In opposition to this gradual revelation of the mind of God under the old testament, the apostle intimates that now by Jesus, the Messiah, the Lord hath at once begun and finished the whole reve-
20 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. I.
lation of his will, according to their own hopes and expectation. So, Jude 3, the faith was “once delivered unto the saints ;” not in one day, not in one sermon, or by one person, but at one season, or under one dispensation, comprising all the time from the entrance of the Lord Christ upon his ministry to the closing of the canon of Scripture; which period was now at hand. This season being once past and finished, no new revelation is to be expected, to the end of the world. Nothing shall be added unto nor altered in the worship of God any more. God will not do it; men that attempt it, do it on the price of their souls.
God spake in the prophets roAurpérws, “after divers sorts” or “ manners.” Now this respects either the various ways of God’s revealing himself to the prophets, by dreams, visions, inspirations, voices, angels, every way with an equal evidence of their being from God; or the ways of his dealing with the fathers by the prophets, by promises, threats, gradual discoveries of his will, special messages and prophecies, public sermons, and the like. The latter, or the various ways of the prophets in delivering their messages to the people from God, is principally intended, though the former be not excluded, it being that from whence this latter variety did principally arise and flow.
In opposition hereunto, the apostle intimates that the revelation of God and his will by Christ was accomplished mwovoerd¢, in one only way and manner,—by His preaching the gospel who was anointed with the Spirit without measure.
The last difference or instance in the comparison insisted on by
"Ey cots xpo- the apostle, is, that of old God spake “in the prophets,” Qareus. but now “inthe Son:” ’Ey rots rpopqrous,—ev for did, say most expositors, “in” for “by,” d:& rv rpognrav: as Luke i, 70, Ave orbparos Tay dyinv xpopnray,—< By the mouth of the holy prophets.” But é here answers the Hebrew 2, Num. xii. 2, “God spake nwa,” “in Moses.” The certainty of the revelation and presence of God with his word is intimated in the expression. So the word of the Lord was 732, “in the hand,” of this or that prophet. They were but instruments to give out what from God they had received.
Now these prophets, in whom God spake of old, were all those who were divinely inspired, and sent to reveal his will and mind as to the duty of the church, or any special concernment of his provi- dence in the rule and government thereof, whether they declared the inspirations they had, or revelations they received, by word of mouth or by writing. “The modern Jews make a distinction be- tween the gift of prophecy and the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, following Maimonides in his More Nebuchim, part. ii cap. xxxii, His opinion, which he calls the opinion or sentence of the law about prophecy, in general is the same with that of the Gentile philoso-
Tloavrporws.
VER. 1, 2.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 21
phers, as he professeth. Im one thing only he differs from them, namely, that ‘prophecy doth not so necessarily follow after due pre- paration as that a man cannot but prophesy who is rightly prepared.’ But the gift of prophecy he asserts wholly to depend on the tem- perature of the brain, natural and moral exercises for the preparing and raising of the imagination ;, upon which divine visions will suc- ceed, A brain-sick imagination, confounding divine revelation with fanatical distempers! But in the eleven degrees of prophecy which he assigns, and attempts to prove by instances out of Scripture, he placeth that of inspiration by the Holy Ghost in the last and lowest place. And therefore by the late masters is the book of Daniel cast into this latter sort, though eminently prophetical, because they are so galled with his predictions and calculations; other reason of that disposition none readily occurs, And this is the ground of their dispo- sition of the books of the Scripture into "7, ‘the law,’ or five books of Moses, given in the highest way and degree of prophecy; 5°82), _ of two sorts, DL and OYNN, ‘prophets, former’ (or books histori- cal), ‘and latter;’ and 5°23N2, or “IPT-NN, ‘books written by inspi- ration of the Holy Ghost. Of the ground of which distinction see Kimehi in his preface to the Psalms, Their mistake lies in this, that prophecy consists principally in, and is distinguished into several degrees, by the manner of revelation; as by dreams, visions, appear- ances of angels or men, and the like, But as 8°23, ‘a prophet,’ and M822, ‘prophecy,’ are of a larger signification than that pretended, as, Num. xi. 29, 1 Sam. x. 5, 1 Chron. xxv. 1-38, will appear; so that whieh made any revelation to be prophecy, in that sense as to be an infallible rule for the guidance of the church, was not the means of communicating it to the prophets, but that inspiration of the Holy Ghost which implanted upon their minds, and gave forth by their tongues or pens, that which God would utter in them and by them, 2 Pet. i. 20, 21.”