1. Principles presupposed in the apostle's discourse in his Epistle to the Hebrews—First, a Messiah promised from the foundation of the world. 2, 3. Of the evil that is in the world. 4. Of sin and punishment—Original and entrance of them. 5. Ignorance of mankind about them. 6. The sin and fall of Adam—Their consequents. 7. Jews' opinion about the sin of Adam; also of the curse and corruption of nature. 8–12. Their sense of both at large evinced. 13. God not unjust if all mankind had perished in this condition. 14. Instance of the sin and punishment of angels—Difference between the sin of angels and man—Angels lost, mankind relieved. 15. Evidences of that deliverance. 16. How attainable—Not by men themselves; 17. Not by angels; 18. Nor by the law—That proved against the Jews. 19. Their fable of the law made before the world, with the occasion of it—The patriarchs saved before the giving of the law. 20. Observation of the moral precepts of the law no means of relief; 21. Nor the sacrifices of it. 22. The new covenant—God the author of it—How to be accomplished. 23, 24. The first promise of it, Gen. 3:15, discussed. 25. Sense of the Jews upon it manifested; 26, 27. Examined. 28. Promise of a deliverer, the foundation of all religion in the world. 29. The promise renewed unto Abraham, Gen. 12:1–3—Nature of it as given unto him. 30– 33. Testified unto and confirmed—Gen. 49:10; Num. 24:17, 19; Job 19:25, opened; with sundry other places—End of the separation of the posterity of Abraham unto a peculiar people and church. 34. This deliverer, the Messiah—Denotation of the word—The person who.
1. WE proceed now unto our principal intendment in all these discourses, which is, the consideration and discussion of those great principles, as of all religion in general, so of the Christian in particular, which the apostle supposeth as a foundation of his whole treaty [reasoning] with the Hebrews, and which are the basis that he stands upon in the management of his whole design. For in all discourses that are parenetical, as this Epistle for the most part is, there are always some principles taken for granted, which give life and efficacy unto the exhortations in them, and whereinto they are resolved. For, as to persuade men unto particulars in faith, opinion, or practice, without a previous conviction of such general principles of truth as from which the persuasions used do naturally flow and arise, is a thing weak and inefficacious; so to be exercised in the demonstration of the principles themselves, when the especial end aimed at is to persuade, would bring confusion into all discourse.
Wherefore, although our apostle do assert and confirm those dogmata and articles of truth which he dealt with the Hebrews in a way of persuasion to embrace, yet he supposeth and takes for granted those more general κυρίας δόξας, or first maxims, which are the foundation both of the doctrines and exhortations insisted on, as all skill in teaching doth require. And these are those which now we aim to draw forth and consider, being these that follow:—
First, That there was a Messiah, or Saviour of mankind from sin and punishment, promised upon, and from, the first entrance of sin into the world, in whom all acceptable worship of God was to be founded, and in whom all the religion of the sons of men was to centre.
Secondly, That this Messiah, long before promised, was now actually exhibited in the world, and had finished the work committed unto him, when the apostle wrote this Epistle.
Thirdly, That Jesus of Nazareth was this Messiah, and that what he had done and suffered was the work and duty promised of old concerning him.
There is not a line in the Epistle to the Hebrews that doth not virtually begin and end in these principles,—not an assertion, not a doctrine, not an exhortation, that is not built on this triple foundation. They are also the great verities τῆς ὁμολογίας Χριστιανῆς, of the Christian profession or religion. A sincere endeavour, therefore, in their explanation and vindication,—especially in these days, wherein as on the one hand there are various thoughts of heart about the Jews, their present condition and expectation, so on the other there are many who are ready with a presumptuous boldness ἀκίνητα κινεῖν, and to call in question the fundamentals of all religion,—may not be unacceptable. Now, the first of these principles is, at this day, by several vain imaginations, obscured by the Jews, to their utter loss of all benefit by it, and hath been so for many generations; although it was the life and soul of the religion of their forefathers, as shall be demonstrated; and the two latter are by them expressly denied, and maliciously contended against. Here, then, we shall fix and confirm these principles, in the order wherein we have laid them down, declaring on every one of them the conceptions and persuasions of the Jews concerning the promised Messiah; removing, in the close, their objections against the faith of Christians in this matter, in a peculiar Exercitation to that purpose. And the confirmation and vindication of the first of these principles is that which our present discourse is designed unto.
2. Besides the testimony of God himself in his word, we have a concurrent suffrage from the whole creation, that man in the beginning was formed, as in the image, so in the favour of God, and unto his glory. And as he was not liable unto any evil which is the effect of God's displeasure, nor defective in any good necessary to preserve him in the condition wherein he was made, so he was destitute of nothing that was any way requisite to carry him on unto that further enjoyment of God whereunto he was designed, Gen. 1:26, 31, Eccles. 7:29. For God, being infinitely good, wise, righteous, and powerful, creating man to know, love, honour, and enjoy him, and thereby to glorify those holy properties of his nature which exerted themselves in his creation (which that he did, the nature of those intellectual perfections wherewith he endowed him doth undeniably evince), it was utterly impossible that either he should not delight in the work of his own hands, the effect of his own wisdom and power, or not furnish him with those faculties and abilities by which he might answer the ends of his creation. To suppose a failure in any of these, is contrary to the prime dictates of reason; for infinite wisdom can do nothing in vain, nothing not perfectly suited unto the end whereunto it is designed. Neither can infinite goodness allow of any defect in aught that proceedeth from it: Gen. 1:31, "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Hence many philosophers saw, and granted, that the first cause in the production of all things did ὁδῷ βαδίζειν, proceed by such a certain reason and way as that every thing might, both in itself and with reference unto its own especial end, and also in relation unto the universe, have its proper rectitude and goodness, sufficient unto its station and condition. This ὁδὸς the Scripture calls Βουλὴν τοῦ θελήματος τοῦ Θεοῦ, Eph. 1:11,—"The counsel of the will of God;" expressing a contemperation of absolute sovereignty and infinite wisdom. And these uncontrollable notions of nature, or reason, cast men of old into their entanglements about the original of evil: for this they plainly saw, that it must be accidental and occasional; but where to fix that occasion they knew not. Those who, to extricate themselves out of this difficulty, fancied two supreme principles or causes, the one author of all good, the other of all evil, were ever exploded, as persons bidding defiance unto all principles of reason, whereby we are distinguished from the beasts that perish. This, I say, men generally discerned, that evil, wherein it now lies, could not have entered into the world without a disturbance of that harmony wherein all things at the beginning were constituted by infinite wisdom and goodness, and some interruption of that dependence on God from whence it did proceed.
The very first apprehensions of the nature of God and the condition of the universe declare that man was formed free from sin, which is his voluntary subduction of himself from under the government of his Maker; and free from trouble, which is the effect of his displeasure on that subduction or deviation;—in which two the whole nature of evil consisteth: so that it must have some other original.
3. Furthermore; in this first effort of immense power did God glorify himself, as in the wisdom and goodness wherewith it was accompanied, so also in that righteousness whereby, as the supreme rector and governor of all, he allotted unto his rational creatures the law of their obedience, annexing a reward thereunto in a mixture of justice and bounty; for, that obedience should be rewarded is of justice, but that such a reward should be proposed unto the temporary obedience of a creature as is the eternal enjoyment of God, was of mere grace and bounty. And that things should have continued in the state and condition wherein they were created, I mean as unto mankind, supposing an accomplishment of the obedience prescribed unto them, is manifest from the very first notions we have of the nature of God: for we do no sooner conceive that he is, but withal we assent that "he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him," Heb. 11:6; which is essential unto him, and inseparable from his nature as the sovereign ruler of the works of his hands. And thus was the continuance of this blessed state of the creation of all things provided for, and laid in a tendency unto further glory, being absolutely exclusive of any distance between God and man, besides that which is natural, necessary, and infinite, from their beings. There was no sin on the one side, nor disfavour on the other. And this secured the order of the universe; for what should cause any confusion there whilst the law of its creation was observed, which could not be transgressed by brute and inanimate creatures?
4. That this estate of things hath been altered from time immemorial; that there is a corrupt spring of sin and disorder in the nature of man; that the whole world lieth in ignorance, darkness, evil, and confusion; that there is an alienation and displeasure between God and mankind, God revealing his wrath and judgments from heaven, whence at first nothing might be expected but fruits of goodness and pledges of love, and man naturally dreading the presence of God and trembling at the effects of it, which at first was his life, joy, and refreshment,—reason itself, with prudent observation, will discover; it hath done so unto many contemplative men of old. "The whole creation groaneth" out this complaint, as the apostle witnesseth, Rom. 8:20, 22; and God makes it manifest in his judgments every day, chap. 1:18. That things were not made at first in that state and condition wherein now they are, that they came not thus immediately from the hand of infinite wisdom and goodness, is easily discernible. God made not man to be at a perpetual quarrel with him, nor to fill the world with tokens of his displeasure because of sin. This men saw of old by the light of nature; but what it should be that opened the flood-gates unto all that evil and sin which they saw and observed in the world, they could not tell. The springs of it, indeed, they searched after; but with more vanity and disappointment than those who sought for the heads of the Nile. The evils they saw were catholic and unlimited, and therefore not to be assigned unto particular causes; and of any general one proportioned unto their production they were utterly ignorant. And this ignorance filled all their wisdom and science with fatal mistakes, and rendered the best of their discoveries but mere, uncertain, conjectures. Yea, the poets, who followed the confused rumours of old traditions about things whose original was occasional and accidental, give us a better shadow of truth than the philosophers, who would reduce them unto general rules of reason, which they would no way answer.
"Post ignem aetheria domo
Subductum, Macies et nova Febrium
Terris incubuit cohors;
Semotique prius tarda necessitas
Leti corripuit gradum," Hor. Car. lib. i. Od. iii. 29,—
is a better allusion to the original of sin and punishment than all the disputations of the philosophers will afford us.
5. But that which they could not attain unto, and which because they could not attain unto, they wandered in all their apprehensions about God and themselves, without certainty or consistency, we are clearly acquainted withal by divine revelation. The sum of it is briefly proposed by the apostle: Rom. 5:12, "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." Sin and death are comprehensive of all that is evil in any kind in the world. All that is morally so is sin; all that is penally so is death. The entrance of both into the world was by the sin of one man, that is, Adam, the common father of us all. This the philosophers knew not, and therefore knew nothing clearly of the condition of mankind in relation unto God. But two things doth the Scripture teach us concerning this entrance of evil into the world:—
First, The punishment that was threatened unto and inflicted on the disobedience of Adam. Whatever there is of disorder, darkness, or confusion, in the nature of things here below; whatever is uncertain, irregular, horrid, unequal, destructive, in the universe; whatever is penal unto man, or may be so, in this life or unto eternity; whatever the wrath of the holy, righteous God, revealing itself from heaven, hath brought, or shall ever bring, on the works of his hands,—are to be referred unto this head. Other original of them can no man assign.
Secondly, The moral corruption of the nature of man, the spring of all sin, the other head of evil, proceeded hence also; for by this means, that which before was good and upright is become an inexhaustible treasure of sin. And this was the state of things in the world immediately upon the sin and fall of Adam.
Now, the work which we assign unto the Messiah is the deliverance of mankind from this state and condition. Upon the supposition, and revelation, of this entrance of sin, and the evil that ensued thereon, is the whole doctrine of his office founded, as shall afterwards more largely be declared. And because we contend against the Jews that he was promised and exhibited for a relief, in the wisdom, grace, and righteousness of God, against this sin and misery of mankind, as our apostle also expressly proveth, chap. 2 of his Epistle unto them; this being denied by them, as that which would overthrow all their fond imaginations about his person and office, we must consider what is their sense and apprehension about these things, with what may be thence educed for their own conviction; and then confirm the truth of our assertion from those testimonies of Scripture which themselves own and receive.
6. The FIRST effect and consequent of the sin of Adam, was the punishment wherewith it was attended. What is written hereof ῥητῶς in the Scripture, the Jews neither do nor can deny. Death was in the commination given to deter him from his transgression: תָמוּת מוֹת, Gen. 2:17;—"Dying, thou shalt die." Neither can it be reasonably pretended to be singly death unto his own person which is intended in that expression; the event sufficiently evinceth the contrary. Whatever is or might be evil unto himself and his whole posterity, with the residue of the creation, so far as he or they might be any way concerned therein, hath grown out of this commination. And this is sufficiently manifested in the first execution of it, Gen. 3:16–19. The malediction was but the execution of the commination. It was not consistent with the justice of God to increase the penalty after the sin was committed. The threatening, therefore, was the rule and measure of the curse. But this is here extended by God himself, not only to all the miseries of man (Adam and his whole posterity) in this life, in labour, disappointment, sweat, and sorrow, with death under, and by virtue of, the curse, but to the whole earth also, and consequently unto those superior regions and orbs of heaven by whose influence the earth is as it were governed and disposed unto the use of man, Hos. 2:21, 22.
