Primordia, or, The rise and growth of the first church of God described by Tho. Tanner ... ; to which are added two letters of Mr. Rvdyerd's, in answer to two questions propounded by the author, one about the multiplying of mankind until the flood ; the other concerning the multiplying of the children of Israel in Egypt.

Primordia, or, The rise and growth of the first church of God described by Tho. Tanner ... ; to which are added two letters of Mr. Rvdyerd's, in answer to two questions propounded by the author, one about the multiplying of mankind until the flood ; the other concerning the multiplying of the children of Israel in Egypt.

Table of contents

Title page

TO THE Much Honoured IAMES RVDYERD, of Winchfield, Esq

PRIMORDIA: OR, THE Rise and Growth Of the FIRST CHURCH of GOD.

CHAP. I. Introduction. Adam why Created out of Paradise, and after brought in? Our first Parents Created in perfection, yet never offered to couple in their innocency, though they had such a command, with a blessing; and why? Why, also, they coveted Children after their fall? wherein their outward state of misery is pointed out.

CHAP. II. That our first Parents repented, and believed. That in token thereof they sacrificed, and taught their Children so. That Sacrifices were not of the light of Nature, against Pelagius; but of institution; though not to be proved but by inference, as the Lords Supper it self, and Infant-Baptism, and the Lords Day, and single Marriages.

CHAPTER. III. The subtilty of the modern Socinians. An abstract of their chief Tenents, and the main design to which they are all •ccommodated, noted. A ground-work laid against them in order to prove, That Sacrifices were offered by revelation, and not according to any possible invention of man.

CHAP. IV. That the Arguments of Socinians are taken from two of the weakest Topicks. A distinction offered to detect the first fallacy, betwixt a Law imperative and indicative. That Sacrifices were of the latter sort, proved, first, Because in all Ages God prescribed his own worship, and accepted no other. Secondly, Because illumination (in this case) preceded Sacrifice, shewed, 1. By the manner of acceptation of Cain's Offering.

CHAP. V. The 2. way laid down to shew an indicative Command, viz. Abel's Offering by a twofold Faith, First, Of the Object, viz. his Duty to sacrifice, which faith he had in common with Cain. Secondly, Of the promise, which was siducial, wherein his Sacrifice excelled, as being offered with bloud (which Cain's was not) and with respect to Christ. The Socinian varnish washed off. The second Head proved, viz. That Sacrifices were by a certain Law ab origine, because a certain penalty accrued to the omission of them before the Law of Moses.

CHAP. VI. Socinus's second Topick propounded to be examined, viz. Whether, because men might possibly invent Sacrifices, as not against the Law of Nature, it must needs follow that they had their rise from thence. A contrary way of arguing propounded, by way of demonstration, and the subtilty of his way noted. That there were divers other Laws before Moses, in force; shewed also that he did not record the Laws, but the practice only.

CHAP. VII. What maketh the Socinians talk so sleightly of Sacrifices. The inconcinnity and implications of their opinion, in part detected.

CHAP. VIII. The summ of our opinion related in the words of Eusebius Caesariensis. Sleight exceptions against them noted. Our opinion stated more at large. That it implies an inconvenience to oppose Socinus, and our opinion too. The Subject of the next Chapter laid down.

CHAP. IX. The Offering of Sacrifice revealed, 1. By the light of Grace. The ends of Sacrifice shewed, and the true reason of consuming it by fire. 2. By the light of Prophecy, as the Day of Christ to Abraham. That hereupon our first Parents must needs obey.

CHAP. X. The last shift of the Socinians discussed, wherein is shewed, That Sacrifices, neither probably nor (morally) possibly could be invented by men, so as to be approved by God. And that they had been unnatural, if they had not been ordained towards a mystery. Socinus not so pious as Pelagius, or Homer.

CHAP. XI. Why Abel cut off, and why without issue, viz. That the curse and the promise might obtain their respective turns. The Sentence of the Woman, as the weaker Vessel, lightest; and a blessing restored to her in the birth of the Seed promised. That Cain inherited Adam's curse, by his own choice. Of the City that he built, and how it might be peopled, so as to leave retinue enough to his Father Adam, and Brother Seth, besides.

CHAP. XII. Why God preserved Cham and Japhet in the Ark, as well as Sem. That though they followed the way of the old World, yet they were encreased in dominion (which was not the blessing promised) more than .Sem Nay, that he himself was greater in temporal accessions by other Sons, than by Eber.

CHAP. XIII. The knowledge of God dispersed in other Families, besides Sem's : but corruption in his also occasioned the Call of Abram. Why Lot came with him, and why he was driven into Egypt, and brought back so soon. Piety in Canaan while Sem lived there. Nor was the whole election at first restrained to the House of Abraham.

CHAP. XIV. That God's Command to Abram might not seem too hard, it pleased him to mollifie it with an ample Promise, only general at the first: Which he delayed about twenty eight years to exercise the faith of Abram, and repeated with some variety to the sixth time, after long intervals, Abram running divers hazards between. Abram is terrified by seeking of a sign, and why. Sarai thinking the promise not to be to her, weakly giveth Hagar to her Husband: yet divers mysteries in the coming of Ishmael betwixt the promise and the Son of promise.

CHAP. XV. At the fifth renewal of the promise God augmented the names of Abram and Sarai. And required a Covenant from Abraham and his Seed; the effect of which was, That he would be their God, and they should be his people. Why God required such a sign as Circumcision to be the token of the Covenant. Wherein the Glosses of Philo and Maimonides are detected. How Circumcision came to be in use in Egypt, and who of them received it. The right state propounded, as it was to be accommodated to the times of the Old Testament.

CHAP. XVI. The true ends of Circumcision, I. Civil, to distinguish them from other Heathen people or corrupted Worshippers; which was a Bridle to them, as restraining them from mixt marriages and fornication, and given as a mark to make them odious to the Gentiles, and the Gentiles an abhorrency to them. 2. Moral, to put them in mind of purity of heart. 3. Spiritual and Mystical, in respect, First, Of Abraham; Secondly, Of his Seed, and thirdly, houshold. 4. Of the whole Church. Why Ishmael must be circumcised, Arminius taxed; why the Sons of Keturah were also to be circumcised, and in fine all the Servants.

CHAP. XVII. Abraham's obedience so acceptable unto God, that he maketh himself known to him in a more familiar way than ever before. That Abraham knew nothing to the contrary why there might not be more righteous people in Sodom than his Brother Lot. His various peregrinations are recounted, and further Questions propounded to be enquired into.

CHAP. XVIII. Letters and Writing (most probably) from Adam, as also Altars. Of Cain and Abel, and the difference of Sacrifices; and of theirs in particular. Whether they offered in one place; and whether Adam offered for them, or they for themselves: Why Abel more accepted, and how Cain knew it.

CHAP. XIX. Altars of Monument for mercies and deliverances. Of Tokens for a Testimony or a Covenant betwixt God and man, and man and man. Of service for adoration, vows and sacrifices. Of the matter and form of them. Of those which Abraham made at Sichem, Mamre and Beersheba, with his Grove there, which was drawn into an ill example, and the like afterwards forbidden.

CHAP. XX Abraham had many Tents, and, as a Prince, had a Despotick Power over them, that (through all their Tents) were born in his house. That the Patriarchs occupied much Land, and were no burthen, but a profit to the Countries wherein they sojourned, viz. Freely in the wasts, where the Pasture was; and by Purchase, Covenant and Compromise, when they pitched near to any great City, or populous place. Of Abraham's purchase of a Field, and Jacob's of a parcel of one.

CHAP. XXI. Why the Patriarchs made it their first Work to erect Altars whereever they came. What their outward form of Worship was. Of the restraints and incommodities of the Patriarchs, as living in Tents, frugality of Diet, pa•city of entertainments, want of Fields, Gardens, Vineyards; whereby being hindred from sowing for themselves, they were ost distressed through Famine, if there was any scarcity abroad.

CHAP. XXII. Adam and Eve earnestly looked towards the promised Seed. Enoch lived an heavenly life, and Noah. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob much in private devotions. The Saints of the Old Testament lived not by temporal promises, nor rested in them: But they lived, and were saved by faith in Christ; Proved out of both Testaments, and one Objection answered.

CHAP. XXIII. The Church of the Old and New Testament but one. Christ made known in all his Offices before his incarnation. That he was King and Captain of his people, 1 Cor. 10. illustrated. That Christ was Mediator also of the first Covenant delivered by Moses.

CHAP. XXIV. It was necessary by reason of the Curse annexed to the first Covenant, that it should be delivered in the hands of a Mediator, who could be no other than Christ himself. God caused the Covenant of Works to be shut in a Chest under the Mercy-seat, and why? The benefit of Christ's mediation otherwise. The Vnity of the Spirit in both Testaments.

CHAP. XXV. Second Objection propounded, How that little which they knew could answer unto that justifying faith which we have now. First, The things that they believed considered, and shewed, That they amounted to as much as our Creed, less than which may be a ground of justifying faith. Secondly, For the manner of their faith, it was explicit. The distinction of explicit and implicit weighed; How much faith in them. Fiducial faith.

CHAP. XXVI. That the Israelites were not saved by a blind obedience, or any mere implicit faith only; but by a fiducial trust in the mercies of God, as they were exhibited in the Ark of the Covenant, and the Mercy-seat erected over it. That the Cherubims, erected at either end, represented the same Church, of one piece, of either Testament, looking towards Christ; who really dwelt (by his Divine presence) betwixt them, and so shewed himself their King and Prophet. The Argument of the next Chapter propounded.

CHAP. XXVII. The Kingdom given unto Christ for his Priesthood-sake; who as of the order of Melchizedek had an inner house and Altar, to which the house of Aaron owed reverence: That it was not properly an Altar, but bore some analogy; and was needful for the people. That the promises of God before the Law were virtually concealed in the Ark. A new Objection started.

CHAP. XXVIII. What resemblance the Ark bore unto an Altar; and how the Altar of Burnt-Offering was sanctified by it. That a Censer was only a necessary Vtensil, belonging to the Holy of Holies, to be used once a Year. That the whole Temple was hallowed by the Còvenant and Mercy-seat, shewed by Solomon's Dedication of it.

CHAP. XXIX. They intended t•at Covenant which God had made with Abraham, Isa•c and Jacob, by the sign of Circumcision, (and not that which they consented •o when they received the Law) upon which fundamental Covenant it was that God proclaim•d his Attributes of mercy to them; yet they were bound •o renew their own Covenant wh•n •hey sought for mercies. The presence of God in the Temple an Object of their faith; of which presence Christ was the Angel, otherwise known by the name of the loving kindness or tender mercies of God, to which they trusted more than to any of their services.

CHAP. XXX. Christ cloathed in his Word and promises, the adequate Object of saving faith; which he was to them as well as unto us: No naked Christ without these: No plerophory without them. So much of any promise as the Ancients laid hold of, so much of Christ they received in an implicit manner. There is somewhat implicit in faith, even in these days too.

CHAP. XXXI. Wherein the Saints of the Old Testament could not attain to so much as hath been since revealed. That the generality of them were blinded most (1.) by God's Providence, who would have 'Christ to come in the worst times, that he might be crucified; and so obtain his Kingdom. And that the Disciples themselves should be held in like obscurity with other misled Disciples of the Scribes, lest they should indis•r•etly offer to hinder the ministry of Christ. (2.) By Satan's malice, to work the destruction of the Jewish Church and people; chie•ly by the perverseness of the Pharisees. Different apprehensions concerning Jewish Learning. The close of this Argument.

CHAP. XXXII. Shewing the providence of God over his people Israel, according to the Blessing promised of their multiplying; in respect of fruitfulness, and of protection in Egypt (however hardly used otherwise) from Famine, War and Pestilence. That the indulgence of Concubines might contribute much to the number of their encrease. That in an ordinary way of computatio• (without flying unto Twins, or any other miracles) out of seventy persons only, the Muster-Roll of Moses might easily arise.

CHAP. XXXIII. That a great number came along with the house of Jacob; for Abraham had a great Train, Isaac more, Jacob all they left, and such as he brought with him from Padan-aram. Six Objections propounded: And two fundamental Arguments for the Thesis.

CHAP. XXXIV. Certain Corollary Rules preliminary to the answering of the first Objection. That Jacob sent his Sons to Joseph, as a foreign Prince, for a favour; but not unaccompanied; considering, 1. Their concern; 2. What weight of money they might take with them in so many Bundles, if only to lade ten Asses. 3. What the length and hazard of the way. The four next Objections briefly answered.

CHAP. XXXV. The last Objection answered, by shewing, That the circumcised Servants were part of Jacob's household, that could not be parted withal, without loss, scandal and prejudice to the Church of God; as being, 1. Children of the faith of Abraham. 2. Graffed into his Seed by intermarriages. 3. Distinct in Genealogy. 4. Yet (possibly) some snare unto the Israelites, by retaining a smack of their old Idolatry.

CHAP. XXXVI. That the simplicity of the Scripture (contrary to the Romances of the Heathen Writers) maketh little state of great Secular matters, relating to the Church; Shewed by instances of Abraham and Jacob; yet Joseph (as a Statesman in Egypt) observed Ceremonies in the reception and introduction of his Father and Brethren. That the Israelites built not in Egypt, but by constraint.

CHAP. XXXVII. Th• Israelites had toleration in Egypt, as to offer Sacrifices during Ioseph's life; Afterwards, denied them. That contrary Religions are sooner tolerated than diversities of the same. That there was but one Religion in Satan's Kingdom, how many Gods soever the Heathen worshipped. Jews (at this day) tolerated much at the like rate that they were before.

CHAP. XXXVIII. How Joseph might live in Pharaoh's house, And be free from Egyptian superstition. What private Religion he might have; What godly people near him? What Vnion he had with the Church Catholick, or his Fathers house. That he lived by faith, like Daniel in Babylon; yet the want of Ordinances such a trouble to him as to David.

CHAP. XXXIX. Of the Vnity of the Church in respect to Election, in the general (perplexities noted) more especially in respect to the house of Jacob, wherein all were chosen; whereas in the house of Abraham and Isaac, there was but one received as Heir of the promise. Reasons to be given for their rejection: and so, might have been in Jacob's house too, whose errours are recorded.

CHAP. XL. The Sons of Jacob compared in their vertues and vices: The latter aggravated, and excused. Why Pharez, born of incest, should be so great in Judah, and inherit the promise at the last.

CHAP. XLI. Pursuing the same Argument, and opening the Law of Leviration, by which Pharez was restored. Other marked persons not blot to the Genealogy of Christ.

A LETTER In ANSWER to a QUESTION Propounded by the Authour, viz. CONCERNING The multiplying of the Children of Israel in Egypt.

A SECOND QUESTION Propounded by the Author, viz. CONCERNING The multiplying of Mankind until the Floud.

Mr RUDYERD's ANSWER TO THE Second Question.

Books Printed for, and Sold by RICHARD CHISWELL.

Books lately Printed for Richard Chiswell.

Books in the Press.

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PRIMORDIA: OR, THE RISE and GROWTH Of the FIRST Church of God DESCRIBED.

By THO. TANNER, M.A. J.C. and Rector of Winchfield in Hampshire.

To which are added Two LETTERS of Mr RVDYERD's, in Answer to two QUESTIONS propounded by the Author: One about The Multiplying of Mankind until the Floud. The other concerning The Multiplying of the Children of Israel in Egypt.

Quod primum verum.

LONDON, Printed for Ric. Chiswell, at the Rose and Crown in S Paul's Church-yard. MDC LXXXIII.

TO THE Much Honoured IAMES RVDYERD, of Winchfield, Esq

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SIR,

SInce it hath been a Custome from one Generation to another, for all sorts of Writers to creep into [Page] the Light at first with their well-set Apologies; it may justly seem in vain now (when there is nothing left to be said) for me to travel in that kind, wherein the Wits themselves have been stranded (as it were) before: But as for Vs, who are Divines by Our Profession, it might possibly be better to confess ingenuously, That it is as much our duty (as occasion or acceptance may oblige us) to Write as to Preach the truth. Nor can such an exigency be ever wanting while they that are weary of our Scribbling, will [Page] help off our Impressions: for they see some reason for it. And it is most likely to be this, They may perceive that all is not truth that is in Print; but much more that disguised truth is the fittest of all to serve the turn of errour; which is not of the like consequence in reference unto all opinions. For how we shall be saved is another matter than how we shall be re-imbursed with a Notion only. We have as frequent need to bring all Metals to the Touchstone or the Scale, as the Goldsmiths have, and in [Page] certain Points to be scrupulous, even to a Grain, since the Filings of Gold are precious.

Wherefore as for this Essay in pa [...]ticular, which I have desired to present unto the common light through Your hands, I must confess, Sir, that although I wrote it not on purpose to oblige or disoblige an [...] Party; yet I cannot be unsensible, that as it cometh home to certain Points at which I aimed not at first; so there may be divers that may take themselves to be more concerned [Page] in it than I was aware: for whose sakes I may be the more sorry, that I have also written in some confusion, rather as Books came to my hand, in this obscurity (as You know best, who have been my chiefest Lender) than as my method lay in the first Scheme, wherein it was designed. And if I beg leave here to give You a further Prospect into that than I have done before, the rest of my Observers may be prepared the better for it.

Since the Prime Antiquity is the only Standard both of [Page] Truth and Purity, and the Scripture it self (tanquam Index sui, & obliqui) the only Rule whereby to prove the Reports of Ancient Writers, which may be many ways seduced, or imposed on by others; I thought by comparing these together to set forth what I could discover of the true Church, from the first beginning to the end (at least) of the first Century after Our Lord's Nativity; having a due regard both to the outward and inward Constitution of it, waving or referring unto others, what I [Page] found done to my content before. I weighed with my self the Subterfuges of the Papists, in writh'd or feign'd Antiquities only; and of divers modern Sects, in the real obscurity of the first Ages, both of the Old and New Testaments: which it may be divers of them would rather wish to be left under a Standing Veil still, than to be discovered by any other Lights than their own. And if I say no more at first, it may be 'tis because I know not how far I may be able to proceed, though I have the [Page] whole Substance in my rude Draughts already.

I have been informed, that the Great Bishop Montague had designed to accomplish a Refutation of Baronius's Annals; but he lived to finish little else (of that Design) beyond his Apparatus. And that it was among the Belli Pensieri of Mr. Cowley, to ‘take a review of the original Principles of the Primitive Church. Which he purposed should reach to Our Saviour's, and the Apostles Lives, and [Page] their immediate Successors, for four or five Centuries, till Interest or Policy prevail'd over true Devotion.’ But alas! for ought appears, these dyed with him.

But what shall I say for my self at last, in that I have not only thrust these Papers forth under Your Name in the Front, but also fortified my self with the same in the Rere, by pressing one or two unusual Requests from You? For the first, sure it can be thought no other than the least expression of gratitude [Page] (howsoever rude) that can be made (as the World goes now) to an uncorrupted Patron. And for the second, let them that blame Your condescension, but shew first that they are able to acquit themselves as well, or (at least) to imitate Your Example; and then they shall escape the better in exchange of censures: In the mean while it is no matter who shall tell them, That Learning and Vertue, such as Yours, in an Ancient House, is the Elder Nobility, and like to raise You [...]o more Esteem [Page] among the better Spirits, and to oblige other kind of thanks than mine, who am,

SIR,

Your most affectionate and humble Servant, THO. TANNER.

Winchfield, August the 20th 1682

PRIMORDIA: OR, THE Rise and Growth Of the FIRST CHURCH of GOD.

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CHAP. I. Introduction. Adam why Created out of Paradise, and after brought in? Our first Parents Created in perfection, yet never offered to couple in their innocency, though they had such a command, with a blessing; and why? Why, also, they coveted Children after their fall? wherein their outward state of misery is pointed out.

BY what degrees and means the Divine Power and Wisdom would erect a Kingdom to himself, distinct from all the Nations, which [Page]he suffered to walk in their own ways, Acts 14.16. is the scope of these reserches: to the end, that we may come to know (at last) what manner of Kingdom that should be, which God would give unto his only Son. Who being to derive his flesh from the first Adam, we cannot chuse but begin from the head of all; and observe somewhat concerning his state, that hath either escaped some Writers, or been wisely passed o're by others to evade perplexity.

Gen. 1.26, 27. & 2.8.As for Adam (then) the School-men have observed, that he was created out of Paradise, and after brought in: from which some of them would inferr, and argue,Si hom [...] non pe [...]âsset, tota terra velut Paradisus quidam, ab hominibus generatione multiplicandis, incolenda s [...]it [...]; licèt ille Paradisus, in quo positus dicitar Adam, esset ins [...]gnior cat [...]is, ideoque primo [...]omini attributus, quatenus gene [...]is principi. Est. in lib. 2. sent. dist. 25. § 2. That he was not created in Grace, but in his pure naturals; and that he was endued with supernatural Gifts, when he came to be instated there. To which some others have fitly applyed this Answer: That if Adam had not sinned, the whole Earth would have been a kind of Paradise to the sons of men; but that, that which was set forth for Adam, was adorned for him (in a special manner) as the Prince, and head [Page] of all mankind; to be his residence, and mansion (which as it is described, comprised many regions) while his Children, to be born, had all the rest before them.

Whereas, if there be any mystery at all to be observed in it, it may seem to have been this, That God would not leave Adam, to abide in the wide world (at large) as his own master, and Lord of all besides, without any homage to be paid to himself, his Maker; and therefore, that he would impale him (without confinement) within a certain glorious place, wherein he would be worshipped, in a more especial manner, by him and his, that were to constitute an holy Church in the state of innocency, if he had held it. Unto which intent, God took Adam into a kind of implicit Covenant (but not the same with that, which some do take for the Covenant of Works) with himself, and to the ordinance of the Sabbath, he annexed (as a kind of Sacraments) the Tree of knowledge for his caution;Gen. 2.2, 3, 9. and the Tree of Life for his comfort,Gen. 2.17. as a pledge of immortal felicity, in case of his obedience. But when Adam fell from this, it gave occasion unto God to excommunicate,Gen. 3.22, 23, 24. and send him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till [Page]the [common] ground, from whence [...] had been taken, into that consecrated place.

Now, although it be manifest by it self, that our first Parents were created in perfection, inasmuch as God blessed them (as soon as he had done) and said unto them,Gen. 1.28.be fruitful, and multiply; yet, no Christian ever did presume to think R. Iarchi tamen asserit Adamum, ante praevaricationem, genuisse Cainum, quia praeceptum su [...]rat, crescite, &c. At Doctores Catholici statuunt cos è Paradiso egressos Virgines: praeceptum vero expectasse tempus debitum, [...]t varii Coment. in G [...]n. that there was any offer of copulation between them in the Garden: whether, because they had no burning blood in them, but were like to other tame creatures (that retain their native innocence) which have no desire, but at certain seasons, when men observe to joyn them: Or, whether it was so ordered (according to the foreknowledge of God) that no kind of inconvenience might ensue; for, if Adam had had but one Son, born in innocency, then all mankind could not have fallen together, in Adam's person; but the state of Men might have proved like to that of Angels, whereof some left their first station, while others held it: Or, if Eve had but conceived in her integrity, that conception (not having been [Page] shapen in iniquity, Psal. [...]51.5. could scarce have been said to have been born in sin; or to have sinned in its Parents loins: So that it might have been justly questioned, how far such an issue might be lyable to, or exempted from, the consequents of sin, in reference unto punishment?Ezek. 1 [...].4. for he saith, Behold all souls are mine; as the soul of the Father, so also the soul of the Son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

But as soon as they were fallen, and yet (in mercy) respited from sudden death, they began to long for posterity; both to supply their own mortality, and also to obtain the blessed seed, that had been promised to them for their recovery.

In the next place, therefore, we have to contemplate the greatest beauties, and the most accomplisht souls that ever were, (as coming immediately, out of the hands of the [...], or first Former of all mankind, in them) thrust forth to dig, or till the ground, that had been newly curs'd with barrenness. But what shall they dig, or cut withal? He that made all living creatures made no tools: Nay he hid the Iron within the earth, so that without Iron it is not easie to come by it: or if [Page] Adam find any in the stony mass, above ground, what should he do with it, if the use of the forge was not known till Tubal-Cain was born, above a hundred years after? But it seems that Tubal was an improver rather than an inventer: For the Text says only,Gen. 4.22. that he was the instructer of every [Arti [...]icer] (as if there were Artificers before) in brass and iron. It makes no matter, since we find that the Indians in America had Bows and Arrows, and comely Tents, having only ways to sharpen stones, and fish-bones, without the use of Iron, before they learnt it hence. And we will suppose our father Adam to have been much more handy and ingenious, than those bruitish peoples and the better workman needs the fewe [...] tools, and helps: for what could [...]ve do, who must be taken up (for her part) to make some thing or other of skins, or wooll, to be spun, or wove, or patcht, for cloaths and clou [...]s against her lying-in?

Then she could have no other but her Husband instead of Midwife, Nurse, and Tender; and before she could have any child to be officious to her, what a deal must lie upon her hands? And whereas she had this heavy sentence [Page] from the Lord?Gen. 3.16. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, and thy conception: In sorrow shalt thou bring forth Children: and thy desire shall be to thy Husband [for more.] Judge what she might suffer, by bearing and nursing Children, in her time, if she lived proportionably unto Adam, nine hundred and thirty years, and bare (one year with another) but three hundred of them. To which misery, this was also to be added; she must needs bear the seed of the Serpent as well as her own, and not know which was which, till they should be grown: when she should have more sorrow with one Cain, than in bearing all the rest. And thus we have surveyed some part of their outward punishment for sin.

CHAP. II. That our first Parents repented, and believed. That in token thereof they sacrificed, and taught their Children so. That Sacrifices were not of the light of Nature, against Pelagius; but of institution; though not to be proved but by inference, as the Lords Supper it self, and Infant-Baptism, and the Lords Day, and single Marriages.

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NOR can we doubt, but that our first Parents, seeing into what a state they had brought themselves, did earnestly repent, and embrace the promise of the blessed Seed, and understand so much of the meaning of it as was for their use and comfort. Neither could they live without fear thereafter, of sinning (again) by the like disobedience: For by occasion of their sin, they came to see into the horrour of eternal death, which remained as the utmost punishment thereof, and which they could not understand so well before.

[...]r [...]naeus l. 3. [...]ontra Haer. cap. 34, &c. Eppihan. Her. 46, [...]7.And this truth the Catholick Church hath ever held with so much zeal, that it hath taxed Tatianus and the Encratitae, of [Page] Heresie, for holding to the contrary. For (say they) if these were not saved, of whom Christ was to be born, Nihil quicquam eorum massae salvabitur, Nothing of their mass can ever be saved. And if they were to perish, certainly the whole Church of God was once at a loss and failure; which, that it might not be, God had no sooner excommunicated them out of his Temple of Paradise, but he took them into the Church of Christ, the State of Grace; whereinto he called them by repentance Deus utrum (que) poslquam peccârunt, non dereliquit, sed increpando requisivit, & adpoenitentiam vocavit: & ut eos in majorem spem veniae erigeret, promisit Semen ex Muliere nasciturum, quo aliquando conter [...]ret [...]r Caput Serpentis, qui cos ad transgressionem Divinae Legis induxerat. Est. in 1. 2. d. 33. §. 10., and faith in his blessed promise. He did not leave them so soon as they had left him, but he brought them about again, by reproving of their sin, and setting a better hope before them than they had deserved.

And the effects themselves will shew it: For they not only submitted unto their punishments with thankfulness, in that they were delivered both from sudden and eternal death; but also o [...]ered continual Sacrifices and Oblatitions unto God, both of their Herds and Flocks and Fruits and all their encrease or acquists, that they had; and so they [Page] taught their Children all alike, that God might be glorified in all, and their Children become Partakers of the same hope, which themselves, through mercy, had received. Now,

As for Sacrifices, we may well think that it could not lightly enter into their heads to invent them; but if they had, that God himself was unlikely to be so well pleased with their will-worship, as, first, to accept, and after, to make a standing Ordinance of them (with the addition of many more Rites) till the fulness of time should be accomplished: Nor is it easie to discover how this kind of service (which was a Type and a Mystery) came to be first revealed to them.

I cannot pass the Porch of this Argument, but I shall meet Pelagius ready to oppose me with the first; For it follows from his opinion, That Sacrifices were but of the light of Nature only, if the Fathers, Pelagius docuit primos post peccatum homines, sal [...]atos suisse per Legem Naturae; pos [...]eriores per Legem Mosis; postremos vero per Evangelium Chris [...]i, quasi [...]ine gratiâ Christi, vel Natura, vel Moses cuiquam potuerit prodesse ad salutem. Est. in l. 3. sent. d. 1. § 3. from Adam to Moses, lived by no other light; as from Moses to Christ, by the Law; and we at last by Grace [Page] (by him also Pelagius vero, cùm gratiam Dei omninò negare non posset, docebac [...]am in libero arbitrio, in Lege data, in exemplo Chrisli▪ &c. sitam es [...]e. Id. in l. 2. sent. d. 26. §. 18. Naturalis gratia ha [...]ent [...]r bona gubernationis, &c. ut & dona naturalia scientiae, & morum: quanquam gratia significavit antiquitus donum aliquod supernaturalis Ordinis, alque dovec Pelagius abus [...] est boc nomine, ad significandum solam Naturam gratis creatam. Alvar. disp. 1. de auxiliis. Quam gratiam sussecisse ad salutem, secundùm P [...]lagium▪ resert etiam Voss. Hist. Pelag. l. 3 th. 1. perperam intellectam.)

As for the practice it self, there is no doubt: for although we do not read that Adam himself did make any Sacrifice or Oblation,Gen. 4. yet we find that in process of time, Cain (being a Tiller of the [newly accursed] ground) brought of the fruits thereof an Offering unto the Lord▪ And Abel (being a Keeper of the Sheep amongst which the immaculate Lamb was) brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. Which how should they do, but by their Parents directions▪ That Abraham offered the Tent [...] of his spoils unto Melchisedeck;Chap. 14. and that Iacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, &c. then shall the Lord be thy God, and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. [...] Ch. 28.20 If to Sacrifices, what should he add? If to any Priesthood, after the disappearing of Melchisedeck, where was the like o [...]der? If to [Page] any other pious uses (since the Building of Altars of Earth or loose Stones was of little charge, and Poor he had none) Expositors are troubled to shew them; unless there be some light arising out of those words,—ver. 22. And this Stone which I have set for a Pillar, shall be Gods House; as if he had designed, like David, to erect a Temple over his Altar, if it had pleased God to permit him. Only it is manifest that these things were revealed (ab initio) from the very first.

Not by the light of Nature: For then, 1. Adam in innocency had been bound to sacrifice; 2. Since Christ's death, Sacrifices also would be in force as much as the rest of the Laws of Nature; 3. It seemeth rather abhorrent unto Nature to shed the blood of Beasts in vain; so that many of the Heaten Philosophers have seemed to symbolize with those passages of the Psalmist,Psal. 51.16. Thou desirest not Sacrifice, thou delightest not in Burnt-offerings. Will I eat the flesh of Bulls,—50.13.or drink the blood of Goats?

Indeed it is a Question among the School-men, whether Christ should have been incarnate, though Adam had not sinned; but it was never doubted, whether he should have been crucified without [Page] out it. And that the slaying of Beasts prefigured this, the common consent of Christians hath made it manifest, who ever since the death of Christ, did not only cease to sacrifice, but declare all sacrificing to be a denial of it, and a crucifying of Him afresh. And the power of God hath so wrought, that whereever the Gospel came, the Heathen Sacrifices also decayed by degrees. Nay, that where it came not (to our knowledg) as in America, and the utmost Indies, the sacrificing of any Beasts was not found in use when later Travellers came amongst them. But why they were in use all the World over, before the coming of Christ, no other reason can be given than that Adam, first, and after Noah, taught their Children all alike to offer Sacrifice. But as it went, it gathered manifold corruptions: for whereas Adam and Abel (as Selden and Bertram judg Selden de jure naturali, & Gentium juxtadisciplinam Ebraeor. l. 3 c. 8. & quia Noachus munda ab immundis segregavit. Gen. 7.2. Item Bertr. de Rep. Ebr. cap. 2. Illud non praeter [...]undum, non sicut ips [...] Sacrificia, ita omnia, quae prophanae Gentes ad Sacrificia adhibuerant, adscita [...]uisse in Dei sacra: nec enim omnia Animantium, nec Rituum sacrificalium genera eadem in populi Isra [...]litici, a [...] Gentium a'iarum, sacris [...]rant. Ou [...]am de Sacrificiis, lib. 1. cap. 1. put a difference betwixt the clean and unclean in their Sacrifices; the Gentiles afterwards offered Swine, and all abominations, [Page] even Vt notum est de Poenis, Phoenicibus, Syris. DeGallis etiam Caesar: pro vitâ hominis nisi vita hominis reddatu [...], non posse D [...]orum Immortalium numen placari arbitrantur. De Bello Gall. lib. 6. Mankind, unto some or other of their Idols; and by erecting Altars for Sacrifice unto other men, they did translate them into the number of their reputed Deities. But so much by occasion of Pelagius.

On another hand, who will dare to say, That it was lawful to sacrifice (which was the special Sacrament of the Old Testament, in lieu of which the Papists would set up their Sacrifice of the Altar, tanquam incruentum only, as a proper Sacrifice of the like kind) without an institution? Or who can shew the institution before the practice? A Point that is like to move the Kidney in two sorts of men.

The first can never prove, That God did directly institute this Ordinance of sacrificing, the most substantial part of his worship, which, no doubt, from Adam unto Moses (whatever he added to it) was not without confession and bewailing of sins, so far as the Sacrifices were Sin-offerings, that is, of expiation or atonement; or without prayers, if they were but Peace-offerings, or Sacrifices of propitiation for obtaining of benevolence; nor without certain words [Page] of Benediction, or Thanksgiving, when they were oblations of inanimate things for the blessings that God had bestowed, or continued to them. How do they then stand so stiffly on it, that nothing is to be admitted in the worship and service of God, without a positive command, extending to all the material circumstances, (at the least) when they cannot find so much as a syllable of the substance of this first Sacrament at all?

In the New Testament, we find no institution neither (which will touch them nearer still) of the Lords Supper itself (which all hold for an Ordinance, and a Sacrament, [...]; and it may be a weak pretence, why they excuse so many from coming to it, and keep so many more from it:) For when our Lord gave it to his Disciples, he only shewed them an example, as to some part of the manner (not observable, or observed since, in point of conscience; as to be celebrated at the Passover, or in the midst, or after Supper; or sitting, kneeling, standing; or with or without any form or gift of Prayer, more than blessing or asking of a blessing, before the breaking of the bread and pouring out of the wine) but as if he left them at an ingenuous liberty, according [Page] to their own good will, or love;1 Cor. 11.25, 26. he only saith, As oft as ye do this, do it in remembrance of me: not so much as directing them how oft to do it.

In the like manner St Paul, —v. 23. I have received of the Lord (whether by tradition, or report, or example of the Apostles at Ierusalem, and the Churches of their first planting, or by special revelation) that which I also delivered unto you, setting forth no more but only Christ's own example. Will they therefore wholely deny any institution, by way of implicit precept? or raise example in some one case, or two, as high as a precept; and in many more, of great importance, study to dwindle it to nothing?

As for Baptism, indeed, our Lord speaks positively, and expresly (as if they might inferr, that this ordinance of initiation were only instituted; and not the other, which they account worthily, of greater excellency) Go teach all Nations, Matt. 28.19. baptizing them, Mark 16.15. &c. but say the Anabaptists, baptize only such as ye have taught before, and not Infants, which could not understand you; contrary to the universal practice of the Church, succeeding in the next age from the Apostles, as deriving from the first: Shall we [Page] therefore stand strictly to the institution (as some account institution) and deny Baptism unto Infants?

No, say others, that is utterly unreasonable.Gen. 2.2, 3. Yet some of these will scarce acknowledge that those express words,Exod. 20.11. God rested on the s [...]venth day, and therefore blessed the seventh day, and sanc [...]ified it, did amount to any institution, as to Adam in Paradise, or his Children afterwards,Vide [...]tiam plura de hac qu. in Seldeno, loco supra citato & cap. 9. sequen [...]e. affirming that the Patriarchs did not keep it, because they do not read that they did, (as if God were obliged to be as punctual in his Commands and Records as men, if he would be obeyed) but that it was of Moses first; not considering, or not weighing what St Paul says,Gal. 3. that the Law of Moses was added only because of transgressions: and therefore because in [...]gypt (it is like) this Observation had been neglected, God would have the transgression of this his original Institution to become Capital for the future. Nor yet, that Moses brought in no new Institutions at all, but of Rites and Circumstances relating to the Iewish Church and Commonwealth alone. And although the Sabbath be not of the Law of nature, yet I doubt not Videsis que fusius de hác re disseruit Selden. de jure natur. &c. l. 3. cap. 8. & 9. but it obliged all Nations from [Page] Adam, as the penalty did the Iews alone by virtue of the Law of Moses.

The same men (that they may preserve the greater veneration to the Customs of the Church) though Christ arose on the first day of the Week, (the seventh being the first day to Adam also,Gen. 1.31. who was created on the sixth) and sent the Holy Ghost on the same, and the Disciples met on the same to break Bread, (in no common way) and that St Paul saith expresly,1 Cor. 16.1, 2. Concerning the collection for the Saints, as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia, so do ye. Vpon the first day of the Week let every one contribute, as God hath prospered him; do notwithstanding hold, that the Lords Day is but of even rank with other Holy days that the Church observes, as if it were of Ecclesiastical Tradition only, and not of Institution; whereas it may be shewn when other Feasts began successively, and demonstrated that the Lords Day began from Easter and Whitsunday, (fifty days after) and so continued without any interruption hitherto, as hath happened unto all the rest.

But if all this amount not to an institution, in vain do they object against the Anabaptists that which they may so readily [Page] retort. For may not they say, Why do not you hold the Lords Day to be jure Divino? Is it not for the same reason that we hold Infant-Baptism to be nothing so?

The like might be said of single Marriage,Gen. 2.23, 24. That it was instituted or ordained in Paradise as an implicite positive Law, dispensed with (for a time) by the Law-giver unto the Patriarchs, and Divorces indulged to the Israelites (till Christ came) for the hardness of their hearts. Matth. 19.4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Mark 10.5, 6, 7, 8. Eph. 5.31, 32. But when he says, From the beginning it was not so, without more words he revives the Primitive Institution. So that where the Scripture speaks but little, there is much to be understood;John 21.25. for if all should be written at large, the world it self could not contain the Books that should be written. It remains therefore that we think otherwise of Institutions than some men do: And, for all these two Institutions in Paradise, (viz. of the Sabbath and of single Marriage) that we do not presently imagine, Cautione adhibitaâ contra Socinum, qui censet Adamum ante pecc [...]sse, quàm comed ret, [...]ametsi sola comessione à slat [...] excideret. that though Adam had not eaten of the forbidden Fruit, he might have fallen some other way; but rather that he was under a Sacramental Guard before he made a breach upon Gods injuction.

CHAPTER. III. The subtilty of the modern Socinians. An abstract of their chief Tenents, and the main design to which they are all [...]ccommodated, noted. A ground-work laid against them in order to prove, That Sacrifices were offered by revelation, and not according to any possible invention of man.

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BUT (to resume our Argument about the original of Sacrifices) the modern Pelagians (learning how to ward the Passes that pressed home upon their Founder) espied this to be one, That if Sacrifices had been of the light of Nature, it would have been written there indelebly, as with a Sun-beam, at the same time that Adam received the Image of God; or (if there be any difference) if it were of the Law of Nature, mens consciences could not chuse but bear witness to it,Rom. 2.15.their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another, according to the performance or omission of their Sacrifices; and this as much before the Fall as after: whereupon they bethought themselves of such a subterfuge [Page] as this,Referente Outramo lib. 1. c. 1. §. 6. in haec verba, Hi, qui sua sponte pririò sa [...] judicant, bun [...] sacri [...]ic [...]i Rit [...]m ad Naturea [...] dictas, [...]ternas, [...]lique [...], & immutabiles non reser [...]nt; sed ad ejus [...]nodi Instituta, quae ratio naturalis [...]xcogitaverit, tanguam [...] icuum Dei cultum apt [...], & idonea, &c Contra sententiam Antiquoram, qui Sacrificia isla ignita, ex jussu, seu inspiratione Numinis, cum caeteris ad cultum necessari [...], originem babuisse tradid [...]runt. Uti probant Alex. Halens. p. 4. membr. 6. & Scot. in sent. 4. dist. 1. quaest. 7. viz. That Sacrifices were offered unto God of m [...]ns own accord, not accord [...]g to the Laws of Nature properly so called, (which are eternal, immutable, confirmed, and far from being abolished by Christ himself) but according to such institutes thereof as natural reason might excogitate as apt and sit for the conspicuous worship of God. v. gr. To offer the best of the Flock [like an Herriot] unto God in acknowledgment of his dominion and power and bounty; but more especially as the Lord of life and death, in token of homage, as other Offerings in token of thanksgiving for their encrease. Which is the most favourable opinion of such as do but socinianize, and so double-refine upon him, who thought he had refined Pelagius before. Neque mirum, inquiunt, se quae primi illi homines Deo sacra faciebant, ea igne absumenda curarent, u [...]pote quod faciendum erat, ne quod Deo sacratum fuit, ad usus prophanos transferretur, quod aliter accidere potuisset. For they [Page] say it was no wonder, but most natural that the Ancients should consume by fire that which they had dedicated unto God, lest any remainders of them should hap to be afterwards converted to prophane uses. Which doth not amount to so much as the Heathen did imagine, who thought their Sacrifices to be sanctified by that Celestial Element of fire. Or the Iewish Rabbins, (enemies unto Christ, or any mystery relating unto him) for they held,D• Lig [...]t [...]oot's Temple Service ch. 8.§ 1. ‘That Burnt-offerings were to expiate for matters whereupon there was a penalty; and that the Body of the Beast that was sacrificed did serve to expiate, even for the thoughts of the heart.’ From which we may collect, That they also thought their Offerings to have been purified by the [...]ir [...] of the Altar.

Now I can hardly forbear (at the first entrance) to declare my opinion, That whoever doubteth [...]o deny, that Sacrifices came in ure by the use of natural reason, (e [...]cogitating any acceptable service unto God) or to determine and affirm with us, that they came in by institution only, according to the illumination of the very first Patriarchs, and were not essential to salvation before Moses; they can hardly [Page] come so clearly off from Pelagianism or Socinianism, as to oppose them ab imis fundamentis, but must needs yield Goliah's Sword to gratifie them. Neither yet that they can heartily acknowledge this fundamental Principle, Vn [...]m esse omnium fidem, that there was but one faith and way of salvation from the beginning, I mean since the Fall, (which I am shortly about more clearly to demonstrate) till the end. I shall therefore immediately betake my self to compare opinions, that contraria juxta se pos [...]ta, magis illucescant, contraries being set one against another, the truth may arise the brighter out of all obscurity, the one setting off the other.

When we meet with any Divine Notions among the Heathen Writers (which are not a few) we may take all the rest, that they had not from the Phoenicians (by which name they seem to have known in general the Hebrew people) to have been clearly from the light of Nature, or from some old Traditions, traduced by their Poets, which were their ancientest Philosophers. When there are any Passages quoted out of the Iewish Rabbins in favour of any Gloss or Tenent, we are to consider whether that [Page] Author lived before our Saviours birth, or after: If before, how far suspicious of the leven of the Pharisees; if after, how much tainted with the reprobate imaginations of the unbelieving Iews, (which yet some do swallow as a Loche;) or, in fine, how far free from contradiction, (those blinded people, out of hatred to Christianity, having many ways belied one another, in delivering of their pretended Rites and Traditions.) In Christian Controversies, where the Authority of Fathers and Councils is quoted, the times, circumstances, occasions, interests and powers, are either to be added or substracted, as Grains are in the weight of Gold. But the present scope and design of Parties may seem to give us the best light (if we can discover it) into modern opinions, what to judge of them. I will therefore here endeavour to detect that of the Socinians, (as far as I am able) because it stands in my way now, and is like to stand in my light hereafter, (as I proceed) if I do not utterly remove it.

The design of Socinianism is not to destroy all Religion, without which they could not make a Sect; nor yet to deny the Gospel in express terms, (lest they [Page] be questioned of Iudaism or Mahumetism, which would work nothing else to their purpose besides a prejudice) but by consequence only. Yet because they draw as near to the Borders of Atheism as those of Poland do to the Grand Seignior's, they have a mighty [...]orce (as it were) of Cossacks, that pretend indeed as if they were of that Sect, but really hang betwixt that and utter Atheism. Their main foundation is, That men might and may be saved by the light of Nature in things Divine and moral.

To second which Hypothesis, E praelectionibus th [...]olog. F. S [...] cini Senensis, sparsim. amongst others, these are some of the chief, First▪ That men argue so from Scripture, a [...]f they did (in effect) but adhere to their own opinions, according to their light of reason, or capacity of reasoning; taking only the Subject of it to furnish their apprehensions with some more probable matter of believing, and generally seem to adhere unto that common reason, whereof they accuse Socinians only. Secondly, That there is not naturally a sense of the Being and Providence of God in men, but that it is a matter of Faith only to believe that God is. Heb. 11.6.. Thirdly, That natural Religion is only moral, and that he which is just shall be saved, [Page] though he believe not whether there be a God or no; and to believe more, they are only bound to whom more hath been revealed. Fourthly, That there was no such thing as original righteousness in Adam (but only innocency) before the Fall; nor as original sin, ensuing thereupon, or any imputation of his sin at all to his Posterity: (For he holds that Adam was mortal in Paradise, though he might have been continued in life, or have been translated if he had not si [...]ned that sin (though he did others in inordinate affections, at the least, before) and that his Posterity was little the worse for it, although somewhat.) Fifthly, That Christ (though a more Divine Person than any other) neither justly could, nor did satisfie for sin; so that his righteousness can be any way said to be imputed: but th [...]t men are justified by simple condonation only. Sixthly, That he was given to us, chiefly as an example, to shew us that way to Heaven, which else it would have been hard for us to find. Seventhly, That as Adam had freewill before he fell, so all his Posterity hath still; since there is no cause why he should be deprived of it by his Fall, nor the nature of the thing it self, nor of [Page] Divine Justice so admitting. Eighthly, That by the right use of this, a man may obey the Divine Law. Ninthly, That Predestination unto life is of such as shall do so, according to the foreknowledge of God. Tenthly, That such foreknowledge relieth on no Decree,Cui [...]nim usui, obsecro, is [...]a praenotio esset? Annon fatis est, D [...]n c [...]n [...]la regere perpetu [...], ac g [...]b [...]nare, n [...] [...]pso plan [...] nelente quidquam fieri posse? S [...]a cura ubique semper, [...]ta scientiâ, ac potentiâ suâ praest [...] esse, ut omnes ho [...]inis conatus & perspicere, & si sibi visum suerit, impedire posse [...], insin [...]aque suâ sa [...]i [...]ntiâ ( [...]uicquid homo [...]oliatur, aut moliri [...]) omnia ad sui gloriam [...]; & quà rationi, prout hominis conatus suerit, sibi, ag [...]ndu [...] sit, ja [...], ant [...]a, si it [...] placet, constituisse? cap. 9. but is like to the foresight only of a prudent man, including no contingences.

Now according unto these Principles, if Christ himself was not made a S [...]crifice for sin, (nor needed) but only suffered martyrdom, as the Prophets before, to instruct us in the way of patience, meekness,Cap. 10. respondend [...] ad 1 Pet. 1.20. or the like (as Socinus teacheth more expresly afterwards) what should they do but talk contemptuously of Sacrifices from the first to the last, as indeed they do? For what say others of his Followers? When we urge them thus, Would such a righteous man as Abel imbrue his hands in the bloud of a Beast, and burn it, as an Offering acceptable unto God, if it had been no way [Page] revealed to him, that with such Sacrifices God was well pleased? [...] Outram. ubi supra. Nobis, inquiunt, quibus alii mores, aliae Religiones inveter [...]runt, non est temere judicandum, tanto temporis intervallo, quid alteri in mentem venire posset, praesertim eorum, quae non sunt contra Naturae Leges, qualia utique erant Sacrificia; ut quae Deus, qui nihil unquam contra Natur [...] Leges jussit, populo Hebraeo imperabat. To us, say they, who are inured unto other manners, and religious Rites, it is in vain to judge rashly, after so long a time, what might come into the mind of another man, especially about such things which are not contrary to the Laws of Nature, as Sacrifices were not, since God commanded them unto the Hebrew people. Agedùm, igitur, jam cominùs agamus.

CHAP. IV. That the Arguments of Socinians are taken from two of the weakest Topicks. A distinction offered to detect the first fallacy, betwixt a Law imperative and indicative. That Sacrifices were of the latter sort, proved, first, Because in all Ages God prescribed his own worship, and accepted no other. Secondly, Because illumination (in this case) preceded Sacrifice, shewed, 1. By the manner of acceptation of Cain's Offering.

