we read in the eighth Chapter of Genesis about the Deluge doth refer to this custom where we find Noah sending forth the Dove and the Raven on the seventh day which plainly hints to us his observing of that day for it seems that Noah having in an especial manner on that solemn day implored the assistance of God in the Assembly of his Family he expected a particular Blessing from it And we cannot but make some Reflexion on that which we read in the XXIX of Genesis concerning the term of a Week set apart to the Nuptials of Leah Gen. XXIX 27. where at the twenty seventh Verse Laban thus expresses himself Fulfil her Week and we will give thee this also for the Service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other Years This Week here doth so plainly signifie a Week of days that it cannot be more naturally express'd and indeed all generally understand by this Week of the Marriage Feast of Leah that term of time which in succeeding Ages hath been customary to allot to Nuptial Festivals as appears from the Book of Esther where the Wedding Feast of Vasthi lasted seven days this term of seven days having so long since been Consecrated to Nuptial Rejoycings The same we may also gather from the time which was ordinarily allotted to mourning for the Dead to which we find the Patriarchs allotted a term proportion'd to that of their rejoicing For as we see that the Egyptians mourned ten Weeks for Jacob because of his Quality as being the Father of Joseph so we find that Joseph and those that accompanied him mourned seven days at his Enterment in the Land of Canaan And as we find that this Custom was perpetually afterwards observ'd by the Jews as appears from Ecclesiasticus XXII 12. so likewise we find the same observed by the Asiaticks as may be seen in the History of Ammianus Marcellinus at the beginning of his nineteenth Book De fide Resur in obitu Sat. p. 321. Seven days were fulfilled after that the Lord had smote the River Jalkut in h. l. and from them it passed to the Christians as we find in St. Ambrose Thirdly It appears from Exod. VII 25. that God observed seven days after he had smote the River to change the Waters thereof into Blood from whence the Jews conclude that the three Plagues Viz. that of Blood of Frogs and of Lice abode on the Land of Egypt six days and were withdrawn on the seventh which is the Sabbath We may also gather if we calculate the time exactly that the Jews in Egypt observed the Sabbath We find from the History of their departure out of Egypt that the same happened on a Thursday being the fifteenth of the Month Nisan and the day in which they sung those Hymns of Deliverance was the Sabbath which God had particularly set apart for this Week It is also evident from Exod. XVI that the keeping of the Sabbath was observ'd by the Israelites before the Law was given on Mount Sinai For we find God speaking there concerning the Sabbath not as of a thing newly instituted but as of an antient Law which they wer e not to transgress by gathering the Manna on that day for he orders them to gather a double portion the sixth day and not to gather any on the seventh We see that the Israelites resting on the seventh day is here supposed a known and customary thing prescribed to them by a Law of old They who went forth to gather Manna on the seventh day are represented as Transgressors of a known Law as appears from the words of the Lord to Moses How long refuse ye to keep my Commandments and my Laws Moses also speaks of the Sabbath which was to be the next day as of a thing customary and received amongst them To morrow saith he at v. 23. is the rest of the Sabbath of holiness unto the Lord words which would have been unintelligible to the Israelites and express'd a Law altogether impracticable in case they had been destitute of any further knowledge concerning it and had not been acquainted that it was the very day in which the great work of Creation had been finished My fourth Observation I take from the very words of the Decalogue where first of all we find God speaking in this manner Remember the Sabbath day which words clearly import Exod. XX. 8. that the Law he gave was not a new Law but indeed as old as the World and which had been observed by their Forefathers It seems probable also that God expresses himself in these terms because the Tyranny of Pharaoh had forc'd them to break this Law by obliging them to deliver their Tale of Bricks every day without excepting the Sabbath which before he had allowed them to keep This is explained very distinctly in the fifth of Exodus and seems to have been the occasion of Moses's demanding Straw of Pharaoh for the Israelites to go and Sacrifice in answer to which demand Exod. V. 5. Pharaoh expresses himself in terms which shew that formerly they had observed a rest on that day However it be yet thus much is apparent that God commands them to make their Bond Servants to observe the Sabbath because the Egyptians by their example inclin'd them not to be very careful in exempting them from all labour on that day Moreover in the second place we are to take notice that in the last words of the fourth Commandment God speaks of it as of a thing formerly appointed and determin'd by him saying For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it which words have a manifest and undeniable reference to that which happen'd the seventh day after the Creation and to the Law then given to Man concerning it We may gather from the