Exposition of the Moral Law, Dedication 2
TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE, WILLIAM VISCOVNT OF STERLINE, LORD ALEXANDER of Tullibody, principall Secretary for the Kingdome of Scotland, and one of his Majeſties moſt Honourable Privy Councell of both the Kingdomes.
Right Honourable,
SALOMON the wiſeſt King, writ three ſeveral books, and in thoſe three ſeverall books he taketh three ſeverall Epithetes and Stiles unto himſelfe: in the Proverbes he calleth himſelfe Salomon the ſonne of David, King of Jſrael; In Eccleſiaſtes, he calleth himſelfe the Preacher, ſonne of David, King of Ieruſalem; And in the Canticles, he calleth himſelfe Salomon onelyonly. In the firſt booke he giveth directions to all men, and as a King hee ſpeaketh to all; in his ſecond booke, he as a Preacher ſpeaketh to Jeruſalem below here, he ſpeaketh not to all here as King of Jſrael; In his third booke, he ſpeaketh onelyonly to the Church above. So the Lord when hee giveth his Lawes, he giveth ſome Lawes to all, as King of the Nations, and ſome Lawes he giveth to the Jewes, his peculiar people, and the Goſpel he giveth as to the Church above; the law which he gave to all Nations, was the law of Nature manifeſted to Adam before the fall, and this Law was repeated againe to Noah in ſeven Preceps, as not to commit Idolatry, Fornication, to abſtaine from things ſtrangled,Act. 15.20. Levit. 17.10. and from blood; thoſe Lawes were morall Precepts, I will ſet my face againſt him that eateth blood, this is not the ceremoniall part of the Law, but in deteſtation of cruelty it is forbidden to take a member from a living creature, and to eate the blood while the life is in it; but to eat things ſtrangled, or cold blood, was but the ceremoniall part; thirdly, the Lord renued this ſame Law againe upon Mount Sinai, to all Nations, but he added to it his judiciall, and ceremoniall Lawes, as peculiar to his people the Jewes, and in this reſpect it is called their Law,Ioh. 8.17. is it not written in your Law, becauſe this Law was directed to them after a ſpeciall manner, and therefore they are called his people, hee came to his owne,Ioh. 1.11. and his owne knew him not. Theſe ceremoniall Lawes did not binde other people, as they did the Jewes; therefore when Jonah came and preached to the Ninevites, he ſpake nothing to them of the ceremonies of the Law; ſo when Daniel ſpake to Nebuchadnezzar, he ſpake nothing of the ceremoniall Law. So when Eliſha ſpake to Naaman the Syrian, he ſpake not a word of this Law to him. So when the Prophets ſpake to Tyrus, Sydon, and to the Nations round about, they ſpake nothing of thoſe ceremonies to them, theſe belonged only to the Jewes, they are forbidden to eate things ſtrangled, or a beaſt that dyed of it ſelfe, but yet the Gentiles might eate of ſuch.Deut. 24.2…. And here we may marke a difference betwixt circumciſion and the reſt of the ceremonies of the Law, for many that were not of the Church of the Jewes uſed circumciſion, as Herodotus Strabo, and Epiphanius teſtifie, for circumciſion was given to Abraham and his poſterity, not onelyonly to Abrahams poſterity who lived within the Church, but to thoſe alſo who came of Jſmael, Eſau, Keturah, &c. and howſoever thoſe did circumciſe rather by imitation, than for conſcience, yet it was a law given to all Abrahams poſteritie; but the reſt of the ceremonies did no wayes binde them; but the morall part of this Law bindeth them all. It was a great mercy of God, that when man had fallen frō him, that he giveth him a Law againe,Hoſ. 11.6. and doth not ſuffer him to wander as a Lambe in a large paſture, and like an untamed Heifer which knoweth not the Yoke, and that one ſhould not devour another,Habak. 1.15. as the Fiſhes of the Sea, but giveth him a Law to hedge him in, and keepe him within the bounds. Man hath a threefold life, his ſpirituall life, his naturall life, and his civill life; the Lord in his Law had regard to all theſe ſorts of lives; firſt, his ſpirituall life, which is called the life of God,Eph. 4.18. and hee taketh order with this in the firſt Table; Secondly, his naturall life, that he be not killed, nor his blood ſhed; and thirdly, for his civill life, that he may have the meanes to live comfortably,Marc. 5.26. which is called a mans life, in the Scripture. Other Lawes of Men are but concerning circumſtances, and they are but the application of this Law, to this or that particular people, and they ſtand not unmoveable, as this Law of God doth, but upon occaſions they may be altered and changed; therefore the Perſians that made their Lawes which could not be changed, incroached too farre upon the LORD and his priviledges, and all other Lawes are to be rectified by this Law, and the farther that they goe from this, they are the more imperfect; Men ſet the Dyall by the Sunne, and their Watch by the Dyall, The Dyall commeth neerer to the Sunne than the Watch; ſo when men reduce their Lawes to this Law, then they ſet the Dyall to the Sunne, but when they rectifie their Lawes by any other Law, they ſet but their Watch to their Dyall. Many have written already upon thoſe Commandements, to whom we are much beholden, and the Hebrewes Proverbe is true of them, niſi ipſi elevaſſent lapidem non inventa fuiſſet ſub eo haec Margarita, but yet there is ſomething left to be cleared, and as there was oyle enough ſo long as there were Veſſels in the Widdowes houſe; So there ſhall be matter enough for all thoſe who are to intreate of this Subject: and my intention eſpecially is here to cleare theſe things out of the phraſe of the Originall Tongues, and the cuſtomes of the people of God, and although there be things handled already by others ſet downe here, yet when yee find theſe things, count them not as vrticam inter myrtos, but as myrta inter myrtos, for both come from him, who is the Authour of Truth.
It may pleaſe your Lordſhip to accept of theſe my Travels, as a ſignification of the honourable reſpect I carry to your Lordſhip, whoſe vertue and learning hath brought you to this eminent place. Laertius writeth of one Crates, that beſtowed his gifts very fooliſhly; for he gave to his Flatterer tenne Talents, to his Whore a Talent, to his Cooke ten Mnas, to his Phyſitian a Drachme, to his Philoſopher three halfe pennies, to his Counſellor fumum, ſmoake; fooliſh men value the baſeſt things at the higheſt rate, and the higheſt things at the baſeſt rate; But I know, my Lord, that you weigh things in the balance of the Sanctuary, and thinke more of thoſe heavenly things, than of thoſe baſe and ſinfull pleaſures, which the world are ſo much taken up with; The grace of God be with your Lordſhip, and keepe and preſerve you for ever.
Your Lordſhips in all Chriſtian duties, Iohn Weemes.