those Passages that calls them otherwise 1. In general he acknowledges that God hath Two Chief Supreme Powers one of which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord. De Abrah p. 286 287. F. De vit Mos iii. p. 517. F. 2. That these Two Powers are Uncreated Quod Deus sit immut p. 238. A. Eternal De Plant. Noae 176. D. and Infinite or Immense and Incomprehensible De Sacr. Ab. p. 168. B. 3. On many occasions he speaks of these Two Powers as De Cherub p. 86. F. G. 87. A. De Sacr. Ab. p. 108. A. B. De Plant. Noae p. 176. D. E. Quod Deus est immut p. 229. B. De Confus Ling. p. 270. E. 271. Lib. de Prof. p. 359. G. and especially p. 362 and p. 363. B. C. D. Quis rerum divin Haer. p. 393. G. p. 394. A. C. De Somn. p. 457. F. De Monar p. 631. A. B. C. De Vict. Offeren p. 661. B. De Mund. p. 888. B. 4.
he may be the meaning of this It seems that Moses should have said Who have God so near them But saith he there is a Superior God and there is the God who was the Fear of Isaac and there is an Inferior God and therefore Moses saith The Gods so near For there are many Virtues that come from the only One and all they are one See how the same Author supposes that there are Three Degrees in the Godhead in Levit. col 116. Come and see the Mystery in the word Elohim viz. There are Three degrees and every degree is distinct by himself and notwithstanding they are all One and tied in One and one is not separated from the other And again in Exod. col 75. Upon the words of Deut vi 4. Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord they must know that those Three viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are One unum and that is a Secret which we learn in the Mystery of the Voice which is heard The Voice is One unum but it contains Three Modes viz. the Fire the Air and the Water Now these Three are One in the Mystery of the Voice and they are but One unum So in this place Jehovah our Lord Jehovah are one unum You have this Remark of the same Author in Gen. fol. 54. col 2. de Litera ש That the Three Branches of that Letter denote the Heavenly Fathers who are there named Jehovah our Lord Jehovah R. Hay Hagahon who lived Seven hundred Years ago said there are Three Lights in God the Ancient Light or Kadmon the Pure Light or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Purified Light or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that these make but One God And that there is neither Plurality nor Polytheism in this The same Idea is followed by R. Shem Tov in his Book Emunoth part 4. cap. 8. p. 32. col 2. See again R. Hamay Hagaon in his Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Speculation cited by Reuchlin p. 651. Hi tres qui sunt unum inter se proportionem habent ut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unum uniens unitum He said before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sunt principium medium finis haec sunt unus punctus est dominus universi R. Joseph ben Gekatilia and the other Cabalists are in effect for three Elohims when they treat of the three 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or three first Sephiroth For they agree that the three first Sephiroth were never seen by any body and that there is no discord no imperfection among them The Note of this R. Joseph Gekatilia is very remarkable The Jews saith he have been under the severity of judgment and shall continue so till the coming of the Messias who shall be united saith he with the second Sephirah which is Wisdom according as it is written Isa xi 2. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the Spirit of Wisdom c. And he shall cause the Spirit of Grace and Clemency to descend from the first Sephirah who is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Infinite and he follows in that Rabbi Salomon Jarchi who saith upon Isa xi that the Cochma which is the second Sephira shall be in the middle of the Messias In a word this Notion of Plurality and Trinity expressed in the Writings of Moses and the Prophets hath not only been observed by the Jews but they have found and acknowledged it as well as the Christians to be a great and profound mystery And for the explaining of it the Jews have employed very near the same Ideas that the Christians use in speaking of the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity For they conceive in God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Faces and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Subsistences which we call Persons as one may see in Sepher Jetzirah Moreover we may observe 1. That when they speak of the three first Sephiroth they understand the same thing by them as we do by three Personalities three Modes of Existence active or passive Emanations or Processions which are the foundation of the Personalities 2ly That though they hold ten Sephiroth in all yet they make a great difference between the three first Sephiroth and the seven last For they regard the first as Persons but the last as Attributes according to which God acts in the ordinary course of his Providence or according to his several dispensations towards his Creatures Hence