A Discourse of the Covenants, Chapter 6
Of the Covenant of Circumciſion. CHAP. VI.
The general deſign of this Chapter: Two Propoſitions laid down. §. 1. The firſt Propoſition; that the mediate and remote Seed of Abraham in Iſaac's Line are included in the Covenant of Circumciſion: Proved from the Terms of the Promiſe; and the Inſtance of their Children who fell in the Wilderneſs. §. 2. Farther confirmed from Ezek. 16. 20, 21. §. 3. The Current of ſacred Hiſtory; and accompliſhment of the Promiſes pleaded. §. 4. The Church-State of Iſrael built upon this Covenant. §. 5. This proved: Circumciſion the Door of Entrance into, and Boundary of, their Communion: and an Obligation to keep the whole Law. §. 6. Rom. 3. 1. propoſed: How Levi payed Tythes in Abraham. §. 7. Iſrael brought out of Egypt and planted in Canaan by virtue of this Covenant: An Objection prevented. §. 8. The ſecond Propoſition; Some of the immediate Seed excluded; proved from Gen. 17. 19, &c. An Objection anſwered. §. 9. The Inſtance of Eſau inſiſted on: why ſo particular Mention made of Iſaac and Jacob; Act. 7. 8. §. 10. An Objection, from the Application of the Seal of the Covenant, ſtated: Anſwer; 1. The expreſs Teſtimony of Scripture removes it. 2. Abraham was bound to circumciſe his Servants as well as his Children. 3. No Covenant-Intereſt, without Intereſt in the Promiſes of the Covenant; Theſe not made to all that were circumciſed. §. 11. Circumciſion a Seal of the Covenant upon all, but not to all the Subjects thereof: This farther explained; The Command of God, not Covenant-Intereſt, the Rule of applying Circumciſion. §. 12. Some Inferences from the Diſcourſe foregoing. §. 13.
§. 1. THoſe Paſſages in Geneſis that have been laſt diſcourſed of, give me an Occaſion of Inlargement upon ſome things, which as they are deduced from the Texts that have been in part conſidered already; ſo the farther clearing and ſtrengthening of them, will not only confirm what hath been already hinted, but alſo contribute very much to the right Underſtanding of the Nature and End of this Covenant of Circumciſion that I am treating of; and to a removal of the Grounds of many miſtaken Deductions from it, by thoſe that would from thence determine the right Subjects of Baptiſm.
What I intend, is ſumm'd up in theſe two Propoſitions;
1. The mediate and remote Seed of that Line to which the Promiſes of the Covenant of Circumciſion did belong, were as fully included, and intereſted in them, as the immediate Seed.
2. From the firſt eſtabliſhing of this Covenant, ſome of the immediate Seed of Abraham were excluded from Intereſt in it.
§. 2. I ſhall begin with the Firſt: The Truth of which appears ſufficiently in the expreſs Terms of the Promiſes now given to Abraham, which run to him, and to his Seed after him in their Generations; and the Covenant it ſelf is ſaid to be an everlaſting Covenant, which they are ſtrictly commanded to keep in their Generations; Gen. 17. 7, 9, 13. Theſe Terms are uſed, becauſe it was a Covenant in force, as well for the Benefit of more remote, as nearer Generations; Its Promiſes did include, and its Law did equally bind both, during the whole State of the Moſaical Oeconomy. The Right of the remoteſt Generation, was as much derived from Abraham, and the Covenant made with him, as that of his immediate Seed was; and did not at all depend upon the Faithfulneſs of their immediate Parents: And therefore the immediate Seed of thoſe Iſraelites that fell in the Wilderneſs under the Diſpleaſure of God, were made to inherit the Land of Canaan, by virtue of this Covenant with Abraham; who otherwiſe could never have injoyed it by virtue of their immediate Parents Stedfaſtneſs in the Covenant.