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I Would fain come indeed to handyblows with my Adversary, but that I cannot but remember that the Romans themselves could scarce at last get any advantage against Hannibal in that way, because he fought more by subtilty and sleight. Nor is there any great force in a Serpent,Outram. in Praes. libri de Sacrif [...] ci [...]s. when he is displayed, Ita scilicet Socini Discipuli, quoties urgentur sacris literis, vel ad verborum ambiguitatem, vel ad sensus quosdam tralatitios, tanquam in Castra se recipiunt, as my Authour speaks. When the Socinians are urged with the Scriptures, they betake themselves to ambiguity of words, or to certain [Page] wrested expositions, as it were into their Holds. You may partly guess (from the beginning) what art they need to send and prove, when you shall have once observed, that all their Arguments arise from two of the weakest Topicks, viz. A negativo ad positivum generale; from a negative to a positive Conclusion general, that because no Law is expresly recorded, therefore there was none. 2. A possibili ad necessarium, that because it was not impossible, but that by the light of Nature (reasoning and excogitating) the Offering of Sacrifice might come into their minds, that therefore it must needs be so, and no otherwise.

Temere ab [...]is sactum judicant, qui Lege aliquâ à Deo latà, cujas neque Moses, neque alius quisqua [...] Scri [...]or [...]m ve [...]rum osquam [...]neminit, primo sacrificatum sla [...]t. Prorsus enim incredibile esse, omnes planè Scriptores sacros [...]iulmodi si qua esset, Legem que primis omnium hominum parentibus eorhinque posteris à Deo ipso lata [...]suerit; quase nullius momenti rem, tacitè praeloire [...]l [...]isse. ubi supr. l. 1. c. 1. To the first Argument therefore, That because there is no Law commanding Sacrifices expresly recorded, there was no such. Or, (as my Author amplifies it, according unto their sense, and not his own) That it is incredible that God should have ordained such a Law unto posterity, and that Moses and all other sacred Writers should pretermit it as a thing of no moment, and that it is a rash thing to introduce imaginary Laws. It is to be answered, [Page] That it is sallacia in homonymia, and may be solved easily by distinguishing betwixt Laws imperative and indicative: for as it is a rashness to introduce the former, without shewing of the express Precept; so it is a like rashness to deny the other (by way of true construction) as made more in favour than the other; and implying the same authority and hazard, in case of violation, as the other. Wherefore under the name of a Law we must know that a Rule, direction, intimation, or any signification whatsoever, from a Sovereign power, obtains the name of a Law indifferently, to all his loyal Subjects, without any Act or Edict whatsoever. For who will dare to disobey the nod of a Prince (if he may understand it right) without the pain of displeasure, or other penalties? Who will venture to keep his place, if a General point with his Staff or Finger, directing any motion? And that this Law of Sacrifices was of this latter sort, I am ready now not only to prove, but to demonstrate unto any clear and unprejudiced man, by these two irrefragable Arguments; 1. Because, though God in all Ages left to humane prudence the ordering of such things as were agreeable [Page] only unto humane order, yet he never suffered it (so depraved especially as it is since the Fall) to excogitate any way of worship whatsoever; much less an intire way to please him, such as Sacrifice, with all its appurtenances, ever was. Which if I take for the assumption of my Argument, I believe it will not be denied in its kind. Ergo, The Offering of Sacrifices could not be of any mens excogitation.

The major likewise will hold its own, unless an instance can be given in any other thing besides Sacrifice it self, which I believe cannot be done. And if they still insist no less on that than before, we say, It is very strange that so important a thing as Sacrifice (about which, God afterwards establishing but a better order, destroyed Nadab and Abihu for offering strange fire before the Lord, Lev. 10.1. which he commanded them not) should be the sole exception.

But if it be said further, Why might not God (accepting of Sacrifices, which men had offered of their own accord) after make an Ordinance of them, as Christ himself did of Baptism, in use among the Iews before? Or of the Bread and Wine that was used at the Passover, to frame his own Supper by it, according [Page] to their use? I answer, That for Baptism, if it had been grounded in Pharisaical washings, it would have availed the Objectors somewhat; but that which was grounded on the Law, and warranted by it before, might well be taken out, and varied by the Giver of the Law. And so for the Lords Supper; when he abolished the Passover, he took Bread and Wine out of it, as he had taken a Rib out of Adam, and made another Creature. There is not the least of humane invention therefore left in either of these, having both their first Originals from God, before men were conversant about them. In sine, if it be urged, That if Sacrifices were by no Law, it remains that they must needs have their Original from the apprehensions of men, bethinking themselves what service was proper for them to offer unto their Maker, Lord of life and death and all; and that none appeared like to Sacrifices of living Creatures, and Oblation of other precious things: they shall then make way for my second Argument, viz. That,

Secondly, Because illumination came between, therefore Sacrifices must needs be from God, and not of man. In [Page] which I shall be put to prove, first, That illumination came in, and, secondly, that it amounted to a Law; and then I shall be rid of this too.

Now in the touching upon this Point, methinks I cannot but foresee that my Adversaries are ready to compound with me by some concession, viz. That God is not deficient to them that use their right reason, to illuminate them some way; yet as by the use of their own natural reason, and not by ungrounded infusions, or outward revelations, any more than he did in the Case of Bezaleel, (whom he filled with the Spirit of God, Exod. 31.3, 5. in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, to fit all things for the Tabernacle) and yet he wrought as an Artist still. But I am not so much afraid of my Argument, as to admit of any composition with them. I grant to them likewise that Bezaleel was enabled and over-ruled (so as they say) to workmanship only; but I say, That neither he nor any other did ever begin or continue any true way of worship, without a previous revelation, in an extraordinary manner, from God.

It cannot be denied (in the first place) but, That if illumination may be a medium [Page] betwixt an imperative Law, and the use of reason, that then there may be (what we call) an indicative Law, betwixt these extremes, amounting in effect unto some express of positive Command. Let us therefore begin with this, and shew, first, That there was such a thing; secondly, That it amounted to as high a Law to the First Adam to sacrifice, as this word did after the Second Adam had spoken it, As oft as you do this, do it in remembrance of me.

First, The first appeareth, viz. That there was illumination before Sacrifice, these two ways:

1. In that Cain's Sacri [...]ice was not forbidden, when it did not please God for the manner of the Offering; for the Text saith,Gen. 4. that after, God had respect to the Offering of Abel, and not of Cain; so that his countenance fell. God was so far from excusing his obedience, that he rather put him in mind to amend it than to refrain, If thou do well, saith he, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou dost not well, sin lyeth at the door; (and Cain knew what that was by his Father Adam's punishment for sin) but if thou do well, unto thee shall be Abel's desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Judge you [Page] therefore, whether Cain or Abel first invented sacrificing. If it had been wicked Cain, would God have spoken so indifferently to him? If it had been righteous Abel, the younger Brother, whom Cain hated, would not Cain have disdained to take example from him? But unto such straits are these reduced, who because they do not read that Adam sacrificed, would take it for granted that he did not at all; and so that Adam lived without any Form of Religion, (it may be a hundred years or more) till his Sons invented one. Let us hear one of their Quotations to prove it,R. Levi Ben Gerson ad Gen. cap. 4. in h [...]c verba, [...] i. e. Cainus & Abel viri valdè sapientes erant: atque i [...]a sactum, utcum ad laborum suorum sinem pervenissent, uterque ex facultatibussuis munus Deo off [...]rret, &c. from a Jewish Rabbin, which they take to be pat unto their purpose. ‘Cain and Abel, saith he, were very wise men; [whereas the Scripture noteth the wickedness and folly of the first, and the righteous simplicity only of the latter] and it came to pass when they came to the end of their labours, they either of them offered a Present unto God, out of their encrease’ [as viz. Cain when his Fruits were ripe, and Abel when his Ewes had yeaned, once or twice a year] ‘and the reason of such Oblations, as it seemeth to me (saith the Rabbin) was this, Because they knew that all things [Page] were created and governed by God, as the true cause of all. But Abrabenel thinks that Adam also sacrificed as well as his Sons;’ both forgetting that God did afterwards require daily Sacrifices, and that not only as Presents, but as matter of atonement and expiation for sin: as he had expresly told their Forefathers,Lev. 17.11. The life of the flesh in the bloud, and I have given it to you upon the Altar, to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the bloud that maketh an atonement for the soul. However the modern Rabbins would blanch the matter, to make their own way more plausible unto the [...]Gentiles, or out of hatred to Christianity; because we say, and prove, That their bloud-shedding of old, was a Type of the bloud of our Christ, to be shed, once for all, in the latter days.

But indeed the Sentiments of such Reprobate Jews are most agreeable to Socinus's Disciples,Socinos [...] bi supra, respondendo ad 1 Pet. 1.20.who hold, That Christ was no Sacrifice, nor made any atonement for sin, nor was absolutely decreed to be crucified at all (notwithstanding that express place, Who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world; but was manifest in these last [Page]times for you) but foreseen only; or, if decreed at all, conditionally, that if men did sin, then Christ should be given to be slain. For why? To make one sin more than was before, but not one less!

CHAP. V. The 2. way laid down to shew an indicative Command, viz. Abel's Offering by a twofold Faith, First, Of the Object, viz. his Duty to sacrifice, which faith he had in common with Cain. Secondly, Of the promise, which was siducial, wherein his Sacrifice excelled, as being offered with bloud (which Cain's was not) and with respect to Christ. The Socinian varnish washed off. The second Head proved, viz. That Sacrifices were by a certain Law ab origine, because a certain penalty accrued to the omission of them before the Law of Moses.

2. BUT for that which we are to alledge, as the second way whereby it may appear, That there was some indicative or implicite precept, involved in some gracious revelation from Christ himself, (as the eternal Word of God) [Page] previous unto these' Sacrifices, the Adversaries have been made sensible, and are well aware of it: I mean the Sacrifice of Abel, more accepted than his Brothers. Which having been said by St Paul (or the Author to the Hebrews) to have been offered unto God by faith, Heb. 11.4. as a more excellent Sacrifice than Cain's; by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it, he being dead yet speaketh: we may clearly conclude, That he sacrificed in a right obedience to some gracious intimation of the good pleasure of God, which was instead of an imperative Command, if there were none (though we conceive there might be, though it be not mentioned) before. On that therefore we will not insist, because it is not to be proved; but on the intimation, or indicative Command, we will proceed and answer their dilutions.

Let it be observed that Socinus doth not call in Question the Authority of this Epistle (whatsoever the Arrians did,Vt neq [...]e Crellius, qui in han [...] Epistola [...] variè Commentatus aut commentus est. whose Heresie he absorbs, together with the Pelagian) since he quotes it to prove (as I noted before) that the knowledge of God is not by Nature, but by Faith; for without faith (saith the Author) it [Page]is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And he also saith, that by faith Abel offered unto God. Is not this argumentum ad hominem, if after this he affirm (as his Followers do) that Sacrifices were of humane excogitation only? For cannot God be known but by faith? And can Abel offer by faith, and yet according unto humane excogitation only (reasoning in it self what was fittest to be done, and so doing) which in Socinus's sense is taken to be an exclusion of faith, and directly contrary to it?

And if Abel had offered without faith, the Apostle testifies that he could not have pleased God; but in that he did please him, with a witness he shews, that it was by such a faith as Cain had not, though he could not have offered without revelation neither. Now when the Apostle says, that without faith it is impossible to please God, we will take Socinus's Grant for a ground, viz. That the true object of Faith is some kind of supernatural revelation, and not any thing that is excogitated by a rational man; so that if Abel had offered without [Page] such a revelation, he had sinned; nay, if he had but done such a thing in doubt, whether he had warrant for it, or no; those other words of the Apostle might have been sit to be applyed,Rom. 14.23. He that doubteth is damned in the case: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Wherefore Cain sinned not in sacrificing, according to the revelation of God to his Father Adam; for he sacrificed with faith, or belief of the Duty to be done, and he obeyed the outward part, as many men do at this day (who have not the faith of Abel, or of right Believers) but he sinned in his hypocrisie, having malice in his heart, and no love to God, nor respect unto his promise. And this you may take for a good reason why his Sacrifice could not be so acceptable as his Brothers. For it is manifest by the Text,Gen. 4.3.4. that he offered only of the fruit of the ground an Offering unto the Lord; whether it were a viler or a fairer Offering, it makes no matter (let the Rabbins In oblationibus spontaneis, holocaustis itid [...]m spontaneis, & votis (pro vario personarum, ac rerum discrimine) praeter preces, gratiarum actiones, benedictiones, constitisse cultum illum Divinum, ad quem genus humanum obligatum esse voluêre Ebraei, idque [...]x jure naturali. —In holocaustis autem cruentis, seu a [...]imalium sacrisiciis, [...]g [...]e omninò consumendis, parte nullâpollutâ, sex comesâ... atque tune temporis (sc. ante Noacbum) sacrificia illa ignita ex jussu, seu inspiratione Numinis, originem habuerunt... Et totum animal pro victima oblatum, excoriatum tamen pro more, & dissectum [Tamen quaere num Abrabamus ita fecerit, cùm arietem pro Isaaco immolaret] concremandum erat, in gratiarum actionem, favoris conciliationem, peccatorum expiationem, velut per symbolum... Vnde Abel primogenita Ovium, [...]aque optima in holocaustum immolavit, Numinique sic placuit: Cainus verò tantum absuit ab hoc tam eximio Numinis hominibus indultu agnos [...]do ut nondum admitteret animantium immolationem; ac si baberet caedem licitam magis fuisse, as homicidium; parilem enim (ut Ebraei reserunt) hominibus censuit, ac animantibus caeteris fuisse exitum. Atque inde cùm res viliores, seu fruges terrae obtulit, [...]o demùm nomine Deo displicuit. Ut Seldenus, ubi supra, ex Rabbinis. argue that) but Abel brought of the firstlings, or first-born) [Page] of his flock, and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his Offering; but not to Cain's. Why, wherein was the difference? Abel offered with bloud-shedding, but Cain a dry Offering,Heb. 9.22. And without shedding of bloud there is no remission. Abel's Offering was like the humble supplication of the Publican, a Sinner; Cain's like the Pharisees, who offered praises more than prayers, as if he had no need of mercy. Abel had respect to Christ; for so he is reckoned in the Catalogue among the rest,Heb. 11.39. And all these having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, but eyed and expected it. But since Cain was fallen into the temptation of the first Tempter, the Serpent, he could have but little comfort in looking forward towards this (which made against him) viz. That [Page] the seed of the woman should break the Serpents head.

And is this the reason why Socinianizers would be content to take that blind Gloss of the Hebrews, for sense enough to be made of those words, viz. That they import no more but that men should hate Serpents, and Serpents men; and that they should lye in wait for one another? Or to hold, That there was no such thing as a Sin-Offering (but only Peace-Offerings at the most, or Oblations of Gifts and Presents, without a Type) before Moses? Or, That men were never at all justified by their Offering of Sacrifice in Faith? But let us hear what they say now to this instance of Cain and Abel? Tantum abesse judicant, at hîc laudata Abelis fides explicato ullo Dei jussu niteretur, ut boc ex loco contrarium potius effici posse arbitrentur, &c. A p. Outr. l. 1. c. 1. §. 4. They say, That this place, wherein the saith of Abel is commended, is so far from proving that it did rely on any explicated Command of God, that the contrary may be rather proved from it. For if Abel sacrificed in obedience to some Law of God, what shall we judge of Cain? For if he sacrificed on the same account that Abel did, he had the same Faith that Abel had, which is quite contrary to the Apostle. The Answer riseth of its own accord from what hath been said before, [Page] That (secundùm fidem credendam) he offered with the same faith that Abel did, but (secundùm fidem quâ creditur, seu quâ debuit credere) he offered without any such faith at all, as the Apostle speaketh of in that Chapter. Thus a multitude partake of the Lords Supper, believing it to be his body and bloud; but a few receive in faith: yet all are bound to come that profess any hope in Christ, or any interest in him. And if we say, That Cain sacrificed according to the faith of his Father Adam, more properly than his own; it may well be said further, Whether there was an explicite Command or not, yet he had an implicite Faith at least, to believe as the Church believeth.

2. Now that these reve [...]tions amounted to no less than a positi [...] or imperative Law, remaineth to be shewed next, by this (as invincible an Argument as any other) Where there is no Law,Rom. 4.15.there is no transgression; and where there is no transgression, there is no legal penalty; but where there may be manifest transgression and just punishment, there an undoubted Law must be presumed, or the Government call'd in question about the equity of the matter. The Law of [Page] Moses was not given till they came into the Wilderness;Exod. 5.3. but in order to their marching thitherwards, God commanded Moses to speak thus unto Pharaoh, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us; let us go, we pray thee, three days journey into the desart, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or the sword. Ergo, This Law was ab origine to the people of God, viz. That they should offer Sacrifice unto him, for their own good, or at their peril. The Lord Christ, when he instituted his Communion (as I noted before) only gently said, As oft as you do this, &c. And it hath been let pass for an Ordinance of his: and there is no penalty upon the omission of that, though the Apostle lets them know that for the sake of eating and drinking unworthily,1 Cor. 11.30. many were weak and sick amongst them, and many slept. But in this Case omission only is to be punished with extreme mortality.

CHAP. VI. Socinus's second Topick propounded to be examined, viz. Whether, because men might possibly invent Sacrifices, as not against the Law of Nature, it must needs follow that they had their rise from thence. A contrary way of arguing propounded, by way of demonstration, and the subtilty of his way noted. That there were divers other Laws before Moses, in force; shewed also that he did not record the Laws, but the practice only.

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AND now, that I may bring Socinus (or his Adherents) off with the more advantage or disadvantage, which may happen, since we have contrary designs; they to admit as little need of Christ, and so, to do as little honour to him, as needs must; and we do him all the Right that the Scriptures or the Catholick Church hath ever done: I come to his second Topick, A possibili ad necessarium, that because it was possible (or not impossbile, but) that by the light of Nature (reasoning and excogitating what was fit to be done in honour [Page] to the great Creator, to set up some conspicuous service to be performed to him) the Offering of Sacrifices might come into their minds, that therefore it must needs be so, and no otherwise; there being nothing in it contrary to the Law of Nature, since God did afterward confirm it.

In answering of their former reasoning, from a particular Negative to a general Affirmative, we proceeded by the way that is as strong as theirs was sleight; I mean, by demonstration from the effects to the cause (the same way that we prove a God) for where there was example, encouragement and penalty demonstrated, there the Law it self (the cause of these) was also demonstrated, by a necessary consequence. And so in handling this their other Topick, A possibili ad necessarium, I shall go near to requite them by arguing quite contrary, A necessario ad impossibile.

But, first, What kind of arguing is this? There is no Command revealed about a matter of such moment as sacrificing; and therefore there was none, nor any reason to be given why such a thing should be omitted. And yet to say that it is possible and likely (of as [Page] great moment as it is)that men should find it out by the use of right reason, whereas this is less revealed than the other? And less reason to be given why or how it should be first devised? We say still, it was absolutely necessary, that after the Fall there should be sacrificing; but that it was utterly impossible that man should invent it of himself. And if Socinus doth not ground his own Hypothesis upon Scripture, wherefore doth he call for Scripture, Scripture? And when we shew him Scripture, what avails it in the case of Sacrifices, when he shall set the same reason that invented them, above the Scriptures; giving it authority to expound them (not so as right reason, but) as the reason of Socinus shall allow? Is not this to appeal always to himself? And what hath he deserved of the truth, that we (that revere the Scripture indeed) should defer so much authority to him? Do we not see that he alledgeth Scripture only to baulk us, and admitteth it not to inform himself? But let us appeal, however, unto such as will hearken what the Scripture saith, and believe it.

Gen. 22.2.13.Was not Abraham expresly commanded to offer up his Son Isaac, and did not [Page] God provide him of a Ram in the stead of his Son?Gen. 22.2, 13. And, said not God unto Iacob, —35.1. Go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an Altar unto God? The Question is, Whether God commanded these things, because Cain (suppose) being a very wise man, had invented them before, or because God himself had commanded the like before; what do you think? Is it more reasonable that men should prescribe a modus of his own worship unto God, or he to men? Or do you think it proper that God himself should second a project of the wicked Cain, or the decayed Adam?

And what though the first Law be not recorded, (as many Laws of England, depending on the ancientest Customs of all, are not; and yet are held to be such, as out of which Magna Charta was composed, and which, without so much as mention in any Statute, are accounted to be prime Law amongst us) does it therefore follow that there was none? What think you of Murder before Noah? Gen. 38.9.24. of burning for Adultery afterwards? or of the Law of Leviration, obliging the Brother surviving to raise up Seed unto his Brother; for the breach of which, God Almighty being provoked (besides [Page] the other aggravation) cut off Onan in his prime? Shew me the Laws, if you are able; and yet they were of such moment, that their breach (you see) was Capital. I instance in Laws (which is ad idem to the Question) since it nothing moves them when we shew, That divers things are recorded in the New Testament as delivered by Moses, (who was directed unto brevity) which we cannot find at all in him:Jude 14. as Enoch's Prophecy, Lot's perturbations for the wicked Sodomites,2 Pet. 2.5, 7, 8.Noah's preaching to the old World, &c. In a word, the fourth Chapter of Genesis was not the place wherein Moses was to set down the Law of Sacrifices, which he was after to reform.

So that these two Points remain, in the whole, to discover the fallacies of our Adversary, and to vindicate the truth, viz. first, That after the Fall, Sacrifices were absolutely necessary towards the reparation. Secondly, That it is utterly improbable, and morally impossible, that any man should invent them; so that from the very first they should have been acceptable unto God on that account.

CHAP. VII. What maketh the Socinians talk so sleightly of Sacrifices. The inconcinnity and implications of their opinion, in part detected.

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IN this it is that the Socinians trifle much, when they talk (prophanely) concerning Sacrifices, as if they had been but complemental or superstitious things; nay, but fond in their imaginations, and such as they should have never liked if they had lived then: which will represent their opinion to the more prejudice, if it shall at last appear that God himself was the Director of them only as a merciful remedy for man. But what though? Will they be any more ashamed in this, than in their sleighting of both the Sacraments of the New Testament, (of which they acknowledge Christ himself to have been the Author) while they drive them to another scope, and question the necessity of their continuance? For what is there in water now, more than in fire before? or in Bread and Wine now, more than in the Cakes and Libaments, with the flesh [Page] and bloud of Sheep, before?

They say, (as it were by a scomma or a sarcasm) Nobis, quibus alii mores, &c. ‘To us,Vt supra, cap. 3. that are inured unto other manners and religious Rites for a long time, it is in vain to judge, after so long a time before, what might come into the mind of another concerning Sacrifices;’as if Adam and the Patriarchs were no other in their account but as old exotick Heathens, that had invented some way of worship: acknowledging, however, lest they should be free in any part from contradiction, Haec, & hujusmodi instituta, quae ratio naturalis excogitavit, tanquam ad conspicuum Dei cultum, Ita nimirumprimevoshomines naturae lumine institutos judicant, ut cultum, & honorem conspicuum Deo adhibendum viderent, idque optimè si [...]ri potuisse, si quod quisque optimum habuit, id ritu sacro Deo redderet. Ibid. satis apta suisse, & idonea. ‘That these Sacrifices, and what pertained to them, were apt and proper enough (though invented by men) to render a certain kind of conspicuous service unto God.’

And so when they say, ‘It is no wonder that they should consume these consecrated things by fire; for how else could they prevent their reservation (possibly) unto prophane uses, after [Page] once they had been dedicated?’ They themselves, that pretend to take their refuges in reason, do but raise us unto admiration of their considence, when they tell us, that there is no wonder in such a thing, whereof they can give no other but an illusory or ridiculous reason, while they say, There is no wonder. For if this be strange to us, how it should come into the Patriarchs heads, to think to please God, by slaying of a Beast, without such revelation; how should it seem less strange, that burning it, when they had done, should enter into the same heads, for any one reason more than another? Certes, the reason which these Socinians give, viz. That nothing might remain of that which they had thus devoted unto God, doth but edge upon the brim of two other contradictions of their own, or some of theirs.Hec enim sic intellig [...] volunt, ut sinis di [...] rum Cai [...]o messis [...]xitus esset: Abeli aut [...] tempus illud, qua pecorum setu au [...]tus erat. sect. 5. For they say, That Cain brought only of the fruits of the Ground at the end of Harvest; explaining themselves so, as if they did not think he burnt them, (whatsoever he did with them) nor is it likely that he [...]id: nay, in after times, God accepted of divers kinds of Gifts and Offerings, which were not to be consumed; but conserved [Page] rather for his Priests, or for his Tabernacle, or Temple, and the Utensils and Ornaments thereof. And as for Abel, Hugo Grotius, not to be excused of favouring them in this particular opinion (however it stand in others) doth upon the matter bring it into Question, Whether Abel himself o [...]fered by fire.

For being pressed with this Argument, That if there had not been some revelation from God, men would scarce have thought of offering their own food to God, (which anciently were the only Offerings) he being of the opinion, That the old World (so much given to the flesh) did eat none before the Flood; falls upon this broken shift to say, That Abel offered not the flesh it self, but only the Milk and fine Wool thereof. (Cujus tamen sententiae, saith my Author, nescio an quenquam adjutorem habeat.) But in the mean time he leaves us as much to admire what he did with the Beast, if he did not burn it, being slain: Did he rather bury it, to with-hold a Sacrifice by fire? Or did he spare all his Flock to be immortal, while Man alone was subject to mortality? Or what need had Abel to bring such Sacrifices as these but once a year, the profits whereof arose [Page] daily? Or how was Abel's Sacrifice of more value than Cain's? Or indeed, a thousand Head of Sheep or Cattel of any great worth, if their Flesh were not? Which of the contradictions of these rational Querists shall we embrace, since they cannot all hold together, nor yet agree one with another? In fine, if such a conceit as this might by natural reason have entred into the heads of some of the Ancients, it is a wonder why it should not into theirs also, who set Dishes before their Idols (to which some passages of the Prophets seem to allude) for them to feed upon? For if they had thought of burning them, the Priests, who would not defraud their own Genius's, could not have defrauded their Idols in the Night. Or why might not we, at this day, have discovered such an use of consuming by fire those Presents, which the Chinese, Tartars, or Americans do offer unto their Pagods?? which I cannot learn to be true from the report of Travellers, although they make fires, and rings, and feasts, and the like, as barbarous people have been still accustomed. But I will tell you more anon, why God required and directed fire; and not He [Page] that was to be tormented with it hereafter, together with all his Complices.

CHAP. VIII. The summ of our opinion related in the words of Eusebius Caesariensis. Sleight exceptions against them noted. Our opinion stated more at large. That it implies an inconvenience to oppose Socinus, and our opinion too. The Subject of the next Chapter laid down.

Point I.BUT to come up closely to the Question: Our first Parents, after their transgression, must either fall immediately to sacrificing, (especi [...]lly by fire) or else yield themselves to go into that fire of Hell, which they had deserved without remedy. Neither have we forgotten that all this cometh in upon occasion of shewing how they repented, believed and were restored unto Grace by the Church, whereof the promised seed was the Head, in the use of the means of Grace. To proceed therefore in our purpose.

[Page]The summ of all is contained in that passage of Eusebius, quoted by my Author (though by him so qualified, as if either Party might take their advantage of it, and [...]bound in their own sense; which we (for our parts) think ought not to be left to an indifferent liberty.) ‘I do not think (saith he) that the thought of sacrificing came by chance, [...]. Euseb. Caesariens. de dem. Evang. l. 1. c. 10. or by design of man. For the godly (then) and such as were familiarly acquainted with God, and were enlightned by his Divine Spirit in their souls, sa [...] what manner of need they had of a great means of healing, for the doing away [or expiation] of their mortal sins; and therefore thought a recompence was to be made [or a redemption] for their salvation, to the Giver of life and soul. And since they had nothing better or more worthy than their own souls to consecrate unto God, in the stead of these they sacrificed unreasonable Beasts, laying down [or offering] up their lives as hostages [or pledges] for their own.’

[Page]There are two shifts obtended over this authority to avoid the manifest pertinency and cogency of it. First, That he makes no mention of inanimate Offerings in the Case; but it is confessed that he had spoken somewhat of them before, viz. That they availed little to the Point in hand, the expiation of sin.

Secondly, That he doth not say, that the Beasts which Abel, Noah, or Abraham sacrificed, were offered unto God, explicatâ aliquâ ipsius Lege, by any manifest Law of his; but only by some Divine enlightning (it may be) of their minds, not common unto all, but imparted only unto some of the best of men: And this they think maketh not at all against their own supposition. Which trifling baffling, I shall also endeavour to uncase presently, that when I do proceed I may the sooner wind up all that doth remain of this Argument upon its last bottom.

We say in summ, That the Law of sacrificing was revealed unto Adam, and no other; and only taught by, and derived from him: That no Sacrifice apart was ever of any avail at all, without respect to that which was made by blood. And we have proved how the [Page] first illumination or direction amounted to a Law; and shall shew the manner, in order, as we can come to it. We utterly reject the fallacious insinuation, as if only extraordinary mén did sacrifice; and we say, That Cain and all his did sacrifice (one way or other) as well as Seth, there being no need of any second illumination. But the main subtilty lyes about the [...] of the first, viz. Whether Adam and Eve did excogitate Sacrifice, or no; and if they did, Whether by their own natural reasons, with nothing else but some remote assistance of illumination, such as a man may have by study? When we therefore say further, That Sacrifices were absolutely necessary after the Fall, for the reparation of Adam and his Posterity; we must distinguish against the Sons of Cain, or the Magnifiers of his Sacrifice by inanimate things (if they were of more worth) above Abel's, which was by the choicest Animals that he had; as if both alike were no more but returns of thanks to God, by a visible token, for his outward benefits, according to their several kinds: I say, we must distinguish betwixt Sacrifices of expiation, or atonement for sin, (which they deny) and [Page] those others, whatsoever they were, that were Propitiatory only, or Eucharistical. And we say, That they were all absolutely necessary (but especially the first) and all alike revealed, before they could be tendred unto God.

Now why Socinus thinks so meanly or indifferently of Sacrifices, as not belonging to salvation, is not far to seek. For he holds, (as we have hinted before) 1. That the light of Nature alone, without this excogitation, was sufficient; 2. That natural Religion is only moral, which Sacrifices are not; 3. That there is no such thing as expiation, or satisfaction for sin; but that it is done away by merely pard [...]ning:Qui Socini [...]norum Scripta leg [...]rit, ita de morte I [...]s [...] Chris [...]i, ita de illius Sacrificio (quod [...] morte ejus semper sejungunt) judicâsse sentiet, ut alteri omnem planè detraxerint poenae vicari [...]e rationem, nihilque nobis gratiae apud Deum al [...]ro impetratum exislimaverint: ut qui licet mortis ejus vi [...] aliquo modo circa Deum, vim tamen Sacrificii ejus circa bomines primò versari statuerint. Outram. in Praf.— 4. That Christ (therefore) s [...]red no vicarious punishment for sin, [...]gured by any Sacrifices, which themselves impor [...]ed no such matter; but that he was only sacrificed as a good man for the publick good. But what should move any man to grant unto Socinus, that Sacrifices might be found out by men; and that they became not figurative, or expiatory, until Moses, [Page] and yet oppose him; I cannot imagine, unless it be to gratifie a more modern Father; or because they are well enough assured of sufficient Arguments (besides) out of the Old and New Testaments, to overthrow the Socinian suppositions; and so to let this opinion of revelation go how it may to them that are fonder of it; suppose some or other of the Calvinists.

Let it favour or disfavour any Party whatsoever (as it may happen) I doubt not but that passage of Eusebius, which I have borrowed from my Author, contains the Catholick Doctrine; to be seconded by the authority of more Fathers, when I come to prove, Vnam esse omnium fidem. In the mean while, (in prosecution of my first Argument, set down in the close of the sixth, and beginning of the last Chapter) I shall endeavour to shew, 1. How this revelation of the will of God concerning Sacrifices may be conceived; and then, 2. That it was necessary to be received and obeyed.

CHAP. IX. The Offering of Sacrifice revealed, 1. By the light of Grace. The ends of Sacrifice shewed, and the true reason of consuming it by fire. 2. By the light of Prophecy, as the Day of Christ to Abraham. That hereupon our first Parents must needs obey.

[Page]

1. FOR the first, we may conceive two ways, whereby it pleased God to reveal his will unto Adam, concerning Sacrifices, as a means of his recovery,

Lumine

Gratiae, &

Lumine

Prophetiae.

First, In a way of Grace and Mercy; which was not so obscurely as obliquely tendred to him. For after his Fall, Expositors have observed, that Gods beginning with the Serpent first, to sentence him (who was the first in fault) imported a reservation of greater mercy to them that were but drawn in, and so betray'd. And when he had said,Gen. 3.14. I will put enmity betwixt the Woman (a Type of the Church) and the Serpent (the Devil) and betwixt his Seed (the Reprobate [Page] World) and her Seed (the Elect) that they were given out of hand to understand that they should not dye presently, as they had deserved; but should live to see a various Seed. And when they heard, in the close, that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the head of Satan, whereas his Seed should only bruise the heel of the other, by temporal tribulations; they had light enough given them to perceive that they should not only obtain a redemption by that blessed Seed promised, but also a certain Victory at the last: which some of the ancient Rabbins understood as relating to their Messiah. But if any one will rather chuse to be frivolous with the modern Iews, it is in vain to stand to beat the truth into them with a Mallet.

Surely, none found the effects more of God's severity or goodness, imported in the whole judgment, than our first Parents themselves; since they both suffered more troubles in the flesh, and obtained more favour than any of their Posterity.Sidetrahas primos 60. annos Mathus [...]lae, aetatem p [...]rfectam praecedentes, sacilè inde conjici potest, quantò longior [...]erit Adae vita. In sent. dist 17. §. 1. For (as Estius counts) Adam was a longer Liver (being created in perfection) of nine hundred and thirty [Page] years, than Me [...]husalah of nine hundred forty nine; who began not to procreate (for ought appears) till seventy;Gen. 5.15. Only Mabaleel began to generate at 65. unless it be said, that Children of lesser note are wholly omitted in the Genealogy.

Wherefore, when our first Parents saw themselves delivered from the utmost fear to some certain hope, they must needs conceive that somewhat was thereupon to be done by them in hope. But what that was, how could they have possibly imagined, if the same Grace that gave the promise, had not both enlightned the eyes of their minds, to know the meaning of it, and what to do in order to obtain it, or in expectation of it? So that according to Eusebius it must needs be some way or other mercifully insinuated to them; that whereas they had deserved death in their own persons by transgression, they should put to death in their own steads the fairest of their living Creatures, [...]ictimae enim piaculares peccata, di quibus immolabant [...]r, p [...]enâ vica [...]iâ expiâ [...]t. C [...]e [...]a Sac [...]is [...]ia omnia ad Dei gratiam vel impetrand [...]m, vel [...]. Outr. in Praef. that were clean (and not the Serpent) and then offer them up unto God above by fire, that their prayers might ascend therewith, and their sins be forgiven, as if [Page] they were utterly consumed. And here may be a place to shew the reasons of offering by fire.

If we consider the ends of sacrificing in the general,Dr. Lightsoot's Temple-Setvice, ch. 8.it will soon afford some light into it. Which were, 1. To represent, and to be a memorial of the great Sacrifice of Christ to come, who [...]hould once be offered up in behalf of Sinners. 2. To lecture to them the desert of sin and Sinners, death, and fire, in the death and firing of the Sacrifice before their eyes. 3. Continet hoc Sacrificii genus protestationem, quod homo totum, & omne bonum suum accepisset à D [...]o, cum recognitione, & gratiarum ac [...]ione. Id [...]oque totum Ill [...]d Sacrificium, nullà parte reserva [...]â, igne consumi debebat in honorem Dei. Est. in lib. 2. dist. 25. §. 27. To acknowledge their Goods received from God, in offering up to him somewhat of all they had. 4. To be a matter of Worship and Religion in those times of ceremoniousness; wherein all did acknowledge their homage to God, and true Believers acted their faith on Christ's sufferings. 5. To be signs of repentance, and pledges of expiation; when they should see (that is to say) the innocent slain instead of the nocent, and their sins to pass away (as it were) with the smoke that ascended from the Altar.

To these others add, That the Sinner was hereby admonishe [...] to burn up [Page] (as it were) all animal-concupiscences within him, which have their rise from blood and fat; and so, to eradicate all vice within them. But the main reason is that which God hath given us himself; for whereas the Patriarchs offered whole Burnt-offerings, without any curious ordering of their Sacrifice, when God directed Moses afterwards how to wash the Inwards, and divide the parts, and how then to put them again together, and burn them on the Altar, he saith, It is a sweet savour, Exod. 29.18. an Offering made by fire unto the Lord. Levit. 1.9.Therefore they were to burn their Offering then, that the odour thereof might ascend with their prayers into the nostrils of God, at whose right hand the Mediator was (even then also) to do the same Offices for his Church and people that he doth now, as it is described in the Revelation, that he stood at the Altar, Rev. 8.3. having a golden Censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it up with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar, which was before the Throne. And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the Saints, ascended up before God out of the Angels hand. Say not therefore, that the savour of Beasts, [Page] being burnt, could not be sweet of it self, any more than that of the sinful prayers of men.De precibus vero sacrificalibus quales erant. Vid. Outr. l. 1. c. 15. & Jo. Seld. de jure nat. & Gentium juxta discipl. Ebr. l. 3. c. 8. & Lightsoot c. 9. §. 6. God smelleth not as men do; but though under Moses's order, other things were added unto Burnt-offerings, that there might be no evil savour (possibly) in the Temple, as to men; yet all received another scent, with a sweet perfume and odour, as it passed through the ministration of the Angel, the Mediator of either Testament, before it came into the nostrils of his Father.

Secondly, Lumine Prophetiae; Whether it were by vision,Adami, seu praeficti Eccles [...]e moderande duplex fuisse videtur ofsicium: unum Prophetiae, alterum Sacerdotii... Saepius iteravit, & exposuit Vxori increpationem, & promissionem sibi sacram, item & Liberis suis, [...]ósque Genuinum Dei cultum doc [...]it: atque ita proph [...]tam [...]git, ut & suit. Bertr. de Rep. Ebr. cap. 2. or any other way of Prophetical revelation, Adam as a Prophet might have all this and more (as no doubt he had) from God; for else how should the first Church of all have been informed or directed according unto God or godliness? We may not therefore suppose Adam little the worse for his Fall, as Socinus; or as deprived of his natural endowments, (the Image of God) but only of all the extraordinary improvements and comforts that he had before, when he had ordinary [Page] communion with God.Est. in l. 2. dist. 23. sect. 3. So that it is still held in the Schools, That Adam was absolutely the wisest of all mortal men, (not Solomon excepted, whose wisdom was Government) and that he did not after cease to know those Creatures which he had named in Paradise.Gen. 2.20. And as he was the first that received Grace, so we may well think that he received it not in the least measure. Wherefore, since our Saviour doth assure us, (and yet it is not to be proved out of Moses) that Abraham longed to see his day,John 8.56.and that he saw it, and was glad; Most like it might be then, when he was about to set his Knife to Isaac's throat; and lo, a Ram was provided ready for him to offer up instead of Isaac, Gen. 22.11, &c. and the Angel from above staid his hand from such a sad issue of obedience: and the Angel swore, saying, By my self have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, In blessing I will bless thee. And had not Abraham reason to be glad? We may doubt no less of Adam, at some one time or other, when he received this Ordinance of Sacrifice, to be continued in their Generations, until Shiloh came.

2. Then (after this) they must needs receive and obey this enlightning from [Page] above; for if we think upon Adam's Case, he must needs at first be thunderstruck with the terrible appearance of God, calling him to judgment, and passing sentence on him. For if Moses said, (which is not to be proved in terminis, out of his own Books neither) I exceedingly fear and qu [...]ke, Heb. 12.21. when he received the Law in the Mount; how much more out first Parents, when they hid themselves, and made such weak and lamentable excuses (being forced to appear) for their transgression? But what should they do at last? Should they rest in despair, and in dejection? Or should they rather strive and endeavour to rise again? Certainly, to rise: but if so, must it not be by a right repentance? And was that possible without hope? Or such an hope, without a ground of faith? Or such a faith without a clear evidence to support it? And if you say they might repent, believe and pray; and that that might be enough without Sacrifice: I answer, That there was never any faith without the Church, never any Church without Ordinances, whereby a right faith might be supplied, and the Object of faith (in some measure) conveyed unto right Worshippers. It is in vain to [Page] imagine that they should have some faith, and no practice; or any right practice without a certain faith before, without which it is impossible to please God. Heb. 11. These therefore put together, did constitute a true Church, in the persons of Adam and Eve, and the Head of the Church (two or three, till they bred more) and a sure Religion unto them and theirs: of the nature of which it is, that if it be not imposed by another (but excogitated only) it is no Religion; which signifies a bond or tye, such an one as a man can [...]ot lay upon himself; and if he do, it b [...]nds not his God to accept it, or reward it in the least; or, so much as to approve of it, lest it be a thing incongruous, or disagreeable unto himself.

We cannot therefore imagine any time at all betwixt the Fall, and the introducing of some Religion, by the benefit of which our first Parents might recover. But the So [...]inians must needs suppose it, if the Offering of Sacrifices were indeed the first Religion, which they deny not; and yet, that it hung in suspense, till a certain space of excogitation: they care not, though it be till Cain and Abel were grown unto maturity. [Page] In the mean while, is not this true, that they which live without a right Religion, do live without God in the World, and are in a kind of reprobate estate? Which doleful apprehension about our first Parents, I have shewed you before how much the Catholick Church abhorreth.

CHAP. X. The last shift of the Socinians discussed, wherein is shewed, That Sacrifices, neither probably nor (morally) possibly could be invented by men, so as to be approved by God. And that they had been unnatural, if they had not been ordained towards a mystery. Socinus not so pious as Pelagius, or Homer.

IN fine,Point II. Whereas the Socinians do distinguish betwixt the Laws of Nature, [...] sacrificandi Ritum ad Naturae Leges propriè dictas, aeternas utique & immutabiles non reserre; sed ad [...]jusmodi in [...]titata, q [...]ae ratio naturalis excogitav [...]rit, tanqua [...] ad conspicuum D [...]i cultum apta satis, & idonea... Neque ipsa animalia ab Abele, Noa & Abrahamo, Deo immolata, explic [...]tâ aliquâ ipsius Lege, sed Divinâ quâdam ration [...], que non omnium communis erat, sed potius optimi c [...]ju [...]q [...] prop [...]ia ▪ Outr. ubi supra. that were eternal and immutable, and those which excogitating reason might ordain, towards the setting up of some [Page] conspicuous and idoneous worship, to be rendred unto God; and affirm, that Sacrifices had their original from the latter, inasmuch as they were not contrary to the former; (granting that they were not necessarily implied in the former) and say (besides) that what Abel, Noah and Abraham might do (in this kind) might be indeed by some especial Divine way; so that it was not common unto others, but only proper to themselves, or such excellent men as they: they have given us the last hints of Argument to proceed, and to conclude on somewhat in the close.

We have shewed before, the vanity of their reasoning, à possibili ad necessarium, from a thing possible to the certainty of the thing, or to the probability either. For who ever thought, that a thing not repugnant must needs be, or be most likely, at the least? How many instances might be given to expose such a supposition to laughter? But the way which I propounded last was, to detect their legerity, by arguing, à necessario ad impossibile, from a thing necessary to a thing impossible. I have shewed, that Sacrifices were necessary to do away sin: if they like not that, yet they seem not [Page] to deny, but that they were apt and fit enough to set forth some conspicuous worship and service unto God. And if this sacrificing for either end, was a Duty not revealed, nor likely, nor possible to be excogitated by any man; then man was obliged to an impossibility by nature (at least excogitating) which is absurd, Quia nemo tenetur ad impossibile.

Will they say, that it was not necessary from the beginning to offer any Sacrifice at all, but only to set up some way of worship; and that another way might have been invented, if this had not been fit enough? They themselves are not able (in this light of day) so long after, to shew what that other way might have been. Will they say, they deny not some direction; but that it came in use (divinâ quâdam ratione) they know not how, but by mens using of their right minds, the government of God (it may be) over-ruling them? This, I have noted before, was the shift of the old Pelagians; who finding some Grace to be undeniable,Vt supra cap. 2. would have it all to be placed in the natural gifts of knowledge, Free-will and moral Vertues, together with the benefits of Gods Providence [Page] and Government: but all this (as I have also shewed before) is not enough to constitute a Religion, which must needs come from some Law imposed, and revealed from God himself; much less a Covenant betwixt God and man, or a certain sign thereof, as Sacrifice was, viz. Of our first Parents thereby entring into the Covenant of Grace, Gather my Saints together unto me (he says, Psal. 50.5.) those that have made a Covenant with me by Sacrifice. Which was not the sign of the Covenant by Moses, but only circumcisio [...]. But from which of the first reasons (however over-ruled) should it proceed? From Adam's? He was at an utter loss, and if he had gone about such a thing (of his own head) more apt to fall into the snare of the Tempter again, than to hit it right towards God; From Cain? He was a Reprobate; From Abel, Noah and Abraham, according to such respective enlightnings as they had? Then so many good men, so much variety of sacrificing; which was all but uniform until the Law of Moses.

Let us therefore come to the last winding up of the botom. 1. It was not probable, 2. It was morally impossible, [Page] that any man should invent sacrificing, so as to please God thereby, upon their own accounts.

1. It was not probable, that either Adam or Abel should invent the sacrificing of living Creatures, (since of Cain there remains no further Question, as to his own person, whatsoever his Descendents did, because he brought only of the fruits of the ground) as any acceptable service unto God. For Adam and Eve (for their parts) they being due to death themselves (from which they were but reprieved only in respect of temporal death) it cannot well be imagined, that one of the first thoughts that should enter into their minds, should be to kill any of their lower Fellow Creatures; as being a [...]raid in themselves to see what natural death might be, much more a violent one,Rom. 8.20. in any other; more especially, wrought by their own hands, which had brought all other things into bondage with themselves, howsoever innocent. And as for Abel, he could have no less estranged apprehensions from the like slaughter,Prov. 12.10. For a righteous man regardeth the life of his Beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel; even as the very Sacrifices of the Heathen. [Page] And Abel besides was a Shepherd, which sort of men are so tender of their Flocks, that David encountred a Lyon and a Bear in their defence; and our Saviour himself saith,John 10.10, 11. The Thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; but the good Shepherd giveth his life for the Sheep.

2. So that it was morally impossible, that such good men as these should ever devise such a way as this of their own heads, or approve of it in their own conceits, if they had not been informed of a mystery in the Case. For it would have been a sin against the Creator to have slain his Creature, (for no mischief done, nor yet for food) if he had not required Sacrifice, or the death of the innocent (which he valued less) instead of the nocent, which he loved more. What was his speech to Ionah? Should not I spare Niniveh that great City,Jonah 4.11.wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons, that cannot discern betwixt their right hands and their left, and also much Cattel? The Children and the Cattel being innocent alike, and so far Objects of Divine compassion, according to their different worths and natures.

We hear what they say, That these [Page] did it to acknowledge the right and dominion of the Lord of life and death, and that it was not unnatural, because that God confirm'd it afterwards by Moses, and Christ in fine abolish'd it, which he never did any Law of Nature, which is eternal and immutable.

But if they did this to acknowledge the right of the Lord of life and death only, why did they take his right from him? Was that the proper way to acknowledge it? For if they slew the Creature in their own right (before God had put it into their hands) they wronged the Lord of life by bare killing, much more by presenting of such a death, as an acceptable token to him. To the Lord of life, a living Present is a fitter token than a dead; for he delighteth not in the death of any of his Creatures, he willeth not so much as the death of a Sinner, but rather that he should turn and live. But as the same is the Lord of death by his own free dispensation, for again he saith,Psal. 90.3.Return ye Children of men; so he will be avenged on them that take this out of his hand,Deut. 32.35 to hasten the end of any of his Creatures,Psal. 94.1. having once said,Rom. 12.19. Vengeance is mine, and I will repay it,Heb. 10.30.saith the Lord.

[Page]In a word, if there had been no mystery in Sacrifices, they had been as un [...]atural in themselves, as Zipporah counted Circumcision; or, as we may account the severities of Moses, and of Ioshuah, and more especially of David (who was a merciful man in his own nature) who put the Ammonites under Saws,2 Sam. 12.31.and Harrows of Iron, and hewed them with Axes, and cast them into the Brick-kilns, 1 Chron. 20.3. (or made them pass through them) not only those that resisted at Rablah, but all the Children of Ammon. A thing, which even Turks and Tartars would at this day shrink from committing, as contrary to the Laws both of Nature, and of Nations. So that God's confirming of Sacrifices afterwards doth only prove, that they were his Ordinance before; and Christ's abolishing of them, that they were ordained only for a time.

In this, at last, we find Socinus to exceed Pelagius, viz. That he holdeth but one way of salvation from the beginning to the end, (which is very true, if he had assigned the right) namely, by living according unto Nature; whereas Pelagius held, that that endured but till the Law, and that that was another [Page] way, and Grace another after that. And that he doth not so much as come up to the Heathen Philosophers, who though they sometimes speak lightly of prodigal Sacrifices, which God (they thought) delighted not in for themselves; (as he also testifieth of himself in many places of the Scripture) yet they generally acknowledged Sacrifices to be piacular of offences, and pacatory of their offended Deities; according to the advice of Calchas unto Agamemnon, for removing of the Plague brought upon the Grecian Army (as he said) for Agamemnon's offence in using roughly of Apollo's Priest, and detaining of his Daughter.

[...] Hom. 11.1.

[...]

[...]

[...]

He will not from the Plague withhold his hand,

Vntil the black-ey'd Maid be sent to stand

[Page]Before her Father, and an hundred Head

Of Bullocks be presented to his meed,

To sacrifice, and then we shall appease

Apollo's wrath—

CHAP. XI. Why Abel cut off, and why without issue, viz. That the curse and the promise might obtain their respective turns. The Sentence of the Woman, as the weaker Vessel, lightest; and a blessing restored to her in the birth of the Seed promised. That Cain inherited Adam's curse, by his own choice. Of the City that he built, and how it might be peopled, so as to leave retinue enough to his Father Adam, and Brother Seth, besides.

