`ÏRR,i,t. E(ßáfiletothe fistIREw s. ?' thefeparation of Abraham from the reft of the world begin to make provifion of " a peculiar flock from whence it Ihould 1pring. That this was the caufe and end of "his Call and Separation is evident from hence, that immediately thereupon God " affures him that in his fled all the Kindreds of the earth fhauld be bleffid, Gen.i2.5,2,3. " Chap. 22. 18. which is all one as if he had exprelly said unto him, for this cause " have I chofen and calledthee, that in thee,t might lay a foundationofbringing forth " the promifèd feed, by whom the curie is to be taken away, and the bleffing ofever- ' tailing life procured, as Gal.;. 13, 14. For this caufewas his Pollerity continued in " a ffate offeparation from the refs of the world, that he might leek an holy feed unto " himfelf, Numb.23. 9. Mal. 2. t5. For this caufe didhe raife them into a Civil, Re- "gal,and Church-State, that he mightin them type out, and prefigure the Offices and " Benefits of the promifedMeffiah, who was to gather to himfelf the Nations that " were to be bleffed in thefled ofAbraham, Gen. 49. to. Pp/. 45. Hof: 3.5. Ezel;: " 34.23. And all their Sacrifices did but lhadow out that great expiation ',him, which " he was to make in hisown Perim ; as bath been already proved. "Things being thus difpofed, God promifed unto them that their CivilPolitical is State, their condition as a peculiar Nation and People, should be continued until the " coming titheMefjah, Gen. 49. ro. Ezek.zt.27. And this was madegood unto them ' notwithflanding the great oppolitions of shore mighty Empires, in the mida of " whole devouring jaws they were placed, with Come filch short intercißons of the "actual adminitlration ofRule among(ì them, as beingforetold impeached not the " Promife. They loft not their CivilState, until( he came, unto whomwas the ga- thering of the Nations. Afterthat, thoughmanyof the individuals obtained mercy ._ "yet their being a Nation or. People, was of no peculiar ore as to any fpecial end of ' God. Therefore was it immediately deftroyed, and irrecoverably exterminated. " From that day, Clod in a wonderful manner blotted and curled all their endea. " yours, either for the prefrvation of what they then had, or for its recovery and re- " ftautation when loft. Nomeans could ever retrive them into a People or Nation on theold account. What may be hereafter on a New,God knows. The Endof the " dayes wascome and it was to no purpofe, for men to endeavour to keepup that, s' which God having accomplished the utmoft Of his defign by and upon, would lay "aude. And this feafon was fullyevidenced to all the world, by thegathering of the " people to the Shilo , or the coming inof the Nations to partake in thebleing of "faithful Abraham, Mic. 4, 1, Z. "Oftheir Church-State there were two Principal parts : TheTemple its Celf; and "the Worfhip performed in it : The hrlt of there (as was the Tabernacle ) was let " up to typifie him in whom the fulneß ofthe Godhead fhould dwell bodily and the " latter thefame Perlon, as he was himfelf to be the great HighPrieft and Sacri ce. "Both thefe olio were to be continued until the coming of theMeffab, but by no en-. ' deavours afterwards. Hence was that Promifeofthegloryof theficond Houfe, built " after theCaptivity, and retlored by Herod, becaufe of his coming unto it who was " fignified by it, Hag. 2.9. Matacb. 3. a. He was to come whileft that Temple was hand- " ing, after which itwas to be of no moreufe. And "thereforeEzekt,'el defcrlbes a "thirdprimal Temple to fucceed in the room thereof. The condition of their Sacri- "flees was the fame ; Thereföre Daniel fore-telling thecoming of the Mffiab four " hundred and ninety years after the Captivity, adds that upon his death the daily " Sacrifice mutt ceaf for ever, and a total defolation enfue, on all the things that were " tiled for the end accomplifhed,Dan.9.24,z5,s6,27. The Nation, State, Temple,Sacri- " fives, being fee apart, fet up, and deugned for no other endbut to bring him forth, " he'was to come whileft they were standing and in ufe, after which they were none " of them to be allowed a being upon their old foundation. This is that which the " Apoftlepointed at in mentioning the laff dayes,that they might confider in what con- "dition, the Church and Peopleof the Jews then were. "To difcover the evidence of this demonflration, as confirmed in Out Prolegomena, " I shall here allobriefly add tome confiderations of the miferable' entanglements of the Jews in Peeking toavoid the Argument here intimated unto thesisby the Appftle It " is a common Tradition amongthem, that all thingswere made forthe Meffiah ; whereby " they do not intend as fome have imagined, the whole oldCreation, but all things of " their ChurchState andWorfhip. So the Targum, Pfal. 40.8. in the perfonofthe " Meab ; I fhall enter into life eternal when I ftudy in the volume of the Law, "1f11110iPA 1,21tt1721A21, that wasWritten for my fake, By the Law they underhand their 7
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=