A Discourse of the Covenants, Chapter 5
Of the Covenant of Circumciſion. CHAP. V.
The Subject of our preſent Inqiury; the Promiſes gived to Abraham for his natural Offſpring; theſe given forth gradually; all ſummed up in the Covenant of Circumciſion §. 1. Gen. 12. 2. farther opened in its reſpect to the carnal Seed; Abraham called out of Ur of the Chaldees; Heb. 11. 8. conferred with Gen. 11. 32. their Harmony ſhewed. §. 2. Abraham comes into Canaan, and builds an Altar; his Journey into Egypt, Return to Canaan; parting from Lot; the renewing of the Promiſe thereupon. §. 3. Gen. 13. 15. opened; how the Promiſe of the Land of Canaan was made good to Abraham; in what ſence ſaid to be an everlaſting Poſſeſſion. §. 4. The Hiſtory in Gen. 15. conſidered; the 6th Verſe explained; the Promiſe renewed, and inlarged; the Bondage of Iſrael in Egypt foretold; The time limited to 400 Years; when they began; one reaſon why the Promiſe was no ſooner to take place; the Iniquity of the Amorites not yet full; how the Curſe of Parents comes righteouſly upon their Children. §. 5. The Seed of Abraham, and their Inheritance firſt given by Promiſe; One conſequence of this. Abraham goeth in to Hagar; the Reaſon of it; as yet no mention of a Diſtinction of Abraham's natural Offſpring among themſelves; nor any diſtinguiſhing Character appointed for them; his Seed in remote Generations, as well as in an immediate Deſcent from him, intended in the Promiſes. §. 6. The Covenant of Circumciſion; why ſo called; Gen. 17. 1. opened; This a Praeludium to the Sinai Covenant. §. 7. Gen. 17. 4, …. opened; The Promiſe of the New-Covenant rehearſed; Two reaſons thereof; Abram's Name changed to Abraham; How Circumciſion became a Seal of the Righteouſneſs of Faith, briefly touched; The neceſſity of diſtinguiſhing of the Promiſes given to Abraham, and of the Seed to which they belong. §. 8. Gen. 17. 6. opened; the firſt Intimation of a diſtinction of … in Iſrael. §. 9. The general Scope of Gen. 17. 7, 8. the word Everlaſting how to be taken as applyed to this Covenant; no proof of its being a Covenant of ſpiritual Bleſſings deducible from thence. §. 10. The Church-State of Iſrael after the Fleſh, the principal Bleſſing of this Covenant; This evinced by the Story of Iſhmael and Eſau; Their Excluſion from this Covenant; The preference of Iſrael's Lot. §. 11.
§. 1. THE Method before laid down leads us in the next place to inquire after the Promiſes given to Abraham for his natural Offſpring and the Aſſurance of them, which it pleaſed God to give him by Covenant-Tranſactions: And here (as formerly) I ſhall diligently review the Hiſtory that Moſes wrote of theſe things by the Inſpiration of the Holy Ghoſt, and comparing the Promiſes made, with the Records of their Accompliſhment in other parts of holy Writ, indeavour to collect from both, the true Import and Extent of them, with the proper Nature and Ends of that Covenant, unto which in a peculiar manner they do belong. Only this I ſhall premit to the whole,
That theſe Promiſes were not all made unto Abraham at one time, Nor the Covenant of them perfected by one Tranſaction, but they were given forth by ſeveral Parts and Degrees, until at laſt the whole Charter of Priviledges and Bleſſings granted to the natural Offspring of Abraham was fairly drawn, and the Covenant of them ſealed by Circumciſion: This will immediately appear in the hiſtorical Account we ſhall have of theſe things; and ſome Regard hereunto may be alſo remarked in the Progreſſion of Stephen's Diſcourſe when he gives a Recapitulation of them. Act. 7. 5, 6, 7, 8.
