intimately and indivisibly present with all and with every thing Nay thus He is also present with Nothing if so we are to call that vast Receipt without the Universe comprehending infinitely this created Nature of Things which needing not to be argued from any actuall operation or conserving causality sufficiently followeth the Nature of Immensity 'T would imply a Contradiction to say he could be actually present with that which is not or with that which shall be before it is yet not to say that He is there where Nothing else is or shall be but himselfe is to say he is not Infinite Nor is it otherwise answered by those Doctours which pretend to the contrary sentence for though they cannot be gotten to say that God is present without yet they confesse He cannot be comprehended within the Vniverse making all up with a Negative Extra and Potentiall existence as to no purpose they may be seene in 1. Thom. q. 8. 1. Sent. dist 37. Relating to this first Respect of Presence Power and Essence we say that God equally disposeth of himselfe to all things and men and that he cannot thus be more in one place then another But the Respect of Grace and Spirit superinduceth a Speciall influence and Immediation of blessings and imprinting the Nature or Being whatsoever with a much more intimate and more excellent Relation Thus God is said to be nearer to this man then to that more in one place then in another Thus he is said to depart from some and come to others to leave this place to abide in that not by Essentiall application of himselfe much lesse by locall motion but by Impression of Effect It may be said of all places Deus hic est God is here But of some as Jacob of his Bethel Verè Deus hic est Truly God is in this place Verè that is saith Saint Bernard Certiùs Evidentiùs by a more evident and more effectuall presence With just men saith he God is present in veritate In deed but with the wicked dissemblingly 't is the Fathers expression in dissimulatione As he is to all in all places he is called in the Holy Tongue Jehovah He that is or Essence but as he useth to be in Holy places he is called Shecinah is taken by some of them as R. Menahem for the presence of the Messiah by others for the Ruach hakkados or presence of the Holy Spirit as the Chaldee Paraphrast upon Gen. 45. 27. And so the Hebrew Schoole maketh even with ours for Jehovah signifyeth the first member of the distinction for Presence Power Essence Messiah for the Last or Hypostaticall union and the Holy Spirit for the second Indeed the most generall and constant sence of this word Shecinah to the Jewes meaneth still a more intimate application of the presence of God to such a Person or Place then that of his common and equall Abode He is said to dwell there saith Maimon where be putteth the markes or evidences of his Majesty and presence And he doth this by his Grace and Holy Spirit Therefore Churches are said to be the Houses of God and good Men the Temples of the Holy Ghost This is the Reason why Michael the Archangel is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Princeps faciorum or the Prince of the presence in the Books of Zorâ—babel for in their account he is so neare to the King of Heaven as to be admitted to fit down by him and register the good Acts of the Israâ—lites 'T is in his power also to blot them out againe as occasion shall be given him Talmud in Chagigah fol. 1◠〈◊〉 As to the respect of Gods applying himselfe to a person they have an old saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Shecinah will dwell with the meeke and Humble Men but flyeth away from the prâ—â—d and angry Which seemeth to me to cast a light upon those words of Saint James C. 4 6. God resisteth the Proud but giveth grace unto the Humble The Greeke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God sets himselfe in array against the proud The words are quoted out of Prov. 3. 34. The Syriacke translation whereof is deturbabit He will cast downe but the Chaldee is illusores propellet that is He will cast the proud or scornefull men farre away out of his sight but giveth Grace to the humble that is draweth neare unto them and dwelleth there by his Grace and Holy Spirit And thus also you may the better understand the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the verse before going where the spirit that dwelleth in us is said to lust to envy One of the wise sayings of Ben Syra is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Mitte panem tuum super faciem aquarum super aridam invenies eum in fine dierum i. e. Cast thy Bread upon the face of the Waters and upon the dry Land and thou shalt finde it in the end of dayes To this the Perush or Exposition faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Let thy Table alwayes be prepared for whosoever comes that thou mayest be accounted worthy to have the Shecinah rest upon thee So that they account God will dwell with such a man as keepeth good hospitality