thruft out, God promised that the feed of the woman should break the ferpent's head; by which words the body of the Chriftian, and most of the Jewish ancienteft interpreters understand Jefus Chrift, or the promised Meffiah, to be foretold. Accordingly, fince (as St. Paul fays, 2 Tim. iii. 16.) all fcripture is given us by inspiration of God, it follows, that the holy men of God defign'd to let us fee in holy writ the feveral changes and alterations which befel his Church, till at laft it fhould receive its utmost perfection thro' Chrift.

In the book of Genefis we have the hiftory of the world from the creation to the birth of Mofes, which comes to near 2000 years; of this time, 1656 years were spent before the flood, as you will fee by fumming up the years of the ante-diluvian Patriarchs, Gen. v. Of this time we have a very fhort account, and the reafon is evident; when Mofes was to draw up an abftract of that earliest part of history for the use of the Jews, he only took care, 1. That they might plainly fee that Jehovah the great God was the Creator of heaven and earth, and he alone; that fo thereby they might neither be tempted to think the world to have been eternal, nor made by any of thofe Gods of the heathens whom their neighbours worship'd on every fide of them. And, 2. That this God wou'd punish thofe that fhould offend him.

Accordingly, when we have Adam's fin, we have his Punishment, Gen. iii. when we have Cain's crime in killing his brother Abel, we have alfo his punishment; when the pofterity of Seth, (who are called the children of God, Gen vi. 2.) fell in love with the daughters of Cain, that profligate race, (who are there called the daugh

ters

ters of Men) and by their pollutions fo corrupted themselves, that the whole race of mankind became univerfally wicked, then a flood came and fwept them all away, except one family which kept it felf free from their ftains. Thefe things were recorded that the Jews might learn to fear that God who had made the world, and could deftroy it again with a word of his

mouth.

After a fhort account of the repeopling the world by the children of Noah, Gen. x. Mofes haftens to Abraham, who was the father of the Jewish race, taking particular care to record the fucceffion of the intermediate generations which pafs'd between the flood and Abraham's birth in 350 years; this was to put the Jews in mind from whom they were all immediately defcended, and fo it led them to the worship of the true God.

What the religion of these ancientest People was, is not known: That Adam and Seth, and the reft of the Patriarchs of Seth's line till Noah, worship'd the true God is certain: Their mighty ages gave them opportunities of remembring traditions of a very long ftanding. Methuselah who dy'd in the year of the flood, might have feen Adam, as his age did very well allow. We have no one religious rite left upon record older than the flood, but that of keeping holy one day in feven, and that in memory of the creation, as the fourth commandment exprefly intimates. We find there were offerings by the ftory of Cain and Abel, whether in the nature of facrifices is not certain, tho' it is probable they were, and inftituted by an exprefs command of God.

When the flood was gone off the earth, and Noah landed out of the Ark, God then commanded, or rather permitted him to eat flesh, the ground being then too unwholfome to bear any thing else proper for food. Till then the world probably had only lived upon roots, and fruits, and herbs; [compare Gen. i. 29. with Gen. ix. 3.] then the eating of blood was forbidden, and manslaughter was punish'd with death.

Since eating of blood was forbidden to Noah, when the world had first leave to eat flesh; and fince the Apostles forbad it in the firft council of Jerufalem, Acts xv. 20, 29. it is no improper queftion, how come Chriftians generally now to eat it? For the prohibition of eating is not a command peculiar to the Mofaical law, fince the fons of Noah, and the Chriftians of Antioch were equally forbidden to eat it fo many ages before and after the Mofaical law was given.

Why it fhould be forbidden to Noah, thefe reafons are probable; 1. Flesh being then first introduced as food amongst mankind, the obliging them to feparate the blood, wou'd prcvent that favagenefs to creep amongst them, which the imitating beafts of prey, lions, tygers, &c. might have introduced. All carnivorous animals are fiercer than thofe which live upon herbs and roots: Thofe that keep lions tame, always give them boiled meat for that reafon, its nourishment being weaker than of that which is raw. 2. Sacrifices were then in ufe in the world: Now in all Sacrifices the atonement is made with blood alone, fee Levit. xvii. 11. this wou'd keep up due reverence to the validity of facrifices, to make an atonement for fins with God,

when

when blood was forbidden to be eaten as common food. Now it is plain that neither of thefe two reafons are now of force.

Why it was forbidden Acts xv. the reafon is plain; the Gentiles then believed that their Gods were peculiarly delighted with the blood of their facrifices; and all the commoneft meats before they were killed, or just at that very time, were confecrated to fome of their heathen Gods; whilst then the common people believed that in eating blood, they eat the food of their dæmons, wherein a more than ordinary degree of holiness was (as they thought) inherent, 'twas fit the Chriftians fhould then be forbidden the ufe of it, left that with the other things things there prohibited, should be a means of their relapfing to their old Idolatry. But ro return.

After Noah's time, the world in fome few ages grew idolatrous; the hiftory of Genefis furnishes us with feveral inftances: Abraham was called out of his own country by God, and fent into the land of Canaan, there with his kinfman Lot to be a preacher of righteousness: Then that country was promifed to his feed after 430 years, when (as the event fhew'd) they fhou'd come with Mofes and drive out the Amorites and poffefs their land.

But till that 430 years the Seed of Abraham never poffefs'd the land of Canaan, but he, Ifaac his fon, Jacob his grandfon, and his twelve fons, lived as ftrangers in that land till a famine drove them into Egypt, where when they multiply'd, and fo grew.formidable to the Kings of the . country (who by one common name were called Pharaoh's, a word that fignifies excellency of power in their language) who then fell upon them and enflaved them, till God, by his fer

A 3

vant

vant Mofes, with a mighty hand and amazing miracles led them out, and kept wandering in the Arabian deferts for 40 years.

Whilft the Jews were in the deferts the law was given to Mofes by God himself, to the understanding the general tenor of which, feveral things must be carry'd along with us. 1. That the whole world at that time, at least all thofe nations amongst whom the Jews converfed, were funk into idolatry. 2. That the Jews were by this law to be taught, that a nobler difpenfation in God's due time to be revealed, was to be expected. 3. That in order to make this nobler difpenfation the more confpicuous whenever it fhould appear, the Jews were, by their laws, kept at a distance from the reft of the world, that fo all men might take notice of every thing that should befal them.

ons.

Accordingly, to the first of these propofitions. we may obferve, that many of their laws were directly levelled at the idolatries of other natiCircumcifion was an outward mark or feal upon their bodies, fignifying that they were. actually in covenant with Jehovah, which was the peculiar name of God in the Old Teftament. This God they believed made the world, fun, moon, and ftars, the Gods whom the Gentiles worship'd In memory of his creation of this world they obferved the fabbath. The diftinction of clean and unclean animals, fome of which they might eat, others not fo much as touch, ferved to the fame purpofe. God gives this reafon himself, Levit. xx. 22-26. This led them to think that they were to be purer than the rest of their neighbours, with whofe pollutions they were not to defile themfelves. Sometimes particular laws were inftituted in oppofi