Weights and Measures being kept in the Sanctuary hence it is call'd the Shekel of the Sanctuary See Exod. 38.26 The common Shekel is but 1 s. 3 d. The Shekel of the Sanctuary 2 s. 6 d. Nehem. 10.32 the rate is but the third part of a Shekel but here the rate is more upon this extraordinary occasion Some think this Contribution was annual Others only occasional as there was cause to call the people to it see Matth. 17.24 amounted to 15 d. of our money and it was to be imployed for the Service of the Tabernacle and the Rich were not to give more nor the Poor less And this equality seems to be enjoyned that the Rich might not despise the Poor and to shew that the life of a poor man is as precious in the sight of God as a rich mans and both are equally bound to praise God for it And this was also to be done that it might be a Memorial before the Lord of their Obedience and so might move the Lord to be propitious unto them Exod. 30. from vers 11. to 17. 15ly These Commands and Injunctions being given to Moses by the Lord 't is like Moses begain to think with himself where he should find Workmen fit to undertake such curious and difficult Works and that would make them exactly according to the Pattern given Wherefore the Lord tells him He had furnished Men with extraordinary gifts of his Spirit (b) So that quick apprehension and skill in honest Handicrafts and Manufactures is to accounted as a Gift of God consisting in Wisdom Knowledge ready conceiving and skill for the performance of all these things and particularly Bezaleel and Aholiab who should be the principal Workmen and Directors of others and He had put into the hearts of all those that were apt for these businesses a greater apprehension (c) Sapienter excogitare excogitata operari to conceive and contrive and a greater dexterity then they had before to work all these things that He had commanded Exod. 31. from 1. to the 12. 16ly Lastly Though the Work of the Tabernacle was with all care and diligence to be followed and speedily to be done yet the Lord would not have any of it to be done upon the Sabbath-day and therefore he renews his Command about the Observation of that Day telling Moses It was a Sign between Him and them that He had taken them for his peculiar people and they Him for their God whom they had bound themselves withall faithfulness to serve And by his enjoyning them diligently to keep his Sabbath they might know that he intended it as a means to promote their Sanctification Then He urges the Observation of the Sabbath upon them by divers reasons 1. Ab utili It is says He holy unto you that is Ordained for your benefit and profit Mark 2.27 The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath 2. A necessario If they did not keep it He tells them They should surely be put to death See Numb 15.35 (d) Videtur Moses ignorasse speciem mortis aut sceleris gradum sola enim profana contumaxque Sabbathi violatio capitalis est Anonym in loc 'T is observable That death is thrice here threatned to those that defile the Sabbath by doing any profane or unnecessary work thereon 3. From the dedication of this Day unto God It is a Sabbath of Rest consecrated unto God 4. From the Command of God He Commands them to keep the seventh-day-Seventh-day-Sabbath perpetually that is as long as that Dispensation should last the Observation thereof being one Article of the Covenant He had made with them 5. A facili The Lord appointeth but one day in seven for Holy Rest and alloweth Six for labour in our worldly businesses 6. From the Example of God Himself who created the World in six days and rested on the Seventh and was refreshed * This is spoken of God after the manner of men Exod. 31. from 12. to 18. SECT XXII THe people seeing that Moses stayed so long in the Mount and that the Cloud did not move and perhaps conceiving that Moses had forsaken them or despairing of his Return a great number (e) 'T is manifest that all the people did not joyn herein for some of them afterwards at Moses his command were imployed to put the Idolaters to death v. 26. 1 Cor. 10.7 of them as it seems pressed Aaron with great Importunity to make them an Image or visible representation of God (f) V. 1. Gods the plural for the singular by an Hebrew Idiotism Declarant se velle veri unam effigiem Dei divinae symbolum praesentiae sed erat Carnalis Aegyptiorum imitatio qui vitulum colebant Anonym in loc going before them and manifesting his Presence among them and this Image they would have made in the form or shape of a Calf according to the Idolatry they had seen practised in Egypt Aaron to divert them as 't is probable from this wicked Intendment requires the golden Ear-rings from the Ears of their Wives Sons and Daughters to make it with hoping that this demand would make such a mutiny in all their Families that they would have chosen rather to desist from their wicked design than part with those Ornaments wherein they were wont to take so much delight But herein he was much deceived for their Superstition was at this time above their Pride or Covetousness insomuch that they presently broke off their golden Ear-rings and gave them to Aaron who appointed Workmen first to melt the Gold and cast it into the form of a Calf and then to polish and finish it with a graving Tool It seems they desired their Idol should be made in this form in imitation of the Idol Apis the Ox or Calf (g) Thus the Israelites borrowed not all Gold and Silver but some dross from the Egyptians borrowing their Idolatrous Worship from them 1 King 12.28 Ps 106 19 20. Puller the Egyptians used to worship Then encouraging one another and being much pleased with their Idol they said This is thy God O Israel which brought thee out of the Land of Eypt pretending still to worship the true God in and by the Calf Aaron seeing the people thus violently bent on their Idol upon their motion He yields to build an Altar for it and to proclaim an Holy-day and to dedicate a Feast to it To morrow says He is a Feast to the Lord Jehovah pretending all was still intended for the Worship of the true God And accordingly the people rose early the next morning and sacrificed unto their Idol Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings and upon the Altar they feasted together and then rose up to play that is to sing and dance and play about their Idol shouting and making a great Noise vers 17. according to the wild custom and manner of the Heathens in their Idolatrous Feasts Exod. 32. from 1. to 7. SECT XXIII WHen 40 days and 40
those that profess themselves his people to carry themselves as those that serve a holy God with all possible care fear and reverence or else He will manifest his Holiness and Justice in punishing of them see Ezek. 28.22 And He having given them holy Laws as a means of their Sanctification He expects they should walk answerably thereunto and to the great Mercies He had vouchsafed to them Levit. 22. from 17. to the end 11ly Laws concerning the holy days and festival times to be observed by them 1. The weekly Sabbath which was to be observ'd in all their dwelling see Acts 15.21 Levit. 23. from 1. to 4. 2ly The Passover to be kept on the 14th day of the first month at Even or between the two Evenings that is between our Three a Clock in the Afternoon and Sun-set At the latter of these which was the beginning of the fifteenth day the Feast of unleavened bread began and continued seven days The first day of which and the last were to be holy Convocations and they were to do no servile (f) On the rest they might work unless the Sabbath fell on any of them work therein What the Sacrifices were that were to be offered on each of these seven days see Numb 28. from 18. to 26. On the second day of this Feast they were to bring a Sheaf of the First-fruits of their Barley-Harvest which is first ripe (g) See Exod. 9.31 32. Ruth 2.23 Their Wheat-Harvest was at Pentecost in that Country being ready about the end of our March or beginning of our April to the Priest who was to wave it before the Lord and then and not before they might reap their Harvest and dress of the Corn of it for themselves And an He-Lamb was appointed peculiarly to accompany this Sheaf besides the daily Sacrifice and those appointed for every one of the seven days and the Meat-Offering was to be double to the usual proportion in all other Sacrifices of Lambs * See Numb 15.4 perhaps because this was a gratulatory Sacrifice for the Fruits of the Earth And this is injoyn'd to be always observed by them as long as the Levitical Worship was to last From vers 4. to 15. 3ly The Feast of Weeks or Pentecost For from this second day they were to number seven compleat Sabbaths or Weeks which made 49 days then on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath or Week which was the 50th day reckoning the day on which they began their account inclusively they were to keep the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost and to offer a new Meat-Offering unto the Lord viz. two wave-Loaves of two tenth deals of fine Flower to be made in some of their Habitations of the new-wheat of their Land and to be offered as the First-fruits of their Wheat-Harvest which were to be waved by the Priest together with the Peace-Offerings And these Loaves were to be baked with leaven For though the Meat-Offerings which were in part to be burnt upon the Altar were always to be without leaven see Levit. 2.11 yet these of the First-fruits which were wholly for the Priests food were allowed to be leavened They were also to offer with the Bread seven Lambs of the first year and one young Bullock and two Rams for a Burnt-Offering and one Kid for a Sin-Offering and two Lambs of the first year for a Peace-Offering To these in this Feast were to be added other Oblations as we may see Numb 28.27 And whereas ordinarily the Priest had but the right shoulder and breast of the Peace-Offering * Levit. 7.31 32 33. here he was to have all because this was offered in general for the whole Congreation and no man in such a common concernment having right to challenge a singular portion to himself all was assigned to the Priest This Feast was to be kept as an holy Convocation and no servile work to be done thereon partly by way of thankfulness for the Fruits of the Earth and partly in remembrance of the giving of the Law * See Sect. 13. of Ch. 4. at this time of the year at Mount Sinah Levit. 23. from vers 15. to 22. 4ly The Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the seventh month so call'd because solemniz'd with blowing of Trumpets by way of rejoycing as 't is thought thorow all the Cities of Israel see Psal 81.3 It was to be a Sabbath or an holy day and solemn Feast unto the Lord Numb 29.1 and they were to do no servile work thereon and it was to be a Memorial to them that this was the first day of their new Year as to civil affairs * For Ecclesiastical matters God appointed the month Nisan or Abib which answereth to part of our March and part of our April to be the first month of the year and that in remembrance of their coming then out of Egypt Exod. 12.2 The seventh month from thence was called Tizri and began about the middle of our September and had been formerly the first month of their year yea and so continued still for civil affairs See Sect. 1. of Ch. 1. Therefore the Year of Jubilee began still at this month and was on the tenth day thereof viz. on the day of Expiation proclaimed Chap. 25.9 The first day of every month which was their new Moon they kept as an holy day a day of special Solemnity and thereon the Priests did blow with their Silver Trumpets over their Sacrifices see Numb 10.10 But the first day of this seventh month was kept as a far more solemn Festival the reason thereof was because this was the beginning of their new Year as to civil affairs And it was also to put them in mind of the special holiness of this month For as the Seventh day of every week was a Sabbath and every seventh Year a Sabbatical Year so God would have the seventh month of every Year to be holy to Himself in some singular manner above the rest of the months What the Sacrifices appointed for this Feast were see Numb 29. from 1. to 7. Levit. 23. from vers 23. to 26. 5ly The day of atonement on the tenth day of this seventh month on which day they were to afflict their Souls by fasting and abstinence from all fleshly delights as also by the inward duties of Humiliation and Contrition and that under the severe penalty of being cut off in case of presumptuous neglect The Solemnity began on the Evening or foregoing the tenth day Levit. 23.32 but the tenth day to the evening was chiefly allotted for this Service on which there was to be offered to the Lord just as much as on the first day see Numb 29. from 7. to the 12. on this day was the Jubilee to be proclaimed Levit. 25.9 Levit. 23. from vers 26. to 33. 6ly The Feast of Tabernacles which began on the fifteenth day of this month and lasted seven days On this day it seems they made their Booths
Stroke should befal their Idols as did the Philistins Dagon (f) Dicunt Hebraei nocte illa idola lignea subito putrefacta metallica resoluta lapidea comminuta Artapanus apud Euseb lib. 9. Praepar dicit motu terra concidisse pleraque Templa Aegyptiaca before the Ark 1 Sam. 5.3 or else perhaps he intended hereby to signifie That he would make it appear that their Idol-Gods were vain and unable to preserve themselves against his Hand who was the true and only God 13. This Passover was to be observed by them afterwards in succeeding Generations for a Memorial of this great Deliverance and they were to observe it for ever that is all the time that that Ceremonial Service should last namely till Christ who is the true Passover shall be sacrificed who fulfilling all the Figures shall abolish the use of them and bring in a new Age and State into the Church 14. A Feast of Vnleavened Bread must be observed the seven days immediately following The first of these seven days was the 15th day of this Month and began at the Evening immediately after the eating of the Passover which they were to eat at the latter end of the 14th day as is said before and every person whether stranger or born in the Land that did eat leaven during that time was to be cut off from Communion with the Church and in case of contumacy and contempt was liable to Capital Puniments from God or the Magistrate See Gen. 17.14 Exod. 31.14 The first and last days of this Feast were to be holy Convocations and to be observed in the manner of Sabbaths and no servile-servile-work to be done in them Yet with this difference that on these days meat might be dressed but not on the Sabbaths And on these days the people were to meet for the Publick Worship of God Lastly They were to acquaint their Children from Generation to Generation with the meaning of this Passover and upon what occasion it was Instituted Moses having received these Directions from God Communicates them to the people commanding them to draw out their Lambs according to their Families and to set them apart on this 10th day to be in readiness against the 14th as was prescribed And further He injoyns them that when they were to march out of Egypt for which they should now prepare themselves they should borrow of the Egyptians Jewels and Vessels of Silver and of Gold (g) Nempe eo pratextu quasi ad Sacrificia solemnitatem Domini usui essent futura Jans and precious Vestments and possibly rich Furniture and such kind of things and that God would dispose the hearts of the Egyptians to lend them any thing rather then that they should stay The people of Israel when they heard these things bowed the head and worshipped in token of their ready submission and reverent acceptance of these Commands from God and their willingness to obey them Ch. 12. from vers 1. to 29. 9. God now Commands Moses by stretching forth his hand towards the Heavens Ninth Plague Three days Darkness to bring a ninth Plague on Pharaoh and his people Which was three days of Palpable Darkness thick Clouds gross Mists and moist Vapours as 't is probable so thickening and condensating the Aer that it might be felt and in likelihood by their moistness extinguishing all Fires and artificial Lights as Candles use to be put out by a damp Neither it seems had they any light from Sun Moon or Stars from above but the darkness was so thick they could not see one another for three days together and with the terrour thereof they durst not so much as move from the places where they were And being under the arrest of this hideous Darkness they sat still not seeing whether to go or what to do And as some gather from Psal 78.49 they had at that time many frightful Apparitions of Devils and evil Spirits among them (h) Horrifica tum spectra Daemonum viderunt quod idcirco memoratur Psal 78.49 loco plagae tenebrarum quae ibi nec nominantur Hâ—nc Pharaonem plurimum commovet hac plaga qui ad priora obduruit But the Israelites had all this while light in their Dwellings as at other times and might have in these three days time gone away with all that they had but God would not suffer them to go away as Fugitives but to march out in a way of honourable and triumphant Victory over their Enemies When the three days darkness was over on the 14th day of this month Pharaoh sent for Moses in great hast and offered that they should all go Men Women and Children only their Flocks and Herds should be left there as a Pledge and Pawn of their Return But Moses Replied Thou must not only give way that we our selves may go but must permit us to take our Cattel also that we may have wherewith to sacrifice to our God For we know not what sort or what number of Cattel we shall be ordered to sacrifice to the Lord till we come thither therefore our Cattel must go with us there shall not an Hoof be left behind But Pharaoh's heart was so hardened that he would not consent to this But falling into a great Rage and Passion with Moses he bids him get him out of his sight and never see his face more If he did he should die for it Moses tells him He had spoken right in that for he should see his face no more But God having revealed to him what he intended to do to Pharaoh and his people He acquaints him boldly with a Tenth Plague and a very dreadful one that the Lord would bring upon them He tells him That very night about midnight God would by his (i) Most usually the wicked are destroyed by good Angels and the godly are chastiz'd by the bad as we see in the case of Job holy Angel see Exod. 12.23 slay the First-born in all the Land of Egypt from the First-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon the Throne to the First-born of the Maid-Servant that is grinding (k) Or behind the Mill Those that thus worked at these Hand-Mills were said to be behind them because they used to thrust the Mill before them as they wrought The meanest Servants were used to be put to this work wherefore Mills were often in Prisons where Prisoners and Captives were wont to be set to work at them thrusting and turning them about with the main strength of their Bodies and so driving them before them at the Mill and the First-born of their remaining Cattel And there shall be such an hideous Out-Cry in all the Land of Egypt as never was before nor shall ever be again But in the Habitations of the Children of Israel all shall be so still and quiet that the very Dogs who are usually rouz'd by the least noise shall not so much as once bark or move their tongues or make any disturbance