BUT was this the reward (at last) of the Grace and favour shewed unto Abel's Sacrifice more than Cain's, that he should be delivered up into those hands which God himself did hate, to be vilely murthered by them? So God, it seems, esteemeth (otherwise than men do) this to be the greatest honour that he can do his Saints, [Page] that they should suffer for his sake in this World, to the end that Abel might become the first Prophet upon record,Luke 11.51. (by which we may observe how he came, besides his Fathers directions, to be better informed about his sacrificing than his Brother) the first Martyr, and the first Inheriter of eternal life and Glory [...] ▪ as also,Matth. 23, 35. that on the persecuting World might come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the utmost crucifying of Christ and of all his Members.

Nor was Abel suffered to live so long, as to leave any Issue of his own, wherein he might have survived here on Earth in another manner, (which might a little have alleviated the loss of him towards his broken-hearted Parents) God reserving for him a better name than that of Sons and Daughters. But, very probable it seems, that both his death was permitted, and his issue prevented, for two other ends, which I may point at here, viz. 1. That the Curse, and 2. That the Promise, might both obtain their respective turns.

For God had said first unto the Serpent,Gen. 3. Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed; and I will put enmity between thee [Page]and the Woman, and between thy Seed and her Seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. And unto the Woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow. And unto Adam, Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and Thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, till thou return unto the ground whence thou wast taken.

For the first,

It was denounced against the Serpent, and against the man, more extensively; but against the Woman (tanquam medium tantùm participationis) as the weaker Vessel, more remisly, though sad enough, In sorrow shalt thou conceive. But the benefit of the promise it self passeth through the Woman by a stroke darted through the Serpent, and reacheth to the man (tanquam objectum tantùm participationis) as the primary object of mercy only; since the Woman was of the Man, and all Mankind was to be the like thereafter, till the very promised Seed should come from the bowels of a Woman only. So that as Woman was taken out of Man at first, Man was taken out of Woman afterwards, without [Page] generation in both; but the regeneration that came by the latter to all Mankind, was infinitely a greater benefit than the constitution of a certain Sex or Species of Womankind before.

And for so much of the Serpents Curse as glanceth also terribly on the Posterity of man,Gen. 3. the Lord had said, I will put enmity between thee and the Woman, and between thy Seed (poor Woman! that She herself must bear against her will!) and her Seed (which God should chuse, and She not know which was which) but the Seed of the Serpent was named first. This was Cain, the first, that was conceived in iniquity and born in sin; which yet was no more imputed unto him than unto Abel: what reason shall he therefore have to murmure?Gen. 4. cain est possessio [...] In [...]o [...]. p [...]tabant redemptionem else in [...]oribus: ergo Letum [...] nomen impos [...]nt. [...] Aé [...]le [...], ideo vanitatis nomine p [...]tiùs illum insig [...]b [...]. Fagius. If thou do well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lyeth at the door. And yet poor Eve hoped that this had been the promised Seed, wherefore She called his Name Cain,Gen 4.1.saying, I have gotten a man from the Lord. Unto Adam God had also said, Cursed is the ground for thy sake. And this did Cain also obtain for his inheritance (as a double portion) by his own [Page] choice; for whereas Abel was a Keeper of the sheep, Cain was a Tiller of the ground.

Of the competition likewise betwixt the two Seeds it is said further, It shall bruise the Serpents head, but the Serpents Seed shall bruise the others heel. Now the Seed of the Woman (if that was Abel) was so far from beginning at all with the Seed of the Serpent (so much as to tread upon its tail, much less to bruise his head) that it was not only bruised in the heel by a small hurt from the Serpent, but in the head it self, by the death of Abel, quite contrary to what might be expected.

But the Answer is, Though Cain knock'd his Brother in the head, yet the Seed of the Serpent did but bruise the heel of the Church (which was the Womans Seed) in the person of Abel, who was the first Type of Christ, qui patiendo vicit, who overcame, and so broke the head of the Serpent by his sufferings. For ‘Daemona, non armis, sed morte, subegit IESVS.’ Wherefore as Christ arose from the dead the third day, and then triumphed gloriously over Principalities and Powers; so did Abel rise again (to the benefit of [Page] the Church) in the person of his Brother Seth, Gen. 4.25. For God, said Eve, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew; by whom the Serpent was to be sped at last.

In the mean while, there are two further Points to be discreetly traversed, 1.Gen. 4.3.4. That Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years (and it is likely Eve somewhat near the matter, whether more or less) and begat other Sons, not mentioned, and Daughters, whereof the name of never an one is at all recorded. 2. That some penitent issue is not obscurely shewn to have issued from Cain himself.

ver. 19, &c.For all the Sons of Adam, not named, we may take it for granted that they either abode in their Fathers Tents (taking their Sisters to Wives, who were next to be taken) or went off with Cain to help him build and replenish his City; being nevertheless of the Seed of the Woman (or of the true Church) so long as they retained the Worship, the Rites, the Rules, and the Moral Laws, that they carried off from their Fathers house. And others of them cleaved unto Seth, and holp to make up his Family, because the Earth must needs be replenished, [Page] and Children go off to further distance. And thus we may conceive that the true Church was far from failing betwixt the death of Abel, and the birth of Seth, howsoever the necessity of livelyhood, or civil accommodation might divide the Members of it. But as Adam had lived a hundred and thirty years before he had Seth, so Seth live a hundred and five years more before he had Enos. In which long tract of time, and encrease of Generations,Gen. 6.1, [...]. when men began to multiply on the face of the Earth, and that Daughters were born unto them; so that the Sons of God saw the Daughters of men that they were fair, and took them Wives of all they liked: then the true Worshippers were [...]ain to gather unto one House, or Tribe. And how they might attain to any consistency there, I refer you to the Letter of a learned Gentleman in the Postscript. All that remains to be said here is this, That when the House of Seth came to degenerate too, God brought a Deluge on the World, as it is commonly accounted 1656 years after the Creation.

CHAP. XII. Why God preserved Cham and Japhet in the Ark, as well as Sem. That though they followed the way of the old World, yet they were encreased in dominion (which was not the blessing promised) more than .Sem Nay, that he himself was greater in temporal accessions by other Sons, than by Eber.

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NOW one might think, since God Almighty was so much offended with the sins of the old World, as to say,Gen. 6. It repented him that he had made man on the Earth, and it grieved him at his heart, that he would have taken such caution about the next succession, that no generation like to that of Cain's should have survived the Deluge. Yet as he preserved some of all kinds (even of noxious Creatures) in the Ark, so he dealt by the intire Family of Noah. He would not prejudge the Cases of Iaphet and Cham, who were under the same protection, discipline, and common blessings with Sem, till they came to be severed in their habitations and progenies. ‘Among the Sons of Noah (saith Sir [Page] Walter Raleigh) there were found strong effects of the former poyson.First Book of the History of the World. part 1. ch. 6. sect. 2. For as the Children of Sem did inherit the Vertues of Seth, Enoch and Noah; so the Sons of Cham did possess the vices of Cain, and of those wicked Giants of the first Age.’

As for Iaphet, we read no hurt of him, but it is rather recorded to his commendation,Gen. 9.23. that he joined with his Brother Shem, to make some amends for the villany of Ham. who had exposed his Fathers nakedness. However, it is not obscurely implyed that Iaphet was either fallen or about to fall off to degenerate worship; because this is added to his blessing (for that act of silial Grace and Duty) That God would at last enlarge or perswade Iaphet to dwell in the Tents of Sem, Gen. 10.21. who, though chosen by God, is for the most part concluded to have been the younger Brother: Which Prophetick Promise to Iaphet, as the like Curse to Ham, were not to be accomplished in either of their persons, but in their posterities, some Ages after. Wherefore, for all the love and great savour that God shewed unto Noah, he would not hinder the accursed race of enmity from spreading out of his Loins also, [Page] to be two ways branched, for the greater afflictions of Sem's choicest Descendents, until the time appointed.

For as the Sons of Noah descended from Mount Ararat, (where the Ark rested, whether it was Caucasus or Taurus) Ham and his Sons seized on all that they were able to occupy, from the parts of Mesopotamia to the ends of Africk, which was the Road that a part of them took.Gen. 10. Of his Son Cush descended Nimrod,the Founder of the ensuing Babylonian Greatness, as also Ashur (who gave the Name of Assyria) that built Niniveh. And of his Son Canaan descended the Sidonians, Hittites, Iebusites, Ammonites, Girgasites, Hivites, Arkites, and other reprobate Hoards or Nations. Of his Son Mizraim descended also Pathrusim, the Father of the Philistines, and Casluhim, the original of some of the Bordering Arabians. And such of his Race as aimed further Southwards, peopled all Egypt and Ethiopia, to the Lands end, so far as their number or encrease could seize on Lands without resistance. So that out of Ham proceeded the Princes and people which held the great Kingdoms (as they grew) of Babylon, Syria and Egypt, for many Descents together, [Page] towards the future oppression of the Sons of Sem;Sir Walter Raleigh Book, 1. part, ch. 8 §. 2. the blessings of Shem and Iaphet (as my Authour hath it) taking less effect, until the time appointed. So that the first great Lords of the Earth were of this accursed Race, that they might thresh in the Theshingfloors of Israel, and bring their Fans in their hands, whensoever the House of God was to be purged by the affliction of his people. And to shew besides that God accounteth not, as men do, of Worldly Greatness, he letteth it go (to chuse) unto the Heathen: who thereupon do idolize the Fortunes of their Princes, and set them up for Gods. The first of which this Ham is counted to have been, by the Name of Iupiter Hammon; and the places where he was adored most, do countenance that opinion. And who was ever set up for an Idol, but the worst of men?

From Iaphet also and his seven Sons, the Medes, Seythes, Thracians, Macedonians, Grecians, and the most part of Lesser Asia were replenished; together with the Isles of the Gentiles, by which name the ends of the habitable World were only known unto the Hebrews. From whence came Alexander first, and [Page] his Captains, and after them the Romans, to subdue and to waste Eber. Which events seem to have been more clearly revealed unto Balaam, than unto any of the better Prophets, even in the infancy of this people, while they travelled in the Desart towards this Land of Promise. And Ships shall come, Numb. 24.24. saith he, from the Coasts of Chittim, and shall afflict Ashur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever

Nor did no other, but the holy Line, run through Sem himself: For from his Son Elam the Elamites or Persians did derive their name; from Arphaxad the chaldeans sprung; and some say, from his Son Ashur (and not Nimrod's) the Assyrians: as from his Son Aram the Aramites or Syrians; and from his Son Lud the Lydians (what people soever they were) became known, according to the names of their Progenitors.

CHAP. XIII. The knowledge of God dispersed in other Families, besides Sem's : but corruption in his also occasioned the Call of Abram. Why Lot came with him, and why he was driven into Egypt, and brought back so soon. Piety in Canaan while Sem lived there. Nor was the whole election at first restrained to the House of Abraham.

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Though goodness may be repaired in our selves, yet it cannot be, propagated unto ours....Doubtless their education was holy: for Adam, tho' in Paradise he could not be innocent, yet was a good man out of Paradise, saith Bishop Hall. Contemplat. on Cain and Abel.NOW as Adam taught his Children, as he himself had been taught by God, how to sacrifice and keep the Sabbath, with certain Rites of Worship, and Laws of life; so Noah also taught his Children all alike the same true Worship that had been delivered from Adam, (who dyed not much above an hundred years before the birth of Noah, since he lived nine hundred and thirty years, and Noah was born in An. Mundi 1056.) together with the true meaning of the Covenant after the Flood, betokened by a Rainbow. And because Noah lived three hundred and fifty years more, and the dispersion happened not in his life,Ut fusè explicat Bertramus, l. de Rep. Ebr. cap. 2. & Jo, Seld. l. 3. de Jure Natur. & Gen.&c. cap. 8. the [Page] knowledge of God must needs be far and wide dispersed in the Tents of Cham and Iaphet as well as in those of Sem, before the Rout at Babel; and they that went off in that confusion of languages, could not chuse however but carry off some rudiments or other of their first breeding. But when true Religion came to be corrupted in Sem's Family too, as well as in the rest, in the eighth Generation (about five hundred and two years after the Deluge) in the person of Terah, who became an Idolater, as the Scriptures do expresly Josh. 24.2, 3.Isal. 51.1, 2. testifie (however Bishop Montague Montag. apparat. c. 1. Sect. 28. comes to have a better opinion of him) Then it pleased God to call forth his elect Vessel Abram from his Fathers house, to go into a Land that he would shew him, where his Seed should in time to come be planted alone by themselves in the middle of the Earth, and become a peculiar people unto God.

And Abram brought his Brother Haran's Son Lot with him by God's permission, because he was a righteous man; and yet neither he nor his were to be comprized in the same Covenant with Abraham and his Seed.Jos. Antiq. l. 1. c. 8. Iosephus says, That Abram brought him along [Page] with him, with intent to make him his Heir, because as yet he had no Issue. But the same Providence that brought them forth together, within a while did sever them, that Moab and Ammon (that should hate the Seed of Abraham as much as Lot and Abram loved one another) might arise out of Lot's incest, and be ready planted in the Land of Canaan, to be Thorns in the sides of Israel.

As for Abram himself, God had no sooner shewed him the Land of promise, but he forced him and Lot from thence by famine into Egypt, Egypt gives relief to Abraham, when Canaan could not afford him Bread, which yet he must believe shall flow with Milk and Hony to his Seed... Thrice had Egypt preserved the Church of God; in Abram, in Iacob, and in Christ. Bishop Hall. Cont. of Abraham. to try whether he would not stagger after such a promise, seeing such a defeat immediately upon it; as also to make him a Type of the Seed promised, who was to be driven into Egypt as soon as he was born; as also to begin the sufferings of Christ in his Body the Church. For it was from this time to be accounted, that the four hundred years should be accomplished in him and his Seed; of which he had received this threatning (after such a promise of Grace) for some shew of lesser faith than he had exprest before,Gen. 15.13. Know of a [Page]surety that thy Seed shall be a Stranger in a Land that is not theirs (as Egypt and the parts about, for in Egypt it self they remained but two hundred and ten years) and shall serve them four hundred years. Gen. 12.19—20.4, 8. But while Abram sojourned here, he found more piety than he expected; as he after did in the same Case, at Gerar of the Philistines. However, Pharaoh's mistaken kindness unto Sarah, occasioned the dismission of Abram and Lot, Simson. Chronici Catholici parte 1.ad An. Mund. 2086. with all their substance, into Canaan (as it is thought) the very next year, where their substance being greatly encreased, they were fain to part;Wherefore God enjoined Abraham's Posterity in after Generations to speak, and say before the Lord their God, A Syrian ready to perish was my Father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a Nation, &c. Deut. 26.5. their Companies also being great, Abram was put to shew his power in falling upon four victorious Kings for the rescue of his Gen. 14. Nephew Lot, who had been taken captive by them: for it is said, that Abram was very rich in Cattel,Ch. 13.2.in Silver, and in Gold. And for his great Retinue, when he treated with the Sons of Heth for a Burying-place for Sarah, they said unto him,Ch. 23.6. Hear us, my Lord, thou art a mighty Prince amongst us; in the choice of our Sepulchres bury thou thy dead: As if there [Page] had been yet some civility among these Hitties, of the Race of Cham, somewhat of kin to piety.

But when Abram returned with victory over the Kings which he had pursued, then Melchizedeck King of Salem came forth to meet him,Ch. 14.18, &c. and he brought forth bread and wine, (Whether to refresh his little Army, or to sacrifice, or both.) Qui Melchisedecum nihil ad Sacrificia, nisipane & vino usum censent, & rebus tantùm inanimis sacrificâsse arbitrantur, hi sanè quantum mihi videtur, quare fiejudicent, nihil habent. Imòverò, se à Sacerdotio ejus aliena suissent cruenta Sacrificia, quî sactum est, ne ipse Christus cujas idem Sacerdotii genus sanguine suo sacrificaret? Outr. l. 2. c. 1. [Ubi Vir Cl. coactus est sareri Sacrificia Typica, ac proinde instituta ante Mofen.] because he was the Priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, Possessor of Heaven and Earth. And Abram gave him tythes of all [his spoils] as the Apostle doth expound it, Heb. 7.4. So that here we are pointed to observe another Church, without the House of Abram, which hath an High Priest, whereas Abram himself had no greater Title than that of a Prophet;Gen. 20.7. nor any greater Right to handle Divine Mysteries, than any other Father of a Family, (which derived Priesthood down from Adam) so that Abram paid Tythes unto him.

Not to enter into the whole Dispute about Melchisedeck, Gal 3. Saint Paul preferring [Page] ancient things before the latter, sets the Covenant of Grace before the Law four hundred and thirty years; and thereby proves the excellency of it above the latter. And to shew that our Lord Christ was of a Royal Priesthood, far above the Tribe of Levi, he proveth that Levi, himself paid both tithes and homage to him, by Abraham in his Antitype Melchisedeck (while Levi was in the loins of his Progenitor Abraham) as Priest of the most high God, and King of righteousness, and King of peace, by augmentation of his titles, (King and Priest from ancient times agreeing in the same person, till God appropriated the Tribe of Levi, for the better preservation of purity, after many of the Heads of Families were found so prone unto degeneracy) whatever proper name he might have besides. The generality agree that he was a Videsis tamen quid de hâcre senferit P. Cunaeus de Rep. Hebraeorum, l. 3. c. 3. mortal man (immortal only as a Type of Christ) and some think (as à Corn. à Lap. in locum. Qui interimpios piè & juslè vix. it... Lapide quotes the Authors) that he was one of the Roytelets of Canaan, who by God's Providence was preserved to be both a faithful man, and a good King amongst them.Accuratissimè v. Matth. Po. lus in Synopsi ad Heb. c. 7. Which to me (prophanum quoddam sonat, & audax) seems to be too bold a sense to [Page] agree with that expression of our Apostle, Now consider how great this man was, Sine Patre, sine Matre, quia sine Genealogia, quod in aliis omnibus viris magnis contra à Mose fieri solebat: Imò nallis parentibus esse dicti sunt magni & illustres Viri, quorum Parentes non memorantur. Nam Seneca duorum Regum meminit, quorum alter, inquit, Patrem non habet, alter Matrem. Ep. 108. In Outr. l. 1. c. 4. cujus Libri Cl. de Sacrif. ad manus meas non pervenêre, nisi post exaratas, & propemodum fi [...]itas hasce Chartas; quaeratio est, cur in ipsis Columnis postea non citentur. unto whom even the Patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. Which words are surely imcompatible unto the best of the race of Canaan. But the circumstances agree well, that this Melchisedeck should be the great Patriarch Sem, the high Progenitor of Abram, from whom in a direct Line Abram was of the ninth Generation : for Sem begat Arphaxad, and He Salah, and He Eber, and He Peleg, and He Re [...], and He Serug, and He Nahor, and He Terah, and Terah Abraham. And Sem lived in all, six hundred years, whereof a hundred and fifty in Abraham's life time : so that very venerable must his presence needs be to Abraham, who was so much a Puis [...]é among the Great, Great, GrandChildren of Sem.

Now if any wonder how this Sem should come to dwell and have a Kingdom among the Canaanites, it is to be remembred what Noah had said when he cursed Canaan,Gen. 9.26.Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his [Page]Servant. So that for a time Shem might have an habitation amongst them, and he built the City of Salem (as it is conceived) amongst them, all other Nations becoming (soon) a confused medly of people, besides the Israelites, whom God preserved intire to himself. And so, it may be, this branch of Sem (after his death) that dwelt at Salem, might come to be incorporated with the other Nations, that were afterwards to be destroyed for their idolatry. But the blessing went away with his Son Arphaxad only,Gen. 10, 21, &c. of all his Sons mentioned before, whither he went; and followed only his Posterity, according to election, till the time of promise was compleat, and the iniquity of the Canaanites full, that the Sons of Sem by Eber alone might have it all at last.

Only this we may observe, That for a long time after Adam, and after Noah, the Church of God was in divers Families, and in divers Kindreds. But as in the old World, the Children of men came to be distinguished from the Sons of God by the House of Seth, and his Son Enos, Gen. 4.26, when men began to call upon the name of the Lord, in Assemblies apart from the other: So after the Flood, the like happened [Page] to the House of Sem, the whole House of Sem; till out of this it pleased God to make a more particular election of the Seed of Abraham, for his peculiar people, to be his visible Church on Earth; to which all Nations owed reverence and obedience, as they hoped to share in the blessings of his holy Covenant (not to dispute here whether the whole Election or the whole Covenant of Grace, as to the inward part, was not larger than the Covenant of Promise,Gen. 4.26. entailed only unto Abraham and his Seed, with the outward priviledges annexed to it) But before the Call of God to Abraham, Gen. 9.26. he disdained not to be called the Lord God of Shem;Montague's Acts and Monuments (wth is his Apparatus otherwise accommodated) ch. 1. § 29. Gen. 17.7. yet after that, ‘it was said to Abraham in appropriated terms, with addition above Sem, for his posterity, I will be thy God, and the God of thy Seed after thee. By which new way of entailment, [...], God common, and as common appertaining unto all, was, saith Chrysostome, made his by peculiar interest and appropriation; since when it is delivered, declared and averred by God himself, for him and his Seed, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Iacob; this is my [Page]name for ever, this is my memorial from generation to generation. And so he continued known, and distinguished in the World of old, until the incarnation, the God of Israel above other people.’ Let us therefore next consider how it pleased God to form them.

CHAP. XIV. That God's Command to Abram might not seem too hard, it pleased him to mollifie it with an ample Promise, only general at the first: Which he delayed about twenty eight years to exercise the faith of Abram, and repeated with some variety to the sixth time, after long intervals, Abram running divers hazards between. Abram is terrified by seeking of a sign, and why. Sarai thinking the promise not to be to her, weakly giveth Hagar to her Husband: yet divers mysteries in the coming of Ishmael betwixt the promise and the Son of promise.

‘IF Chaldaea had not been grosly idolatrous (saith Bishop Hall) Abraham had not left it:’ Con empl. of Abraham, Book 2. (But how could he [Page] chuse, since God had called him from thence,Acts 7.2. even out of Mesopotamia, which is invironed with the two great Rivers of Euphrates and Tigris, about which Tracts the Garden of Eden is thought to have been situated?) ‘But whither must he go? to a place he knew not? to men that know not him?’ The Text says no more, at the first word, but only unto a Land that I will shew thee. Gen 12. [...], 2, 3— Wherefore, that this Command of God might seem the less hard or strange to Abram, he thought it not too much condescension to his chosen Vessel, to mollifie it with a rich and gracious promise, both temporal and spiritual, I will make of thee (saith he) a great Nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

In which promise it is contained, 1. That God would make of his Seed a great Nation; 2. That that Nation should be a blessing, in that it should become his only true Church; 3. That God would bless the friends and blast the enemies thereof; 4. That at last all the faithful, throughout all the Families [Page] of the World, to the World's end, should become the Children of Abraham through faith in the blessed Seed promised, who was to be made of God the Heir of all things visible and invisible; by which faith they should be after blessed, as Abraham himself was before.

Now to exercise this faith of Abraham, and to make him a pattern to all posterity, it pleased God to delay this promise for the space of twenty eight years,Ab Anno Mun. (ut Simson computat) 2077 ad An. Mun. 2108. till there was little hope in Abraham, and none at all in Sarai of obtaining any Issue; and yet still to continue this promise, after divers tedious intervals, to a sixth repetition, with some seeming variation in the terms.

He no sooner had received the first general promise (mentioned above With a second assurance, delivered as a new promise, pointing out the Land in particular, which he had been commanded to survey.) but God drove him out of Canaan into Egypt by famine (as was touched before) where he was in fear of being killed for Sarai's sake.Gen. 13.7 Then he soon finds himself (after his return) engaged in a War to rescue Lot, leading forth three hundred and eighteen of trained Servants, born in his own house; besides some Auxiliaries of the Amorites, his [Page] Confederates, under the Conduct of Aner, Eshcol and Mamre, (in whose Plain at that time Abram sojourned, when the tidings were brought unto him) which happened after the promise renewed the third time, in these words, Lift up now thine eyes,Gen. 13.14, 15, 16.and look from the place where thou art, Northward, and Southward, and Eastward, and Westward. For all the Land that thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy Seed for ever. And I will make thy Seed as the dust of the earth, which cannot be numbred. In which promise the temporal blessing is only pointed at, and that Land in particular, more amply than before.

Some considerable time seems to have passed between, e're God appeared unto Abram again with these comfortable words,Gen. 15.1. Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Abram is sensible that these words relate to the three former promises; yet doubting, lest he should be mistaken in the meaning of them, he makes bold to complain unto God, That (for all his former promises) he remained Childless still, and no other Heir but Eliezer, his Steward (a Stranger of Damascus, though born in his house) appeared likely to inherit all [Page] his Substance. Which moved God to compassionate his Case, and to condescend to him in a fourth promise, that he should have an Heir out of his own Loins,Gen. 15.6, &c. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. Yet after that, presuming farther, to ask a sign, though God vouchsafed to condescend to his request; yet he caused an horror of great darkness to fall upon him in his sleep, in (or after) which he gave him to know, that his posterity should serve unto the fourth Generation, till the iniquity of the Amorites was full. However, when this heavy agony was over, God was pleased to amplisie his temporal promise, in extending the bounds of it from the River of Egypt, unto the great River Euphrates.

In the mean time, Sarai, thinking these promises to be made to her Husband only, and not unto her self (finding how the Case stood with her) gave her Egyptian Handmaid Hagar to him,Gen. 16.2. desiring (at least) to have some little part in the Land promised, by her own Maid; which She was not like to have by another. This was the tenth year after the promise at the least; but as soon as She conceived, Sarai was iealous of her,Ver. 3. [Page] and by hard usage wrought her flight: and so gave birth unto a great mystery or two, before the Son of the Concubine could be produced.

What made Abram so continent hitherto, and so constant to his barren Wife Sarai? Did he think it unlawful to take a Concubine? And if so, why did he now? He might have had, it seems, a nearer Heir than Eliezer before this, and if he had gone this way; for Ut probat Jo. Seldenus de jure, &c. libr. 5. cap. 7. Concubines were accounted as Wives, only different in their Rank; and divers of their Sons did inherit among the Sons of As Dan and Naphtali, Sons of Bilhab; and Gad and Ashur, Sons of Zilpah. Israel, whereas Bastards only were excluded, as in the Case of Judg. 1 1.2. Mar. 19.4. Alii dicunt, Filios Concubinarum (ejusdem Gentis) Haeredes quidem esse, seu posse; non item ancillarum alienigenarum, ut Agar. Vide que Sarah suggerit, cap. 21.10. Iephthah. It may be Abram understood about Concubinacy (what our Saviour taught expresly) that, God having made Man Male and Female (one and one) from the beginning it was not so: yet that it might have been permitted unto him, as well as his Progenitors, for the supply of Issue, if it had not been to grieve his beloved Wife, and Sister-in-Law, Sarai. But now She puts Hagar to him, as if it were on purpose to restrain his choice of any other: What shall He do? Is He glad of the occasion for the further [Page] satisfying of his flesh? Or doth he do it the better to please his Wife, even as Adam pleased Eve, and fell by it? Or, in sine, is not he himself also touched with a little spice of unbelief, in his obtemperance unto Sarai, as well as she?

In my opinion (howsoever some Expositors do seek to blanch it) the faithful Abram was at this time imposed on by his Wife Sarai, and not excusable of some infirmity in the Case. Though he stedfastly believed the promise, yet hitherto it had not been revealed to him, that it should be by Sarai: By whom should he therefore try, but by her whom Sarai herself had recommended to him? It happened therefore as a punishment unto Sarai's diffidence, that her Handmaid Hagar (having conceived, and thereupon imagining that she and hers should go away with all at last) began to despise her; and to Abram himself, that he should have such a Lout as Ishmael, by a foul Egyptian. Of whom yet (as a Son by Nature) he was so fond,Gen. 15. ult. & 17▪ 1. that when God renewed the promise the fifth time of the blessed Seed, thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael, enough to let him know that Ishmael was not the Seed intended; yet he could not [Page] forbear to intercede for him after this manner, O that Ishmael might live before thee:Gen 17.18. As if Abram could e'en have been contented that Ishmael might have been the man.

But it may not fare better with Abram than with his Forefathers, Adam and Noah, before him; for as Adam had Cain for his First-born, and Noah one, or other of the Aliens; so must Abram too (the election of Grace having seldome been observed to have followed primogeniture, while all other priviledges were annexed to it). And as Cain and Cham were born to persecute the true Church, before it was yet in being, or but yet in its under growth; (like the red Dragon, Rev. 12.4. in the Revelation, that stood before the Woman that was ready to be delivered, for to devour her Child as soon as it was born) so it was to fare with Ishmael, Gen. 21.9. who first scoffed at the Feast of Isaac's weaning, and was after planted in his own Issue upon the skirts of the Land of Canaan, among the Canaanites, to be ready to join as far as any of them, with the enemies of the Race of Isaac. So that God would have out of the same Loins of Abram both the Curse and the Blessing to have their [Page] appointed course, according to his own purpose, without respect unto the favour that he bore to Abram!

In fine,Gal. 4.24, &c. the Apostle himself warns us of a further mystery, Why Ishmael should come between the promise, and the fulfilling of it; and why he was to be born before Isaac the Heir of the promise, Tell me, ye that desire to be under the Law, Do ye not hear the Law? For it is written, That Abraham had two Sons, the one by a Bond-maid, the other by a Free woman. But he who was of the Bond-woman was born after the flesh, but he of the Free-woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory; for these are the two Covenants, the one from the mount Sinai, which gendreth unto bondage, which is Agar: for this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth unto Ierusalem, which now is, and is in bondage with her Children. But Ierusalem which is above, is free, which is the Mother of us all,&c.

So that the further mystery beyond this (that Israel should first suffer under Egyptian bondage before they should be free) was this, That the Law which engendreth unto bondage must needs come first; whereof this Hagar and her Son Ishmael were a Type or Allegory. Which [Page] do answer (saith the Apostle) to the unbelieving Ierusalem, [...] that now is, or still remaineth fixed to the Law of Mount Sinai, the Law of the old Covenant or Testament. But Sarah and her Son Isaac, the Son of the promise, do answer unto that Ierusalem, which is from above, viz. the Church of the Gentiles, called by wonders from Heaven,1 Cor. 10.11. with the descending of the Holy Ghost. Which Church is free both from all the burthen of the Law,Evidenter ergo Paulus pronunciat, quòd omnis, qui per sidem à Chrislo consequitar lib [...]rtatem, Filius sit Liberae; & hanc dicit esse sursum Hierusalem, quae libera est, quae est Mater omnium nostrum. Orig in Cantic. homil. 2. tom. 1. Hi vero qui ex Gentibus crediderunt, Domino crediderunt, & non videntur sub hujus viri, i.e. sub Legis vixisse poteslate, nec unquam habuisse virum Legem— Vt Esaias declarat, dicens, Laetare slerilis, quae non paris—Et ollenait eam quae habet virum, Synagogam quae habet Legem—Post Christam Lex everta est—Et tunc mortuus est Vir ejus, i.e. secundum literam Lex. Idom ia E.p. ad Rom. c. 7.1.6. tom. 2. Frobenii. and from all its defects, as having that joy in the Holy Ghost, which by the Law it could not possibly have attained to. Unto which Church it is further promised, that the desolate (which was) should have more Children than she which hath (the Law for) an Husband. But what saith the Scripture? Cast out the Bond-woman and her Son; for they cannot live together, by reason of the Spirit of persecution that is in one against the other; much less can they inherit together, that lay claim by titles so opposite to one another, as the Law and Works, the Gospel and its Grace.

CHAP. XV. At the fifth renewal of the promise God augmented the names of Abram and Sarai. And required a Covenant from Abraham and his Seed; the effect of which was, That he would be their God, and they should be his people. Why God required such a sign as Circumcision to be the token of the Covenant. Wherein the Glosses of Philo and Maimonides are detected. How Circumcision came to be in use in Egypt, and who of them received it. The right state propounded, as it was to be accommodated to the times of the Old Testament.

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NOW, when it pleased God to renew his promise, at the fifth course when Abram was ninety nine years old, and Sarai past Child-bearing, according unto Nature; he added an [...] of augmentation in the midst of Abram's name, and in the end of Sarai's; that the one should thereafter be called Abraham, and the other Sarah: the reasons whereof (to refer the rest unto the Cabbalists) are given in the Text. And so the promise it self is exhibited in ampler terms [Page] than before, and Sarah expresly shewed to be, in her own Person, the Woman that should conceive this Seed, and the set time, viz. at that set time in the next year, after God had done talking with Abraham, Gen. 17.21, 22. and went up from him. But Abraham is now given to understand, that according unto this Grace, he must enter into a Covenant with God for himself, and for his Seed after him; wherein God would also condescend to be one Party of the Covenant with him; which in effect was this, That God would be the God of him and his Seed, and that he should be their only God. In token of which Covenant, (as a recognizance or acknowledgment of it) God required of Abraham, that he and his Seed, every male at eight days old should be circumcised in the foreskin of the flesh; and all that were born in his house, or bought with money of any stranger, which was not of his seed; under penalty of being cut off from his people, whosoever should break the Covenant, in remaining uncircumcised after this. So Abraham began with Ishmael, or with himself, it is uncertain whether; but to me it seems that it was with himself. So that Abraham's heart being formed by faith before [Page] God would also now have all of the same profession to be signed with the same Sign, whereby his visible Church and people should be distinguished from others, and Sacramentally sanctified unto himself. Which mystery is therefore next to be enquired into with the greater diligence.

It appeareth by it self what circumcision is: The only thing to be admired is, Why it should please God to make an holy Ordinance of so obscene a thing as Circumcision , (saltem in adultis) at the least in grown men, that were to be made Proselytes; whom, one would think, the pain should not more keep off than the shame of the thing, in the eyes of common men: And to what ends (especially) he did require it: Which may draw in all the Question here, so far as it doth relate unto the times of the Old Testament: for of the remainder (if God permit) there is more to be said hereafter. And because this is no Polemical Discourse in its first intention, I shall endeavour to be the briefer in the stating of it.

This Question therefore may be considered, First, As it hath been blanched or coloured, to make it more plausible [Page] unto the Philosophical apprehensions of the learneder sort of Heathens. Secondly, As it was accommodated to the state of the Old Testament, from Abraham until Moses, Ioshua, David, and the times of the Maccabees. Thirdly, As it was a Type, a Figure, a Mystery, or a Sacrament, referring unto Christ, and the state of his Church to come, under the ministration of the New Testament: Which are all worthy to be weighed by themselves.

In Comment. Loriniad Act. 15.1. Ant Plato Philonizar, ant Philo Platonizat. Vulg. dict. Jos. Antiq. [...] 18. cap. 10.First, I find that Philo (a Iewish Philosopher) of Alexandria imitating Plato, descended from one Class or other of the Chief Priests, and sent as an Ambassador from the Jews of that place unto the Emperour Cains, about seven years after the death of Christ) endeavouring, as his manner is, to apologize for Iudaism, that it might seem the more gentile among the Gentiles, among other reasons why Circumcision was introduced by their Ancestors, and transmitted to their Posterity, speaketh thus: ‘The Circumcision of our Ancestors is derided; but it is had in no small honour among other Nations, especially the Egyptians, who excel no less in sapience than in populacy of men.’ And [Page] Herodotus informs us,In Euterpe ubi mores Antiquorum Aegyptiorum dei scibic. That divers other Nations, as the Ethiopians, Phoenicians, and Inhabitants of Colchos, &c. derived this Custom from the Egyptians. Philo goes on, and says, ‘That one cause of it is, For that Circumcision is a good prevention of a foul Disease called the Carbuncle:’ Whether he mean the same that was since known in these Parts by the Neapolitan Disease, let the learned judge; and enquire whether this Disease was known in those times and Countries when Philo wrote, or not; and whether this [...]were a preventive remedy against that Disease. ‘Another reason (he says) was, That the whole Body might become the purer; so that the Egyptian Priests did add rasure to it, over all their Bodies, that they might come the purer to their Offices.’

Now as for this,Virilia circumcldunt munditiae gratiâ, plaris sacientes te mundos esse quàm decoros. Herodotus (indeed) says, ‘That the Egyptians circumcised themselves for cleanliness, making more account of that than to be decorous.’ But on whatsoever trust Herodotus took this, it could not escape the search of the learned Father Origen, that this pretended cleanliness was for some reputed sanctity amongst the Egyptians; and that [Page] they did not admit their Vulgar unto Circumcision, but their Priests only, or their Soothsayers, and Students of their Hieroglyphicks, and their sacred Sciences, as they reputed them.

Apud vos (inquit) O Gentiles,Orig. in Ep. ad Rom. cap. 2.l. 2. Gelenii Edir. à Frobenio. it a magni habetur Circumcisio, ut non passim Vulgo ignobili, sed solis Sacerdotibus, aut Mystis credatur. Nam apud Aegyptios, qui in Superstitionibus vestris & vetustissimi habentur, & eruditissimi, à quibus propè omnes reliqui Ritum sacrorum, & Caeremoniarum mutuati sunt, apud hos, inquam, nullus, avt Geometriae studebat, avt Astronomiae...... nise Circumcisione susceptâ.... Hoc igitur apud Iudaeos turpe, & obscoenum judicatis, quod apud vos ita honestum habetur, ac magnum?

Now if any one ask, How come the Egyptians, who were fully peopled before Abraham's time, and of the Offspring of Cham, to have any Circumcision at all among them? Was Circumcision ancienter than He?

Some are of opinion that they might learn it in after-times from the Ishmaelites, Gen. 37. who when they traded into Egypt, sold Ioseph there: But that they rather learned it from the Israelites themselves, while Ioseph was in much authority [Page] there,Theodor. qu. 67. in Gen. & Perer. in c. 17. relieth on the opinion of divers ancient Fathers, and modern Interpreters; and that with reason, since Ioseph lived in Egypt about ninety three years in all, and Israel came to him thither when he was but young, viz. about thirty seven years of Age:Allen's Chain. Notes upon the [...] Period, § 32. He lived 110. years, Gen. 50, 26. Time enough to bring the Egyptians to some odd conformity or other!

To go on with Philo a little further: ‘Another reason (saith he) is for the sake of better propagation; for the circumcised Nations are said to be most populous.’ ‘But this agrees little with a passage of R. Moses Ben Marmon. Qui tloruit Cordubae A.D. 1150. aut circiter. (who hath carried away the reputation from all the modern Iews, and who seems also to philosophize, for plausibility, as Philo had done before him) for he says,Vt libido h [...]minum diminustar, & Membru [...] b [...]e, quantam sieri potest, a.d. actum istum debilitetur. Atque haec est principalis ratio, meo quidem judicio. More Nevochim. par. 3. c. 49. Lorinus ubi supra. That in his judgment Circumcision was instituted unto this end, that the lust of men should be thereby abated, and that Member which is the Instrument thereof impaired; which he taketh to be the principal reason.’ If impaired, never the better to propagate; [Page] but if debilitated, one would think (as the Rabbi says) the less prone to lust. But this (saith Lorinus) is not much credited amongst us, who hear that the circumcised Turks and Saracens are more inordinate in their lust, than the generality of uncircumcised people.

Secondly, To consider therefore this Question (not as it is wire-drawn to avoid prejudice, but) as it is to be accommodated to the state and times of the Old Testament.

CHAP. XVI. The true ends of Circumcision, I. Civil, to distinguish them from other Heathen people or corrupted Worshippers; which was a Bridle to them, as restraining them from mixt marriages and fornication, and given as a mark to make them odious to the Gentiles, and the Gentiles an abhorrency to them. 2. Moral, to put them in mind of purity of heart. 3. Spiritual and Mystical, in respect, First, Of Abraham; Secondly, Of his Seed, and thirdly, houshold. 4. Of the whole Church. Why Ishmael must be circumcised, Arminius taxed; why the Sons of Keturah were also to be circumcised, and in fine all the Servants.

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THE ends of Circumcision (in reality) seem to be partly Civil, whereby the Jewish Nation should be severed from others; partly Moral, to teach them purity; and partly Typical, or Spiritual, in respect to the holy Seed, and the Mysteries thereafter to be revealed.

1. For the first of these Maimonides himself striketh in with the right, immediately [Page] after the words cited before, ‘But (saith he) there is also another reason, viz. That all such as are of this Faith, have one certain sign of conjunction against any that should thrust in amongst them: For Circumcision is such a thing as no man will admit but for Religion sake. And thus Circumcision is a Covenant [St Paul calls it a sign and seal of a Covenant] which our Father Abraham made, and so many as are circumcised enter into the same, viz. to believe the Unity of God; as God faith, I will be a God unto thee, and unto thy Seed after thee. And this reason (saith he) is as firm and valid as the former, and it may be more solid.’

[...] 1. c. 11To which Iosephus was agreed before, viz. ‘That God commanded Abraham that his Posterity should be circumcised in their Privities, by reason that he would not that Abraham's Posterity should be intermingled with other Nations.’ To which purpose St Chrysostom speaketh thus, ‘See (saith he) the wisdom of God: For knowing what evil impressions the Hebrews were like to take, he imposed the Sign of Circumcision as a Bridle on them,Signum Circumcisionis quasi Fraenum quoddam [...] is imposuit, ut suâ Gente cont [...]nti essent, & ita Patriarche Semen inconsusum, atqat incontaminatum maneret, ut sic in to Di [...] promissa compleri possent. Homil. 39. in Gen. apud [...] rer. lest [Page] they should mix themselves with other Nations; that so the Seed of the Patriarch Abraham might remain unmixed and undefiled in them, to the end that the promises of God might be accomplished in his Seed.’

But how a Bridle? Why,Gen. 6.1, 2. when men began to multiply, and Daughters were born unto them, the Sons of God saw the Daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them Wives of all which they chose. Which brought in both Idolatry and all uncleanness, and provoked God (before) to send a Deluge. Now Circumcision was not only given them as a mark, to warn them against the like wandring, but to shame them if they did; if they should but offer to uncover their nakedness unto any Stranger: for it served both to make the Israelites a scorn to Foreigners, and the uncircumcised a like abhorrency unto them; that the due enmity betwixt the Seed of the Woman, and the Serpent might be the better stated.

Among the Romans, Iudaes Apella was a term of derision: Neither may [Page] there seem to be any greater reason why Tacitus should write foeda superstitio upon the Jewish Religion than,Taci [...]. Annal. lib. 15. this; since in their worship there was nothing like to the Rites of Bona Dea, or Priapus, to be observed.

And on the other hand, it was the greatest reproach which the Iews thought they could cast upon other people,Gen. 34.14. to call them Uncircumcised. We cannot give our Sister (say the Sons of Iacob) to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us.1 Sam. 14.6, 17, 26.Let us go over unto the Garison of these uncircumcised Philistins, said Ionathan: Who is this uncircumcised Philistine? said David. And it may be for this reason St Paul reckoneth the Maltese but as Barbarians,Acts 28.1, 3, 22, 28. while he counts it an honour to himself that he was a free-born Roman. Nay, whereas the Greeks and Romans looked upon other Nations as barbarous only out of scorn, the Iews looked on all alike as barbarous, with the more bitterness, because they were not circumcised. But of this we shall have somewhat to observed further when we come into the Wilderness.

2. Circumcision was also ordained for a Moral End. In which alone [Page] Philo doth acknowledge some part of the truth;Tertia (inquit) cause, pars bee Corporis circumcis [...] Cordis [...] militudinem quandam habi [...] Viraquesanè Generations servit: siquidem ab altera Spiritus animales, ex alterâ Genitales procreantur, & proslu [...]. Quocirca prisci equum censuerunt, potiori illi fonti, visibilem [...] partem [circumscindendo] assimilare. but in such an Heathenish manner, that his similitude is not only filthy, but as false, and unworthy to be conceived to have ever entred into the purer thoughts of God; but that the outward Circumcision taught the Israelites the circumcising of their hearts, ears and lips, the Phrase of the Scripture doth often teach us.

3. But as for that intention of this Ordinance, which was Spiritual, Typical and Mystical, there is much matter of disputation involved in it, according to the several Branches or Divisions of the Subject, as it had respect, first, to Abraham's Person, secondly, His whole Seed, and thirdly, Family, and fourthly, the whole Church of Israel, to which Proselytes were thereafter to be joined. Under some of which Heads it will fall in to be considered how Circumcision was a Sign, and of what? How a Seal, and of what Covenant? and whether it might be imposed?

As to Abraham's Person in particular, [Page] one of the ancientest of the Fathers hath left us this to observe, viz. [...] J. Mart. Qu. 102. ad Orthodoxos. That whereas Abraham was old and unapt for Generation, God had appointed him this suffering in the flesh, that being the more debilitated in that part, his faith might become the stronger in God, when he should find his strength repaired above Nature. A thing to be the more regarded, because God had said to Abraham when he talked with him,Gen. 17.21. My Covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee, at this set time in the next year. An vero Circumcisio debili [...] partem illam ad actum generandi, and hominum libidines aliquatenus diminuat, supra in quaesitis suit, asserent [...] Maimonide, & reclamante Lorino. Aquinas tamen par. 3. qu. to. Artic. 3. [...]tiam hanc inter causas recenset, quare circumcisio fier [...]et in hàc parte, potiùs quam in fronte, a [...] alio quovis membro, scil. ad diminuendam concupiscentiam, que praecipuè in istis membris viget, propter abundantiam d [...]ectationis venereorum. Et Maimonides qui dem consititur, [...] gandere pontius in circumcisis Viris; ac Medici, cum praeputio, partem quandam titillationis [...] praescindi Viris etiam antumant. Videtur igitur, quod Circumcisio nihil physicè operatur ad coercendam illam, quae intus [...]rit, libidinem, aut ad impediendum externum generandi actum. At moraliter tamen Signo est homini Circumciso, [...] se inspexerit, quo ad [...] moneatur carnis concupiscentiam, & ad omnis delicias (ej [...]smodi) superstuas amputandum. Quod coincidit, ad extremam, cum secundo fine h [...]jus instituti, quem supra attigimus. And lo! that very day Abraham circumcised himself, and so must needs be unfit for Sarah's Company, till he was cured of it.

[Page]But this (in fine) was most pertinent to Abraham in particular: Whereas, at the making of the promise once before, Abram had said,Gen. 15.8.Lord God, whereby shall I know? He hath now a Sign or a Token given him in his own Flesh,The wound was notso grievous, as the signification was comsortable; for herein he saw, That from his Loins should come that Blessed Seed, which should purge his soul from all corruption. Bishop Hall. whereby he might rest the more assured (thereafter) that Christ should be born of his Seed, according to the Flesh, out of his Loins, and of the Womb of Sarah, and no other.

Secondly, Then if we look upon Circumcision with respect unto his Seed, as an Ordinance for ever, to be begun with Ishmael (his Reprobate Issue) before the Son of Promise was any otherwise conceived: But in the faith of Abraham we shall find some further matter worthy to detain us in the way, even though we were in haste before.

This is (indeed) one of the true reasons assigned by the Fathers and the School-men why Circumcision was given unto Abraham, as to his Person, viz. To be a Sign to him of that faith whereby he believed, and was to believe, that Christ should be born of his Seed. But [Page] had this been all, it had sufficed that Abrahams alone bad been circumcised in his own Person; whereas, if it had been so, there could no Covenant have ensued, comprehending all his Seed, and all his houshold, together with himself. The Questions that arise for the clearing of this Point are three, Firth, Since Isaac, who was to be born, was declared to be the Son of the promise, and Ishmael not; why must Ishmael be circumcised into this Faith, and be comprehended in this Covenant, and that before Isaac was born? Secondly, Why the Sons of Keturah afterwards? Thirdly, Why the Servants born in the house, or bought with money, who were all Aliens from the Seed of Abraham?

For the fifth of these: Must he that was an Enemy by Nature, in that he must lose the inheritance that he stood so fair for before, and an Enemy by God's appointment; be circumcised into a Covenant of thankfulness and obedience for Isaac, who was to be his Supplanter, as much as Jacob (after) was of Esau?

We must take all together: The whole promise made to Abram (at the very first) amounted unto thus much, [Page] I will bless thee, and make thy name great,Gen: 12.2, 3.and thou shalt be a blessing; and I will bless them that bless thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. And again it is said,Chap. 18.18, 19, & 22.18. not only that Abram should become a great and mighty Nation, but that all the nations of the earth should be blessed in him. And that he should command his Children and his houshold after him, to keep the way of the Lord, that the Lord might bring upon Abraham that which he had spoken of him. Ishmael had been hitherto brought up in his Fathers house, (to the twelfth year of his Age) and taught to sacrifice, which he understood no more than Circumcision; but he must submit to both. He was so far from being excluded from the state of Grace, or the hope of Glory, that he was a principal Member of the visible Church, before the Son of promise was conceived. Neither was he circumcised into the blessings of Isaac's house in particular, but of his Father Abraham's, the Father of the Nations to descend by promise from Ishmael, and of all the faithful; and into him that was the utmost Object of all faith,Hag. 2.7: the desire of all nations: which whoseover should bless, he should be blessed. It was not sufficient therefore [Page] that only the very promised Seed should be circumcised, for Isaac himself did not afterwards know whether his Son Efau, or his Son Jacob should be the man, till he was as blind with Age as he was with fondness of his elder Son. I am not of the mind of Arminius, Ishmael & Isaac, Esau & Iacob non in sese, sed ut Typi, iślis quos Apostolus adsert locis, sunt considerandi ... Quod moneo ne quis necessum esse putit, ut is qui repraesentat filios carnis, sit ips [...] filius carnis ejusdem difinitionis modo. in cap. 9. ad Rom. v. 9, 10. that Ishmael, or Esau, though Types of rejection from the temporal promise, annexed unto Isaac, were not also examples of a real reprobation. But if the priviledges of Nature, or of the outward pale of the Church, had been of any regard in the Point of Election, the elder surely had not been rejected.