they call the seven last Middoth or Measures that is to say the Attributes and Characters which are visible in the Works of God namely his Justice and Mercy c. And this is confessed in plain words by the great Cabalist R. Menachem de Rekanati Tres primariae numerationes quae sunt intellectuales non vocantur mensurae i.e. they are not Attributes as are the seven last which he explains under that Notion Rittangel hath already quoted that place in his Notes upon Sepher Jetzira p. 193. It may be objected that the ancient Jews were ignorant of the Names of Father Son and Holy Spirit which Names the Christians give to the three Persons in the Deity But this if it were true would not weigh much with a reasonable mind For who can doubt but a new Revelation may distinguish those Notions clearly by proper and suitable Names which the Jews by what Revelation they had knew but more confusedly And yet to remove the Objection wholly it is certain the ancient Cabalists were acquainted with the Names of Father Son and Holy Ghost They gave the Name of Father to the first of their Sephiroth whom they called En Soph i. e. Infinite to express his Incomprehensibility This we have in Zohar from whence it is easie to conclude that they must own the Son also the Name of Father being relative to the Son But further they knew that second Person by the name Coema Wisdom even that Wisdom by which the Word was created c. according to Prov. 3.19 The Lord by Wisdom hath founded the Earth This Notion was so ancient among the Jews that the Jerusalem Targum hath rendred the first verse of Genesis thus The Lord created by his Wisdom The Christians call'd him the Word and Wisdom alluding to divers places especially Psal xxxiii 6. and Prov. viii 14. The Jews commonly call him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the second Glory and the Crown of the Creation Rittanget brings their Authorities for this in Seph Jetzira p. 4 5. They knew the third Person by the name of Binah or Intelligence because they thought it was he that gave Men the knowledg of what God was pleased to reveal to them In particular they called him the Sanctifier and the Father of Faith nor is any thing more common among them than to give him the name of the Spirit of Holiness or the Holy Spirit The same Doctrine is to be found in several other Books of the Cabalists which are known to most Christians because they are Printed
And 47. And he did evil also in the sight of the Lord and cared not for the words that were spoken unto him by the Prophet Jeremy from the mouth of the Lord. 3ly They speak of the Bina or Understanding by which is to be understood the Holy Spirit from Prov. iii. and viii So in Eccles c. i. 4. Wisdom hath been created before all things and the understanding of prudence from everlasting So the Book of Wisdom chap. i. 4 5 6 7. For into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter nor dwell in the body that is subject unto sin For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit and remove from thoughts that are without understanding and will not abide when unrighteousness cometh in For Wisdom is a loving spirit and will not acquit a blasphemer of his words for God is witness of his reins and a true beholder of his heart and a hearer of his tongue For the Spirit of the Lord filleth the world and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice 4ly They acknowledg him as the Counsellor of God which knew all his Counsels So you read in the Book of Wisdom ch ix 17. And thy counsel who hath known except thou give wisdom and send thy Holy Spirit from above 5ly They speak of him as of he that discovers the secrets of God so Ecclus ch 39.8 He shall shew forth that which he hath learned and shall glory in the law of the covenant of the Lord. And ch 48.24 25. He saith of Isaiah He saw by an excellent spirit what should come to pass at the last and he comforted them that mourned in Sion He shewed what should come to pass for ever and secret things or ever they came 6ly They acknowledg him to be sent from God Wisdom ch ix 17. And thy counsel who hath known except thou give wisdom and send thy Holy Spirit from above After all if we consider what Notions they had of the Messias which was promised to them we shall find that they had much nobler Ideas than those which are now entertained by the last Jews and more like to them which we find among the Prophets 1. It is clear that they lookt upon him as the Person which was to sit upon the Throne of God the Title of my Lord which is given by the Author of Ecclus ch li. 10. shews that beyond exception by so clear an allusion to the Psal cx and ii which both speak of the Messias 2ly They did not look upon it as an absurd thing to suppose that God is to appear in the earth as you see in Baruch ch iii. 37. Afterward did he shew himself upon earth and conversed with men For they refer that either to his appearance upon Sinai or to the Incarnation of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3ly They suppose another coming of the Messias and then the Saints are to judge the Nations and have dominion over the people and their Lord shall reign for ever Wisd ch iii. 8. which words have been borrowed by St. Paul 1 Cor. vi 2. 