to6 - An Expojition upon the Firft, Upon the fame account the Jfr~~~i~is--r'w;re not Idolaters In worfhiping the Golden Calf; for they were not fo brutilh'aSito believe that Calf it felf to be their God: Nay,.it is moft evident, that they intended to worfhip the true God under that Reprefentation. See Exod. 32.' 4-, S· 7'hefe be thy go4s, 0 Ifratl, which brought rhee out of the land of E(ypr. They could not be fo ftupid as to think that that very Calf which they thcmrelves had made, had del ivered · them from Egypt; but they \v;orfuipt the true God who hatl given them that great Deliverance, under thiS H iep roglyp!Hck Sign and Rcfemblance; which appears Verfe the ) th, .Aaron m11de Proclaff!ation anti [aid, To morrow U a feaft_ to the ~rd ; in the Original it is Jchovah, the prayer and incom.municahle Name of the true God. , .A:Qd yet that thi.s worfuip of theirs, although d1rcCl:ed unto the true God, was horrid Idolatry the Scnpture abundantly teftifies, Verfe 31. Oh, this Peopl~ hav'e finned a great fin. I Or. to. 7· N either be. ye Jdqfatets1 as w-ere fome qf them; a1 it is written, The P~ople ft~t dorvn tQ "tat and drink, and rqfe up t~ play. Ads 7• 41. They made a calf in thofe day;, and qjfered facrificc /()the ;Jet. . ,. 2. Again, Secondly, Michab a:nd his Mother were certainly guilty of Idolatry in ma~ king and worfhiping their Images; and yet that they were made to be Symbolical Reprefentations of the trUe God, and fretted to this very purpofc, that he might be· worlhipt by them, appears clearly from the Hiftory, as we have it recorded, 'Judges '17. 3, 4• I had whqflydedicated (faith Ihe) the jil-ver unto rh~ Lord, (Jehovah Hebr.) for my fon to mah a g-raven and" a molrm Image: Which when he had.done he hired a Levite to be his p,·icft. And in confidence of the ReWard of fo much Piety, concludes, Verfc 13. That certainly now the Lord 'Jehovah wqu[d blefshim., and do h£mgood. Nothing can _he clearer tlun that all this worfhip was · ill tended by him to the true and only God, yet being performed by Images, it was no better t han rank Idolatry. 3· Thirdly, If the Papifts in worfuiping the true God by Images be not Idolaters, then neither was 'Jeroboam, Who made Ifrael to fin, ah idolater, in fetting up his CalVes at Dan and Berhcl. For ·whofoever ratiOnally confiderS the occafion and Poli tical grounds nf this Innovation; mull needs conclude, t hat 'Jer~boam intended not to in~ traduce a new God, (which would have m"ade the People to faU fafter from him, than Tyranny and OJ,>preffion did from RchobOiim) ·but only to fet up fome vifible Signs and Rcprefentatlons of the true God, and to perfuade the People that they need not ~o to 1erufalem to fcek his Prefence, and to offi:r their Gifrs and Slcrificcs; for the J•fiph. fame God was as much prefent with them in thofe Figures as he was at the Temple "'!:'Tio. 8 • of 'Jerufolalf ~etw~en r.he Ch~rubims. And therefore we fin~ th:1t the Idolatry of 'Je- ~- ;. roboam LS dilbngmfhed from the Idolatry of thofe who ~orlh1ped B.ttt~ a~d other falfe Gods: Sect Kints t6. 31. Where Godfpeaks concernmg .Ah~-tb, as 1f Lt had been a light thing for hnn to walk in the fins of']erobMm the Son of Nebat;) he went and ferved Baal, and worfhiped•him. · 4· Nay, Fuurthly, Although fame amo·ng· the Heathens migh_t be fo groGy ftu.pid :tS to fi1ppofc the Images themfelvcs to be Gods, and fo to_worlhrp them, yet their wtfe and learned ,Philofophers '\vere far enoUgh from fuch a fenfelefs Errour; yea, they were forced to ufe as many Diftintl:ions ·and fubtile Evafions concerning their worfhiping of Images, as now _the Papift_s do ; and. t ruly nioft of them arc t~e very fa~e, and feem b.ut ibonowedout oftheSchools-ofthe Heatheos. But efpc.cmlJY they Inlift on tllis ThattheyvenerateClJiot ·their Stat ues, not as ;theywere: made of fuch . ~ :. or fi1ch!Materials, but dnly<as t hey wer:Ctth.e Houfes and Bodies of 1f!lo~Di~h;;li~~~':;;~:~;£t~;;17a": God, ·where his Preten~e ·re.~ded, . 'alld_,by_ vyhic~ his Power. w~s E.e qrU -vidtbanttt~ (lb1 purt 11 riori; manifcft.ed: T _hat t hey wodlilped nqt th~ :Y L_fiblc Sign, but the 11\!1~ effi rr/igiortis, dietba"nt; m: Pm~· fible D.etty by 1t. And what ·doth t,he Papd"t fay mo.re than this? iiHhrum, nu d.ml611llm (fll, fid viz.. That rheywodhip the1mages of God, ,notasiftheywerethempt r tjfi.~itm (Orporl'lltm, lj~l" rti felves GotlJ .but 'OO l•y aSi<they are _the v.iflblc Si~ns audSymbols of ~~;b ~:~eo; qum et/m iitbto. the Divihe Prefence ~ ·and• fo aB thcir•WorihiplSditefttd untoGod r · 1 • • • i. '. throUgh theth. 56 thab hi!lllatters of iddlatry, I profefs, I can find Di_t . ChrJfofiofi!•}Jr•t. n.l4 , no ditrerenct:· :rt alf,l{CtiweeruHeathenS and Papifh: Fpv as ~he more pim• D<i '"'"' '· i o! JearhewFapifts do rprofef'£that they war !hip the true God l!y the 1- J_ . ,1, 'l mage, r- .
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