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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<A NAME="Pageiii"> </A>
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2><B>P R E F A C E.</B></FONT>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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T<FONT SIZE=-1>HIS</FONT> second volume of methodized and practical
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expositions of the inspired writings ventures abroad with fear and
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trembling in the same plain and homely dress with the former on the
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Pentateuch. <I>Ornari res ipsa negat; contenta doceri--</I>the subject
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requires no ornament; to have it apprehended is all. But I trust,
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through grace, it proceeds from the same honest design to promote the
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knowledge of the scripture, in order to the reforming of men's hearts
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and lives. If I may but be instrumental to make my readers wise and
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good, wiser and better, more watchful against sin and more careful of
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their duty both to God and man, and, in order thereto, more in love
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with the word and law of God, I have all I desire, all I aim at. <I>May
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he that ministereth seed to the sower multiply the seed sown, by
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increasing the fruits of</I> our <I>righteousness,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+9:10">2 Cor. ix. 10</A>.
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It is the history of the Jewish church and nation that fills this
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volume, from their first settlement in the promised land, after their
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430 years' bondage in Egypt and their forty years' wandering in the
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wilderness, to their re-settlement there after their seventy years'
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captivity in Babylon--from Joshua to Nehemiah. The five books of Moses
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were taken up more with their laws, institutes, and charters; but all
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these books are purely historical, and in this way of writing a great
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deal of very valuable learning and wisdom has been conveyed from one
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generation to another. The chronology of this history, and the
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ascertaining of the times when the several events contained in it
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happened, would very much illustrate the history, and add to the
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brightness of it; it is therefore well worthy the search of the curious
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and ingenious, and they may find both pleasure and profit in perusing
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the labours of many learned men who have directed their studies that
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way. I confess I could willingly have entertained myself and reader, in
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this preface, with a calculation of the times through which this
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history passes; but I consider that such a babe in knowledge as I am
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could not pretend either to add to or correct what has been done by so
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many great writers, much less to decide the controversies that have
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been agitated among them. I had indeed some thoughts of consulting my
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worthy and ever-honoured friend Mr. Tallents of Shrewsbury, the
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learned author of the "View of Universal History," and of begging some
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advice and assistance from him in methodizing the contents of this
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history; but, in the very week in which I put my last hand to this
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part, it pleased God to put an end to his useful life (and useful it
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was to the last) and to call him to his rest, in the eighty-ninth year
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of his age: so that purpose was broken off, that thought of my heart.
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But that elaborate performance of his commonly called his
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"Chronological Tables" gives great light to this, as indeed to all
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other parts of history. And Dr. Lightfoot's "Chronology of the Old
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Testament," and Mr. Cradock's "History of the Old Testament
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Methodized," may also be of great use to such readers as I write for.
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As to the particular chronological difficulties which occur in the
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thread of this history, I have not been large upon them, because many
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times I could not satisfy myself, and how then could I satisfy my
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reader concerning them? I have not indeed met with any difficulties so
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great but that solutions might be given of them sufficient to silence
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the atheists and antiscripturists, and roll away from the sacred
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records all the reproach of contradiction and inconsistency with
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themselves; for, to do that, it is enough to show that the difference
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may be accommodated either this way or that, when at the same time one
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cannot satisfy one's self which way is the right. But it is well that
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these are things about which we may very safely and very comfortably be
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ignorant and unresolved. What concerns our salvation is plain enough,
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and we need not perplex ourselves about the niceties of chronology,
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genealogy, or chorography. At least my undertaking leads me not into
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those labyrinths. What is <I>profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
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correction, and for instruction in righteousness,</I> is what I intend
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to observe, and I would endeavour to open what is dark and hard to be
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understood only in order to that. Every author must be taken in his way
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of writing; the sacred penman, as they have not left us formal systems,
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so they have not left us formal annals, but useful narratives of things
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proper for our direction in the way of duty, which some great judges of
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common writers have thought to be the most pleasant and profitable
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histories, and most likely to answer the end. The word of God
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<I>manifestis pascit, obscuris exercet</I> (Aug. in Joh. Tract. 45), as
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one of the ancients expresses it, that is, <I>it has enough in it that
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is easy to nourish the meanest to life eternal, yet enough that is
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difficult to try the industry and humility of the greatest.</I> There
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are several things which should recommend this part of sacred writ to
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our diligent and constant search.</P>
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<P>
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I. That it is <I>history,</I> and therefore entertaining and very
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pleasant, edifying and very serviceable to the conduct of human life.
