First, befides that, God would have the punishment of death inflicted upon them that were at any time found guilty of fins against nature, as alfo upon them, that should be proved to have had any incestuous commerce with those that were nearly related to them, and to whom either the nearness of blood, or of affinity, gave them a more free and familiar access. He moreover, ftraitly commanded, that all prostitutes should be put to death without any mercy (r). Secondly, he is not only contented to forbid fornication and adultery in general, by condemning to death, thofe that exprefly fhould be convicted of it, and by awarding the fame fentence against him that should happen to corrupt a contracted virgin, and the virgin her felf (s). But he alfo hinders men by two ways from falling into fins of impurity, he permitted, on the one hand, a divorce where the wife did not pleafe her husband, and on the other hand he allowed of polygamy. This toleration made that virgins on the one fide, not remaining too long unmarried were not apt to be easily corrupted, and on the other fide men were not very forward to debauch those women whom they did not intend to marry, or to keep when married, for he that was compelled to marry a virgin whom he had feduced, was exprefly forbidden to put her away for ever after (t). It is natural to obferve the design of those laws amongst the people of the Jews (u). In short, the defire of iffue made them marry very young; moft of the men were married at eighteen years of age. Therefore all virgins thought it a fhame to be unmarried; therefore God makes them fpeak in the third of Isaiah, in that manner, when seven women would marry one man, without asking any thing for diet, or cloaths, provided only that he would take away that reproach of living without having children. 'Twas this defire of pofterity, which made the women look upon barenness as a curse. Again, this vehement defire of children made eunuchs to be regarded, as men particularly abhorred of God, not only by the Jews, but alfo by the Heathens themselves (x): Altho' afterwards they paffed for holy men, because they defigned to imitate what (as they were told) had happened to Noah, by his fon Ham, which introduced the custom amongst the Affyrians of caftrating themselves, that they might be priests. Thirdly, God commanded, that any virgin which was betrothed to a husband, and was corrupted in her father's houfe, or that was ravifhed without calling for help, fhould be punished with death (y); fo that all the virgins were indifpenfably engaged for fear of lofing both life and honour together, to preferve their virginity with all poffible care. But here is a fourth law concerning this matter, whereby God obliged the parents of all contracted virgins to take a more than ordinary care of them, when he commands Deut. XXII. 21. That a virgin for whom the tokens of virginity were not found, should be brought out of the door of her father's (r) Exod. xxii. Deut. xxil. Levit. xviii. Levit. xx. Deut. xxiii. 17. (u) Maffec. Avoth. c. 5. Lucian de Dea Syria. p. 1059. Y ther's houfe, and there be ftoned to death by the men of the city, for fo her parents were by that means, made partakers of the punishment of her crime, and their negligence, was feverely punish'd by fuch a fhameful execution as difhonoured their whole family. Fifthly, God fubmitted women to the examination of their husbands to whom they were married: nay, one would think that he intended to raife the jealoufie of hufbands, when he gives them leave to bring their wives to a publick tryal, and to punish them with death, when they did not preserve the tokens of their virginity. It was for that reafon that he commanded (z), that the parents or near relations of the young married women thus complained of, fhould produce upon all fuch occafions the tokens of the virginity of those daughters which they difpofed in marriage, which was usually done with many folemn circumftances and formalities. And here are three things, which deferve to be attentively confidered. The firft is the custom that was amongst the Jews for parents never to let their virgin daughters go out of their houses, which custom made them be called concealed, in oppofition to thofe that went abroad; that is, that were prostitutes. The fecond is another cuftom which the juft defire of preferving the virginity of their daughters against all accidents, had introduced amongst that people, which was, that all their virgins did wear a fort of fetters, which are called in the Talmud, cevalim, which are described by the famous Mofes, the son of Maimon, in this manner: Cevalim funt compedes in forma perifcelidis, inter quos interpofuerunt catenulas, illis compedibus ornabant fe virgines, ut non incederent paffu magno, ne contigeret ipfis damnum in virginitate fua (a). This defcription may be thought to be one of the foolish phancies of the modern Jews, if we did not meet with proofs of the practice of that custom in more ancient times. In fhort, one fee's in the third of Ifaiah, that chains are reckon'd up amongst other ornaments of the daughters of Ifrael, which God threatneth to take away from them, when he would force