Attonement and Reconciliation and that some such thing was signified in their Sacrifices they do each one for himself torture slay and offer a Cock on the day of Expiation to make attonement for their sins and that unto the Devil The Rites of that Diabolical Solemnity are declared at large by Buxtorfius in his Synagog Judaic cap. 20. But yet as this folly manifests that they can find no rest in their consciences without their Sacrifices so it gives them not at all what they seek after And therefore being driven from all other hopes they trust at length unto their own Death for in Life they have no hope making this one of their constant Prayers Let my Death be the Expiation of all Sins But this is the curse and so no means to avoid it Omitting therefore these horrid follies of men under despair an effect of that wrath which is come upon them unto the uttermost the thing its self may be considered That the Sacrifices of Moses's Law in and by themselves should be a means to deliver men from the guilt of sin and to reconcile them unto God is contrary to the Light of Nature their own proper use and express Testimonies of the Old Testament For First Can any man think it reasonable that the blood of Bulls and Goats should of its self make an Expiation of the sin of the souls of men reconcile them to God the Judge of all and impart unto them an Everlasting Righteousness Our Apostle declares the manifest impossibility hereof Heb. 10. v. 4. They must have very mean and low thoughts of God his Holiness Justice Truth of the Demerit of Sin of Heaven and Hell who think them all to depend on the blood of a Calf or a Goat The Sacrifices of them indeed might by Gods appointment represent that to the minds of men which is effectuall unto the whole End of appeasing Gods Justice and of obtaining his Favour but that they should themselves effect it is unsuitable unto all the Apprehensions which are imbred in the heart of man either concerning the nature of God or the Guilt of Sin Secondly Their Primitive and proper use doth manifest the same For they were to be frequently repeated and in all the Repetitions of them there was still new mention made of sin They could not therefore by themselves take it away for if they could they would not have been reiterated It is apparent therefore that their use was to represent and bring to remembrance that which did perfectly take away sin For a perfect work may be often remembred but it need not it cannot be often done For being done for such an End and that End being obtained it cannot be done again The Sacrifices therefore were never appointed never used to take away sin which they did not but to represent that which did so effectually Besides there were some sins that men may be guilty of whom God will not utterly reject for which there was no Sacrifice appointed in the Law of Moses as was the case with David Psal. 51. v. 16. which makes it undeniable that there was some other way of Attonement besides them and beyond them as our Apostle declares Acts 13. v. 38 39. Thirdly The Scripture expresly rejects all the Sacrifices of the Law when they are trusted in for any such End and Purpose which sufficiently demonstrates that they were never appointed thereunto See Psal. 40 v. 6 7 8. Psal. 50. v. 8 9 10 11 12 13. Isa. 1. v. 11 12 13. Chap. 66. v. 3. Amos. 5.21 22. Micha 6. v. 6 7 8. and other places innumerable Add unto what hath been spoken that during the Observation of the whole Law § 22 of Moses whilest it was in force by the Appointment of God himself He still directed those who sought for Acceptance with him unto a New Covenant of Grace whole Benefits by faith they were then made partakers of and whole nature was afterwards more fully to be declared See Jerem. 31. v. 31 32 33 34. with the inferences of our Apostle thereon Heb. 8.12 13. And this plainly everts the whole Foundation of the Jews Expectation of Justification before God on the account of the Law of Moses given on Mount Sinai For to what purpose should God call them from resting on the Covenant thereof to look for Mercy and Grace in and by another if that had been able to give them the help desired In brief then the Jews fixing on the Law of Moses as the only means of delivery from sin and death as they do thereby exclude all mankind besides themselves from any interest in the Love Favour or Grace of God which they greatly design and desire so they cast themselves also into a miserable restless self-condemned condition in this world by trusting to that which will not relieve them and into Endless misery hereafter by refusing that which effectually would make them Heirs of Salvation For whilest they perish in their sin another better more glorious and sure Remedy against all the Evils that are come upon mankind or are justly feared to be coming by any of them is provided in the Grace Wisdom and Love of God as shall now farther be demonstrated The first intimation that God gave of this work of his Grace in Redeeming mankind § 23 from sin and misery is contained in the Promise subjoyned unto the Curse denounced against our first Parents and their Posterity in them Gen. 3. v. 15. The seed of the Woman shall bruise the Heaa of the Serpent and the Serpent shall bruise his Heel Two things there are contained in these words A Promise of Relief from the misery brought on mankind by the Temptation of Satan and an intimation of the Means or Way whereby it should be brought about That the first is included in these words is evident For First If there be not a Promise of Deliverance expressed in these words whence is it that the execution of the sentence of Death against sin is suspended Unless we will allow an Intervention satisfactory to the Righteousness and Truth of God to be expressed in these words there would have been a truth in the suggestion of the Serpent namely that whatever God had said yet indeed they were not to dye The Jews in the Midrash Tehillim as Kimchi informs us on Psal. 92. whose Title is a Psalm for the Sabbath Day which they generally assign unto Adam say that Adam was cast out of the Garden of Eden on the Evening of the sixth day after which God came to execute the Sentence of Death upon him but the Sabbath being come on the Punishment was deferred whereon Adam made that Psalm for the Sabbath Day Without an interposition of some external Cause and Reason they acknowledge that Death ought immediately to have been inflicted and other besides what is mentioned in these words there was none Secondly The whole Evil of sin and Curse that mankind then did or was to suffer under proceeded from the
