806 JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. were a figureof thewicked, and were generally all wicked per- sons : And the family of Seth, who came in the room of right- eous Abel: Getz. iv. 25. and who called upon the name of the Lord, or were called by the mime of God, that is, the sons of God : Gen. iv. 26. and vi. 2. were a figure of righteous men, of the saints of God, and had most good men amongst them. Again, Shem the blessed son of Noah, with his family, was thus distinguished as a visible church, from Ham and his pos- terity, who were cursed. After that Abrahamwas called from the rest of the idolatrous world,_ as a figure and pattern, or father of all true believers, and children of God. So Isaac the son of promise,. was distinguished from Ishmael the son of the flesh; Gal. iv. 23, 24, 29. So Jacòb fromEsau: Rom. ix. 13, And when God divided the world into Jews and Gentiles emi- nently by Moses, the scripture gives us abundant ground to reckon those two different people, Jews and Gentiles, a visible emblem of the division of all mankind into these twoparts, the church and the world, or the righteous and the wicked, as will , appear in what follows : IV. The nation of Israel appears in the representations of scripture to be a figure or emblem of the righteous or religious part of mankind, of the saints of God, or his holy ones, his in- visible church. The Israelites were the natural seed of Abraham the friend of God, the great believer, the father of thefait/fúl, . and thepeculiar favouriteof heaven. Theyderived many bless- ings through him ; they had many privileges by their covenant at Sinai, and the promises of many divine favours ; they had the adoption or sonship ; God was their father, they were his first- born, and his favourites ; they were his chosen people, an elect nation, and the beloved ; they were redeemed by him, from the bondage of Pharoah kingof Egypt ; he was their Redeemer, and their holy one in themidst of them: they were the people of his salvation, conducted by him to the promised land through the wilderness : They are called his saints, or holy ones, having circumcision and other outward marks of holiness, or dedication to God ; they had the true God for their God and their King, the Lord of their visible church, and haad of their civil state, and hedwelt amongst them in a visible cloud of glory on the mercy- seat : They were a peculiar people to himself, a holy nation, a royal priesthood. See these characters ; Run. ix. 4, 5. Ex. xix. .5, 6. and iv. 22. and manyother places. Now these titles and characters, which belonged heretofore in an external, visible, and typical souse to the nation of' Israel, do really and spiritually belong to the invisible church of God, hischosen, called, and faithful people, who were born of God, and who arethe children of Abrallatn, and imitators of his faith, and heirs of the promise; Rom. iv. 11. Gal. iii. 29. Who are
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=