Yet it cannot be said but that the house of Abraham was enough to season both the Mother and the Son with some piety, as appears by divers passages of Hagar, and by Ishmael's returning, after he had been turned out of doors, to assist Isaac in the Burial of his Father.Gen. 25.9. However, as he had been a Scoffer in his own Person, so he continued to be a Persecutor in his Posterity, which instead of the blessing inherited the curse, which was opposed to it,Gen. 12.3. viz. I will curse [Page]him that curseth thee. We read of no good man of his descent at all, so far as I remember.

Secondly, But for the Sons of Keturah, I know not whether any Persecutors descended from them, or no, unless the Midianites; out of some of which (however) the Subjects of Iethro, and the Kenites befriended Israel, and became Partakers of his Blessing. So that their Circumcision served to carry the true worship of God abroad into remoter Parts, when Abraham gave them gifts, and sent them father off from Isaac. Gen. 25.6. Job 1.1. Of the Race of Edom, or as bad, we are sure enough that Iob descended, and his zealous friends. And that our Lord himself, according to the flesh, drew a vein of his bloud from humble Ruth, a Moabitish Woman, whose Nation was abominable for its insectuous Original.Bishop Hall's Contemplation upon Lot and Sodom. ‘The chaste Bed of holy Parents hath sometimes bred a monstrous Generation; and contrarily, God hath raised sometimes an holy Seed from the drunken Bed of incest or fornication.’

But,Bertr. cap. 2. Adam, inquit, eliam tempore Mosis, illuxisse alibi quàm in polleris verae Religionis aliqua vesligia, &c. as Bertram does observe, the [Page] knowledge of God by such means came to be propagated far, in other parts, even in the times of Moses. And although Cunaeus doth collect (in favour, it may be, of some opinion) that the Church of old was still restrained unto one Family, as from Adam to Seth, and so to Noah, and to Sem alone of his, and to Abram alone of his,Cujus Familia Ecclesie nomen atque dignitatem inessabili ratione, velat per successionem, sibi vindicaret. Caeli [...] Gentes, tanquam prophanae, specteà spectae Numine, posthabiteque [...] donec Messias terranum orbem ingressus, intergevinam disjecit parictem, &c. de Rep. Hebr. 1.3. c. 2. It may be noted (besides) that after Circumcision Salah and Sem survived as true Worshippers, in other places, and Eber longer than Abraham himself. Ioseph. Antiq. lib. 13. cap. 17. and to Isaac alone of his line; and that God despised all other Nations as prophane, until the coming of Christ; yet it seems to me, that although many Families and Nations did not escape corruption, yet some true Worshippers there were here and there, without those houses, and without that Nation. But the first Church was the Metropolis (only) of all the rest.

Thirdly, And now we may perceive the reason why Abram's Servants also must be circumcised, to the solution of the Question (with favour) against Pererius, That Circumcision was to be imposed, since it was not free for Servants, [Page] bought with Abram's money, to obtain liberty upon the pretence that they would not be cirumcised. Nor was ever Hyrcann's blamed in later times for compelling the Edomites, when he had subdued them, to be circumcised, but commended rather. The reason of their Circumcision (besides the share which they had in the desire of all Nations) was partly to propagate the knowledge of God, if they went off; and partly to constitute and fortifie the Body of the Church, if they continued in the Tents of Abraham. Such was the Church which it pleased God to form to himself from the beginning; such the Materials of it! And how many of these had true Grace in their hearts, besides Abraham himself, and his Wife Sarah, and (it may be) his Steward Eliezer, before Isaac was born; I leave the Brethren that are most concerned to enquire. But that part of this Question which relateth to the whole Church of the Old Testament with reference, as a seal unto some Covenant (that we may not be delayed in our progress here) will fall in, in a proper place in order.

CHAP. XVII. Abraham's obedience so acceptable unto God, that he maketh himself known to him in a more familiar way than ever before. That Abraham knew nothing to the contrary why there might not be more righteous people in Sodom than his Brother Lot. His various peregrinations are recounted, and further Questions propounded to be enquired into.

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SUCH hath been the acceptation of a liberal obedience in the hearts of generous Princes, both of ancient and later times, that they have not thought much to go out of their way, and to come incogniti to visit one or other of their meaner Subjects whom they have known by such a Character: In the like manner, after Abraham had circumcised all his Males, it pleased God, not to defer, as in former times, but, [...] quasi per praei [...]ia, incarnationem [...] praeveniente, [...] patribus nonnulii nobis [...] to make haste to come and see him (incognito, but) in a more familiar manner than before, to make the last promise, or to confirm all the former to him, to be surely made good to him within the set time mentioned before; so that to keep [Page] reckoning,Gen. 18.20.we may account it to have been within a month or two after the last appearance.

To this was added the great favour of Almighty God (for when did he ever do so by any other mortal man?) to commune with Abraham about the destruction of Sodom, and to hearken to his intercession: In which it appeareth, that Abraham thought no other but that there might be many righteous persons there (whom God would not destroy with the wicked) besides his Brother Lot.

Acts 7.2.Some are of opinion that Abram remained five years at Charran of the Chaldees (or that part of it to which Mesopotamia may be reckoned) after he had received the first promise. And then (upon the death of his Father Terah, who as St Chrysostom observes, [...]. Hom. 31. in Gen. though an Idolater, had a fatherly affection for his Children) he came as far as Sichem in the land of Canaan, in the seventy fifth year of his Age; and there he received the second promise,Gen. 12.6, 7. and built an Altar to the Lord for remembrance; because the Lord had there appeared [Page] to him. It is only said that he came unto the place of Sichem, unto the Plain of Morch. And that the Canaanite was then in the Land. So that it seems not likely to me that he entered into the City at all, whether it were a walled City (as is most probable, it being a great and ancient one) or only a City of Streets, as we find such accounted in the number, before the Nations were replenished. But he removed, journeying southwards,Gen. 28.19. and about Luz or Bethel (which was after called so by Iacob) he built another Altar for constant worship,Gen. 12.8. and there he called on the name of the Lord.

But the very next year (as it may seem) he was driven into Egypt by famine,An Mund. 208 [...] 1918. secundum supputarionem Nostratis Simson. Gen. 13. and the year after that returned again to the place, where he had erected his second Altar: and here he remained (if conjecture fail not) about a year or two; when, obeying the command of God, he went about surveying the Land of promise, and came the third year to the Plain of Mamre (about Hebron, which was after called so) and there built another Altar to the Lord, viz. as a place where he designed some residence, if it should please God to permit him. And hereabouts he continued [Page] eighteen years, even till he had received the last promise;Gen. 20.1, &c. and then he journeyed again toward the South Country, and dwelt between Cadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar, where he made a Covenant,Ch. 21.27, 33. by mutual Oath, with Abimelech, a King of the Philistines, at Beersheba. And Abraham planted a Grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. And he sojourned in the Philistines Land many days. Ch. 23.1. But by the death of Sarah in Kiriath-arba, which is Hebron in the Land of Canaan, we may learn that though the Son of Promise was born among the Philistines, yet Abraham returned at the last to Hebron, where he had his place of worship, among the Hittites. And there he had his last blessing, of encrease by Keturah, Quae utram eadem suerit cum Hagare, consulatur Simsonius ad A. M. 2181. & Jo. Scld. de jur. &c. l. 5. c. 7. Heb. 11. according to the fulness of the promise of God, to the rise of many Nations from him. And there he left in his Tents Isaac and Iacob, Heirs of the same promise with himself, having lived a hundred and seventy five years (whereof one hundred hereabout) and leaving Isaac about seventy years of Age, and his Son Iacob fifteen.Gen. 23.9. And his Sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him with Sarah [Page]in the Cave of Machpelah. So that all the expeditions of Abraham were 1. from the remoter parts of Chaldea unto Charran; from thence, 2. unto Sichem; from thence, 3. to Bethel; from thence, 4. to Egypt; from thence, 5. back again to Bethel; from thence, 6. to the Plain of Mamre (which is Hebron or Kiriath-arba;) from thence, 7. to the Parts of Gerar; and from thence, 8. back again to Hebron of the Sons of Heth.

That which remaineth to be enquired, is, first, What use Abraham made of his Altars; secondly, How he governed his own Hoard; thirdly, How he lived amongst the Canaanites and Philistines; fourthly, In what estate he left his whole Posterity.

CHAP. XVIII. Letters and Writing (most probably) from Adam, as also Altars. Of Cain and Abel, and the difference of Sacrifices; and of theirs in particular. Whether they offered in one place; and whether Adam offered for them, or they for themselves: Why Abel more accepted, and how Cain knew it.

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THough it hath been thought by many (studious of the Pagan Antiquities,Literas semper arbitror Assyrias suisse: sed alii apud Aegyptios à Mercurio, ut Gellius; alii apud Syros repertas volunt. Utl [...]; in Graeciam intulisse Cadmum 16. numero. Plin. lib. 7. Nat. Hist. c. 56. Phoenices primi, famae si creditar, ausi Mansuram radibus vocem signare figaris. Lucan. lib. 3. v. 220. Videsis quid de hoc commentitio Oraculo disserit P. Cunaeus de Rep. Hebr. lib. [...] cap. 1. Et quid de literis St Walter Raleigh, lib. 1. part 1. cap. 7. §. 10. † 4. ut [...]: ante nos sensit D. August. and too much addicted to credit them) that the Patriarchs before the Floud delivered unto their Posterities all the learning which they had, by Oral Tradition only; and that Writing was first expressed by certain Hieroglyphicks, and after Letters formed by the cunning of the Phoenicians, or the Greeks; yet I must confess I take it to be but an heathenist conceit, and not fit to be imagined, that the Church of God did ever want its Scriptures, out of [Page] which by Divine Instinct Moses drew the Abstract of the things that were before his time. Which it pleased God to allow only, as to be preserved unto after Ages, whatsoever is reported about a certain Prophecy of Enoch, Jude 14, 15. to which St Iude is conceived to refer: But there is also reference in other places unto certain current Traditions among the Jews. It is as easie for me to believe that our Father Adam could as well write and read, (and teach his Children so to do) as speak, and set the names on every Creature. Should we think it to be too hard for him, or that he had not time enough in the nine hundred and thirty years, that he lived, to accomplish it? I cannot so much as think, that the Church (or the World either) could want the use of Letters so long asJos. Ant. lib. 1. cap. 3. S [...]th natus est A. M. 130. Enoch 622 s [...]cund. Allen, &c. Seth, (whose engraven Pillars are spoken of) much less as Enoch, who was born so long after him, though both in the life of Adam Adam vero suit omnium hominum (excepto [...]) sapientissimus: sicus quàm senti [...]nt Hebraei, qui more suo nugantes, fingunt Adamum, & Evan creatos suisse (tanquam infantes) simplicissimos. Est.in l. 2. sent. dist. 23. §. 3..

The like conceit I must needs retain concerning Altars. When God had vouchsafed to reveal unto Adam this Grace and [Page] Mystery, That whereas he had incurred the guilt of sin, and the punishment of death by his transgression, an atonement should be accepted for him, through the shedding of the bloud of certain clean Beasts,Bert. ubl supra. (which are thought to have been revealed to him, together with the first Notion of Sacrifice it self) with respect to the Seed of the Woman, promised in some uncertain time to come; it was so natural to him to erect an Altar for Sacrifice and Oblations, that he could not conveniently do any otherwise, any more than men can eat without a Table: Yet that a standing Altar was not always necessary,Gen. 22.9. appears by Abraham's building one in haste, when he was tempted to sacrifice his only Son Isaac. How Cain and Abel did (to begin from thence) may worthily be doubted, as it is. But to set it free as much as may be, we must know, That whereas not only death eternal, but also temporal, with many calamities, besides the Curse of the Earth, were the consequents of sin; not only bloody Sacrifices (or whole Burnt Totum Animal pro Victimâ oblatum, excoriatum tamen ex more, & dissectum, concremandu [...] er at. Seld. de jure l. 3. c. 8.Offerings, as they knew no other before Moses) were to be offered for the expiation of sin; but also other Offerings, in acknowledgment [Page] of the Dominion of the supreme Majesty over all; in way of thankfulness for plenty and prosperity; in way of supplication for encrease and blessings; in way of vowing and devoting themselves, and the Goods which they enjoyed, unto God's service in some acceptable manner.

The Queries are, (1.) Whether Cain and Abel offered apart, or in one place? (2.) Whether they offered, as for themselves so, by themselves, or whether they brought them to their Father Adam, Vt Hebraeorum primogeniti homines essent D [...]o sacri, nec aetatis suae Praerogativâ, nec jure ad Sacerdotium sactum est, sed sal [...]te sibi praestitâ dum primogeniti Aegyptiorum subito excidio interivent, Numb. 3.13 [...]& 24.5. [...]nde postea redimendi, Numb. 18.10. N [...]que Levitae Sacerdotes erant, sed corum Min [...]stri .... Ego in antiquissimis seculis ita comparatum suisse judico, ut in sacris pro se uno factis, sibi quilq [...]e suus Sacerdos esset. Nam Cainus & Abel, sua ipsi sacra per se Deo osser [...]bant ... Qui autem Cainum & Abelem sacra Deo destinata ad Adamum adduxisse judicant, hi ca [...] sic judicent, nihil asserunt. In sacris autem pro familiâ quâvis destinatis nihil dubium quin ipse Paterfamilias Sacerdotii obeundi [...]as babuer it. Aeoque jure Noa, Gen. 8.20. & Jobus c. 1.5. pro se, sulsque immolabant. Outr. lib. 1. cap. 4. Sect. 3. as the only High-Priest then on Earth, and the first Prophet, to offer for them? (3.) How the difference stood or appeared in respect of what they offered, and how they were accepted?

For the first: No doubt, while they were young, and lived in their Fathers house (which necessity would teach him [Page] to build, as well as to make himself Cloaths) but that Adam offered for himself and all his Children; but when they were able to go abroad, and set up a Tent of their own, to be filled with their younger Brethren and Sisters, and their Children; then of common Right, Paterfamilias, the head of the house, was their Priest, and in Case he sacrificed, all the houshold were sufficiently consecrated to assist him by an implicite Ordinance of God, because that which he required could not otherwise be done.

Some are of opinion,(Bert. secutus (ut videtur) Ab. Ezram) Pro cis autem Coetibus, qui variis ex familils constabant, mos [...]rat, ut cujusque princeps (si modo ipsi visum ess [...]t) publica Deo sacra factret. Ibid.that Adam appointed a certain place of meeting for Divine Offices for all his Children; where (most likely) he erected an Altar; which of old did (as it were) constitute a Temple sub dio: and that continued some Ages, both amongst the people of God, and the Heathen. There he instructed them, there he prayed and offered up praises unto God (more especially on the Sabbath Day) and did all, in substance, that belonged unto Sacrifices ever after. But against this that passage seems to make, that when God demanded of Cain, Where is Abel thy Brother? He replyed, I know not: Am I my [Page]Brothers Keeper? As if God knew they did not use to meet every Day or every Week together. So that possibly they might offer in divers places.

(2.) It might so happen that one or other of them might be absent; and yet their Father (who led a careful and penitential life) might offer for which of his Sons came;Job 1.5. as Iob did for all his Sons when they were absent. Yet I know nothing to the contrary, but that Cain and Abel, when they had housholds of their own, might have Altars so too, the mystery of oneness of Altars being not as yet revealed.

(3.) For the last Query, Why Cain's Sacrifice should not be accepted so well as Abel's; Iosephus Jos. Antiq. lib. 1. cap. 3. [...] gives us this reason, Because Cain, being covetous, offered only that which he had forcibly extorted (as it were) from Nature by the Plow, whereas Abel offered things produced of themselves. [...] videre est in Seldeno loco ci [...]t. p. 18. The Rabbi's tell other Dreams relating to the wickedness of the Person, and the niggardliness of his Oblations. But a clearer reason is hinted in the Text it self, when it is said, That Cain brought only of the [Page]fruits of the ground, which was no expiatory Sacrifice for sin, but a superfluous Oblation (it may be) of more splendid things than Abel; whereas St Paul assures us,Heb. 9.22. that without shedding of blood, there is no remission for sin: Which things have been touched before.

But how should these know the difference of their acceptations? If they came to their Father Adam, and his Altar, by him; who was both a Priest and a Prophet, and though not in former favour, yet not wholly left by God, or deprived of all his manifestations to him: But if they sacrificed otherwise, God did not leave himself without witness, till he raised up sufficient Seers to advise them that had to do with him. And thus the worship of God came to be transmitted unto Abraham, unless any small circumstances might be added to his worship, after God had given certain Precepts unto Noah, Gen. 8.20. Where we read of the first Altar, built by Noah, to offer some of every sort of clean Beasts and Fowls; though (we do not doubt but) multitude of Idol-Altars (imitating the true) had provoked God to drown the World before— with a kind of Covenant, by the token of the Rainbow.

CHAP. XIX. Altars of Monument for mercies and deliverances. Of Tokens for a Testimony or a Covenant betwixt God and man, and man and man. Of service for adoration, vows and sacrifices. Of the matter and form of them. Of those which Abraham made at Sichem, Mamre and Beersheba, with his Grove there, which was drawn into an ill example, and the like afterwards forbidden.

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WE read, first, of Altars of Monument and Testimony (which were usually magnificent:) Secondly, Of Altars for Burnt-Sacrifice, Meat and Drink-Offerings and Peace-Offerings and the like; and thirdly, Of an Altar of incense, in after-times, all opposed to the Idolatry of the Heathen.

Of the two first (which belong only unto this place) we may consider the matter and the form. For the matter, they were simple, of Earth or Stone, (and not of Brass, as they after were in setled times) as we may learn by the first Institutes that were delivered by [Page] Moses, who according to God's direction digested many things into Law and Rule, which were but only of good example before.Exod. 20, 24, 25. & Deut. 27.5, 6, 7. An Altar of Earth (saith he) shalt thou make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy Burnt-offerings, and thy Peace-offerings, thy Sheep and thine Oxen: In all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an Altar of Stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn Stone The Patriarchs had no time for that, nor, it may be, ready Work-men; possibly by Providence, as the next words may shew the reason : for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

For the form therefore, if it was for remembrance only, as for thanksgiving, and a glory; they made it greater, or it may be neater; but yet so, that it might be sit to be used as an Altar for service upon all occasions. Let us see what examples we have of any of these, since it may be questioned whether they did not more hurt than good (as in process of time it happened unto Moses's Brazen Serpent) for the Heathen finding them, might either demolish them in revenge,Exod. 34.13 & Deut. 7, 5.. &c. 12.3. (because the Israelites were commanded to abolish theirs) or else prophane them by some new Dedication [Page] or Consecration to an Idol; and so offer Sacrifices, even unto Devils, upon the same Altars; or else they might become occasions of division among themselves, which we are about to note hereafter.

It was in use from ancient times, as from Seth's Pillars (if there be any truth in that) and from the Tower of Babel, for men to raise some Structure or another, in remembrance of their atchievements or fortunes: And (it seems) that the true Worshippers delighted rather in erecting Altars, than any other Fabricks: But if they were not intended directly for the service of sacrificing, why should they do so?

I find therefore, as I hinted, that before the Law, Altars were erected for a threefold end. First, For Monuments of thankfulness for some mercy or deliverance; Secondly, For tokens of a Covenant, (or for a Testimony) whether betwixt God and man, or betwixt man and man; Thirdly, For ordinary resort to the whole acceptable service of God, not only on their Sabbaths, but on every Day of the Week, and on all occasions: All of these pious, and allowed by God; not only before the Law, [Page] but till the Temple was built; and (upon some occasions) even after that.

First, We find of Abram, that after God had appeared to him in the Land of Canaan, and had assured him that that was the Land which he would give unto his Seed;Gen. 12.7, 8. that he built an Altar upon the Plain of Moreh, near unto the place of Sichem: But that he forthwith removed thence, unto a Mountain on the East of Bethel, (called so proleptically, since Iacob was the first that named it so, that is, the House of God; which for divers mercies and manifestations of God became a place famous to posterity) and pitched his Tent, and there he built an Altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord: as if he had not done so at the Altar before, but had only set it up as a Monument of thanksgiving unto God, who had so graciously appeared to him near Sichem. Which Notion is favoured the more by this circumstance, that when Abram returned from Egypt, he repaired unto the place betwixt Bethel and Hai, Ch. 13.3, 4. where his Tent had been at the beginning, and there called on the name of the Lord; returning not to the Altar at Sichem at all, by any thing that we can find. Neither might [Page] it seem lawful or expedient for him to demolish any Altar of thanksgiving, or any other, that by erection he had consecrated and dedicated unto God, for fear left the Heathen should prophane them, who might be likelier to sleight them, as having Altars enough of their own, called by the names of one or other of their Idols. As the true Worshippers did also call the Altars which they erected by some special name,Gen. 13.18. for a Memorial.

Gen. 14.24.And when Abram removed from thence to the Plain of Mamre, Cùm cultus interior sit, qui consistit in conjun [...]tione ad Deum, summâque ejus reverentiâ per intelle [...]tum & affectum: exterior autem, qui inprecibus & laudibus effundendis, Adorationibus, Sacrificiis, Oblationibus cernitur, neque hic sine illo rità exhiberi possit; consequitar ad ultrumque obligatos etiam Proselytos Domicilii, & qui eorum instar fuere (adulti scil. nec rationis expertes; & pro rerum suarum sive copia, sive inopia) censuisse Ebraeos. Seld. lib. 3. cap. 8. supra citat. (so called from Mamre the Occupant and Collegue of Abram) he built another Altar (as a place where he might likely spend some time of sojourning) and there also he called on the name of the Lord; that is, instructed all his people, offered up prayers, thanksgivings, sacrifices and such Oblations or Peace-offerings, as God had so far directed him, or any of the Patriarchs before.

But in fine, when Abraham came into the Country of the Philistines, (where [Page] Isaac the Son of the Promise was born, as God appointed it) and was entred into a League with Abimelech, Quum Abrahamus ad Quercetum Mamrae consedisset, ibi Sacrarium & Altare quoddam ordinariis familie suae coetibus destinavit. Sacrisicavit, Gen. 15.9, &c. Docuit, Gen. 18.19, —Propheta dicitur, Gen. 20.7. Ipse Domi familiae suae Sacerdos erat; & ubi Altaria erexit, D [...]i [...]omen invocavit, i. e. universum Dei cultum celebravit, qui nomine orationis, invocationis & adorationis variè nancupatur. Bertr. by exchanging of Presents on either hand, so that Abraham took himself to be setled for a time, He planted a Grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord the everlasting God. Gen. 21.33. Which Grove, it seems to me, Abraham only made for shelter, (since he and his lived only in Tents) against the heats and wets, that his Altar and place of Worship might be the better defended. But it came indeed to be drawn afterwards into ill example, and to be expresly forbidden;Deut. 13.2, 3. as the offering of Children unto Molech, Levit. 18.21. upon pretence of imitating the same Abraham's obedience in the Offering up of his Son Isaac. John 4.12, 20. Even so did the Well and Mount at which Iacob worshipped, (in his time) prove a pretence to the Samaritans to oppose the Temple at Ierusalem. But I will leave the Altars standing in this imperfect state, till I turn this way again, which I foresee will happen speedily.

CHAP. XX Abraham had many Tents, and, as a Prince, had a Despotick Power over them, that (through all their Tents) were born in his house. That the Patriarchs occupied much Land, and were no burthen, but a profit to the Countries wherein they sojourned, viz. Freely in the wasts, where the Pasture was; and by Purchase, Covenant and Compromise, when they pitched near to any great City, or populous place. Of Abraham's purchase of a Field, and Jacob's of a parcel of one.

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Now whereas we read that Abraham and, after him, Isaac and Iacob pitched their Tent, in the singular number; it may seem that this is not to be restrained more than needs, but to be extended so as the circumstances do direct us.And lot also had Flocks and Herds and Tents, (in the Plural Number) Gen. 13.5. The enquiring into which will lead us to consider and perceive what manner of temporal or spiritual lives they enjoyed in their respective pilgrimages; God having so provided for the honour of his Church, that he would not therewithal afford them all [Page] kind of temporal enlargements or accommodations; nor leave them (long) in any uncomfortable state.

Saint Paul tells us,Heb. 11.9. that by faith Abraham sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange Countrey, dwelling in Tabernacles (in the Plural Number) with Isaac and Iacob, the Heirs with him of the same promise. By which we may collect that the Tents were many, and Abraham's only like a Praetorium to the rest. Out of which Abraham drew three hundred and eighteen men, to pursue the Seizers on his Nephew Lot, Gen. 14.14 (who was permitted to be taken, that Abraham might redeem Lot, and Melchizedech might thereupon bless Abram) which were all said to have been born in his own house. Certes, if all in one Tent (and you cannot imagine that they all lodged continually under the Cope of Heaven) it must have been a very large one; but if it had been so,Gen. 18.4, 5, 6. he would not have entertained three Angels (whom he took to be but Strangers) under a Tree, without the doors.

As for his power over all these, it was absolutely Despotical, as the Princes round about him. He taught them the Laws that they were to obey; and he [Page] might punish as he thought sit, without account to any other Prince, any more than the Prince to him, whosoever he was. Which is sufficiently declared by Bertram in the same Chapter, cited more than once before.

And if we think sit (in the next place) to consider what extent of Grounds these Sojourners might occupy, and by what Right, since they were but Strangers in the places where their Dwellings or their Changes were, it may dart a little further light unto us.

It cannot be doubted, but Abraham and his Herdsmen, with their several Ten [...]s and Families, took up much Ground, because that Lot and He were forced to part, since the Land was not able to bear them, [...] 13.6.that they might dwell together, because that both their substance was exceeding great; which was in Flocks of Sheep and Goats, and in Herds of other Cattel, as Bullocks, Horses, Camels, Asses, Mules, and such other Breed as those Countries did afford.

Now although it be said, that the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the Land; yet Abram said unto Lot, Is not the whole Land before thee? If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go [Page]to the right. And Lot beheld the Plain of Iordan, that it was well watered, and he dwelt in the Cities of the Plain, and pitched his Tent towards Sodom: But Abram dwelt in the Land of Canaan. Nor could Isaac and Iacob afterwards when the Stock was much encreased, and the Families (it is likely) more, but occupy Land accordingly.

The Question is, Quo jure, by what Right these Strangers took up so much Ground in a Strange Countrey, and escaped wars about Plats, wherein they sate down, and (in all probability) entrenched themselves, for the better security; and about the Tracts round about them, which they filled with their Herds and Flocks.

We must remember (to set us right here) that from the Flood to the promise made to Abram, there is but about four hundred and twenty two years reckoned, which is too little to imagine all places to be replenish'd in; so that while the Inhabitants that were, lived in walled Towns for safety; and studied Arts and Sciences (to which the Canaanites and Phoenicians ever were addicted) and were employed in the cultivating of the [Page] nearer Fields, and planting of their Vineyards, the coming of these Strangers with their Stocks, and pitching about them, (like a standing Fair or moveable City) brought both Trade and plenty to them, while the waste Grounds might be left at large, without prejudice unto any Native of the Country; which brought also encrease of Gold and Silver to the Patriarchs.

As for Abraham himself, he kept at a distance from all the idolatrous Cities, and entred not at all into them without some great occasion,Gen. 12.16 & 20.1. & 23.3. Ch. 13.12. & 14.16. & 19.1. as Famine and Distress once or twice, and to treat with the men of Kiriah-arba for a Burying-place for Sarah but Lot being indiscreetly mingled amongst the men of Sodom, happened once to be taken captive amongst them by the four Kings, and after hardly escaped from being destroyed with them.

And if it ever fell to their conveniency to pitch nearer to any City, or better peopled place, so that there might be any danger of interfering with them. Then they either made some Purchase, or some Confederacy, or Compromise, with the Princes or people there, to preserve [Page] an inviolable peace amongst them. And when Abraham was about Gerar, he did all at once.

Gen. 21, 22.For when Abimelech and his Chief Captain Phichol observed that Abraham grew great, they thought it good policy to take caution of him by a solemn League, made by Oath, That he should not thereafter deal falsly by Abimelech, or his Son, or Son's Son; but according to the kindness that he had found in the Land, wherein he had so long sojourned. And Abraham sware, and both of them made a Covenant. At the making whereof, Abraham did reprove or gently contend with Abimelech, about a Well of water which Abimelech's Servants had violently taken away from his, though Abraham himself had digged it. And he made a Present to Abimelech, that he might enjoy the better Right to it: But of the Land about, there was no Question made between them. However, when Abraham planted a Grove about the Well, and set up an Altar there, sojourning many days in the Land of the Philistines, no doubt he became a Purchaser; at least of some Tenant-right or other for the time: both the Grove [Page] and the Well being to rest to him and his, as their proprietyIn the Plain of Mamre, Abraham had also such a Confederacy, that he got Mamre himself, with Aner and Eshcol, to join with him in the pursuit of the four victorious Kings; which was a bold and brave attempt of theirs. Gen. 14.13, 24..

And when Abraham bought the Field and Cave of Machpelah, it may seem that he intended to make no other use of it, but for a Burying-place, though it cost him four hundred Shekels of Silver, of currant Money with the Merchant, which amounts to about an hundred Dollars,Jun. in not. A Shekel of Silver, argenteus, 2f 6d. Matth. 26.15. as Iunius doth account, (which before Navigation came to an height, was no inconsiderable Summ;) but as others, it might amount to two hundred and fifty Crowns.

Once more, (and no more that I can find) When Iacob came to Shalem a City of Shechem, Gen. 33.18. which is in the Land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram, and pitched his Tent before the City; he bought a parcel of a Field, where he had spread his Tent, of Hamar Shechem's Father, for a hundred pieces of money. And he erected there an Altar, and called it El-Elohe-Israel, that is, God, the God of Israel. So that his Purchase seems to [Page] have been partly to prevent exceptions, in that he had pitched his Tent upon part of Hamar's Patrimony, and partly, that he might erect his Altar of Worship in the most convenient place, whereever the other Tents were pitched, for the benefit of the Drove. The Purchase it self, as the price, was but small, a parcel of a Field. But why? Must not he, as well as his Grandfather Abraham, leave it all behind him, at the next remove?

CHAP. XXI. Why the Patriarchs made it their first Work to erect Altars whereever they came. What their outward form of Worship was. Of the restraints and incommodities of the Patriarchs, as living in Tents, frugality of Diet, pa [...]city of entertainments, want of Fields, Gardens, Vineyards; whereby being hindred from sowing for themselves, they were ost distressed through Famine, if there was any scarcity abroad.

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HItherto we have seen somewhat of the best of the Patriarchs state, as, viz, that they had Gold and Silver and Stock and a great Retinue, together with some favour in the places where they most conversed. As for their outward form of Religion, there being no retiring places in Tents for the exercise of devotion,Gen. 24.63. (Isaac being fain to go forth into the Field to meditate) they made it their first work to erect Altars whereever they came; which were their places of resort to pray and pay their Vows, and receive instructions and directions from God, (whether Oracularly, [Page] or by the mouth of the Priest, who was the Father of the Family) as it is said of Rebekkah, Gen. 25.22, 23. that when the Twins struggled in her, She went to enquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two Nations are in thy Womb; which was said unto her, while Abraham was yet alive. Here they offered their Sin-offerings for expiation, and their propitiatory Sacrifices, or Peace offerings, for reconcilement, and for further blessings. To these their Eucharistical Oblations of thanksgivings by First-fruits and Tenths and Spoils; which Abraham thought meet to make Melchizedech, as a greater Priest than himself,Heb. 7.7. Partaker of (since the less is blessed by the greater) because he had a certain knowledge of this before the Law. As also,Ver [...]simile e [...]l unum quemque in suâ familiâ Principem, & Sacerdotem fuisse, atque inde has dignitates ad primogenitos p [...]rvenisse: ita ut primariae familiae primogenitus eas semper obtineret; ali rum vero familiarum primogeniti tum ad Rempublicam, tum ad sacra p [...] agenda adhibiti sunt. Bertr. As also, that though every Father of a Family was Priest in his own Tents, yet when he came to a greater Father in such a Tribe or Kindred, as were true Worshippers, that the younger was to serve the elder, and to pay such a reverence to him, as if he reserved none unto himself.

[Page]Let us next consider (before we leave them) some of their restraints and incommodities, under which it pleased God to discipline and train them up unto a growing Church.

We have a kind of Emblem of it in the Case of the Rechabites,Jer. 35.6, &c.whose Father Ionadab commanded them, saying, Ye shall drink no Wine, you, nor Your Wives, nor your Sons, nor your Daughters for ever: Neither shall ye build house, nor plant Vineyard, nor have a Field, nor any Seed. But all your days ye shall dwell in Tents, that ye may live many days in the Land, where ye be Strangers. Only, for fear of the Army of the Chaldeans, (say they) we dwell at Ierusalem, for a time, even as Abraham might do in Gerar, or in Hebron, whose example that devout man seemed to recommend unto his Children and their Posterity for ever; and so to become more extraordinary Votaries than any of the Nazarites.

For Wine indeed, it was not forbidden to the Patriarchs; but they could not have it of their own, since they could not be so well setled as Noah, Gen. 9.20. who began to be an Husbandman, and planted a Vineyard, and he drank the Wine, and was drunken, belike as unaccustomed to [Page] it too.Gen. 19.23. Even as it happened unto Lot, whose Daughters got the Wine (no doubt) from the inhabitants of the Land: But since the Patriarchs had no such intimacy with their wicked Neighbours,Gen. 18.5, 6, 7, 8. we read of no other Beverage that they had, but Milk and Water. And such were their frugal entertainments, with Cakes made ready upon the hearth, and a little Butter, Veal, or Kid, fetched (as occasion served) from the Flock. And, that we may likewise think, might much conduce to their encrease of Wealth, since they made much ado about the approach of any Visitant, that came for kindness only, as a rare thing.

As for the Fields, which Abraham and Iacob purchased, we have noted before, that the one was for no other use but a Burying-place, and the other for his Booth and his Altar, even as men at a Fair pay for the Ground they break or occupy for the time.Acts 7.7.For St Stephen telleth us, That God gave them no inheritance in the Land, [...], not so much as to set their foot upon; but a promise only unto Abraham's posterity. And St Paul, Heb. 11.9. that Abraham by faith (only) sojourned in the Land of promise, as in a strange Countrey. And, in opposition [Page] unto houses, that he dwelt in Tabernacles (which are no more comparable unto Houses, than the Ship-Cabins to the Chambers of a Palace) with Isaac and Iacob, the Heirs with him of the same promise; though for Isaac it seems that he was not lodged under the same Roof with Abraham, but was enlarged enough in Family to have a Tent of his own,Gen. 24. [...]3, 67. when he went forth to meet Rebekkah; and having met her, he brought her into his Mother Sarah's Tent, or [...], for mutual joy, and Rebekkah's better welcome.

Having therefore no Lands, what should they do with Seed? This might be the Cause why they were so oft distressed by Famine, if there were a little Drought; because the Husbandmen of Canaan seem to have been but few, and might easily be brought to have little enough for their own necessities. And by these occasions happened the chiefest of the troubles of Abraham's life, that have been touched before.

Which things considered and weighed, I cannot but wonder at some mens accessions, so near unto that Socinian fancy; as if the Fathers of the Old Testament did but only live according unto [Page] temporal promises, as they were in part from time to time fulfilled to them. So apt are men sometimes to dote upon Antiquity, as if nothing in the latter Ages could either happen or be done like what was then; and at other times to look upon the same as meer dotage, even as young men when they hearken to old mens Tales think that they themselves are able to do much more and better. Or, as others pretend, that the modern Ages must needs be far more knowing, because they stand upon their Shoulders, while they are but growing up unto their Elbows; at least more pious by revelation and experience: whereas more knowledge is lost than can possibly be repaired, and more piety than the declining Age of the World is likely to restore.

CHAP. XXII. Adam and Eve earnestly looked towards the promised Seed. Enoch lived an heavenly life, and Noah. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob much in private devotions. The Saints of the Old Testament lived not by temporal promises, nor rested in them: But they lived, and were saved by faith in Christ; Proved out of both Testaments, and one Objection answered.

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WE may perceive by what hath been hinted before, what manner of life our Father Adam lived after his transgression, viz. praying and sacrificing in earnest expectation of the Seed promised, in whom all Sacrifices were to cease: And poor Eve (to make amends) travelled continually with the desire of obtaining it (as She hoped) in her own person. Wherefore when She brought forth her first-born,Gen. 4.1. 25, 26.She said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And when She came again in process of time with Seth, She said, For God hath appointed me another Seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. So that the first promise [Page] being to the Seed of the Woman, it is conceived to be some reason why they were allowed usually to name their own Children. And when Seth had Enosh, it is further said, That then men began to call upon the name of the Lord, that is, the Sons of God began to sever themselves from the Sons of men, or the Race of Cain, and to worship apart from them.

And Enoch also, Jude 14, 15. the seventh from Adam, Gen. 5.24. (of whom it is said, that he walked with God, and was not, for God took him) shewed by his prophecy what manner of Spirit he was of. Behold (saith he) the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly Sinners have spoken against him. Behold his faith in the Point of the Resurrection and Judgment, his foresight of the Flood, and his great zeal against all sin; especially those of the times wherein he lived. Behold what Record is left of his exactness, his heavenly mindedness, his holy contemplations, and indesinent Communion, and familiarity [Page] in walking with God; who had endued him with the Spirit of Prophecy and sanctity to such a measure, that (wanting nothing else but Vision) God translated him from Earth to Heaven in the middle of his days,Hebr. 11.5. in the 365. year of his life. Gen. 5.23. Gen. 6.7. 1 Pet. 3.20. & 2 Pet. 2.5. That he should not see death: for before his translation he had this testimony, That he pleased God.

When it is therefore said of Noah, That he was a just man, and perfect, and one that walked with God; and that he endured long (as a Preacher of righteousness) the contradictions of Sinners, while the Ark was in preparing (which was about a hundred and twenty years by account) we may guess whether he was not also like to Enoch. And whether the holy speculations of these experienced Long-livers, were dry, or more unlearned, than the shorter-lived and shorter-sighted casts of the Ages following, may be well conjectured by the Book of Iob, Job 42.16, 17. who lived hundreds, and died full of days.

Now for all the Saints (in general) of the Old Testament, let us see what their inward piety was; from Abraham the Father of the faithful, till the coming of Christ: that I may clear this Point, Vnam esse omnium fidem, that [Page] there was but one faith of all Believers, the same with ours, faith in Christ, which was the strength of all their lives and hopes; and not any carnal blessings whatsoever. Which I think worthy, in this place (as if it were once for all) to state and prove, and answer such Objections as may be made against it.

As for Abraham's private Devotions, they appear in his Visions, Expostulations and Intercessions with Almighty God. Isaac's in his meditation and prayer recorded; Iacob's in his vows and wrestlings, whereby he did prevail with God, and obtain the name of Israel.

For the state of the Question moved, it needs no further explication, when it shall be remembred, that it speaketh not of faith under any common Notion, (by which it might be diversly divided) but of faith taken properly and strictly for faith in Christ; of which it is asserted, that such a faith was in all Believers from the beginning; more especially from the promise made to Abraham, that in his Seed all the Nations should be blessed. And, according unto true method, the next Proceeding must be to prove it by Authority and Reason.

First, In the Old Testament, (not to [Page] cite all places,Job 19.25, 26, 27. Docet Iobi cum aliis fidelibus consensum. Quatenùsamicis respondet, sensus est; Licèt me pro impio habeatis, in Redemptorem vindicem unicè spero: fiduciam non abjeci; Conqueror à Dio me ad tempus derelictum, sed tamen credo. Varii Commentatores in Poli Synopsi. but to point out to the diligent Reader how to find more) Iob is express when he saith, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin Worms destroy this Body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for my self, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me. In which words it is plainly manifest that Iob understood that the Seed promised was to be the Redeemer, that he should come in the Flesh, and after that to Judgment at the Day of the Resurrection, when he should glorifie them that had believed in him. All these even as we believe now. In the Prophecy of Isaiah we read this, Thus saith the Lord who redeemed Abraham Isai. 29.22..

Secondly, In the New Testament our Saviour testifieth thus much more of Abraham in particular,John 8.56. Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad. First, He might see it by the Scriptures, which were extant before him: for (as I hinted before) it is not safe to think that God had left his Church for above two thousand years, without Record, only to favour unwarrantable [Page] Tradition, which in such times might have been erroneous, or in others corrupted; or too weak (without any Monuments) to have kept so many important Genealogies, as have been collected and digested by Moses as the Spirit of God directed him, (and therefore thought fit to save no more but his Books unto Posterity) and so to have transmitted them by memory alone. Nor may it be convenient to imagine that God by revelation only discovered unto Moses all that had passed before, as if he had left himself in the Ages before without witness. Secondly, He might know it by the Sacrifices, which he was to offer for the doing away of sin, which he knew to be the life of the lower Creatures instead of man, till the Redeemer should come; and this he might know (in a more especial manner) by the Precept dispensed with, which he had received, to offer up his only Son. Thirdly, He might know it by Vision and Revelation; since when God had admitted Abraham himself, as a Type of Christ, to be a Mediator for sinful Sodom, Gen. 18.17, 18. he had said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty[Page]Nation, and all the Nations of the Earth shall be blessed in him; and since he will instruct his Children after him, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him?

Object.And if it be asked further, Why, what could he see in this day that should make him glad, more than the Iews that descended from him, who expected nothing more than temporal greatness at the Messiah's coming, which seems to be the literal meaning of the promise? Let us hear how our profound Bishop Andrews descanteth on it:Resp. Serm. 8. on the Nativity. ‘Why should Abraham (saith he) so desire to see this day two thousand years, and more, after his own were at an end? How was he concerned in it? Yes, Christ's birth he needed, and he had good by it. Will ye hear it from his own mouth? Thus he setteth down his Case,Gen. 18. Ecce ego pulvis & cinis; Lo! I am but dust and ashes: Dust refers us to Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return. But why Ashes? He was not made of these: This sure refers to somewhat else. Ashes (we know) come of fire: Without it they are not made. So that besides death to resolve him into dust, he saw a fire [Page] to turn him into ashes. He saw it in his Vision when the Sun was down,Gen. 15. and it was Night, and a great fear or horrour fell upon him; he saw Clibanum fumantem, a fiery Furnace. Blame him not, if after such a Night he desired to see such a Day, and was glad when he beheld it.’

Besides, it is a vulgar errour which represents the Iews of the ancient times (whatsoever the modern think) as looking for no other than a King, when their Messiah should come; for they looked for such a Saviour as should be withal the greatest Prophet that they had ever had. Wherefore Iudas Maccabaeus, when he had pulled down the Altar that the Heathen had desiled,1 Mac. 4.46. he laid up the Stones, by advice, until there should come a Prophet, to shew what should be done with them. And was not this the Question put to Iohn the Baptist,John 1.21. Art thou that Prophet, or do we expect another? And the Woman of Samaria spoke (no doubt) the sense of Israel when she said,John 4.25. I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come he will tell us all things. But however the Iews were mistaken in their day, our Saviour himself after his resurrection,Luke 24.27. [Page] beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, expounded [unto his Disciples] in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself. Acts 3.18.22, 24. & 15.16, &c. And the like method did the Apostles use towards all men, when they had received the Holy Ghost.

This especially they studied to clear, That they brought in no new faith by Christ.Acts 15.11. But we believe (saith St Peter) that through the grace of the Lord Iesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they, viz. the Fathers, which had born the Yoke of the Law before, till they were weary: signifying that they were also saved by the same Grace of Christ (and not by the Law) before it was revealed by the Gospel in a clearer manner.2 Cor. 4.13. We having the same spirit of faith (saith Saint Paul) by which the Psalmist spoke in the place he citeth. And if it be necessary to insist on more Texts, they will be apt (some of them) to fall in with the Reasons which I shall set in order.

CHAP. XXIII. The Church of the Old and New Testament but one. Christ made known in all his Offices before his incarnation. That he was King and Captain of his people, 1 Cor. 10. illustrated. That Christ was Mediator also of the first Covenant delivered by Moses.

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THEY amount (in effect) to these, First, One Church; Secondly, One Head; and, Thirdly, The same Operations of the Spirit before and since. Which do all prove the unity or sameness of that saving faith, which was common unto them and us.

For the first of these, Quis unquam negavit? Who ever denied or doubted but that the Saints of the Old Testament made up the same Body of the Catholick Church, to which we hope to be joined,Heb. 12.23. The general Assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in Heaven, and the Spirits of just men made perfect? Or who ever questioned but that those were saved by some faith or other equivalent unto ours?Matth. 17.1, 2. Wherefore Iesus also took with him Peter, Iames [Page]and Iohn to be transfigured before them, In hujus rei [scil. unitatis fidei] mysterium transfigurationi Christi intersuerunt, duo ex veteri Lege, & tres ex novâ, ut omnium justorum utriusque temporis unam esse fidem, quae in Christum est, insinuaretur. Est. in lib. 3. sent. dist. 23. sect. 12. when there appeared also Moses and Elias talking with him; that his Apostles might be joined to his Prophets by himself, the Mediator (not only betwixt God and man, but) of either Testament. For there is but one Body, and one Spirit, and one Lord, and one faith, and one hope, and one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all, as St Paul expresseth it, Ephes. 4.4, 5, 6.

P. Lumbard, dist. 1. lib. 3. For the second, Ex sponsione factâ ab antiquo (as the Master of the Sentences speaketh) by a certain compromise betwixt the Father and the Son, our Blessed Lord and Saviour exercised all his Offices of King, Priest and Prophet, and was so obeyed and believed in (according to the measure of revelation) before he was incarnate; and, tanquam in praeludiis, (as the Fathers took the Phrase from one another) he made himself manifest in sundry manners before he came in Person. He appeared and communed with many; but with Iacob only he vouchsafed to wrestle hand to hand, and to name him Israel, because he had prevailed with God, And Iacob called the [Page]place Peniel, Gen. 32.21, 28, 30. for I have seen God (saith he) face to face, and my life is saved.

To exemplify the appearances of Christ in these his Offices (apart and severally) through divers passages or places of the Old Testament, may seem superfluous; since they are to be found exerted there (in act) more than once, and sometimes all at once. In our Systems of Divinity they serve for better method, or clearer illustration of some particular Points or Questions. If he guided their Kings, they expected another kind of Kingdom; if he inspired their Prophets, they expected another kind of Prophet, when the time should come; if they repaired to their Priests according to the Law, they knew that they needed another Advocate or Intercessor in many Cases; neither were they satisfied with any of their Sacrifices,Psal. 51. For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Purge me with Hyssop, and I shall be clean. Create in me a clean heart; and— Deliver me from bloud-guiltiness, that my tongue may sing aloud of thy righteousness, &c. Neither was this the Notion of so choice a Spirit as David's only, but it passed into the Vulgar Doctrine of the Scribes; for one of them replyed upon our Lord [Page] in these terms,Mark 12.32, &c. Well master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God, and to love him with all the heart, is more than all whole Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices. To whom our Lord again, Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God. Not as if Sacrifices, the Ordinances and Sacraments of God,Lightfoot's Temple-Service. ch. [...].sect. 1. could be neglected (without which there was no remission of sin) but because in Sacrifices there might be more or less profusion (being partly Eucharistical, even their very Sin-Offerings) according to the wealth or liberality of the Offerer; as also, because the thing signified was of more worth than the sign thereof.

Yet it shall not be amiss to consider the headship of Christ two ways, viz. as to (1.) Power; and (2.) Mediation, whatsoever Offices may be comprized under these, during the state of the Old Testament.

Heb. 11.24, &c.Of the first we read, That Moses, when he was come to years, did by faith refuse to be called Pharaoh's daughters son; esteeming the reproaches of CHRIST (to whose Kingdom he belonged) greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of reward, viz. in the Kingdom of Christ. And of all the people [Page] of Israel it is said.Ver. 29. That by faith they passed (under Christ's conduct) through the Red Sea, as by dry Land. Which passage of theirs is more fully cleared in another place,1 Cor. 10▪ 1, 2, &c. Moreover, Bre [...]hren, I would not have you ignorant, how that all our Fathers were under the Cloud, and all passed through the Sea. And were all baptized into Moses in the Cloud, and in the Sea. And did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was CHRIST. But with many of them God was not well pleased— Which things were our examples. Let us not therefore lust as they did, neither let us tempt CHRIST, as some of them also tempted HIM, and were destroyed of Serpents; neither murmur, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the Destroyer, Numb. 14.37. that is, the Pestilence. Was not therefore the Regiment of the Church of the Old Testament under God the Father? Or, if any delegation of Government was unto Christ, under compromise (as was mentioned before) did he himself destroy, who was said to be the Mediator (likewise) before of either Testament? The Answer unto this [Page] will fall in better with the next consideration, viz. of the Mediation, or Mediatorship of Christ, which may chance to clear more obscure Texts all together.

