Exposition of the Whole Bible

“. SUCH kind of prophecy as this is not natural to men; it is not owing to the genius of the: mind; or the temperament of the body; or the influence of the ftars; but to the fovereign will and pleafure of God. Maimonides" makes a perfection of the corporal faculties, particularly the imagination, the fubjeét of which is the brain, arifing from the good temperament, proportion, meafure. and humour of that member, to be requifite to prophecy; but we fee that men of a different genius, capacity, education, and manner of living, have been endowed with the fpirit of prophecy, as I/aiab and Amos: nor is this to be acquired by any means that man can make ufe’ of. It is true indeed, there were, as it fhould feem, fchools or colleges of prophets, which were very early, and continued. long: there feems to have been one at the hill of God in Samuel's time, where was a garrifon of the Philiftines, where Saul met a comypany of the prophets’ that dwelt there; from whence probably it had its naine, + Sam. x. 5. and there was another at Naioth in Ramah, where Samuel was at the head of them, being appointed over them, 1 Sam. xix. 20. and inthe times of Eijab and Elifha, there were of this fort at Betbel.and Gilgal, 2 Kings ii. 3,.5, and iv. 38. in thofe fchools or feminaries of learning; young men, who are called the fons, that is, the difciples of the prophets, were educated and trained. up in religious exercifes; in prayer, and finging praifes to God; and were inftructed in the knowledge of God and his perfeétions; in the knowledge of the Meffiah, his perfon and office, fo far as they were then known; they were inftructed in the doétrines and duties of morality; and in the inftirutions of the ceremonial law; and in all the parts of divine worfhip and fervice: and this will account for the number of prophets in thofe days; the companies that Saul met; the hundred which Obadiah hid by fifty in a cave, after a great flaughter Yezabel had made of others; and the fifty men: of the fons of the prophets, that were fent to feck Hijab after his tranflation: now, tho’ thefe are called the fons and difciples of the prophets, and prophets alfo; being by fuch means fitted for, and were capable of, inftructing the people in the common principles and duties of religion; yet they did not hereby attain to that kind of prophecy, we are fpeaking of. God might indeed, and no doubt he fometimes did, take out from among thefe, being fober, religious, and truly gracious men, at leaft, fome of them, and make them prophets extraordinary; juft as he now does, takes fome perfons in our days, who are brought up in fchools and academies, and makes them minifters ef the gofpel 5 tho* all the learning they there obtain, will not give them fuch a chara¢ter, nor qualify them for fuch a work, unlefs God gives them grace and minifterial gifts. So the Lord was pleafed to take the apoftle Paul, who was brought up at the feet of Gamalie/, and by his grace make him a preacher of his - gofpel, when the other apoftles were generally illiterate perfons; fo fome of thefe fons of the prophets might be taken, and made extraordinary prophets; but not all of them; nor were all that were prophets, fuch originally; for Amos fays, that he was not a prophet, that was at the head of one. of thefe fchools or colleges; nor a prophet’s fon, a difciple of any of them; but an berdman, and a gatherer of fycamore fruit; and the Lord took him, as he followed the flack, and bid him prophefy, Amos vii 14, 15. in hort, prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, 2 Pet.i.21. no man could: make himfelf a prophet, or make any other man one, at-his own,will and pleafure; only the Lordy who, according to the counfel of his own will, determined upon, and appointed fach and fuch perfons to be prophets; as he did Feremy, even before he was born; and on whom, according to his fovereign will, and when he pleafed, he caufed his Spirit to defcend, move, and influence them to fpeale and declare what he would have them do; or by fome way or other conveyed unto them the knowledge of what he would have them make known to others, and preffed them, by his Spirit to declare: it; nor could they prophefy when they would themfelves, but only when it was. the pleafure. of the

THERE were various ways and means by which prophecy came unto them, efpecially: by dream. and vifion, according to Numb. xii. 6. if there be a propbet among you, I the Lord will make inyfelf known: unto him in a vifion, and will [peak unto him in a dream. Maimonides ° fays,. that in. thefe two, dream, and vifion, all the degrees of prophecy are contained; and that there is not a third way or manner, befides them, tho’ there are diftin& degrees in them. Prophecy of things was fometimes delivered to the prophets in vifion; whether in the day, or in the night; whether waking or fleeping; and whe-.. ther by~external appearances to the bodily fight, or by mental reprefentations made in the fancy or. a: imagination. In fuch ways as thefe, the prophets before us had their prophecies by vifion, J/aich had his prophecy, which is called in general, the vifion of J/aiab, which he faw, ch. i. 1., and particularly he had a vifion of the Lord on a throne, high and lifted, very magnificently defcribed, ch. vi. 1, 2. ~— So to Ezekiel the heavens were opened, and he faw the vifions of God; as the vifions of the cheru-