from Disobedience thereunto 1. The Precept Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain or as some render it Thou shalt not bring the Name of the Lord thy God to a vanity or to a lye (a) So the word Shaveh frequently signifies see Lev. 19.12 or thou shalt not swear in the Name of God to a falsehood Our Saviour Himself Math. 5.33 seems to point at this Law when He says Ye have heard it was said to the Ancients Thou shalt not forswear thy self So that the prime intent of this Law seems to be to prohibit Perjury that is invoking God or attesting God to a lye and appealing to him as a Witness and Judge that what we assert is true when we know it is not And it seems also to injoyn that in promisory Oaths what we promise or covenant in the Name of God we should sincerely intend to perform and not deal falsly therein as those do who never intend to perform what they promise Swearing * Of Swearing see more in the first Chapter of the second part of the Supplement to Knowledge and Practice is in its own nature imediately an act of Religion and importeth a firm belief and perswasion of God's chief Attributes and Prerogatives viz. of his Omnipresence and Omniscience extending to the knowledge of our most inward thoughts and secret purposes of his Justice in maintaining Truth and Right and avenging Iniquity and Falsehood He therefore that knowingly and willingly is guilty of Perjury seems to despise the Justice of God and to defie his Vengeance This seems to be the first and direct meaning of this Law But it may be extended further so as to prohibite all light and vain swearing in ordinary Communication all irreverent unnecessary using and introducing the great and dreadful Name of God which we should not without great awe of spirit and high veneration ever mention or speak of 'T is an argument therefore of horrible Impiety and Prophaneness without any Reason or Temptation without any Profit or Pleasure arising thence to abuse the glorious Name of God and lightly to toss it in our mouths and so to provoke his dreadful Vengeance who will in no wise hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain IV. Commandment Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy c. GOd ushers in this Precept above all the rest with a Remember intimating how much it importeth man to observe it (b) The Sabbath was a sign of the Covenant that God made with that people Exod. 31.16 17. The Jews so highly valued this Precept that it was a saying among them The Sabbath weigheth against all the Commandments (c) In the Learned Dr. Barrow's Exposition of the Decalogue Because if the Sabbath be duly and carefully observed all the rest of the Commandments will be made known and frequently inculcated upon the people and so the right Observance of this one Precept will tend to procure all the rest to be observed This Commandment as some observe is Morale positivum that is somethings commanded in it are naturally moral and have an innate rectitude in them arising from the nature of the things themselves and some are only positively moral and have their obligation only from the positive sanction of the Lawgiver As particularly To contemplate with a grateful and joful (d) Et haec causa est Cur ab Ecclesia Vetustissima introductus mos fuit ne Sabbato jejunaretur quod laetitiae is esset dies Grotius in Explicatione Decalogi sense God's glorious Work of Creation wherein his Goodness Wisdom and Power are so illustriously displayed wherein so great Accommodations and Benefits are generally dispensed to all the Creatures and to Mankind more especially To remember God's Favours and gracious Providences over our selves our Relations our Country as the Israelites were bound more especially to remember their great and remarkable Deliverance out of Egypt To allot some competent time seriously to attend to the great concernments of our Souls and not to spend our selves and all our time in perpetual carking and labouring about affairs that concern only our Bodies and this present life To set some time apart wherein God our Creator should be solemnly and publickly worshipped by those that own Him for their God and live in a Vicinity and Neighbourhood together To give some time of rest relaxation and refreshment to our Servants and those whom Providence hath disposed into that mean Condition to minister to us that their lives may not by incessant labour be grievous to them but that they may with some comfort serve us and that they may have convenient leisure also to serve God and mind the welfare of their Souls To shew some mercy and pitty even to the poor Beasts that labour for us allowing them some ease and rest from their painful Drudgeries in our Service These are all of them things very reasonable and there seems to be an obligation to them dictated by natural light and grounded in the very nature of the things themselves And Reason must needs approve of them as Duties of Piety Justice and Humanity But now as to the determination of the proportion or quantity of time that should be allotted for these Duties and that the Seventh day or one day in seven should be particularly assigned for these purposes and that a cessation from labour both of Man and Beast should be so strictly injoyned except in cases of necessity or mercy this can be resolved into no other ground than the Will and pleasure of the Lawgiver who saw what was most needful and convenient for man and fit to be injoyn'd him It would not therefore be for the good of the World or the benefit of Mankind to be dispensed with as to the observation of the Sabbath or those fore-mentioned Duties We may also further take notice of the reason which the Lord is pleased to give why He did especially choose this Day * Ut perpetua ejus observatione imprimeretur omnium animis firma notitia mundum non ab aeterno fuisse quae ad impietatem via est sed a Deo conditum Grotius in Explic. Decalog to bless and sanctifie it and appoint it to be set apart for his own Service namely because He himself rested on that day and was refreshed as 't is expressed Exod. 31.17 which is spoken of God after the manner of men that we might be more apprehensive of his Rest for our imitation And that this very time might instruct and excite us gratefully and religiously to meditate on the great and glorious Structure of the World But from our Saviour's Resurrection the day was changed to the first day of the Week in Commemoration that he had finished the great Work of our Redemption on that day And so though not the same day yet the same proportion of time is still to be observed by us Christians (e) See more of this Subject in Knowledge and
thou maist set thy self up as their King according to the report that goes of thee And thou hast appointed Prophets to preach thee up at Jerusalem and to tell the people that there is now a King in Judah of their own Nation so that they shall not be in bondage any longer to forreign Princes And this will accordingly be reported to the King of Persia and so is like to bring great mischief on all us on this side the river therefore let us meet and take counsel together how we may prevent this great evil Nehemiah returned Sanballat this answer That there was nothing true of what he reported 't was all a fiction of his own head Thus the enemie sought to make them afraid by such reports as these but Nehemiah prayed to the Lord to disappoint their plots and to strengthen his own and his Countryment hands in the work The enemies of the Jews seeing their former plots did not take now betake themselves to a new stratagem viz. to hire false Prophets to terrifie Nehemiah with apprehensions of eminent danger to his own person Accordingly they hired Shemaiah and other false Prophets to assist them in their design Shemaiah was a Priest of the course of Delaiah 1 Chron. 24.18 and pretended to be a Prophet though he was a false one It seems he shut up himself thereby to signifie to Nehemiah that there was such danger approaching as there would be no safety in being abroad Accordingly he sends to Nehemiah to come to him who being come he perswades him to hide himself with him within the Temple and to shut up the doors for he tells him his enemies will seek to slay him yea that very night they would come to slay him Nehemiah replies Should such a man as I flee who am called of God to do what I do and being at present the chief Magistrate and Governour of this City am to take care for the defence of the people and to give them all possible encourageragement both by word and deed What good man is there that being in the place that I am would flee into the Temple to save his life Assure thy self I will not do it But for all his pretended Prophesies Nehemiah perceived the Lord had not sent him both by the nature of the advice he gave him which tended to terrifie him from the work God had called him unto as also from the event for the enemy did not come that night to seize him as Shemaiah prophesied he saw therefore that the enemy hired this false Prophet to make him afraid and to desist from his work and so sin against God in omitting his duty and that they might have matter for an evil report against him and so might reproach him Whereupon he humbly desires the Lord to think upon Tobiah and Sanballat and to deal with them answerably to these their evil works and so likewise with the Prophetess Noadiah who also was hired as it seems to prophesie to Nehemiah after the same manner and with the rest of the false Prophets who had conspired with Shemaiah to put him in fear But all that the enemies could do could not hinder the work for the whole work was finished on the 25th day of the month Elul agreeing with part of our August which shews that they began the work in the height of Summer when the days were at the longest and the season every way most fit for building and so all was dispatched in 52 days which was not full two months and this great dispatch need not seem incredible if we consider that the walls and towers of Jerusalem were not wholly demolished but only in many places broken down 2ly That there was a vast multitude of people that round about the City in several places at one time were employed in the work and did with all earnestness follow it 3ly And above all Gods more than ordinary blessing accompanying them and helping of them in the work I say if we consider all these things we need not wonder that it was finished to the astonishment of the enemy before they dreamed it could have been done see v. 16. so that they were forced to confess that there was more than an ordinary hand of God in it When Nehemiah had overcome all these difficulties he met with one more and that was this At that time some of the Nobles of Judah who possibly had married strange wives and so were something infected with the customs of the Heathen held correspondence with Tobiah and had bound themselves by oath to prosecute his designs he having married the daughter of Sheconiah some great man among the Jews and Johanan his Son having married the daughter of Meshullam * See the mischiefs of forbidden marriages and the hypocrisie of some who made a fair shew before men who had helped to build the wall Chap. 3.4 These men told Nehemiah fair stories of Tobiah and sent back what he said to Tobiah whereupon Tobiah sent threatning letters to him but he was not terrified by any thing that he wrote nor discouraged in his work Nehem. Ch. 6. whole Chapter See Deut. 20.5 Psal 30. the Title The wall being now finished Nehemiah and the Jews resolved to make a solemn dedication of it to the Lord praying unto him that he would please to make it a means of safety to his holy Temple and to the City and the inhabitants thereof Now because the Priests and Levites were to have a chief hand therein he first sets down their Genealogies that it might the better appear that they were true Priests and Levites And here are two pedigrees set down one of such as came up with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem and the other of such as were in the days of Joakim * The prime Priests that were then heads of Families are now set down in number only twenty from v. 12. to 21. yet the number of the courses of the Priests appointed by David was to be 24. See 1 Chron. 24. from 7 to 18. that the number of Priests was now but few that place Ezra â— 15 doth import the Son of Joshua The Priests and Levites being by their distinct orders set down in the former part of the Chapter the dedication it self is now related which was after this manner First they assembled all the Levites together from their several habitations to celebrate this dedication with gladness and thanksgivings and singing with Cymbals Psalteries and Harps and the Priests and Levites being called to this holy service first purified themselves by washing their clothes Exod. 19.10 and their flesh Numb 19.7 and by sprinkling themselves with that purifying water mentioned Numb 19.9 and by all other means both of moral and legal purifying Then they purified the people by such rites as they purified themselves by and purified the gates and the wall recommending them to Gods custody and protection with solemn prayer Then the wall being thick and broad so that many
they were on this to offer extraordinary Sacrisices over and above as we may see Numb 29. from 1. to 7. Upon the first day First Day therefore of the World God created the highest Heavens and together with them as 't is probable the invisible Host of Angels according to that of the Apostle Col. 1.16 By him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible all things were created by him and for him The Psalmist also speaketh to the same purpose Psal 148.2 Praise ye him all his Angels praise ye him all his Hosts let them praise the Name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created 'T is true Moses mentions not the creation of Angels and the reason thereof possibly may be that he intended as it seems to relate only the Creation of things corporeal and visible God having therefore finish'd as it were the Roof of this glorious Building he sell in hand with this lowermost Globe consisting of the Deep and of the Earth all the Choire of Angels singing together and magnifying his most glorious Name for this his wonderful Work as we read Job 38.7 Then the Morning-Stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy The Earth that is the whole confused Chaos of Earth and Water was now without form and void of all Herbs Flowers and Trees and all living Creatures and was indeed nothing but a great and deep miry Mass cover'd all over with Waters and thick Darkness And the Spirit of God c Spiritus Sanctus vitali infuso Calore prolificam vim aquis largiebatur Menoch the Creator and Vpholder of all Creatures Psal 104.3 by his effectual quickning Power moved upon and gave virtue to that great Mass and Heap whereby it was fitted and prepared for the subsequent Productions On the middle of the first day God created Light d 2 Cor. 4.6 God who commanded Light to shine out of Darkness and sever'd it from the Darkness so that whilst there was Light on one side of the Deep there was Darkness on the other And he called the one Day and the other Night And so Darkness being before Light the Darkness or Evening e In that phrase of Moses Gen. 1.5 The Evening and the Morning were the first Day there is a Synechdoche by which the beginning of the Night and of the Day is put for the whole Night and Day is reckoned the beginning or first part of the Natural day of Twenty four Hours Levit. 23.32 From Even unto Even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath c. Gen. 1. from 1. to 6. On the second day Second Day God created the Expansum commonly called the Firmament stretching out the Heavens as a Curtain and spreading them out as a Tent to dwell in Isa 40.22 By the Expanse or Firmament taken in a large sense we are to understand whatever is contain'd in that vast Space from the surface of the Earth to the uppermost Heavens For there are three Heavens First The Heaven of Heavens the highest Heaven called the third Heaven 2 Cor. 12.2 I knew a man caught up into the third Heaven So Isa 66.1 Thus saith the Lord Heaven is my Throne c. Secondly The Sky or Aether where the Stars are placed which is called the second Heaven or Coelum Stellatum Thirdly The Air under it which reacheth from thence to the surface of the Earth and Water whereof there are three Regions First The highest or uppermost which is clear and aethereal The second called the Middle Region where God hath placed the Clouds Job 26.8 He bindeth up the Waters in thick Clouds And the third or lower Region that wherein the Fowls do fly Now part of those Waters of the Deep fore-mentioned being lifted up by the Power of God and spread above and bound up in thick Clouds whilst others were disposed of here below to make up with the Earth one Globe God was pleased to order that that Expanse or lower Region of the Air called Gen. 1.20 The open Firmament of the Heaven should divide and sepâ—rate those Clouds and Waters above from those beneath And accordingly the Psalmist cries out Psal 148.4 Praise him ye Heavens of Heavens and ye Waters that be above the Heavens Thus God made a separation of the Waters above from the Waters beneath which are enclosed in the Earth and with it make one entire Globe But here is not added God saw that it was good which yet is doubled on the third day possibly because the separation of the Waters begun on this day was not perfected till the third day and is only once repeated on each of the other four days with addition of very good in the end of all Gen. 1. from 6. to 9. On the third day Third Day God commanded those Waters that were beneath to run together into one place and the dry Land to appear This confluence of Waters he called a Sea sending out from thence the Rivers which were to run thither again as Solomon speaks Eccles 1.7 All the Rivers run into the Sea yet the Sea is not full unto the place from whence they came thither they return again And he caused the Earth to bring forth all kinds of Herbs and Plants with Seeds and Fruits in perfection which before were not in the Earth nor could have been except he had given power to the Earth to produce them For there had not been as yet any of those ordinary means whereby the Earth is now made fruitful viz. Rain and the labour and help of Man who was not yet made neither had there so much as a Mist f Junius reddit ו non et sed aut Aut vapor ascendens â— terra c. Gen. 2.6 gone up to water the Earth Thus we see that God made them all by his own Almighty Power and that before the Sun was created that we might learn to ascribe the Production of the Fruits of the Earth to God originally and not to the Sun And thus he made ready all kind of Food and Provision for the living Creatures which he intended to create on the sixth day But above all he enriched the Garden of Eden g A Country in Thelassar the upper part of Chaldea as may be seen 2 Kings 19.12 Isaiah 37.12 and is distinguish'd from another Eden by Damascus in Syria Amos 1.5 and is Eastward from the Wilderness where 't is probable Moses wrote his History Eden juxta Haran seu Charras with variety of Plants This Garden is by the Greek Interpreters call'd Paradise and for the pleasantness of it made a Figure of Heaven Luke 23.43 To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise 2 Cor. 12.4 He was caught up into Paradise In this Garden God planted the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil The one as it should seem to be a Sacramental Sign annexed to the Covenant of Works which he intended to