It may be yet further inquired, what was to be the duration and continuance of the punishment to be inflicted in the pursuit of this commination and malediction. Now, there is not any thing in the least to intimate that it should have a term prefixed unto it wherein it should expire, or that it should not be commensurate unto the existence or being of the sinner. God lays the curse on man, and there he leaves him, and that for ever. A miserable life he was to spend, and then to die under the curse of God, without hope of emerging into a better condition. About his subsistence after this life we have no controversy with the Jews. They all acknowledge the immortality of the soul; for the sect of the Sadducees is long since extinct, neither are they followed by the Karaites in their atheistical opinions, as hath been declared. Some of them, indeed, incline unto the Pythagorean metempsychosis, but all acknowledge the soul's perpetuity.
Supposing, then, Adam to die penally under the curse of God,—as without extraordinary relief he must have done, the righteousness and truth of God being engaged for the execution of the threatening against him,—I desire to know what should have been the state and condition of his soul? Doth either revelation or reason intimate that he should not have continued for ever under the same penalty and curse, in a state of death or separation from God? And if he should have done so, then was death eternal in the commination. This is that which, with respect unto the present effects in this life, and the punishment due to sin, is termed by our apostle ἡ ὀργὴ ἐρχομένη, 1 Thess. 1:10, "the wrath to come," from whence the Messiah is the deliverer.
Nor will the Jews themselves contend that the guilt of any sin respects only temporal punishment. The event of sin unto themselves they take to be that only; imagining their observation of the law of Moses, such as it is, to be a sufficient expiation of punishment eternal: but unto all strangers from the law, all that have not a relief provided, they make every sin mortal; and Adam, as I suppose, had not the privilege of the present Jews, to observe Moses' law. Wherefore they all agree that by his repentance he delivered himself from death eternal: which if it were not due unto his sin, he could not do; for no man can by any means escape that whereof he is in no danger. And this repentance of his they affirm to have been attended with severe discipline and self-maceration; intimating the greatness of his sin and the difficulty of his escape from the punishment due thereunto. So Rabbi Eliezer, in Pirke Aboth, cap. xx.: העליון גיחון במי אדם נכנם בשבת באחד;—"On the first day of the week Adam entered into the waters of the upper Gihon, until the waters came unto his neck; and he afflicted himself seven weeks, until his body became like a sieve. And Adam said before the holy, blessed God,' Lord of the whole world, let my sins, I pray thee, be done away from me, and accept of my repentance; that all ages may know that there is repentance, and that thou wilt receive them that repent and turn unto thee.' " Hence, also, they tell us, that upon the pardon of his sin he sang a song of praise unto the Lord on the Sabbath-day; which is mentioned in the Targum on the Song of Solomon, chap. 1:1, as one of the songs in reference whereunto that of Solomon is called, חַשִּירִים שִיר, "The Song of Songs," or the most excellent of them. And although, indeed, that expression, תָמוּת מוֹת, "Dying, thou shalt die," according to the propriety of the Hebrew tongue, denotes only the certainty and vehemency of the death threatened, in which case it useth reduplications, yet some of them have not been averse to apprehend a twofold death, of the body and of the soul, to be intimated in that expression, as Fagius on the place well observes. Body and soul, they say, both sinned; and therefore both were to be punished: שניהם הדבר כך אלא נענש וזה חוטא וזה וכי נענשת הנפש מדוע רוח בלא חוטא הבשר ו חוטאים באחד; —"If the flesh sin without the spirit, why is the soul punished? Is it one thing that sins, and another that is punished? or rather is it not thus, that both sin together?" and so both are justly punished together.
7. Thus is the condition of the sin and punishment of our first parents themselves acknowledged by them; and the same is that of their posterity. What was threatened unto, what was inflicted upon, those who first sinned, they are all liable and obnoxious unto. Are they not all as subject unto death as was Adam himself? are the miseries of man in his labour, or the sorrows of women in child-bearing, taken away? is the earth itself freed from the effects of the curse? do they not die who never "sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression?" The Jews themselves grant that all death is penal: עוין בלא ייסורין ואין חטא בלא מות אין; —"There is no death without sin, no punishment or correction without iniquity." It is the saying of R. Ame in the Talmud, Tractat. Sabbat., cited in Sepher Ikharim, lib. iv. cap. xiii. And this principle Maimonides carries so high as to deny all אחבה של יסורין, "correction of love," affirming none to be of that mind but some Gaeonims, deceived by the sect of Muatzali, More Nebuch. pag. 3, cap. xvii. And they who die penally under the curse abide in no other estate than that mentioned. They acknowledge, also, the remainder of the curse on the earth itself on the same account: כלו העולם שלמותה חסרה האדמה חטא שאדם ואחר האדם בשביל אלא נברא לא;—"The whole world," says one of their masters, "was not created but for man; and therefore after man sinned, it came short of its first perfection." But these things being of some use for their conviction, as also to discover the perverse obstinacy of some of their later masters, we may a little more particularly take them along with us.
8. First, They acknowledge that Adam was a common head unto all mankind. So saith Manasseh Ben Israel, from their principles: "Cum itaque esset Adam futurus caput et principium humanae naturae, necesse erat illi a Deo conferri omnem perfectionem et scientiam," De Fragilitate, pag. 34;—"Whereas Adam was to be the head and principle of human nature, it was necessary that God should endow him with all perfection of knowledge." And this perfection of his knowledge Aben Ezra, on Gen. 2, proves from God's bringing all creatures unto him, to give them names according to their nature. And the same author again, in his discourse, De Termino Vitae: "Aben Ezra inquit, nominibus propriis in sacra Scriptura non praefigi הידיעה הא, He demonstrativum, quod tamen in voce Adam sit, Gen. 3:22; ratio est quia in Adamo notantur omnes ejus posteri, et universa species humana designatur;"—"Aben Ezra says that 'He Hajedia' is not prefixed unto proper names in the Scripture, only it is so unto the word 'Adam,' Gen. 3:22; and the reason is, because in Adam all his posterity, the whole race of mankind, is denoted and signified." Now, this could not be but by virtue of some divine constitution; for naturally Adam could have no other relation to his posterity than every other man hath unto his own: and this was no other but that covenant which God made with all mankind in him; whose promises and threatenings, rewards and punishments, must therefore equally respect them with him.
Wherefore, secondly, they grant that on this account "his sin was imputed unto all his posterity;" that is, some of them do so, and those the most sober of them. So Rabbi Menahem Rakanatensis, in Sec. Bereshith, etc.: וחוה אדם חסא על לתמוה אין;—"It is no wonder why the sin of Adam and Eve was engraven, and sealed with the signet of the King, to be propagated unto all following generations; for in the day that Adam was created, all things were finished, so that he was the perfection and complement of the whole workmanship of this world. Therefore when he sinned, the whole world sinned; whose sin we bear and suffer, which is not so in the sin of his posterity." To be "sealed with the signet of the King," is their expression of God's constitution.
And these words are very consonant to those of our apostle, Rom. 5:12, "As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death passed upon all men, for that" (or "because in him") "all have sinned." To the same purpose speaks the Targum on Eccles. 7:29, in the copies followed by the Jayan [Paris Polyglot] and London Bibles (for so the words are not in those of Buxtorf, nor the Biblia Regia): "God made the first man upright and innocent before him; but the serpent and Eve seduced him, ארעא דירין ולכל מותא יום עלוהו לאסתקפא וגרמו,—and gave cause why the day of death should come on him and all the inhabitants of the earth." And we can have no more authentic testimony of the apprehensions of their ancient doctors than what their Targums afford us. And therefore Joseph Albo, in Seher Itharim, expressly concludes, lib. i. cap. xi., that "all the punishments relating unto Adam and Eve for their first sin belong unto all mankind." And whereas they fancy that some persons spent their days without actual sin, at least any such as should deserve death, they charge their death on the guilt of the sin of Adam. So the Targum on the last chapter of Ruth: "And Hobed begat Jesse, who was called Nachash; and there was no iniquity or corruption in him, for which he should be delivered into the hand of the angel of death to take his soul from him: and he lived many days, until the counsel that the serpent gave to Eve abode before the Lord; and upon that counsel were all the inhabitants of the earth made guilty of death; and upon the account of that sin died Jesse the righteous." Lud. Cappellus, in his annotations on John 3, hath an observation on this passage in the Targum not unworthy consideration. The Jews call Jesus ישו, without ע, which differs little from ישי, and so he may be here intended; for he may be called נחש, both because he was prefigured by the brazen serpent, and because the names of נחש and משיח are the same by gematry, or in their numeral letters,—a great occasion amongst them to change the names of persons and things. And this they might have from some tradition, which they understood not. The like testimony we have in Siphre: הגלילי יוסי אר״ ולמד צא;—"Rabbi Jose the Galilean said, 'Go forth and learn the merit of Messiah the king, and the reward of that righteous one above the first Adam, who had only negative precepts given unto him, which he transgressed. Behold how many deaths befell him and his generations, and the generations of his generations, unto the end of all generations!' " Answerable unto that of the apostle, Rom. 5:18, "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men unto condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life."
And this punishment of the sin of Adam and Eve they grant to have been so terrible, that they say that in the day they were cast out of paradise God lamented overthem: ואספיד דעדן מגנתא ואתאדכו וחוה אדם דאתדנו כמה עלויהון עלמא מרי;—"Even as Adam and Eve, when they were judged and cast out of the garden of Eden, and the Lord of the world lamented over them," Targum on Lamenta., chap. 1:1. And to show also that the whole creation was made subject unto vanity upon the sin of our first parents, Moses Haddarshan in Bereshith Rabba, on Gen. iii. 6, informs us that Eve gave of the fruit of the tree which she took unto all the beasts of the field and birds of the air, חול only (which they interpret "the phoenix") excepted. The truth, indeed, in these expressions is clouded with fables and trifles; but they who are offended at them may do well to direct us unto Judaical writers that are free from such follies. And yet on these things do innumerable poor souls venture their eternal condition, in an opposition to the blessed gospel of the glorious God.
9. The later masters, I acknowledge, are in this whole matter lubricous and uncertain; and they have been so in an especial manner ever since they began to understand the plea of Christians, for the necessity of satisfaction to be made by the sufferings of the Messiah, from the doctrine of the sin and fall of man. Hence Abarbanel, in his commentary on Isa. 53, expressly argues against those sufferings of the Messiah, from the non-necessity of them with reference unto the sin of Adam. They contend also, some of them, that it was not so sorely revenged as we plead it to have been. "Ask a heretic" (a Christian), saith Lipman in his Nizzachon, "how it can enter into their hearts to think that God should use so great severity against the sin of Adam, that he should hold him bound for so small a matter, namely, for the eating of an apple, that he should destroy him in this world and that to come; and that not him only, but all his posterity."
But the blind Pharisee disputes not so much against us as against God himself. Who was it that denounced death in case he so transgressed? who was it that pronounced him miserable, and the world accursed, on the account thereof? Are we to blame, if the Jews are not pleased with the ways of God? Besides, although to eat an apple be in itself but a small thing, yet to disobey the command of the great God is no such small matter as the Jew supposeth; especially that command which set boundaries unto that excellent condition wherein Adam, in the right of all his posterity, was placed. But these exceptions owe their original unto a discovery of the tendency of that truth, which otherwise, as we have showed, they are convinced of, and which we have sufficiently cleared from the Scripture.
10. The SECOND consequent of the first sin of man is the moral corruption of nature, the spring of all that evil of actual sin that is in the world. And herein we have a full consent from the Jews, delivered after their manner, both in the Targums, Talmuds, and private writings of their principal masters; for an evil concupiscence in the heart of man, from his very conception, they generally acknowledge.
The name they give unto it is הרע יצר,—"figmentum malum," the evil figment of the heart; properly enough, from Gen. 6:5: "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth; וְבָל־יֵצֶר כָּל־הַיּוֹם רַע רַק לִבּוֹ מַחְשְׁבֹת,—and that the whole figment of the thoughts (or computation) of his heart was only evil every day." Hence have they taken their הרע יצר; a more proper name than that used by Christian divines, of "originale peccatum." And it is a ludicrous ignorance in some of the late rabbins, who profess themselves to deny original sin,— as doth the author of the Questions and Objections published by Brenius, and others of them,—and yet in the meantime grant this evil figment in all mankind, which was not in Adam in his innocency. And hereunto they oppose that הטוב יצר, that "good concupiscence," which they fancy to come on every one at the age of thirteen years, when he becomes "filius praecepti," or liable unto the commands of God. The Targumists term it in the Chaldee tongue, בישא יצרא, to the same purpose. And it is mentioned by them, Ps. 13:5, "that בישא יצרא, the evil figment, say not I have ruled over him;" instead of "the enemy," for it is the chief enemy of men. Twice also it is mentioned in the Targum of Ps. 50:14: בישא יצרא נכוש; —"Restrain the evil figment, and it shall be accounted before God as a sacrifice." Doubtless none more acceptable. And to the same purpose the words are also verse 23. And in Ps. 91:12, "That thy foot stumble not at the evil figment, which is like a stone;" that is, "That it seduce thee not, that it cause thee not to offend, to stumble and fall into sin." See James 1:14. And Ps. 119:70, they call it absolutely דלב יצרא, "the figment," or evil fomes of the heart: דלבהון יצרא תרב היך אטפש;—"The figment of their heart is made thick (or hard) as with fatness;" an expression not unusual in the Scripture to set out impenitency and security in sinning, Isa. 6:10. And in Isa. 62:10 they mention יצרא הירהור, "the thought of lust," or of "the figment;" which is that "conceiving" of it mentioned by James, chap. 1:14. For הירהור is the inward evil thought of the heart, or the first motion of sin. Moreover, they do not unfitly describe it by another property; as Eccles. 9:14, בישא יצרא רב למלך דמתיל;—"The evil figment (or concupiscence), which is like unto a great king,"—namely, because of its power. On which account in the New Testament it is said βασιλεύειν, to "reign" as a king, because of the subjection unto it ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις, "in the lusts" or concupiscence of the heart, Rom. 6:12; and κυριεύειν, or to have "dominion," verse 14, which is to the same purpose with that of the Targumist: "Evil concupiscence is like unto a great king." And this testimony we have given unto this moral corruption of nature in the Targums, the most ancient records of the Judaical apprehensions about these things that are now extant, or have been so for many ages.