(2.) Wherefore, as Mediator, our Blessed Lord (under the state of the Old Testament at least) seemed in one respect to have been but as a Moderator unto temporal punishments; and in another, an Intercessor, not only that all punishment should be remitted, both temporal and spiritual, but also that all Grace and Favour, necessary unto that estate, should be afforded. Neither will I be curious to divide these Parts of his Office of Mediator, more than of the other; but I shall shew what I find in reference unto any part at all relating unto this Head, or remaining Headship of Christ, as it may happen to conduce unto the first purpose.

First, The Apostle tells us,Gal. 3.19. That the Law it self was ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator. Heb. 9.19, 20. And that, When Moses had spoken every Precept to all the people, according to the Law, he took the bloud of Calves and Goats, with Water and Scarlet Wool and Hys [...]op, and sprinkled both the Book and all the people, saying,[Page]This is the bloud of the Testament, which God hath enjoined unto you. Whereupon neither the [...]irst Testament was dedicated without bloud: for almost all things were by the Law purged with bloud; and without shedding of bloud is no remission.

As the Apostle would therefore have the Corinthians know, that by the ministry of Moses all the Israelites were baptized into Christ, by the Type of the Cloud over their heads, and the Sea round about their bodies; and did in effect and virtue partake of the like Sacraments, by which they ate and drank of the fulness of Christ (the Rock that followed them when they left the other behind) and so had the like priviledges as the Corinthians had: Yet as God was displeased with many of them to their destruction, so he might with these too. He taketh not the Government from God the Father, while he sheweth who had the conduct from the beginning hitherto. Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa. But if the Son be despised now, as heretofore, God the Father may extend his justice where the Mediator is wickedly set aside by men, for whose redemption he had satisfied. But whether it was ever committed unto [Page] Christ to destroy his own enemies (in any other than a spiritual way) before his coming, or since his exaltation, is beyond the Question.Heb. 8.6. & 9.15. & 12.24. But St Paul would have his Galatians and the Hebrews know, not only that Christ is the Mediator of a new and better Covenant than that which Moses made in the behalf of the people; but also that Christ himself, in the person of Moses, was indeed the Mediator of that too; or else that it had been the worser for them.

CHAP. XXIV. It was necessary by reason of the Curse annexed to the first Covenant, that it should be delivered in the hands of a Mediator, who could be no other than Christ himself. God caused the Covenant of Works to be shut in a Chest under the Mercy-seat, and why? The benefit of Christ's mediation otherwise. The Vnity of the Spirit in both Testaments.

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THE thing that troubled St Paul, and the Churches of his Plantation, (more than any other) was this, Certain men which came down from Iudaea, Acts 15.1. taught the Brethren, saying, Except ye be circumcised according unto Moses, ye cannot be saved. Against whom St Paul disputeth in most of his Epistles, and having shewed the Churches,Gal. 5.3. that this Doctrine made them Debtors to the whole Law (as to keep the Iewish Sabbaths, Newmoons, and other Fasts and Feasts; as also to their vows and purifyings; to their abstinence from all unclean meats, and from all such Companies as ate so; and from all uncircumcised persons [Page] whatsoever, though Believers in Christ; In sine, to repair to Ierusalem to sacrifice, as the Head-City and Mother-Church, as oft as the Law of Moses required) he takes the Question it self soundly to task, to discover the danger and the ill consequents of it.

Amongst his other Arguments, these are strong and pressing: 1. That the free promise was made to Abraham four hundred and thirty years before the Law was given by Moses;Gal. 3.17, [...]9. &c. so that Abraham being justified by faith without the Law, the Law could not render the promise void to any that believed as Abraham had done before. 2. But that the Law, so far as it contained Types and Figures of things to come, was it self abolished by Christ, in whom they were all accomplished. 3. And as for the Moral Law, That none was ever justified by that, or ever could be; neither was it given for that end, but only added because of transgressions, or delive [...]d in a terrible manner to that backsliding [...] corrupting people, as a Bridle, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made. 4. In fine, Because the whole Law had this dreadful Codicil annexed to it, Cursed is every one that [Page]continueth not in all things, which are written in the Book of the Law, to do them; that they had in those times been miserable, if the Law, which was delivered by thundring Angels, had not been ordained in the hand of a Mediator; which is the Point that [...] closest to that which we are now about.

Who was this Mediator then? And why must the Law be needs ordained in the hand of such an one? The Mediator, in a Type and true Vice-gerency, was Moses, beyond all doubt;Exod. 19.9, &c. Deut. 5.5. & Heb. 12.18, &c. and the end why he was sitted to interpose at the giving of the Law, was because the people was affrighted at the sound of the Trumpet, and the voice of words, and the Mount that burned with fire, entreating that the word should not be spoken to them any more: for they could not endure that which was commanded. So Moses stood between the Lord and them, at that time, as a Type of Christ, who breaketh the Majesty of the Father, delivering us from the terrour of his Justice and Power. But in effect and virtue it was the good will of him that dw [...]lt in the Bush, that was the true Mediator then (though not after the same manner as he is of the New Covenant) the same that appeared in the [Page] Cloud upon the Mercy-Seat;Levit. 16.2. and upon the Tabernacle, to guide them and protect them from the heats;Numb. 9.15.21.6, &c. that cleft the Rocks when they were thirsty, and gave them Manna when they hungred;Exod. 17.11, &c, that delivered them from the fiery Serpents; and by the same Moses's intercession, holp them to prevail against. Amalek Patrem per silium dedisse Legem consentiunt Veteres, & Recentiores, Graeci & Latini. Sensus est, Legem per Angelos ordinatam (uno Angelo denuntiante, ut Act. 7.38.) in mana Chr [...]ni dispositam esse, qui pro nobis [...]am pr [...] slitit: Vel, Legem Israelitis traditam suisse per manum, five directionem, Christi Mediatoris, populum illum in su [...]m adventum ho [...] modo praeparantis. Varii. Nor did he leave his Office neither as soon as he had brought them into the Land of promise: But his Mediation, in whatsoever we may discover it, was profitable to them, to the end. For, after their first restipulation with God by the hand of Moses (who returned this Answer from them unto him that sent him,Exod. 19.8. All that the Lord hath spoken we will do) it pleased God to cause this Covenant of Works to be shut up in a Chest, called the Ark of the Covenant or Testimony [betwixt God and them] but to be covered with a Mercy S [...]at,Exod. 25.16, 17. 1 Kings 8. [...], &c. and then placed according unto his direction; which in Solomon's Temple was in the Oracle of the most holy place: and the reason of his prayer, why God should hearken to [Page] the supplications of his people (in any Case, or without any Offerings) whensoever they shoud but look toward that holy place, and pray. By which we know where the Throne of the Mediator was under the Old Testament.

If they transgressed, the Covenant enclosed was a Testimony against them; but there was a Mercy-seat above it, as though God would oblige himself to his Covenant of mercy, though they should break their Covenant of obedience to him. And this was a gracious Argument to him, not to cast them off upon every provocation, but rather to chastise them gently, and to restore them to his former favour, by virtue of his elder Covenant of Promise, made unto Abraham, Isaac and Iacob, Psal. 78.37, 38, 39 their Progenitors. So that when their hearts were not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his Covenant, he being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not, yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

O ye Seed of Abraham his Servant, Patriarch. Faederis hanc promissionem accepere, Ero Deus vefler, & prosteritatis vestrae. Hinc persaepà in sacro codice, cù Israelitae veniam ab irato Deo, & insuper magna impe [...]rant beneficia, Coelesti voce monentur, uti hoc totum acceptum s [...]rant majoribus suis Abrahamo, Isaaco, Iacobo. Creber ille sermo est in Pentateucho, & in Vatum Scriptis. Porrò Foederis illius quod cum patriarchis sancitum diximus, Sponsor Messias [...]uit, qui [...]deò appellatur Angelus Foederis: Propter ipsum Messiam igitur salus Israelitis data erat, etiam propter majorem sidem. P. Cunaeus lib. 3. cap. ult. ye Children of Iacob his chosen.— He hath remembered his Covenant for ever, which he made with Abraham, and his Oath unto Isaac. And confirmed the same unto Iacob[Page]for a Law; and to Israel for an everlasting Covenant— He remembred his holy promise, and Abraham his Servant.

And though God suffered at last the Assyrians to destroy this Ark (together with his Temple) so that the second Temple wanted this inestimable pledge of Grace; yet when the people humbled themselves with Nehemiah, and other of their Reformers, and renewed their Covenant with God by their repentance, they were accepted without the Ark, so as to stand upon their good behaviour more than ever, like a Fort dismantled, or a City that is disfranchized of its former priviledges. But the time was short then, after the Lord had said so long before,Heb. 10.7. Lo, I come (in the Volume of thy Book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God.

In fine, as they had the same Head, so they had the same Spirit that we have now; which may serve for a Close to all the Arguments. That I may not [Page] seem to skrew or wire-draw any Text of Scripture,1 Pet. 1.10, 11. St Peter is express, Of which Salvation (faith he) the Prophets have enquired, and searched diligently, who prophesied of the Grace that should come unto you, Searching what and what manner of time the Spirit of CHRIST, which was in them, did signifie, when it testified before-hand the sufferings of CHRIST and the glory that should follow.— Which things the Angels desired to look into, as having been appointed ministring Spirits, before and since, united also to this Church of Christ.

And if we look upon the operations of the Spirit, and see how it wrought before and since; we shall find the same breathings of the Saints of both Testaments in their Confessions, As may appear by Psal. 51. alone. Prayers and Arguments; save only that what we ask for Christ's sake, by virtue of his death, his resurrection and his intercession for us; they asked by the mercies of God (not at large, as Heathen-men, but as) annexed to his Promises and his Covenant, and his faithfulness therein, with respect unto him that was to come, whatsoever Notions they had of him: Which we shall take account of in the last place, by answering two or three [Page] more Objections, to attain the clearer light in this particular; trusting that the Reader will think it as worthy of his perusal, as I of my digesting. In the mean while we leave the Saints of the Old Testament, as endued with the samehope, love and patience, as these of the New; and have thereupon inferred, according to the connexion of the Graces of the Spirit, that they must needs have the like faith. Idem & ratione ductâ à simili ostenditur. Est una spes omnium, quâ ad tandem felicitatem tendunt; & una charitas, quâ omnia propter Deam diligant: ergo & unasides. Eft. ubi supra. And for their outward Worship, all the people were sprinkled with the bloud of Heb. 9.19, 20. Mediation, often shed, as ours are, by the bloud of Christ, once shed for all, unto the Worlds end.

CHAP. XXV. Second Objection propounded, How that little which they knew could answer unto that justifying faith which we have now. First, The things that they believed considered, and shewed, That they amounted to as much as our Creed, less than which may be a ground of justifying faith. Secondly, For the manner of their faith, it was explicit. The distinction of explicit and implicit weighed; How much faith in them. Fiducial faith.

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THE first Objection was, That a few choice persons only had any special notion of the Messiah to come.Obj. 2. The next is, That of those very choice persons so little was known, as could not be a sufficient ground of such a faith as we account to be a justifying or a saving faith in Christ; since of the Prophets, to some one was revealed one part of this mystery; to some others a little more; to no one the whole. Nay, it is to be gathered from that place of St.Peter quoted before, that some of them had Commission to [Page] prophesie more than the meaning whereof was revealed even to themselves For he saith, Of which salvation the Prophets (that prophesied) have enquired and searched diligently of the Grace that should come unto you, (and not unto themselves) unto whom it was revealed (at the last)that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you. Which things (for all their Prophecies) the Angels desired to pry into.

Let us,Resp. first, consider the things believed (or to be believed) betwixt them and us; and, secondly, then demodo, of the manner of their Faith and ours, how far they agree or differ.

First, If they and we do agree in the same Creed (which is called the Apostles Creed) then certainly we both agree in side credendâ, in the Faith which is to be believed. But why we should not be taken to agree in this, since every Article of it may be articulately proved out of the Old Testament, there can (indeed) be no other reason given than that which is insinuated, viz. That though the substance be there; yet it lyes scattered, and was not revealed (so [Page] much as in the matter) all at once; nor the end clearly understood by them, to whom the matter it self was revealed.

Now if this Creed (which is sufficient) be but understood confusedly by many of ours, and yet we take it to be ground enough for a saving faith to be built upon it, as they know in part; how much more may we extend our latitude of Charity to the Saints of the Old Testament, who believed upon the matter as much as some of ours, before it was propounded in such an order?

Let me say further,Aug. in 1 Tim. 2. Ep. 89, Vnus (inquit) est Mediator, quia unum Christum ad justificationem nobis prodesse commemorat Apostolus: ut sciamus etiam Antiquos justos, non nisi pèr candem fiden liberatos, quâ & nos: sidem scil. incarnationis Chri [...]ti, quae illis praenuntia [...]ata [...], sicut à nob [...]s sacta annuntiatur. That it was enough for them to know in the general that Christ should be born in the time appointed, to redeem us (without any circumstances) to ground even a Fiducial Faith upon that alone. But let us see how much they knew more. We have proved that our Father Adam offered Sacrifices according unto revelation. And if they came in use by revelation, it is reasonable to imagine that the end also was some way or other revealed from the first, viz. That Christ himself [Page] should be offered up unto God (in the appointed time) to do away that sin which Adam had contracted; the punishment whereof deserved death and fire, as the act of Oblation required true repentance and contrition, with compassion on the innocent that was to dye in the sread of the nocent. And was not Abraham taught as much as this, (do you think?) when God commanded him to offer up his only Son Isaac, and in sparing Isaac, provided Abraham of another Sacrifice? But when we come to the Book of the Psalms and the Prophets, both the death and resurrection and ascension and sending of the Holy Ghost are all described to the life; so that the Object of Faith was but only more comfortably enlarged than before, and left under less obscurity, as the Day-Star and the dawning drew the nearer. Nor was all the Scripture of the Old Testament of no profit in its own time,2 Tim. 3. 16. (which was given by inspiration of God, 1 Cor. 10.11 for their instruction in righteousness) though many things happened unto them as Types unto us, and are also written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the World are come.

Upon all which, St Augustine is here [Page] producible with a clear Verdict:Ante adventum Christi praecesserunt jus [...]i, sic in [...]um credentes venturum, quomodo nos credimus in [...]um qui veni [...]. Tempora variata sunt, non sides, quia & ipsa verba pro tempore variantur, cùm variè declinantur. Eadem tamen fides introsque conjungit, & [...]os qui venturum esse, & [...]os qui [...]um venisse crediderunt, diversis quid [...]m t [...]mporibus, sed u [...]rosque per unum sid [...]i os [...]ium, hoc est per Christum videmus ingressos. Nos credimus dominumi nostrum natum ex Virgine, venisse in carne, &c. Tract. in Joan 45. Et alibi: Sine side incarnati [...]nis, & mortis, & resurrectionis Christi, ne [...] antiquos juslos ut jus [...]i essent, à peccatis potuisse mundari, & Dei gratiâ justificari, veritas Christiana non dubitat..... vel ante diluvium, vel inde usque ad datam Legem, vel ipsius Legis tempore, non solùm in filiis Israel, sicut fuerunt Prophetae, sed etiam extra eundem populum, sicut Iob. Et iplorum etiam corda [...]âdem mundabantar Mediatoris side, & dissundebatur in [...]is charitas per Spiritum Sanctum, qui ubi vult, spira [...], non merita sequens, sed [...]tiam ipsa merita faciens. Lab. de pecc. origin. cap. 24. Quaescunque sacrae scripturae [...]nca probant neminem salvari sme Christo Mediatore, eadem valent ad probandam fidei necessitatem. Est. in lib. 3. di [...]. 25. s [...]ct. 4. Before the Coming of Christ (faith he) there were righteous men, so believing in him to come, as we believe in him come: The times are varied, not the Faith. We believe that our Lord was born of a Virgin, suffered, rose again, and ascended; They that all this should be thereafter, &c.

Secondly, But because neither they nor we could be saved by believing any Articles only, howsoever clear; let us next consider de modo, or de fide quâ, by what manner of faith they might believe in Christ as well as we, unto justification by him.

To this we have also an Answer in the [Page] general from the same Father,Quicunque ab exordio generis buma [...]i in eum crediderunt; eum (que) [...]; intelle [...]erant, & secundums ejus Praeceptapiè, & justè vixerunt, quandolibet, & ubilibet suerint, per eum proculdubio salvi sacti sunt. Aug. Ep. 49. ad Deogratias, Qu. 2. Whosoever (saith he) from the beginning have believed in him, however understood, whensoever it was, or wheresoever they were, without doubt they were saved by Him.

But this Answer will not serve the turn, since the late distinction of the School-men about explicit and implicit faith; so that we must endeavour to give a clearer and more particular Reply to the thing in Question.

Summ. 1, 2. Qu. 2. Artic. 5. Lumbard. lib. 3. dis [...]. 25. b.The Distinction it self seemeth to have been first coined by Aquinas in his Comments on the Master of the Senteces, who called this explicit Faith, (Fidem distinctam in aperto, and the other Fide [...] velatam in mysterio) such a distinct Faith by revelation as Abraham and Moses had, and such a veiled Faith in the mystery as they received from them in the after-times; to whom no more was revealed, but that they must believe as Abraham and Moses had done before, having no distinct knowledge of all the Articles of the Faith that were delivered to them. But Aquinas's explicit [Page] Faith is described to be, Quâ quid creditur secundùm se, & in particulari, the believing of a thing by it self, and in particular; and his implicit to be, Quà quid creditur in alio, tanqu [...]m in universali, the believing of a thing that is contained in another, as in the general. Which at last was wrested to this sense,Eft. in 1.3. d 25. sect. 2. Velut si quis ex animo profiteatur se credere quicquid credit Ecclesia, as if any one should profess that he believeth from his heart what the Church believeth; which we take to be no faith at all, but only a blind obedience.

But of the Believers of the Old Testament we say, first, that they had a certain explicite Faith in Christ, in some measure, every one of them according to the Word of Grace that was any way revealed or transmitted to them. And then that there was implicitly more contained in that which they received (which was indeed veiled in a mystery) than they could possibly conceive: Whether they received it in Doctrine, or in the Promises, or, more especially, in any of the Types and Figures of the Law. But an implicit Faith in their own Church they had not; neither could they be saved by the faith of their [Page] Progenitors, like little Infants,Etiam [...]i multitudo nihil cognitum, perceptùmue habuisset de Messia, nihilo tamen minus Coe [...]estem beatitudinem dari illis potuisse prop [...]er Patriarchas, qui Messiam mente intuiti sunt, & Foaderis hanc Promissionem accep [...]re à Numine, Ero Deus vester, & Pos [...]eritatis vestrae. Hinc persaepe v [...]niam, & magna impe [...]trant beneficia majoruma suorum gratiâ... Sic Infantibu [...] ad salutem pi [...]tas Parentum valet. Ubi supra. (as Cun [...]us is apt to think that some of them might be) but every one by his own faith; and that a Fiducial Faith too, wherein I follow Cunaeus for the rest: But to avoid that Question of the Schoolmen, (or to refer my Reader to them) How much or how little it was necessary for the ordinary people, before the coming of Christ, to believe concerning him; as also to make way for my more direct proceeding;Quod si Prophetae, & ill [...]s [...]riores, qui videbant [...]r in illo populo, non omnes omnia liquido [...] liter agnoscere valueru [...]t, sed alii plus, alii minus; quanto magis simpliciores qu [...]que ju [...]ti, sine detrimento salutis, salvationis modum, tempus, & ordinem [...]escire p [...]tuerunt; qu [...] tamen certâ spe, & side, [...]ti promissa suerant, firmissi [...]è ten [...]erant? Bern. in Ep. 77. ad Hugonem. I cannot but take that passage of St Bernard in my way. ‘If the Prophets (faith he) and choicest of them did not all know all alike, but some more, some less; how much more might the simpler sort, without any detriment unto their salvation, be ignorant of the time and manner; while they held fast the things promised with a certain faith and hope?’

[Page]Yet I cannot but wonder how the Fathers and Schoolmen could all beat about so much (as they have done) in this suit; and not withal bethink themselves, that this faith of the Believers of Israel (at least) was not wholly towards a Mediator to come; but was also in him, as having him with them in every time, even as they had ever since they had the name of Israel: For I have shewed how he wrestled with Israel (in particular) and was with them all in the Red Sea, and the Desart. To proceed therefore a little further, and you shall know what manner of explicit and siducial faith they had, and how far it was implicit or veiled, (take which term you like the better) and how agreeable unto that Faith which we conceive to be saving now.

CHAP. XXVI. That the Israelites were not saved by a blind obedience, or any mere implicit faith only; but by a fiducial trust in the mercies of God, as they were exhibited in the Ark of the Covenant, and the Mercy-seat erected over it. That the Cherubims, erected at either end, represented the same Church, of one piece, of either Testament, looking towards Christ; who really dwelt (by his Divine presence) betwixt them, and so shewed himself their King and Prophet. The Argument of the next Chapter propounded.

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WE are never nearer to a bright Morning, than when we pass through an early foggy Mist. When we are told that the Israelites (for their parts) might be saved by a mere obedience, without any explicit Faith at all in Christ, tanquam per opera operata, (as they speak abusively to the very terms;) or else by the faith of their Forefathers, as if it could be imputed unto them to justification, as Christ's righteousness is to us: Or, in fine, by believing that [Page] God, who could do wonders, would redeem them, and all Mankind, one way or other, in the general (they knew not how) we are left in a maze.

But when we come to this result, viz. That as the Patriarchs before the Law worshipped God in Christ at many Altars; so after the giving of the Law, the Children of Israel worshipped him in his holy Tabernacle, at one only Altar; as having Christ there in the midst of them, sitting on the Mercy-Seat as his Throne, and dwelling betwixt the Cherubims, who was the Keeper of their Covenant; and that their trust in the mercies of God (shadowed there by the wings of the Cherubims) according to all his promises, was their [...]iducial faith in God, through Christ Iesus; I say, when we come to this result, methinks we have found a certain Clue, to bring us out of all perplexity, and to shew us, that the Saints of the Old Testament had (at least) enough to stay their Stomachs till the Word it self should be made flesh, and come to dwell among them, in a larger place.

In this posture we therefore find the Mediator of both Testaments, as exercising all his Offices under the first; for [Page] protection, direction and doing away of sin, in such an extraordinary way as all the other expedients of the Ceremonial Law could not come near. The Ark it self contained the Law of the ten words, which when the people had accepted,Exod. 19.8. saying, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do, it became a Covenant of Works to that people, and to no other, though a Rule and Obligation unto all Mankind, that should come to know it. And when God had commanded that this should be laid up before him in the Ark, and placed in the Holy of Holies; the Ark came to be called the Ark of the Covenant, or of Testimony. However, he that gave the Law, knowing their proneness to [...]ansgress, was graciously pleased to command that it should be covered with the Mercy-Seat; remembring his elder Covenant of Grace, made with Abraham, Is [...]a [...] and Iacob, in whom not only one people, but all the nations of the earth should be blessed. And for Supporters to the Mercy-Seat, as a Royal Throne,Exod. 37.6, &c. he caused two Cherubims of Gold, beaten out of one Piece, to be set at either end of it, which spreading out their wings on high, covered the Mercy-Seat [Page] therewith; and having their faces one towards another, looked both towards the Mercy-Seat.

Now in that the Cherubims were both of one Piece, looking both towards this Mercy-Seat, (which was also made of pure Gold, that we might know the worth of mercy) they served aptly to set forth the posture of the Saints of both Testaments, which in their faces look towards one another, and both towards Christ: and in the spreading of their wings, they reach the two sides of the World, while they touch in the middle, and so do sweetly join to one another,Temple, chap. 15. sect. 4. as Dr Lightfoot speaks. But betwixt these was the strength and glory of Israel, the most pregnant and proper resemblance of our Saviour, in whom God dwelleth among men: Nor was it a mere resemblance,2 Kings 19.15, &c. So Psal. 80.1. & 99.1. but it was truly so. For Hezekiah (in his distress) prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the Cherubims, bow down thine ear and hear; open thine eyes, and see and save us, that all the Earth may know, that thou art the Lord God, even thou alone.

1 Sam. 4.4. & 2 Sam. 6. [...], &c.This Ark the Priests were therefore ordered to carry forth to Battel, while [Page] the Tabernacle stood, and it was the Palladium of Israel, they were either victorious, or invincible, while they had it with them; for the King of Glory went along with it: And, Who was that King of Glory? Psal. 24: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battel; The Lord of Hosts is the King of Glory. So that when the Philistines had once taken this Ark, (though they could not hold it long) the Wife of Phinehas fell in travail, and dyed; having first named her Son Ichabod;1 Sam. 4.22. because, said she, the glory is departed from Israel, since the Ark of God is taken. In fine, when it pleased God to deliver them up to the Assyrians for their incorrigible Idolatry (which was not a breach of the Covenant in part, but in the whole) he suffered this Ark, Mercy-Seat and all, to be burned with the Temple.

To this, the same Ark was their Oracle,1 Kings 6.16. and gave name to the whole Room, the Holy of Holies, to be called the Oracle,Exod. 25.12. For there I will meet with thee (said God) and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two Cherubims, which are upon the Ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give in commandment unto the Children[Page]of Israel. And thus it was of frequent use so long as the first Temple did continue.

But that which is most to the purpose (to understand the Object and the manner of the faith of the Saints of old) is that which presents it self to our next thoughts, about the Priestly Office of Christ within this inner Temple, beyond the ministry of the Sons of Levi, which was in the outer Sanctuary, (once a year excepted, when it was permitted to the High Priest alone to enter in hither.)

I hardly can forbear to deliver my own opinion expresly here, although I know no other authority to fortifie it by, besides the very Scriptures themselves, or what an ingenuous man may accept for a reasonable inference upon them. I take the Ark it self to have been a kind of Altar.

CHAP. XXVII. The Kingdom given unto Christ for his Priesthood-sake; who as of the order of Melchizedek had an inner house and Altar, to which the house of Aaron owed reverence: That it was not properly an Altar, but bore some analogy; and was needful for the people. That the promises of God before the Law were virtually concealed in the Ark. A new Objection started.

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IT was in contemplation of Christ's Priesthood, that God the Father bestowed the Kingdom on him, according to that of the Royal Psalmist,Psal. 110. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool .... The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for ever, after the Order of Melchizedek, Heb. 7.15. that is, after the s [...]militude (as the Apostle doth expound it) of that King of righteousness; which word doth indifferently signifie mercy in the use of the Old Testament.

Within this inward Temple (therefore) [Page] it was convenient that another kind of Altar should be reserved for another kind of Priest than Aaron was, (who had the Ruler of the people over him; and many Laws lying on his Order, from which Melchizedek was free) For the Law made nothing perfect;Heb. 7.19. but the bringing in of a better hope did, by which we draw nigh unto God....Chap. 6.19, 20: which hope [...]e have as an Anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast; and which entreth into that within the Veil. Whither the forerunner is for us entred, even Iesus, made an High Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek, who was a Type of him; as the Holy of Holies, within the Veil, was of Heaven; having the Throne of God in the midst of it, and a multitude of Cherubims besides it, after Solomon had put the last hand to it. And as our hope is now (above all) in the intercession of Christ in Heaven; so was theirs of old within the Veil, more than it was without, as I am about to shew.

But because it doth not consist with the oneness of the Body of Christ, that there should be more Temples or Altar [...] (properly so called) than one; I [Page] shall first address my self to some accommodation Nec quis miretur (insup [...]r) auratam mensam, cui panes sacierum apponi solebant, tanquam oblationes, in Ararum censum referri. Sicut enim Ara Mensa Dei (Mal. 1.12.) ita Mensa D [...]i Ara quedam [...]rat, Araeque plane vicera praeslabat. Neque viro apud Iudaeos tantum, sed etiam apud prophanas Gentes, Mensas ritè dedicatas Ararum vices praeslitisse legimus. In papyria [...]o enim j [...]re evidentèr relatum es [...] Arae vicem p [...]estare posse mensam dicatam. Outr. lib. I. cap. 8..

Besides the Altar of Oblation, there stood apart (and nearer to the Veil) the Golden Altar, or Altar of Incense, by God's appointment; which served to set forth the intercession of the Angel of the Covenant, who is represented to us in the Revelation,Rev. 8.3, &c. as standing at the Altar, having a golden Censer, with much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar, which was before the Throne; the smoke whereof ascended up before God out of the Angels hand, and then the Angel took his Censer, and filled it with fire of the Altar, and cast it to the Earth (as a return of prayers) and then the judgments of God began to work below. Which Altar therefore stands not in opposition to the other; nor this that I am about to speak of to either of them. But now I will shew what analogy, and what need or use there was of this token.

[Page] Quod prius praestantius, was the great Rule that St Paul went by in preferring Christ's Priesthood before Levi's, in that it was according to the likeness of Melchizedek's, unto whom Levi himself had paid Tythes in the Loins of his Father Abraham. Heb. 8.4, &c. And in this he shews the excellency of the New Testament above the Old,Gal. 3.17. that it was four hundred and thirty years (indeed) the elder of the two. This I say (saith he) that the Covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the Law which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of no effect. And that it might not do so, God laid a Mercy-Seat over the Law, and put all together behind the Veil; where he kept the Archives of his first promise made to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Iacob, concerning Christ: In reference whereunto he bad Moses tell the people from the very first beginning of his vocation,Exod. 3.13. The Lord God of your Fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Iacob, hath sent me unto you. This is my name for ever; and this is my memorial unto all Generations. This was his name within the Veil, covered with the wings of Angels, [Page] while the Lord of life was yet in the Loins of his Progenitors.

Obj. 3.So that if any one be ready to object further against the knowledge of Christ of old, that Moses put a veil [of Types and Ceremonies] over his face, [on purpose] that the Children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished [viz. the Ceremonial Law.] But their minds were blinded so, that until this day, the same Veil remaineth on them in the reading of the Old Testament; we are as ready to meet them with another passage of the same Apostle.

Resp. Wherefore then serveth the Law? [Was it given to the prejudice of the Grace of Christ?]Gal. 3.19, 21, 23. It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator: Is the Law then against the promises of God? God forbid. But before faith came, we were kept under the Law, shut up unto the faith, which should after be revealed.

Now the strength of the Objection seems to bear against the multitude of the Children of Israel, and not against any choice men amongst them; who (for all this Objection) as they drew nearer, [Page] might see the clearer into this mystery of Christ, on coming. But I shall endeavour to take things in such an order, that that which remains of the former Objection, may go off as well satisfied as can be with this that cometh last.

CHAP. XXVIII. What resemblance the Ark bore unto an Altar; and how the Altar of Burnt-Offering was sanctified by it. That a Censer was only a necessary Vtensil, belonging to the Holy of Holies, to be used once a Year. That the whole Temple was hallowed by the Còvenant and Mercy-seat, shewed by Solomon's Dedication of it.

OF the whole Law, how far it is a priviledge or a burthen, a light or a veil, (that I may not too much anticipate the design that I have in hand) there will be a proper place hereafter. In the mean while, whatsoever was defective ( [...]) in the Sanctuary,Heb. 9.2, 3. was supplied ( [...]) in the Holy of Holies, or most holy place. And whatsoever blindness happened to the [Page] later Jews, it was not so much by the Veil, that Moses drew over his own face (which was, as it were, but of Cypress) as by the grosser Veils, that the Scrib [...]s and Pharisees, in the later times, had drawn over all.

Lev. 16,On the tenth Day of the seventh Month, T [...]ri or September, the High Priest was to make an atonement for the people by Sacrifice, to cleanse them, that they might be clean from all their sins before the Lord. But this was to be done the same Day, after he had performed all that was required to be done in the Holy of Holies.

He was first to make an atonement without, for himself and for his house, by a Sin-Offering, which was to be a Bullock. Then he was to carry a Censer full of burning Coals of fire from off the Altar, with his hands full of incense within the Veil, where he was to burn it upon the Coals, that the Cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat that is upon the testimony, [thus it resembleth the Altar of incense, as it was in form somewhat like it] and he shall take of the bloud of the Bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger Eastward; and before the Mercy-Seat shall be sprinkle of the blo [...]d with his finger[Page]seven times [thus doth he dedicate it to the Lord with some of the same Ceremonies that he used towards the Altar of Oblation] Then shall be kill the Goat of the Sin-Offering that is for the people, and do with that bloud as he did with the former, sprinkling the bloud upon the mercy-seat, and before it. And then he shall there make an atonement even for the San [...]uary it self, because of the uncleanness of the Children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins. In fine, (as if this were the Altar of Altars Quod sacit tale, to magises [...] tale. So that if we suppose a third Altar, we do not [...]rigere Altare contra Altare▪ but rather set all three to agree in one, according to the Mystery of the Trinity., that imparted holiness Quod sacit tale, to magises [...] tale. So that if we suppose a third Altar, we do not [...]rigere Altare contra Altare▪ but rather set all three to agree in one, according to the Mystery of the Trinity. unto both the other, as well as unto all the people) he shall go out [again] unto the Altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it, and shall take of the bloud of the Bullock, and of the bloud of the Goat, and put it upon the horns of the Altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the bloud upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the Children of Israel. And then, to the Sacrifice of atonement mentioned before.

Now because St Paul reckons that there was a golden Censer (which belongs to an Altar) within this Holy of Holies, whereof there was no need, since the Priest carried one in with him; it [Page] might occasion that errour of St Augustine's, that the Altar of incense was in this most holy place; which is sufficiently detected by Cunaeus. P. Cun. l. 2. c. 4. And when Expositors have toiled much about this superfluous Censer; it may be it was but for Ornament alone, as the multitude of Palm-Trees and Cherubims, with which Solomon adorned the Oracle; whereas Moses had ordained two only Cherubims at the ends of the Ark it self. Or else St Paul might intend no other than that which the Priest brought in (as the only Ut [...]sil belonging unto the service of that place) though he carried it out again.

But is was not once a Year only that the Mercy-seat and the Covenant were of any use unto this people. For if the Altar of Sacrifice was (Non solum [...]rbes Levitarum Asyli gandebaut privilegio, verum & Altare Templi, licèt perquam dispari, tum respectu sacinorum, tum & more, &c. Joan. Seld. de jure Nat. & Gent. jux [...]a Heb. lib. 4. cap 2. Asylum) a certain refuge whereunto to flee, and to repair for succour; this was much more, both for all the people, and for each particular person, in ordinary and in extraordinary, whether at home or abroad. Let us mark how they might use it.

This awful place, into which the High Priest might not presume to enter above once in the year, at the time appointed, [Page] not without Typical bloud (to safeguard him) and incense (to procure a gracious acceptation, by the intercession of the immaculate Lamb,Levit. 16.2, 13. slain from the beginning of the World) lest he dye (as it is twice said in the same Chapter) gave its dignity unto all the Temple.

1 Kings 8.22. & 2 Chron. 6.12, &c.So that when Solomon had fini [...]hed the whole, he stood before the Al [...]ar of the Lord [upon a Brazen Scaffold, which he had erected] and kneeling down in the presence of all the Congregation, he prayed, saying, Lord God of Israel, who keepest Covenant and mercy (there being little comfort in the one without the other, as also to shew us that it was the Covenant and the Mercy-seat together that was the glory of the whole) although the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee, much less this house that I have built; yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy Servant, O Lord my God, (which Pronoun possessive is to be observed as bearing respect to the promise that he had mentioned before, made unto his Father David) that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy people Israel,[Page]when they shall pray toward this place, and when thou hearest, forgive, and relieve, reckoning up the needs that might happen. And among the rest of his petitions, what prayer or supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, (and not of his Body only) and spread sorth his hands towards this house; then hear thou in Heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do; moreover, concerning a Stranger that is not of thy people Israel, (that it might be known that this house was also sacred unto him, in whom all the Nations of the Earth were to be blessed) but cometh out of a far Country for thy names sake; (for they shall hear of thy great name) hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the Stranger calleth unto thee for. Which proved a Rule (if not mistaken) in after-times to admit Heathen Princes to offer Sacrifices in the Temple.

This is therefore the frequent compellation (or adjunct to the blessed Attributes) of God in the Old Testament, who keepeth Covenant and mercy. If you please to know how often, the Concordances are at hand; to which I may refer [Page] you with favour, and not oblige my Reader to pay twice for a single sa [...]i [...]faction. Only this remains to be enquired into, What Covenant they meant, and with what respect unto the Temple.

CHAP. XXIX. They intended t [...]at Covenant which God had made with Abraham, Isa [...]c and Jacob, by the sign of Circumcision, (and not that which they consented [...]o when they received the Law) upon which fundamental Covenant it was that God proclaim [...]d his Attributes of mercy to them; yet they were bound [...]o renew their own Covenant wh [...]n [...]hey sought for mercies. The presence of God in the Temple an Object of their faith; of which presence Christ was the Angel, otherwise known by the name of the loving kindness or tender mercies of God, to which they trusted more than to any of their services.

ONCE we may be sure, that it was not that part of the Covenant which they had broken, which was added because of transgressions, or annexed [Page] as a Codicil unto the first Testament, to keep them in awe, and fear of sinning, by its threatnings, they being always prone to trespass upon the God of Israel:Gal. 3.17.19. But the Covenant which they intended was that which was confirmed before of God in Christ, viz. with Abraham, Isaac and Iacob, their Progenitors, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made. 1 Chron. 16. So that when David had brought the Ark, and set it in the midst of a Tent, which he had pitched for it, they offer [...]d Burnt-sacrifices, and Peace-offerings before God: and then he delivered the hundred and fifth Psalm unto Asaph and his Brethren, to be tuned by them unto praise, in which there is this special passage,But in the Psalm, v. 6. it is, O ye seed of Abraham his Servant— O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Iacob his chosen ones; Be ye mindful always of his Covenant: the word which he commanded to a thousand Generations. Which Covenant be made with Abraham, and his Oath unto Isaac. And confirmed the same unto Iacob for a Law, and to Israel for an everlasting Covenant. Unto all which the temporal promise of the Land of Canaan (a Type of [...]he eternal rest) is join'd and knit.

Upon which fundamental Covenant [Page] it was that God proclaimed the name of the Lord, at the second giving of the Law, in this manner, The Lord,Exod. 34.5, 6the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin.

This is the Covenant that they were to flee to in all their adversities, so as still to renew their own, which they had made with God by the mediation of Moses, when the Law was given. In such manner,1 Kings 23. Ezra 8. Nehem. 8. & 9. as we may read distinctly in the examples of Iosiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, and whatever Reformers or Restorers there were besides. All the Sacrifices of their Land were of no avail to appease or please God, wi [...]hout this. And this was to be done either in the Temple, with their faces towards the Mercy-Seat; or towards the Temple, when they were at a distance from it. This was the use of the Covenant of mercy, as to all the people: Let us see next what the faith of particular men might be, and of what use or help, this within the Veil.

Jonah 2.4, 7.It was the Object of Ionah's faith directly, I said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet will I look again toward thy holy Temple:[Page]When my soul fainted within me I remembred the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy Temple. Lect. 11. on Ionah. ‘Of all places (saith Archbishop Abbot) he pitcheth on the Temple, where God had put his name, and was more apparently conversant by his [...]pecial Grace. Which did make that House and City to be counted an holy Mansion, the joy of the Earth, the beauty of the World, the Palace of the Great King, the delight, Paradise and Garden of the Highest. There was the Ark of the Covenant, the Tables of the Testimony, [that we may not take these latter alone to be the whole Covenant] the Cherubims and the Mercy-Seat, all being strange things of much excellency: But the summity of all happiness was the residence of God's favour there .... Wherefore the Jews observed this evermore in the earnestness of their prayer, in what land soever they were, to turn them toward the Temple; not tying superstitiously the power of God to that place, but knowing that the same house was not erected in vain. And witnessing withal their obedience unto the Lord, and to men the constancy of their profession, [Page] who held that place as the Seal of the Lord's assured protection over them.Dan. 6.10. So when Daniel in Chaldaea would pray, he set his Windows open toward Ierusalem, to the hazard of his life.’ Let us therefore next consider his example.

When Daniel knew by Books,Dan. 9. that the seventy years were expired, he set his face toward the Temple (though it was demolished, because the blessing was that way still, and a promise of its restitution) and prayed, saying, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the Covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his Commandments .... To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy City Ierusalem, and cause thy face to shine upon thy Sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. Nos cum Synodo Sardicensi, simplicitèr h [...]c verba accipimus, Propter Dominum, h. e. propter Messiam, sive christum. Junius in locum. Eadémque suit in Veteri & Novo Testamento salutis impetrandae ratio. Nec Iudaei hîc renit [...]ntur, quo minus hec verba de Messia intelligantur. Yarii. Which if any one think to be not the same as if he had said, For Christ's sake, who was wont to dwell in the Sanctuary, [Page] that lyeth now in ruines, it might be fit to put him in mind of our Saviour's Question to the Pharisees, saying, What think ye of Christ, whose Son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine Enemies thy footstool? —And no man was able to answer him a word. The Prophet said, I beseech thee, O Lord, for the Lord's sake; The Question is, For what Lord's sake? or what congruity in the sense? For the words are not, I beseech thee for thine own sake, or for thy mercy-sake; But for the Lord's sake: Neither is it questioned, but that the Lord Christ was revealed to the Prophets, in a great measure; nor yet that their Writings were so obscure, as that others besides themselves understood nothing of the meaning of them: for they were written (as all Scripture) for instruction, which has been pointed at before

There are indeed of opinion that hold, That by the Types they were little the wiser; but by the Prophets, they knew to the very Day of Christ's coming,Matth. 14.33.—26.63.—27.43, 54. [Page] not only that he was to be the Son of David; but also the Son of God: A Notion common unto all that expected the Messias in any manner.

But, [...],Joh. 1.49.—6.69.—11.27.—20.31, &c. to speak the rest in a word, What is the Son of God, but the loving kindness and mercy of the Father, begotten in himself by eternal Generation, to be made manifest in the flesh, according to the time appointed by the Father? In this loving kindness (therefore) and tender mercies of God, with respect to him that was to come, they put their trust; even as we do, in the same mercies, through him, that is come since, and now for ever liveth to make intercession for us.

So that in their prayers there was nothing but the name of Christ concealed, because it was not yet revealed to them; the same Petitions, the same Arguments, and the like Confessions. In all which, if there were not a Syllable of Christ, how could we use the fame Forms and Phrases still? If they were not according to the Spirit of Christ, how could we be sanctified or comforted by the Scriptures of the Old Testament? A thing that hath been little weighed by the Antinomians, when they spake so [Page] contemptibly of an Old Testament-Spirit, as if it were all legal, and of bondage only in blindness and darkness.

Alas! they knew as well as we, that faith and repentance (whether with or without Sacrifices or other outward services) was the only way to please God: Neither had they any Sacrifices, but if it were a Sin-Offering,Levit. 1.4. & 3.13. & 4.24. Dr Lightfoo [...]'s Temple-Service, ch. 8. sect. 1. Et Outr. l. 1. c. 15. the Offerer was bound to put his hand upon the head of the Burnt-Offering. Which was accounted amongst them to have been a Rite of transmission, as it were, of the man's sin unto the Sacrifice that was to dye for him (which was a Figure of the transferring or our sins on Christ.) And in laying of his hands on the Bullock's head, he confessed his sin after this manner, I have sinned, I have done perversely, I have rebelled, and done thus or thus; but I return by repentance before thee, and let this be my atonement. And once a year they had a scape-goat let loose with all their sins into the Wilderness, Levit. 16.9.22. to teach them that God delighted not in the bloud of Beasts; and that there was another mean to do away their sins, besides the slaying of the dumb Creature.

For if had been otherwise, what [Page] should David have done, when he was convicted by the Prophet of his two great sins, of murder and adultery? All the Beasts of the Forest, Psal. 30.10, 11. and the Cattel upon a thousand Hills (which were all God's own) had not been enough to sacrifice for the expiation of such sins as those.Psal. 51. Wherefore he saith, Thou desirest not Sacrifice, else would I give it; Thou delightest not in Burnt-Offering. How then? The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions..... Wash me, and I shall be whiter than Snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free Spirit.

Nor was this a mystery known only unto choicer men: For one of the Scribes approving of our Lord's Answer, when he had told him which were the two great Commandments, replyed, Well,Mark 12.32, 33. Master, thou hast said the truth; for to love God with all the heart and soul, and to love his Neighbour as himself, [Page] is more than all whole Burnt-Offerings and Sacrifices.

And if that passage of Isaiah be well considered, it will shew us what kind of piety it was that did impregnate the Spirits of the people of God from Moses unto Christ:Isai. 63.7, 8, 9. I will mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord, according to the great goodness towards the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them, according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses: for he said, Surely they are my people: so he was their Saviour. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of his presence saved them. In his love, and in his pity he redeemed them, and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. Wherein the church standeth clear off from any merits of her Progenitors; or of Moses, Aaron, and the Prophets, relying only on her Saviour, the Angel of the presence of the God of Israel. They believed therefore in Christ as we do only by the name of the tender mercies of God, both for pardon and for every Grace beside.

CHAP. XXX. Christ cloathed in his Word and promises, the adequate Object of saving faith; which he was to them as well as unto us: No naked Christ without these: No plerophory without them. So much of any promise as the Ancients laid hold of, so much of Christ they received in an implicit manner. There is somewhat implicit in faith, even in these days too.

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Ut B [...]za, Zanchius, &c. ut etiam videre est in Tactic. sacr. D. Arrowsmith.NOW if Faith be to be defined per modum [...] (as some Divines have followed Calvin over strictly in such a Notion, from which they are much come off of late) to be a certain full perswasion of particular Election in Christ; I must confess I know not how to accommodate such a faith to the times of the Old Testament; or to find that they had (then) an agreeable faith unto such as are of that perswasion. Or if the Object of Faith be precisely (and abstrusely) set, to be the very person of Christ, a naked Christ, divested (almost) of his Word and Ordinances; I shall not be able to make out [Page] any thing that way neither.

But as the Lutherans speak about their Consubstantiation, that Christus vestitus, Christ clothed in the Elements, is there received by the worthy Communicant; so I doubt not but I may safely say, that Christus vestitus verbo suo, Christ clothed with his own Word, ever was and is the adequate Object of the Faith of all Ages; wherein he was and is received to salvation, and to all other ends and purposes whatsoever. More especially according to the measure of promises, as they have been revealed, and made from time to time Crediderunt quidem in Chrislo per promissa, & prophetias partim revelato: intra Cherubinos tamen, & in Typis, aliter velato..

I think I have gone somewhat near to prove to indifferent men, that many of the Saints of the Old Testament had a greater insight into the main scope of the very promise about the person and merits of Christ, than diversmen might have thought before; and that they had the right use of their faith unto justification, as we have now. The only Point wherein it may seem that some may stick, is, whether in the multitude it was not a confused faith, and not distinct enough to be what ours must be.

[Page]To this therefore it is to be considered, That saving faith relyeth not on any one promise whatsoever (abstractedly) by it self; nor yet that all the promises which are certainly to be believed are of use to all men: so that all together are of no more consequence unto us than unto them.

Next it is to be remembred what St Paul tells us,2 Cor. 1.20. that all the promises of God in Christ are Yea, and in him Amen. So that how much or how little soever the Saints of the Old Testament embraced of the promises, they embraced of Christ, as implicitly contained in them: which wrought in them the like obedience, hope and perseverance as in us, so as to carry them beyond carnal things, to the things heavenly and spiritual. Which St Paul (again) elaborately proves to us, in the eleventh to the Hebrews; and that they looked more towards that Seed wherein all the Nations should be blessed,Heb. 11.10, &c. and another Country and City, which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God, than towards the Land of Can [...]an. And all the Worthies which he reckons up, he says obtained a good report through faith, having not received [...]he [special] promise, [Page]God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us, should not be made perfect.

In fine, we shall find somewhat that is implicit in the best faith of any of ours; and if we shall consider how short that faith may be, which others of ours may have, (unto salvation t [...]o) and so compare it with theirs, we shall think the less strange of any thing that has been said of theirs before.

Do we not all believe the Gospel, not knowing how much may be contained in it? Do we not engage ourselves in Baptism to obey, not knowing what shall be required of us? Like Abraham, who when he was called, obeyed, and went out, not knowing whither he went. Are we not in frequent doubts and fears both about the promises that we embrace as we are able, and about our practice, to be ordered so that at last we may obtain them? Was it a weak faith in that Martyr, that went drooping to the Stake, not so much for fear of death, as for the pressure of desertion that then lay upon him? And yet he durst not recant to save all, (as they might think) both Soul and Body too. But the Spirit of Glory came upon him [Page] in an instant to bear him up above all. In fine, when we shall consider how many of ours that have some faith of adherence (as we otherwise distinguish) and, in the judgment of Charity, do stand fair towards salvation in the end, are ignorant of the mystery of Christ, whom they profess; not knowing how to apply themselves to the mercies of God, through him alone, nor the Vertue of his merits, or benefit of his intercession for them; in a word, nor th [...] power of his death and resurrection in any comfortable measure to their own souls; what need we wonder much, though it be said, That (as many which were first shall be last, and many of the last, first, so) the Saints of the Old Testament shall be found in comparison with us at the latter Day? For better were those of them who knew how to apply the mercies of God in Christ, not knowing the name of Christ; than such of ours as have heard the sound of the Gospel, and do not understand so much of the meaning of it, as they before.

