di p The Introducion. fatherAdam, in matter of Religion. And though the word was yee per m Tradition; not yey=t, Written from the Creation, till after the flood, yet Gods; worfhip could not have continued, had ioftruEtion ceafed and not beenufed. Gcu.tr,17.. a. After the Flood ( in the rime of Abraham) the Scripture beareth :witnefs,- that he taught his Child, en and Family the fear of the Lord. Abfcondamhoc ab I. Abraham.? faith God, (halla -.hide from Abraham the thingthat I, will do ? for 27 r. I know him that he will command his Children, &c. and they.fhall keep the wayof the Lord. And what he would teach them is evt i.ent, by the fum of the 28.18' Law delivered to him by, God. Ambula coram me, &ç. Walk before me and xs.r8. be perfe t. As alto by the fum of. the Gofpel. In thy Seed(hall.thee Nations of the earthbe Gen.n4.6 . The fruits of this Catechizing and the effefts thereof appeared firft, in his Son Jf4ac. The Text faith, Etexiit 'Taste utorare: nagrovefperi, and lfetacwent rx' out to pray in the field at eventide. And,fecondly, in his fervanr, whobefore 27. heundertook his Mafters bulinefs, 1. began with Prayer. 2. he ended, with 33. Prayer and Thanksgiving for his good fuccefs.. 3. Shewed his care in perform,.: ing his Matters bufinefs, he would not eat, though he had travelled far, untibhe had declared his Meffage. 3 And asthis.appears in Adam concerning the inftruihion of his:Childreti before the Flood, and in Abraham after it, and before the Law: fo it is not to doubted, but that there were divers other Godlymen in both Ages, that fue- ccff2velyinftrufted their Children, receivingit as a duty by Tradition fato do. , Jude 14 For there is no Writing extant till Ages time, though it appearsby Sr. 7ude,that fomcthing was.ptophelied by Enoch, who wasthe Seventh fromAdam; and that the (tory of ?ab feems, tobemore antient than that of Mole, life and aftions,. though the Church place Mofes firft, to whom by Tradition was conveyed the ftoryof foriner times, and perhaps /Weft, his (tory might be firft written. Befides the Divine Goodnefs fo difpofed, that noage front the Creation to the time of Mofes fhould want force. Godly men fucceffively to deliver his will to their Children. As before the Flood, Adam, Seth, Eno,, Kenan, Ma- balaleel, fared, Enoch, itsethufalem, Lamech, of which number Adam and Me thufalem.comprehend the whole time from the Creation to the Flood, which fell, in the.year of the World 1656. For Adam lived 93o years, and Methxfaleat 969 anddied:itithe yearof the Deluge. So that Merbuf4em lived 29.3 years with Adam, mutt needs be well inftrufhcdby him concerning all points of Re- ligion, and that (no doubt) from hisyouth, as alfowere they that were born between them. 5. After the Deluge God fent into the world many excellent men alfa before the Laws As Noab, Sem, Arpbaxad, Sale, Heber,.Peleg, Res, Serug, Nachor, Thane,Abraham, Ifaac, and ?acob, and nodoubt (teeing it appears that Abra. ham inftrufted.his family) but that he alto received inftruüion from his Parents, and his from theirs before them. For Noah lived 95o years, and was boo years old at the time-of thFlood: and no queftion but he was well inftruLted, by converfing with fo many Fathersof the firft Age of. the World. Andhis Sots: Sem-lived many years with him, being born 98 years before the Deluge, and therefore wanted no documents. Now for the Pofterity of Abraham wefunk that .Kohath:was Grandchilde to ?scab (by Levi) as ¡.cab wasto Abraham, and lived many years with his Father Levi, and his Grandfather yarob, and being Grandfather to Mofes, it is probable that hewith hisSon Amram inftrufted Mo- fes in GodsServiceas their Predecelfors had ittftrufted them. And thus- much for the timebefore the Law- written. 6. Under the Law, immediately after it was given, God gave command- to the ¡fraelites to inftrufì their children. And thatfour feveral ways. s. Theywereto teach them diligently. The word [reach] there, in the Deat 6.7 ginal.lignifies towhet, orfharpen, which by the Learned is.easpounded to meant rehearfing. - They
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