§. 2. In Gen. 12. 2. we find, That when the God of Glory firſt appeared unto Abraham, and called him out from his own Country, from his Kindred and from his Fathers Houſe, beſides the Promiſe of ſpiritual Bleſſings that was given to him both for himſelf and his ſpiritual Seed, he had alſo the Promiſe of a numerous Offspring which ſhould naturally deſcend from him: No leſs can be intended in theſe Words, I will make of thee a great Nation, than this; Thou ſhalt be the Father of a great Nation which ſhall ſpring, and iſſue from thy Loyns: ſuch is the plain Sence of the like Words to Moſes Num. 14. 12. And this Promiſe with the reſt, Abraham embraced by Faith; for to an Eye of Reaſon there was no preſent Likelihood of its Accompliſhment, ſeeing at this time he had no Child (for want of which he alſo makes Complaint a conſiderable time after this Gen. 15. 2, 3.) and Sar… his Wife was barren; Yet eſteeming him faithful and able to make good his Word that ha… given him theſe Promiſes, he embraced them, and upon the Call of God *Cui non magis eſt dulce proprium tugurium quam palatia Poregrina? & Voluntaria Caſa, quam digeſta Praetoria? Cui non eſt durum illos conſcio… n…alium Par… tes, dulcia ill… … mina at que amabilem larem, quem & parentum memoria, & ipſius Infantiae Rudimenta commendant—Inter … ergo tam … dulcia, … Exi, ait, de …. Quis haec …? Auguſt.forſook all that before was dear unto him, and went out, not knowing whither he went; Heb. 11. 8. For it doth not appear that the Land of Canaan was mentioned to him at his firſt calling, but rather an abſolute Reſignation of himſelf unto divine Goodneſs and Conduct was required of him; and he knew no more than this, that he muſt travel from his own to another Country, which was to a Land that God would ſhew to him; tho' as yet he knew not what, or where it was; And therefore tho' we read Gen. 11. 32. That he went from U… of the Chaldees to go into the Land of Canaan; I conceive thoſe Words are to be taken as an hiſtorical Anticipation, and not a Relation of what fell within Abraham's Knowledg and Intention, when he firſt undertook his Journey; *Vid. Riveti exercitationes in …His Peregrination was in the Counſel of God determined to the Land of Canaan, and by a divine Conduct he was brought thither tho' himſelf knew not the Place deſigned, at leaſt, not till he came nearer to it, viz. unto Haran, where the Lord gave him a ſecond Call after the Death of Terah, to proceed in his Journey to the Land of Canaan.Gen. 12. 4, 5.
§. 3. When Abraham came into the Land of Canaan unto the Place of Sichem the plain of Moreh (the Progeny of curſed Canaan being then the Inhabitants of the Country) the Lord appeared unto him again, and gave him a full and expreſs Promiſe of that Land (which for Pleaſantneſs and Gen. 12. 6, 7.Fertility was the Glory of all Lands) for an Inheritance unto his Seed; And there he firſt built an Altar unto the Lord, that by worſhipping him he might teſtifie his Gratitude for the Promiſe ſo freely given to him, and alſo receive a Ratification of it in the Blood of his accepted Sacrifice. Soon after this a Famine drives Abraham into Egypt; and there Sarai's Chaſtity was indangered by the Egyptian King, but the Gen. 12. 17. Pſal, 105. 13, 14, 15.Lord's rebuke upon him, delivered his Servant from that Affliction; and by his good Providence he was again brought back in Peace to the Land of Canaan: All this time Lot, Abraham's Brothers Son was with him; but now their Subſtance being increaſed and ſome Contention happening between their Servants Abraham, to take up the preſent Controverſie and prevent the like, makes a Propoſal for their parting the one from the other, which was accepted of by Lot; Gen. 13. And after that Lot was ſeparated from Abraham, the Lord again renew and confirms the Promiſe of the Land of Canaan to him, and of the great Increaſe of his Seed that ſhould poſſeſs it, with a ſpecial Command to Abraham to walk thro' it in the Length thereof, and the Breadth thereof, to ſurvey, and by Faith to take Poſſeſſion of it; while as yet he was a Stranger and had no Inheritance in it; no not ſo much as to ſet his Foot on. Act. 7.
§. 4. In the Promiſe thus renewed there are two things that require ſome farther Explanation.
Firſt, The Conveyance of this Inheritance is directly made firſt unto Abraham himſelf, and then, unto his Seed; All the Land which thou ſeeſt to thee will I give it, and to thy Seed, Gen. 13. 15. Now it is evident, Abraham had no Poſſeſſion in it all his Days, ſave that of a Burying-place which he after purchaſed for his Money paid to the full value thereof; Gen. 23. And like was the Caſe alſo of Iſaac and Jacob, who were the Heirs of this Promiſe together with Abraham, Heb. 11. 9. A Queſtion therefore ariſeth, How was this Promiſemade good to Abraham?
