Part 12

Aaron. Christ.

1. The _High-priest_ went 1. _Christ_ our _High-Priest_ into the _Holiest of all_, went into the _Holy place_, _Levit. 16. 3._ namely, the Heavens, _Heb. 9. 12._

2. He went once a year, 2. He entered once, _Heb. _Exod. 30. 10._ 9. 12._

3. He with the blood of 3. He by his own blood, Goats and Calves, _Heb. 9. 12._ _Heb. 9. 12._

4. He alone, _Heb. 9._ 4. He alone hath trodden the Wine-press, _Isay. 63. 3._

5. He, clothed with his 5. He, ordained and sealed Priestly Robes, _Levit. to this Office, by his 16. 4._ Father from all Eternity.

6. He took two Goats, 6. He took _two natures_: _Levit. 16._ the _impassibility of his God-head_ was shadowed by the _Scape goat_: his _sufferings in his Manhood_, by the _Goat that was sacrificed_, _Theod. Qu. 12._ in Lev.

7. The _Goat_ did bear the 7. _Christ_ was made sin Peoples iniquities. for us, _2 Cor. 5. 22._

CHAP. IX.

_The Sabbatical year, or Seventh years rest_

As every seventh day was a _Sabbath day_, so every seventh year was a _Sabbatical year_, _Levit. 25._ And as the _Sabbath day_ signified that they themselves were the _Lords_, and therefore they abstained from their own work to do the _Lords_: So the _Sabbatical year_ was to signifie, that both they and their land was the _Lords_.

The observation of this Feast consisted chiefly in two things. First, in the not tilling or manuring of their ground, whence it was called _Scabath Haarets_,[372] the _Sabbaths of the Land_, _Levit. 25. 6._ Secondly, in the Creditors discharging their debtors, and releasing their debts, and thence it was called _Shemita laihova_,[373] _The Lords release_, _Deut. 15. 2._

[372] _‎‏שבת הארץ‏‎_

[373] _‎‏שמיטה ליהוה‏‎_

Seeing they were that year forbid to till their ground, here a question might be made; what they should eat in the time of this intermission?

Answ. _I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years_, _Levit. 25. 20, 21._ saith the Lord.

Seeing every seventh year, debts, according to Gods Command were to be remitted, some might demand whether this might not much endamage their Estates if they did lend? or harden their hearts not to lend?

_Answ._ It could not endamage their Estates, for it is a most infallible _Maxime_: _No man is a loser by serving God_. Whence the _Hebrews_ themselves interpret this to be rather _Mandatum probationis_, _A command of tryal_, such as _Abrahams_ offering up of _Isaac_ was, which _God_ commanded, not intending that he should be sacrificed, but that _Abrahams_ love might be tryed; rather than _Mandatum obedientiæ_, _A command of obedience_. To this purpose speaketh _Aben Ezra_, interpreting these words, _Save when there shall be no poor among you_. _Deut. 15. 4._ That is, saith he,[374] as if the _Lord_ had said, _Know that that which I have commanded thee, that thou shouldest not exact of thy Brother, will be needless. If all Israel, or the greater part obey the voice of God, then there shall be no poor amongst you, to whom it shall be needful for thee to lend; yea, all of you shall be able to lend to many Nations._

[374] _Aben Ezra. Deut. 15. 4._

The reasons why this Feast was instituted, are thought to be: First, to teach the people to depend upon _Gods_ providence by faith; for though the owner of the field might gather, even on that year, for the maintenance of himself and his family, _Levit. 25. 6._ yet he was neither to sow his field, thereby to make his Harvest the greater; nor to hedge his field, or lock up his Corn-yard, thereby to enjoy the propriety, but to let all be common, and every mans hand equal in every place. Secondly, they were hereby put in mind of that happy estate which _Adam_ enjoyed in his Innocency, when the earth brought forth her encrease without manuring. Lastly, it shadowed forth that _everlasting Sabbath_ which we expect in the Heavens. And some conjecture[375] this to be the ground of _Rabbi Elias_ his opinion,[376] that the _world should continue for six thousand years, but the seventh thousand should be the ~great~ Sabbatical year_. The six thousand years answered the six working daies of the week, the seventh answered our Sabbath, according to that, A thousand years are but as one day with the Lord, _2 Pet. 3. 8._ _Elias_ his words are these; _Six thousand years the world shall be, and again it shall be destroyed: Two thousand shall be void, two thousand under the Law, and two thousand under the Messias._[377] The substance of this Prophecy, howsoever we reject it as too curious, yet seeing that a _Jew_ spake it, it may serve to prove against them: First, That the _Messias_ is already come: Secondly, That _Moses_ his Law ceased at his coming.

