DISCOURSE III. 57b xxii. 3. But no part of mankind were ever forbid to offer this sort of worship in other places ; no not in the strictest times of the Jewish religion. When sacrifices and all such ceremonies were confined to the tabernacle and the temple, still the people might meet together to pray to God, or to praise him, or to hear his word in any place whatsoever, through all the land of Ca- naan, when it did not interfere with the appointed duties of the tabernacle; or the temple : Or otherwise, the people in so large a country would have had but very little public worship among them, if all the nationhad no other place to attend on it, but the temple or tabernacle. Thence came the custom of erectingsynagogues or conveni- ent houses for Jewish assemblies to worship God. These were built in many places of the land of Israel; some hundreds are said tobe in Jerusalem itself : And these were not of peculiar divine appointment, becauseonly natural worship was performed in them*. It was the prudence of good men agreeing to wait on God in the practice of natural religion, prayer, praise, and hear- ing his word, which built such convenient places for worshipping assembliesto meet in their several towns and cities. There they came together every sabbath, and worshipped God ; Acts xv. 21. Moses, of old time, hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the sr/nagógúes every sabbath -day. Ilow old or an- cient these times were is hard to determine. It is highly pro- bable, that synagogues were erected in the land of Canaan, long before the captivity of Babylon. The lxxiv. Psalm speaks' of them, that theenemy had not only cast fire into sanctuary, and defiled the dwelling place of the name of God to the ground, that is, the temple ; but theyhad also burned up all the synagogues of God in, the land. These places of worship were greatly en- couraged and honoured by our Saviour himself; preaching often in them ; Mat. iv. 23. Luke iv. 15. There were also prayer-houses, built in mountains and soli- tary places by the Jews, in which people might retire tra- vellers might pray to God in secret, free from disturbance, and perhaps from the inconveniences of the weather also : These were called by a Greek name, " proseuchai," and were also approved by Christ, for lie used them for thisholy purpose; Luke vi. :!".2. He went out into a mountain to pray, and continuedall ba a prayer -house of God, as theGreek word most properly i.r..l: Now, these examples which are so encouraged by our a.: - .:nd his apostles, as well as from the reason and necessity taiug, gives us abundant encouragementto build conveni- (h the law of Moses, and the writings of the prophets, were read ... f -agogues, which were all revelations from God; yet, whensoever roccaled his mind and will in writing, it is but a piece of natural service, toread and publish this among the people. The light of nature tenches tais and the law ofnature requires it.
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