In Anſwer hereunto (waving at preſent the Typical Reſpect of the promiſed Land, and Abraham's Inheritance of the ſpiritual and heavenly Bleſſings ſignified thereby) obſerve,
1. That as to thoſe Words to thee, and to thy Seed, the latter may be taken as an Interpretation of the former, and then the ſence is, to thee, that is, to thy Seed: The Hebrew Particle here uſed, is undoubtedly to be taken in this ſence in ſome other See Ainſw. Annot.places, and is to be interpreted not as Copulative by And, but as explicative by Even, or that is, See 1 Chron. 21. 12. where it is ſo rendred; And the like Interpretation muſt be given of it in 2 Sam. 17. 12. Of him and (rather that is) of all the Men that are with him there ſhall not be left ſo much as one. Now this rendring removes all appearance of Difficulty from the Text.
2. A Man may have jus ad rem that hath not jus in re; All Right, is not perſently actionable, but a Man may have a Right to an Inheritance by Promiſe or otherwiſe, without the Right of preſent Poſſeſſion, which he may not enter upon till a long time after, or perhaps not himſelf, but his Poſterity are to be poſſeſſed of it by that Right which is at preſent made over to him; Neither doth the annexing ſuch Terms render the Promiſe vain or fruitleſs unto him that firſt receives it; for the Aſſurance that the Good promiſed ſhall in its time certainly redound upon his Offspring, is a preſent Comfort to himſelf, as it is an Honour alſo for him this way to be made capable of tranſmitting ſuch a Right to them. And therefore it was a pleaſing Thought to old Jacob when he lay dying, That God would ſurely viſit his Children and bring them up out of Egypt to inherit the promiſed Land; Gen. 48. 5, 20, 21. tho' he went to his Fathers without ſight of its Accompliſhment: As it was alſo a ſpecial Favour to Ephraim and Manaſſeth, that by Jacob's Bleſſing each of them obtained a Right in Canaan equal with the Brethren of their Father, and yet themſelves enjoyed not the temporal Good of that Bleſſing, but their Poſterity after them. And indeed, that Lege Riveti exercitationem in Locum; ubi dubium hoc proponitur & accuratè ſolvitur.is properly ſaid to be given to Parents which is given to their Poſterity upon the Account of that Promiſe which they have received, and which makes them the Heads of that Covenant-Bleſſing which deſcends upon their Offspring. And that the Fathers embraced the Promiſe in this ſence, is put beyond doubt, by the expreſs Limitation of the time of its Accompliſhment in Gen. 15. 13, 16.
Secondly, The other Difficulty ariſeth from the Extent of the Pomiſe in point of time; for here God promiſeth to give this Land to Abraham and to his Seed for ever, and again Gen. 17. 8. for an everlaſting Poſſeſſion; whereas it is evident they have now for many Ages been diſinherited of it. But the Solution of this Doubt will be eaſie to him that conſults the Uſe of theſe Terms in other Texts, and the neceſſary Reſtriction of their Sence when applyed to the State or Concernments of Abraham's Seed in the Land of Canaan; For the Prieſthood of Levi is called an everlaſting Prieſthood Num. 25. 13. and the Gates of the Temple everlaſting Doors Pſal. 24. 6. and this in the ſame ſence, as Canaan, is ſaid to be an everlaſting Inheritance; no more being intended than the Continuance of theſe for a long time, viz. throughout the Old Teſtament Oeconomy, until the days of the Meſſiah commonly ſpoken of by the Jews under the Notion of the World to come; wherein a new State of things was to be expected, and when their old Covenant Right and Priviledge was to expire, as having its proper End and Degſin now fully accompliſhed.
§. 5. In Gen. 15. we have an account of another ſolemn Tranſaction of God with Abraham, wherein (beſides other things included and intermixt) the Promiſes before given to Abraham concerning his carnal Seed and their Inheritance, are renewed, and farther explained in diverſe Particulars. And Abraham being now more ſtricken in years than when he firſt received the Promiſe, and as yet having no Son, tho' his eternal Happineſs, as well as other Bleſſings, depended on the Seed that ſhould be given to him, he was now brought to a greater Tryal of his Faith then formerly; and the preſent acting of it being rendred the more Illuſtrious by the Difficulties it overcame, the Holy Ghoſt is pleaſed in this Place to give an expreſs Teſtimony thereto; ver. 6. He believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for Righteouſneſs. And Conf. Rom. 4.this is the firſt time that either Believing or the Imputation of Righteouſneſs is in terminis mentioned in the Scripture; Not but that both theſe were true of Abraham before, even from the firſt giving out of the Promiſe to him Gen. 12. He then believed in the Lord; and he accounted it to him for Righteouſneſs; but as his Faith was now manifeſted in a higher Degree, ſo it pleaſed God from this time to leave upon Record a more particular Encomium thereof than formerly. And as a farther Token of Favour, immediately hereupon follows that Explication and Inlargement of the Promiſe to his natural Offspring that was before mentioned. Many things I ſhall paſs over, and only note here theſe few that follow, as direct to my preſent Purpoſe.