fourth Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews that the sense which we have put upon the third Verse of the second of Genesis is the same which the Jews have always had of it The Apostle discoursing from those words of David Psal XCV To whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest doth suppose a threefold rest the first of which is the rest of the Sabbath of which mention is made in the second of Genesis where we have the first institution of it the second was the rest in the Land of Canaan promised to the Jews upon their enduring all those Tryals in the Wilderness the third the rest in Heaven of which the two foregoing were but the Figures He argues therefore that these words of David could not be understood concerning the Sabbath day forasmuch as from the beginning of the World Men entred into that rest of the Sabbath and he proves this by that passage in Genesis of which he only cites the first words viz. That God rested the seventh day from all his works as supposing that the Jews
to whom he wrote had no need of having the following words quoted to them which tell us that God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it that is he Consecrated the same to his worship and service forasmuch as nothing was more publickly and universally known amongst them the Observation of the Sabbath being a thing generally received even before the giving of the Law. And indeed the Philo the Jew be of opinion that the practice of Solemnizing that day had suffer'd some interruption and that for this reason the Law of the Sabbath was given to Moses yet it is well known first of all Euseb praep Evang. l. 13. c. 12. that Aristobulus the Peripatetick in a Treatise dedicated by him to Ptolemy surnamed Philadelphus cites several Passages of Homer Hesiod and Linus Heathen Poets which mention the seventh day as a Festival and Solemn day because all things were finished in the same In the next place it is notorious that if some of the Fathers as Justin Martyr and Tertullian writing against the Jews have deny'd that the Patriarchs observed the seventh day they did so rather with regard to the rigor of that Law which forbad all manner of work on that day upon pain of Death which was superadded by God to the first Law of the Sabbath than to the Observation of the Sabbath as it was a day appointed to make a Solemn Commemoration of the Creation of the World. In a word we are to take notice that the difference which God makes between the Sabbath observ'd by the Patriarchs and that which he appointed to the Jews did consist in two things First in that God did impose an absolute necessity upon the Jews to abstain from all manner of work even to the very dressing of Meat necessary for the support of Life We find this distinction clearly express'd in the Law which God gave concerning the first and seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread for he absolutely forbids all manner of work on these two days as much as on the Sabbath even the preparing of necessary food which he permits the five other days forbidding only Servil Laborious Works Secondly In that the working on that day by the Law is made punishable with death which was not so before which Innovation and new rigour of the Law established by God was authorized by the punishing of him who had gathered Sticks on the Sabbath day whereas we find that before the Law was given upon Mount Sinai God did not command those Jews to be punished with death who went forth the seventh day to gather Manna according to their ancient Custom of dressing their Meat on that day Let me add this further that tho the Apostles had abolished the rigour of the Law concerning the Sabbath introduced by Moses yet they themselves observed it which practise of theirs in all probability gave occasion to the Christians for almost four Centuries to keep the Sabbath as well as the first day of the Week Solemnizing both those days the one as a Commemoration of the Creation of the World and the other of the Resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ But what ever Judgment may be past on this last Remark it is very evident from Genesis and Exodus First that the Law of the Sabbath was observed before Moses Secondly that this Observation was by the first Patriarchs propagated among the Heathens also as well as the Idea of the Creation or as the practice of Sacrificing with the other parts of Religious Worship the Original whereof may be seen in the Book of Genesis as we shall make appear in our following Discourse After all this we must conclude against the Atheist that either Moses must imprudently have laid a Snare for himself in forging a matter of fact of which not only the Jews but all the World were able to convince him since there were none amongst them but must needs be Conscious whether they had observed the Sabbath in Commemoration of the Creation as he relates it or no or else that the Creation of the World being a matter of fact so generally known and the Memorial of it Solemnized every seventh day by all those who preceded him must needs be an uncontested and immoveable truth which I shall farther evince by those Observations which I shall raise from the dependance and connexion which the Matters related by Moses in Genesis have with the Creation and the Promise of the Messiah This is my business at present in performing of which I shall make it appear that nothing can be imagin'd more rational and coherent than the Relations of Moses in which