[375] _Vid. Hospin. de Orig. hujus festi._

[376] _Talmud. in Sanedrin. c. Hiel._

[377] _‎‏ב אלפי חוהו ב אלפי תורה ב אלפי ימות המשיח‏‎ Duo millia inanitatis, duo millia dierum Messiæ, Talmud. in Sanedrin. c. Halec._

CHAP. X.

_Of their Jubilee._

This is the last Festival which _God_ commanded the _Jews_, it was celebrated every _fiftieth year_. It is commanded, _Lev. 25. 8._ Thou shalt number seven _Sabbaths_ of years unto thee, _&c._ The _English_ word _Jubilee_ is derived from the _Hebrew_ ‎‏יובל‏‎ _Jobel_, signifying a _Ram_; it signifieth a _Rams horn_. Seven _Priests_ shall bear before the _Ark_ seven _Trumpets of Rams horns_, _Josh. 6. 4._ Where the word _Jobelim_ is used, and is expounded by the _Chaldee Paraphrast_, _Rams-horns_. _Marbachius_ is of opinion, that this year was called their _Jubilee_, from _Jubal_,[378] the first inventer of musical instruments, of whom we read, _Gen. 4. 21._ _Jubal was the Father of all such as handle the Harp and Organ_. Other Authors deliver other reasons of the name, but it is most probable that this year was termed the year of _Jubilee_ from _Jobelim_, the _Rams-horns_ then sounded. There were five main uses of this Feast.

[378] _Marbach. in Levit. 25._

First, for the general release of Servants. Secondly, for the restoring of Lands and Tenements unto their first Owners, who formerly sold them. Thirdly, hereby a true distinction of their Tribes was preserved, because Lands returned unto their Owners in their proper Tribe, and Servants to their own _Families_. Fourthly, some are of opinion,[379] that as the _Grecians_ did compute their times by the number of _Olympiads_, the _Romans_ by their _Lustra_, the _Christians_ by their _Indictions_: So the _Jews_ by their _Jubilees_. Lastly, it did mystically shadow forth that spiritual _Jubilee_, which _Christians_ enjoy under _Christ_, by whose blood we have not only a re-entry into the _Kingdom of Heaven_, which we had formerly forfeited by our sins (and this was haply signified by the _Israelites_ re-entry upon their Lands formerly sold) but also the _sound of the Gospel_, which was in this Feast typed out unto us by the _noise of the Trumpets_, is gone thorowout the world. And thus the _Lord God hath blown the Trumpet_, as _Zacharies_ phrase is, _Zach. 9. 14._ But neither this release of servants, nor restoring of Lands, was until the tenth day of the first month _Tisri_,[380] at which time it was proclaimed by the sound of Trumpets, or Rams horns; the nine first daies of this month the Servants feasted and made merry, and wore Garlands, in token of their liberty approaching.

[379] _Hospinian. de Orig. fest. c. 9._

[380] _Moses Ægyptius in Halacha Schemit. Veiobel, c. 10._

CHAP. XI.

