5 6 Chap:B. An Expofition upon the Bookof J OP, Verf..8, pret the word generation for the time when Chrifi fojourned in ¢is cal,tare the 8efh,Who can declare his generation ? That is,who can deleribe owdi ere po the time or the age wherein Chrifi lived ? As ifhe had faid,you fee Fell, quam Per- here in this glafs ofprophecy how they will ufe Chrifi, how blou- v rfi fuerrns dily and cruelly they will deal with him,he ¡hall be imprifoned,he hom;ner, qui mall be cut offand numbred among tranf reffours Who can declare aemporeeius g s' viandtint; his generation ? What pen is able with livelyprlours to paint out Visaed. the feveral wickednef es and tyrannies oftha age, aged againfi, and infltGl;ed upon that holy and innocent"lamb ferns Cbrif, who carne to die for the fins of the world? Surely his generation,or the ftory ofhis age will be fuch,as nopen is to able draw out, or fully to delineate, Who(hall declare his age ? The agewhich Bildad calls Job to enquire into, is not a part of mans life , or the whole life ofa man, or one ageofmen, or (late oftitnes,but the whole (pace oftime from the very beginning,with all things done or fuffered -and the perlons whohave beenalive or pallive, doers or füfferers in thofe times. Thus enquire ofthefor- mer age. The reafon why.he called hire to enquire of the former age,was, bcc-iufe in thole times the will of God wasnot reduced to writing. The divinity of the fir¡¡ ages was traditional; The Scriptures were not compofed for more than 2000 years after the creation,but the mind of God was either immediatly revealed, or carried from fa- cher to fon, from-generation to generation ; being preferved, not in paper and ink, or other formal records,but in the memories and hearts ofthe faithful, until the giving ofthe Law. Hence it was Colamnæ duns that Bildad refers Job to thole revelations , or to the experiences àrf ripta ¡I" of the fathers concerning thedealings ofGod in former ages. P®abut Ada. Bcrofa¢c in his eighth book of Antiquities, reports that the fa- mi, rbaraReres quofdam ry thers after Adam let up two great pillars, upon which, fomeafrrn Auras molly they infcribed many divine truths:but he tells us that thofe pillars maticas, provi- (of which fome monuments were feen after the floud) were tilled dsrumob;'erva rather with Afironornical obfervations, Mathematical fcheams of none l,òt;ua the heavens and figures offurs ; we cannot put much value upon "uaoruUam h- . P P 1,o iam, tt ex- either of rhea opinions. The former cannot warrant us that any quflamdeÌ)< :o thing was regiltred and written by Gods appointment, till the egos prove- writing of theLaw. And therefore Bildad,according to the ufage densia do£ìr; of thole times, finds ,fob for information to the traditions and nam habUi,b; dicuntur. Be- reports of the fathers. For after the Law was written , the Pro- rof.l.8.r;tit. plrets, in cafe ofemergent doubts and controverfies, Pent thepeo- ple LL li
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