§ 3. I ſuppoſe it cannot be denyed but groſs Idolatry, was a manifeſt and full Breach of this Covenant, on the part of the Idolater; And yet when the Iſraelites in Ezekiel's time became guilty of the vileſt Idolatries, the Lord ſtill claims an Intereſt in their Children by virtue of this Covenant: Eezek 16. 20. 21. Moreover thou haſt taken thy Sons and thy Daughters, whom thou haſt born unto me, and theſe haſt thou ſacrificed unto them to be devoured: Is this of thy Whoredoms a ſmall matter, that thou haſt ſlam my Children, &c. The Children of an Apoſtatize Iſraelite were God's as well as thoſe of his faithful Servants; which could not have been, if their Covenant-Intereſt had been ſuſpended on the good abearing of immediate Parents.
And to this agrees the Story that we have of Mattathias his proceeding in the Reformation of the Church in his day; who, finding that many had denyed their God, and forſaken his true Worſhip, in that time of Perſecution, did (according to the Law of Moſes) execute Juſtice upon as many of the Apoſtates as he could lay Hands on, by ſlaying them; (as Joſephus witneſſeth) but the Children that he found to be left uncircumciſed in this Time of Apoſtacy, he took and circumciſed them: The Words of the Author in 1 Maccab. 2. 46. are, foreign. This I know hath no farther Strength than of an humane Teſtimony; But it ſpeaks fully what the ſence of thoſe Times was concerning the Covenant-Intereſt of Children; viz. That the Apoſtacy of their immediate Parents could not prejudice it, ſo as to render them uncapable of Circumciſion; which ſtrongly concludes their Covenant-Right to be derived from Abraham, and not ſuſpended upon them. And Mattathias who did this, was not only a Man zealous for the Law, but alſo one that may be preſumed to have underſtood it better than many others, ſeeing he was a Prieſt.
§. 4. And not only the Paſſages before inſiſtted on, but the whole Current of Scripture, where theſe things are mentioned, runs very ſmoothly this way; but eſpecially that Phraſe before touched [thy Seed in their Generations] will admit no other Sence; being by no means capable of a reſtraint to the immediate Seed, but even as the like Expreſſion Gen. 9. 12. ſecures Noah's Children from drowning, by the Waters of an univerſal Deluge, to the end of the World; ſo did this Promiſe give a Covenant-Intereſt to the Seed of Abraham till the times of Reformation.
We exclude not the immediate Seed, viz. Iſaac, but the Promiſe paſſeth on much farther, and is to be fulfilled in a Seed multiplyed exceedingly, and formed into a Kingdom, which it was not until Iſaac, and his immediate Offspring alſo, were laid in the Duſt.
Moreover; The Inheritance promiſed in the Land of Canaan, is given to this Seed for an everlaſting Poſſeſſion; which was fulfilled in their ſucceſſive inheriting of it from Generation to Generation; therefore the Seed intended was ſuch as ſhould be propagated thro' many Generations, the laſt of which are as directly here ſpoken of as the firſt; Circumciſion being to be obſerved by them (upon the account of the Promiſe, and Command now given) for an everlaſting Covenant: The Relation of the carnal Seed, to God, in an external, typical Covenant; the Inheritance of Canaan by virtue thereof; and the Seal of Circumciſion; are all of one Date, and did all expire together.
§. 5. That theſe things may be the better underſtood, we muſt farther obſerve,
This Covenant of Circumciſion was the Foundation upon which the Church-State of Iſrael after the Fleſh was built.
I do not ſay, that their Church-State was exactly, and compleatly formed by this Ordinance alone; But this I intend; That in the Covenant of Circumciſion were contained the firſt Rudiments of that in the Wilderneſs; and the latter was the filling up, and compleating of the former; yea it was made with them in Purſuance of it; and for the full Accompliſhment of the Promiſes now made to Abraham; And therefore the Priviledge of the carnal Seed of Abraham by virtue of the Covenant of Circumciſion, can riſe no higher than the Advantage, and Priviledg of a Jew, by virtue of the Covenant in the Wilderneſs.
§. 6. For the Confirmation of this, I ſhall offer theſe things.