11. The Talmudists have expressed the same thoughts about this inbred and indwelling sin; and, to set forth their conceptions about it, they have given it several names not unsuited unto those descriptions of it which are given us by the Holy Ghost in the New Testament; as,—
First, They call it רע, that is, "malum," evil; a name, as they say, given by God himself, Gen. 8:21. Hence is that observation of R. Moses Haddarshan, from R. Jose in Bereshith Rabba: מאוד עלוב;—"Sad," or dark, "is that mass against which He that made it gives testimony that it is 'evil;' and our masters affirm that naught is that plant, which He that planted it witnesseth to be evil." And in answer hereunto it is termed in the New Testament, ἡ ἁμαρτία, "that sin," that evil thing that dwelleth in us, Rom. 7:17.
Secondly, They say that Moses calleth it עֲרֵלָה, "praeputium," or "uncircumcision," Deut. 10:16. And therefore in Tract. Sanhed. cap. xi., to the question, When may an infant be made partaker of the world to come? R. Nachman, the son of Isaac, answereth, שכימל משעה, presently after he is circumcised; circumcision being admitted of old as the sign of the taking away by grace of the natural evil figment of the heart. And in answer hereunto, it is called by our apostle ἀκροβυστία, or "uncircumcision," Col. 2:13.
Thirdly, They say David calls it טמא, an "unclean thing." This they draw from Ps. 51:10, by the rule of contraries, a great guide in their expositions: "Create in me a clean heart, O God;" whence it appears that the heart of itself is unclean. And the apostle gives it us under the same name and notion, 1 Thess. 4:7; 1 Cor. 7:14.
Fourthly, Solomon, as they suppose, calls it שונא, an "enemy" or "hater," Prov. 25:21. How properly they gather this name from that place "ipsi viderint." This I know, that to the same purpose it is called in the New Testament ἔχθρα, "enmity," or hatred, Rom. 8:7; and all the effects of enmity, or actings of an enemy, שונא, are ascribed unto it, 1 Pet. 2:11.
Fifthly, Isaiah calls it מכשול, "the offence" or "stumbling-block," Isa. 57:14; παράπτωμα, Rom. 5:18. See James 1:14, 15, the cause of our stumbling and falling.
Sixthly, Ezekiel calls it אבן, "a stone," chap. 36:26. The reason of this appellation is commonly known, neither doth any allusion better set out the nature of it from its effects. Καρδία σκληρὰ καὶ ἀμετανόητος, a "hard and impenitent heart," Rom. 2:5.
Seventhly, Joel calls it, as they say, צפוני, that "hidden thing," chap. 2:20; for so they interpret הַצְּפוֹנִי in that place: whereby they seem to intend that darkness and deceitfulness which are often ascribed unto it in the New Testament. And these names they largely comment upon. Now, though I shall not justify their deduction of them from the places mentioned,— which yet, some of them, are proper enough unto their purpose,—yet, as was said, the names themselves seem not unsuitable unto that description of it which we have in the New Testament. Besides, they speak elsewhere to the same purpose. In Neve Shalom, lib. x. cap. ix., they term it נחש טומאת, the "defilement of the serpent," see 2 Cor. 11:3; and וכסיל זקן מלך, from Eccles. 4:13, "An old and foolish king." So is that place interpreted in Midrash Coheleth. And this, as we observed before, answers what we are taught in the New Testament concerning the "reign" and "dominion" of sin, as also the name given it by the apostle of Παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος, "The old man;" both being comprised in that expression, "An old and foolish king," though the text be wrested by them in their usual manner. And they give a tolerable reason in the same place of this appellation of "The old man;" because, say they, it is joined unto a man in his infancy, continuing with him unto his old age; but the הטוב יצר, that is "the new man, or good concupiscence, comes not on our nature until the age of thirteen years." So the Midrash, feeling in the dark after that supply of grace which is so clearly revealed in the gospel. And in Tractat. Sanhedrim, fol. 91, they ask this question, מתי אי הרע יצר באדם שולט;—"From what time doth the evil concupiscence bear rule in a man? from the time of his birth, or from the time of his forming in the womb?" Rabbi answers, "From the time of his conception and forming in the womb." And this Kimchi, on Ps. 51, illustrates by a similitude not altogether impertinent; as saith he, "He that sows a bitter berry, that bitterness becomes natural unto the tree and fruit that grows thereon." And this concupiscence, which is in the heart of man from his conception, they acknowledge to have proceeded originally from the sin of our first parents; for if it were implanted in him at his creation, it cannot be avoided but that God himself must be assigned as the principal efficient cause of all moral evil.
Unto this purpose speaks their late master in the preface to his book De Fragilitate. "Haec vitiositas," saith he, "ex primorum parentum profecta crimine, contagioque, invasit utramque animae rationalis facultatem, mentem qua apprehendimus, et voluntatem qua appetimus;"—"This vitiosity and contagion, proceeding from the sin of our first parents, hath invaded both the faculties of our rational souls, both the understanding and the will." And as for the continuance of this evil, or its abode in us, they express it in Bereshith Rabba: זמן כל יצרן נלחמים הם חיים שהצדיקים;—"So long as the righteous live, they wage war with their concupiscence." And they variously set forth the growth of it, where it is not corrected by grace. At first they say it is like a "spider's thread," but at last like a "cart rope:" from Isa. 59:5, 5:18. And again, in the beginning it is like a stranger, then as a guest, but lastly as the master of the house: see James 1:14, 15. And according to their wonted manner, on Gen. 4:7, where רֹבֵץ, of the masculine gender, is joined with חַטָּאת, of the feminine, they observe, in Bereshith Rabba, sect. 22, ואחר כנקבה יש היא בתחלה כזכר מתגבר היא כך;—"At first it is like a woman, but afterwards it waxeth strong like a man."
12. More testimonies of this nature, from the writings that are of authority amongst them, might be produced, but that these are sufficient unto our purpose. What we aim at is, to evidence their conviction of that manifold misery which came upon mankind on the entrance of sin into the world; and two things we have produced their suffrage and consent unto:—
First, The change of the primitive condition of man, by his defection from the law of his creation. This made him obnoxious, in his whole person and all his concernments, to the displeasure and curse of God; to all the evil which in this world he feels, or fears in another; to death temporal and eternal. And hence did all the disorder which is in the universe arise. All this we have found them freely testifying unto. And this must be acknowledged by all men who will not brutishly deny what their own consciences dictate unto them, and what the condition of the whole lower world proclaims, or irrationally ascribe such things unto God as are utterly inconsistent with his wisdom, goodness, righteousness, and holiness. And,—
Secondly, We have manifested their acknowledgment that a principle of sin or moral evil hath invaded the nature of man, or that from the sin of our first parents there is an "evil concupiscence" in the heart of every man, continually and incessantly inclining the soul unto operations suitable unto it; that is, unto all moral evil whatever.
From both these it unavoidably follows, on the first notions of the righteousness, holiness, veracity, and faithfulness of God, that mankind in this estate and condition can justly expect nothing but a confluence of evil in this world, and at the close of their pilgrimage to perish with a ruin commensurate unto their existence. For God having, in wisdom and righteousness, as the sovereign Lord of his creatures, given them a law, good, just, and equal; and having appointed the penalty of death, and his everlasting displeasure therein, unto the transgression thereof; and withal having sufficiently promulgated both law and penalty (all which things we have before demonstrated); the transgression prohibited actually ensuing, God himself being judge, it remains that all this constitution of a law and threatening of a penalty was vain and ludicrous, as Satan in the serpent pretended, or that mankind is rendered absolutely miserable and cursed, and that for ever. Now, which of these is to be concluded, divine revelation in the Scripture, reason, and the event of things, will readily determine.
13. That God, without the least impeachment of his righteousness or goodness, might have left all mankind remediless in this condition, is manifest, both from what hath been discoursed concerning the means whereby they were brought into it, and his dealing with angels on the like occasion. The condition wherein man was created was morally good and upright; the state wherein he was placed, outwardly happy and blessed; the law given unto him, just and equal; the reward proposed unto him, glorious and sure; and his defection from this condition, voluntary. "What shall we say, then? is God unjust who inflicteth vengeance? God forbid." The execution of a righteous sentence, upon the voluntary transgression of a law just and equal, hath no unrighteousness in it. And this was the sum of what God did in this matter, as to the misery that came on mankind. And who should judge him if he had left him for ever to "eat of the fruit of his own ways, and to be filled with his own devices?" He had before, as expressed his power and wisdom, so satisfied his goodness and bounty, in his creation, with his endowments and enjoyments according unto the law thereof; and what could man look for further at his hands?
Hence Adam, when his eyes were opened to see the nature of evil, in that actual sense which he had in his conscience of the guilt that he had contracted, had not the least expectation of relief or mercy; and the folly of the course which he took, in hiding himself, argues sufficiently both his present amazement and that he knew of nothing better to betake himself unto. Therefore doth he give that account of the result of his thoughts, as unto the relation that was between God and him, and what only he now looked for from him, "I heard thy voice, and I was afraid." Neither would any revelation that God had then made of himself, either by the works of his power and wisdom, or by any inbred impressions on the souls of men concreated with them, give encouragement unto them that had sinned against him to expect relief. Besides, he had dealt thus with angels. Upon their first sin, "he spared them not," but at once, without hope of recovery, cast them under the "chains of darkness," to be kept unto the final "judgment of the great day." On this our apostle discourseth unto the Hebrews, chap. 2. Now, God dealt not unsuitably unto any of the excellencies of his nature, when he left the apostatizing angels to perish without remedy unto eternity. Had he dealt so also with apostatizing mankind, who were drawn into a conspiracy against him by the head of the defection, his ways had still been holy and righteous.
14. Yet doth not this great instance of God's dealing with angels absolutely conclude his leaving of mankind remediless in their misery also. He might justly do so, but thence it doth not follow that necessarily he must do so. And although the chief, and indeed only reason of his extending grace and mercy unto men, and not unto angels, was his own sovereign will and pleasure, concerning which who can say unto him, "What doest thou?" yet there was such a difference between these two sorts of original transgressors as may manifest a condecency or suitableness unto his righteousness and goodness in his various proceeding with them; for there are sundry things that put an aggravation on the rebellion of angels above that of man, and some that render their ruin less destructive unto the glory of the universe than that of mankind would have been: for,—
First, The angels were created in an estate and condition much superior unto and more excellent than that of man; and so likewise were their present or actual enjoyments far above his, though these also were admirable and blessed. The place of their first habitation, which they left, Jude 6, was the highest heaven, the most glorious receptacle of created beings; in opposition whereunto they are said to be cast into the lowest hell, 2 Pet. 2:4: whereas man was placed in the earth; which, although then beautiful and excellently suited to his condition, yet was every way inferior unto the glory and lustre of the other, which God so had "garnished by his Spirit," Job 26:13, and which, for its curious excellency, is called "the work of his fingers," Ps. 8:3. And in these different places of their habitation,—
Secondly, Their several employments also did greatly differ. The work of angels was immediately to attend the throne of God, to minister before him, and to give glory unto him, and to execute the commands of his providence in the government of the works of his hands, Ps. 68:17; Dan. 7:10; Ezek. 1:5–14; Heb. 1:14; Rev. 5:11;—the highest pitch of honour that a mere creature can be exalted unto. Man, during his natural life, was to be employed in tilling and dressing of the ground, Gen. 2:15; a labour that would have been easy, useful, and suitable unto his condition, but yet, in honour, advantage, and satisfaction, unspeakably beneath the duty of the others.
Thirdly, Their enjoyments also greatly differed. For the angels enjoyed the immediate glorious presence of God, without any external created resemblances of it; when man was kept at a greater distance, and not admitted unto such immediate communion with God, or enjoyment of his glorious presence.