: POUR ME A ets &. BB. Vii bim, the image of jealoufy, and others, ch. i. 1,28. and viii. 3, 5. So Daniel had his vifions of the four beafts; and of the ram and he-goat, Darius and Alexander, ch. vii. and viii. Zechariah had alfo _ feveral vifions; of the man on a red horfe among the myrtle-trees; of the four carpenters; of another man with a meafuring-line; of Yo/bua the high prieft in filthy garments; of the golden candleftick; of the flying roll; and of the four chariots from between two mountains; recorded in the fix firft chapters of his prophecy. Sometimes they received their prophecies in dreams; fo Jeremiah had feveral evangelical prophecies. in this way, ch. xxxi. 26. and Daniel had the prophecy of the four monarchies reprefented in a dream, ch. vii. 1. Sometimes the Lord inftructed the’ prophets immediately from himfelf, by an inftin¢ét and impulfe upon their minds; and fometimes made known his will to them by an angel; fometimes by a created one, as by Gabriel to Daniel, ch. viii. 16, 17. and ix. ar. and fometimes by Chriit, the increated angel, appearing in a vifible form, as to the fame Daniel, ch. x. 5—12. and to Zechariah, ch.i. 8, 9. and ii. 3, 4... And fometimes, as they were taught by fymbolical reprefentations what fhould be hereafter; as Jeremiah by an almond-tree, a boiling pot, a linen girdle, and two bafkets of figs; and Amos by grafhoppers, a plumb-line, and a bafket of fummerfruits; fo they Jikewife conveyed the knowledge of things that would be, which were revealed unto them by various fymbols alfo; as J/aiab by walking naked and bare-foot; and feremiab by wearing yokes upon his neck; and Ezekiel by lying on his fide fuch a number of days he did, and by taking two fticks and making them one in his hand: and fometimes they communicated what was revealed to them by parables; as Ezekiel by the parables of the two eagles and vine, and of the boiling pot; and Hofea by the parable of taking a wife of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms: but be it in -what way foever the knowledge of things to come were conveyed to them, or they communicated it to others, it was all by divine revelation, and from the Holy Spirit of God, and as under his influence; for holy men of Ged fpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghof, 2 Pet.i. 21. In vain does Maimonides? diftinguifh between the gift of prophecy, the firft degree of it, and the Holy Ghoft, which he makes a lower degree of it; or between the Spirit of God, and the Holy Ghoft: and in which he is confronted by another Fewi/h writer 1, who makes the Holy Spirit and prophecy to be the fame; for fpeaking of the feveral things wanting in the fecond temple, mentions the Holy Ghoft; and adds, by way of explanation, F>N13) mimy, which, fays he, is prophecy. And the Fews have a faying *, that after the death of the latter prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, wapr myn the Holy _ Ghoft, departed from J/rael, meaning prophecy; they being the laft prophets. Nor is any fuch diftinction to be fupported by any thing that is faid in the facred writings; from the whole of which it appears, that all prophecy is to be afcribed to the infpiration and influence of the holy Spirit, or _ Spirit of God. And they were Aoly men that were moved and influenced by him; fuch were thefe fixteen prophets, whofe writings make fo confiderable a part of the oracles of God, of the canon of the Old Teftament. It will not be denied, but that wicked men have fometimes been under this divine afflatus, and have prophefied true things, even of the Meffiah himfelf, which have come to pafs as Baloam, Numb. xxiv. 17. and Caiaphas, fobn xi. 49—52- but ordinarily fpeaking, the Spirit of God, as a Spirit of prophecy, refted-only upon pious and good men.

NOW prophecy of this fort efpecially, or foretelling things to come, has always been’ in high efteem in all nations. Cicero * fays, ** it is an ancient opinion, handed down from times of old, and « which is confirmed by the confent of the Roman people, and of all nations, that there is a fort of di_ « yjnation among men, which the Greeks call postin, that is, a forefight and knowledge of future << things.” We learn from Clemens Alexandrinus*, that the Egyptians had their prophets, who were in great efteem among them; and there was one that was called an arch-prophet: and among the Grecians, he gives a long lift of prophets, who pretended to foreknowledge, and to foretel things to come, and give refponfes about them; but at the clofe fays, thefe were all thieves and robbers, as fays the fcripture’s what they foretold being chiefly from obfervation and probabilities, and thro” the influence of the devil, and other things: but the Hebrew prophets, he obferves, were men of another fort, being infpired of God". fupiter had his prophets in Crete”. ‘The apoftle Pau/ quotes a paffage from one of them, Tif. 1. 12. one of themfelves, even a prophet of their own faid, the Cretians are always liars, &c. this was Epimenides, whom Cicero, in the book referred to, reckons’ along with Bacchis, and Sybilla Erytbrea, who prophefied, per furorem; and whom Apuleius * calls, inclytum fatiloquum, a famous fortune-teller and poet. ‘The many and renowned oracles among the heathens are notorious: among