friendship contracted between the Woman and the Serpent and her fixing faith in him God here declares that he will break that League and put Enmity between them Being now both of them under the same condition of sin and Curse this could not be without a change of Condition in one of them Satan is not divided from himself nor is at Enmity with them that are left wholly in his Estate A change of Condition therefore on the part of the Woman and her Seed is plainly promised that is by a Deliverance from the state of sin and misery wherein they were Without this the Enmity mentioned could not have ensued Thirdly In pursuit of this Enmity the seed of the woman was to bruise the Head of the Serpent The Head is the seat of his Power and Craft Without the destruction of the Evil and pernicious effects which by his Counsel he had brought about his Head cannot be bruised By his Head he had contrived the Ruine of mankind and without the Destruction of his Works and a Recovery from that Ruine he is not conquered nor his Head bruised And as these things though they may now seem somewhat obscurely expressed in these words are yet made plain unto us in the Gospel so the importance of them was evident unto our first Parents of old being expounded by all the Circumstances wherewith the matter of fact was attended Again there is an intimation of the manner how this work shall be performed This First God takes upon himself I will do it I will put Enmity It is an issue of his Soveraign Wisdom and Grace But Secondly He will do it in and by the nature of man the seed of the Woman And two things must concur to the effecting of it First That this seed of the Woman must conquer Satan bruise his Head destroy his Works and procure Deliverance for mankind thereby Secondly That he must suffer from and by the means of Satan in his so doing the Serpent must bruise his Heel This is the Remedy and Relief that God hath provided for mankind And this is the MESSIAH or God joyning with the Nature of man to Deliver mankind from sin and Eternal misery § 24 This Promise of Relief by the seed of the Woman is as the first so the only intimation that God gave unto our first Parents of a way of Deliverance from that condition whereinto they and the whole Creation were brought by the Entrance of Evil or Sin It was likewise the first Discovery that there was in him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Benignity Grace Kindness or Mercy Compassion Pardon Hereby he declared himself to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neh. 9. v. 17. A God of Pardons Gracious and tenderly mercifull As also Psalm 86. v. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Good and pardoning and much in mercy And if this be not acknowledged it must be confessed that all the world at least unto the Flood if not unto the dayes of Abraham in which space of Time we have Testimony concerning some that they walked with God and pleased him were left without any certain ground of Faith or hope of Acceptance with him For without some knowledge of this Mercy and the Provision of a way for its exercise they could have no such Perswasion This then we have obtained that God presently upon the Entrance of sin into the World and the breach of its publick Peace thereby promised a Reparation of that Evil in the whole Extent of it to be wrought in and b◠the seed of the Woman That is the MESSIAH § 25 According unto our Design we may take along with us the thoughts of the Jews in this matter expressed after their manner For the Serpent that tempted Eve who is here threatned as the Head of all the Evil that ensued thereon they confess that Satan accompanied him and was principally intended in the Curse denounced against him So the Targum of Ben Vzziel When the Serpent came to tempt Eve she saw 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Samael the Angel of Death upon him And Maimonides gives a large account of the Doctrine of their Wisemen in this matter More Nebuch pag. 2. cap. 20. At neque hoc praetereundum quod in Midrash adducunt Sapientes nostri Serpentem equitatum fuisse quantitatem ejus instar Cameli sessorem ejus fuisse illum qui decepit Evam huncque Sessorem fuisse Samaelem quod nomen absolute usurpant de Sathana Invenies enim quod in multis locis dicunt Sathanam voluisse impedire Abrahamum ne ligaret Isaacum sic voluisse impedire Isaacum ne obsequeretur voluntati patris sui alibi vero in hoc eodem negotio dicunt venit Samael ad Abrahamum sic itaque apparet quod Samael sit ipse Sathan To omit their Fables this in evident that they acknowledge it was Satan who deceived Eve And in Bereshith Rabba sect 10. They give an account why God expostulated with Adam and Eve before he pronounced Sentence against them but without any Word or Question proceeded immediately unto the Doom of the Serpent For say they the Holy Blessed God said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Serpent is wicked and a cunning disputer and if I speak unto him he will strait way say thou gavest them a Commandment and I gave them a Commandment why did they leave thy Commandment and follow my Commandment and therefore he presently pronounced sentence against him And the same words are repeated in Midrash Vaiikra ad cap. 13. v. 2. which things can be understood of Satan only I know some of the later Masters have other thoughts of these things because they discover what use may be made of the Truth and the Faith of their fore-fathers in this matter Aben Ezra in his Commentary on this place disputes the Opinions of their Doctors and although he acknowledge that Rabbi Saadias Haggaon and Rabbi Samuel Ben Hophni with others that is indeed their Targums and Talmuds and all their antient Writers affirm Satan to be intended yet he contends for the Serpent only on the weak pretences that Satan goeth not on his Belly nor eateth Dust which things in the letter are confessed to belong unto the Instrument that he used And hereon they would have it that the Serpent was deprived of voice and understanding which before he had so making him a rational subsistence who is expresly reckoned amongst the Beasts of the Field The Root of all Evil also they would have to lye in the matter whereof we were originally made an impossible figment invented to reflect the guilt of all sin on Him that made us Thus every thing seems right to men that will serve the present turns whilest they shut their Eyes against the Truth But we have the consent of the Antientest Best and Wisest of them in this matter as also unto the Deliverance here promised The two Targums of Vzzielides and that called Jerusalem both agree that these words contain a Remedy of
the Effects of Satans Temptation and that to be wrought by the Messiah or as they speak in his dayes And hence they have a common saying that in the last dayes which is the Old Testament Periphrasis of the Dayes of the Messiah all things shall be healed but the Serpent and the Gibeonites by whom they understand all Hypocrites and Unbelievers Satan therefore is to be conquered by the bruising of his Head and conquered he is not nor can be unless his work be destroyed In the destruction of his work consists the Delivery of mankind from the twofold evil mentioned And this is to be effected by the seed of the Woman to be brought forth into the world unto that end and purpose For when the Production of this Seed is restrained unto the Family and Posterity of Abraham it is said expresly that in or by it all the Kindreds of the earth should be blessed which they could not be without a removal and taking away of the Curse We may now therefore take the summ of this Discourse and of the whole matter § 26 that we have insisted on about the Entrance of sin into the world and the Remedy provided in the Grace and Wisdom of God against it It appears upon our Enquiry First That the Sin of our First Parents was the Occasion and Cause of all that Evil which is in the world of all that is felt or justly feared by mankind For as those who knew not or received not the Revelation of the Truth in these things made unto us in the Scripture could never assign any other cause of it that might be satisfactory unto an ordinary rational Enquiry so the Testimonies of the Scripture make it most evident and especially that insisted on Secondly It hath been evinced tha◠mankind could not recover or deliver themselves from under