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It gratifies the inquisitive with the knowledge of that which the most
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intense speculation could not discover any other way. By a retirement
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into ourselves, and a serious contemplation of the objects we are
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surrounded with, close reasoning may advance many excellent truths
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without being beholden to any other. But for the knowledge of past
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events we are entirely indebted (and must be so) to the reports and
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records of others. A notion or hypothesis of man's own framing may gain
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him the reputation of a wit, but a history of man's own framing will
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lay him under the reproach of a cheat any further than as it respects
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that which he himself is an eye or ear-witness of. How much are we
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indebted then to the divine wisdom and goodness for these writings,
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which have made things so long since past as familiar to us as any of
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the occurrences of the age and place we live in! History is so
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edifying that parables and apologues have been invented to make up the
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deficiencies of it for our instruction concerning good and evil; and,
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whatever may be said of other history, we are sure that in this history
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there is no matter of fact recorded but what has its use and will help
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either to expound God's providence or guide man's prudence.</P>
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<P>
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II. That it is <I>true</I> history, and what we may rely upon the
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credit of, and need not fear being deceived in. That which the heathens
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reckoned <I>tempus</I> <B><I>adelon</I></B> (<I>which they knew
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nothing at all of</I>) and <I>tempus</I> <B><I>mythikon</I></B>
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<I>(the account of which was wholly fabulous)</I> is to us
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<I>tempus</I> <B><I>historikon,</I></B> <I>what we have a most
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authentic account of.</I> The Greeks were with them the most celebrated
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historians, and yet their successors in learning and dominion, the
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Romans, put them into no good name for their credibility, witness that
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of the poet: <I>Et quicquid Græcia mendax audet in historia--</I>All
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that lying Greece has dared to record, Juv. Sat. 10. But the history
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which we have before us is of undoubted certainty, and no cunningly
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devised fable. To be well assured of this is a great satisfaction,
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especially since we meet with so many things in it truly miraculous,
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and many more great and marvellous.</P>
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<P>
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III. That it is <I>ancient</I> history, far more ancient than was ever
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pretended to come from any other hand. Homer the most ancient genuine
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heathen writer now entirely extant, is reckoned to have lived at the
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beginning of the Olympiads, near the time when it is computed that the
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city of Rome was founded by Romulus, which was but about the reign of
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Hezekiah king of Judah. And his writings pretend not to be historical,
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but poetical fiction all over: rhapsodies indeed they are, and the very
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Alcoran of paganism. The most ancient authentic historians now extant
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are Herodotus and Thucydides, who were contemporaries with the latest
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of our historians, Ezra and Nehemiah, and could not write with any
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certainty of events much before their own time. The obscurity,
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deficiency, and uncertainty of all ancient history, except that which
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we find in the scripture, is abundantly made out by the learned bishop
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Stillingfleet, in that most useful book, his <I>Origines Sacræ</I>,
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lib. i. Let the antiquity of this history not only recommend it to the
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curious, but recommend to us all that way of religion it directs us in,
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as the good old way, in which if we walk we <I>shall find rest for our
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souls,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+6:16">Jer. vi. 16</A>.</P>
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<P>
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IV. That it is <I>church</I> history, the history of the Jewish church,
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that sacred society, incorporated for religion, and the custody of the
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oracles and ordinances of God, by a charter under the broad seal of
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heaven, a covenant confirmed by miracles. Many great ant mighty
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nations there were at this time in the world, celebrated it is likely
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for wisdom, and learning, and valour, illustrious men and illustrious
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actions; yet the records of them are all lost, either in silence or
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fables, while that little inconsiderable people of the Jews that
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<I>dwelt alone,</I> and <I>was not reckoned among the nations</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+23:9">Num. xxiii. 9</A>),
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makes so great a figure in the best known, most ancient, and most
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lasting of all histories; and no notice is taken in it of the affairs
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of other nations, except only as they fall in with the affairs of the
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Jews: <I>for the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his
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inheritance,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:8,9">Deut. xxxii. 8, 9</A>.