CHAP. XXXI. Wherein the Saints of the Old Testament could not attain to so much as hath been since revealed. That the generality of them were blinded most (1.) by God's Providence, who would have 'Christ to come in the worst times, that he might be crucified; and so obtain his Kingdom. And that the Disciples themselves should be held in like obscurity with other misled Disciples of the Scribes, lest they should indis [...]r [...]etly offer to hinder the ministry of Christ. (2.) By Satan's malice, to work the destruction of the Jewish Church and people; chie [...]ly by the perverseness of the Pharisees. Different apprehensions concerning Jewish Learning. The close of this Argument.

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BUT here the Objectors may close again, and say, Is there (then) no priviledge or no advantage by the Gospel? or by the explicit faith of Christ, exhibited in the New Testament, more than there was before? Has St Paul magnified his own ministry, and this ministration all in vain?

[Page]God forbid! But it is not within my verge (in this place, though I have stretched to bring in this Question) to shew the difference betwixt the two Testaments; but only in discovering the state of the first, to manifest that they had the faith of Christ amongst them. But for a better relish in the Close, I will adde a passage or two of the Fathers, whose Authority may go further than any Comments of my own.

Saint Augustine thus, Licet magnam jucunditatem habu [...]rint Prophetae, quando in Spirit [...] videbant [...]utura de Chrislo, tamen volebant, si ficri posset, in hoc tempore nobiscum vivere, & videre impleta, quae Spirit [...] prophetabant. Praef. in Psal. 96. ‘Although the Prophets conceived much pleasure, when in the Spirit they foresaw the things to come concerning Christ; yet they would (if it could have been) have lived in the same times with us; and to have seen those things fulfilled which they prophesied by the Spirit.’

And St Bernard upon those words of our Saviour [Blessed are your eyes, Matth. 13.16, 17. for they see; and your ears, for they hear: for verily I say unto you, that many Prophets and righteous men have desired to see these things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear these things which ye hear, and have not heard them] descanteth [Page] thus,Quare voláerunt videre, & audire? Vt videlicet clarius, [...]argiúsque perciperent, quod vix ten [...]itèr obscuré (que) praesinserant. Alioqui quid erat opus, soris videre carnem, & carnis audire sermones, si intus [...] Spriritu su rint instructi perfectè de omnibus? Epist. 77. ad Hug. de S. Victore. ‘Why would they see and hear? To wit, that they might perceive more clearly and largely that which they scarcely discerned, but slenderly and obscurely before. For what need had there been to see with their fleshly eyes, and to hear with their outward ears, if they had been inwardly and perfectly instructed as much before as they could ever learn thereafter?’

There remains nothing to be cleared more, but what is shadowed by the Veil of Moses, in the latter end of the last Objection: For if the Veil of Ceremonies was but thin, and the Prophecies so clear; why were all the Jews so ignorant, especially the Disciples of our Lord himself, about any true or proper thing relating to Messias when he came?

It hath been hinted before, that they generally knew how he was to be both the Son of God, and the Son of David, to be born at Bethlehem, and to be the greatest Prophet and King that they ever had. Now it is a further Question [Page] among the Schoolmen (to whom I may refer you) whether Moses knew more of the Messias to come than Abraham, and David more than both: and so onwards of all the Prophets, home unto Iohn the Baptist, even as his coming was the nearer. But I confess my opinion carries me to think, That the Prophets ceasing after Malachi, and the Pharisees arising to repute under the first beginnings of the Maccabees, (which will be noted in its place) and not long after combining with the Scribes to the corruption of the true Religion; that this mystery was on purpose veiled (more than before) by the Providence of God, and malice of the Instruments of Satan.

(I.) By God's Providence, who would have, the Restorer to appear in the worst of times.Luke 18.8. Could the Son of man then (any more than at his second Coming) find faith upon the Earth? If they had known him generally,Acts 3.15.17. durst the rest of them have crucified the Lord of life and glory? Wherefore when St Peter preached to their conviction, that they might not be driven to despair, but to repentance of such a sin; he is permitted thus to insinuate with them, And [Page]now Brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as also did your Rulers. And had not Christ suffered, and so entred into Glory, how could he have obtained the Kingdom promised of his Father?

So that left the Disciples themselves (that had been trained under the Paedagogy of the Scribes and Pharisees) should become impertinent Hinderers of their Masters ways, if they had known to what they tended; the spiritual mysteries of Christ were sparingly delivered to them before he suffered, and fully after he was risen. Once, when our Saviour had said unto them▪ Luke 9.44, 45. (somewhat to prepare them for a change) Let these sayings sink down into your ears; for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men; they understood not this saying, but it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying. Matth. 16.21, 22, 23. And again, when Iesus began to shew unto his Disciples how he must suffer and be killed, and rise again the third day; Peter took him up, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee. (for Peter meant to fight for him) But Iesus turned, and said unto Peter, Get [Page]thee behind me Satan, thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Such a check had never trusty Peter, or any of the Disciples before.Luke 24.27. But after his resurrection, he began from Moses and all the Prophets, and expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

(2.) As for the malice of Satan, and his Instruments. He himself could have no greater stratagem (so far as he could discern the tokens of Christ's coming, more than mortal men) than to blind their eyes before-hand that they might not know the day of their visitation; but that they might be defeated, and disappointed of all their perverted, carnal expectations, and so become offended in him to the death: In sine, that by the murder of the Son of God, he might bring many souls to Hell; and the ancient people and Church of God to final ruine and destruction, as shortly after happened. And who knows but Satan might understand the Prophecies of these things, and so set himself to work, as the readier instrument to bring them all about, as he desired?

But for his Under-Instruments, they [Page] chiefly were the Scribes and Pharisees, whose corruptions our Saviour therefore bends himself to discover and reprove on all occasions. And if you ask me, what could they do? I answer, they had in a long tract of time before, put such carnal glosses on the Scripture, out of their designs (sometimes against their own Princes, sometimes against the Romans; but always to get both gain and authority among the people of the Iews) that sitting in the Chair of Moses, as Expounders of the Law and of the Prophets; they utterly perverted the true sense and meaning thereof: and that especially about the Messias, who was generally expected (almost throughout the whole Roman Empire, and beyond it) when he came. And when he was come,Matth. 2.4. who should be enquired of but the Pharisees whether he was indeed the Christ, or no? And they generally denied him; for the Character of his Person agreed not with their ancient Glosses, or their present ends or interests.

And here I cannot omit what different Notions learned men have of the Iewish Rabbins, especially of such whose Writings remain as accounted written before our Lord was born, or shortly [Page] after. Cunaeus saith,Talmudicorum omnium, Rabbinorumque gravissima judicia, semper apud omnes cordatos permagnum pondus habuēre, quoties de Patriis Ritibus eorum, Ceremoniis (que) orta disceptatio est. l. 2. c. 4. That their authority was always great among ingenuous and prudent men, as oft as any Question doth arise about their Countrey-Rites and Ceremonies. And another speaks thus,Mt Vines in his Treatise of the Sacram [...], chap. 1. ‘Let all blind and bold Expositors know, that if they expound not many Phrases and things in the New Testament out of the old Records of Jewish Writings or Customs, they shall but fansie and not expound the Text, as may be confirmed, saith Scaliger, sexcentis Argumentis, by very many Arguments.’ And what account Mr Hugh Broughton, Mr Selden, and Dr Lightfoot, Alib. in l. praed. have made of these (it may be because they could have no better) appeareth by their elaborate Collections from them. On the other hand Chemnitius (whom Mr Vines esteemeth as the learnedst of all the Lutherans) hath entred abundant caution with us about these Writings of the Iews.

‘Chemn. in examp. 1, par. Conc. Trident, pag. 12, Agens de similit [...]dine & assinitate Traditionum Pontificiarum, cum Pharisaicis & Talmudicis.The Disputation (saith he) about unwritten Traditions, whether to be joined or opposed to the Scriptures, is no new thing; but it is the very panoplia of Iewish perfidy against the Sword [Page] of the Spirit, which is the Word of God in the Scripture. That the purity of the sound Doctrine of the Word was corrupted amongst them in the time of Christ, the Evangelical History doth manifestly shew; and that it sprang partly from Oral Traditions, and partly from other holy Books (so esteemed) which they received with the like veneration as the other,Matth. 15.9. is likewise to be gathered from their teaching for Doctrine the Commandments of men.’ (Which have ever used to be written.) ‘And if Andradius (against whom the Author writeth) cannot bear the indignity, that their Traditions should be compared with the Pharisees, which were but false and feigned; whereas theirs are derived by a continual succession from the Apostles themselves; the Iews, saith he, will be as ready to pretend as much from Moses and the Prophets by a like succession. And if the Talmud had not first been written, I should rather have thought that the Rabbins had learned from the Pontificians, than these from them,—Ita a [...] tem Commentum suum concinnant Talmudici: They feign, that at Mount [Page] Sinai, Moses received f [...]om God, not only what he wrote, Verum etiam mysticam, & arcanam Expositionem Legis, but also a certain mystical and secret Exposition of the Law, which he neither wrote nor would have written, but to be delivered by word of mouth from one to another, and so to be transmitted to Posterity. And they say further, that both of [...]hese are the Word of God, and to be received with the like veneration...... And that after these had been long transmitted from the Priests and Prophets, (whose succession they name) they were thought fit (at last) to be compiled in the Talmud...... Unto whose Expositors the poor Iews are in such bondage, that they must believe against their own sense and reason, whatsoever their Rabbins do impose upon them.’

‘And why the Iews are so zealous of this Talmud, may be learned from the circumstance of time when it was compiled: for when the Iews saw many of their Nation converted to Christianity, by the evidence of the Scripture; the Rabbins about the year of Christ 150. began to write the [Page] Talmud, comprizing their Traditions. Finding the success whereof, they after infinitely encre [...]sed the number of them: so that few Jews were after that converted to Christianity.’

So that in the opinion of Cheminitius all the errours and perverseness of the ancient Pharisees are couched in the Talmud (which is one of the most ancient Iewish Books we have) The Talmud it self has been replenished and corrupted more than it was at first. All that is in it (howsoever) has given Rules and Bounds to all the Rabbins that have written since; from whence it follows, that we can hardly tell wherein to believe or trust the most applauded of them. They contradict the Scriptures (often) in relating of their own Customes, and one another no less; and if any man thinks to illustrate one part of a Text by some of their suggestions, he may be as apt to leave the other darker than before. In fine, the Iews of later times know what they know of their own Rites by learning only, and have ever had concurrent Christians to study with them, and exceed them, as the more concerned to gain such knowledge, and to gainsay such friends as they. But we are no [Page] such Enemies unto Learning (howsoever) though we cannot get the light we seek from them, as to burn their Books for a blaze at once, and after that to stand in need of such a Guide as we might have gotten (rather than none at all) in the Quarters of an Enemy.

And thus have I endeavoured (not to say all that may be said, but) to travel through a Question that hath sometimes puzzled me before; and which being well cleared (if I have attained unto that happiness) may prevent perplexities and more digressions, that may else be [...]al me hereafter in my proceeding: But chiefly upon Cunaeus's encouragement,Dix illud inter homines eruditissimos disceptalum est, quid de summo salutis auspice speraverit olim, credidertive antiquior illa Hebraeorum Natio? Habit [...]a res magnum momentum ad rectam interpretationem: otius sacri codicis, Adio latè patet illius ambitus. Lib. 3. cap. ult. (who has offered fine things upon the same Subject) viz. ‘That this Point is of great moment towards the interpretation of the whole Bible, and such as doth deserve to be discuss'd with diligence.’

CHAP. XXXII. Shewing the providence of God over his people Israel, according to the Blessing promised of their multiplying; in respect of fruitfulness, and of protection in Egypt (however hardly used otherwise) from Famine, War and Pestilence. That the indulgence of Concubines might contribute much to the number of their encrease. That in an ordinary way of computatio [...] (without flying unto Twins, or any other miracles) out of seventy persons only, the Muster-Roll of Moses might easily arise.

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NOW when it had pleased God to sever from the Tents of Abraham and Isaac whom he pleased, and to plant them so as they might either afflict or befriend the House of Israel in the times to come; he brought the whole House of Iacob, by another Providential Famine, into Egypt, whither he had brought Ioseph (as if he had been but a lost man) before, to provide for all the rest.

Gen. 46.26, 27.It is said, that all the souls that came with Iacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Iacob's Sons Wives, [Page]were sixty six. And the Sons of Joseph, which were born to him in Egypt, were two souls: All the souls of the house of Iacob; which came into Egypt, were seventy. And again,Deut. 10.22. [...] Thy Father went do [...]n into Egypt with seventy persons [or names] and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the Stars of Heaven for multitude. Neither doth Iosephus reckon more.Antiq. 1.2. c. 4. But when they came forth of Egypt (after two hundred and nine years) the Children of Israel, Numb. 1.45, 46. being numbred from twenty years old and upward, were found to be six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty, all able to go forth to Battel: (Judge how many more the Women and Children might be.) And when the Tribe of Levi was numbred by it self, every Male from a month old and upward,Chap. 3.15.39. it amounted to twenty two thousand more, (to which we may allow as many Females;) so that we can hardly imagine less than a million and an half of these people in the whole. And how this account may be stated to [...] reasonable man (to save him the labour of adjusting it) I have begg'd the assistance of a learned Gentleman, who hath obliged us both with this return. Which I give you clearly in the Postscript, as I received [Page] it, though it seem in divers passages to contravene some of my own opinions, as they are here and there delivered in these Papers. See the Postscript, where the Contents intended in this Chapter are annexed.

CHAP. XXXIII. That a great number came along with the house of Jacob; for Abraham had a great Train, Isaac more, Jacob all they left, and such as he brought with him from Padan-aram. Six Objections propounded: And two fundamental Arguments for the Thesis.

BUT if all that be not ample satisfaction, what If I should pro-pound another thought (fortified with its probabilities) unto other searching Spirits? Which is, that the seventy names or persons were only of such as came out of Iacobs loins, Heads of Families, which were to be the Princess of Israel; and that indeed a great number came along with them.

We cannot but remember what a Band of his own trained Servants, bred [Page] in his own Tents, Abraham carried forth against the Kings, when he rescued Lot; and no doubt he left others with the Women and the Cattel at home. It seems to have been about thirty years after, that Abraham being much more en [...]reased in wealth and power,Gen. 21.22, 23. Dr Simson. Gen. 26.12, &c. was sought unto by Abimelech to enter into League with him. And it was about a hundred years after (if my Chronologer guess well) before another Abimelech entred into the like Covenant with Isaac; when he sowed in the land, (which is more than Abraham had done) and received in the same year an hundred fold, and waxed great, and went forwards, and grew until he became very great: for he had possession of flocks, and herds, and great store of Servants; so that the Philistines envied him.

And as for Iacob, Gen. 35, 27. he returned out of Padan-aram (or Mesopotamia) to his aged Father Isaac at Hebron, —32.10. where Abraham and Isaac (for the most part) so-journed, with much more Cattel, and with two Bands in his Retinue; together with both his Wives (only Rachel fell in travail of Benjamin, and dyed by the way, falling short of Hebron no more than Bethlehem is distant from it) [Page] and his twelve Sons, besides his Daughter Dinah (mentioned, it may be, on occasion only, and that Iacob might have more See Gen. 46.7 Iacob came into Egypt with his Sons, and Sons Sons, his Daughters, and his Sons Daughters, &c. yet again ver. 15. Dinah alone seems to make up the number of seventy souls.; at least by Bilhah and Zilpah, the Concubines that his Wives had given him out of their emulation unto one another:) So that after Isaac's death, he must needs be, not only enriched with the inheritance but, powerful in the number ofChap. 37.35. it is said, that all Iacob's Sons, and all his Daughters, rose up to comfort him after Ioseph's loss. all his people. A specimen whereof we have in the attempt of Simeon and Levi (alone by themselves) who took each man his sword and came upon the City of Shechem boldly, and slew all the males;Chap. 34.25. unless any man will have it so, that two single men stormed a walled City, and put all the males to the sword, who (however sore) might have been defended by the very Women in such a Case.

Now as the absence of Iacob from his aged Father before was very long, (some twenty years) so it is not to be expected that Isaac's days should be extended much longer by the Providene of God; since the Heir of the Promise was restored home to him.Bish. Hall. ‘Of all the [Page] Patriarchs, none made so little noise in the World as Isaac, none lived either so privately, or so innocently. He used no Concubine, although Rebekkah was twenty years barren......’ And now that Rebekkah's Darling was come back, he left all to him in the hundred and eightieth year of his life. Which Iacob managed, not above ten years longer (upon account) before he was enforced by God's Providence to descend into Egypt with all his house. The Question is, Whether they were but seventy Males in all (to wave the Question, whether they were so many, for some are of opinion that some of Iacob's Sons Sons are reckoned by anticipation, and might for all that be born in Egypt, after they were planted in the Land of Goshen.) Let us hear what may be said on either side. And first, that they were but I seventy precisely, or thereabouts, as St Stephen reckoneth. For,Acts 7.14.

First,Obj. I. It is safe to keep to the Letter of the Scripture (in Historical Passages especially) and not to wire-draw it, or extend it more than needs; for fear of wresting, or of worser consequences that may be drawn from more remote constructions, than from the very words. [Page] Now of Iacob and his Sons it is expresly said,

Gen. 42.First, That Iacob sent his ten Sons (and no more) into Egypt, to buy Corn; by which it may seem, that he had no such number to spare as hath been suggested: Or that his Sons were but as the rest, by the errand that they went on.

Obj. 2.Secondly, When Ioseph returned their monies, it was to every man in the mouth of his Sack; and being searched,Chap. 44. upon their second return (when they had Benjamin with them) the search began from the eldest to the youngest, and could proceed no further, because (it seems) they were no more.

Obj. 3.Thirdly, Their dealing was for little, since so few Asses could carry what they came for; and their Sacks not so full, but that they could contain Provender besides: proving nothing else, but that these being laden, the poor Ass-Riders must go on foot home.

Obj. 4.Fourthly, By Iacob's mean Present, and Iudah's fear of losing the Asses,Chap. 43.10, 18. when they were taken, it seems they were but poor; and so when Ioseph returned an answerable Present with Waggons to his Father, to bring him into Egypt

[Page]Fifthly,Obj. 5. Besides, that there maybe no doubt of the number, it is carefully recorded how many came with Iacob, and were there before, viz. seventy souls.Gen. 46— And so Iosephus, Jewish Antiquary, doth account, and no more.

Sixthly,Obj. 6. In fine, it would be a strange extravagancy to put so many Supernumeraries (of we know not what Aliens) unto this account; which must needs reckon them to Israel, and the Seed of Abraham, (and so to the only Church of God;) or else give some other clear account what became of them at the last.

Secondly, Notwithstanding which II Objections, we must hold, That Israel descended into Egypt with more than seventy person, by these two Arguments (which will be proved by answering the Objections only) 1. Because he descended with all his houshold. 2. Because he neither could nor ought to part with his circumcised Servants, and their Wives and Children.

CHAP. XXXIV. Certain Corollary Rules preliminary to the answering of the first Objection. That Jacob sent his Sons to Joseph, as a foreign Prince, for a favour; but not unaccompanied; considering, 1. Their concern; 2. What weight of money they might take with them in so many Bundles, if only to lade ten Asses. 3. What the length and hazard of the way. The four next Objections briefly answered.

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TO the first good Rule, these others may be joined as succedaneous Corollaries. First, That the sense of the Scripture is its own authority, more than the Critical position of the words; warranted by several Quotations in the New Testament, out of the Old. Secondly, That necessary consequence is all one with the Text it self; neither was a good Inference ever sleighted. Thirdly, That in such Historical Passages of Scriptures as do veil (or are invelop'd with) a mystery, we are, in a manner,Gal. 3.22, 23. directed to a further indagation by St Paul, where he tells us, (what [Page] else we should have hardly found) that one of Abraham's Sons by a Bond-maid, and another by a free Woman, did by an Allegory exhibit to us the difference of state betwixt Mount Sinai and the New Ierusalem, or betwixt the Law and Grace, Bondage and Liberty. Fourthly, That by comparing Passages, one Scripture doth best expound another. After which Preliminaries, I address my self to answer the first Objection, thus:

First, Answer to Object. 1. It is still to be remembered, that it is above two hundred and ten years since Abram armed three hundred and eighteen trained Servants born in his own house, to pursue the Kings that had taken Lot Prisoner: And if seventy Persons only in two hundred and ten years (or thereabouts) might become such an incredible number, (as the possibility hath been demonstrated) what may we think of three hundred and eighteen more, in the same Family, Partakers of the like Blessings, so far as their encrease was the encrease of Abraham's wealth and strenght? But (not to be entangled with too many difficulties) to think modesty, Iacob could scarce have less than a thousand souls within his Tents.

Secondly, But why (then) did he send [Page] his ten Sons only, with their ten Asses, to buy Corn for them all? Could they bring enough? Or did they only bring for Iacob's own Tent, and leave the rest to live on Roots, or Nuts and Almonds, with which (it seems, by the Present, that) the Land abounded?

You must remember Ioseph's Dreams,Gen 37.7, 9. that their sheaves should do obeysance to his sheaf, and the Sun and the Moon and the eleven Stars also; and then you must consider his present state, and the condition of all the Nations thereabouts.Ch. 41.38. Ioseph was advanced to be chief Minister of State under Pharaoh; and according to his own advice, he was appointed to take up the fifth part of the Land of Egypt, for seven years together, of plenty, against seven other to ensue of certain famine, according to the interpretation of Pharaoh's Dream.Ver. 54. And when the famine came in all parts,Ch. 42.1. Iacob heard that there was Corn in Egypt (for Ioseph had gathered Corn as the sand of the Sea, very much, until he left numbring, for it was without number) but not to be had, save only from the hands of Pharaoh, or his chief Minister; and therefore (you may know) he sent his ten Sons (and not his Servants) to do their obeysance [Page] for Corn; But not without Attendance, as we may easily collect from divers circumstances: as, 1. From the Concern that they had; 2. From the money that they carried with them; 3. From the hazard of the Journey, and the length thereof.

As for their Concern, they had every man his own Family, and did not always eat in Iacob's presence: Nor could they live on Nuts or Almonds any more than the Egyptians on their Fruits,Gen. 47.19. who were forced to sell their Lands, and their Persons too, to Pharaoh, that they might have Bread.

For their money,Ch. 43.35. Ver. 21. We opened our Sacks, and behold every man [...] money wa [...] in the mouth of his Sack, our money in full weight— every of the ten carried a Bundle in his Bag: Think you that a Bundle of Silver (as money went then) was but enough to buy one Asses burthen? Weigh the Bundle, and the burthen, and consider!

For their Journey, it could be little less than two hundred miles directly from Hebron unto Caire: If they brought but each man an Ass-Load, what might they spend by the way? Or what might they have to divide amongst them when they came home? Certainly so little, [Page] that there would have been no end of going or coming; whereas (by virtue of what they brought) they were able to subsist (it seems) a good while e're Iacob could be prevailed with to venture Benjamin, though Simeon lay at stake till their return. And for the way, it was never to be passed without a lusty Caravan, Gen. 16.12. for fear of the Ishmaelites, (of whose Progenitor it was said, That he should be a wild man, and that his hand should be against every man, and every mans hand against him) and the Arabians, who wanted Cornespecially.

Answer to Object. 2.And now the Answer is the easier to the second, viz. That in the search they went not so much by Pole, as by Companies, the Heads of which were the Leaders and the Purse-bearers for all the rest of their Retinue. And in Benjamin's own Sack (as it was designed) the prize was found.

Answer to Object. 3.To the third, we answer, That if there were any Servants at all, there might be Asses enough, so that the Masters needed not to foot it back, or to return home with so slender provision, as is imagined. And if there were no Servants,Chap. 45. [...]1. Ioseph gave his Brothers not a little trouble when he gave them Waggons [Page] also, without any one man (mentioned) to assist them.

It may seem rather by Iudah's fear about the losing of the Asses that they were not a few,Answer to Object. 4. than that his Father was poor; and for Iacob's Present, let it be compared with other Presents of the same time; nay,1 Sam 25.18. with Abigail's a long time after, when one would think that she should have stretched to pacifie the wrath of David.

That the seventy are recounted only to keep the Genealogy of the Head [...] of Israel, Answer to Object. 5. Wherein the Servants had no share.

CHAP. XXXV. The last Objection answered, by shewing, That the circumcised Servants were part of Jacob's household, that could not be parted withal, without loss, scandal and prejudice to the Church of God; as being, 1. Children of the faith of Abraham. 2. Graffed into his Seed by intermarriages. 3. Distinct in Genealogy. 4. Yet (possibly) some snare unto the Israelites, by retaining a smack of their old Idolatry.

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Answer to Object. 6.NOW I cannot be unsensible how loth some will be to admit many rude Herdsmen (who were still apt to be at debate with their Neighbours) into the number of Abraham's Seed, the only Church of God; lest it should be prophaned by them, and prove an interruption to the promise: yet I must needs shew them that these were no Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, but were really constitutive members of that growing Body.

1. I think it will not be questioned but that these were part of Iacob's house or houshold, who dwelt in the Tents [Page] of Iacob: and then it is expresly said,Gen 46.1, 31, &c. that Israel took his journey with all that he had. And Ioseph said unto his Brethren, and unto his Fathers house, (distinct from them) I will go up, and say unto Pharaoh, My Brethren and my Fathers house, which were in the Land of Canaan, are come unto me. And the men are Shepherds; for their trade hath been to feed Cattel, and they have brought their Flocks and their Herds (more than twelve men could manage) and all that they have, that ye may dwell in the Land of Goshen, which was a fertile Tract about the mouth of the Nile, or the tongue of the Red Sea, nearest unto Canaan, and neglected by the Egyptians. For every Shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. Videsis Cun. de Rep. Heb. l. 1. C. 5. Out of superstition (say some) because they worshipped some fort of Beasts; and (say others) out of niceness, because they more affected Towns and Trades.Chap. 47.11, 12. And Ioseph placed his Father and his Brethren in the best of the Land, in the Land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And he nourished them and all his Fathers houshold with bread, according to their Families. Which shews that some of the Servants also were of some account, and had [Page] their own Families, enough to people the rest of Goshen: So that Ioseph wisely kept them at a distance from the sight of Pharaoh, for fear of State-jealousie.

2. As these could not be left behind without loss, so neither w [...]s it lawful for Iacob or his Sons to turn them off, or abandon them. For their Circumcision was an indelible Character; so that it would have been a reproach to Israel to have exposed any of his unto the Heathen, or to have cast them into temptation of revolting to Idolatry, after once they had been joined to the Church by the sign and seal of the righteousness of faith, even of the same faith with Abraham, in whose Seed all the Nations of the Earth were to be blessed; and these (in particular) as the first-fruits of the Gentiles, Children of the faith of Abraham, and Heirs of the better part of the promise; and not excluded from their lots in the other part neither, as we trust to shew hereafter. Neither was there need to put off these for any misdemeanour, since every Head of an house had power of life and death, and other punishments, and that without appeal to the Supreme,Gen. 38.24. as is manifest in the Case of Iudah and Tamar, [Page] when it was told Iudah, that she was with Child of whoredom; saith he, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. And though specious things are said about the ancient use of Excommunication in the Church;Videsis Bertr. cap. 2. & Godwin's Jewish Antiquities, Book 5. chap. 2. Exod. 4.24. yet it seems to me, that hitherto (and long after) there was no cutting off from the people, but by death: wherefore an Angel met Moses with a drawn Sword, and sought to have slain him, for his neglect of circumcising of his Child.

3. Nor let any one admire at this that follows. They became the Children of Abraham by a kind of adoption or insition into the Stock of Abraham, by marrying of the Daughters of Israel; and so, in course of time, they became one Kindred with them. For who should they give them to besides?Gen. 34.15, 16. We cannot give our Sister to one that is uncircumcised (said the Sons of Iacob) for that were a reproach unto us. But if ye will be as we be, then will we give our Daughters unto you, and take your Daughters unto us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. Trouble not your self about disparagement; for they were bene nati, wellborn, who were born in the same house; [Page] emancipate also (tanquam liberi aut liberti) by Circumcision, and they lived all upon one Stock, so that there could not be any want amongst them. But the truth is, the dignity of Degree and Pedegree went to the prime Descendents male, from the Loins of the twelve Patriarchs of Israel; which may seem to be the true reason why we find in the Genealogies such an account as this,Numb. 26.35. viz. These are the Sons of Ephraim (for instance of one) after their families, of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthalhites; of Bacher, the family of the Bachrites; of Taban, the family of the Tabanites— And the rest are numbred in gross only, to be in all thirty two thousand, and six hundred Families. But the Patriarchs themselves were put to harder shift for Wives (even unto trespass) because they could not take their Sisters, or go any more to their Unkles houses to be matched, as Isaac and Iacob had done before. It remaineth (therefore) that these Hinds, Husbandmen,Gen. 15.2. or Stewards (such as Eliezer was to Abraham) were far from being Supernumeraries, or Aliens from the Covenant, or Church of God; and that they never went out of it after once they were [Page] called or brought in, and joined to it by the sign of Circumcision.

Only this may be doubted, viz. That these people (taken out of Chaldea, Syria, Arabia, or any other parts) and joined only by Circumcision, (some of them (no doubt) by compulsion, lest others should be cut off for them) might not prove so good Members as could be wished; but they retained still a smack, and had an hankering after their old Idolatry. Which sin continued uncontroulably amongst all, (one seducing another) till the captivity of the Tribes: And after their return, when Hyrcanus forced the Edomites to be circumcised, he prepared a way for Herod to come and to subvert their whole Estate. But however it was for that, God himself foresaw these inconveniences; and yet he would not prevent them: as some of the Separation think they are able to do in their Societies, by so often drilling of them, that at last they lose their first matter, order and consistency.

CHAP. XXXVI. That the simplicity of the Scripture (contrary to the Romances of the Heathen Writers) maketh little state of great Secular matters, relating to the Church; Shewed by instances of Abraham and Jacob; yet Joseph (as a Statesman in Egypt) observed Ceremonies in the reception and introduction of his Father and Brethren. That the Israelites built not in Egypt, but by constraint.

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WE may see (in part) by this how little state the simplicity of the Scripture maketh of great matters, in things Secular, that are incident unto God's Elect; who are also as humble in themselves as Servants in all Conditions. For after Abraham had obtained a famous Victory over four Kings, that had (immediately) before been themselves victorious over five;Gen. 18.1, &c. we find him sitting at his Tent-door in the heat of the day, and he espied three men, and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the Tent-door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not [Page]away, I pray thee, from thy Servant. Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest your selves under the Tree. And I will fetch a morsel of bread. And Abraham hastened into the Tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make Cakes upon the hearth, (as if poor Sarah had never a Maid to help her.) And Abraham stood by them under the Tree, while they did eat— And after they had eaten, Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. Gen. 23. De Abrahamo magnifica etiam tradidêre Ethnici, ut Jos. Antiq. l. 1. C. 9. & Euseb. praepar. l. 9. And when he was to bury Sarah, and to sue for a Sepulchre, he bowed himself to the people of the Land, even to the Children of Heth, who complemented him, saying, Hear us, my Lord, Thou art a mighty Prince amongst us: In the choice of our Sepulchers bury thou thy dead. And when he sent Eliezer,Chap. 24.the eldest Servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, he set him forth (indeed) in some Equipage, with Jewels and other Presents,Gen. 11.26, &c. & 24.15.24. that he might obtain Rebekkah (the Daughter of Bathuel, the Son of Nahor, the Brother of Abraham) for his Son Isaac. But Rebekkah (who was to be presented with Jewels, and had ten Camels to bring the errand to her) is [Page] brought forth with a Pitcher on her shoulder, as ready to make the Camels drink as the Stranger, wondring at the fine things, and straining no courtesie about accepting of them; but as coming and forward, as a simple Country-Lass: and her Brother Laban no less officious. Yet this Rebekkah it was that over-reached the Old Man Isaac, and her elder Son Esau.

Gen. 28.1, &c.As for Iacob himself, though he went forth with his Fathers Blessing (and not by meer flight) on his way to Laban, his Mothers Brother; yet we read neither of Ass, nor Camel, nor Camerade, nor any Servant, given to attend him in his journey (which was for a Wife too, of one of Laban's Daughters) and it was a long step further (I trow) than into Egypt. His adventures are thus described: first, He lighted on a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the Sun was set; and he took the Stones of that place, and put them for his pillow, and lay down in that place to sleep. And by his vision there, it appears no otherwise, but that he was alone; save only that it is said, He took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a Pillar, and poured Oil upon the top of it. [Page] Which it is not like that he should carry about him, with other necessaries, unless you should imagine him to have been a kind of Walking-Tavern in a Wilderness. However, that we may be assured that Iacob was not overmuch accommodated; let us hear his own devout acknowledgment unto God,Gen. 32.10. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy Servant; for with my Staff I passed over this Iordan, and now I am become two Bands. ‘With a Staff (saith Bishop Hall) goes he over Iordan, doubtful and alone, (not like the Son of Isaac) and is fain to lye sub dio, when an Angel appeared to comfort him. And when Laban heard of his Sisters Son, he might expect a like Equipage as fetch'd Rebekkah— but now as he comes, so he uses him. He fled from a cruel Brother to a cruel Unkle: And as his Mother had cunningly (by deceiving Isaac) substituted him for Elder; so now Laban as cunningly deceiveth him, by giving him the Elder instead of the Younger, whom he loved.’ Wonder not therefore that the Equipage of the Sons of Iacob, and of their whole descent into [Page] Egypt, is described without any pomp at all; for so I could lead you forward to Gideon's Threshing-floor, and to David's Flocks; and shew you how great thing were always veiled, and good men lowly: But these also were both of the principal Families of Israel, as may be observed hereafter.

In the mean while, considering that Ioseph was a great Courtier, and a Politician; and that we have observed his cunning in getting the fairest and fertilest Tract of the Land of Egypt, for his Father and his Brethren, on colour of their being Shepherds: In the next place let us note some of his Ceremonies (howsoever) whereby he wrought the ingratiating of his own Kindred with Pharaoh and his Egyptians.

Gen. 42.When his Brethren came first into his presence (he knowing them, but they not him) they bowed down themselves before him, with their faces to the Earth; knowing what kind of reverence the proud Egyptians did expect. Then Ioseph remembred the dreams which he had dreamed of them, and like a crafty Statesman (to get what he could out of them, and to make them fit for what he presently apprehended) he spake roughly to them, [Page] and dealt as hardly, keeping them three days in ward, and speaking to them by an Interpreter; nay, he took Simeon from them as a Pledge, and bound him before their eyes, and sent them away (the first time) in fear.

But the next time,Gen. 43. as soon as Ioseph spied Benjamin in their Company, he said to the Ruler of his house, Bring these men into my house, and slay, and make ready (a place that will trouble them to answer, who would perswade us, as if the Egyptians then did eat no living Creature) for these men shall dine with me at noon. Then he brought Simeon forth unto them (who, no doubt, looked never the worse for his detainment) And they made ready the Present against Ioseph came in, and made many low obeysances; but he spake very kindly to them.

Then that Ioseph might reserve Dignity to himself in the sight of the Egyptians, he caused himself to be served at a Table of State; and that there might be no interfering, he caused his Brethren (knowing their scruples about eating of unclean meats, or with uncircumcised men) to be served at another Table by themselves: And knowing also the superstition of the Egyptians, (who looked [Page] upon the Hebrews as prophane to them, as the Egyptians could be unto the Hebrews, if they did not also scorn them as Shepherds) he caused them to eat in the same presence apart; so that all admired, and there was no exception: but they drank and were merry, as Ioseph had ordered the matter; and, no doubt, obtained favour with such Egyptian Courtiers as there were then admitted at the entertainment.

Gen. 46.28.Now when Iacob drew near unto Goshen, he thought it a fit Ceremony, for his part, to send Iudah before (as his Harbinger) to prepare for his reception by his Son Ioseph, in the state wherein he then was. And Ioseph hastened in his Chariot (to meet him as a Prince) and to do honour to his aged Father. And so instructed all his Company how to behave themselves before Pharaoh.

But since policy did require that Pharaoh should not see all, civility and gratitude seemed to prompt Ioseph that he should present (at least) the chief of Pharaoh's beneficiaries before his face; and he thought it enough to present but five of them to do or to receive that honour. It is like, the most personable and fashionable of his Brethren, that [Page] were the Sons of Rachel and Leah, rather than of the Concubines; who, we are not to doubt, made their reverence unto Pharaoh, as the Master of the Egyptian Ceremonies should direct them.

But as for his venerable Father, he brought him in, (after them, which was ever esteemed the more honour) and set him before Pharaoh. Gen. 47.7, 10. And Iacob blessed Pharaoh, (after his own way, whether as a Prince, and Priest of the most High God, or as a congratulation only of his favours.) And so when he went out (after short communication by Interpreters) he blessed him again. And Pharaoh accepted of their addresses, and seems to have been pleased and satisfied with them.

Thus was the way made for Israel and his Children, to be planted in Rameses, (which I take to be a fenced place, with a Territory, situate upon the jaws of the seven-mouth'd Nile) and for his Hinds and Herdsmen to pitch where they liked in the Province of Goshen, So the former of these needed Tents no longer; for when Ioseph sent for them, he had said from Pharaoh's mouth,Gen. 45.20. Come unto me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt. Regard not your [Page]stuff; for the good of all the Land of Egypt is yours.

'Tis true, the place might be called Rameses, by anticipation, as that which was called Luz, was after called Bethel, by Iacob's nomination; but that there was an habitable Town or City before Iacob came thither, I doubt not; both because of Ioseph's recommendation of his father to a good place, and because of the situation of it, as a necessary Fortress against Out-livers of another Nation. However, some are of opinion, that the Israelites themselves might build that City (as the English did Calais) while they were in Egypt, Exod. 1.11. (before the Task-masters set them to work to fortifie it more, as a Treasure-City, and a Bridle to themselves, from escaping, as well as to keep out others) against common sence; for throughout their prosperity they were instructed that the Land of Canaan was their inheritance, expecting (daily) as good a Call to return out of Egypt, as ever they had to come thither. Said not God unto Iacob at his first descent,Gen. 46.4. I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again? And said not Ioseph on his death-bed unto his Brethren,Gen. 50.24. I dye, and God [Page]will surely visit you, and bring you out of this Land unto the Land which he sware unto Abraham, Isaac and Iacob. Ye shall carry up my bones from hence. Heb. 11.22. Which he did by faith (as St Paul witnesseth) bearing up the like in his Brethren and Posterity.

In this estate the Children of Israel lived in prosperity the remaining seventeen years of Iacob's life, and about fifty four more of Ioseph's, through the Reign of more Kings than one, as Historians tell us. (Even as it happened (after) unto Daniel, for the sake of the same people, when they were a second time to be redeemed from their bondage.) As large a time of felicity as God doth usually grant to his Church at once; that their hearts should neither fail, nor wax gross▪ But before any change arrive, we will leave them in their best condition, in a foreign Countrey, only eying in the close what their spiritual state was, as the only remaining visible or (at least conspicuous Church of God under Heaven.

CHAP. XXXVII. Th [...] Israelites had toleration in Egypt, as to offer Sacrifices during Ioseph's life; Afterwards, denied them. That contrary Religions are sooner tolerated than diversities of the same. That there was but one Religion in Satan's Kingdom, how many Gods soever the Heathen worshipped. Jews (at this day) tolerated much at the like rate that they were before.

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THERE are three Questions emergent here, if I may dare to handle the Argument that I have in hand, viz. first, Toleration; secondly, Division; and, thirdly, The Unity of the Church. The first from the indulgence of Egypt, during Ioseph's life; The second from the piety of Ioseph's house, while separated from his Brethren; And the third, from the adoption of the whole house of Iacob (whereas but one of Abraham or Isaac's Sons were comprehended in the blessing) even of the Sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, in opposition unto Hagar and Keturah.

[Page]It is not only said, that every Shepherd was an abomination unto the Egyptians;Locis cit [...] tis. but also, that the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination to the Egyptians; as if it were so to those, more than to the Hebrews to eat with them. I would gladly know (then) how they could hold any time together: for I take it for granted,Gen. 33.19—35.1, 2, 4, 7. that Iacob would rather starve than want an Altar at Rameses, or some other part of Goshen; it being the first thing he did to erect one (and to purge his house from Idols) in other places. Or how the Egyptians could bear their Sacrifices better than their Trade or Diet?

I cannot doubt but that there were Egyptians in Goshen before a fertil Plat, and a Frontier; and some of these, Shepherds, and Hersmen too, (however scorned by the Citizens) because Pharaoh had said unto Ioseph, In the best of the Land make thy Father and Brethren to dwell; in the Land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any man of activity A vulgo multum diversa su [...] terita qu [...] dam populi pars, quae seorsim in Campestribus Aegypti, ac prope paludes degebat; ii Pastores suere, actuosi illi quidem gnavique, sed cunctis Aegyptiis execrabiles, propte [...]ea quod ignaviam [...]orum semper sollicitam ten [...]bant. Cunaeus lib. 1. cap. 5. The Floud ceased Anno Mundi 1657. Iacob descended into Egypt An. Man. 2298. So that by the Scheme before, you may guess to what magnificence they might be grown by this. amongst them, then make them Rulers over my Cattel; Which [Page] whether they consumed in Egypt, or sold abroad, (as the Jews after did their Swine) it matters not. But this was enough to ground such a Commerce as was fit to hold the Israelites and Egyptians in the fairer terms; especially since no man durst to mutter against the Kindred of Ioseph, (that came in with so high a hand of grace and favour, and) who himself had preserved alive the people of Egypt. Neither is it to be doubted, but that these Parts were at this time more populous than Canaan, by reason of fertility, and the multitude of the Sons of Ham, that betook themselves this way (as fast as they encreased) from the Mountains of Armenia.

We must also suppose, that the Egyptians (and all other Nations) offered Sacrifices Adeo ut ineptire (quasi) gestian [...], qui Aegyptios ab omni mactatione aversari praetegunt; sintientes divinum aliquid in animalibus inesse: Vt & alii, qui Iosephi tempore, nullam in Aegypto Idololatriam agnosc [...]nt, sed in Syria tantùm; quum Israelitae bîc sacrificare Vitulo didicerint, & dum in Aegypto degerent, idolis eorum inquinati sunt. Ezech. 23.3, as well as Israel; (for both Adam and Noah taught all their Sons [Page] alike to sacrifice.) And this perhaps might be a worser eye-sore to the Egyptians than any other, the Israelites worshipping another God before their faces, in another manner than they did; since the Rites were changed wheresoever Idolatry came instead of the right Worship.

Now to this it may be said, that two different Religions were always accounted more tolerable than the same divided. For such would be sure to go far enough apart, and not to interfere with one another. Nay, all Religions (besid [...]s the true) which had Satan for their Moderator, agreed well enough with one another.

As in the Roman practice, there are Churches dedicated by divers names in sundry Regions, which have Reliques, Miracles and Altars with indulgences annexed to them; so that there is curiosity in pilgrimage and merit too:Sand [...]'s Socculum, pag. 6. more particularly, the places that bear the superscription of the Blessed Virgin, are the most celebrated and visited: for ‘their stateliest Churches are lightly hers, and in Churhes hers the fairest Altars. Where one prayeth before the Crucifix, two before her Image; where one voweth to Christ, ten vow unto her, and not so much to her self, [Page] as to some peculiar Image, which for some select Vertue or Grace, together with greater power of operation of Miracles, they chiefly serve, as the glorious Lady of Loretto, the devout Lady of Rome, the miraculous Lady of Provenzano, the Annunciata of Florence; whose Churches are so stuffed with vowed Presents and Memories, that they are fain to hang their Cloisters also, and Church-yards with them. Then as their vows are, such are their pilgrimages, &c.’

Consulatur Chemnitius parte 3. Exam. t [...]t. de invocatione & veneratione Sanctorum; & recentiores adversus Bell.In like manner,, the Heathens had always some sumptuous Temples, or wondrous Stories, to draw Strangers and devotion, and to raise a name to the places where they lived. If they would see a stately Structure (compared with the Temple of Solomon by some Writers) and a wonder by report, What man is there that knoweth not how that the City of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great Goddess Diana, and of the Image that fell down from Iupiter? Acts 19.35. If they would be cured, they must go to Aesculapius or Apollo (chuse they whether) or to any other God or Goddess that had a same, whether in their own or in another Countrey, for some particular aids [Page] or remedies. If they would have counsel and success, Ciceron comp [...]e 6. Hercules; Varron 43. & plus de 300. Jupiters. Le' Tresor Polit, l. 3. chap. de ce mot Brindes these were reserved chiefly unto Iupiter (in great Cases, and) in those few places where Satan would vouchsafe to speak by his Oracles. But it was observed that Venus had more Votaries than any other; whether Men or Women would be married, or obtain any other Love; or be fruitful, or be barren; or agree (after they had fallen out) Quoties inter Virum & Vxorem aliquid jargii intercesserat, in Sacellum D [...] Viri-plac [...]e, quod est in palatio, veniebent; & ibi invicem locuti quae voluerant, con [...]entione animorum deposit [...] concordes revertebantur. 1.2. c. 1. Invenit tamen medium sioi [...] mortalitas Numen: Toto q [...]ippe m [...]ndo, & locis omnibus, omnibusque horis, omni [...]m vocibus, fortuna, sola invocat [...]: Vna nominat [...]r, una accusatar, una agitar rea, una cogitatur, sola laudatur, sola arguit [...]r, & um convitiis colitur... [...]deoque obnoxiae sumus sortis, u [...] 'ors ipsa pro Deo sit, quâ Deus probatur incert [...]s... [...]nnumeros autem credere, a [...]que etiam ex virtutibus, vitiisque hominum, ut pudicitiam, concordiam, &c. majorem ad socordiam accedit. Plin, Nat. Hist. lib. 2. cap. 7. Quinetiam surtorum, & s [...]elerum Numina esse tradiderunt. Coluerunt Romani Ioven adulterum & slupratorem, & sebri publicum sanum in palatio dedicârunt, & Aram malae sortunae in Exquiliis. Corn. Agrippa de Van, scientiarum cap. de Relig. Sic nos. Te sacimus Fortuna Deam, Caeloque locamus. Juv. Sat. Sed (ut Plinius pergit) irridendum, agere curam rerum humanarum quicquid est summum: a [...]ne tam trisli, atque multiplici mixisterio non pollui credamus? Et oftendens paulò post, quid Deus possit sacere, v [...]l non, asserit expresse... Non mortales aeternitate donare, aut revocare desunctos, nec facere, [...] qui vixit, non vixerit, &c. nullumque habere in praeterita jus, praeterquam oblivionis. Ibid. ad Sacellum Deae viri-place, which is described in Valerius Maximus.

[Page]Wherefore, though some Nations of the Heathens intituled themselves to particular Gods or Goddesses, and so preferred them above others, as their Protectors; yet they never opposed or vilified the Gods of other Countries, when they came into the places where they were adored, (although both at Rome and Athens they were fain sometimes to take caution against admitting too many Foreign Religions within their own Walls) whereof I will alledge but two Instances, for fear of an impertinent digression.

Xen. de Exped. Cyri minorisWhen Xenophon had returned safe with his Army out of the Locks and Bars of Persea and was now within the protection of the Grecians, he consulted with a famous Soothsayer about his Affairs (having always been a superstitious and industrious man) why he should get nothing howsoever: His Soothsayer advised him to sacrifice to Iupiter [...] (or the Gentle) who was adored in those Parts: And after this service performed unto that Idol (of a fine Title) Xenophon struck into a small and short exploit, and enriched himself more than by all his former Travels. Which he imputed unto that direction.

[Page]And of Pompey the Great,Plut. in vit. Pomp Plutarch tells us, that he enriched and adorned the Temples of the Gods in the Eastern Parts with his Spoils;Jos. Antiq. lib. 14. cap. 8. & de Bello lib. 1. cap. 5. and Iosephus, that he not only abstained from spoiling the Temple at Ierusalem, when he had taken it by Storm (through the reverence he had of God) but also caused such as had the charge of the Temple, to purge the same, and to offer Sacrifices unto God the next day, according to the Law; whereof we shall have more to say hereafter in its proper place; where we shall observe (that according unto Solomon's prayer) Alexander and divers other Princes also were admitted to offer their own Sacrifies or Oblations there.

But the Question of toleration returneth still for a fuller Answer. It seems, that they enjoyed it no longer than Ioseph's life: for the first message that Moses brings to Pharaoh complains of this oppression, and demands redress of it, Let us go three days journey into the Wilderness, Exod. 3.18. & 5.3. that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, and with the sword, for having thus long deferred it out of fear.Chap. 8.25, &c. And when Pharaoh (after dreadful judgments) would have yielded that they should sacrifice[Page]in the Land; Moses replyed, So shall we sacrifice to the Lord our God the abomination of the Egyptians, and will they not stone us?

When the same people were in Babylon (where Sacrifices ceased with the Temple, so that they were the less to be observed) they were sometimes overlooked, and sometimes not; even as they are at this day in Turky and Christendom; whereas the Turkish Mussulman hates the Persian Mahometan, even more than either Jew or Christian. and the Papists would extirpate Protestants, if they were able; and inferiour Sects (howsoever plausibly they speak when they are low) would even do the like by one another. Only our Mother Church of England is of no Sect at all.

CHAP. XXXVIII. How Joseph might live in Pharaoh's house, And be free from Egyptian superstition. What private Religion he might have; What godly people near him? What Vnion he had with the Church Catholick, or his Fathers house. That he lived by faith, like Daniel in Babylon; yet the want of Ordinances such a trouble to him as to David.

