Fourth Commandment. notwithfbnd ing that they were injoined fix Days Labour. Bcfidcs every New Moon ; the Paffovcr, i11 rcmemb:ancc of their Delivera~cc from the Bond,at:>c of Egypt, and as a clear Type of Chnft, who, as a Lamb Without fpot, was offered np ro God for us. Then Pentecoft, or t~e Fe.1ft of Weeks, fifty days after the Palfovcr, a Memorial that the Law was g~ve_n to .the~ from Mom~t Sinai fifty days after their departure out of Egypt; typtfymg likcl'nfe the fcndmg of the Holy Gholt to infpirc th~ Apoftles WJth Hcavcn~y Trut~, and to cnab~c them to preach the Gofpel, which IS the L1w of .JefliS Chnfr, which . was accordmgly fulfilled fifty d:tys after Chrift, our great Pa!Tbver, was facn ficed for us. Then, thtrdly, The Feaft of Atonement or Expiation, which was celebrated on the tenth Day of the fcvcnth Month whereon the High-Prieft was folemnly to confefs .unto God both · his own Sins and the Si!1s of the People, al).d to make Atonement for them; typifying therebY the full Expiation and Atonement of our Sins made by. our High~ Prie'fr Jell!' Chrifr, And lafrly, There was ordained likewifc the Feafr of Tabernacles on the fifteenth day of the fame.Month, and this was to laft not only one Day 'but::t whole Week together, and wasinrtitnted to be a Memorial to them of theit~ Journey throu?,h the W ildcrnefs, wher:ein for forty Years they lived in Tents and Tabernacles. All thcfe Feafrs we find appointed by God himfelf, and impofed upon thc.Jfraclitrs, Levit. 23 . And not only did they account themfelves obliged to keep thefe Days Qoly, which were injoined by the Divine Command, but thofe alfo which were appoi11tcd by Humane Authority ; and fitch were the Feaft of Purim, to be kept two days fol~ !owing, in remembrance of their Deliverance from th~ n;alicious and bloody De~ ficrns of Hamttn, E(lh. 9· 21. And the Fe1ft of the Dedtcauon of the Temple, firft obfen•ed at thr; rehnilding of their Temple after their return from the Babylonifh Captivity; as you may read Ez.ra. 6. 16. and from that time perpetuated unto the D:tys of our Saviour ChriJl:, wl~o, though it were but of Humane and Ecclcfiaftical lnftitntion, yet was pleafed to honour that Solemnity with his Prefence, John w. 22. Be(idcs, we frequently read of Fafts, both 'Perfonal and national, appointed upon fome emergent Occafions, to appcafe and di,rert the Wrath of God, as the Faft of the fifth and the ft:venth Month, for feventy Years together, Zech. 7· ·s· And the like to thefe without doubt, either our own private Devotion, or the pub~ lick Authority of the Nation, may in the like Circnmfrances impofe on us without violating this Command of fix Days Labour. . But now, althongh this fix Days I...abonr was not fo fl:r iCHy required, as t1ot fametimes to admit the intervention of an holy Reft; yet the feventh Day's Reft was fa exaCtly to be ohfcrvcd, as 1.1ot to admit ~ny bodily Labour, or fecubr Imploymcnt. Gnd would not have th1s holy Reft dtfturbed by the tumultuous Affairs and Bnfincffes of l.i~c; and we find this Comt~nd ftriCHy inforced by the double Sanction both of a Promife and Thrcatning, ]ei'· 17· from 'Ver. 24. to the end. If ye diiigemly he,!rkm unto me, faith the Lord, to bring in no burrhm through the Gates of (he City on :he S.rbbat~-D4)·~ but hallow_ the Sab~ath-D.-ry, to do no Work therrin: Tben jlwll there cnte•: mto th:f Cry, K~ng.s an~ Prmces Jittmg upQll the Throne of David, ----and the Oty Jha(l rcm,lm (o•· ':'Ver . But if ye will not h~arkm Nn'to me to ha!Ww the Sabbath-Day; then wiU I kmdlc 11 Ftre m the Gates thereof, and tt Jha!l(le'Vour !be Palace of7ei'Ufalem, and it Jhall not be quenched. Yea God was fo accurate about tlHS, that he defccnds to a particular Prohibition of fcveral forts of Works which he would not have to be done on the S:1bbath-day ; · on that Day the Ifraclites were not to gatherl\{anna, E ...,.0d.16. 27. nor to gather in the ir Harvefr, Exod. 24. 2 I. nor to buy or fel l, Nehem. 1 o. 3-i. nor to tread the Wine-prCfs, Neh. I 3· 1 ) · nor fo much as to gather Sticks Nu.mb. 1). 32· nor to go from their places of Abode to provide themfelves Food Exod. r6. ~9· yea fo frril.lly we~e they tied to the Obfervation of t his Sabbath, ' that they .m1ght not fo much as ktndlc a Ftre, Exod. 3.')· 3· Ye. fl.utJl kindle no Fire throughout your I;l:~bita.tions on the Sabbath-Da_)!· Unto all whtch Prohibitions from God, the jews ad... ded many fuperftitious ana ridiculous ones of their own, not grave enough to be here mentioned; whct:cby they made that Burthen which was before heavy tO be altogether infupportahle by their foolifh and vain Trad itions. ' · Now the great Queftion is, How far thefe Prohibitions do concern us and whe~ ther we are obliged to the punCI:ual obferv,ance of them as the Jews w,ere? Mm TO
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