Now, all these, and the like considerations, although on the one side they do not in the least extenuate or excuse the sin and crime of man in his apostasy, yet they greatly aggravate the wickedness, ingratitude, and pride of the angels.
Moreover, they differed in their intellectual perfections, whereby they were enabled to discern the excellencies and to know the mind of God: for although man had all that light, knowledge, and wisdom concreated with him, and so natural unto him, which were any way needful to enable him unto a right and due performance of the obedience required of him, in the observance whereof he should have been brought unto the enjoyment of God; yet it came far short of that excellency of understanding and that piercing wisdom which was in those spiritual beings, which they were endowed withal to fit them for that near contemplation of the glory of God whereunto they were admitted, and that ready apprehension of his mind which they were to observe. And as these were in themselves, and ought to have been improved by themselves, as blessed means of preserving them in their obedience, so, being despised and neglected, they were a great aggravation of the wickedness of their apostasy. There was likewise,—
Fifthly, A difference in the manner of their defection. Man was circumvented by the craft and policy of the angels, who were made before him and sinned before him: and this, although he was furnished with an ability and power to have rejected and overcome, yet it had that influence into his sin and fall that the Holy Ghost affirms that our first parents were SEDUCED or "deceived," 1 Tim. 2:14, 2 Cor. 11:3; and therefore Satan is called their "murderer," John 8:44. But the angels had nothing without them to excite, provoke, or lay snares for them; but of their own voluntary choice, and mere motion of their own mind, in the exercise of that freedom of their will which was bestowed on them for their own honour and advantage in their obedience, left their stations, and set up themselves in a way of opposition unto their Creator, who had exalted them above their companions, newly brought out of the same nothing with themselves, into a condition of the highest created glory imaginable. Again,—
Sixthly, Although the condition of mankind, being to be propagated by natural generation from one common stock, made it necessary that our first parents should have a greater trust reposed in them, by reason of their representation of their whole posterity in that covenant wherein they stood before God, than any angel could have, seeing they stood every one only in his own name and for himself, yet they were but two persons that actually sinned at first, and those one after another, one seduced by another; whereas the angels in multitudes inconceivable, by a joint conspiracy, at the same instant combined together against the authority and law of their Creator, and, as it should seem, appointed one among themselves for the head of their apostasy. Now, although, as was said, none of these things do, or can, in the least extenuate the sin of man, which was the product of inconceivable infidelity and ingratitude, yet they contain such aggravations of the sin of angels as may evidence a condecency unto divine wisdom and goodness in passing them by in their sin and misery unto eternity, and yet giving relief unto mankind.
Lastly, We may add unto what hath been spoken, the concernment of the glory of God in the universe; for if man had been left for ever without relief, the whole race or kind of creatures, partakers of human nature, had been utterly lost. Nothing of that kind could ever have come unto the enjoyment of God, nor could God have ever been glorified by them in a way of thankfulness and praise, which yet was the end why he made that sort of creatures; for the whole race of them as to the event would have been mere objects of wrath and displeasure. But in the fall of angels, they were only a certain number of individuals that sinned; the whole kind was not lost as to the first end of their creation. Angelical nature was preserved, in its orderly dependence on God, in those millions that kept their obedience, and primitive condition thereon; which is continued unto them with a superaddition of glory and honour, as shall be elsewhere declared. God, then, having made himself two families unto his praise, amongst whom he would dwell, that above of angels, and this below of mankind, had sinning man,—which was the whole creation participating in human nature,—been utterly cast off, one family had been lost for ever, though so great a remnant of the other was preserved. Wherefore, as we shall afterwards see, it seemed good unto his infinite wisdom, as to preserve that portion of his superior family which sinned not, so to recover a portion of that below; and to make them up into one family, in one new head, his Son Jesus Christ; in whom he hath now actually gathered into one all things that are in heaven and earth, unto his praise and glory, Eph. 1:10.
It appears, then, that no certain conclusion can hence be drawn that man is left remediless in his sin and misery, because angels are so; seeing that although the whole cause of the difference made is to be referred unto the sovereign will, wisdom, and pleasure of God, yet there is that, appearing unto reason, which manifests a suitableness unto his excellencies in the distinction to be put between them.
15. There is, then, no necessary reason inducing us to believe that God hath left all mankind to perish in their sin and misery, under the curse, without any provision of a remedy; yea, there are on the other side evidences many and certain that there is a way provided for their recovery: for,—
First, The glorious properties of the nature of God, whose manifestation and exaltation in all the works that outwardly are of him he designeth, do require that there should be salvation for sinners. Even this matter of the salvation of sinners conduceth, yea, is necessary, unto the manifestation of some of those divine excellencies wherein no small part of the glory of God doth consist. God had, in the creation of all things, glorified his greatness, power, wisdom, and goodness. His sovereignty, righteousness, and holiness, he had in like manner revealed in that holy law which he had prescribed unto angels and men for the rule of their obedience, and in the assignation of their reward. Upon the sin of angels and men, he had made known his severity and vindictive justice, in the curse and punishment inflicted on them. But there were yet remaining undiscovered, in the abyss of his eternal essence, grace and pardoning mercy; which in none of his works had as yet exerted themselves or manifested their glory. And in case no remedy be provided for mankind under the evils mentioned, and their utter ruin, as they must have perished accordingly, so those glorious properties of the nature of God,— all ways of exerting their proper and peculiar acts being secluded, all objects of them removed,—could not have been equally glorified with his other holy attributes. The creatures know nothing in God but as it is manifested in its effects. His essence in itself dwells in "light inaccessible." Had never any stood in need of grace and mercy, or, doing so, had never been made partakers of them, it could not have been known that there was that kind of goodness in his nature, which yet it is his design principally to glorify himself in. The necessity, therefore, of the manifestation of these properties of God, his goodness, grace, mercy, and readiness to forgive, which can only be exercised about sinners, and that in their relief and salvation from sin and misery, do require that the deliverance inquired after be admitted, and justly expected. And this expectation is so much the more just, and firmly grounded, in that there is nothing in himself which the Lord more requireth our conformity unto himself in, than in this condescension, goodness, grace, and readiness to forgive; which manifests how dear the glory of them is unto him.
Secondly, To what end shall we conceive the providence and patience of God to be exercised towards the race of mankind for so long a season in the earth? We see what is the general issue and event of the continuance of mankind in the world; God saw it and complained of it long ago, Gen. 6:5, 6. Shall we now think that God hath no other design, in his patience towards mankind for so many generations, but merely to suffer them all and every one without exception to sin against him, dishonour him, provoke him, that so he may at length everlastingly destroy them? That this, indeed, is the event with many, with the most, through their own perverse wickedness, blindness, and love of the "pleasures of sin," cannot be denied; but to suppose that God hath no other design at all but merely by his patience to forbear them a while in their folly, and then to avenge himself upon them, is unsuitable unto his wisdom and goodness. It cannot be, then, but that he would long since have cut off the whole race, if there were no way for them to be delivered out of this perishing condition. And although this way, whatever it be, is not effectual towards all, yet for their sakes towards whom, through the grace of God, it is and shall be so, is the patience of God exercised towards the whole race of mankind, and their being is continued in this world. Other reason of this dispensation of divine wisdom and goodness can none be assigned.
Thirdly, That there is a way of deliverance for mankind, the event hath manifested in two remarkable and undeniable instances:—
First, In that sundry persons who were, as others, "by nature children of wrath," and under the curse, have obtained an undoubted and infallible interest in the love and favour of God, and this testimony, that "they pleased him." What were the assurances they had hereof, I shall not now debate. But I take it now for granted,—which may be further confirmed as occasion shall require,—that some persons in all generations have enjoyed the friendship, love, and favour of God: which they could never have done unless there had been some way for their deliverance out of the state of sin and misery before described; for therein every man, upon a just account, will find himself in the state of Adam, who, when he heard the voice of God, was afraid.
Secondly, God hath been pleased to require from men a revenue of glory, by a way of worship prescribed unto them after the entrance of sin. This he hath not done unto the angels that sinned; nor could it have been done, in a consistency with righteousness, unto men, without a supposition of a possibility of deliverance from under his wrath: for in every prescription of duty God proposeth himself as a rewarder; which he is only unto them that please him, and to please God without the deliverance inquired after is impossible. Besides, that God is actually glorified in the world by the way of worship required on this supposition, shall be elsewhere declared, and arguments added in full measure to confirm our assertion.
Deliverance, then, from this condition may on just grounds be expected; and how it might be effected is our next inquiry.
16. The great relief inquired after must be brought about by men themselves, or by some other for them. What they can do themselves herein we may be quickly satisfied about. The nature of the evils under which they suffer, and the event of things in the world, sufficiently discover the disability of men to be their own deliverers. Besides, who should contrive the way of it for them? One single person? more? or all? How easily the impossibility of it might be demonstrated, on any of these suppositions, is too manifest to be insisted on. The evils suffered under are of two sorts, both universal and eternal. The first is that of punishment, inflicted from the righteousness of God.
There are but two ways possible (setting aside the consideration of what shall be afterwards fixed on) whereby mankind, or any individual person amongst them, may obtain deliverance from this evil; and the first is, that God, without any further consideration, should remit it, and exempt the creation from under it. But although this way may seem possible unto some, it is indeed utterly otherwise. Did not the sentence of it proceed from his righteousness and the essential rectitude of his nature? did he not engage his truth and faithfulness that it should be inflicted? and doth not his holiness and justice require that so it should be? What should become of his glory, what would he do unto his great name, if now, without any cause or reason, he should, contrary unto all these engagements of his holy perfections, wholly remit and take it off? Nay, this would plainly justify the serpent in his calumny, that whatever he pretended, yet indeed no execution of his threatening would ever ensue. How, also, can it be supposed that any of his future comminations should have a just weight upon the souls of men, if that first great and fundamental one should be frustrated and evacuated? or what authority would be left unto his law when he himself should dissolve the sanction of it? Besides, if God should do thus,—which reason, revelation, and the event of things, do manifest that he neither would nor could (for he cannot deny himself),—this would have been his work, and not an acquisition of men themselves, which we are now inquiring after. So that this way of deliverance, as it is but imaginary, so it is here of no consideration.
There is no other way, then, for man, if he will not perish eternally under the punishment due unto his apostasy and rebellion, but, secondly, to find out some way of commutation, or making a recompense for the evil of sin unto the law and righteousness of God. But herein his utter insufficiency quickly manifests itself. Whatever he is, or hath, or can pretend any interest in, lies no less under the curse than he doth himself; and that which is under the curse can contribute nothing unto its removal. That which is, in its whole being, obnoxious unto the greatest punishment, can have nothing wherewithal to make commutation for it; for that must first be accepted, in and for itself, which can either make atonement, or be received for any other in exchange. And this is the condition of man, and of every individual of mankind, and will be so to eternity, unless relief arise from another place. It is further also evident, that all the endeavours of men must needs be unspeakably disproportionate unto the effect and end aimed at, from the concernment of the other parts of the creation in the curse against sin. What can they do to restore the universe unto its first glory and beauty? How can they reduce the creation unto its original harmony? Wherewith shall they recompense the great God for the defacing of so great a portion of that impress of his glory and goodness that he had enstamped on it? In a word, they who, from their first date unto their utmost period, are always under the punishment, can do nothing for the total removal of it. The experience also of five thousand years hath sufficiently evinced how insufficient man is to be a saviour unto himself. All the various and uncertain notions of Adam's posterity in religion, from the extremity of atheism unto that of sacrificing themselves and one another, have been destined in vain towards this end; neither can any of them, to this day, find out a better or more likely way for them to thrive in, than those wherewith their progenitors deluded themselves. And in the issue of all, we see, that as to what man hath been able of himself to do towards his own deliverance, both himself and the whole world are continued in the same state wherein they were upon the first entrance of sin, cumulated, as it were, with another world of confusion, disorder, mischief, and misery.
There is also another head of the misery of man; and that is, the corrupt spring of moral evil that is in his nature. This also is universal and endless. It mixeth itself with all and every thing that man doth or can do as a moral agent, and that all ways and for ever, Gen. 6:5. It is, then, impossible that it should have an end, unless it do either destroy or spend itself. But seeing it will do neither of these, ever sinning, which man cannot but be, is not the way to disentangle himself from sin.
17. If, then, any deliverance be ever obtained for mankind, it must be by some other [being], not involved in the same misery with themselves. This must either be God himself, or good angels. Other rational agents there are none. If we look to the latter, we must suppose them to undertake this work either by the appointment of God, or upon their own accord, without his previous command or direction. The latter cannot be supposed. They knew too much of the majesty, holiness, and terror of the great God, to venture on an interposition of themselves upon his counsels and ways uncommanded. To do so would have been a sinful dissolution of the law of their creation. So much, also, they might discern of the work itself as to stifle unto eternity every thought of engaging themselves into it. Besides, they knew the will of God, by what they saw come to pass. They saw his justice and holiness glorified, in the evils which he had brought upon the world. That he would not for ever satisfy himself in that glory, they knew not. And what was man unto them, that they should busy themselves to retrieve him from that condition whereinto he had cast himself by sin, finding Him glorified therein, in conformity unto whose will their happiness and perfection do consist? As remote as men are from thoughts of recovering fallen angels, so far were they from contriving the recovery of man.