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1. IF any one admire how Ioseph could II live so many years, first, in Potiphar's, and then in Pharaoh's house, so as to escape the Egyptian idolatry or Superstitions; they may observe, that he was noted in both places to have a Diviner Spirit in him than the Magicians; and so to have been left the more to himself in Egypt, as Daniel (after) was in Babylon, till a particular charge was brought against him concerning his Religion. Nay,Gen. 44.18. & 45.8. Ioseph's being as Pharaoh and a Father unto Pharaoh (after he came to Court) exempted him from any jurisdiction or inspection whatsoever; for who durst say unto Pharaoh, What dost thou?

[Page]2. If it be further questioned, What private Religion Ioseph could have unto himself, or what exercise or practice of it, in the house of Pharaoh? Could he have any private Altar? Or, if he had, any one to serve at that Altar, or to worship at it, besides himself? Or, could he have any Closets adorned with the Reliques of Noah, Sem, Eber, Abraham, &c or any other holy things? or what did he do? I answer,

First, He did as his Father Iacob had done before in the idolatrous house of Laban; where I cannot think that he either had or needed any Altar, or any other circumstances of devotion. In his way to whose house (notwithstanding) he set up the stone that he used as a pillow, Gen. 28.28. for a pillar, and poured Oil upon the top of it, and called the name of the place Bethel, that is, the house of God; vowing that it should be so to him, if God should restore him safe to his Father's house, and that he would offer the tenth unto him, of all that God should give him; as if he would make that Stone an Altar, and that place such a place of worship, as Gilgal and Shiloh after were. But this Pillar (you see) was erected pro futuro only.

[Page]Secondly, Yet I doubt not but Ioseph might have erected an Altar of testimony or thanksgiving, or for Peace-offerings (at the least) as others did upon special occasions, (before and after the Law) even till the building of the Temple, if such occasion were. But we read not of it; peradventure God would not suffer his own name to be prophaned by setting up an abomination to the Egyptians before their faces, nor Ioseph's service, to be prejudiced thereby. For although the Father of a Family was the ordinary Priest of his own house; yet any man apart (as Iacob) might erect an Altar, and offer his thanksgivings thereupon, using such as he had about him like so many Levites ▪ all sanctified by the Sacrifice, if the occasions of the Altar and the Sacrifice were right.

Thirdly, If Ioseph had any outward part of Devotion to accomplish, it may be he might have found some (of his Retainers) not unmeet to be assisting to him.Gen. 42.18. For in his handling of his Brethren (while they took him for an Egyptian) he said unto them the third day, This do and live; for I fear God: As if he would have them think no other, but that there was some [Page] piety in Egypt as well as amongst them whom he knew. And when they made Apology unto the Steward of Ioseph's house about their money, the Steward said unto them,Gen. 43.19, 23. Peace be to you, fear not: your God, the God of your Father hath given you treasure in your Sacks, I had your money. As if this Steward could speak the language of Israel, and was not unacquainted with the God of Iacob.

Fourthly, It may seem that Ioseph worshipped God with the like respect to his Fathers house, and the Sacrifices offered there; and with the like respect unto the Land of promise, as Daniel did in Babylon, when he opened his Window towards the Temple, and prayed for the restitution that was promised: in the mean while they were both abridged of the outward Ordinances, and lived by their faith in the promises of God. We have spoken enough of Daniel before; St Paul is as clear for Ioseph when he saith,Heb. 11.22. By faith Ioseph when he was a dying made mention of the departing of the Children of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones; reckoning him among the rest, who through faith obtained a good report, not having yet received the promise.

[Page]Fifthly, Nay, by the History it is manifest, that as Moses by faith when he was come to years refused to be called the Son of Pharaohs Daughter, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; so it had fared with Ioseph before. All the pleasures of that Heathen Court, and all the submissions of that Heathen People, infused no other satisfaction into his spirit, but that he must be contented (that he might be Protector of Israel) to abide without, as an Alien from his Fathers house, and to be deprived of the holy Ordinances of God: For when he was about to dye,Gen. 50.24. he said unto his Brethren, I dye, and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this Land (of bondage, where I have been detained and afflicted with you, in expectation of the promise made unto our Fathers) unto the Land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Iacob: God will surely visit you; and he took an Oath of them about carrying his bones from thence. Nor was David in his worst Quarters when he said, Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech, Psal. 120.5. that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar. For although good men may be saved without the Ordinances, where God himself debarrs [Page] them; yet they cannot live comfortably without them: Which they may do well to consider, who (if they have but a reasonable excuse for it) had as lief be planted in the utmost Indies, as in the midst of Churches. So we see what union Ioseph held in his separation both with the Church Catholick of all Believers, and also with the house of Iacob in particular.

CHAP. XXXIX. Of the Vnity of the Church in respect to Election, in the general (perplexities noted) more especially in respect to the house of Jacob, wherein all were chosen; whereas in the house of Abraham and Isaac, there was but one received as Heir of the promise. Reasons to be given for their rejection: and so, might have been in Jacob's house too, whose errours are recorded.

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NOW concerning the Unity of the III Church, this hath been taken for a general Rule, That the Church is as large as the Election, and the Election so determined within its Bounds or spaces, that (extra Ecclesia [...] non est salus) without the Church there is no salvation. Which occasioning a distinction betwixt the Church visible and invisible, it hath made the wide World the Subject of some mens charity, as much as any Church visible; the rather because some men think there may be an inward Call by the Spirit, where there in so outward Call of the Church visible. And so for Election; Whereas St [Page] Paul gives us ground for two distinctions uncontroulable, viz. 1. Of a general Election both of Jew and Gentile, unto the state of Grace, by believing of the Gospel, answering to the Election of the Jews alone (from the times of the Law) unto special Covenant and priviledge. 2. Of a certain Election of persons (not so large as the other) unto eternal life, according to the foreknowledge of God. This hath occasioned the Schoolmen and the modern Polemical Divines (by scanning of the terms, and sisting what might be drawn from them) to come in with a distinction between (like a kind of superfo [...]tation) of particular Election absolute or conditional (for of the general Election of some people more than others unto special means, they dare not question over boldly; or enter farther into this Secret of Providence, than Travellers dare into that Stove of St Germans in Italy, the mouth wherof I have been in; only, some presume to say, that there are sufficient means granted unto all) which modern distinction of the Popish Schoolmen, and our Common-place-men, hath raised much stir and heats both in the Roman and Reformed Churches: For [Page] if the [...]e be an absolute positive Election of a [...]ew, the Question is not so much, Whether it be without respect of persons, as without respect of sin? If there be a particular Election of persons, conditionally only; then, Whether Election hangeth in suspense? or, being from eternity, proceedeth according to God's foreknowledge (vel saltem per scientiam mediam) with a respect to his own Decree, according to works foreseen, of merits condign or congruous, (as the Schoolmen speak) or according to faith or Evangelical obedience (at the least) foreseen and foreknown; which pleaseth some of ours well enough, though they have much difficulty and difference in the explaining of their meanings? In the mean while perhaps there cannot be much more proved from St Paul, than that Election beareth no respect to the Works of the Law, by which neither Jew nor Gentile can be justified; but that both must be brought to cry, Grace, Grace, unto the Gospel.

But the Bounds of my Discourse confine themselves naturally within the general Election of Grace, whereby it pleased God to chuse some particular persons to be the Body Constitutive of [Page] his Church, to the exclusion of [...]hers, that might seem to have stood as fair as they.

If it be asked, Why Abel was accepted, and Cain not? it is ready to be answered, That Abel offered a better Sacrifice, and that from a better mind; wherein God himself is our Warrant: for he said unto him, Gen. 4.6, 7. Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countonance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lyeth at the door.

If it be asked again, Why was Sem chosen rather than Ham and Iaphet? A reason may be given against Ham; but there is no manifest reason against Iaphet, but the Oeconomy or Providence of God, secundum beneplacitum: Whoever presseth further, may engage himself beyond recovery, unless he do content himself in this, that there was a time to be (when it pleased God) that the fulness of the Gentiles should come in.

So a reason may be given against Ishmael, He was not only the Son of the Bondwoman that misbehaved her self towards her Mistress, but a malicious Scorner of the true Heir, the Son of the [Page] Free-woman, and a Wild-man; but of the Sons of Keturah, what have we to say more than of Iaphet, save only, that of Midian, one of them, came Iethro and the Kenites, friends and partakers of the house of Israel?

What wonder though Esau was permitted to seek his Fortunes in Mount Seir, he having matched with the Daughters of Heth and Ishmael, to the grief of his Parents (and so, without their liking) and being otherwise prophane; not only as a common Hunt, but as an Hunter like to Nimrod, so far as God permitted?

But what have we to say at last, that all the Sons of Iacob (his Concubines and all) should be taken in, and never an one rejected? Did ever Ishmael or Esau play such pranks as some of these? Reuben the eldest went in to Bilhah, Gen. 35.22. (the Concubine which Rachel, and not his Mother Leah, had given unto Iacob) and lay with her,Ch. 49.4. Ch. 34.25.and defiled his Fathers bed. Simeon and Levi fell upon the Shechemites, not only cruelly, but perfidiously, after they had made them Proselytes. Iudah (the next preferred above all) went down from his Brethren, (who had little converse, beyond their [Page] commerce, with the people of the Land) and turned in to a certain Adullamite,Gen. 38.whose name was Hirah. And Iudah saw there a Daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah, and he took her, and went in unto her. And she bare him Er, Onan and Shelah. Er married Tamar, and was wicked (following his Mothers kind) and the Lord slew him, and Onan after him. And then Iudah dissembled about giving the third Son Shelah unto Tamar, lest he should perish too. So Iudah himself fell into Tamars Gin, and was disgraced by her at the present, but got more honour from her incestuous Issue at the last, than from his own marriage with the Canaanite. For the Sons of the Concubines,Chap. 37.1. Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher, Ioseph was wont to bring their ill report unto his Father, for which they envied him: And for Issachar and Zebulun, Ver. 18. they were also in the Conspiracy against the life of Ioseph. Only Reuben's pity was commended, (though he was agreed with the rest to conceal it with fraud from Iacob) in that he would have saved Ioseph altogether, (which might be a reason why Ioseph bound Simeon, the second when he let Reuben, the first, go [Page] free) and Iudah so far,Gen. 42.22.24. as that he would rather fell him for a Slave than slay him. Thus the Scripture concealeth not their vices: Only Ioseph (the Son of Rachel) is extolled, and his Brother Benjamin blameless.

CHAP. XL. The Sons of Jacob compared in their vertues and vices: The latter aggravated, and excused. Why Pharez, born of incest, should be so great in Judah, and inherit the promise at the last.

NOW to compare the good and bad qualities of these Patriarchs with one another. It seems to some,Ch. 35.22. that when Reuben had committed his incest with his Mother-in-Law, and that Israel heard of it, his Father was afraid to take notice of it,Es [...]ius. (quia Reuben ferox erat) because Reuben was a fierce man: It may seem likewise as if he defiled his Father's Bed, in contempt of Bilhah, Rachels Handmaid; and so that there was some malice mixed with his lust. But the pity that he alone had of Ioseph, the Son of Rachel, shews that he was [Page] neither fierce (as Simeon and Levi) nor yet so envious as the rest: But most like it is that the beauty only of Bilhah did inflame him (as a fine Creature, for Rachel, to present to Iacob, whereby to estrange him a little more from Leah) since Iacob, who was to denounce his punishment to him at the last,Gen. 49.3, 4. said no more but that though he was the beginning of his might, he should not excel only because he was unstable as water, when he went up to his Fathers bed, and defiled it; high water being such as will break any Bounds whatsoever.

And though some Expositors doubt not of his repentance, (by the tokens of his good nature towards Ioseph, both when he was betrayed, and after in his Embassy) yet God did not think fit to remit the temporal punishment unto him and his posterity, of being deprived of Primogeniture and number. But whether it was Iudah or Ioseph that had his Right, we shall consider by and bye.

As for Simeon and Levi, after their bloudy fact,Chap. 34.30, 31. when their Father said unto them, Ye have troubled me, to make me stink among the inhabitants of the Land, so that I being few in number (incomparison of the Canaanites and Perizzites) [Page] they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house (shewing their blind and rash folly as well as wickedness) they had so little Grace as to return this surly Answer, Should he deal with our Sister, as with an Harlot? Nor had they any more remorse about their Brother Ioseph afterwards, in whose bloud they would (for their parts) have had an hand. Which might occasion Ioseph to seize on Simeon (to chuse) as hath been noted. Yet (no doubt) he was famous in his Generation (for some VertueReuben for one fault, lying with Bilha, his Fathers Concubine, lost all: and yet for himself, in his particular, Ioseph excepted, he was (otherwise) the best of the Brethren. Bishop Mont. acts, &c. cap. 1. § 37. or other) because so many bore the name of Simeon or Simon in the succeeding Ages. So that he had but one and the same Sentence with his Brother in iniquity, even with Levi, I will divide them in Iacob, Gen. 49. and scatter them in Israel. Which was accomplished in Simeon's posterity, by having their lot shut up (in a manner) within the Confines of Iudah, and its Borders; and in Levi's, by having no lot at all among the rest in the Land of promise; saving a lot extraordinary, which God had assigned to them (they say) as good [Page] as the best: So God over-ruleth in his gracious Providence, even turning his chastisements into blessings! And for Levi's own person,Exod. 6.16. he lived a hundred and thirty years, (what Age he might be when he came with Iacob into Egypt, is uncertain.) And a hundred and thirty years after Iacob's descent was Moses born, the younger Brother of Aaron, the Redeemers of Israel, descended both immediately from Levi So long as Ioseph lived, so long as Levi, who survived all his Brethren, they adhered to God, and to his Service alone, wherein they had been brought up and instructed by tradition [so it liketh him] from Iacob, Isaac, Abraham. After which they degenerated (as Ezek. 23. cited above.) Bishop Montague's acts, &c. cap. 1. §. 32..

Now for Iudah, his faults and failings have not been spared; upon which (saith Bishop Hall) ‘I find not many of Iacob's Sons more faulty than Iudah:’ But Bishop Montague Id. Sect. 37. says (according to Iosephus) that ‘Iudah, being [...] a bold, daring, putting-forth man, was well enough disposed in his own person to be the Law-giver, and to have the Scepter, although it was not (indeed) conferred on his person, but his Tribe.’ Methinks (in truth) he was (like Peter among the Disciples) the [Page] forwardest to undertake with his Father, to lead his Brethren, to expostulate with Ioseph, to be Iacob's Harbinger, and the likeliest to be presented (as one of the five) in the presence of the great King Pharaoh. And though he consented to Ioseph's slavery,Gen. 37.27. yet said he, Let not our hand be upon him; for he is our Brother, and our flesh. And as he was of a fervent Spirit, and presently passed Sentence upon Tamar to be burnt; so when she convinced him, he did not deny, or hasten execution to conceal it, but ingenuously said, She hath been more righteous than I: And he knew her again no more. To him therefore, as a man of great sufficiency, was the Scepter given, and the promise of Christ, (which was much more) and yet the birth-right of Reuben was translated unto Ioseph. 1 Chron. 5.1, 2. Of which (peradventure) more at large when I come unto the lots.

Only, this is too much to my purpose and design to be omitted. Not only Iudah with all his faults (which poor Iacob's pious soul must bear withal amongst them) is admitted to the prime Prerogative; but his base-born Pharez, after him, becomes the immediate Heir of the Promise, and not his elder Son [Page] Shelah, begotten in the state of Wedlock; to the disparagement likewise (as it might seem) of the rest of the Seed of Iacob. Let us make the account thus: Reuben is deprived of his birthright for the Cause of Bilhah; Simeon was next, and Levi next to him: but they are both removed farther off for the sake of Shechem. Iudah is (thereupon) the next in order; and (if there be any fault in him, or however, if it were possible) one would think that Iacob should transfer this blessing unto Ioseph, who was the eldest Son of his best beloved Wife, and now a Father to his Brethren, as he was to his own Father too, so far as he was a Father unto Pharaoh, under whose protection and beneficence they were to be cherished and flourish; or else (by Ioseph's leave) to his own Brother Benjamin, the Son of Iacob's right hand, with whom no fault is found; nor, it may be, ever was, since his posterity held stedfast to the Covenant, and the blessing, when Ioseph's had revolted.

Why, there was fault enough to be found with Iudah to stop his mouth, and barr his claim to any Excellency amongst his Brethren. It was a kind of [Page] debauch in him, to go rambling among the accursed Canaanites, (from whom he ought to have kept an holy distance) and there to be enamoured or inveigled with their Shuah; and to marry according to his lust, rather than his reason. It was like that sin of the old World, which hastened the deluge,Gen. 6.2. when the Sons of God saw the Daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them Wives of all that they chose. If you ask, Why, where should he have had another? Think you not that Esau guessed shrewdly (though he hit amiss) when hearing that Iacob was to be sent to Padan-aram for a Wife of the Mothers kin; he himself was resolved to mend the matter,Gen. 28.6, 9. by taking one of the Fathers side, in marrying the Daughter of Ishmael the Son of Abraham? But if there had not been choice enough of kin of either side at hand, better an Alien of any other Countrey than of Canaan; which he knew to be the very Land that God had promised to his Father and Forefathers for an everlasting possession, not without the destruction of the inhabitants, as the very Seed of the Serpent and Coar of enmity. Thou shalt not (therefore) take a Wife of the Daughters [Page]of Canaan, had Isaac said unto his Father Iacob. For must such a mixture be? Or such a Seed proceed from the Bowels of a Canaanitish Woman, as shall be proper to destroy the Canaanites?

Was not this (then) as just an exception against Iudah now, as it had been against Esau before, and for the sake of which his own Mother could not love him,Gen. 26.34, 35. & 27.46. but procured his disherison? For Esau when he was forty years old married two Hittites, (before Ishmael's Daughter) which were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekkah: and she said, I am weary of my life, because of the Daughters of Heth.

Now if any one ask here, Why, what choice had he or the other Brothers? Whither should they go? Whom did the other Brothers marry?Gen. 47. [...]2. Did not Ioseph (for his part) marry the Priest of On's Daughter (an Egyptian) for whose sake it may seem that he left the Egyptian Priests demesns intire, when he cunningly bought all the rest of Egypt, for his bread, into bondage unto Pharaoh? Or who ever blamed Abraham for his taking of Hagar or Keturah for his Concubines? Or Iacob himself, for taking Bilhah into his bosom (who proved not [Page] honest to him) or Zilpah, and had been bred amongst the Idols of Laban, which Rachel stole, whether for love or hatred is a Question?

Although it hath been taken for an opinion, that the Hebrews took their Wives only (ex Ingenuis) out of freeborn women, and their Concubines (ex Ancillis) out of Handmaids;De jure Nat. & Gent. sec. Heb. l. 5. c. 7. yet Mr Selden proves that these did not differ in the quality of Wives, but only in the inequality of conditions;Gen. 25.1.1 Chron. 1.32. forasmuch as Keturah in Genesis is called Abraham's Wife, and in the Chronicles his Concubine, (which some do therefore improbably think to be the same with Hagar re-assumed) We may observe that Hagar had been seasoned with the same Religion before Abraham took her, by being bred in his house; insomuch that she prayed in her distress, and had an Angel to comfort her. But she was repudiated for her rebellion against her Mistress, and her Son sent away with gifts (which followed) because it is said,Gen. 25.6. that unto the Sons of the Concubines (both of them) which Abraham had, he gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his Son, while he yet lived But after they were separated, it seems, that they both revolted: for Ishmael dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and became an Archer. And his Mother took him a Wise out of the Land of Egypt. Gen. 21.20, 21.. [Page] And by Keturah (whose true Religion we have no ground to question) he had some Issue which retained their profession in the time of Moses, who married a Wife out of Iethro's house, descended from Midian, a Son of Abraham by this Keturah. Among some or other of these (therefore) the Sons of Iacob might have found Wives, as well as Moses, who is not blamed for it.

Or else, among the Women that Rebekkah, Rachel and Leah had brought with them, (if they were more than two) or the Daughters born of them, in the space of a hundred and fifty years; or as they might give their Sisters to their choicer Servants, so they might take their Daughters, and so contain themselves within themselves; which might be the reason of their leviration, (which God did after establish by a Law) or Brothers marrying of a Brother's Widow, in case he dyed before he had any Issue by her. Indeed, it is not mentioned whence the other Sons had their Wives,Gen. 38.8. only Iudah seemeth to be blamed.

[Page]As for Ioseph's taking the Priest of On's Daughter, 1. Pharaoh gave her. 2. God himself, who was able to sanctifie her unto him, as it is like he did by the towardly Children which she bare him; which pleased Iacob when he blessed them. 3. If Ioseph spared the Priests Lands, it is an Argument that he feared Sacriledge, as many of the Heathen (after) did, with the like regard unto the Iewish Priests: And this is delivered (by Iosephus) as a Law among the Iews: Antiq. l. 4. c. 8. ‘Let no man speak evil of those Gods which other Countries and Cities suppose to be Gods.Amiq. l. 4. c. 8. Let no man spoil any strange Temple, nor take that which is dedicated unto any God.’

And as for Iacob's taking of Bilhah and Zilpah, the same may be said as of Abraham taking of Hagar and Keturah. They came from Padan-aram with him, and abode with their Mistresses after he had purged his house from Idols; Labans and all, (if any did remain) which it may seem that Rachel stole away to please her Husband Iacob (when time should serve to discover it) not fearing her Fathers displeasure, rather than out of any love to them, because she may be understood to have been of the forwardest, [Page] when Iacob purged his house,Gen. 35.4. to bring all the strange Gods and ear-rings unto him: As also because she had the blessing of the two more pious Sons.

CHAP. XLI. Pursuing the same Argument, and opening the Law of Leviration, by which Pharez was restored. Other marked persons not blot to the Genealogy of Christ.

BUT the failing of Iudah concerning Tamar (if it were not greater) might yet seem more unlucky of the two, and more prejudicial in the consequence unto the house of Israel, than the other; inasmuch as two misbegotten Children came thereby to be reckoned to the ruling Tribe of Israel, and not only to have equal part with others, but to have inheritance from Iudah, all alike with Shelah. Doth God abhor incest and adultery, and yet suffer the choicest Blessings of all to descend to their Issue? Or how is it that David and Christ should come to descend from this Pharez, rather than from Shelah?

[Page]Now about the first failing of Iudah we may say, That if Iacob had had the power of the blessing in his own hands (as he had not) it was not exception enough against him to put him by; nor in the streights wherein they were, can one be sure that there were no more strange Wives within the Tents of Iacob, but only Shuah's Daughter. However, God was pleased to take the punishment of Iudah's fault home unto himself, and he brought it home to Iudah; for whatever Shelah was, he gave him but three Sons in all, two of which he permitted to be such wicked Canaanites as were not to be born withal; so that the Lord himself slew them, and in the stead thereof made him father other two, which he least intended.

But on second thoughts, neither was the latter fault so great as the first, nor the consequence so bad as you imagine.

See what an Acquaintance had Iudah gotten by wandring away from the Tents of Israel, and searching out for some good house or other wherein to solace and caress himself;Gen. 38.1. He turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. And he, it seems, as having a design upon his Friend (so called) hold [Page] him unto Shuah's Daughter, with whom Iudah was taken in his vagary. Which friendship (howsoever) continued till after her death, (good men being seldome forward to shake off even their Back-friends:) So that Hirah, being with him to comfort him, was as ready to help him at another turn, (even as lewd Suburbers delight to draw in Country-men into the Stews) and to wait for him (like a Pander) and conceal his prank, while he suffered him (rather than himself) to go aside unto a seeming Harlot: and when Iudah came back, to carry a Kid for him unto the Woman, to redeem Iudah's pledges, because he was ashamed to send by any but a Stranger. So that Iudah seems to have continued still under the same or like temptations, as long as he retaineth this acquaintance. And it is by his temptations that we must endeavour to excuse him; whereof this Heathen Hirah was the first.

Then we must consider, that it was but simple fornication, upon surprize (and without design) that Iudah suffered himself to be drawn in by; whereas his marriage was a setled resolution. And that God suffered him to [Page] be thus betrayed (punishing one sin by another, and the consequences of it) for his injustice in denying his third Son Shelah unto Tamar; which he was bound to do by a known Law amongst them: Or for his distrust in God, lest he should take away Shelah for doing his Duty, as he had done the other two for wickedness.

Add to this the subtilty of Tamar (who was a Free-woman of Israel, by her marriage unto Er the eldest Son of Iudah, whatsoever she was before) that knew where the soft place was in Iudah's Head, and meant to be meet with him, inasmuch as she had been of a long time wronged, and saw no other likelihood of redress but this: for the Law (as we may learn more clearly by the reviving of it) was this,Deut. 2 [...].5, 6. viz. If Brethren dwell together, and one of them dye, and have no Child, the Wife of the dead shall not marry without, unto a Stranger; her Husband's Brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to Wife, and perform the duty of an Husband's Brother unto her. And it shall be, that the first-born which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his Brother, which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.

[Page]The Law (then) obliging Tamar to live within, under a Widow's guise, and not to marry without, but expect; she had (indeed) Onan given to her; but he hating to raise up Seed unto his Brother (more than to lye with a taking Woman) spilt his Seed upon the ground, thinking (it may be) after that to go into fruitless dalliance.Gen. 38.10. And the thing displeased the Lord, so that he slew him also after his Brother Er. The reason of Onan's sin is to be understood, viz. Because he would have the eldest Brother's Right extinct, and be eldest himself; whereas if he had begotten a Son on Tamar, even that Son should have carried the birth-right from him. And when Tamar had remained still a shady Widow, in hope of Shelah, and she saw that he was grown, and not given to her, she began not only to despair of an Husband, but of an interest in the house of Iudah, which ought not to be denyed her: It was the least of her intention (therefore) to play the Harlot, whatever Iudah meant; for being sped by him, she put on her Widows Garments again, and betook herself to her former place. So that she may seem no more to blame than an honest Woman, [Page] that puts her self into an Harlots place, and so defrauds her own Husband.

Ay, but the Law was, That the Brother and not the Father-in-Law should raise up Seed unto the first Husband, How then can Tamar be excused for tempting, and lying with the Father?

We must not take Tamar for a scrupulous Casuist, (though she meant not to be an Harlot, but contained ever after, as it is most likely Iudah did, of whose refraining there in mention, but of his marrying again we read not) but for an interested, wronged Person, that sought to right herself the best she could: For if she conceived, she should be wrapped up in the inheritance of her Issue, which Iudah could not abandon; or if not, yet Iudah could not wrong her any further.

But take the Case as it will bear: For a Brother to lye with his Brothers Wife or Widow, in any other Case than this, is incest; And it is no more incest in the Father-in-Law, so far as touching of bloud is intended (for the Father-in-Law has no more blood in his Son's Wife that never conceived) than in the Brother: There is only the reverence of Descent, that is more. And the reason [Page] of another Descent (viz. of inheritance) being the reason of the Law that allows the dispensation, it is the less wonder that Tamar should lay aside the respect of reverence only to a Father, that would hold her still under greater wrong, unless she laid this Veil aside, and put another on: which is all that I have to say for her.

But as for Iudah, as his soul hated incest, so neither was he guilty of it (in the least) as he was beguiled. And though his two Sons Pharez and Zarah were misbegotten (by mistake) on Tamar; yet they were not base-born, but came by due Right into their Father Er's Lot, as much as if Shelah had begotten them, who ought to have endeavoured it: So that Iudah (by God's permission) did but supply his Son's place as a punishment for his with-holding him. And when God had pardoned all this to Iudah, neither his Father, nor his Brethren eyed him the worse; but God himself prospered him the more: For whereas his Brethren had all more Children than he, when they came to be numbred, at their going out of Egypt, Iudah had seventy four thousand,Numb. 1. [...]6, 27. and six hundred males, from twenty years [Page] and upwards, whereas no other Tribe could come within ten thousand of His.

If all this doth not satisfie, let us hear the pious Bishop a little further:Bish. Hall's Contemplation of Iudah and Thamar. ‘I find not many of Iacob's Sons more faulty than Iudah, who yet is singled out from all the rest to be the Royal Progenitor of Christ, and to be honoured with the dignity of the birth-right, that God's Election might not be of merit. Else, however he had sped alone, Thamar had not been joined in this Line. Even Iudah marries a Canaanite: It is no marvel, though his Seed prosper not. Yet, that good Children may not be too much discouraged with their unlawful propagation, the Fathers of the promised Seed are raised from an incestuous Bed.’ And (as I may add) in Christ's Genealogy we have Rahab the Harlot, Ruth the Moabitess, and Bathsheba (to chuse) the adulterous Wife of David. But (as the Apostle speaks) he put no difference betwixt us and them, Acts 15.9. purifying their hearts by faith.

Such was the state of the first visible Church (which produced afterwards such admirable Spirits) so far as I can discover. But if the Masters were indifferently such (as I have described) what [Page] think you were the Men? If it had so seemed good to God, he could have set them all alike without blemish: But he would rather take in all (now) than leave out one. And so must we, leaving them in the good Land of Goshen all the life of Ioseph, and some time after; for the Text saith, that Ioseph dyed, and all his Brethren, and all that Generation, Antiq. l. 2. c. 5. before a new King (Iosephus saith of another Race) arose up over Egypt, which knew not Ioseph. And that the people were so encreased, that Goshen could no more contain them, but that the Land of Egypt was filled with them.

[...]

FINIS.

A LETTER In ANSWER to a QUESTION Propounded by the Authour, viz. CONCERNING The multiplying of the Children of Israel in Egypt.

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SIR,

SINCE You were pleas'd to request my poor assistance in the solution of the following Question, to shew my readiness to serve You, I set my self about it: I confess, at first I expected nothing but dry Arithmetical matter to work upon; but upon farther consideration, I found the Subject You had given me, of a more extensive nature than so, fit to be replenish'd with other more useful considerations, [Page] and capable of a more noble improvement than I am able to bestow upon it; yet such as that is, here You have it. Your Question is this,

How from seventy Males only,Gen. 46.47. in no longer space than two hundred and ten years,Deut. 10.22. (as your Chronologer reckons) wherein the Israelites sojourned in Egypt, there could be produc'd at their first numbring in the Wilderness no less than six hundred and three thousand,Numb. 1.46. & 3.39. five hundred and fifty, from twenty years old and upwards, besides the Tribe of Levi which amounted to two and twenty thousand Males, from a Month old and upwards; and how the probability of this may be demonstrated, so as to stop the mouths of such as Porphyry and Celsus, without refuge to a vast multitude of Twins, or a miraculous continuance of the power of generation in that people more than any other, of which we have no mention in prophane Writers?

To this I doubt not but to return such an Answer as shall satisfie any reasonable man, and your self in particular; and having done that, I think I shall have done all that You expected from me, towards the silencing such as are of Celsus's [Page] and Porphyry's Creed in this matter; if such as they may properly be said to have any Creed, whose Faith revers'd, consists in disbelieving.

Nor is this the only good effect of such undertakings, (if duly perform'd) For although Christians, believing the holy Scriptures to be from God who cannot lye, do generally take God Almighty's word for the truth of those things that are there revealed, without a strict scrutiny and examination of the things themselves; yet if after assent given to the holy Scriptures as the word of God, those amongst them who are qualified with abilities, especially such as Your Self who serve at the Altar, and whose lips preserve knowledge, do search and dive into the particular Circumstances of any thing there related, of an unusual and surprizing nature, such as this seems to be at first view; and when upon such search, the thing appears upon rational grounds, not only possible but, very likely to be effected: This not only puts to silence the ignorance of foolish men, but highly confirms Believers themselves in their most holy faith, and encourages them on other occasions to acquiesce and rely intirely on the [Page] truth of God's word, when their limited finite faculties cannot fathom the reasons either of the thing or Command revealed.

Without any farther Preface therefore: Give me leave, Sir, to affirm, That in the matter before us there is no need of flying to an extraordinary multiplication by Twins; I say, Extraordinary; for there is no reason to exclude it in the ordinary course of nature, because we see it frequently happen amongst our selves, and I believe [...] might be more frequent among the Israelites, even from natural causes, such as the simplicity of their Diet above ours, and the more fertile pregnancy of that Climate, where Nature is more perfect, and better digested by the nearer approach of the Sun who quickneth all things, and is reputed by Philosophers to have a peculiar influence in the work of generation; insomuch that it passes for an uncontrouled Maxim amongst them, and a kind of Postulatum, that Sol & homo generant hominem.

And as little need is there of a miraculous power of Generation, unless we will multiply miracles unnecessarily, by styling every eminent Blessing by that [Page] Title, which is sent in performance of a promise; then indeed the great encrease of this people would pass for a miracle of the first rank: For never was any promise oftener reiterated than this, as if the Benediction vied in proportion and analogy to the nature of the Blessing it self, which consisted in number. Had the Israelitish Women been all old Sarahs, nay had they been young Rachels or Rebeccahs, and their Husbands confin'd to them, nothing less than a miracle could have done it: But as it is, it holds no higher denomination than that of a very great Blessing, which I look upon as a medium betwixt the ordinary course of Nature and a Miracle, and much nearer of kin to the former than the latter; because there is nothing in it either praeter or contra Naturam.

The several promises of encrease before mentioned, being the foundation whereon I shall build my Superstructure, it will not be amiss to take a transient view of some of them, and the wording of them; where we shall find a most remarkable exuberancy, good measure, press'd down, and running over; such as these, Gen. 13.16. I will make thy seed, says God to Abraham, as the dust of the earth: [Page]so that if a man can number of dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbred. Gen. 15.5. And God brought Abraham forth abroad, and said, Look now towards Heaven, and tell the Stars if thou be able to number them; So shall thy seed be. Gen. 22.16, 17. By my self have I sworn, saith the Lord, That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the Sea-shore. And although we may think that this promise was partly made good in Ishmael and Abraham's other Sons, and also in Esau; from all which great Nations were descended: yet that is a mistake, for although they did seem materially to make good these promises of encrease, yet formally they did not, quatenus a promise; but they were thrown in by God ex abundanti, and on the account of other bye promises, such as that to Hagar, Gen. 17.10, 11. and were mere Anomala's in respect of the main Promise, Gen. 21.12. For in Isaac shall thy seed be called: To whom the Promise is renewed in Person, Gen. 26.3, 4. I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy Father, and I will make thy seed to multiply as the Stars [Page]of Heaven. Then the same promise is renewed again (twice) to Iacob, not to Esau, Gen. 35.11. where God ushers it in with this remarkable Preface, I am God Almighty, and therefore able to perform what I promise in spight of all opposition from Men or Devils: The Promise it self runs thus, Be fruitful and multiply; a Nation and company of Nations shall be of thee. Where the first part is but a repetition of the Blessing given to Adam for peopling the whole World at first, and afterwards to Noah and his Sons for re-peopling it, when it had been destroyed by the Floud; as if little Goshen were to be equivalent to the whole World besides: at least, it was to be God's Nursery or Seed-plot, where he raised almost his full number of Stocks, and only transplants them into Canaan, insomuch that if they had continued but twenty years longer in Egypt, they would have encreased to a greater number in that short space than they did in four hundred seventy three years that they were in the Wilderness and Canaan, as I shall demonstrate. So that it was Egypt where all these several promises, as to number, do chieftly terminate at last and discharge themselves, [Page] as all the Rivers do into the Ocean: And this appears farther yet from the last of all these Promises, Gen. 46.3. Fear not, Iacob, to go down into Egypt: for I will THERE make of thee a great Nation. Which Promise is limited to the time of the Israelites sojourning in Egypt, and is exactly contemporary with the two hundred and ten years in the Question now handled: So that the veracity of God himself was highly concerned to see this Promise performed within that compass of time: and when once that is expired, then they who were preserv'd before, intire as it were in the hollow of his hand (as I shall make appear at large) were delivered up to several wasting judgments in the Wilderness, such as the Earth opening her mouth to swallow up the two hundred and fifty Numb. 16.2, 3, 5. Princes of the Assembly, famous in the Congregation, men of renown, their Wives Ver. 27. and their little Ones, and all that appertain'd Ver. 33. or adher'd to them in that revolt; besides this, they are smitten with four several Plagues of Pestilence, and in several Battels great numbers fall by their Enemies Swords. And Numb. 21.6. The Lord sent fiery Serpents among the people, [Page]who bit them: so that much people of Israel dyed. And that mighty power which was wholly employed for their preservation during the two hundred and ten years of their abode in Egypt, is, after their delivery thence, employed to their destruction on several provocations from their sins, When Iesurun waxed sat and kicked; whereas their miserable and afflicted condition in Egypt was a means from God of making them more humble, and therefore more fit for the Divine protection, till such time as he had made good that promise to Iacob before recited, Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great Nation.

Besides these several promises to Abraham, Isaac and Iacob, we read Gen. 48.16. that when the last of these upon his death-bed, adopting Ephraim, and Manasseh for his own, transferr'd this Blessing upon them also, saying, Let them grow into a multitude, the Margin reads it, As Fishes do encrease; and that You will allow, Sir, to be even faster than by Twins. Their great Sacrament also of Circumcision in partibus genitalibus, I take to be a most proper Memorandum and Token of this Promise of encrease. [Page] But although this Promise had never been made, nor Circumcision instituted; yet would it be but reasonable to suppose, That that Primitive Blessing, Be fruitful and multiply, which was given in the Garden, should have a more eminent accomplishment in God's own enclosure the Church, than amongst His and His Church's Enemies; especially considering the Circumstances of the Jewish Church and people, that they were to subdue Nations great and mighty before they could be setled in the promised Canaan: And when they were setled there, they were environ'd with Nations round about, like a Garden in the midst of a Forest of wild Beasts, who would be continually breaking in upon them to devour them, if God had not proportioned their numbers to a competency of defence and resistance, and the whole Church would have wanted that Priviledge and Blessing, which was the lot of many private Believers, viz. Not to be ashamed when she spake with her Enemies in the Gate.

Having spoken of the Promise, the next thing will be, to consider the means of its accomplishment; which I take to [Page] be two especially: The first is, The advantage of the Concubines; which they could not cashier without differing from the examples of their Ancestors. And doubtless that Custom which was introduced at first by Lamech, was not only connived at (but encouraged by God's appearing to Hagar, and promising so bountifully in the behalf of Ishmael, Gen. 17.10, 11.) in order to fulfil the Promise of Encrease in due season, and in God's appointed time, and in imitation of Abraham and Iacob, did that Nation retain that Custom, not only in Egypt, but even till Shiloh came. I shall confirm the truth of this by two or three Quotations only, out of the learned Selden, De Iure Naturali Gentium, &c. where he cites Maimonides saying, Fas est cui (que) quotcunque, etiam centum Vxores, sive siniul omnes, sive alteram post alteram ducere, neque potestas Vxort antea ductae virum heic impediendi, modo illi potestas fuerit praestare alimenta, vestitum, atque debitum conjugale, The other Citation is of an Author with a deadly hard Hebrew name, which I therefore omit; who says, Qui dicit, Plures Vxores simul interdictas esse, notum sit, eum nec morum nee juris esse peritum, nam[Page]multi justi acceperunt binas Vxores, velut Elcana, David, Solomon: Et in Libro Paralipomenwn multi memorantur, quibus binae Vxores. Mr Selden in the same Chap. 7. Book 5. quotes St Augustine saying, Prolis gratiâ Patres sanctos ex Abraham & ante Abraham, quibus Deus, quòd ei placuerint, perhibet testimonium, usos fuisse conjugibus, neminem oportet dubitare Christianum, quando quibusdam etiam singulis plures habere concessum est, ubi ratio fuit prolis multiplicandae, non variandae appetitio voluptatis. But because we are so over-run with Grotius in England of late years, that nothing will go down with our modish Divines but what Grotius has chew'd for them; and if He does but say it, down it goes, right or wrong; insomuch that they can no more write without Grotius, Grotius, than a Carmelite Nun can drop her Beads without exhibiting particular devotion to the Virgin Mary, her peculiar Patroness, the Lady of Mount Carmel; I therefore refer You to his Second Book and Fifth Chapter de Iure Belli ac Pacis, where he speaks to the same purpose with Mr Selden's Rabbies. And if it were both lawful and commendable to have secondary Wives of Concubines, [Page] it is not to be doubted but that it was generally practised, though the Scriptures speak but little of it; because there is but little occasion to speak of any Concubines. In the 20th of Judges there is a Relation concerning a Levite, who with his Concubine came to lodge in Gibeah of Benjamin, where the lustful Inhabitants forced his Concubine till she dyed in the Street; whereupon the Levite makes no more Bones of his old Familiar, but slices her in pieces, and sends a part to every Tribe, except Benjamin, where the fact was committed; who refusing to deliver up the men of Gibeah to Justice, the other Tribes, to revenge the murder and the injustice of the Benjamites in protecting the Murderers, proclaim War against them; which cost the bloud of above fourscore thousand men: And upon this great and remarkable occasion the Levites Concubine is mentioned, which otherwise would never have been taken notice of in the Scripture. But although neither this Concubine nor her Husband had been mentioned, it would have been but a weak Argument to have said that no Levite ever had a Concubine, because then none had been mentioned at [Page] all; for this Levite had had a Concubine, though this fatal accident had never happened, which was the only occasion of informing us particularly that a Levite ever had a Concubine. The like may be concluded of the twelve Patriarchs, and their Descendents in Egypt, though the Scriptures say nothing of their Concubines; for I have already observed, that that was the main critical time to make use of that advantage for encrease, and that liberty was too pleasant and agreeable to corrupt Nature to be laid aside upon a sudden, or waved; we see both Reuben, Gen. 35.22. and Iuddah, Gen. 38. were brisk and sanguine men, and therefore more likely to be fond of having Concubines than their chaster Progenitors. Flesh and blood is highly pleased to be indulged in matters of this nature; and our Saviours denying this Priviledge by reducing marriage to its primitive institution between one Man and one Woman, and paring away the Appendix of Concubinage, making no medium between such marriage and fornication, might be no small stumbling-block to the Jews, and might make some of them like the young man in the Gospel, to go [Page] away sorrowful, for that they had, or at least intended to have, beloved possessions of this nature. And as it might be and still is some disadvantage to the ready embracing of the Christian Religion, the abridging of this liberty; so the allowing and encouraging of it was the Master-piece of Policy in that great Impostor Mahomet, and prov'd too powerful a Bait to draw the World after him. And although the present Jews are not over-fond of this Priviledge, and make but sparing use of it; yet the reason of this abstemiousness is not at all on the account of Conscience, (for they do in some measure practice it to this day) but by reason of the inconvenience of it: For since the destruction of their Country and Temple by that Heathen Emperor Vespasian, and his Son Titus, (who yet by God's Providence were made the Revengers of the precious bloud of Christ) they have been scattered abroad upon the face of the Earth, and by the just Judgment of God they are generally look'd upon with an evil eye, and are become ludibrium humani generis, liable not only to the just and real disgust of Princes, but to their very Capricio's, and to be banish'd [Page] at every turn out of their Domions; and they who have occasion to remove housholds often, have little reason to be fond of encreasing their luggage and their lumber.

From what has been said, I think it appears highly improbable that the Patriarchs and their Posterity in Egypt should on a sudden quit that Custom which claimed the possession of so many years as from Lamech, long before the Floud, down to Iacob; and therefore we are not to measure their Corn by our cut Bushel, nor their encrease by what is now adays, when that advantage of Concubinage is (or at least should be) taken away. And yet we are not without examples of prodigious fertility where there has been neither Miss nor Concubine in the Case: I my self have seen a Woman within four miles of my own house at Winchfield, whose eldest Son Iohn Hawkins (that dyed but last year at about ninety years of Age, being healthy and strong, and a man of a very good understanding) told me, that there were no less than seventy five in a Room together at one time that ask'd his Mother blessing, Children, Grand-Children, and Great [Page] Grand-Children, besides above forty more that were not present. Famianus Strada, lib. 1. de Bello, tells us Iuliana, Mother to the famous Prince of Orange, liv'd to see a hundred and fifty ask her Blessing, that were descended from her. And our own Chronicles mention one William Somerset Earl of Worcester, who was so numerous in his Off-spring, that he could reckon more Children of both Sexes than all the Earls of England besides, and this was within this hundred years. And Fuller in his Worthies of England speaks of a Lady Temple, who saw above six hundred that were descended from her own Body, if I am not mistaken; whereas Iacob himself had but twelve Sons: And although each of them might have the like number, yet the eleven that went with him into Egypt had but about five a piece at the time of their going thither, reckoning one with another, which yet is as great a number as I shall have occasion for in this matter.

Before I dismiss this business of Concubinage, it will not be amiss to enquire whence the Hebrews were stock'd with such a number of Women more than Men; for every Man having but one [Page] Concubine besides his Wife, the number must be double, which is the most probable proportion: For though some like Iacob might have more one, yet 'tis probable that others might imitate Isaac, and have none at all. I find in my Lord Chief Justice Hale's most learned and judicious Discourse of the Origination of Mankind, a little Book quoted with a great commendation, written as I think by one Captain Grant, who among other most ingenious Observations from the Bills of Births and Burials in London for almost a hundred years together, demonstrates that the number of Males to Females is as fifteen to thirteen, which is eight Men to less than seven Women; the wife Providence of God allowing that redundance in the Males for Wars and Shipwracks, and other accidents, to which Men are more exposed than Women. But although Providence should have furnished the Israelites with as great a redundance of Women (the same Providence sheltring this people from Wars under the protection of the Egyptians, and they being Shepherds, not Mariners) yet still there will want a great supply to make the number of Women double to that of Men: And [Page] whence can this supply come, but from the neighbouring Quarters of the Midianites and others? We see Moses takes one of his Wives from thence, the Daughter of Iethro, who seems, Exod. 18.9, 10, 11, 12. to be a pious good man, and a true Worshipper, and not tainted with Idolatry as most of the Midianities were, Numb. 25. notwithstanding their descent from the Father of the faithful, and their retaining Circumcision; for those Texts, Exod. 4.25, 26. are grosly misrendred, as Mr Mede has evidently proved. Nay, it is not improbable, that the Isrealites might be furnished with Handmaids or Concubines from their Neighbours the Egyptians; for that abomination or antipathy which the Egyptians had for eating Bread with the Hebrews, Gen. 43.32. seems to have been on the account of their Prosession only, as they were Shepherds, Gen. 46.34. and to have been little else but an aversion to the smell of a Tar-pot, which by mutual converse would easily wear out, and be laid aside. For that reason which Interpreters give of this abomination, viz. Because the Israelites eat Flesh from which the Egyptians abstained, and more than that, [Page] the Flesh of the Oxe and Sheep which were the Idols or Representative Gods of the Egyptians; this seems to me to be of little force; for then they must have had all other Nations in abomination that eat Leeks or Onions, as well as the Israelites for Flesh.

Porrum & Caepe nefas violare, & laedere morsu:

Faelices Gentes, quorum haec nascuntur in hortis

Numina!—

—Quis nescit qualia demens

Aegyptus portentae colit?

The more probable account of this antipathy is given by Bochartus in his Canaan; and by Grotius out of Manetho, the most ancient Egyptian Historian, who says, that on the account of the different manner of life of the Shepherds of Egypt from the rest of the people, there arose in ancient times dreadful Wars, and the Shepherds getting the mastery revenged themselves with fire and sword, and burnt down the Cities, which made them be hated ever after; so that the antipathy seems to have been of the same nature with that of French and Spaniards now, and of French [Page] and English heretofore; when Wars and emulation stirred up hatred, which in the ordinary people is not forgotten to this day: Notwithstanding, this spight and emulation was among the men only, who were the mutual Rivals, and was not extended to different Sexes on either side, so as to abate that kindness and inclination which was ingrassed by Nature for its own preservation, as appears by the intermarriages of French and Spaniards now, and of French and English formerly; as our Histories abundantly testifie. The like may be said of the Hebrews and Egyptians; for we find there was a friendly correspondence and neighbourhood amongst them, nay they sojourned with the Israelites in their houses, Exod. 3.22▪ And Exod. 1. the Egyptian Midwives are made use of by the Hebrew Women in their extremity of Child-bearing, and express so much compassion towards them as to disobey Pharaoh for their sakes, and then excuse their so doing with a lye, notwithstanding they are said to fear God. But that which is more than to take a Concubine, we find that Ioseph takes to Wife the Daughter of the Priest of On, and by [Page] her had Ephraim and Manasseh, who gave denomination to one of the greatest Tribes, an honour denyed to the rest of Iacob's Grand-Children; their Mother being an Egyptian was no Bar in the way, the Males only in all the Genealogies of the Hebrews being accounted for the Seed. So then if Ioseph might take a Wife notwithstanding the abomination which the Egyptian men had for the Hebrews, much more might others take Concubines in imitation of that great Hebrew of the Hebrews, Abraham himself, whose beloved Agar was an Egyptian. Thus much I thought fit to say of this matter, that when I had stated the numbers of Men and Women among the Israelites, I might not be brought to an after-reckoning about the Concubines.