them to go captives into Babylon. The third is an ancient tradition mentioned in the Pirke Eliezer in the XVI. Chapter, Solent Ifraelita digito educere virginitatem, ne incidant in dubitationem vel fufpicionem, juxta illud, fumat pater, & mater puellæ, &c. In a word, it feems, that for fear least these tokens of virginity should be thought to be obfcure and ambiguous by their husbands, that God has provided for the fecuring of the virginity of their young women before marriage by a miracle, the experience whereof was ordinary and common amongst fo jealous a people. I mean, the waters of jealousie (b), which all women, whofe carriage was fufpected by their husbands, were obliged to drink, by which God did either miraculously juftifie them, or elfe he began to inflict a punishment upon them, which was fo much the more dreadful and exemplary, as it proceeded from the hand of God himfelf. This miracle lafted to the deftruction of the fecond temple, as the Jews themselves tells us in that title of their Talmud (c), which concerns women fufpected of adultery. However, (z) Deut. xxii. However, as God works no miracles without great reafons, fo he here made a law, the obfervance whereof was very rigorous, which was, that he would not suffer any women to be married when there was the leaft probability, that they had their courses, but that they should be separated at that time, as unclean. This reafon of this law was, because it was then almoft impoffible, but that the lewd women might have imposed upon their husbands, in the marks of their virginity, which at that time are very uncertain; not to fay, that as a politick law-giver, he might prefcribe the obfervation of this law, leaft the common-wealth of the Jews fhould have been overftocked with weak, and fickly people. Laftly, one fee's that God himself has faftned a blot upon leprous perfons, because they were fuppofed to have been conceived when their mothers had their courfes (d): and hereupon was that law of God founded, which debarred lepers for ever from the right of coming into the congregations of his people. One ought to make the fame obfervation upon those that were unlaw fully begotten, for they were deprived of the right of entring into the congregation, and how innocent foever they were, as to the lewdnefs of those who gave them their lives; yet they were thus with them made partakers of the punishment of their fin. If one confiders all these several laws attentively, one fhall find on the one hand, that several of them were of very little moment, except we fuppofe, that God intended to fecure the ftate of virginity by them beyond all danger: and on the other hand, one shall find that fome of them are very severe about things, which do not seem to deferve fo terrible a rigour. But if we confider them according to God's defign, as he hath afterwards particularly explained it. They will appear, I am confident, to be all very worthy of the wifdom of fuch a law-giver. One needs only reflect upon that method of God, that I have now explained to fee, that nothing can be conceived to be better managed, than this model according to the defign which God himself had drawn. One may make the fame obfervations, and examine the fame ftroaks of the wisdom of God, in feveral other precautions, which he made use of to make the Meffiah be perfectly diftinguish'd according to the feveral characters under which he was to be propofed afterwards by the miniftry of the Prophets. One fees, that the Meffiah being to be born of a virgin, was to be a first-born, and for that reafon, we find many laws which distinguish in general, the priviledges of the first-born. So it appears by the XVIII of Deuteronomy, that the Meffiah was to be a Prophet; and therefore, God afterwards gave notice by the Prophets of all thofe lights which fhould particularly appear in him. In profpect of this, God gave by the miniftry of Mofes, fuch characters as would diftinguish the true Prophets from those who endeavoured to ufurp that name: It appears alfo, that becaufe God was to communicate to the Meffiah, a power (d) Ifidor. Pelus 1. 5. Ep. 117. Jofeph. Antiq. 1. 3. p. 94. a power of working miracles (which Mofes intimates, by faying, that he was to be a Prophet like unto him.) Therefore Ifaiah fpecifies the character of those miracles in XXXV. Chapter of his prophefie, and God` explains in particular, the laws concerning the blind and the lame, and for the fame reafon, he gives an account of all forts of leprofie, that it might be diftinctly known which was incurable. It is eafie to those who will attend to the laws of Mofes, to fee that they were fubfervient to this defign of God, in purfuance of thofe prospects which we have already fet down. CHA P. XXI. That it was the Defign of God by all thefe Ceremonies, and particularly by that Veneration which he inspired the JEWS with, for the Tabernacle, to preferve the Ideas of the Meffiah, whom he had promised, in their Minds by diftinguishing them from all other Nations. FTER all thofe obfervations which I have made upon the feAveral laws that God made ufe of to execute his defign of fixing his people to a certain place, and there to keep them separate; it