But it may be said, that God himself might design them to work out the salvation and deliverance inquired after, as was before supposed. But this makes God, and not them, to be the Saviour, and them only the instruments in the accomplishment of his work. Neither yet hath he done so, nor were they meet so to be employed. Whatever is purely penal in the misery of man, is an effect of the righteous judgment of God. This, as we have manifested, could be no otherwise diverted from him but by the undergoing of it by some other in his stead. And two things are required in him or them that should so undergo it:—First, That they were not themselves obnoxious unto it, either personally or upon the first common account. Should they be so, they ought to look to their own concernment in the first place. Secondly, That they were such as that the benefit of their undergoing that penalty might, according to the rules of justice, redound unto them for whom and in whose stead they underwent it; otherwise they would suffer in vain. Now, although the angels might answer the first of these, in their personal immunity from obnoxiousness unto the curse, yet the latter they were unsuited for. They had no relation unto mankind, but only that they were the workmanship of the same Creator. But this is not sufficient to warrant such a substitution. Had angels been to be delivered, their redemption must have been wrought in the angelical nature, as the apostle declares, Heb. 2:16. But what justice is it, that man should sin and angels suffer? or from whence should it arise that, from their suffering, it should be righteous that he should go free? By what notions of God could we have been instructed in the wisdom and righteousness of such a proceeding? Add hereunto that this God hath not done, and we may safely conclude that it became him not so to do.
18. But what need all this inquiry? The Jews, with whom we principally have to do in this matter, plead constantly that God hath appointed unto men, at least unto themselves, a way and means of delivery out of this condition; and this is by the observation of Moses' law. By this they say they are justified in the sight of God, and have deliverance from all wrath due unto sin. This they trusted in of old, Rom. 9:32; this they continue to make their refuge at this day. "Spiritualis liberatio solummodo dependet ab observatione legis quam Deus in Monte Sinai promulgavit;"—"Spiritual deliverance dependeth solely on the observation of the law which God promulgated on Mount Sinai," saith the author of the Answers unto certain Questions proposed to the Jews, quest. 5, published by Brenius; who in his reply hath betrayed unto them the most important doctrines of the Christian religion. But this is their persuasion. The giving of this law unto them they suppose to have freed them utterly from every thing in the condition before described, so far as they will acknowledge it to concern any of the posterity of Adam. And whereas they cannot deny but that they sometimes sin against the moral precepts of this law, and so stand in need of help against their helper, they fix in this case upon a double relief. The first is that of their own personal repentance; and the other, the sacrifices that are appointed in the law.
But whereas they now are, and have been for many generations, deprived of the privilege, as they esteem it, of offering sacrifices according to the law, they hope that their own repentance, with their death, which they pray may be expiatory, will be sufficient to obtain for them the forgiveness of sin. Only, they say this might better and more easily be effected if they might enjoy the benefit of sacrifices. So saith the forementioned Jew, whose discourse is published by Brenius: "Quamvis jam nulla sint sacrificia, quae media erant ad tanto facilius impetrandam remissionem peccatorum, eadem tamen per poenitentiam et resipiscentiam impetratur." And again: "Hodie victimas offerre non possumus destituti mediis ad hoc necessariis, quae quando obtinebimus, tum remissio illa tanto facilior reddetur," Respon. ad Quaest. Septim. If they cannot obtain the use of sacrifices, yet the matter may be effected by their repentance; only it were much easier to do it by sacrifices. And they seem to long for them principally on this account, that by them they may free themselves from somewhat of discipline and penance, which now their consciences enforce them unto. But this, as all other articles of their creed which are properly Judaical, is feigned by them, to suit their present condition and interest: for where do they find that their sacrifices,—especially that which they most trust in, namely, that on the feast of expiation, Lev. 16,—was ever designed for this end, to enable them the more easily to obtain the remission of sins by another means which they use? For it is said directly that the sacrifice on that day did expiate their sin, and make atonement for it, that they might not die; and not that it did help them in procuring pardon another way. But this is now taken from them, and what shall they do? Why, rather than they will look or come to Him who was represented in that sacrifice, and on whose account alone it had all its efficacy, they will find out a new way of doing that which their sacrifices were appointed unto; and this they must do, or openly acknowledge that they all perish eternally. I shall not insist long on the casting down of this imagination, all the foundations of it being long ago demolished by our apostle in his epistles, especially those to the Romans, Galatians, and the Hebrews themselves. And this he hath not done merely by a new revelation of the mind and will of God, but upon the principles and by the testimonies of the Old Testament itself, as will afterwards more fully appear. Only, because it is here set up in competition with that blessed and all-sufficient remedy against sin and the curse which God indeed hath provided, I shall briefly remove it out of our way, and that by manifesting that it is neither in itself suited unto that end, nor was ever of God designed thereunto.
19. That all mankind were cast into the condition we have described, by and upon the sin of Adam, we have before sufficiently confirmed. Other just reason or occasion of it no man can assign. It hath been also evinced that God would, and consequently did, prepare a remedy for them, or a way of deliverance to be proposed unto them. If this were only the law of Moses, and the observance thereof, as the Jews pretend, I desire to know what became of them, what was their estate and condition, who lived and died before the giving of the law? Not only the patriarchs before the flood, who some of them had this testimony, that they pleased God, and one of whom was taken alive into heaven, but Abraham also himself, who received the promises, must, on this supposition, be excluded from a participation in the deliverance inquired after; for they observed not the law of Moses. What they dream about the making of their law before the foundation of the world, and the study of God therein, and that night and day, by day in the written law, and by night in the oral Cabala, is not to be mentioned when matters of importance unto the souls of men are under consideration.
But yet I may add, by the way, that neither this nor the like monstrous figments are invented or broached by them without some especial design. In the eighth chapter of the Proverbs there is mention of the Wisdom of God, and such a description given of it as allows not an essential property of his nature to be thereby intended. This is there said to be with God before the foundation of the world, his delight and companion; whence it appears that nothing but the eternal Word, Wisdom, and Son of God, can possibly be intended thereby. To avoid this testimony given unto his eternal subsistence, the Jews first invented this fable, that the law was "created before the world," and that the wisdom of it was that which God conversed with and delighted in. And I have often wondered at the censure of a learned Christian annotator upon the place. "Haec," saith he, "de ea sapientia quae in lege apparet exponunt Hebraei; et sane ei, si non soli, at praecipue haec attributa conveniunt;" contrary to the faith of the church in all ages. It is true, on verse 22, and those that follow, he affirms they may be expounded by that of Philo de Coloniis: Ὁ λόγος ὁ πρεσβύτερος τῶν γένεσιν εἰληφότων, οὗ καθάπερ οἴακος ἐνειλημμένος ὁ τῶν ὅλων κυβερνήτης πηδαλιουχεῖ τὰ σύμπαντα, καὶ ὅτε ἐκοσμοπλάστει χρησάμενος ὀργάνῳ τούτῳ πρὸς τὴν ἀνυπαίτιον τῶν ἀποτελουμένων σύστασιν. But whether this Platonical declaration of the nature and work of the Word of God, employed by him as an instrument in the making and government of the world, would have been accepted in the primitive church, when this place was vexed by the Arians, and studiously vindicated by the orthodox fathers, I much question. But to return: if the law, and the observance of it, be the only remedy provided of God against the sin and misery of man, the only means of reconciliation with him, all that died before the giving of it must perish, and that eternally. But the contrary appears from this very consideration, and is undeniably proved by our apostle in the instance of Abraham, Gal. 3:17: for he received the promise and was taken into covenant with God four hundred and thirty years before the giving of the law; and that covenant conveyed unto him the love and favour of God, with deliverance from sin and the curse; as themselves will not deny.
There was therefore a remedy in this case provided long before the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; and therefore the law was not given unto that purpose, but for other ends, at large declared by our apostle. Either, then, they must grant that all the patriarchs, and he in especial of whom they boast, perished eternally, or else that there was a means of deliverance provided before the giving of the law; and, consequently, that the law was not given for that end. The first they will not do, nor can, without an absolute renunciation of their own sacred writings, wherein none have obtained a larger testimony that they pleased God than they. The latter, therefore, followeth undeniably. If they shall say they had a way of deliverance, but God provided another afterwards, as this would be spoken without warrant or authority from the Scripture, so I desire to know both what that way was, and why it was rejected. Of God's appointment it was, and effectual it was unto them that embraced it, and why it should be laid aside who can declare?
20. Again, as was before observed, there are two parts of the law,—the moral precepts of it, and the instituted worship appointed in it. Unto this latter part do the sacrifices of it belong. But neither of these are sufficient unto the end proposed, nor jointly can they attain it. Two things are evidently necessary, from what hath been discoursed, unto the deliverance inquired after,—first, That man be reconciled unto God, by the removal of the curse and the wrath due unto him for his apostasy; secondly, That his nature be freed from that principle of sin and enmity against God (the evil figment) that it is tainted, yea, possessed withal. And neither of these can be effected by the law, or either part of it; for,—
First, The moral precepts of it are the same with those that were written in the heart of man by nature, or the law of his creation, which he transgressed in his first rebellion. And he must be delivered from that guilt before any new obedience can be accepted of him. His old debt must be satisfied for before he can treat for a new reward, which inseparably follows all acceptable obedience. But this the precepts of the law take no notice of, nor direct unto any way for its removal; only, supposing the doing of it by some other means, it requires exact obedience in them that come to God thereby. Hence our apostle concludes that it could not give life, but was weak and insufficient in itself unto any such purpose. Besides,—
Secondly, It could not absolutely preserve men in its own observation; for it required that obedience which never any sinner did or could in all things perform, as the scriptures of the Old Testament abundantly manifest. For they tell us, "there is no man that sinneth not," 1 Kings 8:46, 2 Chron. 6:36; that "if the LORD should mark iniquity, no man could stand," Ps. 130:3; and that "if he enter into judgment" (according to the law), "no man living can be justified in his sight," Ps. 143:2. To this purpose see the excellent discourse and invincible reasonings of our apostle, Rom. 3:4. This the holy men of old confessed; this the Scripture bears testimony unto; and this experience confirms, seeing every sin and transgression of that law was put under a curse, Deut. 27:26. Where, then, "there is no man that sinneth not," and every sin is put under the curse, the law, in the preceptive part of it, can be no means of delivery from the one or other, but is rather a certain means of increasing and aggravating of them both. Neither is there any testimony given, concerning any one under the old testament, that he was any other way justified before God but by faith and the pardon of sins, which are not of the works of the law. See Gen. 15:6; Ps. 32:1, 2. Of Noah, indeed, it is said that he was "upright" and "perfect in his generations;" that is, sincere in his obedience, and free from the open wickedness of the age wherein he lived: but as this was before the giving of the law by Moses, so the ground of his freedom and deliverance is added to be the gracious love and favour of God. This the Jews themselves confess in the Bereshith Rabba, sect. 29: יי׳ בעיני חן שמצא אלא כדאי היה לא מהן שנשתיר נח אפילו;—"Even Noah himself, who was left of them, was not every way as he should be, but that he found grace or favour in the eyes of the Lord." And to the same purpose they speak concerning Abraham himself elsewhere: מוצא אתה ביי׳ האמין שנא׳ האמונה בזכות אלא הבא ועולם חזה העולם אבינו אברהם יירש שלא; —"Thou findest that Abraham our father inherited not this world and the world to come any otherwise than by faith: as it is said, 'He believed God.' " This part, therefore, of the law is plainly convinced to be insufficient to deliver sinners from an antecedent guilt, and curse due thereunto.
21. It remains, then, that the sacrifices of the law must yield the relief inquired after, or we are still at a loss in this matter. And these the Jews would willingly place their chief confidence in; they did so of old. Since, indeed, they have been driven from their observation, they have betaken themselves unto other helps, that they might not appear to be utterly hopeless. But they sufficiently manifest their great reserve against the accusation of their consciences to be in them, by the ludicrous ways of representing or rather counterfeiting of them that they have invented. נֶּבֶר signifies a "man;" and among the rabbins a "cock" also. Hence Ben Uzziel renders רֶבָנּ ןֹיְצֶע, "Ezion-geber," the name of a city, Deut. 2:8, תרנגולא כרך, "The city of a cock;" and Isa. 22:17, גָּבֶר is rendered by Jerome, "Gallus gallinaceus." Granting, therefore, that the punishment of Geber is required unto atonement and reconciliation, and that some such thing was signified in their sacrifices, they do, each one for himself, torture, slay, and offer a cock on the day of expiation, to make atonement for their sins, and that unto the devil. The rites of that diabolical solemnity are declared at large by Buxtorf, in his Synagog. Judaic. cap. xxv. But yet, as this folly manifests that they can find no rest in their consciences without their sacrifices, so it gives them not at all what they seek after. And therefore, being driven from all other hopes, they trust at length unto their own death, for in life they have no hope; making this one of their constant prayers, "Let my death be the expiation of all sins." But this is the curse, and so no means to avoid it. Omitting, therefore, these horrid follies of men under despair,—an effect of that wrath which is come upon them unto the uttermost,—the thing itself may be considered.
