1. Our next inquiry is after the nature of those eternal transac- tions which, in general, we have declared from the Scripture in our foregoing Exercitation. And these were carried on “per modum foederis,’ “ by way of covenant,” compact, and mutual agreement, between the Father and the Son; for although it should seem that because they are single acts of the same divine understanding and will, they cannot be properly federal, yet because those properties of the divine nature are acted distinctly in the distinct persons, they have in them the nature of a covenant. Besides, there is in them a supposition of the susception of our human nature into personal union with the Son. On the consideration hereof he comes to have an absolute distinct interest, and to undertake for that which is his own work peculiarly. And therefore are those counsels of the will of God, wherein lies the foundation of the priesthood of Christ, ex- pressly declared as a covenant in the Scripture; for there is in them
78 FEDERAL TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN [EXERC. XXVIII.
a respect unto various objects and various effects, disposed into a federal relation one to another. I shall therefore, in the first place, manifest that such a covenant there was between the Father and the Son, in order to the work of his mediation, called therefore the covenant of the Mediator or Redeemer; and afterwards I shall in- sist on that in it in particular which is the original of his priest- . hood.
2. First, we must distinguish between the covenant that God made with men concerning Christ, and the covenant that he made with his Son concerning men. That God created man in and under the terms and law of a covenant, with a prescription of duties and promise of reward, is by all acknowledged. After the fall he en- tered into another covenant with mankind, which, from the principle, nature, and end of it, is commonly called the covenant of gruce. This, under several forms of external administration, hath continued ever since in force, and shall do so to the consummation of all things. And the nature of this covenant, as being among the principal con- cernments of religion, hath been abundantly declared and explained by many. The consideration of it is not our present business. That the Lord Jesus Christ was the principal subject-matter of this cove- nant, the undertaker in it and surety of it, the Scriptures expressly declare: for the great promise of it was concerning him and his me- diation, with the benefits that should redound unto mankind thereby in grace and glory; and the preceptive part of it required obedience in and unto him new and distinct from that which was exacted by the law of creation, although enwrapping all the commands thereof also. And-he was the surety of it, in that he undertook unto God whatever by the terms of the covenant was to be done for man, to accomplish it in his own person, and whatever was to be done in and by man, to effect it by his own Spirit and grace; that so the covenant on every side might be firm and stable, and the ends of it fulfilled. This is not that which at present we inquire into; but it is the personal compact that was between the Father and the Son before the world was, as it is revealed in the Scripture, that is to be declared.
3. To clear things in our way, we must treat somewhat of the name and nature of a covenant in general. The Hebrews call a covenant n2, the Greeks ovvéjx, and the Latins “ foedus;” the considera- tion of which words may be of some use, because of the original and most famous translations of the Scripture. “ Foedus” some deduce “a feriendo,” from “striking.” And this was from the manner of making covenants, by the striking of the beast to be sacrificed in their confirmation; for all solemn covenants were always confirmed by sacrifice, especially between God and his people. Hence are they
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said to “make a covenant with him by sacrifice,’ Ps. 1. 5, offering sacrifice in the solemn confirmation of it. And when God solemnly confirmed his covenant with Abraham, he did it by causing a token of his presence to pass between the pieces of the beasts provided for sacrifice, Gen. xv. 17, 18. So when he made a covenant with Noah, it was ratified by sacrifice, Gen. vill. 20-22, ix. 9,10. And to look backwards, it is not improbable but that, upon the giving of the first promise, and laying the foundation of the new cove- nant therein, Adam offered the beasts in sacrifice with whose skins he was clothed. And how the old covenant at Horeb was dedi- cated with the blood of sacrifices, our apostle declares, Heb. ix. 18—20, from Exod. xxiv. 5-8. And all this was to let us know that no covenant could ever be made between God and man, after the entrance of sin, but upon the account of that great sacrifice of our High Priest which by those others was represented. Hence is the phrase, “foedera ferire,” “to strike a covenant:” Cicero pro Celio, [cap. xiv.,] “_Ideone ego pacem Pyrrhi diremi, ut tu amorum turpis- simorum quotidie foedera ferires?”. ‘“ Foedera,” “ferire,” and “ per- cutere,’ have the same rise and occasion. And the Hebrews also express the making of a covenant by striking hands, though with respect unto another ceremony. Some derive the word “a porca foede czesii;” for a hog was clean in the devil’s sacrifices: —