1. The Lord informs Abraham of the Affliction that ſhould befall his Poſterity, and the ſeeming Death that ſhould be upon the Promiſe before they were brought into the Inheritance of the Land of Canaan; And alſo particularly limits the time thereof; they ſhould be afflicted four hundred Years, the Account of which (I ſuppoſe) muſt take its Riſe from the mocking of Iſaac the Heir of the Promiſe by Iſhmael the Son of Hagar the Egyptian, from which to the deliverance of Iſrael from their Bondage in Egypt is exacty four hundred Years.
2. The Lord gives Abraham an Aſſurance that in the appointed time he will redeem them from their Servitude, and that by ſignal Judgments upon their Oppreſſors, and ſo great Favour to them, as ſhould ſuddenly change their Condition from Want and Penury, to the Enjoyment of great Riches and Subſtance: Gen. 15. 14. And as for Abraham; himſelf ſhould go to his Fathers in Peace, and be buryed in a good old Age; and in the fourth Generation the Bleſſing of this Promiſe ſhould certainly come upon his Poſterity; ver. 15, 16. The exact Accompliſhment of all this you may read in the Book of Exodus; all the Wonders there recorded being the Birth of theſe Promiſes; Exod. 2. 24. Act. 7. 17.for it was not the Goodneſs of the People, but the Stability of the Promiſe that all thoſe things are to be aſcribed to.
3. A Reaſon is given for the referring of the Accompliſhment of the Promiſe to this time; Becauſe the Nations whoſe Land they were to poſſeſs were not yet ripe for Judgment; and the Meaſure of their Iniquity muſt be filled up before the Curſe of Canaan was fully executed upon them. Thus we ſee, that although the Children of Canaan bare his Curſe many Generations after him, yet this Curſe deſcended not upon them without a full Meaſure of their own Sin; as there is no doubt but Canaan's partnerſhip with Cham in his Wickedneſs did at firſt bring the Curſe of his Father upon himſelf. But to return,
4. Theſe things are expreſly ſaid to have been tranſacted in a way of Covenant with Abraham: and alſo the Bounds of Iſrael's Inheritance are ſet, and thoſe Nations marked out by Name Gen. 15. 18, 19, 20, 21.that were to be diſpoſſeſſed and deſtroyed by them.
§. 6. Before we paſs on farther in the Hiſtory of God's Tranſactions with Abraham reſpecting his natural Offspring; Let it be obſerved;
1. That as this Seed was afterwards raiſed up to Abraham by virtue of a Promiſe, ſo the firſt Grant of the Land of Canaan to them for an Inheritance was by a gratuitous Promiſe alſo; and that Promiſe paſt into the Form of a Covenant with Abraham long before the giving of the Law as a Condition of their Inheritance therein, yea before the Inſtitution of Circucmiſion; And the Original of their Claim being from a free Promiſe, the Severity of that Law which afterwards they came under, was ſo far reſtrained thereby, as that (notwithſtanding their manifold Breach of Covenant with God, and Forfeiture of all legal Claim of their Rights and Priviledges in the Land of Canaan thereby) they were never utterly cut off from that good Land, nor ceaſed to be a peculiar People unto God, until the End of their being made ſo, was fully anſwered, and that Promiſe expired with the Accompliſhment of its Deſign, in the Introduction of the Iſrael of God, to the full Enjoyment of thoſe ſpiritual Bleſſings, which were the Subſtance of what was but darkly ſhadowed, by their temporal Enjoyments. This will be of great Uſe in our Reflections upon the Typical State of that People, which I ſhall not now inlarge upon.
2. Hitherto it is not expreſly ſignified, That Sarai ſhall be the Mother of this Seed; And therefore in the delay of the Promiſe, Abraham and Sarai (not knowing but it might be fulfilled that way) agreed about Abraham's going in to Hagar the Hand-maid of Sarai, that by her they might obtain Children; Gen. 16. It will be granted that on good grounds they might have other Apprehenſions of the Promiſe before (as it will appear they had, by Conference of Gen. 15. with Rom. 4.) and that this proceeded from ſome Vacillation, and weakneſs of Faith in them; but yet it was not ſuch as did directly croſs, and call into Queſtion the Promiſes before given; neither doth any thing appear to the contrary but that Abraham accounted of Iſhmael as Heir of the Promiſe, until the Lord appeared to him again Gen. 17. and fully compleated his Covenant with him about his natural Offspring.