That the sacrifices of Moses' law, in and by themselves, should be a means to deliver men from the guilt of sin, and to reconcile them unto God, is contrary to the light of nature, their own proper use, and express testimonies of the Old Testament; for,—First, Can any man think it reasonable that the blood of bulls and goats should, of itself, make an expiation for the sin of the souls of men, reconcile them to God the judge of all, and impart unto them an everlasting righteousness? Our apostle declares the manifest impossibility hereof, Heb. 10:4. They must have very mean and low thoughts of God, his holiness, justice, truth, of the demerit of sin, of heaven and hell, who think them all to depend on the blood of a calf or a goat. The sacrifices of them, indeed, might, by God's appointment, represent that to the minds of men which is effectual unto the whole end of appeasing God's justice, and of obtaining his favour; but that they should themselves effect it, is unsuitable unto all the apprehensions which are inbred in the heart of man either concerning the nature of God or the guilt of sin. Secondly, Their primitive and proper use doth manifest the same; for they were to be frequently repeated, and in all the repetitions of them there was still new mention made of sin. They could not, therefore, by themselves, take it away; for if they could, they would not have been reiterated. It is apparent, therefore, that their use was to represent and bring to remembrance that which did perfectly take away sin. For a perfect work may be often remembered, but it need not, it cannot be often done; for being done for such an end, and that end being obtained, it cannot be done again. The sacrifices, therefore, were never appointed, never used to take away sin, which they did not; but to represent that which did so effectually. Besides, there were some sins that men may be guilty of, whom God will not utterly reject, for which there was no sacrifice appointed in the law of Moses; as was the case with David, Ps. 51:16: which makes it undeniable that there was some other way of atonement besides them and beyond them, as our apostle declares, Acts 13:38, 39. Thirdly, The Scripture expressly rejects all the sacrifices of the law, when they are trusted in for any such end and purpose; which sufficiently demonstrates that they were never appointed thereunto. See Ps. 40:6–8, 50:8–13; Isa. 1:11–13, 66:3; Amos 5:21, 22; Mic. 6:6–8; and other places innumerable.
22. Add unto what hath been spoken, that during the observation of the whole law of Moses, whilst it was in force by the appointment of God himself, he still directed those who sought for acceptance with him unto a new covenant of grace, whose benefits by faith they were then made partakers of, and whose nature was afterwards more fully to be declared. See Jer. 31:31–34, with the inferences of our apostle thereon, Heb. 8:13. And this plainly everts the whole foundation of the Jews' expectation of justification before God on the account of the law of Moses given on Mount Sinai; for to what purpose should God call them from resting on the covenant thereof, to look for mercy and grace in and by another, if that had been able to give them the help desired?
In brief, then, the Jews fixing on the law of Moses as the only means of delivery from sin and death, as they do thereby exclude all mankind besides themselves from any interest in the love, favour, or grace of God, —which they greatly design and desire,—so they cast themselves also into a miserable, restless, self-condemned condition in this world, by trusting to that which will not relieve them; and into endless misery hereafter, by refusing that which effectually would make them heirs of salvation: for whilst they perish in their sin, another, better, more glorious, and sure remedy against all the evils that are come upon mankind, or are justly feared to be coming by any of them, is provided, in the grace, wisdom, and love of God, as shall now further be demonstrated.
23. The first intimation that God gave of this work of his grace in redeeming mankind from sin and misery, is contained in the promise subjoined unto the curse denounced against our first parents, and their posterity in them: Gen. 3:15, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent, and the serpent shall bruise his heel." Two things there are contained in these words;—a promise of relief from the misery brought on mankind by the temptation of Satan; and an intimation of the means or way whereby it should be brought about. That the first is included in these words is evident; for,—
First, If there be not a promise of deliverance expressed in these words, whence is it that the execution of the sentence of death against sin is suspended? Unless we will allow an intervention satisfactory to the righteousness and truth of God to be expressed in these words, there would have been a truth in the suggestion of the serpent, namely, that whatever God had said, yet indeed they were not to die. The Jews, in the Midrash Tehillim,—as Kimchi informs us on Ps. 92, whose title is, "A Psalm for the Sabbath-day," which they generally assign unto Adam,—say that Adam was cast out of the garden of Eden on the evening of the sixth day, after which God came to execute the sentence of death upon him; but the Sabbath being come on, the punishment was deferred, whereon Adam made that psalm for the Sabbath-day. Without an interposition of some external cause and reason, they acknowledge that death ought immediately to have been inflicted; and other besides what is mentioned in these words there was none.
Secondly, The whole evil of sin, and curse, that mankind then did, or was to, suffer under, proceeded from the friendship contracted between the woman and the serpent, and her fixing faith in him. God here declares that he will break that league, and put enmity between them. Being now both of them under the same condition of sin and curse, this could not be without a change of condition in one of them. Satan is not divided from himself, nor is at enmity with them that are left wholly in his estate. A change of condition, therefore, on the part of the woman and her seed is plainly promised; that is, by a deliverance from the state of sin and misery wherein they were. Without this the enmity mentioned could not have ensued.
Thirdly, In pursuit of this enmity, the Seed of the woman was to bruise the head of the serpent. The head is the seat of his power and craft. Without the destruction of the evil and pernicious effects which by his counsel he had brought about, his head cannot be bruised. By his head he had contrived the ruin of mankind; and without the destruction of his works and a recovery from that ruin, he is not conquered nor his head bruised. And as these things, though they may now seem somewhat obscurely expressed in these words, are yet made plain unto us in the gospel, so the importance of them was evident unto our first parents of old, being expounded by all the circumstances wherewith the matter of fact was attended.
Again, there is an intimation of the manner how this work shall be performed. This, first, God takes upon himself: 'I will do it; "I will put enmity." ' It is an issue of his sovereign wisdom and grace. But, secondly, he will do it in and by the nature of man, "the Seed of the woman." And two things must concur to the effecting of it;—first, That this Seed of the woman must conquer Satan, bruise his head, destroy his works, and procure deliverance for mankind thereby; secondly, That he must suffer from, and by the means of, Satan in his so doing,—the serpent must "bruise his heel." This is the remedy and relief that God hath provided for mankind. And this is the MESSIAH, or God joining with the nature of man to deliver mankind from sin and eternal misery.
24. This promise of relief by the Seed of the woman is, as the first, so the only intimation that God gave unto our first parents of a way of deliverance from that condition whereinto they, and the whole creation, were brought by the entrance of evil or sin. It was likewise the first discovery that there was in him ,חֶסֶד, סְלִיחָה, רַחֲמ ם, רָצוֹן חֵן,—benignity, grace, kindness, or mercy, compassion, pardon. Hereby he declared himself to be אֱלוֹהַּ וְרַחוּם חַנּוּן סְלִיחוֹת, Neh. 9:17,—"a God of pardons, gracious, and tenderly merciful;" as also, Ps. 86:5, וְרַב־חֶסֶד וְסַלָּח טוֹב,—"good and pardoning, and much in mercy." And if this be not acknowledged, it must be confessed that all the world, at least unto the flood, if not unto the days of Abraham,—in which space of time we have testimony concerning some that they walked with God, and pleased him,—were left without any certain ground of faith, or hope of acceptance with him; for without some knowledge of this mercy, and the provision of a way for its exercise, they could have no such persuasion. This, then, we have obtained, that God, presently upon the entrance of sin into the world, and the breach of its public peace thereby, promised a reparation of that evil, in the whole extent of it, to be wrought in and by the Seed of the woman,—that is, the Messiah.
25. According unto our design, we may take along with us the thoughts of the Jews in this matter, expressed after their manner.
for the serpent that tempted Eve, who is here threatened as the head of all the evil that ensued thereon, they confess that Satan accompanied him, and was principally intended in the curse denounced against him. So the Targum of Ben Uzziel: "When the serpent came to tempt Eve, she saw מותא מלאך סמאל,—Samael the angel of death upon him." And Maimonides gives a large account of the doctrine of their wise men in this matter, More Nebuch. pag. 2, cap. xx.: "At neque hoc praetereundum quod in Midrash adducunt sapientes nostri, serpentem equitatum fuisse, quantitatem ejus instar cameli, et sessorem ejus fuisse illum qui decepit Evam, huncque sessorem fuisse Samaelem, quod nomen absolute usurpant de Satana. Invenies enim quod in multis locis dicunt Satanam voluisse impedire Abrahamum ne ligaret Isaacum, sic voluisse impedire Isaacum ne obsequeretur voluntati patris sui; alibi vero in hoc eodem negotio dicunt, venit Samael ad Abrahamum. Sic itaque apparet quod Samael sit ipse Satan." To omit their fables, this is evident, that they acknowledge it was Satan who deceived Eve. And in Bereshith Rabba, sect. 10, they give an account why God expostulated with Adam and Eve before he pronounced sentence against them, but without any word or question proceeded immediately unto the doom of the serpent; for say they, "The holy, blessed God said, לו אומר אני ואם תשובות בעל רשע זה נחש להם הלכו צוויך הניחו מה מפני אותם צוייתי ואני אותם צוית את לי אומר הוא עכשיו דין את לו ופסק עליו קפץ אלא צווי אחרו;—"This serpent is wicked, and a cunning disputer, and if I speak unto him, he will straightway say, 'Thou gavest them a commandment, and I gave them a commandment; why did they leave thy commandment and follow my commandment?' and therefore he presently pronounced sentence against him." And the same words are repeated in Midrash Vaiikra, ad cap. xiii. 2; which things can be understood of Satan only. I know some of the later masters have other thoughts of these things, because they discover what use may be made of the truth and the faith of their forefathers in this matter.
Aben Ezra, in his commentary on this place, disputes the opinions of their doctors; and although he acknowledges that Rabbi Saadias Haggaon, and Rabbi Samuel Ben Hophni, with others (that is, indeed, their Targums, and Talmuds, and all their ancient writings), affirm Satan to be intended, yet he contends for the serpent only; on the weak pretences, that Satan goeth not on his belly, nor eateth dust, which things in the letter are confessed to belong unto the instrument that he used. And hereon they would have it that the serpent was deprived of voice and understanding, which before he had; so making him a rational subsistence who is expressly reckoned amongst the beasts of the field. The root of all evil, also, they would have to lie in the matter whereof we were originally made; an impossible figment, invented to reflect the guilt of all sin on Him that made us. Thus every thing seems right to them that will serve the present turn, whilst they shut their eyes against the truth. But we have the consent of the ancientest, best, and wisest of them in this matter, as also unto the deliverance here promised. The two Targums, [that] of Ben Uzziel, and that called Jerusalem, both agree that these words contain a remedy of the effects of Satan's temptation, and that to be wrought by the Messiah, or, as they speak, "in his days." And hence they have a common saying, that "in the last days" (which is the Old Testament periphrasis for the days of the Messiah), "all things shall be healed but the serpent and the Gibeonites;" by whom they understand all hypocrites and unbelievers. Satan, therefore, is to be conquered by the "bruising of his head;" and conquered he is not, nor can be, unless his work be destroyed. In the destruction of his work consists the delivery of mankind from the twofold evil mentioned; and this is to be effected by "the Seed of the woman," to be brought forth into the world unto that end and purpose: for when the production of this Seed is restrained unto the family and posterity of Abraham, it is said expressly that in, or by it, all the kindreds of the earth should be blessed; which they could not be without a removal and taking away of the curse.
26. We may now, therefore, take the sum of this discourse, and of the whole matter that we have insisted on, about the entrance of sin into the world, and the remedy provided in the grace and wisdom of God against it. It appears, upon our inquiry, First, That the sin of our first parents was the occasion and cause of all that evil which is in the world,—of all that is felt or justly feared by mankind; for as those who knew not, or received not, the revelation of the truth in these things made unto us in the Scripture, could never assign any other cause of it that might be satisfactory unto an ordinary rational inquirer, so the testimonies of the Scripture make it most evident, and especially that insisted on. Secondly, It hath been evinced that mankind could not recover or deliver themselves from under the power of their own innate corruption and disorder, nor from the effects of the curse and wrath of God that came upon them; neither is there any ground of expectation of relief from any other part of God's creation: but yet, that God, for the praise of the glory of his grace, mercy, and goodness, would effect it and bring it about. Thirdly, That this relief and deliverance is first intimated and declared in these words of God unto the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel;" which appears,—
First, Because, in and with the serpent, Satan, who was the head of all apostasy from God, and by whom our first parents were beguiled, is intended in these words. This we have made evident from the confession of the Jews, with whom principally, in this matter, we have to do. And to what hath been already observed unto that purpose, we may add the testimonies of some other of them to the same purpose. Rabbi Bechai, he whom they call זקן בחיי, "Bechai the elder," in his comment on the law, upon these words, Gen. 3:15, speaks to this purpose: "We have no more enmity with the serpent than with other creeping things. Wherefore the Scripture mystically signifies him who was hid in the serpent; for the body of the crafty serpent was a fit instrument for that force or virtue that joined itself therewithal. That was it which made Eve to sin; whence death came on all her posterity. And this is the enmity between the serpent and the seed of the woman; and this is the mystery of the holy tongue, that the serpent is sometimes called Saraph, according to the name of an angel who is also called Saraph. And now thou knowest that the serpent is Satan, and the evil figment, and the angel of death." And Rabbi Judah, in יקר כלי: "Many interpreters say that the evil figment hath all its force from the old serpent, or Satan." To the same purpose, the author of ופרח כפתור, "Caphtor Vapaerach:" "The devil and the serpent are called by one name." And many other testimonies of the like importance might be collected out of them.