the Atheists imagine that they discover so great Absurdities CHAP. VIII That Adam was convinced of his Creation by Reason and Authority THo' it might be thought more natural in these our Disquisitions about the History of Genesis to begin with those matters which happened near the time of Moses and from them to pass to those at a greater distance yet I have chosen rather to follow the Thread of Moses his Discourse hoping that this Method will afford more light to these our Reflexions At least it will spare me the trouble of frequent Repetitions which in the other way I should be necessarily oblig'd to I begin then with this That Adam was convinced of his Creation both by Reason and Authority The Creation of Adam being a thing of that nature that he must first be convinced of it himself before he could perswade his Posterity to entertain the belief of it it is worth our enquiry to know what ways he had to assure himself that he was indeed Created in that manner as Moses relates And forasmuch as the certainty of this Tradition depends upon the Authority of Adam whom Moses supposes to have been the first Deliverer of it It is plain that we must be assured that Adam could not deceive himself in this matter as it is evident enough that he would not deceive his Children when he took care to instruct them concerning it As to his own Existence he could not but be as strongly perswaded of it as we are of ours all the difficulty lying in the manner how he came to exist Now there were two ways by which Adam might inform himself of this viz. by Reason and the Testimony of Authority He could easily find out this Secret by a rational Reflexion Or he might also be perswaded of it by God himself who had Created him not to mention now any information which he might have from the Angels who were Witnesses of his Creation It appears that Adam whose Tradition Moses has recorded supposes that he had learnt of God himself the manner of his own Formation God speaks to Adam and Sanctifies the seventh day that is obliges Adam to keep the Memorial of his Creation he ties him by a Law to Commemorate his Creation fifty two times a Year and to render him continual thanks for the Being he had received But forasmuch as
Countrey his People and the Temple in the manner which is recorded in the Book of Kings How could a sufficient number of Copies of it be dispersed over all his Kingdom in an instant to inform the People about the Ceremonials of the Passover which soon after was so Solemnly celebrated by them Or how is it possible that the Levites the Priests and People could have been all of the suddain instructed in all the points to be observed in the performing of that Holy Solemnity It is apparent that the Sacred Historian did for no other reason take notice of this Circumstance that the Book found was of Moses own hand Writing but to make it appear that their devout respect for this Book was not wholly stifled as having been by them carefully hid from the fury of their Idolatrous Kings and laid up in some secret place of the Temple where now they had so happily found it again Over and above what hath been said already we are to observe that how great soever the wickedness of the Kings of Juda and Israel was as well as that of their Subjects yet the same generally consisted in nothing else but the imitation of the Worship of their Neighbour Natitions as to some particulars which tho they were forbid by the Law yet they left the far greater part of their Religion in full force This we have an instance of in the time of Ahab where we find Elijah reproaching the Israelites with the Monstrous Alliance they had made betwixt the Worship of God and that of Baal which Queen Jesabel had introduc'd All this clearly proves that the Book of Genesis which is the first of the Books of Moses was never forged under his Name since it was always owned as the Writing of that Famous Author and is still so acknowledged by the Jews at this day CHAP. VII That it appears from Genesis that the Sabbath was constantly observed from the beginning of the World until Moses THe other Objection of the Atheists supposing that Moses was the Author of Genesis as we have now proved is this that it seems absurd to give credit to the Relations of a Person who lived so many Ages distant from the things he recites To answer this Objection we must first of all declare to them by what means the Memory of the Fact which Moses relates was preserv'd so lively and entire as to give Moses so distinct a knowledge of them and that it was not in his power to forge or add any thing of his own it being a thing known to the whole World as well as himself There is no way whereby we can more solidly evince that it is impossible the Creation of the World should be forged by Moses than by making it appear that the Law of the Sabbath hath a natural Relation to the Creation of the World and that it hath been always constantly observed from that time until Moses The same also will help us clearly to conceive after what manner the Memory of the Promise of the Messiah hath been preserv'd so distinct amongst those that lived since the Creation until Moses We are no sooner inform'd that the Sabbath is a solemn day ordain'd at first to celebrate and perpetuate the Memory of the Creation but we judge it impossible that so important an event commemorated every seventh day by vertue of a Divine Law should be an imposture But forasmuch as this impossibility is grounded on these two