_The Feast of Purim, and the Feast of Consecration or Dedication._

_Pur_ is a _Persian_ word, and signifieth a Lot, whence this _Feast of Lots_ is called _Purim_, i.e. κληρωτήρια, _A Lottery_: It began on the fourteenth of _Adar_, and continued till the end of the fifteenth, _Esth. 9. 21._ It was instituted by _Mordecai_, in remembrance of the _Jews_ delivery from _Haman_, before whom lots were cast day by day, and month by month, for the destruction of them. In these two daies they read the History of _Hester_ in their _Synagogues_; and as often as they hear mention of _Haman_, they do with their fists and hammers beat upon the benches and boards, as if they did knock upon _Hamans_ head.[381]

[381] _Hospin. de fest. fol. 33. ex Antonio Margarita in. l. de ceremoniis Judæorum._

The Feast of _Dedication_, termed in the _New Testament_, Ἐγκαίνια[382] a Feast wherein something is renewed; because those things only are reputed consecrated, which are separated from their common use, and dedicated to some new and holy use. We shall read of many _things consecrated_ in the _Old Testament_; the _Tabernacles_, the _Temple_, _Priests_, _Altars_, _Vessels_ and _Garments_: but there was no anniversary or yearly solemnity appointed to be observed in remembrance of their _Consecration_. The _Consecration_ therefore which we now speak of, being a yearly Festival, was the _Consecration of the altar appointed by Judas Maccabæus_ to be observed from year to year, for the space of eight days, from the five and twentieth of the month _Cisleu_, which answereth in part to our _December_, _1 Macchab. 4. 59._ Of this Saint _John_ speaketh; and as he mentioneth our _Saviours_ presence there, so he intimateth the time to be about _December_. _It was at Jerusalem the feast of the Dedication, and it was winter_, _John 10. 22. &c._

[382] _Ἐγκαίνια ἑορτὴ καθ’ ἣν ἐκαινουργήθη τὶ, Suidas._

The reason of this Feast was in remembrance of that great mercy which God shewed unto his people, in delivering them from the tyranny of _Antiochus_, and the _Idolatry_ which he had forced upon them, setting up the _Idol of Jupiter_ in the _Temple of God_, and abolishing the true worship of _God_.

These two _Feasts_ are of _humane institution_, and others might be added unto them; but little is to be added, or nothing at all, to that which is delivered concerning them, in the places of Scripture where they are mentioned.

THE FOURTH BOOK

OF THEIR IDOLATRY.

CHAP. I.

_The beginnings of Idolatry._

The Infiniteness of _Gods_ Majesty far transcendeth the capacity of created Natures; and if we consult not with _Gods_ own _Oracles_, though the sense of a _Deity_ may be imprinted even in an _Atheists_ heart, yet so far shall he be from all right understanding of _God_, that he will adore the _creature_ instead of the _Creator_: and when he hath multiplied the number of his _gods_, according to the number of the Stars in heaven, and creeping things on earth; yet still his heart will be doubtful, whether he hath worshipped the true _God_, nay whether the true God be not utterly unknown. For this reason the Marriners in _Jonahs_ ship cried every man unto his _God_, _Jonah 1. 5._ Every man to his _own God_; and lest they might all mistake the _true God_, they awaken _Jonah_ to call upon _his God_. This uncertainty[383] attending _Idolatry_, caused the _Heathens_ to close their Petitions with that general, _Dii deæque omnes_.[384] The _Arabians_ perceiving the insufficiency of their _known Gods_, dedicated their _Altars_, _Ignoto Deo_, _To the unknown God_. At _Athens_, Saint _Paul_ found an Altar with the same inscription, _Acts 17. 23._ Hence other Neighbour-Countries were wont to swear[385] _by him that was unknown at Athens_. From this doubt and distrust among the _Athenians_, what _God_ was, and who he was, sprang another uncertainty amongst them, as dangerous as the other, dividing and sharing that undividable Unity of the _Godhead_, between I know not what Compeers and Equals, so that they had other Altars mentioning a plurality of gods:[386] the inscription being θεῶν ἀγνώστων, _the Altar of the unknown Gods_, yea, the compleat and entire inscription of that Altar which Saint _Paul_ saw, is thought to have been thus,[387] _To the gods of ~Asia~, ~Europe~, and ~Africa~; to the unknown and strange, God_. Which observation implieth their practice to have symbolized with other _Heathens_ in that forementioned closure; _Dii Deæque omnes_, _O all ye Gods and Godesses, help_. This distrust I think to be the chief reason why they worshipped the _unknown God_; though I deny not but the Altars might bear this Title, to conceal the name of their _Tutelar God_, unto whose protection they had committed themselves: because the _Heathen_ people generally conceited,[388] that if the _gods_ name, to whom they dedicated a City, were known, then the Enemies might by some magical incantation or charm, call him forth, and cause him to foresake the City: For the better preventing of which manner of evocations, the _Tyrians_, the _Lacedemonians_, and other Nations[389] fettered and chained their _gods_, that they might not depart. Again, it might be done in imitation of the _Jews_, who about the time of our _Saviour_ his Incarnation, held it unlawful to pronounce that Essential Name of God, _Jehovah_, and instead thereof would read _Adonai_. The occasion of this concealment of the name _Jehovah_, I take to have been originally, to prevent the blaspheming of that holy Name among the _Heathens_, who had learned from that name to denominate their _Idols_, _Jove_ Ἰαὼ _Iaoth_, Ἰαώια, _&c._[390] Hence afterward the forbearing the Name became superstitious, and so far prevailed, that they corrupted the Text for the defence thereof, _Ex. 3. 15._ This is my name ‎‏לעולם‏‎ _legnolam_, _for ever_: they read ‎‏לעלם‏‎ _legnalem_, _to be concealed_.[391] Though I deny not but that name was always in some sense ineffable: namely, as _Pliny_ saith,[392] the names of the _African_ people and Towns were ineffable, that is, such as other Languages could not express without circumlocutions.