3. Much leſs was there as yet any Intimation given of a Diſtinction to be made, in point of Priviledge or Covenant-Right, betwixt the Children that might in one way or another be brought forth unto Abraham: But the Claim of ſuch (ſupoſing, as it after proved, that there might be many) ſeemed to be equal; until the farther ſtating thereof Gen. 17. Neither was there as yet any diſtinguiſhing Character appointed for his Seed as a Foundation for their riſing up into ſuch a Church-State, as that the ſolemn Inſtitutions of divine Service ſhould be appropriate to them, and none accounted Members of the viſible Church but themſelves, and ſuch as became Proſelites to them. Tho' its true all that hath been before mentioned, was diſpoſed in order hereunto, being in the wife Counſel of God directed towards ſuch an End; for known unto him are all his Works, from the Beginning; And therefore the former Promiſes are ſtill recollected, and taken in, in the after Tranſactions about this People.
4. The Promiſes hitherto given unto Abraham for his natural Offspring, do as much concern them in remote Generations, as in an immediate Deſcent from him; nay in ſome Reſpects were more fully made good unto them than the other; for it was not until the fourth Generation that God was known to them by his Name JEHOVAH, Exod. 6. in the actual Accompliſhing of his Word; the Fathers having only his Alſufficiency ingaged for the after fulfilling of the Promiſe in its proper Seaſon. It was not Abraham's immediate, but his mediate Seed that became numerous as the Duſt of the Earth, and took Poſſeſſion of the Land flowing with Milk and Hony.
§. 7. We ſhall now paſs on to Gen. 17. And what is there more largely recorded, we have briefly pointed at by St…phen in his general view of the Hiſtory of Iſrael Act. 7. 8. And he gave him the Covenant of Circumciſion; And ſo Abraham begat Iſaac &c. By the Covenant of Circumciſion, we are to underſtand that Covenant of which Circumciſion was the Sign or Token; or that Covenant in which a Reſtipulation was required by the Obſervation of this Rite or Ordinance; as in Gen. 17. 9, 10, 11.
It is obſervable, That in this Tranſaction of God with Abraham we firſt meet with an expreſs Injunction of Obedience to a Command (and that of poſitive Right) as the Condition of Covenant-Intereſt; And the whole is uſhered in with this Prologue Gen. 17. 1. I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect. In which Words, firſt the Alſufficiency of God is revealed for the Enſurance of the Promiſes; and then a ſtrict and intire Obedience to his Precepts is required in order to the Inheritance of the good things that were to be given by this Covenant; And in this Mode of tranſacting it, the Lord was pleaſed to draw the firſt Lines of that Form of Covenant-Relation, which the natural Seed of Abrahim, were fully ſtated in by the Law of Moſes, which was a Covenant of Works, and its Condition or Terms, Do this and live. For altho' the Covenant of Grace made with Abraham hath in all Reſpects (as well in point of time, as Excellency) the Precedence to the Covenant made with his carnal Seed in Iſaac's Line; yet in the wiſe Counſel of God things were ſo ordered, That the full Revelation of the Covenant of Grace, the actual Accompliſhment of the great Promiſes thereof, and its being filled up with Ordinances proper thereunto, ſhould ſucceed the Covenant made with Iſrael after the Fleſh, And take place upon the Diſſiolution thereof when it waxed old and vaniſhed away. And therefore the Covenant-Intereſt of the natural Seed, was to be perfected by the Law of Moſes, before the Goſpel preached unto Abraham, was unveiled; and accordingly this Chapter leads us on a great Step towards the Sinai Covenant, and the Terms thereof.