The next advantage for encrease and multiplying, one would think should be the longaevity of those times; but I confess I question whether that were any such advantage; for as they continued to get Children longer, so they began later. Isaac and Esau were forty years of Age before they married, Abraham and Iacob a great deal older; and perhaps Nature was not so forward then as [Page] it is now; but as it came to its period later, so likewise to its maturity; and the reason why it arrives at its journeys end the sooner now, may be because it treads swifter paces to perfection, Nature observing a due proportion in its three great Stages, Maturation, Vigour and Decay: according to that true Proverb, Soon ripe, soon rotten; to which answers, Later ripe, later rotten: And we see, that those Creatures which are ripe for Generation at two or three years old, as Horses and Cows, though they far exceed Man in strength, yet they seldom live to be much above twenty years of Age. Now although the first Descendants into Egypt for a hundred years or more, might in all probability live to a greater Age than Men do now; so from what I have now said, I think 'tis probable also that they married later, whereby we should lose à parte ante almost as much as we should gain à parte post, by continuing the work of generation longer: I shall therefore suppose the Age of Man then to be the same that it is now, for it seems to have had a gradual decrease from the time of the Floud till the time of Moses, or a little before, who in the 90th Psalm, which was of his Penning [Page] states the Age of Man at three-score and ten, and that Men were so strong that they came to fourscore years, which is usual in our days. We must not therefore state the Age of the Israelites in Egypt at a hundred and ten, or an hundred and twenty years, because Moses, Aaron and Ioshua arrived to those years: For doubtless Moses speaks not in that Psalm as a Prophet of what would be hereafter, but as a Divine Philosopher and Observer of Nature in the people whom he led, and these turns that Observation into Devotion and pious Contemplation of the vanity of our nature. And the great Age which those three Worthies arrived at was a peculiar Blessing from God on their particular Persons (not common to others) for the ends of his Providence, they being highly favoured of God, and chosen Instruments for that great and wonderful administration in the Wilderness, and for the plantation and settlement of God's Church and people in the promised Canaan: And of Moses in particular it is said, that his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated, Deut. 34.7. at a hundred and twenty years of Age; which could not be [Page] by the ordinary power of nature, when the generality of Mankind attained but to fourscore, and that with labour and sorrow, Psal. 90. but by the extraordinary blessing and support of the God of Nature, in whom we live and move and have our being; nor is this to be lookt upon as any other than part of the recompence of reward to him who was faithful in all God's house, Numb. 12.7. Nay, the kindness of God seems to extend even to his dead Body, as well as to his living, bearing it away (as it were surreptitio [...]sly) in his owns arms, digs his Grave with his own hands, and covers him with Earth; thus bereaving the rebellious. Tribes of the honour of his Interment, to perform his Obsequies Himself, Deut. 34.

This longaevity therefore of the Patriarchs affording little or no advantage above the shorter lives, but more early pregnancy of the latter Generations in Egypt; I proceed to that which You will say was a great advantage indeed, which is the second means that conduc'd to bring about the accomplishment of the Promise of multiplying the Posterity of Iacob exceedingly, that is, with more than the usual encrease of the rest of [Page] Mankind; and that is, The watchful Providence and protection of that God who promised: And indeed I am apt to think, that the vast encrease of the Israelites proceeded more from God's great care in the preservation of those that were born, than from their own extraordinary fertility above all other people, that had both Wives and Concubines as well as they. For although the Promise contained fruitfulness as well as multiplication, yet that was promised only as the means conducing to that end; so that if their fertility sufficed for that, both parts of the promise were exactly fulfilled, though there were no exuberant Numbers of Super-numeraries, as it were for food for those three great Devourers, Famines, Wars, and Pestilences; they being exempted from those three Calamities by the special Providence of God over them: But lest this should be thought to be said gratis, I shall therefore endeavour to prove it.

And in order to that, it is worth observing, That Moses, who writes the History of this people from the very Creation, dispatches that great interval of above sixteen hundred and fifty years [Page] from the Fall to the Floud, in three Chapters, viz. Gen. 4, 5, 6. whereas the rest of the Book, which is no less than forty four Chapters, is spent wholly on no longer an interval than to the death of Ioseph, which is searce six hundred and sixty years; and still the nearer he comes to his own times, the more his History swells, like great Rivers, the farther from the Spring the larger they grow, by the confluence of more streams: For although his inspiration to write truth, was equal throughout, yet the Tradition, which (for the most part) furnished him with the Subject matter of that truth was not equal; the Tradition of the first Ages being very scanty, and almost worn out as it were by passing through so many hands: whereas those things which were transacted at a less distance of time, could not so easily either be forgotten or corrupted; so that these came in greater number, more intire and certain, and cloathed in their particular circumstances: whereby it seems to me highly improbable that Moses should be ignorant of any considerable Calamity that besell this people, that was of so late a Date as their coming into Egypt; which was but [Page] about thirteen years before he himself came into the World, and therefore the knowledge of it had been easily handed down to him from so small a distance, without the help of supernatural revelation, which he was also furnished withal, to supply the defects of Oral Tradition in that History which he wrote. Now if he could not be ignorant of it, and yet concealed it, I conceive this cannot be supposed without questioning his fidelity as God's own Historiographer, who yet has this testimony even from God himself, That he was faithful in all his house, Numb. 12.7. that is, in all that wherewith God entrusted him, whereof the penning this sacred History was a part. But besides his fidelity, his tender affection to this people, for whose sake he quitted the glory and pleasures of the Egyptian Court, refusing to be called the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter, and afterwards in the Wilderness desires God to blot him out of his Book, rather than they should be destroyed; I say this tender affection could not suffer him to omit the recording any considerable calamity that befel their Community, and that with as much commiseration, and in [Page] as relenting a strain, as he does the business of the Taskmasters. And though they had fallen into the hands of God himself, by some raging Pestilence, and not of man (as the other was) yet doubtless his great piety would not have failed to have pointed out those sins which provoked that judgment, nor to have celebrated God's mercy for saying to the destroying Angel, It is enough. This therefore being cleared, That Moses could neither be ignorant nor silent of any considerable Calamity that besel this people in Egypt, let us in the next place see whether he mentions or but hints at either Famine, War or Pestilence.

As for Famine, we read of none, [...]ave that which first brought them into Egypt; and when Iacob and his Family came down to settle there, it was to this very end, That they might be preserved from the evil effects of that Famine which was in Canaan, and in all those parts, whereof there were five years yet to come, Gen. 45.11. There is as little also said of their being oppressed by War or Invasion on their small Territory by the Neighbouring Midianites and Arabians, or any others: nor [Page] is it probable that the Kings of Egypt made any use of them in their Wars, they being Strangers charitably sheltered for their Brothers sake, under the protection of the Egyptians. For when they were but few, they could afford but sorry assistance; and when they became many, 'twas no policy to arm a Province of Strangers in the Bowels of the Country, and teach them the Art of War: And when they began to multiply, the Egyptians were so far from this, that they grew jealous of them, Exod. 1.10. lest when there fell out War, they should join unto their Enemies, and fight against them. As for the Pestilence, we find not one word of that neither: That they were very subject to the Leprosie, is very certain; and though it be as certain that that was very in [...]ectious, fore and noysome, and called a Plague, yet that it was frequently mortal seems to me very improbable [...]or two reasons; the first is, Because we [...]ver read of any that dyed of it, or [...] least of any considerable numbers; which is sufficient to my purpose: The [...]ther reason is, Because the Law seems [...]o suppose the recovery of those that [...]ad it, as much as it did Women in Child-bed, [Page] because it appoints Rites and Offerings after recovery in both Cases, and both together, Lev. 12, 13, 14. I confess it appoints more large Offerings and more Rites for cleansing the recovered Leper, than in the othe Case, to denote the impurity of the one to be far greater than that of the other; the one being according to the Law of Natures Oeconomy, the other an accident and a disease and the consequent of sin. But although this denotes the impurity to be of a different nature, and far greater; yet does it not denote the danger to be greater: the Law by appointing the Rites of cleansing seems to suppose in general the recovery of both; and though some might dye of the Leprosie, so likewise did some in Child-bed: but that it was any way comparable to the Plague, properly so called, is no way credible; there b [...]ing no Rites nor Offerings appointed [...] that in particular, because the Law [...]pposed the Plague mortal. I remember I have read in some Author, whose name I have forgot, as not worth remembring, of the same stamp with those Gentlemen You mention, Celsus and Porphyry, How that the Egyptians desired nothing more than to [Page] be rid of the Israelites, and that that Army wherewith Pharaoh pursued them according to Moses's relation, this Author says went to drive them out of the Country as a Herd of unclean Beasts and noysom Lepers. Now although this account be notoriously false, yet it affords this Observation, That the Leprosie was not accounted mortal, like the Plague of Pestilence; for surely then this Authour, who seem'd to me to be more Knave than Fool, would not have made the Egyptians to have followed the fatal scent so close at the heels with their King at the Head of them, by whose life they swore. Nor had it been any more for Moses, but only to have commanded out a Brigade or two of Lepers, and by that means have seen that literally fulfilled which was promised afterwards, Iosh. 23.10. One man of you shall chase a thousand; or else he might have fac'd about, and placing death and destruction in the Front, easily have saved the expence of a Miracle, and in this posture have march'd back again to their beloved old Quarters, as this Author supposes them. The Leprosie therefore being [...] no such mortal Nature, and there b [...]ing no hint of any other Epidemical Disease of a [Page] fatal Nature amongst this people during their abode; I therefore conclude that they were guarded by God's especial Providence in this respect, as well as from the direful effects of War and Famine.

But this will yet appear with greater evidence, if we take a view of God's tender affection and care over this people in supporting them under those afflictions which he was pleased to suffer to be brought upon them. During the life of Ioseph all was well, and they liv'd at great ease by means of his interest at Court, nay their happiness seems to be of equal continuance with the memory of that good man; but he being gone to his Fathers, and to his Grave in peace and honour, at length in process of time, it is said, (Ex. 1.8.) that there arose a King which knew not Ioseph, nor how serviceable he had been both to Prince and people in the time of Egypt's calamity. And he taking notice (ver. 9.) that the Israelites were more and mightier than his own people, he seems resolved to put a stop to their growing numbers, to keep Iacob from overflowing, and Israel within his Banks: Come, says he ver. 10. let us deal wisely with this people, lest they multiply,[Page]and it come to pass, that when there falleth out any War, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them out of the Land: By which means part of his Territories would have been unpeopled, and he would have lost above half his Subjects, or rather Slaves. And in order to accomplish this Project of checking their numbers from growing to an ungovernable bulk, ver. 11. therefore did they set over them Taskmasters to afflict them with their burthens: Nor were these Taskmasters negligent in the execution of their Office, as appears by these several words which the Holy Ghost makes use of to set forth the misery of this poor distrested people, such as Affliction, Oppression, Rigour, Burdens, cruel Bondage, all manner of Service, fighting, crying, groaning, anguish of Spirit, and ver. 14. life it self is become bitter; and chap. 2.11. there Moses finds an Egyptian bastinading a poor Hebrew Slave at such an inhumane rate, as it provoked the meekest of men to become both his Judge and his Executioner upon the place. And doubtless, the slavery of the Spanish Mines at Peru and Mexico, no nor of the Turkish Gallies, is to be compared [Page] to this of Egypt; for there the Masters interest pleads for the preservation of the Slave, whereas the very design of this seems with more than barbarous drudgery to make their Souls quit their harrassed Bodies, and by destroying a great part of the present Generation, prevent their multiplying in the next. But what is the effect of all this barbarous cruelty, Exod. 1.12. The more they afflicted them, the more they grew; though the Bush was on fire, yet was it not consumed.

The second Project of Pharaoh's to give a check to their encrease was, By tampering with the Midwives; But here God defeats him again; for they feared God (ver. 17.) and did not as the King commanded them. Then in the third place, the same Command is issued out by Proclamation to all his Subjects whatsoever, ver. 22. And then Moses is born, and strangely preserved, even by the Tyrants own Daughter, whom God afterwards employs as the chief instrument of their delivery, in spight of all Egyptian policy and force: So vain is it to fight against God; and if He be for Israel, let Pharaoh do his worst. It is also remarkable, that besides the destruction [Page] which fell to the share of the Egyptians at the Red Sea, two of the ten Plagues are of the same nature with those which Pharaoh intended against Israel: For as he intended to diminish their numbers, by crushing them into their Graves by heavy burthens and intolerable, Exod. 1.11. Exod. 5.45. Exod. 6.6. so God diminishes Pharaoh's people with the Plague of Hail, which crush'd all that were abroad in the Field, even to the Earth, Exod. 9.25. And the death of the first born of Egypt seems to retaliate what he would have done by the Midwives; though this be threatned indeed on a more general account, Exod. 4.22, 23. Thus faith the Lord, Israel is my Son, even my first-born; let my Son go, that he may serve me: And if thou refuse to let him go, behold I will slay thy Son, even thy first-born. Now if God appear thus eminently, not only to preserve Israel intire from being diminished in his promised numbers in the midst of this Furnace of afflictions, but even to repay in kind that vengeance which was intended against them, certainly he would not destroy them himself by Famine or Pestilence; nor is there any reason to suppose that there was not an [Page] even hand of Providence over them for good in one respect as well as another, and at one time as well as another. Can we think that God who promised Iacob, Gen. 46.3. to go down with him into Egypt, and surely to bring him thence again, would leave him one minute whilst he was there, unless we think the God of Israel to be some times like booted Baal, whom the Prophet Elijah wittily upbraids to be taking of a journey? I therefore conclude, that as they were extraordinarily supported under their afflictions from Pharaoh, so likewise that they were guarded from those three Calamities, Famine, War and Pestilence; and that it may be truly said of these, as it is of the Plague of Hail, Exod. 9.26. Only in the Land of Goshen, where the Children of Israel were, was there no hail.

Seeing then that these People were thus cherished under the wings of Gods special Providence and protection from those sweeping Calamities which the same God inflicts upon other particular Nations; and that frequently, not only as the Punisher of sin, but as the great Governour of the World, and for the good of the whole, in order to keep the [Page] Race of Mankind within such Bounds, that the Creatures may suffice for food and clothing, which they could not do if those three great Correctives were wholly intermitted but for one Century; I say what wonder is it, that they who were thus cherished by God as a Father and Sponsor, and under his immediate protection, (unless that protection it self be a wonder) should be so very fruitful in respect of adult numbers, though they were not prodigiously fruitful above the Egyptians and other people, in respect of the number of Infants born, who had both Wives and Concubines as well as they? For as other Nations, so particularly the Egyptians, are frequently subject to very considerable abatements in their numbers, by those three calamities before mentioned, especially the Pestilence in that sultry Climate, where the River Nile every Iune, which is a hot time of Year also, leaves abundance of mud upon the surface of that flat Country at his return into his old Channel, which must needs send forth noysom smells and vapours into the Air; from whence arise Plagues and other Epidemical Diseases, especially where people live at ease and luxury, [Page] and crowded together in Cities: whereas the Israelites manner of life, they being Shepherds, whose business lyes abroad in the fresh open Air, might be a means from God of the preservation; and that which Pharaoh intended for their ruine, in all probability was a means to secure them from Epidemical Pestilential Diseases. For it is a great truth, that the Plague it self is no Plague to clean and pure Constitutions, and seises those only whose Bodies, by feeding plentifully and living at some ease, contract vicious humours, which the infectious Air sets into a high fermentation, which it could not do if those humours were not there, they being the only Fuel of that fatal combustion: and certainly all the Colledg of Physicians, though Galen and Hippocrates and Aesculapius himself were joined with them, could not prescribe a more Sovereign remedy against the encrease of humors than Pharaoh did to these poor Drudges, viz. the Leeks and the Onions, the Garlick and Cucumbers of Egypt; and if they would mend their Commons with Bread, they must get it, not with the sweat of their Brows only, but of every joint and limb: so that they were as clean as [Page] Horses for a Race, and might bid defiance to all infection. But when once they remove out of Egypt, and from making Bricks without Straw, and had little to do but only to stalk easie marches in the Wilderness, and sometimes to lye at Anchor, and to surfeit upon Quails and Manna, till it run out at their Nostrils, Numb. 11.20. Then while the luscious Flesh was between their teeth, Numb. 11.33. they are smitten with a very great Plague: and at the 14th Chapter, those who went to search the Land of Canaan, dye of a second Plague; and at the 17th Chapter, there fourteen thousand and seven hundred dye of a third Plague; and Chap. 25. there twenty four thousand dye of a fourth Plague; they being now both naturally sitted by their luxury, and morally qualified by their sins, for this Judgment. But we hear not a syllable of any one Plague amonst this great people during their bondage in Egypt, who were therefore great and numerous, because guarded from this and the like Judgments. For should God have exposed them to those devouring Judgments of Famine, War and Pestilence, that had been but the way to have unravelled [Page] the means of performing his own promise, like one who travels in a Circle, and having trac'd the whole Circumference, arrives at length (and not advances) but to the same Point from whence he first set forth.

I can never think that the Egyptians (whose wisdom is celebrated even in Divine Writ, Acts 7.22. as an Ornament and excellent Qualification in Moses himself, whom God chose out of all the Tribes to be his own Lieutenant or Deputy in governing the Israelites) were such ill Politicians, or that they whom the annual Overflow of their great River taught to be the great Masters of Practical Geometry even to Greece it self (which it is impossible to perform without good skill in Arithmetick) should be such ill Arithmeticians, as not to be able to do that which I do now, viz. sit down and compute the number that would arise from seventy men by their Wives and Concubines, though every man had been as fruitful as Gideon, who had threescore and ten Sons; and then judge whether these Strangers might not in time become dangerous to the State, and with a less auspicious inundation than that of Nile, overflow [Page] the whole Country, and like the Frogs enter even into their Kings Chambers. Now the reason why this fagacious people did not foresee this vast encrease of the Israelites must proceed from hence, That they saw no such prodigious fertility in them to make them encrease faster than themselves, and they being many thousands for one Israelite. Nature (they thought) would still hold the proportion the same. They could not but foresee by former experience, mortalities and plagues, those Correctives of the excels of humane generations, whereby God seems to say to the overflowing Ocean of Mankind, Hitherto shalt thou come, and no farther. But then they look'd upon this Judgment in the same Notion that David does, Psal. 91.5. As an Arrow that flyeth by day: And for that reason they thought they saw it with their eyes falling promiscuously on the Israelites, as well as on themselves, not dreaming of that Pestilence, Psal. 91.6. which walketh also in darkness, and beside the track of all humane conjectures, raging in the Cities of Egypt according to its usual Periods in that hot Country, but making a skip or pass-over at Israel, and forbearing to curtail his [Page] promised numbers in their Geometrical Progression towards infinity, which I now come to state more particularly.

And what wonder is it if every man under these circumstances which I have discoursed of, should have five or six Sons apiece, and as many Daughters, reckoning one with another; for though some might not have so many, so others might have a far more numerous Issue: Many a poor Cottage here in our less pregnant Climate can furnish out a larger Stock, honestly begotten, by one Wife only. Certainly, no man that considers what has been said, can think this an unreasonable supposition, especially if he consider also what David says, Psal. 127.4. Lo Children and the fruit of the womb are an heritage and gift that cometh of the Lord, and also how eminently this truth appeared in the Wives of their famous Progenitors, Abraham, Isaac and Iacob, who were all successively barren till God made them otherwise; and it is very probable, that as there was not one feeble Person, Psal. 105.36. so there was not one barren person among their Tribes. But because that by accidents and natural infirmities some of these [Page] may reasonably be supposed to dye before they come to maturity, or at least, before they have the like number of Children; I will therefore suppose no greater number than four Sons live to contribute their Parts to the next Generation, by getting five or six Sons likewise, whereof four live to do the like, and so on till two hundred and ten years be expired.

In the next place I will suppose that every one of these four may be Father of his first-born at twenty four years of Age compleat; for the life of man being now contracted, as I have before shewn, to seventy years, it is but reasonable to suppose that they made more haste than their long-liv'd Ancestors to secure an early share in the promise; and if they might be Soulders at twenty years of Age, Numb. 1.45. certainly it is no unproportionable supposition to think they might be Fathers of their First-born at twenty four. This will appear more probable yet, if we consider the more early pregnancy of that Climate, being almost under the Tropick; whereas it is a common thing in our colder Situation of 52 Degrees latitude to anticipate that Age: Add to this [Page] what the learned Selden tell us, lib. 5. cap. 3. De jure Naturali Gentium apud Hebraeos: Necessitatem Matrimonii Praecepto fructificandi seu propagationis multiplicationisque, eo usque sanciri docent Rabbini, ut ita eo teneri Masculos omnes, ut quicunque expleto vigesimo aetatis anno (& sunt qui de minori aetate heic pronuntiant) Vxorem non duxerit, eum in illud committere seribant: nisi aut assiduo Legis studio incumbat, aut, &c.

But because of this early commencing Fathers, it is probable (as I have before observed) that they continued Proletarians the less time, I will therefore suppose that these four Sons are all born in twenty four years more, that is, by such time as their Father is forty eight years of Age compleat, and upon these three suppositions I frame the Calculation annexed.

The usual way of reckoning Generations, and calculating their numbers, is by Geometrical Progression, and in this present Case according to the suppositions premis'd, the proportions of every Generation would run thus: 1, 4, 16, 64, 256, 1024, &c. But I find that at last in the Conclusion this way does not give a distint view of the Grand-Sons, [Page] whereof a very considerable number are born within that Period which is allowed to the immediate Sons only, and by that means the account is intermixed and confused at last, and therefore I have thought of another way. And although the eldest Son may have his first Child before the Father has his last; yet for clearness sake, and to avoid confusion, I suppose the Father to have all his four Sons before his eldest Son has ever a Child; not that it was always really so, but to keep the account of each Generation distinct by it self, from interfering with that which succeeded, which would have been more intricate if I had supposed the Father and Son to have had Children born the same years both together; I therefore suppose in the Table annexed, that every man has one of his four Sons every six years: so that his youngest Son is born six years before his eldest Son has a Child. This Table has but two Columns or Ranges of Figures, the first contains every sixth Year from Iacob's coming into Egypt, in every of which and no other (for distinctness sake) I suppose the Children to be born, the number of whom is placed in the other Column over against [Page] each Year. But this Column contains the number of Children which will arise from one man only, as suppose from Adam, in two hundred and ten years on the suppositions laid down; if multiplyed by three, it will give the numbers arising from the three Sons of Noah; if multiplyed by seventy, it will give the numbers of the Children of Israel, which are as follows:

Of Males up to 80 years of Age— | 1437310
Of Females the same— | 1437310
Besides Concubines— | 400000
Summ Total— | 3274620

This account agrees exactly with that of Moses at their first Muster in the Wilderness, Numb. 1.46. where all of twenty years old and upwards, fit for War, are computed at six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty, and in the next Verse it is said, that the Levites were not numbred among the rest, but by themselves, Numb. 2.39. where the Males from a Month old and upwards amount but to two and twenty thousand: Now if you allow eight thousand one hundred and eighty of these to be twenty years of Age and upwards to sixty eight, and then add [Page] that number to the number of the other Tribes fit for War, which is six hundred and three thousand, five hundren and fifty, then the total Summ will be the same with that which arises by my Computation, viz. six hundred and eleven thousand, seven hundred and thirty, where none are taken in that were born before the hundred and forty fourth year from their coming into Egypt; so that none are above sixty eight years of Age of these six hundred and eleven thousand, seven hundred and thirty, at their going thence, and none under twenty: which being so near the mark, I think the Total number of Males and Females cannot be very wide from the truth.

As for that ascititious Tribe, the Concubines, I have put them down at a venture at four hundred thousand, which is not so much as two thirds of the Males from twenty years old and upwards to sixty eight, by eleven thousand seven hundred and thirty. For though I have formerly hinted, that one Concubine to each man was the most probable number; yet perhaps they might be without Concubines for some years after they were married, till [Page] such time as their appetites beginning to be cloy'd with one and the same Dish, their stomachs began to hanker after second Course.

As to the way of computing the Table annexed, I need not say as St Iohn does, Here is wisdom, let him that hath understanding count the number; for he that has but so much understanding in Arithmetick as to perform Addition only may do this, and therefore, Sir, I will trouble You no farther about that. You will find that I have not confined my self precisely to two hundred and ten years, but to two hundred and twelve; which yet is less than either St Walter Raleigh, Helvicus or Petavius do allow for the Israelites stay in Egypt; and yet I have not supposed any Children to be born after the two hundred and tenth year, but only that they stayed two years more, to this end, that I might begin my Computation of those that were twenty years old, and upwards, fit for War, with those that were born in the Year 192. But having such good authority as those three learned Chronologers, I think I need make no farther Apology, Petavius allowing no less than two hundred [Page] and fifteen years for their abode there.

But I must not forget my promise that I made, to demonstrate that if the Israelites had continued in Egypt multiplying at the same proportion that they did whilst they were there, they would in eighteen or twenty years time have encreased to a greater number than they did in four hundred and seventy three years afterwards. For so many years it was, according to Helvicus, from the time of their deliverance out of Egypt to the time that David caused Ioab to number the people, whereof I find two Lists returned, 2 Sam. 24 and 1 Chron. 21. This last is the larger List, and therefore I will pitch upon that, it amounts to eleven hundred thousand. But Levi and Benjamin were not counted among them, 1 Chron. 21.6. For the King's word was abominable to Ioab. But if ten Tribes give eleven hundred thousand, what shall two Tribes give at the same proportion? And the Answer is, Two hundred and twenty thousand; which added together make, One million, three hundred and twenty thousand men that drew the Sword, that is, that were twenty years old and upwards, to about seventy. Now if [Page] we suppose that the Israelites [...]aid twenty years more, that is, to two hundred and thirty years, then they who were born in the two hundred and tenth year will be full twenty years old, and therefore if we begin there, and add all the numbers together up to the year one hundred and sixty two inclusively, they make nineteen thousand and fifty two; which being multiplyed by seventy, make one million, three hundred thirty three thousand, six hundred and forty, which is, thirteen thousand six hundred and forty more than they were at the latter end of David's Reign; Quod erat demonstrandum.

And now, Sir, do You judge whether God Almighty was not as good as his word to Iacob, Gen 46.3. Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great Nation; and whether this might not be done without multiplying of miracles for their production, only by covering them under the shadow of his wings till their calamities were past. For my part, I think they do equal disservice to the Christian Religion, who needlesly swell and aggrandize passages of Scripture into Mysteries and Miracles, such as this I have [Page] been speaking of, and that of St Iohn 6.53, 54, 55. by the Doctrine of Transubstantiation; and those who will solve all the Phaenonema of God's Providence and Proceedings, and the greatest Mysteries of Faith, such as the Doctrine of the Trinity, the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ, by bringing them down to the Level and Comprehension of our frail understandings, as the Pelagians and Socinians. For they who maintain, that this vast encrease of the Israelites could be effected no otherwise than by constant Twins, they do by that means make it look like an absurd Romantick Tale, as if it were impossible to be effected, unless every Israelitish Woman were like a Dorsetshire Ewe, which seldom brings forth less than two Lambs at a time; whereof their own History does not so much as pretend to make mention. But I hope I have in some measure evinced the probability of the thing upon rational grounds, at least in such a measure as could well be expected from a Batchelour, who was never vers'd in this work of generation: And perhaps it was for that very reason that You were pleas'd to single me out to discuss this Question, [Page] from among the rest of your more learned Acquaintance that were married, as having a charitable regard to that Chessboard-Proverb, (which You know We have sometimes occasion to make use of) That a Stander-by sees more than the Gamesters.

But I must not part with You so, without a more serious farewel and reflection on this occasion, and expressing my hearty thanks for putting me on this useful and pleasant undertaking; for by that means You have ministred to me an occasion of searching more narrowly into the series of God's Providence over the Children of Israel, bringing the greatest events to pass by despicable, nay contrary means in all humane appearance at the time when they were transacted: Ioseph's Brethren by selling him to the Ishmaelites thought verily to have defeated the accomplishment of his aspiring Dreams, and by that very means send him (notwithstanding he pass'd through a Prison too) to be no less that the Vice-Roy of Egypt, and in that capacity their Sheaves come above twenty years after to do obeysance to his Sheaf, and the Sun, Moon and Stars to fall down before him, Gen. [Page] 37. and he becomes their great Patron and Protector, and in the place of God to them and their Posterity, Gen. 50.19. I have before observed how God defeated at every turn the secret Plots and Machinations that were designed for the ruine of his Church and People; and have not We seen fresh instances of the same nature even among our selves at this day, as well as in every Age since the time of the Reformation, wherein God Almighty has hitherto delivered us from the hands of our Roman Taskmasters, and I trust he will yet deliver us? For the reviving and cherishing of which hopes and trust in the good Providence of God, I must owne my self more beholden at this time to your obliging injunction, than You can be to me for my slender performance; which yet if it contribute, though but remotely, to the clearing of any weighty truth which You shall undertake, it will be an additional satisfaction, as it was the only design and intent of,

SIR,

Your most obliged humble Servant, JAMES RUDYERD.

Winchfield, November the 10th 1681.

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Anni a migratione Jacobi in Aegyptum. | Filii nati quolibet anno sexto.
1 | 1
6 | 1
12 | 1
18 | 1
24 | 1
30 | 2
36 | 3
42 | 4
48 | 4
54 | 5
60 | 7
66 | 10
72 | 13
78 | 16
84 | 20
90 | 26
96 | 35
102 | 46
108 | 59
114 | 75
120 | 97
126 | 127
132 | 166
138 | 215
144 | 277
150 | 358
156 | 465
162 | 605
168 | 785
174 | 1016
180 | 1315
186 | 1705
192 | 2213
198 | 2871
204 | 3721
210 | 4821
212 | 0000

A SECOND QUESTION Propounded by the Author, viz. CONCERNING The multiplying of Mankind until the Floud.

[Page]

Honoured Sir,

ALthough in contemplation of your great pains and bounty to my self and the Commonwealth of Learning, I should not (in civility) come in with another Question, tanquam ex postliminio; yet, Extremum hunc, Arethusa, mihi concede laborem! It is said, That Cain, being cast forth from the presence of God, in process of time begat Enoch, and built a City after his name (being, it is likely then, at mans estate.) After which it is set forth, in order of Writing, though not of time, that Adam begat Seth, in the hundred [Page] and thirtieth year of his Age, who had Enos by name; in whose time men began to call upon the name of the Lord, or to be divided (as I take it) in Religions: I would fain know how far the World might be peopled by that time Enos was fit to go forth from his Fathers Tents, and to have a Tribe, Hoard, or Family of his own; so that still the chief Family might retain to Adam, and the next numerous to Cain, and more people yet, to make up the house of Seth, or any of his Descendents. And if this appear for three hundred years in all, both the true Church and the false may be discovered, and what numbers of people may be conjectured to have been destroyed by the Floud. Which is the humble request of,

SIR,

Your most obliged Servant, THO. TANNER.

December the 10th 1681.

Mr RUDYERD's ANSWER TO THE Second Question.

[Page]

SIR,

YOUR kind acceptance and favourable interpretation of my former Essay, obliges me to do no less than to attempt the answering Your other Queries, ex postliminio, as You call them. And in order to that, I have calculated the numbers that might arise from Adam and Eve, and their Posterity, upon these following suppositions:

1. That they had a Son every fourth Year, and a Child every second Year; so that there is one Year for breeding, and another or nursing: For 'tis not to be imagined, that Eve bred up her Children by hand, or that, when Mankind began to multiply, they should be guilty [Page] of that unnatural curiosity and gentile ninceness which prevails so much nowadays, of nourishing their Infants at a strange Dugg. But that there might be such frequent births as this amounts to, is not improbable; considering that Mankind was at that time for especially under the Divine Benediction of encreasing and multiplying, in order to replenish the Earth, which was nothing else but a Wilderness, and altogether as useless (except for wild Beasts) as the Chaos it self, till such time as it was furnished with Inhabitants.

2. That these Children, being born of Parents of a far more durable althletick Constitution than men are now, and being form'd out of the more pure principles of Nature, as She came untainted out of the hands of her Creator, were not such Rickety Pulings as they are now in the decrepit Age of the World: there were no mala stamina vitae derived from diseased, feeble, intemperate Parents; but fortes creantur à fortibus. I therefore suppose that they very rarely made such untimely Exits as frequently happen among us, but that every one of these attained to perfect Age; or at least, that at such a time as God Almighty's [Page] own Colony, the Earth, wanted Planters, He might bless them extraordinarily with such a number of Twins as might make ample reparation for those who were cut off young by accidents and infirmities; so that they might increase as fast as that proportion which I have stated, though not according to it: And yet I am not of the general opinion of the Rabbins, that upon this great occasion of peopling the World, there were few single births, but all were Twins; and Mr Selden out of them, and the Oriental Traditions, gives us the name of Cain's Sister Twin, and of Abel's two Sister Twins: But perhaps this may be but a Rabbinical fancy.

3. That Cain and all that were born after him, had their first-born at sixty five years of Age, as is recorded of Mahalael and Enoch: For although none are said to begin so early besides in that whole Genealogy, Gen. 5. down from Adam to Noah; yet we are not to think the eldest Son is always named. And St. Augustin is clearly of this opinion, libs 15. cap. 15. De Civitate Dei, Video esse credibile, inquit, non hic primogenitos filios [...]sse commemoratos, sed quos successionis ordo poscebat, with much more to [Page] the same purpose a little after. For Moses's great aim is to draw down the direct Line only of Abraham the Father of the Jewish Nation. The like appears plainly in the Genealogy of our Saviour in St Matthew, where Abraham is said to beget Isaac; Isaac, Iacob; Iacob, Iudah; Iudah, Pharez; Iesse, David; David, Solomon; whereof not one was the eldest Son of his Father. Nay, Methodius out of Oriental Traditions says, That Cain's eldest Son was born, when his Father was but thirty years old: And Mr Selden quotes Cedrenus affirming, that Adam had thirty three Sons and twenty seven Daughters, and yet none of these are mentioned by Moses, save only Cain, Abel and Seth, and not so much as one Daughter, without which the Race of Mankind must have come to a full stop immediately. And if Adam and his Posterity to the Flood had no more Children than whose names are recorded by Moses, there had been little need of opening the Windows of Heaven, and pouring out an Ocean to drown them; for as to the quantity of water, they might all have been drown'd in a Trash-pool▪ And seeing there were many more than what are mentioned, [Page] what necessity is there to suppose that those which are mentioned were always the eldest? Credat Iudaeus—

4. I suppose that Adam might continue getting Children till six hundred years of Age, seeing Noah had Sem, Ham and Iaphet after five hundred, Gen. 5.32. But I shall have no occasion to carry on my Calculation so far in order to answer your Queries, which require no more than to the Birth of Cainan, when his Father Enos was ninety years old, which is just three hundred twenty five from the Creation. As for the numbers that might be destroyed by the Floud, they cannot be conjectured from any Calculation which falls short of that time (as You imagine) for the Calculation keeps no certain proportion that I can find: only You may guess the World to have been throughly stock'd with Inhabitants, and perhaps more than at this day. For Petavius in his 9th Book de Doctrina Temporum, c. 14. and Temporarius in his Chronology before him, gives an evident demonstration (as my Author says) that within the compass of two hundred and fifteen years after the Floud, the number of coexisting Individuals would amount to a vast [Page] multitude, and I believe more than is in the World at this day, viz. above twelve hundred millions. Which is a swifter way of encreasing than arises by my computation; for in 325 years there arise but 116779 Males, and adding the like number of Females there will be in all but 233558; which yet I think is abundantly sufficient to answer your Queries about Seth and Enos, though there were but half this number, or, which is all one, if I had supposed them to have had a Son but every eighth year.

The only seeming difficulty is, to find out Inhabitants for Cain's City; for by my Computation I can make but a hundred eighty seven Males in the World at the birth of Seth; and Cain, according to my former suppositions, could have but sixteen Males of his own Posterity, and certainly none else would accompany the wretched Murderer, and thereby banish themselves from the face of the Earth, and of God himself, Gen. 4.14, 16. Now seventeen Males would constitute but a large Family, nor is it to be supposed that so small a number, whereof a good part were but Children too, could give a Place the denomination [Page] on of a City, or of a Town, though we should suppose it such an one as Caesar describes our British Towns at his first footing here, Commentariorum lib. 5. Oppidum Britanni vocant, quum Sylvam impeditam vallo atque fossa munierant, quo incursionis hostium vitandae causâ convenire conjueverunt. But to solve this doubt I answer, That what is here said, Gen. 4.17. That Cain's Wife bare Enoch, and that He builded a City, and called it after the name of his Son Enoch, is spoken by way of anticipation; as if Moses should have said, This is that Enoch whose name Cain gave to the City which he afterwards built in process of time, when his Posterity began to encrease. And al [...]hough this be the first City mentioned, yet 'tis very probable that Adam built the first City, being so much longer in the World at Man's Estate, wherein he was created, as to be Cain's Father; And what need Cain have given any name to his City, if there were no other City in the World beside? For names are for distinction, and are useless where there is but one of a kind. In Gen. 9. it is said of Sem, Ham and Iaphet These are the three Sons of Noah, and of them was the whole earth overspread; [Page] and the next Verse says, Noah began to be an Husbandman, and planted a Vineyard: But no rational man can conclude from hence that the whole Earth was peopled before Noah began to be an Husbandman, and planted a Vineyard. So I say, Although Cain's City be mentioned before the birth of Irad and Mehujael, Gen. 4. yet it does not at all follow that therefore it must be built before they were born, because we see many things in this History hinted at in order of Writing first, which fell out last in order of time; as in that instance I mentioned of Noah's Sons, and you your self instance in your Letter, in this History of Cain and his Posterity, which Moses seems to clap in a Parenthesis: And supposing Enoch the Son of Cain to be Contemporary with Seth, though it be probable he was something later, the Parallel will run thus.

Seth Contemporary with Enoch

Enos Contemporary with Irad

Cainan Contemporary with Mehujael

Mahalael Contemporary with Methusael

Iared Contemporary with Lamech

Enoch Contemporary with Tubal Cain

Methuselah Contemporary with

Lamech Contemporary with

Noah Contemporary with

[Page]And yet the History of Tubal Cain is dispatched before Seth is spoken of, though he were Contemporary with Enoch, who is five Generations remov'd from Seth: So that there is no reason to conclude that Cain's City was built before Irad was born, only because it precedes in the History. And perhaps it was not built in a hundred years after, nor received the name of Enoch many years after that, till such time as there were more Cities in the World, and Cain himself grew old, and weary of the splendid toil of Governing, and so admitted his eldest Son to a Partnership in his Superintendency; thereby to ease himself of part of his care, and secure the Succession in the right Line; for which Cain seems to have been very zealous: For by calling his City Enoch, no man could mention it, but at the same time he must declare, by the very name of it, to whom it did belong. In this, Cain seems to me to have play'd the Machiavel; and no wonder, since our Saviour himself tells us, that the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. But certainly it was no policy for Cain to secure the Dominion of this City to his Son, by calling it after his [Page] Son's, and not after his own name, till such time as he himself grew old, and willing to resign up his cares as well as his Glory: For had he done it whilst he was young and likely to live, unless Enoch was an honester man than his Father, it would have been a greater temptation to him to have murthered his Father, than ever Cain had to murder his Brother. Artaxerxes seems to have gone this way to work; for he setled his Son Darius in the Throne during his own life, and a common thing it was among the Persian Emperors: Nay, David himself did so by Solomon, to prevent his elder Son Adonijah from coming to the Throne, and many of the Roman Emperours assum'd those whom they intended for their Successors, in Consortium Imperii: And perhaps this part of King-craft might derive its Original from Cain. But if any are so wedded to their own opinions, as to think that this City must needs be built before Irad was born, because 'tis related first, I shall not be averse to that fond conceit, provided they allow this definition of their City, that it was Spelunca Latronum.

And whereas it is urged by the Prae-Adamites, that the World was peopled [Page] very well before Cain slew his Brother, because Cain says Every one that meeteth him will slay him: All that I can gather from hence, is, That Cain spake more reason than the Prae-Adamites: For what reason is there, now that the World is peopled, for a Murtherer to conclude that every one that meeteth him will slay him? Does not many a Murtherer escape by flying amongst men, and hiding himself in the Crowd? So that there is no need of puting a mark upon such an one for fear he should be kill'd, Gen. 4. there is more need of a mark now that he may be known, and brought to Justice. Nay, the Prae-Adamites are so far from establishing or strengthning their opinion from this Text, that Cain spake greater reason, by how much the World was the lesser; for that was an high aggravation of the murder, and made it look more black and notorious than it would do now that the World is well stock'd with Inhabitants, as it would have been a greater crime to have rob'd the good Samaritan of his Two-pence, than to have stollen the same Summ out of Craesus's Treasury. And by reason of this scantiness of the Race of Mankind, [Page] the matter became the more known, even to all the World, who would be sure to tell their Children of this inhumane act, which made him the discourse of all, —cunctorum volitare per ora, and they would be sure to describe the villany from head to foot; and the Race of Mankind continually encreasing and spreading farther from its Center, Nature seem'd to send the Hue and Cry after him, and Cain might well conclude, that that and vengeance would overtake him both together, and that every one that meeteth him would slay him. But lest I should seem guilty of something of the like nature, by murdering Your patience with a tedious long-winded Epistle, I here take occasion to tell You, That I have done; or, which is all one, to subscribe my self,

SIR,

Your faithful Servant, J. RUDYERD.

December the 12th 1681.

[Page][Page]

Anni a Creatione | Filii nati
1 | 1
5 | 1
9 | 1
13 | 1
17 | 1
21 | 1
25 | 1
29 | 1
33 | 1
37 | 1
41 | 1
45 | 1
49 | 1
53 | 1
57 | 1
61 | 1
65 | 2
69 | 3
73 | 4
77 | 5
81 | 6
85 | 7
89 | 8
93 | 9
97 | 10
101 | 11
105 | 12
109 | 13
113 | 14
117 | 15
121 | 16
125 | 17
129 | 19
133 | 22
137 | 26
141 | 31
145 | 37
149 | 44
153 | 52
157 | 61
161 | 71
165 | 82
169 | 94
173 | 107
177 | 121
181 | 136
185 | 152
189 | 169
193 | 188
197 | 210
201 | 236
205 | 267
209 | 304
213 | 348
217 | 400
221 | 461
225 | 532
229 | 614
233 | 708
237 | 815
241 | 936
245 | 1072
249 | 1224
253 | 1393
257 | 1581
261 | 1791
265 | 2027
269 | 2294
273 | 2598
277 | 2946
281 | 3346
285 | 3807
289 | 4339
293 | 4953
297 | 5661
301 | 6476
305 | 7412
309 | 8484
313 | 9708
317 | 11101
321 | 12682
325 | 14473
Total | 116779 Males

Books Printed for, and Sold by RICHARD CHISWELL.

[Page]

[Page]

FOLIO.

SPeed's Maps and Geography of Great Britain and Ireland, and of Foreign Parts.

Dr. Cave's Lives of the Primitive Fathers, in 2. Vol.

Dr. Cary's Chronological Account of Ancient Time.

Wanley's Wonders of the little World, or Hist. of Man.

Sir Tho. Herbert's Travels into Persia, &c.

Holyoak's large Dictionary, Latine and English.

Sir Rich. Baker's Chronicle of England.

Wilson's Compleat Christian Dictionary.

B. Wilkin's real Character, or Philosophical Language.

Pharmacopaeia Regalis Collegii Medicorum Londinensis.

Judge Iones's Reports in Common Law.

Cave Tabulae Ecclesiasticorum Scriptorum.

Hobbs's Leviathan.

Lord Bacon's Advancement of Learning.

Sir Will. Dugdale's Baronage of England in two Vol.

Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity.

Winch's Book of Entries.

Isaac Ambrose's Works.

Guillim's Display of Heraldry with large additions.

Dr. Barnet's History of the Reformation of the Church of England, in 2. Vol.

—Account of the Confessions and Prayers of the Murtherers of Esquire Thynn.

Burlace's History of the Irish Rebellion.

[Page]Herodoti Historia Gr. Lat. cum variis Lect.

Rushworth's Historical Collections the 2d. Part in 2. vol.

—Large account of the Tryal of the Earl of Strafford, with all the circumstances relating thereunto.

Bishop Sanderson's Sermons, with his Life.

Fowlis's History of Romish Conspir. Treas.&Usurpat.

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Lord Cook's Reports in English.

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Edmunds on Caesars Commentaries.

Sir Iohn Davis's Reports.

Judge Yelverton's Reports.

The Laws of this Realm concerning Jesuites, Seminary Priests, Recusants, the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance explained by divers Judgments, and resolutions of the Iudges; with other Observations thereupon, by Will. Cawley Esq

William's impartial consideration of the Speeches of the five Jesuits executed for Treason. 1680.

Iosephus's Antiquities and Wars of the Jews with Fig.

QVARTO.

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Bishop Nicholson on the Church Catechism.

The Compleat Clerk: Precedents of all sorts.

History of the late Wars of New-England.

Dr. Outram de Sacrificiis.

Bishop Taylor's Disswasive from Popery.

Spanhemii Dubia Evangelica, 2 Vol.

Dr. Gibbs's Sermons.

Parkeri Disputationes de Deo.

History of the future state of Europe.

Dr. Fowler's Defence of the Design of Christianity against Iohn Bunnyan.

[Page]Dr. Sherlock's Visitation-Sermon at Warrington.

Dr. West's Assize Sermon at Dorchester 1671.

Lord Hollis's Relation of the Unjust Accusation of certain French Gentlemen charged with a Robbery 1671.

The Magistrates Authority asserted, in a Sermon, By Iames Paston.

Cole's Latine and English Dictionary.

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Dr. Iane's Fast-Sermon before the Commons. 1679.

Mr. Iohn Iames's Visitation Sermon April. 9. 1671.

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Dr. Parker's Demonstration of the Divine Authority of the Law of Nature and the Christian Religion.

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Speculum Baxterianum, or Baxter against Baxter.

Mr. Hook's new Philosophical Collections.

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—Fast Serm. before the House of Com. Dec. 22. 80.

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—Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. Houblon. 1682.

[Page]—Answer to the Animadversions on his History of the Rights of Princes, 1682.

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Bibliotheca Norfolciana, sive Catalogus Libr. Manuscript. & impress. in omni Arte & Lingua, quos Hen. Dux Norsolciae Regiae Societati Londinensi pro sci [...]ntia naturali promovenda donavit.

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Bishop Wilkin's Natural Religion.

Hardcastle's Christian Geography and Arithmetick.

Dr. Ashton's Apology for the Honours and Revenues of the Clergy.

Lord Hollis's Vindication of the Judicature of the House of Peers in the case of Skinner.

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Duporti Versio Psalmorum Graeca.

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Dr. Brown's Religia Medici: with Digbies Observations.

Dr. Salmon upon the London Dispensatory.

Brinsley's Posing of the Accidence.

Several Tracts of Mr. Hales of Eaton.

Bishop S [...]nderson's Life.

Dr. Tiliasen's Rule of Faith.

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Organon Salutis: or an Instrument to cleanse the Stomach.

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Doctor Sanway's Unreasonableness of the Romanists.

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New-Englands Psalms.

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The Queen-like Closet, both parts.

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Valentine's Devotions.

Guide to Heaven.

Pharmacopoeia Collegii Londinensis reformata.

Books lately Printed for Richard Chiswell.

AN Historical Relation of the Island of CEYLON in the East Indies: Together with an Account of the detaining in Captivity the Author, and divers other English-men now living there, and of the Author's miraculous Escape: Illustrated with fifteen Copper Figures, and an exact Map of the Island. By Capt. Robert Knox, a Captive there near 20 years, Fol.

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Bishop Wilkin's Fifteen Sermons never before extant.

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Dr. Cave's Dissertation concerning the Government of the Ancient Church by Bishops, Metropolitans, and Patriarchs: more particularly concerning the ancient Power and Jurisdiction of the Bishops of Rome, and the encroachments of that upon other Sees, especially Constantinople, Octavo.

—His History of the Lives, Acts, Death, and Writings of the most eminent Fathers of the Church that flourished in the fourth Century: (being a Second Volumn) wherein amongst other things is an Account of Arianism, and all other Sects of that Age. With an Introduction containing an Historical account of the state of Paganism under the First Christian Emperours, Folio.

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DOctor Iohn Lightfoot's Works in English, Fol. Mr. Selden's Ianus Anglorum Englished, with Notes: To which is added his Epinomis, concerning the Ancient Government and Laws of this Kingdom never before extant. Also two other Treatises written by the same Author: One of the Original of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of Testaments; the other of the Disposition or Administration of Intestates Goods; now the first time Published, Fol.

Mezeray's History of France, rendred into Engl. Fol.

Gul. Ten-Rhyne Med. Doct. Dissertat. de Arthritide, Mantyssa Schematica, & de Acupunctura. Item Orationes tres de Chemiae ac Botaniae Antiquitate & Dignitate. De Physiognomia & de Monstris. cum Figuris & Authoris notis illustrata, Octavo.

D. Spenceri Dissertationes de Ratione Rituum Iudaicorum, &c. Fol.

[Page]

Information about this book

Title statement

Primordia, or, The rise and growth of the first church of God described by Tho. Tanner ... ; to which are added two letters of Mr. Rvdyerd's, in answer to two questions propounded by the author, one about the multiplying of mankind until the flood ; the other concerning the multiplying of the children of Israel in Egypt.

Tanner, Thomas, 1630-1682.

Edition statement

1683

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2003-09 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A62735

ID [STC]

Wing T145

ID [STC]

ESTC R14957

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

11845931

ID [OCLC]

ocm 11845931

ID [VID]

49846

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A62735)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 49846)

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— Primordia, or, The rise and growth of the first church of God described by Tho. Tanner ... ; to which are added two letters of Mr. Rvdyerd's, in answer to two questions propounded by the author, one about the multiplying of mankind until the flood ; the other concerning the multiplying of the children of Israel in Egypt., Tanner, Thomas, 1630-1682., Rudyerd, James, b. 1575 or 6..

Extent

[14], 312, 69, [2] p.

Printed for Ric. Chiswell ...,. London :: 1683.. (The letters have separate paging.) (Reproduction of original in the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign Campus). Library.)

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EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.