NUMBERS, XX!. ved in Chrift, John 3. 15. who is the root ofJeffe, (tan ding up fir an Enfigne of the people , whereunto the nations fhauldfieke, Efay t 1.10. And the worke of grace was hereby livelyfignified. As they that w :.re bitten with there ferpents, if they looked upon their fores, and not to thefigne ere&ed of ' God, they died : fo they that are bitten with fin, if they fix their eyes thereon,though with repen- I tam_ and look not unto Chrifto doe defpaire and i die,Mat.27.3,4,5. As they, if they fought to Sur- 1 geons or Phyficians, or ufèd falves or medicines ' of their owne or others, perifhed : fo whofoever f cketh to any but Chrift, or endevoureth by his ' own workes or frmfferings to have life withGod, dieth in his fins, Joh. 8.24. Gal. 5.4. As the bra - fen ferpent was an unlikely thing in humane rea- fon, to heale filch deadly wounds : fo Chrift cruci- fied, ie unto the 'ewes a flumbling blocbe, and unto the Greekes foóli fhnef ; but unto them which are called, both levees andGreeks , Chrift it the power of God, and the wifcdome ((God, 1 Cor. i. 23,24. 9 Verfe 9.a ferpent ofBraffe] which mettall,befides that it is of a fiery colour, Ezek. 1.7. Revel.2.15. and Co might refemble the colour of the Cerpents; it is al Co ftrong and durable, and in that refpeft might figure out the ftrength of Chrift, who was inabled by the power of the God -head to indure and overcome all his tribulations,otherwife than l any man could : whereupon lob faith in his foc- i rowes, Is my frengththe frengthoffones? or,io my ' fiefbof braffe? Job 6.12. But unto the Prophet Chrift (hewed himfelfea man whofi appearance was like the appearanceofbrajjè,Ezek.49.3. upon a pale] or ,f r afigne, as in ver. 8. This was the worke of Mofes; whereupon it is Paid, As Mofes lifted up the Serpent in the wildernj , John 3. 14. and it fig - nified hove Motes Lew was our Scboolmafer unto Ch, r: fi, that we might be jullified by faith, Gal. 3.24. by his writings,Chrlll is lifted up as an Enfigne unto all peoples,'for be wrote òf Chrift, Joh. 5.46. 'and by the rigour of his Law, which ùrgeth,fa -" tisfaftion for fin and curfeth all tranfgreffotjrs, Chrift was lifted up upon the Croffe, God fending bit own Sonne in the liken f e of fnful flefb who by his facrifice for fleme, condemnedfine in the flefh, Gal. 3. t 0, -13. Rom. 8: 3. if a rpem] or, as the Greeke tranflateth, When a ferpent bit a man; fo that the ferpents were not taken awayfrom the peo- ple, as they defired, in v.7. but continueditill as .a chaftifenient,tonurture the difobedient people: only God provideth a remedy to heale the repen- tant and beleevingfinners.Wherfore allo the bra- zen ferpent was not left ftanding in that place,but they taxied it along thorow the wilderneffe,even into the land of Canaan,where it continued many yeeres, 2 King. 18.4. Such is the worke of grace towards us in this life,for neither are our fins ut- terly taken from us in this life, but we have for- givcneffe of them by the blond of Chrift , t John 1.7,8;9,10. Jam.3.2. neither are our tentations and afi(i&tions wholly removed , though wee be- fech theLord therfore;but we receive grace from him, which is fttfficient for us; and hisfrerigthie made pert î! in weakr,:0, z Cor.12. 7,8,9. when be beheld] or, and if he beheld (or loo,dunto) theferpemof brafe, then he lived: where Thargum to nathan addeth again¢, and dìreeledhit heart to the name of the word of the Lord , then he lived. And the Author of the Booke of Wifdome, fpeaking of this ferpent, (which hecalleth a figneoffalvatim) faith, He that turned himfelfe towards it, was not faxed by the thing that he faw, but by thee CO G O DJ that art the Saviour of all , Wildome 16. 6, 7. This fheweth the truth of Gods promifes and fgnes, that they give life to them that obey and beleeve in Chrift: and when God protnifeth to powre out the Spirit of grace upon his people,it is with teele words, They (hall look upon me whom they have pierced, Zacharie 12. 10. Thus the juts pall live by his faith, Habbak. a. 4. and he that heareth the word of ChriS, and beleeveth on him that lent him, hats everlaflbeg (:fe, and Pall not come into condemnation , but it pap from death unto life, Joh.5. 24. For the wages of foam is death ; but the gift of God is eternal) life, through Iefus Chrift our Lord, Romans 6. 2, . Verfe I o. Obotb] Of thefe places and f ournies, so fee Numbers 33. where they are reckoned in order ; for here force are. named , and other- Come omitted. Verfe I I. before Moab] before the Moabites II countrey. The pofleritie of Moab and Ammon the fons of Lot, Gen.19. 36;38. had vanqui(hed the Giants (called Emlms and Zamzotmdtims) which before dwelt in thole parts, and fucceeded then, and dwelt in their head, Deut. 2. r 0, 15, 20, 21. Through the wilderneffe , along by their coafts did Ifrad pate, but were forbidden to warwith them, or with the Edomites, Deut.2.5,9,I9. Verfe 12. The valley of Zared] or, the bourne of 12 Zared, or Zered : which word bourne (as all-oche the Hebrew 2chal) is both a valley, and a rizce running thorow a valley : and fo this Zaredwas a river or brooke alto , over which If ae /paffed: fee Deuten. 2.13. Verfe 14. it is laid] Hebrew, it flail be fail. The time to come, isoteth a continued or common Paying; fo he fpeaketh as of a known fpeech. the book¢] or, the narration, (the rehearfai) oftbe wars of Iehovah: what booke this was, is uncertaine; whether fonte writing of Ifracl, not now extant; or, Ionic writing of the Amorites, which contai- ned Tongs and triumphs of their King Sihons vi- &ories ; out of which Mofes may cite this tefti- monie, as Paul fometime doth out of Heathen Poets, Aft. 07 28. Tit. 1.12. Vobeb] this is thought by force to be the name of the King of Moab, whom Sihonvanquifhed, v,. 26. by others, to be the name of a place or Citie. The Greeke Interpreters here miftaking ' Z. fort' V. (which b 1 in Hebreware one like another) reade it Zcob,and -give this fettle, Tberefre lobe faid in the boake,Tbe wave ofthe Lord bath fenon fire (or burned) Zoob, and the bmoter of Arnon. The Chaldee Paraphraft (whom others alto follow) taketh it for no pro- per name, but expoundeth it thus: The wars that the Lord did at the red Sea and the 'nightie n'or.& s at the brooks of Arnon. in a wbirle- winde] or, with 14
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=