the power of their own innate corruption and disorder nor from the effects of the Curse and Wrath of God that came upon them Neither is there any ground of Expectation of Relief from any other part of Gods Creation But yet that God for the praise of the glory of his Grace Mercy and Goodness would effect it and bring it about Thirdly That this Relief and Deliverance is first intimated and declared in those words of God unto the Serpent I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel Which appears First Because in and with the Serpent Satan who was the Head of all Apostasie from God and by whom our first Parents were beguiled is intended in these words This we have made evident from the Confession of the Jews with whom in this matter principally we have to do And to what hath been already observed unto that purpose we may add the Testimonies of some other of them to the same Purpose Rabbi Bechai he whom they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bechai the Elder in his Comment on the Law unto these words Gen. 3. v. 15. speaks to this purpose We have no more enmity with the Serpent than with other creeping things Wherefore the Scripture Mystically signifies him who was hid in the Serpent For the body of the crafty Serpent was a fit instrument for that force or vertue that joyned its self therewithall That was it which made Eve to sin whence death came on all her Posterity And this is the Enmity between the Serpent and the seed of the Woman And this is the Mysterie of the Holy Tongue that the Serpent is sometimes called Saraph according to the name of an Angel who is also called Saraph And now thou knowest that the Serpent is Satan and the evil Figment and the Angel of Death And Rabbi Judah in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Many Interpreters say that the Evil Figment hath all its force from the Old Serpent or Satan To the same purpose the Author of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Caphtor Vapaerach The Devil and the Serpent are called by one name And many other Testimonies of the like importance might be collected out of them We have also asurer word for our own satisfaction in the Application of this place unto Satan in the Divine Writings of the New Testament as 2 Cor. 11.3 2 Tim. 2.14 Rom. 5.11 12 13 15. Heb. 2.14 15. 1 John 3.8 Revel 12.9 and Chap. 20. v. 2 3. but we forbear to press them on the Jews Besides it is most evident from the thing it self For 1. Who can be so sottish as to imagine that this great Alteration which ensued on the works of God that which caused him to pronounce them accursed and to inflict so sore a Punishment on Adam and all his Posterity should arise from the Actings of a Brute Creature Where is the glory of this dispensation How can we attribute it unto the Wisdom and Greatness of God What is there in it suitable unto his Righteousness and Holiness Whereas supposing this to be the work of him who was in himself the beginning of all Apostasie and who first brake the Law of his Creation all things answer the Excellency of the Divine Perfections Moreover is it imaginable that the nature of man then flourishing in the vigour of all its intellectual Abilities Reason Wisdom Knowledge in that Order and Rectitude of them which was his Grace should be surprized seduced and brought into subjection unto the Craft and Machinations of an inferiour Creature a Beast of the Field and that unto its own Ruine Temporal and Eternal The whole nature of the inferiour creatures James tells us is tamed by the nature of Man Chap. 3. v. 7. and that now in his lessened and depraved condition and shall we think that this Excellent Nature in the blossom of its strength and right unto Rule over all should be tamed corrupted subdued by the nature of a Beast or a Serpent And yet again whereas in the whole action of the Serpent there is an open design against the glory and honour of God with the welfare and happiness of mankind and that managed with Craft Subtilty and Forecast how can we imagine that such a contrivance should befall a brute Worm uncapable of Moral Evil and newly framed out of the dust by the power of its Creator Hitherto it had continued under the Law and Order of its Creation and shall we now think that suddenly on an instant it should engage thus desperately against God and man And further the actings of the Serpent were by Reason and with Speech And doth not a supposal that he was endowed with them plainly exempt him from that Order and kind of Creatures whereof he was and place him among the number of the intellectual and rationall parts of the Creation And is not this contrary to the Analogie of the Scripture and the open truth of the thing its self he being cursed among the Beasts of the Field To say as Aben Ezra seems to do that God gave him Reason
opposition to the Gospel and Doctrine thereof And unto these as was said such others shall be added as their Chiefest Masters do yet acknowledge directly to intend him § 3 The first of this sort that occurs is the First Promise before insisted on and vindicated Gen. 3.15 It the seed of the Woman shall bruise thy Head the Head of the Serpent Mention is made here expresly of the Messiah in the Targums of Jonathan and Hierusalem and this Promise applyed unto him after their manner The seed of the Woman shall bruise the head of the Serpent and they shall obtain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 healing or a Plaister for the Heel the hurt received by the Serpent in the dayes of Messiah the King so Jonathan and Targ. Hierusal useth words to the same Purpose Both of them expresly refer the Promise to the dayes of the Messiah that is to himself or the work that he was to do whence they insert his name into the Text. And this is perfectly destructive unto the present pretensions of the Jews The work here assigned unto him of recovering the Evil of sin and misery brought on the world through the Temptation of the Serpent is that wherewith they would have him to have nothing to do Besides his suffering is intimated in the foregoing Expression that the Serpent should bruise his heel which they much desire to free their Messiah from But that which principally lyes against them in this Testimony is that whereas they appropriate the Promise of the Messiah unto themselves and make the Doctrine concerning him to belong unto the Law of Moses whereof say some those that follow Maimonides it is one of the Fundamentals others as Josephus Albo that it is a branch of the Fundamentall concerning Rewards and Punishments it is here given out by the Testimony of their Targums unto the Pâ—â—terity of Adam indefinitely two thousand years before the Call and Separation of Abraham from whom they pretend to derive their Priviledge and much longer before the giving of their Law whereof they would have it to be a part which is diligently to be heeded against them § 4 Concerning the Promises made unto Abraham we have spoken before the next mention in the Targum of the Messiah is on Gen 35. v. 21. where occasion is taken to bring him into the Text. For unto those words and Israel journyed and spread his Tent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto or beyond the Tower of Edar Jonathan adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which is the place from whence the King Messiah shall be revealed in the end of the dayes And this Tradition is taken from Micah 4. v. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thou Tower of Edar or of the flock unto thee shall it come the first Dominion Now this Tower of Edar was a place in or near to Bethlehem as is manifest from the place in Genesis For whereas Jacob is said to stay at Ephrah that is Bethlehem where he set up a Pillar on the Grave of Rachel v. 19 20. upon his next removal he spread his Tent beyond the Tower of Edar which must therefore needs be a place near unto Bethlehem and the Prophet assigning the rise of the Kingdom of the Messiah unto that Place because he was to be born at Bethlehem the Paraphrast took occasion to make mention of him here where that place is first spoken of declaring their expectation of his being born there which accordingly was long before come to pass § 5 Gen 49. v. 1. And Jacob called unto his Sons and said Gather your selves together that I may tell you what shall befall you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the latter dayes or the last days or end of the Days Jonathan Paraphraseth on these words after that or although the Glory of the Divine Majesty was revealed unto him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the time that is the express time wherein the King Messias was to come was hid from him and therefore he said come and I will declare unto you what shall befall you in the End of the dayes This expression of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the End or last of the dayes is an usual Periphrasis of the dayes of the Messiah in the Old Testament To that purpose it is used Numb 24. v. 14. Deut. 4. v. 30. Isa. 2. v. 2. Hos. 3. v. 5. Micah 4.1 and our Apostle expresly refers unto it Heb. 1.1 Now whereas this Expression denotes no certain season of time but only indefinitely directs to the last dayes of the Posterity of Jacob continuing a distinct Church and people for those Ends for which they were originally separated from all others and this being the first place wherein it is used and which all the rest refer unto the Paraphrast here took occasion both to mention the Messiah of whose time of coming this was to be the constant description as also to intimate the Reason of the frequent use of this Expression which was because the precise time of his coming was hidden even from the best of the Prophets unto whom the Glory of the Divine Majesty was in other things revealed Besides the ensuing Predictions in the Chapter do sufficiently secure his application of the dayes mentioned unto the time of the Messiah Gen. 49. v. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 untill Shiloh come All the three Targums agree in § 6 the Application of these words unto the Messiah Onfelos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 untill Messiah comes Jonathan and Hierusalem use the same words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto the time wherein the King Messiah shall come An illustrious Prophesie this is concerning him the first that limits the time of his coming with an express circumstance and which must therefore afterwards be at large insisted on At present it may suffice to remark the suffrage of these Targums against the perversness of their later Masters who contend by all Artifices imaginable to pervert this Text unto other purposes who are therefore to be pressed with the Authority of the Targumists which with none of their cavilling exceptions they can evade The following words also v. 11 12. are applied by Jonathan unto the Messiah in the pursuit of the former Prediction and that not unfitly as hath been shewed by others already See Aynswâ—rth on the plâ—ce Exod. 12. v. 42. It is a night much to be observed Hierusal Targ. This is the fourth § 7 night it had mentioned three before when the End of this present world shall be accomplishâ—d to be dissâ—lved and the Cords of impiety shall be wasted and the Iron Yoke shall be broken that is the people of God shall be delivered whereunto is added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mâ—sâ—s shall come forth from the middâ—â—t of the Wilderness and the King Messiah from the middest of Rome That of the Messiah coming out of Rome is Talmudical depending on a Fable which we shall afterwards give an account of And we may here once for all observe that although
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with that clearness evidence and perspicuity as it is now by the Apostles and Preached unto all It is only then the degrees of the manifestation of this mysterie as to openness plainness and evidence that are asserted by the Apostle above all which of the same kind went before but the discovery of it absolutely is not denyed And thus much was necessary in our passage to secure our own interest in the mercy treated about § 33 We may now return a little again unto the Promise given unto Abraham In the pursuit hereof his Posterity was separated to be a peculiar people unto God Their Church-state the whole Constitution of their Worship their Temple and Sacrifices were all of them assigned and appointed unto to the confirmation of the Promise and to the explanation of the way whereby the blessed seed should be brought forth and the work that he should perform for the removal of sin and the Curse and the bringing in of everlasting Righteousness as shall elsewhere be manifested Moreover unto this Deliverer and Deliverance to be wrought by him with the nature of it and the means of its accomplishment by what he was to do and suffer do all the Prophets bear witness The full manifestation hereof seeing it requires an explication of the whole Doctrine of the Messiah concerning his Person Grace and Mediation his Offices Life Death and Intercession the Justification of sinners through his Blood and Sanctification by his Spirit with all other Articles of our Christian Faith all which are taught and revealed though obscurely in the Old Testament would take up an entire Volumn and be unsuitable unto our present design But three things in general the Prophets give Testimony unto him by First By preferring the promised relief and remedy above all the present Glory and Worship of the Church directing it to look above all its enjoyments unto that which in all things was to have the pre-eminence Se◠Isa. 2. v. 2. Chap. 4. v. 2 3 4 5. Chap. 7. v. 13 14 15. Chap. 9. v. 6 7. Chap. 11. v. 1 2 3 4 10 c. Chap. 32. v. 1 2 3 4. Chap. 35. v. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. Chap. 40. v. 1 2 3 4 5 9 10 11. Chap. 42. v. 1 2 3 4. Chap. 49. v. 18 19. Chap. 51. v. 4 5 6 7. Chap. 59.20 21. Chap. 60. Chap. 61. v. 1 2 3 c. Chap. 65. v. 17 18. Jeremiah 23. v. 5 6. Chap. 30. v. 9. Chap. 31. v. 31 32 33 34. Chap. 32. v. 40 41 42. Ezek. 40. c. Dan. 7.27 Chap. 9. v. 24. Chap. 12. v. 1 2. Hos. 3. v. 5. Joel 3. v. 18. Amos 9. v. 11 12 13 14 15. Obad. v. 21. Micah 4. v. 1 2 3 4. Chap. 5. v. 1 2 3 4. Habbuk 2. v. 14. Hagg. 2. v. 6 7 8 9. Zechar. 2. v. 8 9 10 11 12. Chap. 3. v. 8 9 10. Chap. 6. v. 1◠13. Chap. 9. v. 9 10 11. Chap. 14. v. 3 4 20. Malach. 