28. God having, in infinite wisdom and grace, provided this way of relief, and given this intimation of it, that revelation became the foundation and centre of all the religion that ensued in the world: for as those who received it by faith, and adhered unto it, continued in the worship of the true God, expressing their faith in the sacri- fices that he had appointed typically to represent and exemplify before their eyes the work itself, which by the promised Seed was to be accomplished; so also all that false worship which the generality of mankind apostatized unto was laid in a general persuasion that there was a way for the recovery of the favour of God, but what
SECT. 27-29.] PROMISED OF OLD. 177
that was they knew not, and therefore wandered in woful uncer- tainties.
Some suppose that our great mother Eve, in these words, Gen. iv. 1, ANS WN NP | expressed an apprehension that she had born * him who was Man-God, “the Man the Lorp,” the promised Seed. And they do not only contend for this meaning of the words, but also reproach them who are otherwise minded; as may be seen in the writings of Hunnius and Helvicus against Calvin, Junius, Pareus, and Piscator, That she, together with Adam, believed the promise, had the consolation, and served God in the faith of it, 1 no way doubt; but that she had an apprehension that the promised Seed should be so soon exhibited, and knew that he should be the Lorp, or Jehovah, and yet knew not that he was to be born of a virgin, and not after the ordinary way of mankind, I see no cogent reason to evince. Nor do the words mentioned necessarily prove any such apprehension in her. The whole weight of that supposition lies on the construction of the words, from the interposition of the particle MS, denoting, as they say, after verbs active always an accusative case. But instances may be given to the contrary; whence our trans- lation reads the words, “I have gotten aman from the Lorp,” with- out the least intimation of any other sense in the original. And Drusius is bold to affirm that it is want of solid skill in the sacred tongue that was the cause of that conception. Besides, if she had such thoughts, she was manifoldly mistaken; and to what end that mistake of hers should be here expressed I know not. And yet, notwithstanding all this, I will not deny but that the expression is unusual and extraordinary, if the sense of our translation be in- tended, and not that by some contended for, “I have gotten,” or obtained, “the Man the Lorp.” And this, it is possible, caused Jona- than Ben Uzziel to give us that gloss on the words in his Targum: moss pp n> nS mays soxdod non xin penny min ons yt) DIN my seasedio my s9a95 snap; —“ And Adam knew his wife Eve, who de- sired the Angel; and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, ‘I have obtained the man’ (or ‘a man’) ‘the Angel of the Lorp;’ ”—that is, him who was promised afterwards under the name of “The Angel of the Lorn,” or “ The Angel of the covenant;” which the Jews may do well to consider.
29. But we have further expositions of this first promise and further confirmations of this grace in the Scripture itself: for in process of time it was renewed unto Abraham, and the accomplishment of it confined unto his family; for his gratuitous call from superstition and idolatry, with the separation of him and his posterity from all the families of the earth, was subservient only unto the fulfilling of the promise before treated of. The first mention of it we have Gen.
xii. 1-3, “Now the Lorp had said unto Abram, Get thee out of VOL. XVIII. 12
178 MESSIAH, THE DELIVERER FROM EVIL, [EXERC. VILL.
thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” And this is again expressed, chap. xviii, 18, “ All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him;” and chap. xxii. 18, “ And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” And when he doubted of the accomplishment of this promise because he was childless, and said, “ Behold, to me thou hast given no seed,” as knowing that therein lay the promise, chap. xv. 3, God tells him that “he who should come forth of his own bowels should be his heir,” verse 4; which was afterwards restrained unto Isaac, chap. xvii. 21. Thus he is called and separated, as from his own family and kindred, so from all other nations, and a peculiar por- tion of the earth assigned unto him and his for their habitation. Now, the especial end of this divine dispensation, of this call and separation of Abraham, was to be a means of accomplishing the for- mer promise, or the bringing forth of Him who was to be the de- liverer of mankind from the curse that was come upon them for their sin; for,—