PREPARATORY TO TH their sleep, though not called dreams. * And these, in this case, where the immediate operation of the Holy Ghost as to the divine and infallible impressions they conveyed to the minds of men. Hence, in the promise of the plentiful pouring out of the Spirit, or communi- cation of his gifts, mention is made of dreams, Acts ii. 17. " I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and "your sons, and your daughters shall prophesy, your " young men shall see visions, and your old men shall tu dream dreams." Not that God intended much to make use of this way of dreams and nocturnal visions under the New Testament; but the intention of the words is to skew, that there should be a plentiful effu- sion of that Spirit which acted by those various ways and means then under the Old. Only, as to some par- ticular directions, God, did sometimes continue his in- timations by visions in the rest of the night. Such a vision had Paul, Actsxvi. 10. But of old this was more frequent. So God made a signal revelation unto Abra- ham, when thehorror ofa deep sleepfell upon him, Gen. 3v. 12, 13, 14. And Daniel heard the voice of the words of him that spoke unto him, sehen he was in a deep sleep, Dan. x. 9. But this sleep of theirs I look not on as na- tural, but as that which God sent and cast them into, that therein he might represent the image of things untó their imaginations. So, of old, he caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, Gen. ii. 21. The Jews distinguish be- tween dreams and those visions in sleep as they may be distinctly considered; but I cast them together under onehead of revelation in sleep. And this way of reve- lation was so common, that onewho pretended to pro- phesywould cry out 'on', ntre,n, I have dreamed, I have dreamed, Jer. xxiii. And by the devil's imitation of God's dealing with his church, this became a way ofcl vaticination among the Heathen also, I-Iom. Ili. t. net ice e' drug sw Sot iene; a dream is from Jupiter. And when the reprobate Jews were deserted as to all divine revela- tions, theypretended unto a singular skill in the interpre- tation of dreams, on the account of their deceit, wherein they were sufficiently infamous. Qtaliacumgite voles Judiei somuia vendent. Sect 14.Thirdly; God revealed himself in and by Sunt ante, multe genera Propbani, Marna annul est Somalo- run quale fu in Pni,de Moron. in Ilierenoum ca, 03. E NEW CREATION. try visions or representationsof things to the inward or out- ward senses of the prophets. And this way was so fre- quent, that it bare the name, for a season, of all the prophetical revelations. For so we observed before, that a prophet of old time was called a seer; and that because in their receiving of their prophecies they saw visions also. So Isaiah terms his whole glorious pro- phecy run nos I'm the vision which he sate, chap i. I. partly from the especial representation of things that were made unto him, chap. vi. 1, 2, 3. and partly, it may be, from the evidence of the things revealed unto him, which were cleared as fully to his mind as if he had had an ocular inspection of them. So from the matter of them, prophecies began in common to be call- ed the burden of the Lord. For he burdened their con- sciences with his word, and their persons with its exe- cution. But when false prophets began to make fre- quent use; and to serve themselves, of this expression, it was forbidden, Jet. xxxiii. 33, 38. And yet we find that there is mention hereof about the same time, it may be, by Habbakuk, chap. i. 1. as also after the re- turn from the captivity, Zech. ix. 1. Mal. i. 1. Either therefore this respected that only season wherein false prophets abounded, whom God would thus deprive of their pretence; or, indeed, the people,by contempt and scorn, did use that expression, as that which was fami- liar unto the prophets in their denunciation of God's judgments against them, which God here rebukes them for, and threatens to revenge. But none of the pro- phets had all their revelations by visions; nor doth this concern the communication of the gift of prophecy but its exercise. And their visions are particularly record- ed. Such were those of Isa. vi. 1, 2. Jer. i. 11, 14, 15. Ezek. i. and the like. Now, these visions were of two sorts. a (1.) Outward representations of things unto the bodily eyes of the prophets. (2.) Inward represen- Propbeta Daum qui corporatiter invisibllisest, non corporaliter sed spiritraliter vider. Nam multa genera n Visionis in Scripturis Satis veniuntur. Cnnm se undnm ocutos cnrporis, sicut vidit Abraham tres viros sub Ilice Mimbre. Alteran secundum quad imaänamur ea quo per Corpus.entimus. Nam et parsipsanostra curo Divinitns assumimr. multa revelnntur ñon per oculos çorporis, nut autos, aliumee sensum car- nalem, sed i,,men bis simili,, sent vidit Petra, discmn ilium submitti a Celo cuts variis animalibus. Tartiunn mite, gens Visions est seenn- du, mends intnitum quo intellects eonspiaiuntur .tiritas et sapiencia;sine qua e ills duo qua priasposui vol infructuosa suai val in Errorem mittant1CAugust. contra Adamantum, rap. es 18
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