is natural to judge, that the ceremonial laws which he gave them for the regulating their outward worfhip, were alfo intended for the fame end. This I must fhew in refpect of the holiness which God afcribes to the fand of Canaan, and in refpect of the whole fervice of the tabernacle, of its misterious conftruction in all its parts: and in refpect also of the raifing of the material temple afterwards, to be as it were the center of their whole religion. It was certainly for this purpofe, that he particularly confecrated feveral things to himfelf, as the firft fruits, and the firft-born, and that he fet apart certain times, as the firft day of the month, and certain folemn feafts, befides the fabbath-day, which was celebrated long before. And he alfo confecrated feveral places, as the towns of refuge; and yet 'more particularly, the tabernacle and the temple: but it was especially for that reafon, that he had confecrated certain rites and ceremonies, certain facrifices, both of animate and inanimate things, and certain offerings of gold, and filver, perfumes, &c. One fee's, that he rejected any firft fruits that did not grow in the 'land of Canaan: one fee's, that tho' some sacrifices were common to the Jews and their neighbours, yet he diftinguifh'd them by fo many circumftances, that they were much different from the others: thus he forbids them to make use of statues before which other nations used to facrifice at that time, and he commanded them not to facrifice upon high places, where the heathens used to make their offerings very early in the morning, at fun rife, which gave rise to their worship of the rifing fun. But there is nothing more discovers the defign of God, than the laws by which he fixed their worship, firft to the tabernacle, and afterwards to to the temple, at the places where God did particularly refide. One may fay, that it was for that reafon, God commanded the reprefentations of angels, and of his law, and of the manna to be preferved there, all which befides, that they were memorials of the ancient apparitions, and favours of God to that people, they were exprefs figures of God's glory, of his will, and of his miraculous power; he added alfo a candlestick with seven branches, a table covered with loaves, and an altar of incenfe, which were figures of the feven planets of this vifible world, of the bleffings which we enjoy by nature, and of thofe acknowledgments which we owe unto God for all thefe: he commanded also, that none should. offer facrifices, in any other place except the temple. He would not permit that any but thofe who were purified according to the law fhould enter into it, he excluded all uncircumcifed perfons for ever, as Mofes had formerly been commanded to pull off his fhoes in the defert, at his approaching to the burning bufh, fo every one that entered into the temple was to enter barefoot, as a mark of that respect which had formerly been exacted of Moses. And what other reafon but that, could oblige him to give both at the confecration of the temple, and afterwards fo many fenfible marks of his prefence; that cloud which was called his glory refted there. The Urim and Thummim which was an oracle for that whole nation, was there; there was a daily facrifice offered up for the whole people, there were celebrated the three folemn feasts of the pallover, of pentecoft, and of tabernacles, he forbid them to facrifice any where elfe, and he gave frequent and illuftrious oracles at that place. One ought alfo to obferve, that after his temple (to which all the glory of the tabernacle was tranfmitted) was fixed at Jerufalem, he ordered it to be fuch a fenfible mark of his prefence, that when we read the hiftory of Ifrael's march in the defart, we find, that the tabernacle. was the image of the temple, and built after its model; fo that as the tabernacle ffood always in the midft of the tents of the Levites, and the Levites in the midst of the whole camp of all the tribes of Ifrael, who were all lifted under their proper ftandards: fo one fee's afterwards, that the temple, the Levites, and the people of Jerufalem were placed, according to their different degrees of holiness, as they were to approach to the most holy place, which was the habitation of his holiness. Certainly, one may fay, that the building up of a tabernacle, or of a temple, feems to be directly contrary to the nature of religion, according to which, God who is a fpirit, will be worshipped in fpirit, and in truth: fo that this feems to have been quitted for a time, when he commanded the building of a tabernacle. But really there was nothing more agreeable to the defign which God had formed at firft, as to that people; he intended to make it vifible, and it appears, that nothing could be more effectual to make it fo, than the. double neceffity to which that whole people was reduced to, to meet in a body feveral times every year in the fame place, and to offer all their facrifices in the tabernacle, and to be there perpetually employed in the ceremonial service, which did infeparably draw them thither, and fix them there. The end of all thofe vifible affemblies, was to perpetuate the knowledge Y 3 1 |