1. v. 11. Chap. 3.1 2 3. Chap. 4. v. 2. Which places although but a few of those that occur in the Prophets are yet too many to be particularly insisted on But this they all teach with one consent that there was in the Promise which they assert and confirm an Excellency of Blessings far exceeding in Glory and Worth and in advantage unto Believers all that which they outwardly enjoyed in their Peace Prosperity Kingdom and Temple-Worship Now this can be nothing but the Spiritual and Eternal Deliverance of their Persons from sin Curse and Misery with the enjoyment of the Favour of God in this Life and Blessedness hereafter in his Presence for evermore And this in particular is expressed and declared in many of the Promises directed unto especially those which concern the making and establishing of the New Covenant which is that we are in the demonstration of Secondly They do the same in the Description they give of the Person that was to be this Remedy or Relief and of the work that he had to accomplish for that End and Purpose For the former they declare that he was to be the Son of God God and Man in one Person Psalm 2. v. 7. Psalm 110. v. 1. Isa. 9. v. 6 7. Jer. 23. v. 5 6. Zech. 2.8 9 10. and in sundry other places is the same mysterie intimated whereby the Church was farther instructed how God would joyn with the nature of man in the seed of the Woman for the Conquest of the Old Serpent and the destruction of his works And for the latter as they declare his sufferings in an especial manner even what and how he was to suffer in the bruising of his heel or bearing the effect of and Punishment due to sin Psalm 22. Isaiah 53. Dan. 9. v. 24 25. so his teaching ruling and governing of his people in their Obedience unto God by him untill they are saved unto the uttermost as the great Prophet and King of his Church is by them fully manifested Psalm 2. Psalm 22. v. 25. Psalm 45. v. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17. Psalm 68. v. 17 18. Psalm 72. Psalm 89. v. 9 10 11 12 13. Psalm 96. Psalm 97. Psalm 98. Psalm 99. Psalm 110. Isaiah 11. v. 1 2 3 4 5. Chap. 9.6 7. Chap. 32. v. 1 2. Chap. 35. Chap. 40.11 12. Chap. 42. v. 1 2 3 4. Chap. 45. v. 22 23 24 25. Chap. 49. v. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. Chap. 50. v. 4. Chap. 59. v. 16 17. Chap. 61. v. 1 2 3. Chap. 63. v. 1 2 3 4 5 6. Jerem. 23. v. 5 6. Micah 4. v. 2 3. Chap. 5. v. 1 2 3 4. Zechary Chap. 2. v. 8. Mal. 3.1 2 3 4. as in sundry other places Yea herein all the Prophets greatly abound it being the principal work that God raised them up for and inspired them by his Holy Spirit in their severall Generations as Peter declared 1 Epist. 1. v. 10 11 12. Thirdly They did also by taking off the Expectations of men from looking after relief and deliverance by any other way or means whatsoever Psalm 40. v. 8 9. Add hereunto that the whole Fabrick of the Tabernacle and Temple-Worship was contrived appointed and designed in Infinite Wisdom unto no other End but to instruct and direct the Church unto this Promised Deliverer and the Salvation to be wrought by him as shall God assisting abundantly be manifested in our Exposition of the Epistle unto the Hebrews Thus do both the Law and Prophets bear witness unto this Promised Deliverer and § 34 the Deliverance to be wrought by him And this is He whom the Jews and Christians call the Messiah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to annoint with oyle Those who were peculiarly of old consecrated unto God in the great Offices of Kings Priests and Prophets were by his Appointment so to be annointed at least some
and Speech for that occasion is blasphemously to make God the sole-Author of that Temptation which he so much abhorred Lastly Considering the Punishment denounced against mankind of Death Temporall and Eternall that which is threatned unto the Serpent bears no proportion unto it if it concern only the Serpent its self And what Rule of Justice will admit that the Accessory should be punished with greater Sufferings than the Principal Neither doth this Punishment as to the Principal part of it the bruising of the Head befall all Serpents yea but few of them in comparison doubtless not one of a Million whereas all mankind none excepted were liable unto the Penalty denounced against them Were no more men intended herein than are bitten on the heel by Serpents the matter were otherwise but death is passed upon all in as much as all have sinned Satan then it was who was the Principal in this Seduction the Author of all Apostasie from God who using the Serpent its instrument involved that also so far in the Curse as to render it of all Creatures the most abhorred of mankind § 27 Against this Seducer it is denounced that his Head should be bruised The Head of Satan is his Craft and Power From these issued all that Evil whereinto mankind was fallen In the bruising therefore of his Head the defeat of his Counsel the destruction of his Work and the Deliverance of Mankind is contained as our Apostle most excellently declares Heb. 2. Death must be removed and Righteousness brought in and acceptance with God procured or the Head of Satan is not bruised This therefore is openly and plainly a promise of the Deliverance enquired after Moreover There is a Declaration made how this Victory shall be obtained and this Deliverance wrought and that is by the Seed of the Woman This seed is twice repeated in the words once expresly and her seed and Secondly it is included in the Pronoun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it And as by seed in the first place the Posterity of the Woman some to be born of her race partakers of humane nature may be intended as the subjects of the Enmity mentioned so in the latter some single person some one of her Posterity or seed that should obtain the Victory is expresly denoted For as all her seed in common do never go about this work the greatest part of them continuing in a willing Subjection unto Satan so if all of them should combine to attempt it they would never be able to accomplish it as we have before proved at large Some one therefore to come of Her with whom God would be present in an especiall and extraordinary manner is here expresly promised And this is the Messiah God having in infinite Wisdom and Grace provided this way of Relief and given § 28 this intimation of it That Revelation became the Foundation and Center of all the Religion that ensued in the world For as those who received it by Faith and adhered unto it continued in the Worship of the true God expressing their Faith in the Sacrifices that he had appointed typically to represent and exemplifie before their eyes the work its self which by the promised seed was to be accomplished so also all that false Worship which the generality of mankind apostatized into was laid in a general perswasion that there was a way for the Recovery of the favour of God but what that was they knew not and therefore wandered in wofull uncertainties Some suppose that our great Mother Eve in those words Genes 4. ver 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expressed an Apprehension that she had bore him who was Man-God the Man the Lord the Promised Seed And they do not only contend for this meaning of the words but also reproach them who are otherwise minded as may be seen in the Writings of Hunnius and Helvicus against Calvin Junius Paraeus and Piscator That she together with Adam believed the Promise had the consolation and served God in the Faith of it I no way doubt But that she had an Apprehension that the Promised Seed should be so soon exhibited and knew that he should be the Lord or Jehovah and yet knew not that he was to be born of a Virgin and not after the ordinary way of mankind I see no cogent Reason to evince Nor do the words mentioned necessarily prove any such apprehension in her The whole weight of that supposition lyes on the Construction of the words from the interposition of the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—enoting as they say after Verbs active