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Such a concern has God for his church in every age, and so dear have
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its interests been to him. Let them therefore be so to us, that we may
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be <I>followers of him as dear children.</I></P>
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<P>
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V. That it is a <I>divine</I> history, given by inspiration of God, and
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a part of that blessed book which is to be the standing rule of our
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faith and practice. And we are not to think it a part of it which might
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have been spared, or which we may now pass over or cast a careless eye
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upon, as if it were indifferent whether we read it or no; but we are to
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read it as a sacred record, preserved for our benefit <I>on whom the
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ends of the world have come.</I> 1. This history is of great use for
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the understanding of some parts of the Old Testament. The account we
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have here of David's life and reign, and especially of his troubles, is
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a key to many of his Psalms; and much light is given to most of the
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prophecies by these histories. 2. Though we have not altogether so many
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types of Christ here as we had in the history and the law of Moses, yet
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even here we meet with many who were figures of him that was to come,
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such as Joshua, Samson, Solomon, Cyrus, but especially David, whose
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kingdom was typical of the kingdom of the Messiah and the covenant of
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royalty made with him, a dark representation of the covenant of
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redemption made with the eternal Word; nor know we how to call Christ
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the son of David unless we be acquainted with this history nor how to
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<I>receive</I> the declaration that John Baptist was the <I>Elias that
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was to come,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+11:14">Mt. xi. 14</A>.
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3. The state of the Jewish church which is
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here set before us was typical of the gospel church and the state of
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that in the days of the Messiah; and as the prophecies which related to
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it looked further to the latter days, so did the histories of it; and
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still <I>these things happened to them for ensamples,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:11">1 Cor. x. 11</A>.
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By the tenour of this history we are given to understand these three
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things concerning the church (for <I>the thing that hath been is that
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which shall be,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+1:9">Eccl. i. 9</A>):--
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(1.) That we are not to expect the perfect purity and unity of the
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church in this world, and therefore not to be stumbled, though we are
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grieved, at its corruptions, distempers, and divisions; we are not to
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think it strange concerning them, as though some strange thing
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happened, much less to think the worse of its laws and constitutions
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for the sake of them or to despair of its perpetuity. What wretched
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stains of idolatry, impiety, and immorality, appear on the Jewish
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church, and what a woeful breach was there between Judah and Ephraim!
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yet God took them (as I may say) with all their faults, and never
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wholly rejected them till they rejected the Messiah. <I>Israel hath
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not been forsaken, nor Judah, of their God, though their land was
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filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+51:5">Jer. li. 5</A>.
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(2.) That we are not to expect the constant tranquillity and prosperity
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of the church. It was then often oppressed and afflicted from its
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youth, had its years of servitude as well as its days of triumph, was
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often obscured, diminished, impoverished, and brought low; and yet
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still God secured to himself a remnant, <I>a holy seed,</I> which was
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<I>the substance thereof,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:13">Isa. vi. 13</A>.
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Let us not then be surprised to see the gospel church sometimes under
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hatches, and driven into the wilderness, and the gates of hell
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prevailing far against it. (3.) That yet we need not fear the utter
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extirpation of it. The gospel church is called the <I>Israel of God</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+6:16">Gal. vi. 16</A>),
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and the <I>Jerusalem which is above</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:26">Gal. iv. 26</A>),
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the <I>heavenly Jerusalem;</I> for as <I>Israel after the flesh,</I>
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and the <I>Jerusalem that then was,</I> by the wonderful care of the
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divine Providence, outrode all the storms with which they were tossed
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and threatened, and continued in being till they were made to resign
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all their honours to the gospel church, which they were the figures of,
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so shall that also, notwithstanding all its shocks, be preserved, till
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the mystery of God shall be finished, and the kingdom of grace shall
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have its perfection in the kingdom of glory. 4. This history is of
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great use to us for our direction in the way of our duty; it was
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written for our learning, that we may see the evil we should avoid and
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be armed against it, and the good we should do and be quickened to it.
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Though they are generally judges, and kings, and great men, whose lives
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are here written, yet in them even those of the meanest rank may see
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the deformity of sin and hate it, and the beauty of holiness and be in
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love with it; nay, the greater the person is the more evident are both
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these; for, if the great be good, it is their goodness that makes their
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greatness honourable; if bad, their greatness does but make their
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badness the more shameful. The failings even of good people are also
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recorded here for our admonition, that he who thinks he stands may take
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heed lest he fall, and that he who has fallen may not despair of
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forgiveness if he recover himself by repentance. 5. This history, as
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it shows what God requires of us, so it shows what we may expect from
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his providence, especially concerning states and kingdoms. By the
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dealings of God with the Jewish nation it appears that, as nations are,
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so they must expect to fare--that while princes and people serve the
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interests of God's kingdom among men he will secure and advance their
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interests, but that when they shake off his government, and rebel
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against him, they can look for no other than an inundation of
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judgments. It was so all along with Israel; while they kept close to
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God they prospered; when they forsook him every thing went cross. That
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great man archbishop Tillotson (<I>Vol. 1. Serm. 3.</I> on Prov. xiv.
