of God, with a quiet and joyful heart, knowing, that it was sufficient for their salvation; they glorified God, and gave him thanks on that account: yet, as a better condition was made known as at a distance, they reach ed out also in desire after it. These all died in faith, and therefore calmly and happily; yet not having received the promises, but seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, Heb. xi. 13.

XXIX. I dare not, for this purpose, wrest Deut. xxix. 19. to add the drunken, or the watered, to the thirsty as if a twofold state of the church was intimated here; that of thirst, under the Old; and of watering, under the New Testament: and to add the watered to the thirsty, was to reduce the church, when satisfied with the exhibition of the promise, to the order or rank of the thirsting church; to load the believers of the New Testament with the ancient ceremonies: and, from another signification of the word SEPHOTH, to destroy the satiated with the thirsty; to endeavour the destruction of those in covenant with God, first, while. they expect the salvation of God; and then, when they have received the gospel of salvation. To these interpretations, we have a third to this purpose, that the full shall destroy the thirsty; that is, that those who falsely think themselves full, shall, at the time expected, oppress those that are thirsty; and, afterwards, harass those that are filled. And these things are so joined, as, taken together, to complete the full meaning of the words. See Ult. Mosis, § 121.-138: and Lexicon ad vocem RAVAH. But I think, that as these things are altogether new; so they are remote from the meaning of Moses, for the following reasons.

XXX. 1. Because, in these words, Moses describes the language of an idolater, whose heart is turned away from the Lord God, to go after the worship of the gods

of the Gentiles, and who, having renounced all fear of God, slights the solemn engagements of the covenant, and, notwithstanding this, promises peace to himself, ver. 16, 28. such as were those of whom Jer. xliv. 17. But surely such an idolater as this can give himself no trouble to force New Testament believers, who are free, to submit to the yoke of the Mosaic bondage, which he himself has shaken off, and has in abhorrence. 2. The person whom Moses here represents, is one of abandoned impiety, which he himself does not so much as conceal, and an avowed despiser of God and religion but they whom the celebrated interpreter imagines to be here pointed out, put on a great appearance of sanctity, and, in all their actions, made religion a pretence; as is well known from the gospel-history. 3. If the thirsty signifies the church of the Old Testament, and the watered, the church of the New; to add the watered to the thirsty, can only signify, to add the New Testament church to that of the Old, and join both together which the scripture declares was done by Christ, Eph. ii. 13. and Eph. iii. 6. thing, to add the satiated to the thirsty; duce the satiated to the condition of the thirsty. The obstinate zealots for the ceremonies are no where said to have joined to themselves the free Christians; but rather to have separated them from themselves, and expelled them the synagogues, Is. lxv. 5. and Is. lxvi. 5. 4. As there can be only one literal sense, it is asserted, contrary to all rules of right interpretation, that the word SEPHOTH can, in the very same proposition, be taken for partly to destroy, or consume; partly to join and unite; and the participle ETH, partly for NGIM, with; partly for the sign of the accusative. It is one thing, under the general signification of one word, to comprize more things pertaining to the same significa

But it is one another, to re

tion, which often takes place in explaining scripture: another, to ascribe to the same word, at the same time, different or opposite significations; which is contrary to all reason. If SEPHOTH Signifies here to join, it cannot signify to destroy. If ETH signifies with, it cannot be the sign of the accusative. 5. What is more absurd, than, after having established at large, that the full signifies the church of the New Testament, to understand by the thirsty, that which is oppressed with the ceremonies; and immediately to undo all this, and turn the words to this meaning, that the full shall destroy the thirsty; that is, the Jews, who are zealous for the discarded ceremonies, who seem to themselves to be full, shall persecute those that pant after Christ ? What is it to put white for black, if this is not? Can any thing more absurd be, devised, than that one word should signify, at the same time, the Christian church, which suffers persecution, and the congregation of the malignant Jews, who persecute her? And yet learned men fondly please themselves with such inventions.

XXXI. What then, you will say, is the genuine meaning of the words of Moses? I really think, it is plain and obvious. When any person commits, with pleasure, the crime he has conceived in his mind, he is said, proverbially, to drink iniquity as water, Job xv. 16. When a person ruminates on impious projects in his mind, he is as one that thirsteth after evil. But when he executes his premeditated designs, he surfeits himself with diabolical delights, and becomes, as it were, satiated, or drunk. Finely says the celebrated Cocceius, on Zech. ix. § 14. Outrageous, savage men are said to thirst after blood, and, while they shed it with pleasure, are said to drink it, Rev. xvi. 6.' What any one is delighted with, is said to be his meat, VOL, III. RI

and he is said to drink it as water, John iv. 34. Job xv. 16. & xxxiv. 7. To add, therefore, the drunken, or the satiated, to the thirsty, is not only to burn with an eager desire to commit wickedness, but also to accomplish it by abominable actions, and to follow after it, till his mind, which is bent upon evil, is fully satisfied. This the despisers of the Deity do, who, secure in their crimes, call the proud happy, and give way in all things to their unbridled lusts. And these are they whom Moses here describes. Should these things give less satisfaction, I recommend, above others, the discourses of the very learned Lud. de Dieu, who is large on this passage.

XXXIII. They also seem to be as far from the meaning of Zechariah, who think, that he compares the condition of the fathers of the Old Testament, to the pit wherein is no water, Zech. ix. 11. For, 1. Those very fathers sung, Psal. xxiii. 2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters. Which is quite different from the pit wherein is no water. 2. We admit, as a most certain rule of interpretation, which the brethren usually insist upon, that the words, unless any thing should hinder, are to be taken in their full import. But the emphasis is far greater, if, by the pit without water, we understand the condition of an unregenerate sinner; who, while in himself, is without Christ, is wholly destitute of all those things, which can yield him consolation, and quench his thirst after happiness. And there is no reason, why we may not thus explain it. For the prophet speaks concerning what is impetrated by the blood of Christ, which is the blood of the covenant, or New Testament, and shed, not only to remove the yoke of -ceremonies, but especially to abolish the bondage of sin. Why shall we confine what is spoken, to that

which is the less, since the words may not only bear, but also persuade, nay almost constrain us, to interpret them of what is greater? 3. The prophet here comforts the mourners in Zion, and promises them deliverance from that evil, with which they were most of all oppressed, and for which they expected a remedy from the Messiah, who was to come. But that evit was not the bondage of ceremonies, which yielded little or no comfort; but rather the abyss of spiritual misery, into which sin had plunged them. The yoke of which, under the devil, who exacts it of them, is infinitely more grievous, than that yoke of ceremonies, that God laid upon them. 4. Though the ceremonies, considered in themselves, and separate from Christ, could not yield so much as a drop of comfort; yet the fathers were not, on that account, in a pit wherein is no water. For what they could not draw from the ceremonies, they drank out of the streams of divine grace, flowing from Christ, an everlasting fountain, to whom they looked by their faith. We therefore dare not say, the ancient condition of the fathers was a pit wherein is no water though, with scripture, we maintain, that they had a thirst after better things; nevertheless they were not destitute of the waters of saving grace, for their necessary consolation.

IT

CHA P. XIV.

Of the Abrogation of the Old Testament..

now remains, that we speak of the abrogation of the Old Testament, or of those things which were for merly superadded to the covenant of grace, as shadows,