alwayes an Accusative Case But instances may be given to the contrary whence our Translation reads the words I have gotten a man from the Lord without the least intimation of any other sense in the Original And Drusius is bold to affirm that it is want of solid skill in the Sacred Tongue that was the cause of that conception Besides if she had such thoughts she was manifoldly mistaken and to what end that mistake of hers should be here expressed I know not And yet notwithstanding all this I will not deny but that the expression is unusuall and extraordinary if the sense of our Translation be intended and not that by some contended for I have gotten or obtained the Man the Lord. And this it is possible caused Jonathan Ben Vzziel to give us that gloss on the words in his Targum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Adam knew his Wife Eve who desired the Angel and she conceived and bare Cain and said I have obtained the man or a man the Angel of the Lord. That is him who was promised afterwards under the name of the Angel of the Lord or the Angel of the Covenant which the Jews may do well to consider But we have farther Expositions of this first Promise and farther Confirmations of § 29 this Grace in the Scripture its self For in Process of time it was renewed unto Abraham and the Accomplishment of it confined unto his Family For his gratuitous Call from Superstition and Idolatry with the Separation of him and his Posterity from all the Families of the Earth was subservient only unto the fulfilling of the Promise before treated of The first mention of it we have Gen. 12. v. 1 2 3. Now the Lord had said unto Abraham Get thee out of thy Countrey and from thy Kindred and from thy Fathers House unto a Land that I will shew thee And I will make of thee a great Nation and I will bless thee and make thy Name great and thou shalt be a blessing And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all the Families of the Earth be blessed And this is again expressed Chap. 18. v. 18. All the Nations of the Earth shall be blessed in him And Chap. 22.18 And in thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed And when he doubted of the accomplishment of this
Relation unto God in and through him they received by his means God gathering up all things to a consistency and permanency in him Ephes. 1.10 And hence also it became equal that the Rule and power over them should be committed unto him by whom although they were not like us recovered from ruine yet they were preserved from all danger of it So that in their subjection unto him consists their principal Honour and all their safety And as this act of God in appointing Christ Lord of Angels hath these equitable foundations so it hath also sundry glorious Ends. 1. It was as an addition unto that Glory that was set before him in his undertaking to redeem sinners A Kingdom was of old promised unto him and to render it exceedingly glorious the Rule and Scepter of it is extended not only to his Redeemed ones but to the holy Angels also and the sovereignty over them is granted him as a part of his Reward Phil. 2.8 9 10 11. Ephes. 1.20 21. 2. God hereby gathers up his whole family at first distinguished by the Law of their Creation into two especial kinds and then differenced and set at variance by Sin into one Body under one Head reducing them that originally were twain into one entire family Ephes. 1.10 In the fulness of time he gathered together in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are in earth in him as was before declared Before this the Angels had no immediate created Head for themselves are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gods Psal. 97.7 1 Cor. 8.5 Who ever is the Head must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the God of Gods or Lord of Lords which Christ alone is and in him or under him as One Head is the whole Family of God united 3. The Church of Mankind militant on the earth whose conduct unto Eternal Glory is committed unto Christ stands in need of the ministery of Angels And therefore hath God granted Rule and Power over them unto him that nothing might be wanting to enable him to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him So God hath given him to be head over all things to the Church Ephes. 1.22 that he should with an absolute sovereignty use and dispose of all things to the benefit and advantage of the Church This is the first branch of the Lordship and Dominion of Christ according to the distribution of the severals of it before laid down He is Lord of Angels and they are all of them his servants the fellow-servants of them that have the testimony of Jesus And as some men do wilfully cast themselves by their Religious adoration of Angels under the curse of Canaan to be servants unto servants Gen. 8.25 so it is the great honour and priviledge of true believers that in their worship of Christ they are admitted into the society of an innumerable company of Angels Heb. 12.22 Rev. 15.11 13. for they are not ashamed to esteem them their fellow-servants whom their Lord and King is not ashamed to call his Brethren And herein consists our communion with them that we have one common Head and Lord and any intercourse with them but only on this account or any worship performed towards them breaks the bond of that communion and causeth us not to hold the Head Col. 2.19 The priviledge the safety and advantage of the Church from this subjection of Angels to its Head and Saviour are by many spoken unto II. There is another sort of Angels who by sin left their primitive station and fell off from God of whom their Sin Fall Malice Wrath Business Craft in evil and Final judgment the Scripture treateth at large These belong not indeed to the possession of Christ as he is the Heir but they belong unto his Dominion as he is a Lord. Though he be not a King and Head unto them yet he is a Judge and Ruler over them All things being given into his hand they also are subjected unto his power Now as under the former head I shall consider 1. The Right or Equity and 2. The End of this Authority of Christ over this second sort of the first Race of Intellectual Creatures the Angels that have sinned 1. As before this Right is founded in his Divine Nature by vertue whereof he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fit for this Dominion He made these Angels also and therefore as God hath an absolute Dominion over them The Creatures cannot cast off the Dominion of the Creator by rebellion though they may lose their moral Relation unto God as obedient creatures yet their natural as creatures cannot be dissolved God will be God still be his creatures never so wicked and if they obey not his Will they shall bear his Justice And this Dominion of Christ over faln Angels as God makes the grant of Rule over them to him as Mediator just and equal 2. The immediate and peculiar Foundation of his Right unto Rule over faln Angels rendring the special grant of it equal and righteous is Lawful Conquest This gives a special Right Gen. 48.22 Now that Christ should conquer faln Angels was promised from the foundation of the world Gen. 3.15 The seed of the woman the Messias was to break the Serpents head despoil him of his power and bring him into subjection which he performed accordingly Col. 2.15 He spoiled principalities and powers divested faln Angels of all that Title they had got to the world by the sin of man triumphing over them as Captives to be disposed of at his