not possibly so necessary for him in the time of Innocency nor expressed by name for his Food at the time of his Creation Besides seeing after the Fall the Creatures were killed that their Skins might be for Cloathing and were offered in Sacrifice to God even by Righteous Abel himself it is not to be imagin'd but that they did eat of the Flesh of them as in Sacrifices was usual And therefore for those uses the distinction of them into clean and unclean was made even before the Flood and seven of the clean reserved for Sacrifice and Food whereas two sufficed of the unclean for preservation of the kind as we see Gen. 7.2 Moreover had they not made use oâ— Cattle for Food in those 1600 Years before the Flood the Earth would have bin overburdened with their vast increase and numbers And the words of our Saviour reflecting upon the Old World for their inordinate eating and drinking before the Flood came on them Mat. 24.38 implies rather an abuse in the excess than an abstinence from the use of Flesh and other delicacies And so much by way of digression concerning that particular But to return Sin being not yet entred into the World God beheld all his Creatures that he had made and approved them all as very good Gen. 1. from 24. to the end Gen. 2. from 18. to the end On the seventh day Seventh day God having finished the Works which he intended to Create the Generations and Originals whereof have bin before described He then rested from all Labour and ceased from further creating any thing and blessing that day and hallowing it that is exalting it above other days and setting it apart to an holy use he appointed and consecrated it for a Sabbath because therein he rested and as it were refreshed himself as we read Exod. 31.16 Wherefore the Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe it thorow out their Generations for a perpetual Covenant It is a sign between me and them for ever For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed This is spoken indeed of God in allusion to the manner of men For the Creator of the ends of the Earth fainteth not neithâ—r is weary Isa 40.28 But yet this being alledged as the reason of the Sabbath Exod. 20.11 shews it to be instituted before the Fall Now if God thought fit to injoin man to set apart one day in seven from the works of his Calling even in the state of Innocency when he had no sin in him that on that day he might converse with his Creator more immediately in holy Duties and Exercises how much more needful is such an Ordinance to us now in this Corrupt Estate who have need of all helps to draw us nearer unto God And accordingly we find a Seven-days-Sabbath kept and observ'd before the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai as is plain from Exod. 16. Gen. 2.1 2 3. SECT II. AFter the first Week of the World was ended God brought as it seemeth the New married Couple into the Garden of Eden giving them command to dress and keep it And having made them upright holy and happy and written his Law upon their hearts he was pleased to confer this further favour and honour upon them to enter into the Covenant (k) See more concerning this Covenant in my Supplement to Knowledge and Practice pag. 64.65 66. with them promising thereby to continue them in this happiness which they now injoyed provided they would forbear to eat of that one Tree in the Garden which he called the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil Before this Covenant God had not promised to continue Man in this happy Condition wherein he had made him though he should never have sinned And nothing hindred before this Covenant was made but God might have annihilated man though he had not offended But by this Covenant God was pleas'd freely and graciously to bind himself to Continue man in his present happiness provided he continued in his Obedience And thus the Lord was pleased to arm mans mutable Will against falling both by the great reward promised in case of his Obedience and the great evil threatned in case of his disobedience Gen. 2.16 17. And the Lord God commanded the man saying Of every tree of the Garden thou mayst freely eat but of the tree of Knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die But the Devil (l) See Joh. 8.44 2 Pet. 2.4 Jude v. 6. 1 Joh. 3.8 having himself apostatiz'd from God and fallen from his own happiness wherein he was created he envied our first Parents theirs and presently contriving and designing to draw them into Transgression against God so to ruine them he thereupon makes choice of the Serpent for his Instrument of which 't is probable there were divers sorts created and some of them of great bigness and specious and beautiful to the eye by a comely mixture of various colours and such as then as it seems did bear their bodis aloft and went upright and were of great subtilty and cunning and possibly of much more at that time than since the Fall This Instrument the Devil makes choice of and as it seems opened his mouth and caused him to speak articulately as an Angel did the mouth of Balaam's Ass Numb 22.28 or else he spake in him to Eve And at the first onset he asked her whither God had forbidden them to eat of any tree in the Garden Eve not knowing now as 't is probable the fall of Angels nor suspecting any evil to be in the World did without any apprehension entertain conference with the Serpent And accordingly she tells him They might eat of the trees of the Garden but one tree God had expresly forbidden them that tree they might not eat of nor touch so she heightens the prohibition to put the greater obligation on her self to forbear it under the severe penalty of Death which would certainly be inflicted on them if they did transgress The Devil tells her no such thing would ensue * And so he was a lyar and the Father of it Joh. 8.4 but contrarily upon the eating of this Fruit their eyes would be opened and they should suddenly attain to a high degree of Divine Knowledge and Wisdom in a manner equal to that of God himself And therefore he insinuates as if God out of envy to them had forbidden them the use of this tree And wresting to a wrong sense the name of the Tree He represents knowing good and evil as a state of Perfection but well knew that upon the eating thereof they should soon have a woful experimental knowledge of good and evil and that they should know good by the loss of it and evil by the sense and feeling of it 'T is possible the Serpent being subtile by Nature and
their Labours that they should no more give the people Straw to make Brick withall as heretofore they had done but they should gather and provide Straw for themselves and yet notwithstanding they should exact the same tale and number of Bricks of them which they made before and not abate them any thing of it For says he They are idle and therefore they Cry Let us go Sacrifice to the Lord our God I Command you therefore to impose more work upon them that they may have enough to do and may not be at leisure to regard lying words such as this Moses and Aaron tell them who flamm them with stories of their being sent from God The Task-Masters and Officers acquaint the people with this strict and severe Injunction of the King Whereupon a considerable part of them were forced to scatter themselves through all the Land of Egypt to provide Straw and Straw failing they were fain to gather Stubble instead of it And the Task-Masters pressed them on notwithstanding to finish every day as much work as when they had Straw allowed them And when there happened any failure in the Work the Israelitish Officers or Overseers that were set over their Brethren were beaten for it Whereupon these Officers addressed themselves to Pharaoh and humbly Remonstrated That the Egyptian Task-Masters that used to furnish the Israelites with Straw now did not do it and yet they required of them to make the same number of Bricks daily as before which was in a manner impossible for them to do And when they did it not they their Overseers were beaten for it though the fault was not in them but in the Egyptian Task-Masters Pharaoh answered them roughly and tyrannically You are idle You are idle therefore you say Let us go and do Sacrifice to the Lord. Get you gone and see that you finish the Task that is every day required of you and yet you shall have no Straw furnished to you The Officers of the Children of Israel seeing themselves in this very ill condition and having no hope of remedy they go to Moses and Aaron who possibly came out to meet them to see what answer they had from the King and like ignorant passionate men who mistake Occasions for Causes they charge the Injuries of their Enemies upon their best Friends and in an angry and discontented Mood say to Moses and Aaron The Lord look upon you that is the Lord take notice and consider what you have brought upon us and judge you for it You have made us to stink and to be abhorred of Pharaoh and his Servants and have put a Sword into their hands to slay us You have by this your Address to Pharaoh stirred up Him and His Courtiers to tyrannize more over us than they did before Moses being greatly grieved at this their Complaint betook himself to some retired place where by prayer and deep sighs he might present his own and the peoples distress unto the Lord and he said Ah Lord why hast thou thus dealt with thy people against whom Pharaoh's Rage is not at all mitigated but much increased since I mediated for them Why hast thou sent me on such a Message as this which hath not been a means to deliver thy people but much more to afflict them The Lord answered Thou shalt quickly see what I will do unto Pharaoh My Hand shall be so strong and heavy upon him that he shall not only be content to dismiss you as Exod. 3.20 but shall be ready with all his Power to drive you out rather than hold you any longer See Exod. 12.31.33 And the Lord to encourage Moses the more in his Work repeateth his Name to him and the Covenant which he had made with the Fathers He says to him I am theLord I appeared unto Abraham Isaac and Jacob by the Name of Elshaddai God Almighty that is such a God as is All-sufficient and able to perform all my Promises Gen. 17.1 but by my Name Jehovah (q) This cannot be meant of the letters and syllables of that name as if the Patriarchs had never heard of that Name For God called himself Jehovah long before and by that Name confirmed his Promises as appears Gen. 2.4 7 8 9. 15.7 28.12 Gen. 22.14 Ch. 26.24 Ch. 27.20 and that which it importeth (r) Jehovah signifies God's eternal Being in himself his giving being to other things and the performance of his Promises and in regard of this he says He was not known to their Fathers by this Name They being sustain'd by Faith in God's Almighty Power rested upon the Promise not enjoying the thing promised But now to their Children the Promise should be performed and so they should have full knowledge and experience of the efficacy of that Name Jehovah But withall we must know that this is only spoken comparatively as the glorious ministration of the Law is said to have had no glory in respect of the excellent glory of the Gospel 2 Cor. 3.10 So the Fathers are said not to have known God by his Name Jehovah in comparison of what their Posterity knew have not I been made know to them that is so fully as I intend now to be made known to their Posterity to whom I shall really fulfil and give a Being to my Promises by my wonderful Deliverance of them out of Egypt and bringing them at length into the Land of Promise For I made a firm Covenant with those my Servants Abraham Isaac and Jacob and confirmed it by an Oath to give that Land of Canaan wherein they were but Strangers and Sojourners to them and their Posterity for an Inheritance And I have heard the groaning of the Children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage and I have remembered my Covenant Therefore go to them and tell them I am the Lord and I will deliver them from that cruel Servitude under which they groan and will with an out-stretched arm and inflicting terrible Judgments on the Egyptians bring them forth And I will take them to my self for my peculiar people and will be to them a God and they shall assuredly know that 't is I the Lord and none else who did all these great things for them Moses as God had commanded him went to the Children of Israel with this Message but thorow the anguish of their Spirits and the extremity of their Sufferings they regarded not what he said nor were disposed to believe any thing that he spake concerning their Deliverance So greatly prejudicial are the immoderate passions of men not only to God's truth but to their own welfare Then God commands Moses to go and speak to Pharaoh again and to require him to let the people go out of his Land Moses answered That the Children of Israel would not hearken to him how then should he think that Pharaoh would hear him or mind or regard his words and especially seeing he was a man of uncircumcised lips (s) Because
verse and 23th together conclude that He performed the peculiar Service of this day viz. his entring into the Holy of Holies in his white and not his golden Garments as the Jews distinguish And that it was so ordered to prefigure the low estate of the Messias here on Earth and that He should without outward glory perform the work of our Redemption but with Purity Innocen e and Holiness See Ainsworth in loc that were peculiar to the High Priest but with those which were common to him with other Priests 2. He was to offer first a young Bullock for a Sin-Offering for himself and his Family 3. Then he was to take two Goats for the people on which lots were to be cast for the one to be killed for a Sin-Offering and the other to be let go as a Scape-Goat 4. He was to take of the blood of the Bullock and Goat for the people and with the smoke of Incense ascending from his Censer to go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood on or towards the mercy Seat seven (d) A number oft used in legal Services It signified a full and perfect purging by the blood of Christ See Levit. 4.6 times to make an atonement for the people 5. During his being in the Holy of Holies all others were to be secluded out of the Tabernacle 6. He was to make atonement also for the most Holy place and the Altar of Incense in the holy and the Tabernacle of the Congregation as being defiled by the sins of the people 7. He was to lay his hands upon the Scape-Goat (e) The Goat that was killed represented Christ dying for our Sins the Scape-Goat that God laying our Sins on Christ had removed them far away from us confessing over him all the Iniquities of the people and putting them as it were upon his head and then to send him away into the Wilderness by a fit person who was to wash himself before he returned again into the Camp and the Goat was in this manner typically to bear away their Iniquities 8. Then he was to put off those Garments which he wore when he went into the most Holy and put on the Garments peculiar to his Office and then to offer the Burnt-Offerings (f) These are the peculiar Sacrifices that had reference to Aaron's entring into the most holy place The other extraordinary Sacrifices of the day see Numb 29.7 8 11. On this day the Jubilee was proclaimed of which Ch. 20. and fat of the Sin-Offerings on the Altar and to cause the Bullock and Goat with whose blood he entred into the most Holy to be carried out of the Camp and burnt there and he that burnt them was to wash his Clothes and bathe his Flesh with water and so to return into the Camp And this day of atonement was to be a solemn annual Feast * The Solemnity began the ninth day at Even Ch. 23.32 but the tenth day was most observable for the Sacrifices of expiation and atonement wherein they were to abstain from all sorts of work and to afflict their Souls by fasting and abstinence from all fleshly delights and by inward humiliation and contrition And this Ordinance was to continue as long as the Levitical Priesthood was to be in force Levit. 16. whole Chapter 2. Laws prohibiting the killing and offering Sacrifices any where but at the Tabernacle (g) We find indeed many of the Worthies of God did after this offer up Sacrifices in other places As Manoah Judg. 13.19 Samuel in Mizpeh 1 Sam. 7.9 and in Gilgal 1 Sam. 11.15 David in the floor of Araunah 2 Sam. 24.18 and Elias in Mount Carmel 1 King 18.32 but that was by extraordinary dispensation from God Ordinarily they were tied to bring their Sacrifices which they used to offer in the open Field to the Tabernacle whereas now under the Gospel we have liberty to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices to God every where John 4.21 24. Mal. 1.11 to the door of which all their Sacrifices were to be brought though formerly they used to offer Sacrifices abroad sometimes in Fields sometimes on Mountains and in Groves and there killed by the Priests and not by any other except in some extraordinary cases by the Levites as the Priests Ministers whose Office God would not allow any to usurp Whoever did otherwise was to be reputed as guilty and as worthy of death as if he had kill'd a man Isa 66.3 2. They were injoyn'd to offer their Sacrifices to none but unto God by no means to Devils For to Devils did all those Jews and Gentiles Sacrifice that Sacrificed not to the true God and in such sort and in such place as God appointed Deut. 32.17 1 Cor. 10.20 So Israel had done in Egypt as we read Ezek. 23.8 Neither left she her Whoredomes brought from Egypt c. and also now lately in the Wilderness Exod. 32. when they sacrificed to that Idol the golden Calf and in other secret Idolatries which we find mentioned Acts 7.43 Amos 5.26 Now Idolatry is call'd Spiritual Whoredom because of the Covenant betwixt God and his people which is broken on their part when they joyn themselves to Idols 3. This Law is extended to Strangers also and such as were proselyted to the Religion and Church of the Jews 4. They are prohibited to eat blood * V. 11. In Sanguin Siquidem ex temperie sanguinis anima brutorum nasci creditur which was to be imployed not for Food but to make atonement for their Souls as being a Type of the blood of Christ Rom. 3.25 Eph. 1.7 Col. 1.14.20 Heb. 9.12 22. which seems to be the principal cause of the Prohibition of it though other reasons likewise are rendred thereof as to restrain men from Cruelty and from Communion with Idolaters who used to eat blood in their Idol-Sacrifices See Ch. 19.26 God threatens to set his Face against those that offended herein and to cut them off from among his people Proselytes were also bound to observe this Law And if by hunting or otherwise they did catch any Beast or Fowl that might lawfully be eaten they must let out the blood thereof and cover it with dust before they did eat the flesh thereof and much more when at home they killed any beast for their own private use And he that did ignorantly (h) For if he did it presumptuously He was liable to great punishment eat any thing that died of it self or was torn by Beasts see Deut. 14.21 was to wash his Clothes and bathe himself with water and to be unclean unto the evening If he did not he was to bear the punishment of his Iniquity Levit. Ch. 17. 3. Laws enjoyning the Israelites not to live after the Customs and manners of the Egyptians which they had seen in Egypt nor of the Canaanites which they should see in Canaan but to keep Gods Statutes and Judgments which if a man do he shall live