Firſt, Circumciſion was the Entrance into, and Boundary of Communion in the Jewiſh Church; and it was made ſo by the expreſs Command of God himſelf; who ſtraightly injoyned, that whoſoever brake the Covenant by the neglect of Circumciſion; ſhould be cut off from his People: Gen. 17. 14. And as it was to them a Gate of Priviledg, ſo was it no leſs a Bond of Duty; not only obliging them to obey the Will of God ſo far as it was now made known to Abraham; but alſo, to the Obſervation of all thoſe Laws and Ordinances that were after delivered to them by Moſes, when ſo delivered: For the circumciſed Perſon was a Debtor to keep the whole Law: Gal. 5. 3. And this Obligation did reſult from its proper Ʋſe and End, in its primitive Inſtitution; for we read not of its Appointment to any new End by Moſes, nor of any Ʋſe it was aſſigned to, de novo, which it had not (at leaſt virtually) from its firſt Appointment: It was from firſt to laſt, a viſible Character upon this People as ſeparated unto God from other Nations, and as ſuch they made their Boaſt of it: And therefore it may be concluded to belong unto that Covenant, from which all their Rights, and Priviledges, as ſuch a People, did ſpring; and where the Sign was not varied, there was no eſſential Variation, or Change in the Covenant it ſelf.
§. 7. Secondly, All the Advantage, and Priviledg of Iſrael after the Fleſh, is in the New Teſtament, expreſly referred to the Covenant of Circumciſion; For thus the Holy Ghoſt ſpeaks by Paul Rom. 3. 1. What Advantage then hath the Jew? Or what Profit is there of Circumciſion? You ſee theſe Phraſes; [The Advantage of the Jew] and [The Profit of Circumciſion] are ſet down as Convertible; they import the ſame thing; what belongs to the one, belongs to the other: And wherever Circumciſion is mentioned in the New-Teſtament, it is ſpoken of as no leſs belonging to the Moſaical Oeconomy (tho' the firſt Inſtitution was not of Moſes, but of the Fathers) than any other part of the Law firſt given by him; and boaſting in Circumciſion is eſteemed a boaſting in the Fleſh, as much as boaſting in any other Old-Teſtament Priviledg of the Jew; Phil. 3. From all which we may ſafely conclude, that the Covenant of Circumciſion was of the ſame Kind with the Levitical Covenant, afterwards annexed to it, or rather built upon it, for the full accompliſhing of its Deſign
I might alſo inſiſt upon Levi's paying Tithes in Abraham; which could not have been reckoned to him, if he had not been in Abraham conſidered as an Head in ſome Covenant Tranſaction, wherein Levi was Covenanted for, by Abraham: Neither could this have been pleaded by the Apoſtle as it is in Heb. 7. 9, 10. if that Covenant in which the Levitical Prieſthood was founded, and to which it did belong, had not been originally made with Abraham. But I paſs this.
§. 8. Thirdly, The Scriptures do every where affirm, That the Lord brought up Iſrael out of Egypt, formed their Church-State by eſtabliſhing the Order of his ſolemn Worſhip among them, and gave them the Land of Canaan in Poſſeſſion, in Remembrance of his Covenant with Abraham; and for the fulfilling of the Promiſes thereof: For Inſtance let theſe Places be well weighed; Exod. 2. 24, 25. Deut. 29. 10,—13. Neh. 9. 7, 8, 9, &c. Pſal. 78. with Pſal. 105. And herein was he known to them by his Name JEHOVAH, as giving Being to his Promiſe in the actual Accompliſhment of it, which their Fathers did depend upon his Alſufficiency for: Conf. Exod. 6. with Gen. 17. 1. Thus if we follow the Clue of Scripture in our Enquiries after the Original of the Covenant of Peculiarity made with Iſrael after the Fleſh, it will certainly guide us to that Covenant which God made with Abraham for his natural Offspring, and ſealed by Circumciſion. And yet that Covenant of Peculiarity is in the New Teſtament always ſtyled Old, and Carnal; a Covenant from which the Goſpel Covenant is diſtinguiſhed; and to which it is in many Reſpects oppoſed: See Jer. 31. 31,—34. and Heb. 8. 8,—13.
