888 [ontempl~#tionr. LIB. VI!. by our prayers,with favour and fqccelfc. So foon as the incenfe of Aar~n afcended A up unto God,he fmelt a favour of'reft;he will rather fpare the offenders then ftrike their intercefl'or. How hardly can any people mifcarry,that have faithfuh Minifters tofue fortheir fafety: Nothing butthe fmoke ofhearry prayers cancleanfcthe ayre from the plagues ofGod. If Aarom facrifice we:e thus accepted;how much more !hall the High.Prieft of the New Teftament,by tntetpofing htmfelfto the wrath of his Father, deliver the otftnders from death~ The plague was entredupon all the fans ofmen: 0 Saviour thou ftoodft betw.ixt the living and the dead, that all which beleeve in thee, lhould cot peri!h. 4aron offeredand was notftricken ; but thou 0 Redeemer,wouldft offer and be ftruck, that by thy ftripes we might be healed: So ftoodft thoubetwixt the dead andJiving, that thou wert both aliveand dead; and all this that we, whenwe B were dead,might live forever. Nothing more troubled Ifrael,then afearc left the tw,obrethren /hould cunnin•. ly ingrolfe the government ro rhemfelves.If theyhad done fo,what wife manwould have envied them an office fo little worth, fo dearely purchafed ~ But becaufe this conceit was ever apt to ftirrhem to rebellion, and to hinderrhebenefit ofthis holy foveraignry; therefore God bath endevoured nothing more, then to let them fee that thefe officers,whom they fo much envied,were ofhis own proper inftitution: They hadfcarce!huttheireyes,fince they faw the confufion ofthofe two hundred and fifty ufurping facrificers;andAarons effettuall inrerceflionfor fraying theplague oflfrael. In the one, the execution of Gods vengeance upon the competitors of v.{ aron,for his fake; Intheother,the forbearance of vengeance upon the people for C Aarons mediation, mighthave challenged their voluntaryacknowledgment ofhis juftcalling from God; Ifthere had beenin them either awe, orthankfulnelfe, they couldnot have doubted ofhis lawful! fupremacy.How couldthey choofe but argue thus : Why would God fo fearefully have deftroyed the rivals that durA conreft with .Aarop,ifhewouldhaveallowed him any equall(Wherefore fervethofe plates ofthe Altar,which we fee made ofthofe ufurpcd Cenfers, burro warne all pofte· riry offuch prefumption ~Why (hould God ceafe ftriking, whiles Amlf interpo· fed betwixtthe living and the dead,ifhe were bot as one of us~ Which ofus ifwe had ftood in the plague,had not added to the heap! Incredulous minds will oor.be J>Oifwadedwith anyevidence. Thefetwobrothershad lived afunder forty yeares, God makes them both meet inone office ofdelivering Ifrad. One halfeofthe mi- D racles werewrought by Aaron ; he ftrooke with the Rod, whiles it broughtrhofe plagues on .IEgypt. The Ifraelires heard God call him up by name to mount Sinai; they faw him anointed from God: and (left they (hould think this a fer march be· twixt the brethreJ,l)they faw theearth opening,the fire iffuing from God upon their emulous orpofites:they faw his fmoke a fufficient antidote for the plague ofGod; and yet ftil Aarons callint;: is queftioned. Nothing is more natural! to every man, than unbelie(e : but the earth never yeelded a people fo fttongly incredulous, as thefe 1 and after fo many thoufand generations, their children doe inherit their ob. fiinacy 1 frill doe they oppofe the true High Prieft,the Anointed ofGod: fixreene hundred yeates defolation hath npt drawn from them to confdfe him whom God hath chofen. E Howdefirous was God to give fat\sf.t&ion even to the obllinate! There is no· thing more material!, th<n that men lhould be alfured their fpiriruall guide; have theirCommiflionand Callingfrom God: The want whereof is aprejudice toour fucceffe. It !hould not be fo:bur the corruption ofmen wiYnor receive good, but fromduemeffengers. Before,God wroughtmiracles in theRod of Mo{is; now,in the Rodof <.A' .ron. As PhAT41h might fee himfelfin Mofrs his Rod; who, ofarodofdefence an~ pro· re&ion,was turn<:d into a venomous Serpent: So Ifrael might fee themfelves mthe Rod ofA.cron.Every Tribe and every Ifraelite was,ofhimfclfe,as a fere-ftick,with· our life,without fap;and ifany one ofthem had power to live,and flouri!h,he muft acknowledgeit from rheimmediate power, and gift ofGod. ~ Before
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