Propositions the one that God gave this Law of the Sabbath to the first Man the other that the same was observed by his Posterity ever since till the time of Moses and that God only renew'd it in the Law given from Mount Sinai these are the Truths I am now to clear and it is of more importance to be proved because tho the generality of Authors Ancient and Modern Jews as well as Christians are of this Opinion yet there are some of the Christian Fathers who seem to deny that the Sabbath was ever observ'd by the Patriarchs But it will be an easie matter to prove from Moses that the Antiquity of the Sabbath is such as I assert and at the same time to demonstrate the truth of the Creation as well as of the Promise of the Messiah which in a manner immediately follow'd it Moses in the second Chapter of Genesis Gen. II. 3. expresses himself thus And God blessed the seventh day and Sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work which he had Created Which words clearly evince a Solemn Consecration of the seventh day to God's Service by its being made a Commemoration of his finishing the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth But because it may be said that the intent of Moses in this place was only to set down the reason why God set apart this day of all others to his Service by the Law at Mount Sinai we are to take notice that this appointment was made for Man's sake already placed in the Garden of Eden This we may gather from the order Moses observes For he sets down first the Formation of Man on the sixth day and his being plac'd in Paradise which he gives a more particular account of in the second Chapter and after these he relates God's resting from his Works and the Consecration of the Sabbath with the reason of that Law which he impos'd on Man and then adds These are the Generations of the Heavens and of the Earth when they were Created in the day that the Lord God made the Heaven and the Earth All that precedes these words is only a Relation of what pass'd in the seven first days and that which Moses sets down concerning Gods blessing of the seventh day and his Consecrating it ought as well to be accounted a Law appointing the seventh day for his Service as those other Blessings given to the Creatures according to their kinds are acknowledged as inviolable Laws of God by virtue whereof they subsist and are perpetuated each according to their kind by the way of Generation In the second place it is very remarkable that the Patriarchs maintain'd a Publick Worship at least since the time of Seth which it was necessary should be determined to some certain day and since we find that even at this time they distinguish'd between Beasts clean and unclean with respect to their Sacrifices which they could not do but from Revelation we have much more reason to conclude that God had set apart a time for own Worship and Service And indeed there are many evident signs that even then the 7 day was observed Kimchi Praefat in Psalmos I will not here peremptorily assert that antient Tradition of the Jews which tells us that the ninety second Psalm whose Title is a Psalm for the Sabbath was made by Adam himself who was made on the Evening of the Sabbath But this I dare assert that it is apparent Gen. VIII 10.12 that what
Oracle as we understand it hath been entertain'd amongst the Heathens who built their Fable of Perseus upon it whom they pretend to have been born of a Virgin. 3. It appears that all those Laws which I mentioned in my Reflexions upon Exodus and the following Books Chap. XX. and which have Relation to the distinct knowledge of the state of Virginity receive much light from this Notion and are without it altogether useless 4. 'T is evident that the Jews did not dispute this Character till after they saw that the Christians apply'd it to Jesus Christ and thereupon have fallen upon such childish Fancies as may justly cover them with Confusion But we shall be yet further satisfied hereof if we add to all these just Prejudices only the following Reflexions on the terms the Prophet makes use of The first is That the LXX Interpreters have in translating this Prophecy made use of a word that signifies a Virgin and not a young Woman as the Jews have understood it since our Saviour's time The first who rejected the Interpretation of the Septuagint was Symmachus In Dialog cum Tryphon Tertull. cont Jud. cap. 9. who lived in the second Century as it is observed by Justin Martyr and Tertullian who for this reason accuse the Jews of having falsified the Holy Scripture The second is That the Hebrew word expresly signifies such an one as according to the Law of Virgins was kept under Lock and Key from the Eyes of Men according to the custom of the Eastern Nations and especially of the Jews which continues amongst them till this day The third is That this word hath been taken by the Africans in the same signification as St. Jerome observes The fourth is That the Prophet doth set forth this Child-bearing as a Prodigy and Miracle altogether unheard of and as a particular Character by which the House of David was to be strongly confirmed in the hope of seeing the accomplishment of the Promise which God had made of setling an eternal Kingdom upon it which could not be accomplished but by means of the Messiah The fifth is That tho' some Jews have applyed this Prophecy to King Hezekiah Raschi in h. l. which yet to others of them seems very ridiculous he being Nine years of Age when the Prophecy