or Tabernacles some upon the roof of their Houses and some in the Streets and Courts of Jerusalem and with boughs of Trees they either made or adorned their Booths and carried boughs and branches in their hands as some think in token of joy and rejoycing There were peculiar Offerings appointed for seven days together On the first day was to be an holy Convocation to the Lord and no servile work to be done thereon and on the eighth day another whereon just as much was to be offered as on the new Moon so that this Feast lasted eight days the last whereof was a very solemn Assembly called Joh. 7.37 the last and great day of the Feast and was rather an Appendix to the Feast then properly any part thereof see Numb 29. from vers 12. to the end This Feast was to be kept first in remembrance of Gods Protection over them for forty years together during their travelling thorow the Wilderness see Sect. 2. of Ch. 4. 2ly To testifie their thankfulness to God for the Fruits of the Earth viz. the latter fruits of Vines and Olives which this month they gathered in Deut. 16.13 14. 3ly As a figure of Christ's Incarnation who about this time of the year as learned men conceive came into the World * Calvisius pag. 193. Lightfoot in his Harm pag. 4. see Sect. 10. of Ch. 1. of my Harmony and dwelt in the Tabernacle of our Flesh Levit. 23. from 33. to the end 7ly To these Feasts here mentioned may be added the Feast of the New-Moons (h) Besides these we do not read of any more anniversary Feasts but only that of Purim Ester 9.17 and the Feast of dedication Joh. 10.22 which was constantly to be observed The Sacrifices appointed for this Feast are set down Numb 28. from 11. to 16. Numb 10.10 These are the Feasts the Lord appointed and if any of these Solemnities did fall on the weekly Sabbath the Oblations belonging to the Sabbath did not excuse the Oblations required for the concurrent Festival but were to be performed as if it had happened on another day no voluntary Oblations whither given by vow or without did discharge the Sacrifices due to the solemnity of any special Festival see Levit. 23.38 12ly Laws concerning the Oil to be prepar'd for the golden Candlestick Ch. 24. from 1. to 5. Lastly Laws concerning the Shew-bread of which there were 12 Cakes to be made each containing two Homers or two tenth deales of fine Flower which were to be set in two rows upon the Table with Incense put upon them and to be changed every Sabbath-day and after they had stood a week before the Lord they were to be eaten by the Priests The Flower was to be provided at the common charge of all the twelve Tribes by a perpetual Statute and brought to the Priests but the Cakes were to be made and baked by the Levites of the Family of Cohath as appears from 1 Chron. 9.32 The Incense (i) Vice panis thus adolebatur tum gratum Domino ac si esset holocaustum So that the Bread may be said to be offered with fire because the Incense laid upon it was so offer'd and reckon'd most holy as if it had been of the offerings made by fire see vers 9. that was put upon the Cakes was to be burned upon the Altar when they took away the Bread as a Memorial that God would thorow Christs Merits and Intercession remember his people with thoughts of favour and gracious acceptance Levit. 24. from vers 5. to the 10. SECT XXXIX AT this time the Son of Shelomith whose Father was an Egyptian though his Mother an Israelite falling into contention with one that was an Israelite by both Parents wickedly blasphemed the Name of God and cursed Possibly the Israelite upbraided him with his Idolatrous Father and denied him to be a true Israelite or a Member of the Church of God whereupon in his rage as it seems he spake scornfully and opprobriously of the God of Israel and slighted the Priviledge of being one of his people Hereupon they brought him to Moses to know how they should punish such an abominable Blasphemer as He was and having secured him for a time God Commands Moses that he should be brought out of the Camp and that the Witnesses should lay their hands upon his head to testifie that they laid this sin of Blasphemy truly to his Charge and that he being really guilty thereof deserved to be punished and as a Sacrifice to be offered up to the Justice of God for his sin that so the whole people might not be punished for it And then it was ordered that the whole Congregation should stone him which was done accordingly Levit. 24. from 10 to 15. and vers 23. After this and on this occasion Moses receives from the Lord particular Laws concerning the punishment of Blaspheming and cursing God viz. that such Offenders should be stoned to death vers 15 16. Also Laws concerning the punishing of Murder with Death and that he that killeth a Beast belonging to another man shall make it good Also the Law of requital or retaliation for blemishes called Jus talionis as if a man cause a blemish in his Neighbour as He hath done so it shall be done unto Him viz. an Eye for an Eye a Tooth for a Tooth which was not to be executed by the particular persons that were hurt or injured but by the Magistrate upon due Process And though in Ceremonials Strangers had neither priviledge by the use except they were Proselytes nor hurt by the omission of them yet in Capital Crimes if they and the Israelites sinned alike they were to be punished alike See Exod. 12.49 Levit. 24. from vers 17. to 23. SECT XL. MOses now receives Laws concerning the Sabbatical Year viz. that when they came into the Land of Canaan every seventh year should be a year of rest to the Land which they should observe in sign of Homage to the Lord whose the Land was and in this year the Land should neither be tilled nor sowed see Exod. 23.11 neither might they prune their Vineyards or gather in the Fruits thereof and whatsoever Fruits the Land brought forth they were not to look upon as any ones peculiar Goods as in other years but were to leave them in common for all only taking of them what might serve for their own use and for food for their Cattel And Moses tells them That if they truly observed this Law God would command such a blessing on the sixth year that it should bring forth Fruit for three years viz. from the sixth to the ninth not for three years compleat but for part of three years for the increase of the sixth year served them first for part of the sixth year to wit from Barley-Harvest that year which was about the Passover till the seventh month when the Sabbatical Year began 2ly For all the Sabbatical Year 3ly For the eighth year till
58.10 11. and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him and for this thing the Lord shall bless thee in all thy Works and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto For the Poor shall never cease out of the Land (l) Mark 14.7 Matth. 26.11 Joh. 12.8 for God will suffer it so to be to make trial of the Charity and Compassion of the Rich towards them therefore the Lord commands thee to open thy hand wide unto thy poor and needy Brother And if an Hebrew-man or woman be sold unto thee and serve thee six years from the year of Release in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free and thou shalt not let him go away empty but shalt furnish him liberally out of thy Flock and out of thy Floor and out of thy Wine-presses and with such things as the Lord hath blessed thee with And to make thee the more willing hereunto thou shalt remember that thou thy self wast once a Bondman in Egypt and the Lord thy God graciously redeemed thee out of that miserable Servitude and did not send thee away empty and therefore 't is fit thou shouldst imitate the Mercy and Compassion of God which he manifested towards thy self But if this Servant shall say unto thee I am not willing to go away from my Master for I love him and his house and it is well with me see Exod. 21.6 then thou shalt take an awle and thrust it through his Ear and fasten it unto the door and this shall be a signification that he yieldeth himself to be a perpetual Servant in thy house all the days of his life And to thy Maid-Servant * Some think that her Ear was to be bored for a perpetual Servant if she refused to go out at the six years end that is an Israelite and sold unto thee thou shalt do likewise setting her free at the six years end and shalt furnish her liberally at her going from thee And he tells them That this kind usage which they were injoyn'd to use to a Servant that was sold to them and had served them six years ought not to seem a hard Injunction because such an one had been worth to them double (m) Among us the Service of an Apprentice is counted more profitable than that of an hired Servant to what an hired Servant was For hired Servants had great wages besides meat and drink which Servants that were sold to them had not from 1. to 19. Having given them these Laws concerning the poor and the Israelitish Servants he now reinforceth a Law which concerned the relief of the Priests that served the Lord and his people He injoyns them to sanctifie unto the Lord that is to set apart for his use the firstling-Males that came of their Herd and Flocks see Deut. 12.6 The ground of this Law was because God smote all the first-born of Egypt from man to beast but spared the Israelites Thou shalt therefore says he do no work with the firstling of thy Bullock nor shear the firstling of thy Sheep because these Beasts were the Lords they were not to use them as their own for their own profit or service These being the Priests they were to eat them they and their Housholds year by year in the place that God shall chuse to put his Name and place his Sanctuary there But if any of these firstlings be lame or blind or otherwise blemished they were not to sacrifice them to the Lord see Levit. 22.19 but in such a case the Priests * V. 20. Is not spoken to the Owner but to the Priest to whom God gave all the firstlings of Israel Numb 1.15 17 18. may eat them in any of their ordinary Habitations as freely as any ordinary meat the unclean and the clean may eat of them together Only the blood they must not eat but must pour it out as water upon the ground Chap. XVI He comes now to give them several Ordinances concerning the three solemn Feasts and the several Offerings to be then offered And first he charges them to observe the month Abib (n) When the Barley-Harvest began to be ripe and the first Ears were to be offered on the second day of the Feast of unleavened-bread Levit. 23.10 viz. on the 16th day of that month answering to part of our March and part of our April and the Feast * All which Festival time is call'd the Passover and so Joh. 18.28 of the Passover then to be celebrated for in that month God brought them out of Egypt by night (o) Noctu surgebant occisis media nocte primogenitis profectionem anspicabantur licet Egypto non exierint ante diem Vide Exod. 12.29 30 41 42. and after they had eaten the Paschal-Lamb they were to keep a Feast for seven days with other Sacrifices of the Flock and Herd such as are appointed Numb 28.18 c. and this they were to do in the place (p) Id est In loco Tabernaculi aut Templi ubi stabiliter coli invocari voluit which the Lord should choose to place his Name there and no where else And for these seven days they were to eat only unleavened-bread the bread of affliction viz. which should be a Memorial to them of their great affliction in Egypt this being usually the bread of those that lived in affliction and poverty not being toothsome or pleasant to the Palat or tast and of their hasty coming out from thence before their bread had time to be leavened Exod. 12.15 During this Feast they were not to have any leaven in their houses They were to kill the Passover that is the Paschal-Lamb at the even of the fourteenth day of this month at the going down of the Sun at the time they were preparing to come out of Egypt (q) V. 6. Egresti sunt i. e. inchoativè quia vespere egressum praeparabant and that only at the place which the Lord should chuse as he did Jerusalem * There in any private house they might kill and eat the Passover Matth. 26.18 only their Sacrifices that they offered at that Feast might only be offered in the Temple afterwards and they were not to reserve any part of the flesh of it till the morning And the morrow after this Feast which was to continue seven days was ended they might depart to their several dwellings Yet they were to observe that the last day of the seven was to be an holy Convocation to the Lord wherein they were not to do any servile or unnecessary work Ch. 16. from vers 1. to 9. 2ly He comes now to speak of the Feast of Weeks * Call'd the Feast of Weeks because it was seven weeks after the bringing of the sheaf at the Passover and it was on the fiftieth day after and so call'd Pentecost Acts 2.1 The Moral Law was given at this time of the year see Sect. 13. of Ch. 4. Exod. 23.16
that time fourscore years old and therefore 't was time for him to think of dying and not of enjoying the pleasures of the Court I cannot now says he taste what I eat or what I drink neither can I hear the voice of singing men or singing women wherefore then should I go to be a burden to my Lord the King Besides let not the King think of recompencing me for the poor kindness I did him in lately sending him in some supplies seeing what I did was no more than my duty obliged me to I will therefore wait upon the King over Jordan and then I pray thee let thy servant return back again to his own house that there I may retire my self and prepare for my latter end for I desire to die in my own City and to be buried with my Fathers but as for my Son Chimham I am very willing he should go over with my Lord the King let him therefore I pray thee be taken into thy favour and employ him as thou thinkest fit David readily entertained the motion and promises Barzillai to do for his Son whatsoever he should desire of him So the King and the people passing over Jordan Barzillai there took leave of him and at their parting the King kissed him and blessed him and retained so great a sense of his kindness to him that afterwards he commanded his Son Solomon to take an especial care of his Sons and to let them be of the number of those that did eat at his Table 1 King 2.7 2 Sam. Ch. 19. from v. 9 to 40. 17. The King being now come over Jordan the generality of the Tribe of Judah and some few of the ten Tribes viz. as many as in that hast could come together conducted him to Jerusalem the rest of the Israelites that as it seems could not get ready to come so soon came to the King and exprest themselves greatly discontented that they had not in hand in bringing him back as well as the Tribe of Judah Why say they have the children of Judah stollen thee away and carried thee home as it were by stealth without calling us or expecting our company and so have endeavoured as it were to ingross thee to themselves and to appropriate to themselves the intire glory of this action The men of Judah hearing this answered that the King was of their Tribe and near a kin to them wherefore then say they be ye angry for this matter We have not put the King to any expense we have born our own charges neither have we received nor do we expect any reward from him for this service The men of Israel replied that they being Ten Tribes had more right to the King than Judah who with Benjamin join'd to them were but two and they being the greatest part of his subjects had most interest in him And therefore say they why did you thus despise us as not to think us worthy to be sent unto or advised with about bringing back the King the men of Judah presuming upon the dignity of their Tribe gave them a rough and stout answer and their words were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel This contention the King heard and 't is like was troubled at but not setting himself speedily to compose it being loth to displease either party it brake out into a great inconvenience soon after for seeing Judah challenged so great a part in the King and the King did not contradict it Israel being impatient of such a disparagement resolv'd as it seems they would have no interest in him at all 2 Sam. Ch. 19. from v. 40 to the end 18. The King being now come to Jerusalem he shut up the ten Concubines that had been defiled by Absalom in an house of custody where he provided for them but went not in unto them and so they remained shut up unto the day of their death in a state of widdowhood but though David was come to his Royal City yet his troubles were not yet at an end For as bones new set are easily put out again if great care be not taken so people that have broken out into sedition and are newly quieted are very apt to break out again if they be not charily handled and thus it was with the Israelites at this time for upon this quarrel between them and the men of Judah Sheba a Benjamite by descent but of the hill-country of Ephraim by residence and possibly of the house of Saul having this opportunity out of hatred to David and hope to reduce the Crown back again to that Tribe and Family he blew a Trumpet to assemble the Israelites together who being met he spake to them after this manner You all see my Brethren that we have no part in David nor portion in the Son of Jesse see 1 King 12.16 Alass we are counted pitiful people not worthy to be regarded the men of Judah they are the only brave men they it seems have a King but we have none at least they desire to have him wholly to themselves and for my part let them take him and let us chuse another for our selves who will own us for his subjects let us all now return to our own houses and Tribes and there advise and consider what is fit for us to do in this case The men of Israel readily embraced this motion and leaving David followed Sheba but the men of Judah unanimously followed the King and conducted him from Jordan to Jerusalem David was much startled at this unexpected defection of the Israelites from him and therefore resolves to raise an Army speedily to reduce them in order hereunto he makes Amasa his General being inwardly offended with Joab for slaying Absalom and commands him to assemble the people of Judah within three days and then to come to him and receive further orders This was a short time for so great a work but David thought Expedition absolutely necessary lest Sheba by their delaying should so encrease his numbers and grow so strong that it would be difficult to suppress him But the time being so short and many of the people as 't is like being addicted to their old General Joab who had been successful were loth to engage under this new who had been unprosperous or whatever else the cause was Amasa could not accomplish it within the time limited David being impatient of this delay appoints Abishai to take his own guard viz. the Cherethites and Pelethites and his other servants and attendants who were valiant and faithful men and with them to pursue after Sheba with all speed for says he if this Sheba be not suddenly suppressed he will raise a more dangerous rebellion against me than Absalom did and will with his forces get into fenced Cities and then it may be difficult to deal with him Abishai immediately marched out with that party to seek Sheba with whom some that were formerly under Joab's command joined themselves and as it seems