Neither doth there lye any juſt Exception againſt what hath been ſaid, from the Inlargement of the Terms and Articles of this Covenant in the Conſummation thereof in the Wilderneſs; for that will not in the leaſt infer any ſubſtantial Difference of this Covenant from the Covenant of Circumciſion; ſeeing it is no more than God hath done by the Goſpel, with reſpect to the New-Covenant that was confirmed in Chriſt unto Abraham; which being firſt ſummed up in one Promiſe, In thee ſhall all Nations be bleſſed, was abundantly inlarged, cleared, filled up with its own Ordinances, and made the intire Rule of the Church's Obedience, when the Fulneſs of Time came which that Promiſe had reſpect to; And yet the New Teſtament is not another Goſpel differing from that preached to Abraham, or another Covenant differing from that before confirmed of God in Chriſt; In like manner the filling up of this Covenant of Circumciſion was reſerved to the time of God's performing what he now promiſed unto Abraham, without the leaſt change of the Nature or Deſign of the Covenant it ſelf.
§. 9. We come now to the ſecond Propoſition: viz. That from the firſt Eſtabliſhment of this Covenant, ſome of the immediate Seed of Abraham were excluded.
The Promiſes thereof did belong to Iſaac's Line in their Generations, from Age to Age; but they did not appertain to the immediate Seed of Abraham by Hagar or by Keturah; Their extent being reſtrained by the expreſs Caution of God himſelf, to whom it belonged to ſet the Bounds of this Covenant-Relation and Intereſt, and that in the very firſt making of the Covenant of Circumciſion with Abraham: Read diligently Gen. 17. 19, 20, 21. In Iſaac ſhall thy Seed be called; It was Iſaac's Seed and not Iſhmael's that the Lord would ſet apart for himſelf, and would give the Land of Canaan unto, and eſtabliſh his ſolemn Worſhip among them, to be a God unto them. And …et Abraham was as much a Believer, and as much in Covenant with God, as to his perſonal Intereſt in the …ovenant of Grace, when he begat the one as when he begat the other.
If it be objected, That Iſhmael was at firſt included, and intereſted in the Covenant, but was afterwards rejected and caſt out for his prophane mocking at Iſaac: It will be anſwered;
That ſuch a Suppoſition is againſt the expreſs Words and Letter of the Text before urged▪ and the Limitation which God the Author of the Covenant made of its Promiſes therein; Before Iſhmael was circumciſed God declares that he gave not the Promiſes of his Covenant unto him, but to Iſaac with whom it ſhould be eſtabliſhed: So that Iſhmael's being caſt out of Abraham's Family afterwards, will in no wiſe infer that till then he was in Covenant; but only thus much, That then it was made more manifeſt than ever, that the Covenant appertained not to him, and that he muſt be concluded under the Exception that was before laid in againſt him. And the divine Confirmation of what Sarah then required is grounded upon that Revelation of his Will that he now made unto Abraham; as will be evident to him that compares Gen. 17. with Chap. 21. 12, 13. Caſt out the Bond Woman and her Son, For in Iſaac ſhall thy Seed be called. And therfore Abraham did afterwards voluntarily ſend his Sons by Keturah, far away from Iſaac, and from the promiſed Land: Gen. 25. 1,—6. altho' theſe were guilty of no ſuch Wickedneſs as Iſhmael who mocked at Iſaac; but for ought appears might be very holy and good Men, the true Children of Abraham by Faith, according to the Tenour of the Covenant of Grace; tho' they might not be Joynt-Heirs with Iſaac, according to the Tenour of the Covenant of Circumciſion.
§. 10. It is moreover to be obſerved; Notwithſtanding the Covenant-Seed of Abraham was called in Iſaac, and his immediate Children were only two Sons, Eſau and Jacob; yet the Right of this Covenant-Bleſſing did not equally deſcend upon them both, but once more the Lord reſtrains it by the Rejection of Eſau and chooſing of Jacob, and that before the Children had done either good or evil; That the purpoſe of God according to Election might ſtand; and that he might here ſet before us an awful Type of his Soveraingty in the after Diſpenſation of the Grace of the Goſpel: Eſau (indeed) did afterwards by the profane ſelling of his Birth-right, and deſpiſing the Inheritance, render himſelf manifeſtly unworthy Conf. Gen. 25. 23. with Mal. 1. 2, &. Rom. 9. 10,—13.of the Bleſſing; but before this, God had declared that Jacob and his Seed, and not Eſau, ſhould inherit the Promiſes of this Covenant.
