hood which they ambitiously afpired to . God vindicated his own choice of officers and governors by a miraculous opening the earth, and fwallowing up the feditious confpirators against the government, and facrilegious invaders of the priest's office; a terrible example, as St. Jude obferves, for all fuch who, in like manner, defpife dominion, and speak evil of dignities, left they alfo perish in the gainfaying of Core *. Again, we find in this hiftory, that the cenfers, in which Corah and his company burnt incenfe, were commanded by God to be for ever after feparated to a holy ufe, for making plates for covering the alrar; and the reafon is exprefly given, becaufe that although they were the cenfers of thofe prefumptuous finners, yet they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed 1; plainly inftructing us in the refpect due unto facred things, which having been confecrated to God, ought not to be employed to common ufes, but for his honour and fervice: And the judgments of God afterwards fhewn upon Belfhazzar, for his profaning the facred veffels of the temple, fufficiently evidence how provoking are the fins of facrilege and profanencfs "". Secondly, The other paffage is that concerning Balaam ", whom fome think to have had the knowledge of the true God, and to have been a prophet; and that he therefore told the meffengers who were fent to him, I will bring you sword again as the Lord fhall Speak unto me; and I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my i Numb. xvi. Dan. v. 1. p. 567. xxii. 8. k Jude 3. 11. God; 1 Numb. xvi. 38. n Numb. xxii. See Dr. Pocock on Hofca xi. • As St. Peter calls him, 2 Pet. ii. 16. P Numb. 9 Ver. 18. God; but that he was covetous and ambitious, and loved the wages of unrighteoufnefs, and therefore God gave him up to the delufions of evil fpirits and enchantments. Others do rather believe him to have been an Heathen forcerer. He is exprefly called a foothfayer, or diviner, as being famous for the arts of magic and enchantments; accordingly he is faid to feek for enchantments. The apoftle might call him a prophet, as being esteemed fo, and the expreflion, the madness of the prophet, is not favourable; and as to what himself faid of bringing word as the Lord fhould fpeak, and that he could not go beyond the word of the Lord his God, that fhews he was over-ruled by the fpirit of prophecy, and received counter-orders from the true God; fo that he was unable to find any enchantment againft Jacob, or divination against Ifrael ". Balak, king of Moab, being jealous of the number and fuccefs of the Ifraelites, fent for this Balaam to curfe them, fince it was an opinion that fuch perfons had a power, by the help of their gods, to afflict all those whom they would, and blaft their defigns; but God turned this to the good of his people, and the difcouragement of their enemies. Furthermore, when Balaam was going towards Balak, it is faid, God's anger was kindled, because he went, though he was permitted to go ". This doubtlefs was because of his defign to get the money and honour, and inclination to curfe Ifrael, which he fhewed, by keeping the meffengers another night, after God had faid unto him, Thou r 2 Pet. ii. 15. u Numb. xxiii. 22. * Verse 19. S Josh. xiii. t Numb. xxiv. I. w Ver. 20. Thou shalt not go with them, thou shalt not curfe the people, for they are bleffed. It is alfo faid", that God would not hearken unto Balaam, but turned the curfe into a bleffing; which fhews Balaam's defire and endeavour to have them curfed. So that it is plain God's anger was kindled, because he went, that is, with that intention ftill, to curfe Ifrael; and although he fucceed. ed not therein, yet he was infrumental, by his wicked counsel in the enticement of a great number of the Ifraelites, firft, to commit whoredom with the daughters of the Moabites and Midianites, and then to join with them in the worship of their idol gods ; which occafioned many to be put to death, and twenty-four thoufand to die of the plague. As for the afs's fpeaking ", we may the lefs wonder at it, when there want not fuch accounts in Pagan hiftory; fuch as of a lamb fpeaking in Egypt, and of an ox crying out, Rome, beware; with many like inftances out of the graveft and best hiftorians . a d Thirdly, Mofes and Aaron both died before the Ifraelites entered into the land of Canaan f, whereon the following reflection may be made, viz. that neither the Levitical priefthood, which Aaron executed, nor the Levitical law taught by Mofes, can conduct the people of God into the eternal inheritance; but the grace of God, by faith in Jefus, of whom both that priesthood and that law were types and fhadows. y Verfe 12. 3, 6. a Deut. xxiii. 5. a Num. xxv. 1, 2, d Num. xxii. 28. Grot. & alii in Num. xxii. 28. in Pool's Synopfis. Ex. 12. Deut. xxxiv. 1,—6. 1 Num. С НА Р. CHAP. XIII. The Manifeftation of Chrift under the Law. TR THE laft thing to be noted concerning the Pentateuch, is, the manifeftation of our Lord Jefus Chrift therein, by his being not only fhadowed in the law, as aforefaid, but in particular foretold by Mofes, and typified by the brazen ferpent, and, as it were, forefhewn by divers appearances to the Patriarchs. In the first place, Mofes foretold him, faying unto the children of Ifrael, a The Lord thy God fhall raife up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him fhall ye hearken: Which prophecy the Jews, and many learned Chriftian interpreters, understood of a promife of fucceffion of prophets after Mofes, to prevent the Ifraelites from having recourfe to oracles and diviners, mentioned the verfe before; but the apostle applies it to the Meffiah, and fo does St. Stephen, and therefore it is to be understood primarily of him. Chrift, according to the flesh, came of the tribe. of Judah, and fo was raifed from the midft of that people, and of their brethren; and he was like unto Mofes, as having taken on him the nature of man, and also in giving laws, (which none of the ancient prophets did) inftructing and exhorting to virtue, and foretelling things to come: So again, in being a mediator between God and man, and a .reconciler of the people to God, in doing many a * Deut. xviii. 15, Acts iii. 22. won c Acts vii. 374 wonderful works, and conducting towards the Canaan of heaven. This famous prophecy of Chrift was published above one thoufand four hundred years before-hand, and it is explained and applied by the apoftle St. Peter d. And by the way, this prophecy of Chrift's being a prophet and a law-giver, like unto Mofes, plainly manifefts his authority to fulfil the oid law of Mofes, and thereby make it appear that the fhadows of him ceafe. Again, as Mofes foretold Chrift, so the brazen ferpent he fet up on a pole in the wilderness, was a figure of him; for as they which were ftung with the fiery ferpents, were faved from death by looking up to the brazen ferpent, fo we, looking up by faith to Chrift, who was lifted up on the crofs, obtain falvation from eternal death. So great was the work of our redemption, that it was thus foretold and reprefented fo long be fore. Furthermore, the feveral appearances mentioned in the Pentateuch of God and the Lord, efpecially where what we tranflate, the Lord, is in the original Jehovah, are afcribed by the ancient fathers, and many other learned authors, to the second perfon in the bleffed Trinity. They affirm, that whenfoever the divinity vouchfafed a vifible appearance, it was by the Logos, or word, that is, the Son, and this from apoftolical tradition, that as God the Father at the firft made the world by his Son, fo by the fame Son he afterwards manifefted himfelf; 14. e d Acts iii. 22. See Numb. xxi. 9. compared with John iii. Juftin. Martyr. Apol. 1 Edit. Grabe, fect. 83. p. 122. & Trypho Edit. Jebb. p. 178, and 330. See at large Archbishop Tenifon on Idolatry, chap. xiv. the five first parts thereof. |