receiving it see Mark 7.11 Having spoken of the Ornaments of the Temple it will not be amiss to speak something also of the Temple-Officers The Temple-Officers were Priests Levites Nethinims The Priests were distinguished into Chief Priests Inferiour Priests of the twenty four Courses 1. The chief Priests were two the High Priest and his second The High Priest was by Gods appointment that person who was the right heir in Aaron's line or the Eldest that descended in a direct line from his loyns One great part of his office was upon the day of expiation to perform the solemn rights of that service in entring into the Holy of Holies with blood and to perfume the Oracle Exod. 30.10 Levit. 16.34 Heb. 9.7 2. The second Priest was the most eminent among the rest who in case of the sickness or pollution of the High Priest or any other emergency did supply his place (a) So Annas and Caiphas are called the High Priests Luk. 3.2 not that there were two in that great office at once but the one was a substitute to the other 2 King 25.18 3. The ordinary Priests were such as sprang from the loyns of Aaron and were in a Collateral line of kindred allied to the High Priest they were all Levites as descending from Levi the great Grandfather of Aaron But the Priests were separated from the rest of the Levites for the more immediate service of God and the term Levite is restrained to all others of the posterity of Levi besides the line of Aaron These Priests for the more easie carrying on of Temple-service were divided into twenty four Courses by lot as we have shewed before each Course ministred to the Lord for eight days together viz. from Sabbath to Sabbath The work of the Priests was 1. The Government of the Sanctuary and house of God 1 Chron. 24.5 2. Sacrificing with all its rites on the Altar of Burnt-offering 1 Chron. 6.49 2 Chron. 29.22 3. They set the new prepared shew-bread on the Golden Tables within the Sanctuary every Sabbath and removed the old 4. They ordered the lamps of the Golden Candlesticks 5. They kindled the daily incense to make a sweet perfume in the Temple 6. They were the Judges of Leprosie and jealousie betwixt man and wife Levit. 13.2 3. 7. They blew the Trumpets to the Solemn feasts also before the Ark at its removals and were also to accompany the Captains of the host in war with their silver Trumpets Joel 2.15 2 Chron. 13.12 1 Chron. 15.24 Chap. 16.6 Numb 10.8 Chap. 31.6 8. They were to look to the burning of wood continually upon the brazen Altar that the fire that descended from Heaven might not be extinguished Levit. 6.12 13. 9. They were to make the holy ointment with the appointed spices Exod. 30.22 1 Chron. 9.30 10. They were to instruct the people in the Law of God Mal. 2.7 2. Of the Levites The Levites strictly taken were all such as came from the root of Levi excepting the children of Aaron they were divided into four ranks and accordingly appointed to four sorts of work 1. Some of them were appointed to wait on the Sons of Aaron in the Courts of the Temple and in the Chambers and in the purifying of all the holy things belonging to the service of the house of God 1 Chron. 23. from 28 to the end They were at first to enter upon their office at the age of thirty years but after the days of David at twenty because then they did not carry the Tabernacle nor the vessels thereof 1 Chron. 23. from 24 to 28. Their number in the latter end of David's reign was computed at thirty eight thousand whereof twenty four thousand were appointed for the work and service of the house of God six thousand to be Officers and Judges four thousand to be Porters and four thousand to be Singers and players on Instruments 1 Chron. 23.3 4 5. 2 Chron. 8.14 1 Chron. 16.4 So that out of the Levites were taken their Judges Lawyers Scribes Recorders Genealogists and the greatest dignities and offices excepting only the Royal dignity of the Tribe of Judah were enjoyed by those of this Tribe They were the only persons that preferred learning and knowledg the Schools of the Prophets being under their Institution 3. Of the Nethinims These were the most inferiour sort of persons that were imployed in any Temple-service being the race of the Gibeonites Josh 9.17 and called Nethinims because they were given and delivered over to that service Some think that David a little before his death did dispose them into their set courses as he did other Officers of the Temple see Ezra 8.20 but of this we shall not determine Concerning the Priests garments their solemn times of worship their various Sacrifices and Offerings with their appendant rites and the revenues and profits assigned to the Priests and Levites we have spoken before when we went over Exodus Leviticus and Numbers and shall not need here to repeat them SECT II. IN the 11th year of Solomon 's reign the building of the Temple was finished with all things belonging thereunto having been seven years and an half in finishing 1 King 6.38 2 Chron. 3.2 but the Dedication thereof was put off till the next year because of the Jubilee And in the seventh month (a) The whole Edifice and most material things were now finished but possibly they were perfecting some things till the 8th month 1 King 6.38 of that year call'd Ethanim and the seventh day of that month was the first day whereon Solomon celebrated with great magnificence the Dedication of this glorious Temple so that from the seventh day to the fifteenth the tenth day which was the great fast and day of expiation being excepted * On which the Jubilee was to be proclaim'd with sound of Trumpet Levit. 25.9 was this feast of Dedication celebrated and from the 15th to the 23. was the Feast of Tabernacles and the 23d was the last day of this feast and always very solemnly kept and the day following the people were dismissed Having thus described the parts of the Temple and the Ornaments and Officers thereof we shall now return to speak of the great and magnificent solemnity of this Dedication which was on this wise 1. Solomon assembled the Elders and Heads of all the Tribes and a mighty Congregation of all the Nation to meet at Jerusalem on this solemn occasion 2. By the Ministry of the Priests and by such rites as were appointed by the Law he hallowed the middle of the Priests Court wherein either they did erect other Altars or made use of the pavement for that present occasion because the brazen Altar was too little to receive so many Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings as he intended then to offer 1 King 8.64 2 Chron. 7.7 3. The Princes and Elders of the people being now assembled waited upon the King to Mount Sion where the Ark was and whither as 't
word and performed thy promise to thy servant David in raising me his Son up to build a Temple for thee perform also I pray thee unto my father what thou didst further promise him * 2 Sam. 7.13 to wit that there shall not fail a man lineally descended from him to sit upon the Throne of Israel and to reign in thy sight provided his children take heed to their way to walk before thee with that integrity that he did Now let thy word I pray thee be verified and fulfilled which thou spakest to my father concerning this matter But why do I speak of my building an house for thee Will God indeed dwell on earth Behold thou art an infinite and immense being Thou canst not be contained within any compass or space The Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee much less this house that I have builded But though thou canst not be contained within this house yet I pray thee have regard to the prayer and humble supplication of me thy poor servant which I make to thee in behalf of this house namely that the eyes of thy favour and providence may be open towards it day and night seeing thou hast said of it that thy name †Deut. 12.11 shall be there call'd upon and worshipped I humbly beseech thee therefore when ever either my self or any of thy people shall pray unto thee in this place or towards it (a) V. 30. Versus hunc locum quasi respiciens ad promissionem praesentiae tuae in hoc loco exemplum in Daniele cap. 6. v. 10. that then thou wouldst please to hear in Heaven thy dwelling place where thy glory is most eminently manifested and when thou hearest be pleased to forgive and pardon our transgressions against thee For there is no comfort in obtaining any other mercy if our sins be not forgiven Particularly I humbly request of thee that if any man be charged that he hath trespassed against his neighbour and he be brought before thine Altar (b) Tacto Altare jurare mos omnium prope Gentium Intrepidi quicunque altaria tangunt Juv. in the Court of this house to clear himself by Oath sufficient proof by witnesses being wanting that thou wouldst please to deal with him according to innocence or guiltiness punishing him if he be faulty and bringing his wicked way upon his own head but justifying and acquitting him if he be innocent Or if thy people be smitten before their enemies in the field because they have sinned against thee and shall turn again to thee and confess thy name to wit thy justice in suffering their enemies to prevail against them and shall acknowledg thy mercy and power and so seek to thee for pardon and help and shall make supplication to thee turning their faces towards this house then hear thou in heaven and forgive their sin and bring them again into the land which thou gavest to their fathers Or when the heaven is shut up and there is no rain because thy people have sinned against thee if they shall pray towards this place and confess thy justice in punishing of them and turn from their sin then hear thou in heaven and forgive their sin and teach them the good way (c) V. 36. Et ostende eis viam bonam wherein they should walk and then give rain upon the land which thou hast given thy people for an inheritance Or if any of these great judgments fall upon the land to wit famine pestilence and blasting or if there be any plague or sickness upon thy people what prayer and supplication shall be made by any man singly or by all thy people jointly who shall know every man the plague (d) 2 Chron. 6.29 When every one shall know his own sore and his own grief Grief is put for that which should cause grief viz. Sin of his own heart to wit the sins for which he is punished and shall spread forth his hands towards this house then hear thou in heaven and forgive and do what in thy infinite wisdom seemeth good and give to every man according to his ways not his former sins but his present repentance whose heart thou seest to be sincere and upright For thou and thou only O Lord knowest the hearts of all the children of men And I humbly beseech thee to deal thus mercifully with thy people that they may fear thee and walk in thy ways all the days of their lives Moreover if a stranger that is not of thy people Israel who hears of thy wondrous works and righteous Laws and this holy house shall come from his own Countrey to testifie his high esteem of thy great name and to worship and praise thee and shall pray towards this house (a) Or in this house viz. in the Court of the Gentiles then hear thou in heaven and grant all that he shall pray unto thee for which is agreeable to thy holy will that all the people of the earth may know thy name and learn to fear thee as do thy people Israel and that they may know that thy name is called upon in this house that I have built to wit that it is call'd the Temple of the Lord and the house of God and is so in reality by thy hearing the prayers that are here made unto thee Furthermore if thy people shall go out to battel against their enemies and shall pray unto thee and seek thy favour and help in that enterprize looking towards this City and this house which I have built for thy great name then hear thou in heaven their prayer and supplication and maintain their just and righteous cause by giving them good success But if they by their sins provoke thee for there is no man that sinneth not so that thou givest them up into the hands of their enemies and they carry them away captive either further off or nearer hand however if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive and shall repent and make supplication to thee saying we have sinned and done perversly we have committed wickedness and so shall return unto thee with all their heart and all their soul and shall pray unto thee looking towards this land this City and this house then hear thou in heaven their prayer and supplication and maintain their cause taking part with thy people that repent and pray unto thee against the unjust oppression of their enemies and then turn thou O Lord the hearts of their enemies towards them that they may have pity and compassion on them For remember O Lord they are thy people and thine inheritance (b) This people were to God as a mans inheritance is to him which he hath bought and made his own for ever See Dâ—ut 32.9 which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt even out of an iron furnace (c) Deut. 4.20 And furthermore let the eyes (d) 2 Chron. 6.40 of thy favour be upon me thy poor servant
men to constrain them by violence to leave off the work So by the malice of these wicked men the building of the Lords house was hindred till the second year of Darius Ezra 4. from 6 to the end Cambyses having reigned seven years died and Smerdis the Magus succeeded him who pretended himself to be Smerdis the younger Son of Cyrus who was privily murdered by Cambyses and reigned only seven months for being killed with the other Magi who had helped him into the Throne by some of the seven Princes of Persia Darius the Son of Histaspis was chosen Emperour by those Princes First year of Darius In the beginning of his reign he married Atossa the daughter of Cyrus who had been first married to her own brother Cambyses and after to the Magus purposing to establish the Kingdom to himself the better by matching into the Royal stock This is he that is called Ahasuerus in the story of Hester and is said to have reigned from India to Ethiopia over one hundred twenty and seven Provinces And this his chief wife Atossa seems to be the same that in the Book of Hester is called Vashti The second year of Darius In the second year of Darius Haggai the Prophet reproved the Jews for that they took care to build for themselves goodly and fair houses and to garnish them with ceiled work The Prophesie of HAGGAI but neglected the building of the Lords house under pretence that the time was not yet come wherein it should be built He declares to them that that long barrenness of the ground and other plagues which one after another fell upon them and Gods blowing upon all they had were all the effects and fruits of their great neglect of that work he earnestly therefore perswades them to mend that fault Whereupon Zerubbabel and Joshua took the work in hand afresh and provided materials necessary for the building on the 24th day of the same month Hag. Ch. 1. whole Chapter In the same year upon the one and twentieth day of the seventh month Haggai animated the Jews to go on with the work with a promise of Gods gracious presence with them and his blessing upon them in it And although the beginning of this present structure seemed mean and despicable in the eyes of such as had seen the glory of the former yet he tels them that if they considered that blessed and so much desired Messias the desire of all Nations should after a time honour that house with his presence they might well conclude that the glory of this latter house should be greater than of the former Hag. Ch. 2. from 1 to 10. The Prophesie of ZACHARY In the eighth month of the same second year of Darius Zacharias the Son of Barachias began to Prophesie and exhorted the people to repentance and not to tread in the steps of their impenitent forefathers He is now added to Haggai as his Coadjutor and Collegue in the Prophetick office Haggai began to Prophesie in the sixth Month and Zachary in the eighth they both carry on the same design viz. to encourage the Jews to build the Temple Zac. 1. from 1 to 7. Upon the 24th day of the ninth month of the same second year of Darius between seed-time and harvest the Temple began to be reared by Zerubbabel and Joshua the High-Priest with the assistance of Haggai and Zachary the Prophets upon the foundation which had been formerly laid For though they had been forbidden by Cambyses Ch. 4.12 21. from building the City yet there was no word in that Letter forbidding the building of the Temple and besides there being now a new King in Persia and of another family they knew not why they might not return afresh to their work having had Cyrus's grant at first for it Ezra Ch. 5. v. 1 2. Hag. Ch. 2. v. 18. Upon the same day the two last Prophesies of Haggai were revealed to him the one of the cessation of those plagues which hitherto had followed them * Hag. 2.19 From this day saith the Lord I will bless you the other of the subversion of sundry Kingdoms and the exaltation of Zerubbabel Hag. 2. from 18 to the end The Samaritans did not hinder the Jews whilst they were only building their own houses but no sooner did they set upon building of the Temple but again they banded together against them Accordingly Tatnai Governour of the Countries on this side the river and Setherboznai and the Apharsakites their Associates coming to Jerusalem endeavoured to hinder the Jews in the work of the Temple asking the chief of them by whose command they did it and enquired very diligently who were the principal agents therein But the Jews though they were at present a poor unsetled and friendless people yet were not scared hereat but encouraging themselves in the Lord they courageously answered them that they did it by virtue of Cyrus's command These enemies of the Jews hereupon wrote a Letter to Darius which spake after this manner Vnto Darius the King all peace and prosperity Be it known unto the King that we went into the Province of Judea and found the Jews very busie in building a Temple for God which they are building with great stones and the work goeth on apace and prospereth in their hands when we inquired by what authority they did it and who were the chief agents therein that we might certifie their names unto thee they returned us this answer We are the servants of the great God of heaven and earth and build again the house that was built many years ago by a great King of Israel viz. Solomon But after that our Fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath he gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed this house and carried the people away into Babylon But Cyrus in the first year of his Empire made a decree wherein he gave us liberty to rebuild the house of God in the place where it formerly stood and the vessels of gold and silver which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the former house of God in Jerusalem he delivered to Zerubbabel whom he made Governour over us to be carried back and that they should be kept safe till the new Temple was built and then they should be placed there for the use thereof And accordingly our Governour with the assistance of the Elders and Priests laid the foundation of this house in the second year of our return but it is not finished to this day The Samaritans tell the King that this was the ansâ—er the Jews gave them and therefore desire him that search may be made in the Kings Treasure-house at Babylon whither ever any such Grant was made by Cyrus and they request the King would please to send his further pleasure to them concerning that matter Upon the 24th day of the 11th month in the second year of Darius the Prophet Zachary had a vision of Horsemen that is Angels galloping up and