4ly They acknowledg such Appearances of God as we have an example in 2 Macc. ch xi 6. and ch xxi 22 23. Now when they that were with Maccabeus heard that he besieged the holds they and all the people with lamentation and tears besought the Lord that he would send a good Angel to deliver Israel 5ly They speak of the Appearances of God as an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the very word used by St. Paul for the first and second Appearance of Jesus Christ So the 2. of Macc. ch xv 27. and 34. So every man praised toward the even that glorious Lord saying Blessed be he that hath kept his own place undefiled So that fighting with their hands and praying unto God with their hearts they slew no less than thirty and five thousand men for through the appearance of God they were greatly cheared 6ly They expected at the second coming of the Messias such a manifestation of his Glory as in the Consecration of the Temple So 2 Macc. ch ii 8. Then shall the Lord shew them these things and the glory of the Lord shall appear and the cloud also as it was shewed under Moses and as when Solomon desired that the place might be honourably sanctified I believe these Proofs are sufficient to demonstrate 1. That there was before Jesus Christ's time a Notion of Plurality in the Godhead 2ly That they believed that such a Plurality was a Trinity 3ly That they look'd upon the Son or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Holy Ghost as not created Beings but as Beings of the same Divine Nature with the Father by an Eternal Emanation from him as having the same Power and the same Majesty But these Ideas of the Apocryphal Books will appear more clear when we take them in conjunction with the explication of the like Notions among other Hebrew Writers which I shall now consider more particularly And withal those places of Scripture on which they ground their Explications CHAP. IX That the Jews had good Grounds to acknowledg some kind of Plurality in the Divine Nature AFter what I have quoted from the Authors of the Apocryphal Books which are in the hand of all people to prove 1. That the Jews before Jesus Christ had a Notion of a Plurality in God following herein certain Traces of this Doctrine that are to be found in the Books of Moses and the Prophets And 2ly that the same Jews did acknowledg a Trinity in the Divine Nature I will proceed to consider in particular the Grounds which they build upon to admit such Notions I begin with the first of those two Articles which is That the Stile of God in the Jewish Scriptures gave them a Notion of a Plurality in God To establish this Proposition I do not intend to gather all the Texts of the Old Testament which might be brought to prove a Plurality in the Divine Nature nor will I answer the several Solutions which the Unitarians have invented to darken this truth which they oppose It shall suffice me to do two things 1. To shew that the Stile of God in Scripture and of the Sacred Authors leads one naturally to the Notion of a Plurality of Persons in the Divine Essence 2. That this Stile made the like Impression on the Jews before Jesus Christ as was made by it anciently and is still made on it by the generality of Christians So that the Jews generally have acknowledged that the Divine Nature which is otherwise perfectly one is distinguishable into certain Properties which we call Persons For the proof of the first Point to wit that the Scriptures of the Old Testament suppose a Plurality in God I make these following Reflections 1. Moses the chief End of whose Writings was to root out of the minds of Men the conceit of Polytheism does yet describe the Creation of the World in words that insinuate a Plurality
King as he hath been the first which they infer from Psal lxxii 8. and Dan. ii 35.44 in Bresh Rabba ad Gen. xlii 6. Now it is the very description of the Word of God as you see in Jonathan's Targum upon Deut. xxxii 39. Quando revelaverit se Sermo Domini ad redimendum populum suum dicet omnibus populis Videte quod ego nunc sim qui sum fui ego sum qui futurus sum nec alius Deus praeter me 4thly Jonathan on Micah vi 14. has the same Notion The Text runs Feed thy people with thy Rod the flock of thy heritage which dwell solitarily in the wood in the midst of Carmel let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old But Jonathan paraphrases it thus Feed thy People by thy Word the People of thy Heritage in the Age to come a Term always used to denote the Times of the Messias and consequently shews that the Word shall be in the Messias 5thly The same Jonathan who affirms that the Word gave the Law on Horeb and made a Covenant with Israel refers to the Messias what Philo saith of the Word Zech. vi 12. as we see him on Mal. iv 2. We might infer the same thing from those Prophecies that speak of God as anointed as Psal xlv 7. Of God as sent Isa xl 9. Of God for the sake of whom God forgives Dan. ix 17. For the Targum in many places applies these Expressions to the Word though the Passages themselves are supposed by them to concern the