We have also a surer word for our own satisfaction, in the application of this place unto Satan in the divine writings of the New Testament: as 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14; Rom. 5:11–13, 15; Heb. 2:14, 15; 1 John 3:8; Rev. 12:9, 20:2, 3; but we forbear to press them on the Jews.
Besides, it is most evident from the thing itself; for,—first, Who can be so sottish as to imagine that this great alteration which ensued on the works of God, that which caused him to pronounce them accursed, and to inflict so sore a punishment on Adam and all his posterity, should arise from the actings of a brute creature? Where is the glory of this dispensation? How can we attribute it unto the wisdom and greatness of God? What is there in it suitable unto his righteousness and holiness? Whereas supposing this to be the work of him who was in himself the beginning of all apostasy, and who first brake the law of his creation, all things answer the excellency of the divine perfections. Moreover, is it imaginable that the nature of man, then flourishing in the vigour of all its intellectual abilities, reason, wisdom, knowledge, in that order and rectitude of them which was his grace, should be surprised, seduced, and brought into subjection unto the craft and machinations of an inferior creature, a beast of the field, and that unto its own ruin, temporal and eternal? The whole nature of the inferior creatures, James tells us, "is tamed by the nature of man," chap. 3:7, and that now, in his lessened and depraved condition; and shall we think that this excellent nature, in the blossom of its strength and right unto rule over all, should be tamed, corrupted, subdued, by the nature of a beast or a serpent? And yet again, whereas in the whole action of the serpent, there is an open design against the glory and honour of God, with the welfare and happiness of mankind, and that managed with craft, subtlety, and forecast, how can we imagine that such a contrivance should befall a brute worm, incapable of moral evil, and newly framed out of the dust by the power of its Creator? Hitherto it had continued under the law, and order, of its creation; and shall we now think that suddenly, in an instant, it should engage thus desperately against God and man? And further, the actings of the serpent were by reason and with speech; and doth not a supposal that he was endowed with them plainly exempt him from that order and kind of creatures whereof he was, and place him among the number of the intellectual and rational parts of the creation? And is not this contrary to the analogy of the Scripture and the open truth of the thing itself, he being cursed among "the beasts of the field?" To say, as Aben Ezra seems to do, that God gave him reason and speech for that occasion, is blasphemously to make God the sole author of that temptation which he so much abhorred. Lastly, considering the punishment denounced against mankind, of death temporal and eternal, that which is threatened unto the serpent bears no proportion unto it, if it concern only the serpent itself; and what rule of justice will admit that the accessary should be punished with greater sufferings than the principal? Neither doth this punishment, as to the principal part of it, the bruising of the head, befall all serpents, yea, but few of them in comparison,—doubtless not one in a million; whereas all mankind, none excepted, were liable unto the penalty denounced against them. Were no more men intended herein than are bitten on the heel by serpents, the matter were otherwise; but "death is passed upon all men, for all have sinned." Satan, then, it was who was the principal in this seduction, the author of all apostasy from God, who, using the serpent as his instrument, involved that also so far in the curse, as to render it of all creatures the most abhorred of mankind.
27. Against this seducer it is denounced that "his head should be bruised." The head of Satan is his craft and power. From these issued all that evil whereinto mankind was fallen. In the bruising, therefore, of his head, the defeat of his counsel, the destruction of his work, and the deliverance of mankind, are contained, as our apostle most excellently declares, Heb. 2. Death must be removed, and righteousness brought in, and acceptance with God procured, or the head of Satan is not bruised. This, therefore, is openly and plainly a promise of the deliverance inquired after.
Moreover, there is a declaration made how this victory shall be obtained and this deliverance wrought; and that is by the "seed of the woman." This seed is twice repeated in the words: once expressly, "and her seed;" and, secondly, it is included in the pronoun הוּא, "it." And as by "seed," in the first place, the posterity of the woman, some to be born of her race, partakers of human nature, may be intended, as the subjects of the enmity mentioned; so in the latter some single person, some one of her posterity or seed, that should obtain the victory, is expressly denoted: for as all her seed in common do never go about this work, the greatest part of them continuing in a willing subjection unto Satan, so if all of them should combine to attempt it, they would never be able to accomplish it, as we have before proved at large. Some one, therefore, to come of her, with whom God would be present in an especial and extraordinary manner, is here expressly promised; and this is the Messiah.
28. God having, in infinite wisdom and grace, provided this way of relief, and given this intimation of it, that revelation became the foundation and centre of all the religion that ensued in the world: for as those who received it by faith, and adhered unto it, continued in the worship of the true God, expressing their faith in the sacrifices that he had appointed typically to represent and exemplify before their eyes the work itself, which by the promised Seed was to be accomplished; so also all that false worship which the generality of mankind apostatized unto was laid in a general persuasion that there was a way for the recovery of the favour of God, but what that was they knew not, and therefore wandered in woful uncertainties.
Some suppose that our great mother Eve, in these words, Gen. 4:1, אֶת־יְהֹוָה אִישׁ קָנִיתִי, expressed an apprehension that she had born him who was Man-God, "the Man the LORD," the promised Seed. And they do not only contend for this meaning of the words, but also reproach them who are otherwise minded; as may be seen in the writings of Hunnius and Helvicus against Calvin, Junius, Paraeus, and Piscator. That she, together with Adam, believed the promise, had the consolation, and served God in the faith of it, I no way doubt; but that she had an apprehension that the promised Seed should be so soon exhibited, and knew that he should be the LORD, or Jehovah, and yet knew not that he was to be born of a virgin, and not after the ordinary way of mankind, I see no cogent reason to evince. Nor do the words mentioned necessarily prove any such apprehension in her. The whole weight of that supposition lies on the construction of the words, from the interposition of the particle אֶת, denoting, as they say, after verbs active always an accusative case. But instances may be given to the contrary; whence our translation reads the words, "I have gotten a man from the LORD," without the least intimation of any other sense in the original. And Drusius is bold to affirm that it is want of solid skill in the sacred tongue that was the cause of that conception. Besides, if she had such thoughts, she was manifoldly mistaken; and to what end that mistake of hers should be here expressed I know not. And yet, notwithstanding all this, I will not deny but that the expression is unusual and extraordinary, if the sense of our translation be intended, and not that by some contended for, "I have gotten," or obtained, "the Man the LORD." And this, it is possible, caused Jonathan Ben Uzziel to give us that gloss on the words in his Targum: ית לגברא קניתי ואמרת קין ית וילידת ואעדיאת למלאכא המידת דהוא אתתיה חוה את דע מלאכא
דיי; —"And Adam knew his wife Eve, who desired the Angel; and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, 'I have obtained the man' (or 'a man') 'the Angel of the LORD;' "—that is, him who was promised afterwards under the name of "The Angel of the LORD," or "The Angel of the covenant;" which the Jews may do well to consider.
29. But we have further expositions of this first promise and further confirmations of this grace in the Scripture itself: for in process of time it was renewed unto Abraham, and the accomplishment of it confined unto his family; for his gratuitous call from superstition and idolatry, with the separation of him and his posterity from all the families of the earth, was subservient only unto the fulfilling of the promise before treated of. The first mention of it we have Gen. 12:1–3, "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." And this is again expressed, chap. 18:18, "All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him;" and chap. 22:18, "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." And when he doubted of the accomplishment of this promise because he was childless, and said, "Behold, to me thou hast given no seed," as knowing that therein lay the promise, chap. 15:3, God tells him that "he who should come forth of his own bowels should be his heir," verse 4; which was afterwards restrained unto Isaac, chap. 17:21. Thus he is called and separated, as from his own family and kindred, so from all other nations, and a peculiar portion of the earth assigned unto him and his for their habitation. Now, the especial end of this divine dispensation, of this call and separation of Abraham, was to be a means of accomplishing the former promise, or the bringing forth of Him who was to be the deliverer of mankind from the curse that was come upon them for their sin; for,—
First, It is said that Abraham hereupon should be "a blessing:" בְּרָכָה וֶהְיֵה, "And thou shalt be a blessing;"—'Not only blessed thyself' (which is expressed in the former words, "I will bless thee"), 'but the means of conveying blessings, the great blessing, unto others.' And how was this done in and by Abraham? In his own person he conversed with but few of them, unto some whereof, through their own sins, he was an occasion of punishment; as to the Egyptians, chap. 12:17, and to the Philistines, chap. 20:4, 7. Some he destroyed with the sword, chap. 14:15; and he was not in any thing signally a blessing unto any of them. So his posterity extirpated sundry nations from the face of the earth, were a scourge unto others, and occasioned the ruin of many more. He must needs, then, be made a blessing unto the world on some other account; and this can be nothing but that he was separated to be the peculiar channel by which the promised blessing, the Seed, should be brought forth into the world.
Secondly, It is said that "all the families of the earth should be blessed in him," chap. 12:3; that is, not in his person, but in his seed, as it is expounded chap. 22:18,—that is, in the promised Seed that should come of him; chap. 12:3, נִבְרְכוּ, "shall be blessed," in the passive conjugation of Niphal, referring solely unto the grace and favour of God in giving the Seed; chap. 22:18, הִתְבָּרֲכוּ, in Hithpael, so blessed in the Seed, when exhibited, as that they shall come for the blessing by faith; and, so in him obtaining it, bless themselves. And this is spoken of "all families, all nations," the posterity of Adam in general. They were all cursed in Adam, as hath been declared; and God here promiseth that they shall be blessed in the seed of Abraham, and by him the Seed of the woman. And this blessing must inwrap in it all the good things whereof by the curse they were deprived, or it will be of no use or benefit unto them; a blessing, indeed, it will not be. For a while he intended to leave mankind to walk in their own ways; partly that he might show his severity against sin; partly that he might evidence the sovereignty and undeserved freedom of that grace wherein he had provided a Deliverer; and partly that they might try and experiment their own wisdom and strength in searching after a way of deliverance. But in this promise was the ore laid up, which, after many generations, was brought forth and stamped with the image of God.
Thirdly, The curse unto Satan is here again renewed: "I will bless them that bless thee, and I will curse HIM that curseth thee." The blessing is to many; but the curse respecteth one principally, that is, Satan, as the Scripture generally expresseth the opposite apostate power under that name. Neither is there any just cause of the variation of the number, unless we look on the words as a pursuit of the first promise, which was accompanied with an especial malediction on Satan, who acts his enmity in all obloquy and cursing against the blessed Seed and those that are blessed therein. And this change of the number in these words is observed by Aben Ezra: יחיד ׃ומקללך רבים מברכיך, —" 'They that bless thee,' many; 'He that curseth,' one;" as though many should bless, and few curse, the contrary whereof is true. And Baal Hatturim: לשון מקללך רבים׃ אשון מברכיך יחיד,—" 'They that bless thee,' in the plural number; 'He that curseth thee,' in the singular." And an interpretation is given of the last words becoming those annotations, which are immeasurably Judaical, that is, sottish and superstitious: מקללך בניך לקלל הבא בלעם כגיממריא אאר,—" 'He that curseth thee, I will curse;'—that is, by gematry, 'Balaam, that cometh to curse thy sons;' " the numeral letters of each making up 422: of which fantastical work amongst some of them there is no end. But one single person (in which way Satan is usually spoken of) they saw to be intended; which is passed over, as far as I have observed, by Christian expositors.
30. After the giving of this promise, the whole Old Testament beareth witness that a person was to be born, of the posterity of Abraham, in and by whom the nations of the earth should be saved; that is, delivered from sin and curse, and made eternally happy. Abraham himself died without one foot of an inheritance in this world, nor did he concern himself personally in the nations of the earth beyond his own family; another, therefore, is to be looked for in whom they may be blessed. And this we must further demonstrate, to evince the perverseness of the Jews, who exclude all others besides themselves from an interest in these promises made to Abraham, at least unless they will come into subjection unto them and dependence upon them; so high conceits have they yet of themselves in their low and miserable condition! The next time, therefore, that he is mentioned in the Scripture, it is said, קְּהַת לוֹ עַמִּים, "To him shall be the gathering of the peoples," Gen. 49:10; concerning which place we must treat afterwards at large. The people of the world, distinct from Judah, shall gather themselves unto him; that is, for safety and deliverance, or to be made partakers of the promised blessing.