they think to finish this work they have begun and by sacrifices to dedicate it to God as they use to do other great buildings surely we shall hinder them from that except they can hope to finish their work in one day or a very short time And besides they will want materials for such a work except they can raise up again the burnt stones that made the former wall out of the heaps of the rubbish Tobiah being by when Sanballat thus scoffed he said Let them alone alas the walls they build are so weak that if a Fox should go upon them he would break them down Nehemiah hearing of these scorns and contempt of their enemies betook himself to God by prayer and humbly pleaded that relation that was between God and them Hear O our God says he for we are despised and turn their reproach upon their own head and let scorn and contempt fall on them and let them be carried away captive and there made a prey to their enemies And cover not their iniquity nor let it go unpnished and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee except they repent and cease to proceed on in this their impiety For in reproaching the builders of thy City imployed by thy appointment they have reproached thee so that we desire they may be punished not out of any private grudg or desire of revenge but that thy glory may be vindicated Thus prayed Nehemiah And the builders went on with the work and all the wall was joyn'd together unto the half height thereof for the people had a mind to the work and where there is a willing mind much will be done in a little time But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and Ammonites and Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up and that the breaches began to be stopped they were very angry and conspired together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder the work But Nehemiah and the Jews made their prayer unto God and set a watch day and night because of them About this time also another trouble arose to Nehemiah for the men of Judah who had the oversight of the work and such also as laboured in the work complained that there was still so much rubbish unremoved and the strength of the bearers of burdens being much decayed they thought they should never be able to go through with the work or to build the walls so as to make them a defence to the City They further added that if the Trench without the wall were not cleared of rubbish all that they had done would be to little purpose This added much to Nehemiah's grief that the workmen themselves should thus complain and mutter He understood also that their adversaries said this of them among themselves They shall not know nor see till we come in the midst of them and slay them and cause the work to cease And the Jews that dwelt among the Samaritans when they came to Jerusalem often * V. 12. Ten times that is many times told their brethren there of the contrivances of these their enemies and said to them From all places by which a man may come from thence hither and go from hence thither they will assault you therefore look to your selves Nehemiah hereupon caused the people for the present to give over their work and to arm themselves that the enemy might not surprize them and to that end he set some of them beneath behind the wall and others above in the towers and other fortifications with their swords arrows and bows in their hands And he spake unto the Nobles and Rulers and the rest of the people saying Be not afraid of them remember the Lord who is great in power and terrible to his enemies and fight for your brethren your sons and your daughters your wives and your houses But when the enemy heard that their design was made known to the Jews and that thereupon they were ready and prepared to defend themselves they laid it aside And God having thus brought their counsel to naught the Jews returned every one to his work at the wall again Yet they were careful still to be in a readiness to resist the enemy in case he should assault them And particularly Nehemiah employed only half of his servants in building the wall the other half stood always ready armed to keep off the enemy if occasion should be and those that were imploy'd in building were also arm'd with swords the Rulers being at their backs to encourage them so that they may he said as it were to have wrought in the work with one hand and to have held a weapon in the other because whilst they were busiest in building they had their weapons ready to defend themselves And he that sounded with the Trumpet kept near to Nehemiah that upon any danger he might give warning to all the people to be ready Nehemiah further said to the Nobles Rulers and rest of the people the work is large and great and we are separated upon the walls one from another in what place therefore ye shall hear the sound of the Trumpet resort thither unto us and our God will fight for us And thus they went on with the work some being in arms from morning to evening and some working at the wall Nehemiah also gave charge to all Masters that had servants and to all workmen that had labourers under them that they should all lodg in the City that so they might be in readiness and at hand both to keep their turns of watching by night and of working by day And Nehemiah though the Governour spared not himself but what he required of others he himself was ready to do And both himself his kindred servants and guard that attended him were so watchful and diligent in this time of danger that they slept in their clothes and did not put them off except when need required that they should be washed Nehem. Ch. 4. whole Chapter The Adversaries of the Jews hearing that the walls of Jerusalem were now almost finished Sanballat and Geshem sent unto Nehemiah that they might have a conference with him near to Ono a City in Benjamin pretending a willingness to be reconciled but intending to do him a mischief he suspecting their design sent them word he was about a great work which he could not leave therefore they must not expect him They sent again and again to him even no less than four times importuning him to come but he still returned the same answer Then Sanballat sent his servants to him a fifth time with an open letter possibly that they might shew it to other Jews before they came to him and so might with the contents thereof discourage them The letter spake after this manner It is reported among the Heathen and Geshem the Arabian affirmeth it that thou and the Jews think to rebell and that thou hast built the wall of Jerusalem that
it And because they could not all conveniently hear Ezra they divided themselves into several companies and in each of them there were Pulpits or Scaffolds erected as may be gathered from Ch. 9.4 from whence they expounded the Law unto them there being several teachers in each place that successively discharged that work And in these holy exercises and duties they continued from morning till noon viz. about five or six hours The people were exceedingly affected at the hearing of the Law expounded to them being thereby convinced of their sins and their liableness to the dreadful judgments of God for them and fell a weeping and wept very sore but Nehemiah the Tirshatha or Governour and Ezra the Priest and those Levites that instructed the people comforted and encouraged them telling them that God was merciful to the penitent and that that was a day holy to the Lord their God and therefore on that day they should rejoyce and not mourn and weep So Nehemiah dismissed them and bad them go their way and eat the fat and drink the sweet that is feast together with their peace-offerings and send portions to them for whom nothing is provided see Deut. 16.14 for this day says he is holy unto the Lord our God neither be ye sorry for the joy of the Lord is your strength that is the Lord would have you rejoyce in his goodness and manifold mercies which he has conferred on you and does still continue to you and thereby to comfort your hearts So the people were quieted understanding Gods readiness to forgive them upon their repentance and went and did as Nehemiah directed them Nehem. 8. from 1 to 13. Upon the second day of the same month Ezra was consulted by the Elders of the Families and by the Priests and Levites concerning certain doubts arising upon the reading of the Law the day before and particularly concerning the Feast of Tabernacles whereof as it seems Ezra had purposely spoken to instruct the people about it because that Feast was now at hand Whereupon Ezra shewed them that they were bound to keep that Feast on the 15th day of the seventh month abroad and in booths made of boughs of trees according to the Law Levit. 23.34 v. 40. The people yielded a ready obedience hereunto and accordingly went forth and fetcht in Olive-branches and Pine-branches and Mirtle-branches and Palm-branches and branches of thick trees and made themselves booths upon the roof of their houses and in their Courts and in the Courts of the house of God and in the streets all over the City from one end of it to another and sat under their booths to eat their meat and take their rest and there was great joy and gladness among them so that from the days of Joshua until this time the children of Israel had not kept this Feast * They kept this Feast Ezr. 3.4 1 King 8.65 and at sundry other times with so much devotion and solemnity as now they did for the Law required that only the first and last day of the Feast should be more solemn convocations Levit. 23.35 36. and great holy days whereon they might do no work and their manner it seems had been to assemble the people and on those days only to read the word and though on other days they were to offer sacrifices yet they might therein do the works of their particular callings but such was Ezra's zeal that he did now on every day of the Feast read the Book of the Law and expound it to them and as he was willing to preach so they were willing to hear every day And they kept the eighth day also as a solemn assembly according to the manner which God had enjoyned and his people from time to time had practised On that day they used to beg the pardon of all their sins and failings and to crave a blessing also from the Lord upon themselves and their families for the future Nehem. 8. from 13 to the end The Jews having been so careful according to the Law to keep the Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the month and the Feast of Tabernacles on the 15th 't is likely they omitted not to keep the tenth day which was the day of atonement whereon they were to afflict their souls very solemnly But yet having heard the Law day by day all the Feast of Tabernacles expounded to them Ch. 8.18 and finding thereby how grievously they had sinned and how far short they still were of what God required of them they resolved now to keep a solemn Fast before this great Assembly now gathered together departed to their own houses And accordingly on the 24th of this month they again assembled to keep a solemn fast and to renew their Covenant with God It seems they had not performed what they so solemnly covenanted Ezra 10.3 But by hearing the Law so plainly expounded to them they came to understand how great a sin their taking and living with strange wives was and what great judgments they were liable unto by reason thereof And being deeply priced in their hearts for the same they humbled themselves before the Lord and testified their humiliation by fasting and putting on sackcloth and earth upon their heads thereby acknowledging that they were more worthy to be under the earth than above it And they separated themselves from their strange wives and the children they had by them as also from such strangers as had mixed themselves with them and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers who had given them such an ill example The people stood up in their several places of meeting and being divided as it seems into eight several congregations accordingly eight Levites stood up each of them upon a Scaffold or Pulpit erected for them and the day among the Jews consisting of twelve hours or four Trihoria the first three hours were allotted for the morning sacrifice and the three last for the evening-sacrifice and the other two fourth parts were thus imploy'd one fourth-part the Priests and Levites read in the Law of God and another fourth-part prayed and praised God Thus they continued in these holy exercises from morning to evening The Priests standing upon their several Scaffolds cried unto the Lord with fervency of spirit and extention of voice And they stirred up the people to bless the Lord who liveth for ever and ever going before them in such words as these Blessed be thy glorious name O Lord which is exalted above all blessing and praise and is so high and glorious that we cannot sufficiently praise the same The eight Levites before mentioned had their several companies before whom they prayed and read and expounded the Law But 't is like Ezra did all this before the heads and Governours and other chief men of Judah and that he made the prayer following before them for all that congregation could not hear one man together at one time In this
may do him good And all the Congregation said Amen and praised the Lord that the offenders were brought to see their sin and to reform and that hereby the oppressed were relieved Moreover Nehemiah that he might convince them how unreasonable it was for the richer sort to exact thus upon the poorer he tells them that since the time he was first appointed by Artaxerxes to be their Governour which was now twelve years he and his family had not eaten the bread of the Governour that is the allowance of bread and other provisions which had been usually paid by the people for the Governours maintenance but had lived wholly upon his own estate which the former Governours that had been before him had not done but had been chargeable to the people and had taken of them a certain quantity of bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver or 5 l. a day yea even their servants bear rule over the people and exacted of them what they pleased but he did not so because of the fear of the Lord that ruled in his heart Yea when the wall of this City was building he was continually imployed in the oversight of the work and was still with the workmen to direct and encourage them yea his servants were imployed also where most need was to help in the work yet he had no allowance for this And further though the people being many of them much indebted he might have had great bargains of them yet he bought no land which might convince them that he sought not to advance himself but sought only their good Furthermore he shews them that there were usually at his Table an hundred and fifty of the Jews besides strangers and his daily provisions were one ox six choice sheep and variety of fowls and besides this his ordinary and daily provision every tenth day he feasted them more liberally and gave them store of all sorts of wine (d) Magnificus ergo erat Nehemias Et hinc colligo eum non fuisse in civitate totos 12 annos Quomodo enim tam diu sustinuisset hos sumptus Sanctius Which he mentions not out of vanity but to shew them that yet for all this he required not the allowance that the former Governours had because he would not add to the peoples burdens which he knew were very heavy And doing what he did with an eye to Gods glory he humbly implores the Lord to think upon him for good according to all that he had done for that people Not that he thought that he thereby merited at the hands of God but because God had graciously promised to reward whatsoever good is done unto his people Nehem. Ch. 5. whole Chapter He comes now to reform the enormities that were crept in among them in matters of Religion In Chap. 9. 2. we read that the children of Israel had humbled themselves for their former sins and had separated themselves from all strangers viz. from their strange wives and the children born of them as also such strangers that were Idolaters and had mixed themselves with them but now they had relapsed into the same evils * We see how prone men are to relapse and revolt from good purposes promises vows and Covenants yea and beginnings of reformation See Chap. 10.30 again which Nehemiah understanding he causes the Book of the Law to be read and expounded to them again there being no better way to convince a sinner of his sins than by the word of God In that Book it was written that the Ammonites and Moabites viz. such as retained their Idolatrous principles and practices should not come into the Congregation †Deut. 23.34 that is into their civil assemblies to partake of their offices and priviledges for ever that is so long as the Politie of the Jews remained because they met not the children of Israel with bread and water when they had fought against the Kings of the Ammorites and had destroyed them but hired Balaam against them that he should curse them though God turned his curse into a blessing This passage concerning the Ammonites and Moabites seems here alledged rather than any other because it did so expresly discover the great sin of Eliashib mentioned afterwards in joyning himself in affinity with Tobiah who is often called the servant of the Ammonites Now when the people heard these words of the Law they separated such strangers from them as had been unduly joyned to them whither strange husbands or strange wives or strange children even all those with whom God had forbidden them to have communion or society V. 4. Chamber is indefinitely taken for all the Chambers But sometime before this Eliashib the Priest who had the oversight of the Chambers of the House of God was allied unto Tobiah Eliashib's son having married the daughter of Tobiah and he made ready and furnisht for this his friend and allie Tobiah the Ammonite a great Chamber even in the Chambers of the Temple where aforetime they laid the meal and flower and frankincense and some vessels belonging to the Temple and several sorts of Tythes c. which was done it seems by laying many Chambers into one the partitions being taken down see v. 9. Nehemiah understanding this was greatly grieved at this strange miscarriage of the high Priest it being very dishonourable to God and immediately cast out all the houshold-stuff of Tobiah out of the Chamber with indignation and caused the Levites to cleanse the Chambers possibly by sprinkling them with the water of purifying because they had been polluted and profaned by the lodging of strangers therein that were not of the seed of Israel and he brought thither again the vessels of the house of God and such things as had been before remov'd from thence Nehemiah also understood that the portion of the Levites had not of late been paid them though the people had not long before bound themselves by covenant with God to do it Ch. 10. 35. Yet it seems out of indignation against Eliashib for lodging Tobiah in the Treasuries of the Temple and because they feared thereupon that what they brought thither would be diverted another way and not employed as it ought they forbare to bring in the Levites portions as they had formerly done Then Nehemiah contended with the Rulers and Governours who had before made a solemn Covenant Chap. 10. 39. that they would not forsake the house of God therefore he upbraids them with their own words and condemns them out of their own mouths asking them why is the house of God forsaken that is why did they withdraw maintenance from the Ministers of Gods worship and so in effect hinder the worship it self Then he prays to the Lord to remember him concerning this and not to wipe out his good deeds that he had done for the house of God and for the offices thereof and to procure that his holy ordinances should be duly observed Nehemiah also at that time