the Eeyptiant, befides the famous one of Yupiter Ammon, there were the oracles of Hercules, Apollo, Minerva, Diana, and Mars, arid what was had in the greateft efteem, the oracle of Latona, in the | city Butus: and among the Grecians, befides the noted one of Apollo Pythius at Delphos, there were the oracles of the Branchidie, or Apollo Didymaeus, at Miletus, of Trophonius in Lebadia; and Amphiaraus in Thebes and others at Abe and Dodona. There were alfo the oracles of Mars and Bacchus among the Tbracians; and feveral others among the Ethiopians. ‘There was an oracle of Apollo Thyrkxeus at Gyaneis, upon the borders of Lycia; of Mercury at Phare in Achaia;'ot Hercules Buraicus at Bura; otf Apollo Ptous, at mount Prous 5 with others, which Herodotus ¥, Diodorus Siculus*, Panfanias*, and other writers, make mention of. To thefé, kings and countries, cities and towns, and perfons of every rank, had recourfe on emergent occafions, and when difficulties arofe thro’ war or otherwife; and there were the vates or prophets at thefe oracles, who gave the refponfes, at leaft fecretly; and who were loaded with! gifts and prefents, and became very rich. But above all, the Sydi/s were the moft famous for their prophecies of future things, and were highly efteemed. Well known is the ftory of one of them, — who. offered to fale, to Tarquinius Superbus, the laft king of the Romans, nine books, in which were contained the fate of the Roman people; for which fhe afked three hundred Philips (a gold coin of Philip. king of Macedon) which were then very fcarce and valuable; but being refufed with contempt, fhe went away, and burnt three of them; and returned another day to the king, and afked the fame price; as before, for what remained; but her fecond offer being rejected, fhe burnt three more; and came-a ithird time, and received for the remaining ‘three, the whole fum fhe afked for them all = thefe were put into a ftone-cheft in the Capitol at Rome, where they were firft under the care of two men; aftérwards ten, then fifteen,; and which came at lait to forty, fome fay fixty; and were burnt with the Capitol, in the times of Auguftus Cefar; who fent men into various countries afterwards, to gather up all, the verfes of the Sydzls that could be come at; and being examined, laid them up in the temple of Apollo; and thefe were burnt alfo with Rome by Stilico”; fo that thofe which are now publifhed under their: name, cannot be the work of the ancient Sydc/s: and indeed, they feem to be the pious frauds of fome chriftians, to the difgrace of chriftianity, which needs no fuch methods to fupport it: tot

NOW, if fuch prophecies as thefe, which were all impofture and deceit, and the'work of fatany and of ‘thofe under his influence, were fo highly valued, and had in fuch efteem, what a precious trea*’ fure fhould we reckon the books of the divine prophets! we have a more fure word of prophecy-indeed}: to which we do well to have refpect, as to a light that fhines in a dark place. » The writings of the prophets, are the fcriptures which our Lord chiefly had in view, when he directed his hearers to fearchinto them,.for teftimonies concerning him; and it was out of thefe principally, that he expounded to his difciples, after his refurrection, the things relating to himfelf: it was from'hence the’ apoftles fetched their proofs of the perfon, office, and:grace of Chrift, in their miniftry, ‘particular be the apoftle Paul: and it was by thefe the noble Bereaw#s were concluded, whether the things preach by him were fo or no. Thefe are the»prophefyings we are not to defpife, but entertain the higheft efteem of. And there are many things which may invite us to read and ftudy them; as the divine infpiration. of them; the certain accomplifhment of many already, from whence we may be fure of the reft 3 the vaft extent of them, reaching to many kingdoms, nations, and ftates, in all ages, to thes end of the world; the many ufeful ‘abacus contained in them, with refpect to our duty both to God. and, man; the many excellent doctrines of grace they bear teftimony to; and efpecially our Lord Jefus Chritt, being the principal fubject, fcope, and center of them. Thefe are a principal part of all feripture given by infpiration of God, and are eminently ufeful for dodirine, for reproof, for: correction; ond infiruction in righteoufne/s; their agreement with each other, tho’ delivered a¢, Sundry, Limes; and» in. divers manners, the fublimity and majefty of their ftile; the holy precepts, and holy doctrines, contained in them;, and: the holy lives, and godly fimplicity, of thofe to, whom, and by whom, they; were communicated; and efpecially, the certain, precife, and exact fulfilment of fuch.a vatt number, of them, put it out of all doubt that they are of God; for who: but the, omnifcient God, that fore knows and. forefees all things, could have revealed to men, with fuch clearnefs and exactnefs, things, fo very remote and contingent, as many of them were? and -from which we may conclude, the fure and certain fulfilment of what are yet to come, and which are every;day fulfilling; and. we may, hope, that ina fhort time, they will open to our view yet more and.more: ‘Thefe prophecies nog;