And poſſibly it may be from hence that Iſaac and Jacob are ſo particularly mentioned Act. 7. 8. becauſe of the ſpecial Limitation of the Promiſes to them; and becauſe they were the Seed brought forth in the virtue of the Promiſe given to Abraham.
§. 11. Thus plain do theſe thing lye before us in the Hiſtory of the Scripture, That they will hardly be called into Queſtion, if our minds be not prepoſſeſt with ſome particular Notion unto which they are not ſuited: But it is earneſtly pleaded by ſome, That all the immediate Seed of Abraham were intereſted in this Covenant, and that the firſt Right in its Promiſe, did belong unto them; inaſmuch as the Seal of the Covenant was applyed to them all, in their Circumciſion; the doing of which muſt be abſurd, and uſeleſs, if they had not been Parties in that Covenant unto which this Seal did belong.
To this, I anſwer:
1. It is no way meet our uncertain Conjectures, or Inferences, ſhould be oppoſed to the expreſs Teſtimony of God himſelf; or that his Wiſdom ſhould be called into Queſtion upon their Account: Now tho' God laid his Command upon Abraham to circumciſe Iſhmael, yet at the ſame time he tells him that his Covenant ſhould be eſtabliſhed with Iſaac, excluding Iſhmael; unto whom he will not grant (tho by Abraham interceded for) a Joynt-Intereſt with Iſaac in this Covenant; but diſmiſſeth his Claim, and lays out his Portion by himſelf, in another inferior Bleſſing.
2. Abraham was as ſtrictly bound to circumciſe all the Males in his Family, that were bought with his Mony of the Stranger, that was not of his Seed, and the Children of thoſe Bond-Servants, that were born in his Houſe, as he was his own Children, Gen. 17. 12, 13. And this Obligation remained upon the Heirs of his Covenant in their Generations; And yet none of theſe Servants (no nor yet Iſhmael) were hereby made Parties in the Covenant, ſo as that the Promiſes of it ſhould be ſealed unto them, by Circumciſion, as their own Inheritance: And,
3. To ſuppoſe an Intereſt in the Covenant, without a Right to the Promiſes thereof, is to introduce a meer Chimera or Fancy, inſtead of a real Covenant-Intereſt: Now the Promiſes of this Covenant are, that God will give unto the Seed of Abraham, called in Iſaac, the Land of Canaan for an everlaſting Poſſeſſion; and that he will be a God to them in their Generations, and they ſhall be a peculiar People unto him: And can we ſuppoſe that theſe Promiſes did belong to Iſhmael, and to the Bond-Servants in Abraham's Family? or were they ever made good to them? If not; ſeeing the Performance of theſe Promiſes was the fulfilling of the Covenant on God's part, whoſe Faithfulneſs is to all Generations, we muſt conclude they never had the Grant of them, or an Intereſt in them: And if the Promiſes of the Covenant did not belong to them, then were they not Parties in Covenant: and if not in Covenant; then they were not circumciſed upon the account of their own Covenant-Intereſt, but in obedience to the particular, and poſitive Command of God.