Messias The same Truth may be also collected from hence That the Word is clearly distinguâ—â—hed from God who sends him and from the Holy Spirit who is to rest on the Messias in respect of his Human Nature Which is a good Argument that the Word and the Messias according to the common Notion of the Ancient Jews was to be one and the same Person That Sense was so well known in the Synagogue that you see in Midrash Tehillim upon Psal xxxiii that the Shekinah which was in Heaven was to leave them and to be upon the Earth and that although it was not possible for any Mortal to see her in this Life in the future Age which is the second coming of the Messias she is to be seen by Israel who are then to live for ever and to say as you see in Isa xxv 9. Here is your God And according to Psal xlviii 15. He is God our God as it is observed by Tanchuma and many others But this I shall shew more distinctly in evincing 2dly That the Jews who esteemed the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Son of God did likewise believe the Messias should be the Son of God CHAP. XVII That the Jews did acknowledge the Messias should be the Son of God GOD having by a great Number of Appearances settled it in the Minds of the Jews That there was a true distinction between the Lord and the Angel of the Lord to whose care they were committed did afterwards more plainly intimate to them than he had done to the Ancient Patriarchs who and what this Angel was I mean he gave them Revelation in Scripture concerning the Nature of the Messias in the expectation of whom he had trained them up by so many extraordinary Appearances For this purpose he raised David to the Throne and made him a Prophet that his Dignity might cause attention to his Prophecies and his Authority establish the Psalms which he writ by Inspiration into a Form of Worship most acceptable to God We therefore find in his Psalms all the Passions which the Promise and hope of the Messias naturally produce arising from more distinct Notions of him than were formerly given And afterwards God raised up other Prophets until Malachi who all tread in David's steps and pursue his Notions as far as they concern the Messias It might be gathered from several things in the Writings of Moses as Gen. iii. 15. that the Messias should be more than a man because he was to destroy the Works of the Devil and whosoever did that must be stronger than he as our Saviour shews in the Parable of the strong man Matth. xii 29. Because God respecting the coming of the Messias promised to dwell in the Tabernacles of Sem Gen. ix 27. which the Ancient Jews understood of the Shekina Talm. Babyl Joma fol. 9. col 2. Because he was to bless all Nations as was promised Abraham Gen. xii 3. as it is acknowledged by the Author of the Book Chasidim § 961. and that could not be done but by the Shekinah dwelling among them as the Jews acknowledge it Because he was to be King of all Nations of the Earth as Jacob prophecied Gen. xlix 10. and as Balaam foretold of the Messias according to Onkelos he was to smite the corners of Moab and destroy all the Children of Seth or as Onkelos renders it to have dominion over all the Children of men Num. xxiv 17. But it was necessary that the notion of the Messias should be yet more distinct And to this end there was a constant Succession of Prophets from David to Malachi who by their particular Characters of the Messias excited a more ardent desire in the Jews that God would fulfil his promise concerning him Let us enquire a little by what degrees this Light became more distinct and shew what impression it caused in the Jews before the coming of our Lord. I lay it down then as a truth that the Prophets from David do constantly represent the Messias as the proper Son of God one begotten by a proper and not a figurative Generation That God hath a Son is declared in Solomon's Question Prov. xxx 4. What is his name and what is his Son's name For it appears clearly by the description of God's Works and Attributes which goes before these words that this Question cannot be understood but of the true God and of his true Son the same which is spoken of Prov. viii 22. as being Eternal and Verses 24 and 25. as being begotten by God And indeed although the Author of the Zohar refers sometimes those words What is his Son's name to the People of Israel who is called the first-born of God nevertheless he gives them their true sense in referring them to the Messias who is spoken of in Psalm ii in these words Thou art my Son and kiss the Son Part 3. fol. 124. col 3. Philo in his Pieces hath preserved the sense of the Ancient Jews in this matter that this Son was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as where he saith that the Word by whom they swear was begotten All. 11. p. 76. B. that God begat his Wisdom according to Solomon Prov. viii 24. De temul p. 190. D. which Wisdom is no other than the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. p. 194. that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the most Ancient Son the Eternal Spirit of God but the World is
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