They say also that the Shecinah will not rest upon a sad or sorrowfull man but upon a wise a valiant or a rich man it will And many like recesses they have to this purpose capable enough of a good construction As to the other respect of Gods application of himselfe to a place The Son of Halaptha said Wheresoever 2 or 3 are â—itting together and conferring together about the Law there the Shecinah will be with them 'T is the meaning of our Saviour where he promiseth Wheresoever two or three are gathered together there am I in the midst of them As if he had said The Shecinah shall be there or there I will be by my dwelling presence or speciall exhibition of my selfe by signes of Blessing and Grace In other places he is only said to bee but in Holy places to be wonderfull Psal 68. 35. The face of God is every where alike Quo fugerem a facie tua said the Psalmist whither can I fly from thy face He said not quo fugerem c. whither shall I fly from thy Back parts for these are more visible in one place then another 'T is there as every where The Lord. But here the Lord mercifull and gracious siow to anger and aboundant in goodnesse and truth Therefore even the most high thus dwelleth in Temples made with hands and though Heaven be his Throne and Earth his Footstole yet we men can build him a House A House of prayer as it is called unto all Nations And this is the place where his Honour dwells We say it againe not more essentially here but more gratiously 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as the blessed Maximus by the Grace of his holy Spirit 〈◊〉
Paradise toward the East and so did the whole world till Abrahams time The Hebrewes deliver that God created Adam with his face towards the East I cannot tell that but that he was no sooner dispatcht out of the dust but he fell downe to the same earth againe and adored his maker this same way there is this great probability Besides the commonly used words for East West c. in the holy tongue there be 4 other Names assigned to the 4 Cardinall points of Heaven of a more especiall and sacred Imposition and expressed from the measure of a man The East is otherwise called Mizrach i. e. the rising the West Maarab that is the setting of the Sunne c. But in the Holy way the East is called Kedem that is the face or fore-part the West Achor the backe-part The North Smol i. e. the Left the South Teman that is the Right hand But the Heaven could not be said to have a Right hand or a Left or if it could then seeing the East was Kedem the face or forefront the North must have beene the Right hand not the South Indeed Kedem properly signifieth not the face but that which is before the face It is the same with Kibla in the Arabicke It is certaine therefore that these Impositions respected either the making of the first man toward the East which amounteth to as much or rather the Religious posture of that time and that Adam called the North the Left hand and South the Right because he himselfe in the service of God turned his face towards the East I know there be that will tell you that the reason of this Imposition was the Shecina bammaarab or sitting of Gods presence upon the Arke in the Westerne part of the Tabernacle and Temple with his face towards the East as if these names had not beene imposed long before the Arke was knowne or thought of in the world Nay before Abraham was these were and yet this passeth with some sot a very happy Criticisme But however that not onely Adam but the whole world also worshipped towards the East till Abraham's time my Authors are not onely Maimon in his More but the great Saint Ephrem also and others in the Arabicke Catena The Tradition there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. from Adam till Abraham's time which was the space of 3328 yeares they worshipped towards the East I depends from the very same ground that the most solemne peice of all the Jewish service I meane that great attonement but once a yeare to be made by the Highest and most Holy man and in the most Holy Place was performed toward the East quite contrary to all other manner of addressement in their devotion So I interpret that place Leviticus C. 16. 14 15. It is commanded there that the High Preist shall do with the bloud of the Goate as with the bloud of the Bullocke and that he shall take of the bloud of the Bullocke and sprinckle it with his finger upon the mercy seate Eastward Strange it is to see what shift the Expounders have made to make good this place They are much troubled to know how the Preist can be said to sprinckle the bloud Eastward they may well enough for they suppose the Preist to have stood with his face towards the West Tawos the Persian paraphrast rendreth it super faciem propitiatorii in Oriente upon the mercy seate in the East Meaning I thinke as an Arabicke Translation of the Greeke On the Easterne side The Greeke it selfe is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eastward as the English So the Chaldee the Syriack Saadiah Gaons Arabicke c. All word for word for indeed the Text could be no plainer then it is That the Bloud was to be sprinckled Eastward The meaning is thus It is knowne that the sprinckling of bloud this bloud especially was the Figure of him who by his owne Bloud entered in once into the holy place and obtained eternall Redemption Heb 9. 