[383] _Serv. in Georgic. lib. 1._

[384] _Gyrald. Syntagm. 17._

[385] _Νὴ τὸν ἐν Ἀθήναις ἀγνώστον. Lucian in Philopatride._

[386] _Pausanias in Atticis._

[387] _Θεοῖς Ἀσίας, καὶ Εὐρώπης, καὶ Λιβύης, θεῷ ἀγνώστῳ καὶ ξένῳ. Theophyl. in Act. Apost. 17. 23. It. Hieron. Tit. 1. 12._

[388] _Alex. ab. Alex. lib. 6. cap. 4. Tyraquel. in illum locum._

[389] _Macrob. Saturn. l. 3. c. 9._

[390] _Vid. Macrob. Satur. l. 1. c. 18. It. Irenæum, lib. 2. cap. ult. Item, Origen. contra Celsum. l. 6. fol. 76. col. 3._

[391] _Vid. P. Galatin. lib. 2. c. 10._

[392] _Plin. in Proem. lib. 5. Hist. Natur._

As those forementioned _Idolatrous_ names were nothing else but so many depravations of the name _Jehovah_: so the Original of many other ensuing kinds of _Idolatry_ proceeded at first from a misconstruction of Scripture. They have learned by Tradition, that the Sun, Moon, and Stars, had a kind of Lordship and rule over day and night, times and seasons: Hence the superstitious ignorance of those people Deified those lights of Heaven, and worshipped them as _gods_. Afterward corruption prevailing, their _Apotheosis_, or _god-making Ceremonies_, were extended to sublunary creatures, partly as _Symbola_, or representative signs of those greater and more glorious lights; for this reason the _Chaldeans_ worship _fire_: ‎‏אור‏‎, and _Ur_, of the _Chaldeans_, mentioned, _Gen. 11._ which signifieth _fire_ or light, is thought to be the very _god_ of the _Chaldeans_, though in that place the name _Ur_ be applyed to some chief City, from the name of the Idol. Yea, the _god of_ Nahor, _Gen. 31. 53._ is thought to be no other; partly, also the inferiour creatures were canonized for _gods_, in way of thankfulness for the benefits received from them, for which reason the _Sea_, the _Winds_, the _Air_, the _Earth_, and _fruits_ of the earth, _became deified_. At last, _well deserving men_; nay, _Crocodiles_, _Serpents_, _Rats_, _Cats_, _Dogs_, _Garlick_, and _Onions_, were reputed _gods_.