pleasure He stilled or made to cease as to his power this Enemy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and self-avenger Psal. 8.2 leading captivity captive Psal. 6.18 breaking in pieces the Head over the large earth Psal. 110.6 binding the strong man armed and spoiling his goods And the Scripture of the New Testament is full of instances as to his executing his Power and Authority over Evil Angels They take up a good part of the Historical Books of it Man having sinned by the instigation of Satan he was by the just Judgement of God delivered up unto his power Heb. 2.14 The Lord Christ undertaking to recover lost man from under his power by destroying his works 1 Joh. 3.8 and to bring them again into favour with God Satan with all his might sets himself to oppose him in his Work and failing in his enterprise being utterly conquered he became absolutely subjected unto him trodden under his feet and the prey he had taken delivered from him This is the next Foundation of the Authority of Christ over the Evil Angels He had a great Contest and War with them and that about the Glory of God his own Kingdom and the Eternal Salvation of the Elect prevailing absolutely against them he made a Conquest over them and they are put in subjection unto him for ever They are subjected unto him as to their present actings and future condition He now rules them and will
ready to yield obedience unto God in this great work which could not be accomplished by Sacrifices and Burnt-offerings And this readiness and willingness of Christ unto this work is set out under three heads in the ensuing words 1. His Tender of himself unto this work then said he Lo I come in the volume of thy book it is written of me This thou hast promised this is recorded in the head beginning of thy book namely in that great Promise Gen. 3.15 That the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent and now thou hast given me and prepared me in the fulness of time a Body for that purpose Lo I come willing and ready to undertake it 2. In the frame of his mind in this engagement he entred into it with great delight I delight to do thy will O my God he did not delight in the thoughts of it only of old as before and then grew heavy and sorrowful when it was to be undertaken but he went unto it with cheaâ—fulness and delight although he knew what sorrow and grief it would cost him before it was brought unto perfection 3. From the Principle whence this Obedience and delight did spring which was an universal conformity of his Soul Mind and Will unto the Law Will and Mind of God thy Law is in my heart in the midst of my bowels every thing in me is compliant with thy Will and Law There is in me an universal conformity thereunto Being thus prepared thus principled he considered the Glory that was set before him the glory that would redound unto God by his becoming a Captain of salvation and that would ensue unto himself He endured the Cross and despised the shame He. 12.2 He armed himself with those considerations against the hardships and sufferings that he was to meet withall as the Apostle adviseth us with the like mind when we are to suffer 1 Pet. 4.1 By all which it appears that the Good will and Love of Jesus Christ was in this matter of being humbled and made less than Angels as the Apostle sayes expresly that he humbled himself and made himself of no reputation Phil. 2.7 8. as well as it is here said that God humbled him or made him less than Angels Secondly The Scripture peculiarly assigns this work unto the Love and Condescension of Christ himself For although it abounds in sitting forth the Love of the Father in the designing and contriving this work and sending his Son into the world yet it directs us unto the Lord Christ himself as the next immediate cause of his engaging into it and performance of it So saith the Apostle Gal. 2.20 I live by the faith of the Son of God that is by faith in him who loved me and gave himself for me It was the Love of Christ that moved him to give himself for us which is excellently expressed in that doxology Rev. 1.5 6. To him that loved us and washed us in his own blood from our sins and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father unto him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen All this was the fruit of his Love and therefore unto him is all Praise and Honour to be given and ascribed And so great was this Love of Christ that he declined nothing that was proposed unto him This the Apostle calls his Grace 2 Cor. 8 9. Ye know the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich He condescended unto a poor and low condition and to suffer therein for our good that we might be made partakers of the Riches of the Grace of God And this was the love of the Person of Christ because it was in and wrought equally in him both before and after his Assumption of our nature Now the Holy Ghost makes an especial Application of this truth unto us as unto one part of our Obedience Phil. 2.5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus and what that mind was he declares in the ensuing Verses laying out his infinite condescension in taking our nature upon him and submitting to all misery reproach and death it self for our sakes If this mind were in Christ should not we endeavour after a Readiness and Willingness to submit our selves unto any condition for his glory Forasmuch saith Peter as Christ hath suffered for us in the flâ—sh arm your selves likewise with the same mind 1 Pet. 4.1 Many difficulties will lye in our way many Reasonings will rise up against it if we consult with flesh and blood but saith he arm your selves with the same mind that was in Christ get your souls strengthened and fenced by Grace against all Oppositions that you may follow him and imitate him Some that profess his name will suffer nothing for him if they may enjoy him or his wayes in peace and quietness well and good but if Persecution arise for the Gospel immediately they fall away These have neither lot nor portion in this matter Others the most the best have a secret lothness and unwillingness to condescend unto a condition of trouble and distress for the Gospel Well if we are unwilling hereunto What doth the Lord Christ lose by it Will it be any real Abatement of his honour or glory Will he lose his Crown or Kingdom thereby So far as suffering in this world is needful for any of his blessed Ends and Purposes he will not want them who shall be ready even to dye for his name sake But what if he had been unwilling to be humbled and to suffer for us If the same mind had been in Christ as was in us what had been our state and condition unto eternity In this Grace Love and Willingness of Christ lyes the foundation of all our Happiness of all our Deliverance from misery and ruine and shall we reckon our selves to have an interest therein and yet find our selves altogether unready to a conformity unto him Besides the Lord Christ was really rich when he made himself poor for our sakes he was in the form of God when he took upon him the form of a servant and became for us of no reputation nothing of this was due to him or belonged unto him but meerly on our account But we are in our selves really poor and obnoxious unto infinitely more miseries for our own sins than what he calls us unto for his name Are we unwilling to suffer a little light transitory trouble in this world for him without whose sufferings for us we must have suffered misery and that Eternal whether we would or no And I speak not so much about suffering it self as about the mind and frame of Spirit wherewith we undergo it Some will suffer when they cannot avoid it but so unwillingly so unchearfully as makes it evident that they aim at nothing nor act from no Principle but meerly that they dare not