12. Aaron therefore though at other times he still turned his face towards the West Nay though at the killing of this very Goat and this Bullock he not onely turned his owne but even their Faces also towards the West As the Talmud in Joma yet when he was to execute this greatest Course of the Mysterie he placed himselfe on the wrong side of the Arke and turning his backe to the beggerly Ruâ—â—â—ments of the world he sprinckled this bloud Eastward The Hierusalem Isychius understood his meaning It was done saith he to represent the Man Cui Oriens nomen ejus Whose Name is the East You may perceive also that the Scripture intimateth enough that the Man Christ came downe to us from the very same Easterne part The ground layed is able to put a like understanding upon the places 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—aith Baruch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Looke about thee O Hierusalem towards the East and behold the Joy that commeth unto thee from God Baruch 4. 36. I know there be that loose this prophesie upon the captivity I am not certaine but that Cyrus may be pretended by the Letter but I assure my selfe that our Saviour lyeth hid in the Mystery Olympiodorus perceived this Looke about thee O Hierusalem towards the East c. that is saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Towards Jesus Christ our Lord the Sonne of Righteousnes c That the Messias is aim'd at will be certaine to any one that will but consider the prophesie for none else could be called the Everlasting Saviour verse 22. But â—e that saith looke about thee toward the East appointeth them to a certaine place and not nigh but then why toward the East It is evident that he meanes it of that part from whence the Saviour is said to have come downe from Heaven and was made man Therefore the Father is said to have raised up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Esayâ—1 â—1 2. That is as Procopius Hierome and Cyrill Christ our Righteousnesse The more part I know crooke the Prophesie to the Patriarch Abraham He is called indeed by the Apochryphall Wisdome the Righteous but more duely the faithfull Abraham Galat 3. 9. But Righteousnesse it selfe is too great and abstract a Name In the 46. Chapter He calleth a Bird from the East v. 11. Some ancient Copies read it I call a just one from the East Cyrus is certainely to be meant by the out-side as the Jewish expounders rightly If our Saviour be included as by Saint Hierome and Cyrill it is presumed the insolency of the Metaphor is taken off by Malachy where the Sunne of Righteousnesse is promised to arise with healing in his wings Mal 4. 2. W. Tindals Note I thinke 't is his upon that place of Esay is a good old truth The Prophet meanes saith he King Cyrus which should come swiftly as a Bird flyeth and destroy Babylon and set the Israëlites at liberty He should fullfill that which
the Lord had devised and decreed In him is figured Christ which with the light of his word purgeth the whole world of Error and Idolatry and setteth the Consciences at peace and liberty He flieth swiftly out of the East that is out of Heaven whereupon he is called the day spring from on high Luk 1. 78. But the prophesie of Michah is plainer yet And thou Bethlehem Ephrata though thou be little among the Thousands of Iudah yet out of thee shall come the Ruler of Israel c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the which not fearing to do it without example I translate And his goings forth are out of the East from the dayes of old And this is one of the reasons for there is another too why our Saviour is said to be the Man whose name is the East The other reason is this It was said before that from Adam till Abrahams time the whole world worshipped towards the East This Originall Principall and as it ought to have beene everlasting Ceremonie by an Errour of the Persian and Chaldaean worshippers degenerating into an Idolatry to the Sun Abraham saith the learned Maimon by the instincts of God appointed out the West to his Hebrewes Therefore the Tabernacle and Temple were set towards that side of Heaven God in the meane time seeming to leave his mistaken place in the East and come downe to this stiffe-necked people This was a Literall and Pedanticall Nation and to comply with the secret intended mysterie were so to be dealt with They did and they did not worship towards the West 'T is true all the sacrifices were offered up towards that way In the Rites of Azazell the two Goates were to stand with their faces the same way The pile set up for the Phara