§. 12. It appears therefore, from what hath been already ſaid; that Circumciſion was a Seal of the Covenant upon all, but not to all, that were circumciſed; it was a Seal of the Covenant unto the Children of the Covenant, and gave them admiſſion to all the Bleſſings promiſed therein; but it did not make their Slaves free of the Commonwealth of Iſrael, nor was it given for their ſakes; And if they could not claim the outward Priviledge of an Iſraelite thereby, it will hardly be granted that ſingly upon the account of their being bought by a Jew (tho' their Maſter himſelf, perhaps, had no Intereſt in the Covenant of Grace) they ſhould be made the Subjects of a New Covenant-Bleſſing; and that, whether they knew, or were capable of conſenting to the Terms of that Covenant, or not; For that might be the Caſe of many of them, ſeeing the Law concerned ſuch as were purchaſed in their Infancy, as well as thoſe of riper Years; As well the one as the other muſt needs be circumciſed, becauſe of the Command given to his Maſter. Perhaps this might belong to the typical Holineſs of the Family of an Iſraelite; but whether we can fully underſtand the Reaſon of it or not; it ſufficeth, that the wiſe God ordained it ſo to be. However this is certain, that it was the poſitive Command of God, and not ſimply Covenant-Intereſt, that was the Rule according to which Circumciſion was adminiſtred, and by which, both the Subjects, and Circumſtances of it, were determined: And ſo muſt it be in all things of like Nature; For in Matters of poſitive Right, we can have no Warrant for our Practice but from a poſitive Precept: For things of this kind fall not within the compaſs of Common Light, or general Principles of natural Religion; but have their Original from; a particular, diſtinct, and independent Will of the Lawgiver: And therefore Inferences built upon general Notions may ſoon lead us into Miſtakes about them; if upon ſuch Inferences we form a Rule to our ſelves of larger Extent than the expreſs Words of the Inſtitution do warrant.
§. 13. The Propoſitions laid down, being thus far explained and confirmed; I ſhall draw to a cloſe of this Chapter with an Inference or two, grounded upon the foregoing Diſcourſe.
1. He that holds himſelf obliged by the Command, and intereſted in the Promiſes of the Covenant of Circumciſion, is equally concerned in the whole of them; ſeeing they together are that Covenant; And therefore (omitting now to ſpeak of the Yoke of the Law belonging thereunto) he that will apply one Promiſe or Branch of this Covenant to the carnal Seed of a believing Parent (eſteeming every ſuch Parent to have an Intereſt in the Covenant coordinate with Abraham's) ought ſeriouſly to conſider the whole promiſſory Part of the Covenant, in the true Import and Extent thereof; and ſee whether he can make ſuch an Application of it together, without manifeſt Abſurdity; For, (to paſs by other things) If I may conclude my Concern in this Covenant to be ſuch as that by one Promiſe thereof I am aſſured, That God hath taken my immediate Seed into Covenant with himſelf, I muſt on the ſame ground conclude alſo, that my Seed in remote Generations ſhall be no leſs in Covenant with him, ſeeing the Promiſe runs to the Seed in their Generations; yea, and that this Seed ſhall be ſeparated from other Nations as a peculiar People unto God, and ſhall have the Land of Canaan for an everlaſting Poſſeſſion; ſeeing all theſe things are included in the Covenant of Circumciſion: But inaſmuch as theſe things cannot be allowed, nor are by any that I know of pleaded for; we muſt conclude, That Abraham was conſidered in this Covenant, not in the Capacity or Reſpect, of a private believing Parent, but of one choſen of God, to be the Father of, and a Foederal Root unto a Nation, that for ſpecial Ends ſhould be ſeparated unto God by a peculiar Covenant: And when thoſe Ends are accompliſhed, the Covenant it ſelf by which they obtained that Right, and Relation, muſt ceaſe; And the like cannot be pleaded for by any other, without a reviving of the whole Oeconomy built thereupon.
2. Their Notion, who aſſert this Covenant-Intereſt, to be the Baſis of ſuch a foederal Holineſs of Believers Children under the New-Teſtament, as gives them a Right to Baptiſm, doth moreover labour under theſe Inconveniencies.
1. They generally ſtraiten the Terms of Covenant-Intereſt (if we conſider it as derived upon Iſaac's Line) by reſtraining it to the immediate Offspring, which in this Covenant was not ſo reſtrained, but came as fully upon remote Generations; and alſo by excluding the Servants and Slaves of Chriſtians, with the Children born of them, from that Priviledg which they ſuppoſe them to have enjoyed under the Old-Teſtament, in being ſealed with the Sign or Token of the Covenant of Grace. But then;
2. On the other hand (according to what hath been already proved) they make a Believer's Intereſt in this Covenant of larger Extent, than ever Abraham's was in Truth; For they will have all the immediate Seed of Believers to be included in it; whereas we ſee, of all the Sons of Abraham according to the Fleſh, but one only Iſaac was admitted to the Inheritance of the Bleſſing, and Promiſes of this Covenant.