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 17. every way like Here it is restrained by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same that is flesh and blood Humane Nature as to the Humane Nature he was every way as the children 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Partem habuit particeps erat he took part And in the use of this Word the Dative Case of the Person is still understood and sometimes expressed So Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he might share or partake in the same acts with them And it is here also understood That he might partake with them of flesh and blood And the Apostle purposely changeth the word from that which he had before used concerning the children 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they had Humane Nature in common they were men and that was all having no Existence but in and by that nature Concerning him he had before proved that he had a Divine Nature on the account whereof he was more excellent than the Angels And here he sayes of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Existing in his Divine Nature he moreover took part of that nature with them which makes a difference between their Persons though as to Humane Nature they were every way alike and this removes the exception of Schlictingius or Crellius that he is no more said to be incarnate than the children That by death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This word is peculiar to Paul He useth it almost in all his Epistles and that frequently Elsewhere it occurs but once in the New Testament Luke 13.17 and that in a sense whereunto by him it is not applyed That which he usually intends in this word is to make a thing or person to cease as to its present condition and not to be what it was So Rom. 3.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall their unbelief make the faith of God of none effect cause it to cease render the promise useless And v. 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do we make the Law void by faith take away its use and End Chap. 4.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the promise is made ineffectual Chap. 7.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If her husband is dead she is freed from the Law The Law of the Husband hath no more power over her So v. 6. 1 Cor. 13.8 10 11. Chap. 15.24 26. 2 Cor. 3.10 13. Gal. 3.17 Chap. 5.4 11. Ephes. 2.15 The Intention of the Apostle in this word is the making of any thing to cease or to be void as to its former Power and Efficacy not to remove annihilate or destroy the Essence or Being of it And the Expression here used is to the same purpose with that in Psalm 8.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to quiet or make to cease the enemy and self-avenger 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is properly vis robur potentia Force Strength Power like that of Arms or Armies in battle And sometimes it is used for Rule Empire and Authority 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be in Place of Power and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be able to dispose of what it relates unto And in both senses we shall see that the Devil is said to have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the power of death Now there is not any notion under which the Devil is more known unto or spoken of among the Jews than this of his having the power of death his common appellation among them is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Angel of death And they call him Samael also So the Targum of Jonathan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 3.6 And the woman saw Samael the Angel of death And Maimon More Nebu. lib. 2. cap. 30. tells us from the Midrash that Samael rode upon the Serpent when he deceived Eve that is used him as his instrument in that work And most of them acknowledge Sathan to be principally intended in the temptation of Eve though Aben Ezra deny it in his Comment on the words and dispute against it And he addes that by Samael the Angel of death they understand Sathan which he proves from the words of their wise men who say in some places that Sathan would have hindred Abraham from sacrificing of Isaac and in others that Samael would have done it which proves that it is one and the same who by both names is intended And hence they usually call him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the wicked Samael the Prince of all the devils and say of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Samael brought death upon all the world So that by this Samael or Angel of death it is evident that they intend him who is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Prince and Ruler of the rest So also they speak expresly in Baba Bathra distinc Hashatephir 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rabbi Simeon said the same is Sathan and the Angel of death and the evil figment that is the cause and author of it And they call him the Angel of death on many accounts the consideration whereof may give us some light into the reason of the Expression here used by the Apostle The first is that before mentioned namely that by his means death entred and came upon all the world His temptation was the first occasion of death and for that reason is he termed by our Saviour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Joh. 8.44 a murtherer from the beginning And herein he had the power of death prevailing to render all mankind obnoxious to the sentence and stroke of it Secondly Because he is employed in great and signal Judgments to inflict death on men He is the head of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 evil Angels who slew the Aegyptians Psal. 78 49. So in Psal. 91.5 those words Thou shalt not fear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the arrow that flieth by day are rendred by the Targum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the arrow of the Angel of death which he shooteth by day And in the next verse those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the destruction that wasteth at noon day they render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the troop of devils that walk at noon-day the Psalmist treating of great and sudden destructions which they affirm to be all wrought by Sathan and thence the Hellenists also render the latter place by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the devil at noon-day wherein they are followed by the Vulgar Latine Arabick and Aethiopick Translations And this the Apostle seems to allude unto 1 Cor. 10.10 where he says that those who murmured in the wilderness were destroyed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the destroyer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the destroying Angel or the Angel of death as in this Epistle he terms him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chap. 11.28 And it may be this is he who is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Job 18.13 the first-born of death or he that hath right unto the administration of it They term him also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