CHAP. II.

_Of ~Moloch~, ~Adram-Melech~, ~Anam-Melech~, ~Baal~, The Tabernacle of ~Molech~, ~Chiun~, ~Rempham~, Horses consecrated to the Sun, ~Thamuz~._

Of the _Idol Moloch_ we read in divers places of Scripture, _1 King. 11._ _2 King. 23. 10._ _Leviticus 18. 21._ He is sometimes called _Moloch_, sometimes _Molech_, sometimes _Milcom_. He was the _reputed god_, not only of the _Ammonites_, but of the _Moabites_ also.[393] He had his name from ‎‏מלך‏‎ _Melac_, signifying to rule or reign. The Seventy _Elders_ translate him, ἄρχων, βασιλεὺς, a _Prince_, or _King_. Such _King-Idols_ were _Adram-melech_, and _Anam-melech_, the _gods_ of _Shephervaim_, unto whom that people burnt their Children in fire.

[393] _Lorin. in Act. 7. ex Oecumen._

I take _Moloch_ and _Baal_ to be one and the same _Idol_, they were both names of supremacy and rule, ‎‏בעל‏‎ _Baal_ signifieth a _Lord_ or _Master_. And ‎‏מלך‏‎ _Moloch_, a _King_ or _Prince_. They had both the same manner of sacrifice, they burnt their Sons for burnt-offerings unto _Baal_ likewise, _Jer. 19. 5._ yea, they built the high places of _Baal_, which are in the Valley of _Benhinnom_, to cause their Sons and their Daughters to pass thorow the fire unto _Moloch_, _Jer. 32. 35._ In which Text the place of sacrifice is noted to be one and the same, common to both Idols, and _Moloch_ put into the end of the verse, to explain _Baal_ in the beginning thereof.

Some think them to be different, because the _Planet Jupiter_ was worshipped under the name of _Baal_;[394] but the _Planet Saturn_ is probably thought to have been worshipped under the name of _Moloch_. If we diligently observe Histories, we shall find such a _confusion of the Planets_, that the _Sun_, as it was sometimes called _Baal_, sometimes _Moloch_: so it was sometimes called _Jupiter_,[395] sometimes _Saturn_;[396] and concerning _Baal_ this is evident: Hence _Jupiter_ was called by the _Phœnicians_, _Baal-samen_, which name is derived from the _Hebrew_, and soundeth as much as _Jupiter Olympicus_, _the Lord of Heaven_. For _Baal_ signifieth _Lord_, and _Shamaim_, _Heaven_. And what is this _Lord of Heaven_ in the theology of the _Heathens_, other than the _Sun_? who may as well be stiled the _King of Heaven_, as the _Moon_ _the Queen_. Yea, _Sanchoniatho_, as _Eusebius_ in the forequoted place relates him, taketh all these three for one, namely, the _Sun_, _Jupiter_, and _Baal-samen_.

[394] _August. super Judic. q. 10. Vide sis Eusebium de præpar. lib. 1. cap. 7._

[395] _Plato apud. Macrob. Satur. l. 1. c. 23. ubi mendosè citatur è Timæo Platonis, quod est in Phædro._

[396] _Assyrios Saturnum (quem & Solem dicunt) Junonemq; coluisse constat. Servius in Eneid. 1._

