M03$610 621, # 624V/ 41 A PREFACE CONCERNING ,í4OSES WRITINGS, AND THESE ANN oTATIÒ is VP ON THEM. ' O S E S the man of GOD, and firft writer of holy Scripture; was an Hebrew borne in Egypt, about 2432. yeeres after the creation of the World : and before our Sa- viour Chrifis comming into the flefh, 1496. yeeres. He was the a foe of Amram, the fon of Kohath, the fon of Levi, the fon of acob, the fon of Ifaac,the fon of Abraham our father,in the feventh generation; as noch was the b feventh from Adam. When he was borne, he had a e divine beauty upon him : he was marvelloufly Caved from c lftr 7.ao,a1, death,being drawne out of the water,and thereof had his name; hewas nourifhed by al, Exed.z. K,Pharaohs daughter,for her owne fon; learned in all the wifdome of the Egyptians,and was mighty in words and in deeds. Forty yeeres he lived in Pharaths court; which d then he left,choofing rather deb .7. re3. to fuller aflliftion with the people of God; then to injoy the pleafitres offinne for a feafon, efteen;ing a6 the reproach df Chrilt greater riches. then the treasures of Egypt. Forty yeeres e hee was a ftranger e 4.7.7.29, 30. Ibeepherd in the Land of M, Tian ; from whence God called him to feed Jacob his:people, and Iieael Exod. 3. his inheritance. Which thing he alfo did wich all f tidelity forty yeeres,beiug g in the Church in the f mum, 12.7. wilderneffe with the Angel, which Cpake to him in the mount Sinai , and with our fathers ; where he g D°TeT 3 $. h h at .3 ; received the lively oracles to give unto us; and he commanded us a Law, which is the inheritance of i Deur.34, 1.4. 0. the Church of Jacob. Of all the Prophets that arofe in lfrael,there was none like unto Mores, whom k peat.; 4.4, the Lord knew t face to face: and dying 120. yeeres old, (but his naturall llrcugth not k abated;) he 6, 7. was buried ofGod, no man knowing of his Sepulchre untó this däÿ. 1 Geu. t. &c. He wrote the Law, in five books; containing a briefe t History of things pit- a m covenant between n Deu[.1 ßly. &c. toh.ß4s. & 1.17. o Gen. z4.& al chron.ó 1. 5,3 & Z.Z. & God and his Church then prefent; and ,a prophefie of further grace to come,which now is exhibited by Kits Chrilt. In his firft book,he wrote the ° generations of the heavens and the earth,and of man- kind : which we therefore (of theGreeke word) call Gendfir, that is, Generation. In the fecond, hee fee down the departure of Ifrael out of Egypt,with the covenant whichGod plighted With them,the fame yeere that they went out: which hook was thereupon named Exodrer.ln the third,he defcribeth the fa- crifices and fervice of God,under the Levitical) Priefthood;called accordingly,Levitieui.In the fourth, he reckoned the Numbers of the tribes and of the f ournies from Egypt to Canaan, with the order wherein God Celled that Common - wealth of Ifrael, whiles they we're travelling towards their Reif: which booke is therefore called Numbers. In the fifa, he wrote a repetition of the Law, and covenant which God had given unto Ifrael, and the confirmation of the fame: whereof it is named (according to theGreeke) Deuteronomie. In the propounding of all theft things, Moles hath P a veile drawne over his bright and glorious face : for in the hiftories,are implied gAllegorics,andin the Lawes are r types and fhadowes of good things that were to come; the body whereof,is ofChritt. In Genefa (which hi- flory endeth with the going downe of Ifrael info Egypt) we have the image of a naturali ratan, fallen from God, into the bondage of fin. In Exodus, is the type of our regeneration, and flate renewed by Jefus Chilli. In Leviticus , the íhadow of our mortification, whileft we aremade facrifices unto God. In Numbers , the figure of our Cpirituall warfare ; whereunto we are muttered 5 and armed to fight the good fight of faith. In Deuteronomie, the doftrine of our fan&ification,and preparation to enter into our heavenly Canaan (after Mofes death) by the conduft of Jefus the fon of God. The things which Moles wrote, were not his owne; but the tLaw of the Lord by his hand : to him e the Prophets after, bare witneffe. Our Saviour alfo approveth of Mofes,and of 0 all that he Cpake and wrote : what x he faid, was the commandement Y of God; and what God Cpake x unto him, the frame is fpoken re tinto us: him therefore weare willed to heare,which who Co doth not,will not be perfwaded though oneeofe from the dead,Luke 16.29.31.Bist becaufe his writings were the b Old T eft ament,tínder which the New was veiled ; and which many reading, even to this day have a e veile laid upon their heart, fo that they cannot fallen their eyes upon the end of that which is abolifhed : therefore God Cent the Prophets following, yea his owne Son, and his Apoltles, to open and explaine the myfteries, which Moles had clofely and briefly penned : that now by their helpe, and through the Spirit of the Lord, we may all d with unveiled faces, behold as in a glaffe, the glory of the Lord; and perceive how the Law was given by Motes, but' grace and truth is come by Jelin Chrilt. The literati fenfe of Moles Hebrew (which is the tongue wherein he wrote the Law) is the ground of all interpretation ; 8e-that language hath figures & propietiesoffpeech , different froni ours :chore therefore in the firft place are to be opened;that the naturali meaning of theScripture being knowne, the myfteri es of godlines therein implied,may the better be difcerned.Th is may bc: attaided in a great meat,re, by the Scriptures themfelves; which being compared, doe open one another. For darkand figuratives fpeeches are often explained; as,when God faith,/ di i 4.2t.28.í his We are to under- ftand as an oath : for ellwhere he faith, I have fmorne by my felfh,Efa.45.23. and to exprelfe this, Paul a'- leageth it,Ilive, faith the Lord,Rom.14.1 i. Allo when he faith,/ am the Lard that bcaleth they Exo.15.26. hereby, C66 p Exod.0 .30+ß 35.a con 3. gGat.z 24. rHei.9.9.&, 10.1, COí.2.17. f z Chre.34.14 t Pral. 103.7. Dan. 9. n. Mat. 4. 4, u [nke14.15. 44. x Mark 7 9. y Mat. 153. s Mark 12. 16. aJIfa;. a 2, 3 r. b.a COT ;. 14. Verf. z 5. d aCOr.317,18 Clch.l.,7. a.
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