adumma or Red Cow was to have windowes in it and the prospect of these was to be towards the West Talmud in Phara fol. 96. a. The 6 Lampes in the Golden Candle-sticke were appointed to burne towards the 7th which was that in the midle but the face of this saith Maimon was to burne towards the most holy place and that it was called the Westerne Lampe Beth habbech C 3. § 8. But all this while they worshipped no more towards the West then towards the North. They worshipped towards the Arke it was told you before or towards the place of that They do so still And they were and they are to do so because the Sun of Righteousnesse was to set upon their Horizon Therefore they were And they are to do so because as to them The man whose name is the East is not yet brought forth Observe but the Oeconomy and dispensation of this businesse throughout and there needeth no more to make good the Ground That this MAN was called the East will appeare by the places in Zacharie c 6. 12. c 3. 8. Behold the man c. And I will bring forth my servant c. In the Holy Text it is Behold the man whose name is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tsemach that is as not unlearned men have rendred it the Branch It is to be noted that as the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth also germinare so the Hebrew Tsemach signifieth lucere oriri for that which we translate the Brightnesse the Syriacke rendreth the Tsemach of his glory Heb 1. 12. And in the Jewish Astrologie the Horoscope or East Angle is most commonly so called We are to read the prophecy as the Lxx did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Behold the man whose Name is the East Thus it was urged to the Jew Tryphon in the most ancient times of Justin Martyr And thus also to James the Jew in a like conference in the Cetab ol borhan c 6. 6. meeting The purpose of that booke is to prove out of all the Prophets c. that our Saviour was the Christ c. Justus alledged this place among the rest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The strong God said by Zacharie ehe Prophet Behold a man whose Name is the East But Saint Luke puts all out of doubt where another Zacharie relating to the former saith of our Saviour that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we render it the day spring from on high or as Erasmus and the vulgar the East Which Beza not knowing how to dislike and yet considering with himselfe that the old Prophecy must be so translated or else the new must not put it downe Germen ex alto the Branch from on high but which no man accepted of That the Tsemach in Zachary was the fame with Saint Lukes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beza judged rightly But that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot be rendred by Germen it is convinc'd by the words following To give light unto them that sit in darkenesse c. And therefore qui Germen vertunt saith Scaliger of the Tsemach in Zachary imperite faciunt audeo dicere neque mentiar contra verbum Dei who so translate it the Branch do ignorantly nay I may say and say true too they do contrary to the word of God The place in Zachary is to be read thus Behold the man whose Name is the East and he shall rise up or shine out from under him that is from under God the Father Jeremie the Prophet would not otherwise be understood c 23. 5. Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that I will raise up unto David 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tsemach Tsaddick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Righteous East as the Lxx that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Severus Christ the Sunne of Righteousnesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Eusebius who elsewhere is called the light of the Gentiles and the light of the world Taeitus himselfe doth unawares deliver some such thing as this Hist lib 5. He is there telling of the destruction of Jerusalem how the doores of the Temple flew open on a suddaine and a more then humane voice was heard that the Gods were now upon departing c. These things saith he made some reflect upon an old prophecy that was found antiquis Sacerdotum literis which foretold eo ipso tempore fore ut valesceret Oriens That at such a time the East should prevaile I doubt not but the Prophet who ever he were directed himselfe to the Man Cui Oriens Nomen ejus Whose name is the East Zach. 6. 12. In relation to this Name of Christ the Christians also by some have beene called Orientales 'T is Gregory the great 's Morall upon those words of Iob That he was the greatest man in the East Referring to the same the blessed Virgin hath beene termed Orientalis porta the Easterne gate as if that were the meaning of Ezekiels vision c 44. So Saint Ephrem upon those words of Jacob this is the house of God and this is the Gate of Heaven This saying saith he is to be meant of the Virgin Mary who became as it were another Heaven truly to be