Concerning _Saturn_, it is apparent that the _Sun_ was worshipped under his name: But I find some Expositers to interpret _Moloch_ to be _Mercury_,[397] others _Mars_:[398] these are but few, and the grounds weak. It is therefore more generally and more probably thought that he was _Saturn_, because as to _Moloch_, so to _Saturn_, the _Heathen_ people did sacrifice their _Sons_ and _Daughters_.[399] Secondly, _Saturns_ Image differed not much from _Moloch_’s. Of _Saturns_ thus we read,[400] _It was made of brass, wonderfull for its greatness, whose hands reaching towards the earth, were so hollow (ready to clasp) that the youths which were compelled to come unto him, did fall as it were into a mighty ditch full of fire._ You shall read in a manner the same description of _Moloch_. _Jalkut_ commenting on _Jeremy_, writeth thus:[401] _Though all other houses of Idolatry were in Jerusalem, yet ~Moloch~ was without Jerusalem, in a place apart. How was he made? He was an Image of brass; he had seven Chappels, and he was placed before them, having the face of a Bullock, and hands spread abroad, like a man that openeth his hands to receive somewhat from another: and they set it on fire within, for it was hollow: and every man severally entred, according to his offering. After what manner? Whosoever offered a Fowl went into the first Chappel; he that offered a Sheep, into the second; a Lamb, into the third; a Calf, into the fourth; a Bullock, into the fifth; an Ox, into the sixth; and whosoever offered his Son, into the seventh._ Thus _Moloch_ and _Saturn_ agree: _First_, in their sacrifice: _Secondly_, in the form of their Images. Now these _seven chappels_ built for _Moloch_, may well resemble those _seven gates_[402] with which the _Persians_ honored the _Sun_; and as the _seven gates_ did, so might the _seven chappels_ mystically express the _seven Planets_, whereof the _Sun_ was _Moloch_, i. _the King and Prince_. When they sacrificed their sons unto this _Idol_, they did beat upon _Tabrets_ and _Drums_, that the cry of the Child might not be heard by the Father. Thereupon was the place called ‎‏תפת‏‎ _Tophet_, from ‎‏תף‏‎ signifying a _Drum_, as likewise from the cry of the Children, it was called _Gehenna_, ‎‏גיא‏‎ signifying a valley, and ‎‏נהם‏‎ roaring or crying. Some may make the question, whether that the phrase, _The fire of Gehenna_, _Matth. 5. 22._ had its original from this fire, wherewith the children were burnt unto _Moloch_? I answer, that in this phrase there was not respect only unto this fire, though by the bitter cries and ejulations of poor infants, the restless torments in Hell might be shadowed, yet the perpetuity and everlastingness of hellish pains I take to be signified herein by allusion unto that other fire, kept continually burning for the consuming of dead carkasses, and the filth brought out of _Jerusalem_.[403] For _Gehenna_ was reputed a contemptible place without the City, in the which they burnt, by means of a fire continually preserved there, the carkasses, filth and garbidge of the City. The _Cabalists_[404] treating of _Gehenna_, in this metaphorical sense, as it is applied to the pains of hell, do distinguish of it, saying, That there is _Gehenna superiour_; and _inferiour_, by the first they understand _bodily torments inflicted upon the bodies of sinners in this world_: by the second they understand the _pains of the soul in the world to come_. They say likewise[405] that there are _Septem Gehennæ mansiones_, _Seven degrees or mansion places in Gehenna_. 1. _Infernus._ 2. _Perditio._ 3. _Profundum._ 4. _Taciturnitas._ 5. _Umbra mortis._ 6. _Terra inferior._ 7. _Terra sitiens._ Of these _seven receptacles_, he that will mispend his time may read according to the quotation.

[397] _‎‏מלך‏‎ Molech dici volunt quasi ‎‏מלאך‏‎ Malach, (~i.~) Angelus, Nuncius. Proindè interpretantur Molech Mercurium Deorum nuncium._

[398] _R. Levi. Lev. 18. 21._

[399] _Macrob. Saturn. l. 1. c. 7._

[400] _Euseb. de præpar. l. 4. c. 7._

[401] _Jalkut. Jer. 7. fol. 97. Colum. 1._

[402] _Orig. contra Celsum. l. 6. f. 75. col. 4. It. Gyrald. in Deorum Syntag. 7. p. 223._

[403] _D. Kimchi. Psal. 27. 13._

[404] _Capnio de Cabala p. 644._

[405] _P. Galatinus l. 12. c. 6._