to Simeon the Just among other heads of Doctrine had taught that they ought not to be like servants who served their Masters mercinarily and only for rewards Sadoc and Baithus interpreted this good saying into a bad sense inferring from thence that there was no reward after this life and thereupon denied the future state and Angels and Spirits and so framed their Heresie The third Sect was that of the Esseni who its probable sprang from the Pharisees They had skill in Physick and thence some would derive their name from Asa which signifieth to heal They were accounted in some things more strict than the Pharisees themselves Simon dying and leaving behind him only one Son named Onias then an infant his brother Eleazar the Son of Onias the first took upon him the High Priesthood of the Jews Ptolemaeus Philadelphus second King of Egypt being a great favourer of learning and all Liberal Arts and Sciences in the seventh year of his reign built a very famous Library at Alexandria He committed the care of getting Books of all sorts and out of all Countries to Demetrius Phalereus who was not only a great Grammarian and Philosopher but also had been a great Statesman and an excellent Governour in Athens Now to make this collection of Books he had this advantage as 't is reported of him Aristotle at his death left his Library to Theophrastus and he at his death lest his own and Aristotle's Books to Neleus Scepsius and of him Ptolemy bought them besides others which he bought at Athens and Rhodes and brought them all to Alexandria 'T is said that he gathered together 20000 Books or Manuscripts Demetrius Phalereus advised Ptolomy to send to have the holy writings of the Jews to be translated out of the Hebrew into the Greek But Aristeas who was an attendant about him at that time advised him for the purchasing of that translation to set all the Jews who were then slaves in Egypt at liberty and to send them home which Ptolemy agreeing unto 't is said the number of them came to One hundred thousand souls and every one of them cost the King a hundred and twenty drachms as Josephus says Now an hundred and twenty drachms make thirty Sicles or Stateres which was the price of a slaves See Exod. 21.32 At which rate our Saviour was sold by Judas so that the price which Ptolemy paid to redeem the Jews from their Masters came to above 400 Talents In which redemption the like price was paid for every sucking child of them together with their mothers whom they sucked whence it is that Josephus says that Ptolemy paid in this kind upward of 460 Talents Of these Jews Ptolemy took the younger sort and ablest of them into his Army and of the rest such as he thought fit he employed in his private affairs as he himself in his Letters to Eleazar the High Priest affirmeth And with those Letters he sent also rich presents to the use of the Temple at Jerusalem by Andreas and Aristaeas his two servants to be delivered to the High Priest as namely a Golden Table of two cubits long and no less than half a cubit thick all of solid gold also twenty goblets of like gold and thirty of silver and precious stones to the number of five thousand of very great value Besides which he sent an hundred Talents to buy sacrifices and for other uses of the Temple Eleazar the Priest receiving these presents he chose six principal men out of every Tribe for after the Captivity there remained some of all the Tribes as we have shewed before and such as were most eminent for gravity learning and experience who should translate Gods Law out of Hebrew into Greek the particular names of which Seventy two Elders are expresly delivered by Aristaeas Eleazar also sent a Letter to the King full of respect and thankfulness when he sent the Seventy two Interpreters to him who coming to Alexandria presented the King with such gifts and presents as Eleazar had sent unto him together with sundry Parchments wherein the Law was written in Hebrew in golden letters and the Parchments so joyned together that the seaming of them could not be discerned by the eye of man And it fell out that they came thither at a happy time viz. when news came to him of a great victory obtained by his Navy at Sea against Antigonus Ptolemy receiveth these Seventy two Interpreters with great respect feasts them seven days in a most magnificent manner and afterwards appoints one Dorotheus to take care of them and to supply them with all necessaries not letting them want for any thing for their Table or otherwise And the King himself would now and then put questions to them some concerning affairs of State some concerning Morality whereunto they made him prudent and well advised answers as we find in Aristaeas who took all that he wrote out of the King 's Diaries Three days after Demetrius led these Interpreters into the Isle of Pharos and there placed them in a goodly house and far off from any noise or tumult and there they set themselves every one to his work of the Translation most exactly fitting it to the meaning of the Original which done Demetrius caused it to be fairly exscribed Every day they sat at it till three a Clock the afternoon and then went and took their repast having all things abundantly provided for them and especially their diet which was of the same kind that was provided for the Kings own Table Moreover every morning early they came to Court and there having paid their respects to him and wished him a good morrow returned to their place and there having washed their hands as their manner was and prayed they set themselves to read and to interpret from point to point It so fell out that this work of the Seventy two Interpreters was finished in seventy two days as if it had been so cast by them of set purpose Which done Demetrius calling them all together in the place where it was done read it all over in the presence of them all and they as the Authors and finishers of so great and good a work were highly commended and magnified by all the Jews there present Demetrius also himself wanted not his share of praises among them and they besought him that he would deliver a copy of the Law so translated to their Rulers which Was accordingly done When the work was thus finished it was read all over to the King who exceedingly admired the wisdom of the Legislator and commanded all possible care to be taken thereof and that it should be religiously laid up and kept He also desired the Interpreters themselves that after their return home they would not fail to come often to him again And he gave to every one of them three fair Gowns two talents of gold a cup of one talent and the full furniture of a Chamber And moreover to Eleazar the High Priest
himself a third time to Demetrius and accused Nicanor as having some treacherous Design in agitation against the King who was so inraged by those Calumnies that he sent Nicanor word That he took very ill those his Intercourses with Judas commanding him forthwith to send him to him bound to Antioch Nicanor was very loath to do this because it was a violation of the Articles of Peace between them which Judas had not in the least manner broken yet because he knew not how to resist the Kings command he watched a convenient time to do it by a Stratagem Judas observing how Nicanor was grown more reserved to him than formerly and that his dealings were more rough than usually they had been began to suspect something and gathering together many of his Associates he withdrew himself Nicanor following him with a great party to Jerusalem under pretence of a Parle with him had prepared some to seize upon him which Judas having notice of got away and would see him no more When Nicanor saw his design was discovered he marched with his forces against Judas and fought with him near Caphersalama in which Encounter Nicanor lost near 5000 of his men and the rest fled to the City of David After this Nicanor came up to Mount Sion and some of the Priests with the Elders of the people went forth of the Sanctuary to salute him peaceably and shew him the Burnt-Offering that was offered for the King But he jearing and scoffing at it demanded Judas to be delivered unto him And they affirming with an Oath that they knew not where he was he stretched out his hand against the Temple and swore that except Judas and his Associates were delivered up unto him he would when he should return in peace set the Sanctuary on fire demolish the Altar and build there a stately Temple to Bacchus The Priests hearing this went in and standing before the Altar with Tears begged of God That he would frustrate this wicked mans intention and avenge his Blasphemies on him and his host Nicanor hearing that Judas was gone from Jerusalem into the parts of Samaria he went and pitched his Tents in Bethoron where he met new supplies out of Syria But Judas pitched in Hadasa with only 3000 men Nicanor did what he could to engage in battle on the Sabbath-day vvhich the Jews vvho vvere constrained to follovv him friendly dehorting him from out of reverence to the day and to God the Institutor thereof he with most horrid Blasphemy slighted what they said As for Maccabaeus he encouraged his Party recalling to their minds their former Encounters and declaring unto them a Dream of his wherein there was represented unto him Onias the 3d. praying for the people and the Prophet Jeremy reaching unto him a golden Sword whereby he much cheared their Spirits The Jews being now well armed with Prayers and a sure confidence in God on the 13th day of the last month Adar fell upon the Enemy Nicanor himself was one of the first that fell in the fight which when his Army saw they cast away their Arms and fled and the Israelites following the chase slew 30000 of them Then they fell upon the Spoil and finding Nicanors Body they cut off his head and hands and carried him to Jerusalem where they hung his head upon an high Tower with his right hand which he had stretched out so proudly against the House of God and his blasphemous Tongue Judas commanded should be chopp'd in pieces and given to the Birds of the Air. In commemoration of this Victory it was Enacted That the 13th day of the month Adar the day before the Feast of Mordecai should be yearly kept as a day of thanksgiving and publick rejoycing as the Author of the second Book of Maccabees tells us who with this story finished his Work being the Epitome of the Five Books of Jason a Jew of Cyrene After Nicanor's death Judea for a while had rest from Wars During which time Judas hearing of the great power of the Romans and their Humanity towards such as were in distress understanding also in what great fear Demetrius stood of them he sent Eupolemus the son of John and Jason son of Eleazer as Agents to the Senate of Rome in the name of himself his Brother and the Common-wealth of the Jews to negotiate an Alliance and Association with them hoping thereby to free their necks from that heavy yoak of Demetrius and the Empire of the Greeks After Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his Army were cut off in the late fight with Judas he dispatch'd Bacchides and Alcimus a second time into Judea and with them the right wing and better part of his Army who marching on the way that leads to Galgala took in their march Massadath which is in Arbela and put multitudes to the Sword From thence they removed to Jerusalem and from thence to Berea with Twenty thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse to seek out Maccabaeus Judas pitched in Eleasa having only 3000 men with him The Jews seeing the number of the enemy so great began to be afraid and many of them fled away in so much that all forsook Judas save only 800 with these he charged Bacchides's great Army and fought from morning to night and routed the right wing in which Bacchides himself was but they on the left wing perceiving this and pressing hard upon Judas and those that were with him slew him fighting valiantly and as soon as he fell the rest of his men fled and shifted for themselves Judas was slain in the 6th year after he had led the people from the death of his Father and A. M. 3844. After the death of Judas wicked men discovered themselves in all the Coasts of Israel who before play'd least in sight for fear of Him And by reason of the great Famine that hapned in those days almost the whole Country joyned with them and submitted themselves to Bacchides that they might the more commodiously be supplied with provision Bacchides advanced those wicked men to be Governours in the Country who when they lighted upon any of Judas's Friends brought them to him who reviled them and revenged himself upon them so that there had not been so great an Affliction since the days that the Prophets ceased from among them 1 Mac. 9.23 27. But such of the Jews as could do it assembled themselves together and chose Jonathan Judas's Brother Captain in his room which Bacchides hearing of sought to kill him but he understanding thereof fled into the desert of Tekoa and sent his Brother John with a bâ—â—d of Soldiers to desire the Nabathites that were Arabians that they might leave their Carriages with them But the Children of Iambri out of Medaba met with them upon the way and slew John and his Company and having seized upon the Spoil went their way But no great joy had they of their Booty for Jonathan and his Brother Simon hearing they were about to make
ordinarios ut probabile est Tyrannus Sabin è medio sustulerat Deborah a Prophetess judged Israel not Governing chiefly and properly as a Judge whose Office was to hear and determine Causes and in those times especially to make War against their Enemies but as a Prophetess counselling and directing the people that came to her in hard and difficult Cases and revealing to them the Will of God by the Spirit of Prophesie which God had given her 'T is like the Tyrant Jabin would not have suffered any man to have been Judge or Governour among them but as for Deborah a Woman possibly he took no notice of her Deborah as it seems used to give forth her Directions and Counsel sitting under a Palm-Tree that was between Rama and Bethel in Mount Ephraim Deborah now by the special Direction from God sends for Barak Son of Abinoam who dwelt at Kedesh-Naphtali and imparts to him what God had revealed to her either by the secret Inspiration of his Spirit or perhaps by the Ministry of an Angel †That some Angel did appear to her either before or after the battel sought with Sisera may appear from Ch. 5.26 She tells him God had commanded him to go and draw together to Mount Tabor an Army of the Israelites and to take ten thousand of the Children of Naphtali and of the Children of Zebulun because they were nearest at hand and those of Naphtali were likely to be forwarder in this Work because Barak was of that Tribe and they also were most oppressed by Jabin and Sisera Hazor and Harosheth being both in their Tribe She tells him When he had gathered this Army together the Lord would incline the heart of Sisera Jabin's General to come with his Multitudes and Iron-Chariots to fight him at the River Kishon that runs near to Mount Tabor and would deliver him into his hands Barak it seems believed what Deborah told him viz. that Sisera should be vanquished by him and therefore his Faith is commended Heb. 11.32 33. but yet his Faith was assaulted with some doubts and fears for he tells her If she would go with him He would go else not 'T is like he was desirous to have her at hand being a Prophetess to give them Counsel and Advise upon every Emergency she readily yields to go with him but withall shews him that because of his fear the Lord would deprive him of a great part of that glory he should otherwise have had And because he would not undertake this Enterprize without the presence and encouragement of a Woman therefore a Woman should carry away a part of the Honour of the Victory to wit Jael the Wife of Heber into whose hands Sisera should fall and by whom he should be slain Deborah therefore accompanying Barak he went to Kadesh in Naphtali the place of his Birth and here gathering together an Army mostly consisting of the Tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali though some of the other Tribes did voluntarily joyn with them as appears Ch. 5. he marched with ten thousand men following him towards Mount Tabor whither he was commanded to go Near unto this City of Kedesh-Heber the Kenite had his Tent (r) The Kenites lived in Tents and not in Houses who for some Reasons not here mention'd had severed himself from the rest of the Kenites who were seated among the Children of Judah see Ch. 1.16 and now lived in the Tribe of Naphtali Sisera hearing that Barak had got together an Army about Tabor He gathers together speedily all the Forces he could make which were very many and with them and his 900 Chariots he marches to Kishon to encounter him Deboral hearing of his approach encourages Barak to go out and fight him telling him That the Lord was gone out before him as General of his Army to fight for him and would certainly give him Victory over Sisera So Barak marched down from the hill with ten thousand men following of him They joyning battel Sisera was totally discomfited insomuch that he himself lighting out of his Chariot he was forced to run away on foot His whole Army was routed slaughtered or scattered not a man left in the Field to make resistance Those that fled fled towards Harosheth whom Barak vigorously pursued but Sisera himself fled to Hebers Tent the Kenite who though joyning with God's people in the profession and practise of the true Religion yet paying possibly to Jabin some kind of Tribute he had taken him under his Protection and the rather because he lived only as a Sojourner among the Israelites and laid no Claim to the Land and lived a Peaceable and Pastoral kind of life and so was not like to rise up in Rebellion again Jael the wife of Heber meeting Sisera desired him to turn into her Tent and bids him fear * V. 20. Timere quidem probibet nil tamen spondet nothing He accordingly does so and she gave him Water to drink and Milk and Butter to eat and covered him with a Mantle that he might repose himself being very weary He desires her to stand in her Tent door and if any came to enquire after him she should not acknowledge he was there Jael seeing he was fallen asleep by a special and extraordinary Instinct of the Spirit of God took a long Nail such as they us'd to fasten their Tents with and drove it on a sudden into his Temples and so fastned his head to the ground Barak pursuing Sisera Jael went out to meet him and told him She would shew him the man whom he sought after Barak coming into the Tent found Sisera dead and the Nail driven through his Temples So God subdued Jabin that day and his Host before the Children of Israel And the Israelites prevailed so far against him that they brought him and his people to an utter and final destruction But however the Lord made use of Barak and his Army as Instruments in obtaining this great Victory yet He himself was the Principal Agent in it partly by taking away the Courage of the Enemy and possessing them with fear and partly by fighting against the Canaanites from Heaven and sending into their very faces an impetuous storm of Hail unto which Deborah alludeth Ch. 5.20 Judg. Ch. 4. whole Chapter SECT CXXXVII AFter this Victory Deborah being a Prophetess composed as 't is thought a Triumphant Song and She and Barak and the Commanders of the Army and the Elders of the people Sang it together to the Glory of God who subdued their Foes before them They begin thus Praise ye the Lord for avenging of Israel when the people offered themselves willingly principally hereby intending Zebulun and Naphtali who first appeared and came in as Voluntiers at the sound of the Trumpet Barak having no Authority to press them to this Service But with them also some others joyn'd in the day of Battel viz. Ephraim Manasseh Issachar vers 14 15. Then in a Poetical strain she calls upon Kings