was uttered by Isaiah and themselves never making use of this Evasion except in their Disputes against the Christians and so on this occasion have dropt a Confession which alone was sufficient to confound them Yet it hath been a thing so generally received amongst them That this Prophecy did respect the Messiah that after they had applyed it to Hezekiah one of their most famous Doctors concludes Gemar in Sanhed Cap. Chelech That they ought to look for no Messiah since the time of Hezekiah that Prophecy having had its accomplishment in him an Opinion which those that succeeded him have rejected with the greatest abhorrence The sixth is That the Title of Immanuel given to this Son whose Birth is here promised is represented to us Chap. VIII as the Name of him who was Lord of the Land which is a true Representation of the Heir promised to David to whom David said O God thy God hath anointed thee with the Oyl of Gladness above thy Fellows Psal XLV 7 8. The seventh is That the Prophet Isaiah having alledged and cited two Witnesses Uriah the Son of Shemaiah a Prophet who was put to death by Jehoiakim and Zechariah the Son of Jeberechiah the former of which lived long after Ahaz and the latter since the Captivity under Darius King of Persia according to the account the Jews themselves give of them he sufficiently hints by this Circumstance That the Prophecy concerning the Birth of the Immanuel he speaks of was to be fulfill'd many Ages after and not in that Age wherein he prophecies CHAP. XV. That the Messiah was to be born at Bethlehem of the Family of David which at that time was reduc'd to a private state GOD had not only pointed out the time in which the Messiah was to appear with the miraculous Manner and Circumstances of his Birth but he had also named the Family the Place with the State and Condition of the Family in which he was to be born as a triple Character by which he might be known I say first That according to the Divine Oracles the Messiah was to be born of the Family of David as will appear if we consider the following Oracles 1. God expresly promiseth as much to David II Sam. Chap. VII a place I have quoted before which proves that the Messiah was to be born of the Family of David 2. It appeareth that David believ'd this himself from Psalm CXXXII vers 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 and 18. The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David he will not turn from it of the fruit of thy Body will I set upon thy Throne And after having said Verse 12. That if his Children would keep his Covenant that their Children also should sit upon his Throne for evermore And this because Vers 13 14. the Lord had chosen Zion and desired it for his habitation c. and promised Verse 15. That he would abundantly bless her Provision and satisfie her Poor with Bread that he would Verse 16. Clothe her Priests with Salvation and make her Saints shout for joy He subjoyns Vers 17 18. There I will make the horn of David to bud I have ordained a Lamp for mine Anointed His Enemies I will clothe with shame but upon himself shall his Crown flourish It is very evident That by this Horn of David is to be meant a King the Messiah whom he distinguishes by that Expression from all the rest of David's Children And Zachariah in his Song of Praise Luke I. verse 69. applying it to our Saviour puts the Matter out of all doubt 3. Hence it was the Prophets took occasion to give to the Messiah the Name of David So Ezek. XXXIV vers 23 24. And I will set up one Shepherd over them and he shall feed them even my Servant David he shall feed them and he shall be their Shepherd And I the Lord will be their God and my Servant David a Prince among them I the Lord have spoken it 4. The Jews are and have always been firm in this perswasion grounded on the foresaid and other like places of Scripture which they constantly refer to the Messiah I say in the second place That the Divine Oracles expresly point out Bethlehem for the Birth-place of the Messiah Micah the V. Verse 2. But thou Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be little among the thousands of Judah yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old from the days of Eternity The Jews acknowledge that this Oracle speaks of the Messiah and indeed the Prophet distinguishing by Bethlehem adding the word Ephratah whence the Family
calling men to the study of Sanctification this was admirably performed by Jesus Christ 1. In correcting those Abuses which the Jewish Doctors had introduced into the Law. Secondly In declaring that the Effect of Sanctification was to be look'd for in the heart rather than in the eyes or hands One may see afterwards 1. That he knew the heart of man which proved that he made it This he testifies upon several occasions in the answers which he made to those that spoke to him and indeed in all his Discourses which were suited to the dispositions of the heart of those to whom he addrest them 2. That he made use of Parables which are Moral Lessons very easie indeed but withal fitter for the subject than Fables and more worthy of God Parables also which were so ordinary and familiar amongst the Jews that we find most of them at this day in the Writings of the Jews tho' they apply them to another use 3. That he descended to Particulars without using any thing mean which men are apt to do when they divide things minutely 4. That he forgot no one Precept of Morality 5. That he examined all the Duties of Religion