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34) suggests that though, as to particular persons, the providences of
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God are promiscuously administered in this world, because there is
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another world of rewards and punishments for them, yet it is not so
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with nations as such, but national virtues are ordinarily rewarded with
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temporal blessings and national sins punished with temporal judgments,
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because, as he says, public bodies and communities of men, as such, can
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be rewarded and punished only in this world, for in the next they will
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all be dissolved. So plainly are God's ways of disposing kingdoms laid
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before us in the glass of this history that I could wish Christian
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statesmen would think themselves as much concerned as preachers to
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acquaint themselves with it; they might fetch as good maxims of state
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and rules of policy from this as from the best of the Greek and Roman
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historians. We are blessed (as the Jews were) with a divine revelation,
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and make a national profession of religion and relation to God, and
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therefore are to look upon ourselves as in a peculiar manner under a
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divine regimen, so that the things which happened to them were designed
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for ensamples to us.</P>
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<P>
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I cannot pretend to write for great ones. But if what is here done may
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be delightful to any in reading and helpful in understanding and
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improving this sacred history, and governing themselves by the dictates
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of it, let God have all the glory and let all the rivers return to the
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ocean whence they came. When I look back on what is done I see nothing
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to boast of, but a great deal to be ashamed of; and, when I look
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forward on what is to be done, I see nothing in myself to trust to for
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the doing of it. I have no sufficiency of my own; but <I>by the grace
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of God I am what I am,</I> and that grace will, I trust, be sufficient
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for me. <I>Surely in the Lord have I righteousness and strength.</I>
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That blessed <B><I>epichoregia</I></B> which the apostle speaks of
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+1:19">Phil. i. 19</A>),
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that continual supply or communication <I>of the Spirit of Jesus
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Christ,</I> is what we may in faith pray for, and depend upon, to
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furnish us for every good word and work. The pleasantness of the study
|
|
has drawn me on to the writing of this, and the candour with which my
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|
friends have been pleased to receive my poor endeavours on the
|
|
Pentateuch encourages me to publish it; it is done according to the
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best of my skill, not without some care and application of mind, in the
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same method and manner with that; I wish I could have done it in less
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compass, that it might have been more within reach of <I>the poor of
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the flock.</I> But then it would not have been so plain and full as I
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desire it may be for the benefit of the <I>lambs of the flock. Brevis
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esse laboro, obscurus fio--</I>labouring to be concise I become
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obscure. With a humble submission to the divine providence and its
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|
disposals, and a humble reliance on the divine grace and its guidance
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|
and operation, I purpose still to proceed, as I have time, in this
|
|
work. Two volumes more will, if God permit, conclude the Old Testament;
|
|
and then if my friends encourage me, and my God spare me and enable me
|
|
for it, I intend to go on to the New Testament. For though <I>many have
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taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those</I> parts of
|
|
scripture which are yet before us
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:1">Luke i. 1</A>),
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whose works <I>praise them in the gates</I> and are likely to outlive
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mine, yet while the subject is really so copious as it is and the
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manner of handling it may possibly be so various, and while one book
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comes into the hands of some and another into the hands of others, and
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all concur in the same design to advance the common interests of
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Christ's kingdom, the <I>common faith</I> once delivered to the saints,
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and the <I>common salvation</I> of precious souls
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Tit+1:4,Jude+1:3">Tit. i. 4; Jude 3</A>),
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I hope store of this kind will be thought no sore. I make bold to
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mention my purpose to proceed thus publicly in hopes I may have the
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advice of my friends in it, and their prayers for me that I may be made
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more <I>ready and mighty in the scriptures,</I> that understanding and
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utterance may be given to me, and that I may <I>obtain mercy of the
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Lord Jesus to be found</I> his <I>faithful</I> servant, who am less
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than the least of all that call him <I>Master.</I></P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
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<TR><TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=+1>M. H. </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD> <I>Chester,</I>
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<BR> <I>June 2, 1708.</I></TD></TR>
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