and Princes to hear what she had to say concerning this great Work which God had done for Israel and she addresseth her Speech the rather to them because they are wont oftentimes in their Pride to Oppress others and therefore she desires they might understand what God had done to Jabin and Sisera and so might take heed of provoking God by Oppressing his people as these had done And the better to express how terrible God had now been to their Adversaries she compares the Terrors of this day with those when the Law was given on Mount Sinai Lord when thou camest out of Seir when thou marchedst out of the Field of Edom the Earth trembled that is when the Children of Israel stood at Mount Sinai from the East where was Edom and Mount Seir a divine Splendor from the fiery Cloud began first to appear to them and seeming to come from that Region drew nigher and nigher to them till it rested on the Mountain see Deut. 33.2 Psal 86.7 8. Then the Earth trembled and the Heavens dropped that is the Clouds seem'd to be dissolved into extraordinary Showers and Storms The Mountains melted and trembled and shook even Sinai it self (s) Elegans poëtica Hyperbole Etiam Reges ferocientes comparantur montibus Psal 68.17 and seem'd to flow away at thy presence And as thou didst at that time wonderfully appear at Sinai causing those prodigious Effects of thy Presence to be felt so did thy Majesty and Power now at this battel no less appear for us against our Enemies She goes on The Case was very sad with us before For from the days of Shamger who was indeed a Deliverer of us from our Enemies unto this present time wherein Jael appeared and shewed her self a worthy Instrument of our good we lay under great Oppressions insomuch that the High-ways being kept by Souldiers all Trading was cut off people not daring to travel but in by-ways nor to live in Villages but only in walled-Cities whither they fled to secure themselves till God was pleased by me a poor woman to set on foot this glorious Work of our Deliverance who as a Prophetess teaching them God's Will and what He would have them to do and with no less care seeking their good than a loving Mother doth her dear Childrens I encouraged them to this War which hath succeeded so well If any ask a reason of the Calamities we were under Alas we must needs acknowledge the Israelites by shameful Apostacy fell away from God and his true Worship and worshipped Heathen Idols hereupon the Lord raised against them cruel Enemies on every side who made Inroads into their Land and many times came up to the very Gates of their Cities And they were so dispirited with fear and faintness of heart that not a man among the many thousands of Israel durst take up a Shield or Spear against their Enemies see Levit. 26.36 She goes on I cannot but highly honour the Heads and Rulers of the people who though having great Estates were as willing to hazard themselves in this War as the meaner sort who have scarce any thing to lose and such grave and ancient Persons are not usually so fit for War as younger men and therefore it argued an Heroick Spirit in them to put to their helping hand among the meanest in this Cause of God and their Examples no doubt had a great influence to draw on many of the meaner sort And says she let all those men of honour and eminency viz. Magistrates and Judges that sit in the Seat of Judgment and use to ride up and down on white Asses * Riding on Asses was it seems a Note of great and honourable Persons in that time see Judg. 12.14 and it seems white Asses were in principal esteem and so likewise let all the common sort of people that travel on foot from one place to another let them all in their several places speak of this great Deliverance which God hath wrought for his people For whereas before all the High-ways of the Land were pestered with Souldiers so that there was no stirring with any safety from one place to another and so all the whole course of Justice was in a manner stopped now the Judges might sit in Judgment as formerly and might ride up and down upon their white Asses according to their wonted manner which before they could not do and the common people of all sorts might now pass to and fro and travel safely about their occasions Now the Country-people that us'd to be assaulted and surprized by their Enemies when they went to the Wells and Fountains to fetch water are delivered from this danger and may freely go thither and there declare the righteous Acts of God in destroying their Enemies and may also now freely frequent the Cities on Court or Market-days Upon consideration of all these Mercies Deborah rouses up her self to praise the Lord with all her Soul and Strength Awake Deborah awake utter thy Song Arise Barak and lead thy Captivity Captive that is now after thy Victory lead those Captive that kept us formerly in Captivity Psal 68.18 And after thou hast led them in Triumph let those of the Canaanites whom thou hast taken be slain as God hath commanded and let those of other Nations that are taken with them be reserved for Slaves Thus God made the poor despised remainders of his people rescued by this Victory out of the Tyranny of the Canaanites to have Dominion over their Nobles even their great and mighty men Yea the Lord hath made me says Deborah though a weak woman to have Dominion over the Mighty and by my Counsel and Encouragement to subdue great Princes and Commanders Then Deborah relates how the several Tribes acquitted themselves in this Expedition praising or blaming them according to their Deserts First She begins with Ephraim out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek that is one rising of the Israelites against our Enemies did spring up from Ephraim and those of this Tribe that armed themselves for the War were assign'd by Barak to go against the Amalekites to Encounter them and keep them from coming and joyning their Forces with those of Jabin's whilst Barak with his Army went against Sisera Machir was the only Son of Manasseh and so by the Children of Machir are meant the Tribe of Manasseh And after thee that is after you of Ephraim were in Arms some of Benjamin came and mixt themselves among you to go against Amalek And out of Machir that is out of the half-Tribe of Manasseh seated within Jordan some of them yea even of their Governors came down to assist Barak and out of Zebulun even some of their Doctors Scribes and Lawyers and others that were better at their Pen than Sword yet came among them to assist in this Cause And both the Princes and common people also of the Tribe of Issachar did readily come in to Deborah and Barak with
promised and covenanted with David thy Father See Ch. 8.25 But if thou or thy posterity fail on your part to perform the conditions annext to my promise and shall turn away obstinately and totally from following after me and shall renounce me and my service and will not keep my commandments and statutes which I have made known unto you and set before you to walk in but shall go and serve other Gods and worship them then will I cut off †Thus was the Kingdom of Israel dealt with 2 King 17.20 Israel from the land which I have given them as a rotten branch and pluck them up by the roots and this house which I have hallowed for my name will I cast out of my sight out of my favour and protection and Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word (c) As in the time of the Babylonish Captivity the Jews were a scorn to all Nations but much more since the last destruction of their City and Temple by the Romans and so their great glory was turn'd into vile contempt among the people And as for this house which is now so high in all external glory every one that passeth by shall be astonished at the destruction of it and shall hiss at it in scorn and shall ask why hath the Lord done thus unto this land and this house and they shall receive this answer because the inhabitants thereof have forsaken the Lord their God who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt and have betaken themselves to the worship of other Gods whose worship they pertinaciously hold fast and will not depart from it Therefore the Lord brought upon them all these great evils 1 King 9. fr. v. 2 to 11. 2 Chron. 7. fr. v. 11. to the end SECT IV. SOlomon having thus finished the Temple he now falls in hand with the building of a Palace for himself in Jerusalem and built also a stately Summer-house in Lebanon 5. Ch. 7. from v. 2. to 7. and an house for his Queen the daughter of Pharaoh and his own Throne so splendid and sumptuous that there was none like it In the 13th year after the Temple was built he made an end of these buildings Before his Palace he built a stately Porch of Judgment wherein was to be set his great and Royal Throne wherein he sat in state to judg the people This Throne was a stately and magnificent piece it was made of Ivory and in several parts of it overlaid with pure Gold so as the white Ivory and glittering Gold gave a fair luster the one to the other and made it appear the more glorious The Throne had six steps to it and so was a yard and half from the ground It had a round stately Canopy or covering over it and stayes or Elbows on each side and a Footstool of Gold for the King to set his feet upon * Calcatas opes scabellum designat aureum Two Lions stood on the outside of the Elbows for support and ornament And there were placed twelve Lions besides that stood six on the one side and six on the other of the steps or stairs and standing at an equal distance one from another were the more glorious to behold There was not the like Throne for costliness and exquisite workmanship in any Kingdom of the world The Lions signified the power majesty undaunted boldness courage and magnanimity that ought to be in Princes as also the great vigilancy and watchfulness that ought to be in them so that they had need to wake while others sleep as 't is said of Lions that they sleep always with their eyes open they might signifie also that good Princes are protected by the special Providence of God and their Thrones guarded with Lions 1 King 10. from 18 to 21. Besides this stately Throne he made also two hundred Targets (a) Targets were large Shields such as Captains used to have carried before them that as occasion served they might take and use for the defence of their bodies against Arrows Darts Javelins and such like piercing weapons But Shields were less than Targets and they used to carry them on their left arm for their own defence of beaten Gold not for service but for pomp and state to set forth his Royal Majesty and Greatness These it is likely were ordinarily hung up in his great Hall or Armory and at certain times carried before him by his Guard as afterwards the Brazen ones that were made in the room of these were carried before Rehoboam See 1 King 14.27 He made also three hundred Shields of beaten Gold and three hundred shekels (b) A shekel of silver was in weight half an ounce and in worth 2 sh 6 d. The Jews prized Gold at ten times the value of Silver so a shekel of Gold was 25 sh By this account every Target weighed 25 pounds Troy and was worth 750 l. Sterling of Gold went to make one of them so that the Shields were not above half so big as the Targets which weighed each of them 600 shekels All these he put into the house of the Forrest of Lebanon which for civil use was the most sumptuous building that Solomon made and his Magnificence and Royalty was therein most manifested and accordingly those Golden Targets and Shields were there placed But he that shall consider how soon these Golden Tarkets and Shields became a prey to the enemy will be apt to think there was an excess of pomp in them which was not well-pleasing to God And furthermore all the drinking vessels cups platters basons spoons c. that were used in the house of Lebanon were all of pure Gold this house being made for delight and the glory of his Kingdom none of them were of silver silver †V. 21. Silver was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon This is an Hyperbolical speech for silver was brought to Solomon time after time by Ships v. 22. and given him as an acceptable present v. 25. So that hereby only the great abundance he had of Gold and Silver is intimated comparatively was not esteemed of for plate in Solomon's time for they having such abundance of Gold most of their Plate was made of that metal and silver-plate but little esteemed of in those days But we must speak more particularly of this house of the forrest of Lebanon It was so call'd as being a kind of abridgment of that famous Forrest afar off from Jerusalem and containing in it and in the groves and gardens about it all the delights and pleasures of that Forrest and something more viz. solitary walks sweet musick of birds wild beasts curious water-works and all manner of other delightful things See Eccles 2.4 5 6. And it seems this house was also the chief store-house and magazine of Armes which the Kings of Judah had as appears from Isa 22.8 Thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the Forrest
Thus Solomon finished the Lords house and his own house and all that came into his heart to do he prosperously effected 2 Chron. 7.11 having spent full twenty years in this kind of work 1 King 9.10 whereof seven and an half upon the Temple and about twelve and an half upon his own houses and buildings 1 King Ch. 7. from v. 1 to 13. 1 King Ch. 10. from v. 16 22. 1 Chron. Ch. 9. from v. 15 to 21. SECT V. WHilst Solomon was busied about his Magnificent buildings it seems Gezer a City allotted to the Levites in the Tribe of Ephraim Josh 21.20 21. but never recovered out of the possession of the Canaanites gave to the King some great distaste so that not being at leisure himself he intreated Pharaoh his Father-in-law to take it in for him by his Armes and to rid him of those troublesome neighbours Pharaoh accordingly did it and burnt the City or some part of it with fire and put the inhabitants thereof to the sword and so gave it for a present to his daughter Solomon's wife 1 King 9.16 SECT VI. HIram King of Tyre having furnished Solomon towards these magnificent buildings with Cedar-trees and Firr-trees and sixscore Talents of Gold Solomon in a grateful retribution and to make him amends gave him twenty Cities or Towns in the land of Galilee which were not as it seems a part of the land which God had given for an inheritance to his people but lay in a tract of ground on the outside of the borders of Asher Josh 19.24 betwixt them and mount Libanus and being now reduced under Solomon's Dominion he presented them to Hiram that he might by them receive satisfaction for what he had had of him But it seems Hiram when he saw them liked them not possibly because they stood in a moorish ground or because he thought it would be long e're he should from them receive that satisfaction which he expected Therefore he return'd them to Solomon again and chose rather to expect satisfaction from him some other way and thereupon Solomon repair'd and enlarged them and planted certain colonies of the Israelites in them See 2 Chron. 8.1 2. whereas before they were inhabited only by the Heathen and now that tract of ground was counted a part of Galilee which 't is thought was the reason why Galilee was called Galilee of the Gentiles 1 King Ch. 9. from v. 10 to 15. SECT VII SOlomon having now finished his own houses and built an house for his Queen Pharaohs daughter he remov'd her and brought her up thither out of the City of David for he said My wife shall not dwell in the house of David King of Israel because the places whereunto the Ark of the Lord hath come are more holy than other places 'T is true Davids house ceased to be holy in that respect after the Ark was removed thence yet Solomon out of his superabundant respect to that sign of Gods presence thought it not fit to make that a dwelling place for his Queen and her followers who were aliens and strangers to the house of Israel and possibly retain'd some of their Egyptian profaneness which had been the holy dwelling place of the most High 2 Chron. 8.11 Solomon as it seems reflecting on his Marriage with Pharaohs daughter and his bringing her up to the stately house he had built and prepared for her took occasion from thence to pen that excellent Song called the Song of Songs or the Canticles being the chiefest of those one thousand * See 1 King 4.32 and five Songs composed by him and the most excellent of them all And this Song he composed after he had built his Summer-house in Lebanon as may be gathered by some passages in it see Ch. 4.8 Come with me from Lebanon my Spouse with me from Lebanon And Ch. 7. 4. Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon This Song is clearly a Marriage-song and much of the same nature with the 45 Psalm which is called a Song of Loves And it is a kind of Pastoral composed in the way of Dialogue where the speakers are the Bridegroom and the Bride represented sometimes under the quality of a Shepherd and Shepherdess or Country-damsel and the Bride-men and Bride-maids the friends of the Bridegroom and companions of the Bride And though the most proper aim of it seemeth to be at higher and diviner matters than an earthly marriage and a greater than Solomon is here yet Solomon thought fit to make his marriage with Pharaohs daughter a type of that sublime and spiritual marriage between Christ and his Church The Song is a continued Allegory and full of obscurities yea here we have all the Rhetorick of love and such affectionate compellations and Elogies as are not elsewhere to be found The flowers and ornaments of language used in the praises both of Bridegroom and Bride are not appliable to natural beauties but are mystical representations and emblems of higher things Indeed this Book is all mystical and therefore the Jews forbad the reading of it by any under thirty years of age Here between Christ and his Church are interchangings of mutual praises gloriations and congratulations His divine and glorious excellencies in himself and rich bounties and blessings to her and her precious graces and endowments are in an high character in lofty and stately sayings and similitudes set forth both by him and her And yet withal her failings and his withdrawings from her thereupon and returnings to her again upon her repentance are not omitted In all the interlocutions betwixt them she speaks nine times and he seven In the first Chap. from v. 1 to the 8. the Spouse speaks expressing her ardent desires after Christ and vindicates her own deformities and defects against the uncharitable censures of others and petitions him for further counsel and direction From the v. 8 to the 12. the Bridegroom speaks granting her request and giving her great commendations and making rich promises to her From v. 12 to the 15. the Spouse speaks again then the Bridegroom at v. 15. In the two first verses of Ch. 2. Christ speaks characterizing himself and his Church and then the Church speaks from the v. 3. to the end and throughout all the third Chapter speaking sometimes of Christ and sometimes unto him At Ch. 4. Christ speaks from v. 1 to 15. and at v. 15 16. the Church At Ch. 5. v. 1. Christ granteth the request of the Church and cometh into his Garden and accepteth her entertainment and bringeth his friends with him and feasteth them but this kindness it seems was not so well improved by her as it deserved for she is surprized with a fit of drowsie negligence and so is brought into danger of losing him who after much patient waiting knocking and calling upon her and her unkind answer becomes angry and being not received when he tendred himself departs displeased and is hardly reconciled though she afterwards expresses much care and