and made them infinitely recommendable by suggesting such excellent Motives After all we are to consider four things in the preaching of our Saviour which will fully prove that he was the Messiah 1. That his Doctrine appeared to be wholly Divine he had never been brought up at the feet of any Doctor but had his breeding in a Carpenter's Shop 2. That no Crime was ever objected to him notwithstanding that he upbraided the Pharisees with theirs but he supported his Doctrine by the Holiness of his Conversation 3. That he insensibly disposed the People to receive him as the Messiah by the Characters which God had given of him in the Prophets 4. He prepar'd his Disciples and his Auditors to expect that one day the Gentiles should enter into the Church In short Can any thing be so surprizing as to see a Man who had lived Thirty years as the Son of a Carpenter to declare himself all at once a Doctor to preach publickly to censure the Doctors of his Nation to speak of the Law and Prophets with more depth and authority than all that ever went before him Who can without surprize conceive that a man of the lowest quality should from a Carpenters Shop come and determine Questions about the Law and tread under his feet the Authority of all the great Rabbins every where only by an I say unto you so that none was able to contradict him Certainly when one see 's our Saviour upon the Mount explaining and defending the Moral part of the Law from the Corruptions into which it was fallen he appears not only as great as Moses on Mount Sinai but even as God himself when he published his Laws to that his ancient People Neither ought any one to have less admiration for that perfect Innocence which shone through the whole course of his life What Crime had they to charge him with when they put him to death he who accused his Enemies of so many Who of you saith he accuseth me of sin We find him only accused of words ill understood which they were resolved to misinterpret His saying That if they destroy'd that Temple he would rebuild it in three days was laid to his Charge as a Crime And yet these words could not have been heightned into Crimes if they had been spoken in the same sense which they put upon them This was an essential Character of the Messiah who was to be the Restorer of Holiness according to the Idea which the Prophets gave of him I should take notice afterwards that our Saviour in his Sermons did by little and little dispose the Minds of his Auditors and Disciples to conceive and believe him to be the promised Messiah The first act of his publick Ministry was an effect of his zeal for the Holiness of a Temple consecrated to his Father He drove the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple at the Feast of the Passover which action of his was a solemn profession that he was the Son of God. Soon after at Nazareth he applies to himself that Prophecy of Isaiah The Spirit of the Lord is upon me c. He explains himself yet more distinctly in Jerusalem at the second Passover which he celebrated during the time of his Ministry that they might understand that he was the Messiah according to the account which the Evangelists give us and he explains himself yet more particularly upon John the Baptists Message to him By which means this Truth became already so illustrious that the Multitudes would proclaim him King that is publickly own him for the Messiah and obey him as their rightful Soveraign And lastly He explains himself in this matter by a Question When he asked his Disciples Matt. XVI What Censures were past upon him in Judea and what they themselves thought of him In short It is certain that Jesus prepared the Minds of his Disciples to look for the Calling of the Gentiles which also was the Character of the Messiah Gen. XLIX 10. Jacob had prophesied of old To him shall the gathering of the People be But I shall pass by the Oracles which foretel this matter What signifies the History of the Prodigal unless it be the Calling and the Return of the Gentiles the eldest Son the Jew being extreamly troubled at it What means that saying of our Saviour That he had other Sheep c. or his Prediction That many should come from the East and West and sit down with Abraham when the Children of the Kingdom should be cast forth I shall take notice in another place of the frequent Repetition of such like Oracles and their exact accomplishment These are sufficient at present to justifie the solidity of this last Reflexion and the truth of this Conclusion at the same time that if one examines the Life and Preaching of our Saviour he may find all those Characters by which the promised Messiah might be known Let us now proceed to the Consideration of his Miracles CHAP. X. That the Miracles wrought by our Saviour clearly prove that he is the Messiah AS the Messiah was to be very clearly distinguished from all others by his Miracles and as the Prophet Isaiah Chap. XXXV sets down the power of working Miracles as one of those Characters by which he was to be known so it is of great importance to us to examine the Miracles of our Saviour with great attention whether they have the Character of Truth and whether they come up to the Idea which the Prophets give us of those wonders which the Messiah was to do The Evangelists who tell us that he wrought almost an infinite number of them have described more than Thirty several sorts of them He changed Water into Wine at the Wedding at Cana he healed the sick Son of a Courtier he