Hence Balaam among the Gentiles prophesied of him, Num. 24:17, 19; and Job, among the children of the east that were not of the posterity of Isaac, professed his faith in him, chap. 19:25, וַאֲנִי יָקוּם עַל־עָפָד וְאַחֲרוֹן חַי גֹּאֲלי יָדַעְתִּי;—"And I know that my Redeemer liveth" or "is living;" "and afterwards he shall stand on the earth," or "rise on the dust." He believed that there was a גֹּאֵל, a Redeemer, promised, one that should free him from sin and misery. Aben Ezra, by "My Redeemer," understandeth a man that would assist him, or judge more favourably of his cause than his friends at that time did: שדבר טובא בשכילא. And his comment on יַח and ןוֹרֲחאַ is very fond: שיולד אחרון יהיה או בחיים היום הוא;—"He is at present living, or he shall be born hereafter." But is this חַי גֹּאֵל, a living Redeemer? חַי, ὁ ζῶν, "The living one," is a property of God: he is Θεὸς ζῶν, "The living God," 1 Tim. 4:10; ὁ μόνος ἔχων ἀθανασίαν, chap. 6:16, "who alone hath immortality." A mortal man is not rightly called a living redeemer, one that hath life in his power. Besides, Job met with no such redeemer out of his troubles; and therefore R. Levi Ben Gershom confesseth that it is God who is intended: לנצח וקיים חי הוא אשר,—"Who is the living One, and liveth to eternity." Of this Redeemer Job saith, "He shall stand on the earth," or "rise on the dust." If the words be taken in the former sense (as they will bear either), his incarnation and coming into the world, if in the latter, his resurrection out of the dust, is intended. The former seems more probable, and the earth is expressed by עָפָד, "the dust," to denote the infinite condescension of this Redeemer, in coming to converse on this dust that we live in and upon. And this he shall do אַחֲרוֹן. The word is used to express the eternity of God: וַאֲנִי רִאשׁוֹן אֲני אַחֲרוֹן, Isa. 44:6;—"I am the first, and I am the last:" so chap. 48:12. Whence Ralbag, [R. Levi Ben Gershom,] before mentioned, interprets this expression with respect to the works that God shall do in the earth in the latter days. And in this respect our Goël is said to be "Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending;" he that abides thus the same "after all" shall "stand on the earth." But the word also is often joined with דוֹר, a "generation," a time, a season, Ps. 48:14, 102:19, and denotes the futurition of it, that it is to come, and shall come. So also with יוֹם, "a day," as Isa. 30:8, pointing out some signal latter day. And here it is used absolutely for הַיָּמִים בְּאַחֲרִית, "in the latter days;" which is the ordinary description and designation of the days of the Messiah in the Old Testament. This is that which Job expected, which he believed. Though he was among the Gentiles, yet he believed the promise, and expected his own personal redemption by the blessed Seed. And thus, although God confined the posterity of Abraham after the flesh unto the land of Canaan, yet, because in the promised Seed he was to be "heir of the world," he gives unto the Messiah "the heathen to be his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession," Ps. 2:8. And upon the accomplishment of the work assigned unto him, he promiseth that "all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him," Ps. 22:27,— a plain declaration of the Gentiles coming in for their share and interest in the redemption wrought by him. See Ps. 45:16. For these "rebellious ones" was he to "receive gifts," "that the LORD God might dwell among them," Ps. 68:18; so that by him Egypt and Ethiopia were to stretch forth their hands unto God, verse 31; yea, "all kings were to fall down before him, and all nations to serve him," Ps. 72:11–17.
31. These poor Gentiles were the "little sister" of the Judaical church, which was to be provided for in the love of her spouse, the Messiah, Cant. 8:8, 9. For "in the last days," the days of the Messiah, "many people," yea, "all nations," are to be "brought unto the house of the LORD," and are to worship him acceptably, Isa. 2:2–4. And expressly, chap. 11:10, the "Root of Jesse," which the Jews grant to be the Messiah, is to "stand for an ensign unto the people," and "to it shall the Gentiles seek," even for that salvation and deliverance which he had wrought; and they are preferred therein before Israel and Judah, verse 12. "Egypt and Assyria," that is, the other nations of the world, are to be brought into the same covenant of the Messiah with Israel, chap. 19:25: for "all flesh is to see the glory of God," and not the Jews only, chap. 40:5; and the "isles," or utmost parts of the earth, are to "wait for the law" of the promised Messiah, chap. 42:4. And the whole of what we assert is summed up, chap. 49:6, where God speaks unto the promised Seed, and says, "It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth;" where he is as fully promised unto the Gentiles, to be their "salvation," as ever he was unto Abraham or his posterity. See chap. 51:5, 53:12. And on this account doth God call unto men in general to come into his covenant, promising unto them an interest in the "mercies of David," and that because he hath given this Seed as a "witness" unto them, as a "leader and commander," or the "captain of their salvation," chap. 55:1–4; the effect of which call, in the faith of the Gentiles, and their gathering unto the promised Seed, is expressed, verse 5. The like prophecies and predictions, of the Gentiles partaking in the redemption to be wrought, occur in all the prophets, especially Ezekiel, Micah, Zechariah, and Malachi; but the instances already produced are sufficient unto our purpose.
32. There seems yet to be somewhat inconsistent with what we have declared in the words of the apostle, Eph. 3:3, 5, 6, "God by revelation made known unto me the mystery, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." The apostle seems to deny that this mystery, of the participation of the Gentiles in the blessing by the promised Seed, was revealed, or made known, before the time of its discovery in and by the gospel; and therefore could not be so declared by the prophets under the old testament as we have evinced. But indeed he doth not absolutely deny what is asserted; only he prefers the excellency of the revelation then made above all the discoveries that were before made of the same thing. The mystery of it was intimated in many prophecies and predictions, though, before their accomplishment, they were attended with great obscurity; which now is wholly taken away. "In former ages," οὐκ ἐγνωρίσθη, "it was not," saith he, "fully, clearly, manifestly known," τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, אָדָם לִבְנֵי, "to the sons of men," in common and promiscuously, though it was intimated unto the prophets, and by them obscurely represented unto the church; but it was not made known ὡς νῦν, with that clearness, evidence, and perspicuity, as it is now by the apostles, and preached unto all. It is only, then, the degrees of the manifestation of this mystery, as to openness, plainness, and evidence, that are asserted by the apostle above all of the same kind which went before; but the discovery of it absolutely is not denied. And thus much was necessary in our passage, to secure our own interest in the mercy treated about.
33. We may now return a little again unto the promise given unto Abraham. In the pursuit hereof his posterity was separated to be a peculiar people unto God. Their church-state, the whole constitution of their worship, their temple and sacrifices, were all of them assigned and appointed unto the confirmation of the promise, and to the explanation of the way whereby the blessed Seed should be brought forth, and of the work that he should perform for the removal of sin and the curse, and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness, as shall elsewhere be manifested. Moreover, unto this Deliverer, and the deliverance to be wrought by him, with the nature of it and the means of its accomplishment, by what he was to do and suffer, do all the prophets bear witness. The full manifestation hereof, seeing it requires an explication of the whole doctrine of the Messiah, concerning his person, grace, and mediation, his offices, life, death, and intercession, the justification of sinners through his blood, and their sanctification by his Spirit, with all other articles of our Christian faith,—all which are taught and revealed, though obscurely, in the Old Testament,—would take up an entire volume, and be unsuitable unto our present design.
But three things in general the prophets give testimony unto him by:— First, By preferring the promised relief and remedy above all the present glory and worship of the church, directing it to look above all its enjoyments unto that which in all things was to have the pre-eminence. See Isa. 2:2, 4:2–6, 7:13–15, 9:6, 7, 11:1–10, etc., 32:1–4, 35:1–10, 40:1–5, 9–11, 42:1–4, 49:18, 19, 51:4–7, 59:20, 21, 60, 61:1–3, etc., 65:17, 18; Jer. 23:5, 6, 30:9, 31:31–34, 32:40–42; Ezek. 40, etc.; Dan. 7:27, 9:24, 12:1, 2; Hos. 3:5; Joel 3:18; Amos 9:11–15; Obad. 21; Mic. 4:1–4, 5:1–4; Hab. 2:14; Hag. 2:6–9; Zech. 2:8–12, 3:8–10, 6:12, 13, 9:9–11, 14:3, 4, 20; Mal. 1:11, 3:1–3, 4:2;—which places, although but a few of those that occur in the prophets, are yet too many to be particularly insisted on. But this they all teach, with one consent, that there was in the promise which they assert and confirm an excellency of blessings far exceeding in glory and worth, and in advantage unto believers, all that which they outwardly enjoyed, in their peace, prosperity, kingdom, and temple-worship. Now, this can be nothing but the spiritual and eternal deliverance of their persons from sin, curse, and misery, with the enjoyment of the favour of God in this life, and blessedness hereafter in his presence for evermore. And this, in particular, is expressed and declared in many of the promises directed unto, especially those which concern the making and establishing of the new covenant, which is that we are in the demonstration of.
Secondly, They do the same in the description they give of the person that was to be this remedy or relief, and of the work that he had to accomplish for that end and purpose. For the former, they declare that he was to be the "Son of God," God and man in one person, Ps. 2:7, 110:1; Isa. 9:6, 7; Jer. 23:5, 6; Zech. 2:8–10; and in sundry other places is the same mystery intimated, whereby the church was further instructed how God would join with the nature of man in the seed of the woman, for the conquest of the old serpent and the destruction of his works. And for the latter, as they declare his sufferings in an especial manner, even what and how he was to suffer, in the bruising of his heel, or bearing the effect of and punishment due to sin, Ps. 22, Isa. 53, Dan. 9:24, 25; so his teaching, ruling, and governing of his people, in their obedience unto God by him, until they are saved unto the uttermost, as the great prophet and king of his church, are by them fully manifested, Ps. 2, 22:28, 45:2–17, 68:17, 18, 72:2–17, 89:19–29, 96, 97, 98, 99, 110; Isa. 9:6, 7, 11:1–5, 32:1, 2, 35, 40:10, 11, 42:1–4, 45:22–25, 49:1–12, 50:4, 59:16, 17, 61:1–3, 63:1–6; Jer. 23:5, 6; Mic. 4:2, 3, 5:1–4; Zech. 2:8; Mal. 3:1–4, as in sundry other places. Yea, herein all the prophets greatly abound, it being the principal work that God raised them up for, and inspired them by his Holy Spirit in their several generations, as Peter declares, 1 Epist. 1:10–12.
Thirdly, They did so also by taking off the expectations of men from looking after relief and deliverance by any other way or means whatsoever, Ps. 40:6, 7. Add hereunto, that the whole fabric of the tabernacle and temple worship was contrived, appointed, and designed, in infinite wisdom, unto no other end but to instruct and direct the church unto this promised Deliverer and the salvation to be wrought by him; as shall, God assisting, abundantly be manifested in our Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
34. Thus do both the Law and the Prophets bear witness unto this promised Deliverer, and the deliverance to be wrought by him. And this is he whom the Jews and Christians call the Messiah. מָשִׁיחַ is from מָשַׁח, to "anoint" with oil. Those who were of old peculiarly consecrated unto God, in the great offices of kings, priests, and prophets, were, by his appointment, so to be anointed; at least some of them, on especial occasions, were so. Thence were they called מְשִׁיחִים, "Anointed ones." And because this anointing with oil was not appointed for its own sake, but for somewhat signified thereby, those who received the thing so signified, although not actually anointed with corporeal oil, are called anointed ones also, Ps. 105:15. Now, this promised Seed, this Saviour or Deliverer, being appointed of God to perform his work in the discharge of a triple office, of king, priest, and prophet, unto his sacred people, and being furnished with those gifts and endowments which were signified by the anointing oil, is, by an antonomasia, called "The Messiah;" or הַמָּשִׁיחַ מֶלֶךְ, "Messiah the King," [Ps. 2:2, 6?]; נָגִיד מָשִׁיחַ, "Messiah the Prince," Ruler, or Leader, Dan. 9:25; and verse 26, מָשִׁיהַ, "Messiah" absolutely. The Greeks render this name Μεσσίας, which twice occurs in the New Testament, where persons of the Jewish faith and church are introduced expressing the Saviour they looked for, John 1:42, 4:25. Otherwise the holy penmen constantly call the same person by another name, of the same signification in the language wherein they wrote with מָשִׁיהַ in the Hebrew, —Χριστός, "The anointed one," "Christ." The Greek Μεσσίας and the Latin "Messiah" seem rather to be taken immediately from the Chaldee מְשִׁיחָא, "Meshicha," than from the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ, "Mashiach," and to come nearer unto it in sound and pronunciation. It is true, that the name is sometimes applied unto profane and wicked men, with respect unto the office or work whereunto they were of God designed; as to Saul, 1 Sam. 24:6; and to Cyrus, Isa. 45:1; and the Jews call the priest who was to sound the trumpet when the people went forth to battle, Deut. 20:8, מלחמה משיח, "The anointed unto the war." But, as was said, it is applied by the way of eminency unto the promised Seed, unto others by way of allusion and with respect unto their office and present work.
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