§. 8. Altho' this Covenant of Circumciſion do properly and immediately belong to the natural Seed of Abraham, and is ordered as a Foundation of that Oeconomy which they were to be brought under until the times of Reformation; yet by way of Preface thereunto you have (in Gen. 17. 4, 5.) a Recapitulation of former Tranſactions, and a renewed Confirmation of one great Promiſe of the Covenant of Grace before given to Abraham, viz. A Father of many Nations have I made thee; That this is principally to be underſtood of his believing Seed, collected out of all Nations indifferently, appears from Rom. 4. 17. And that Abraham was conſtituted the Father of the faithful before this Covenant of Circumciſion was made, and did not obtain the Grant of this Priviledg thereby, hath been before proved from Moſes's Hiſtory, and is alſo argued by the Apoſtle ſtrongly in the former part of that forementioned Rom. 4. Nevertheleſs, That it ſhould be thus repeated in this place, there is very great reaſon, upon a twofold Account;
1. That it might be evident; that the Covenant of Peculiarity with the carnal Seed, which was firſt to take place, and that Wall of Separation which was to be raiſed up betwixt them and other Nations (the corner Stone of which was now to be laid in Circumciſion) ſhould not evacuate, or intrench upon the Covenant of Grace, or the Right and Priviledg of the ſpiritual Seed ſtated therein, or of any part of it; but was added, and made ſubſervient to the great Ends thereof: The Springs of New-Covenant-Mercy, which God had before opened to all Nations were not to be ſhut up again by this Covenant; nor the Heathen *Read diligently Gal. 3.excluded; from inheriting the Bleſſing of Abraham, thro' Faith in Jeſus Chriſt, by any Priviledg or Right conferred upon the Jew: And therefore when the Covenant of Circumciſion was given to the carnal Seed, in order to a full Separation of them from other Nations, It pleaſed God, therewith to revive the Remembrance of that Promiſe of the Covenant of Grace, which ſhould in due time bring forth Salvation to the Gentiles; That ſo there might be no colour of Reaſon left for interpreting this Covenant to their Prejudice, in the ſtraitening of the Grace of the Goſpel, which was deſigned of God only as an Handmaid thereto.
2. Becauſe, Things were ſo ordered by God in this Covenant, that as the Promiſes thereof, ſhould be ſubordinate to the great Promiſe; ſo alſo ſpiritual Bleſſings ſhould be myſtically implyed in them; ſo Abraham's being the Father of Believers of many Nations, was typified in his numerous Offspring by Iſaac, viz. Iſrael after the Fleſh: And hence, a Confirmation and ſealing of the one, muſt include a Ratification of the other alſo: And therefore at the ſame time, to aſſure Abraham that he ſhould certainly become the Father of *foreigna Multitude, or, of many Nations his Name is changed into Abraham; and alſo Circumciſion is inſtituted for the ſealing of the Promiſes made to his carnal Seed; The mutual reſpect of theſe different Promiſes, and the order obſerved in their Eſtabliſhment, being ſuch; Circumciſion it ſelf was ſo far from everting the Covenant of Grace, in its Promiſe to the Gentiles, as that it became to Abraham a Seal of the Righteouſneſs of Faith: Rom. 4. 11. This it had, not from its next and peculiar End, or its proper Nature, with reſpect to all the carnal Seed, or others, that were to be the Subjects of it; but from the Diſpoſition of the Covenant to which it was annexed, and the preſent Circumſtances of Abraham, with whom it was made, and to whom Circumciſion was now given for a Seal thereof. But this we muſt farther inlarge upon, in ſpeaking to The mutual reſpect of God's Foederal-Tranſactions with Abraham; And at preſent it ſhall ſuffice to remind you,
That there is no way of avoiding Confuſion and Intanglements, in our Conception of theſe things, but by keeping before our Eyes the diſtinction of Abraham's Seed, which is either ſpiritual or carnal, and of the Promiſes reſpectively belonging to either: For this whole Covenant of Circumciſion, as given to the carnal Seed, can no more convey ſpiritual and eternal Bleſſings to them as ſuch, then it can now inright a Believer (tho' a Child of Abraham) in their temporal, and typical Bleſſings in the Land of Canaan; Neither can I ſee any reaſon for an Aſſignment of Covenant-Intereſt in all ſpiritual Bleſſings typified, as well as in the temporal Bleſſings that were the Types of them, to the carnal Seed; and yet not to admit the Conveyance of the ſame Covenant to hold good in point of temporal Bleſſings, to the ſpiritual Seed; ſeeing (as ſome conceive) both are directly included in the ſame Covenant; and the Promiſe of both was ſealed with the ſame Seal.
But the Truth is, Notwithſtanding the reſpect this Covenant hath to the Covenant of Grace, it yet remains diſtinct from it; and can give no more then external and typical Bleſſings unto a typical Seed: The ſtating of their Rights and Priviledges, in Subſerviency, and with a typical Reſpect, to the Diſpenſation of Grace to the Elect, in the New-Covenant, is the proper End, and Deſign of this Tranſaction in Gen. 17. as will more fully appear in the particular Account of the Promiſes given therein.
§. 9. The Sum of thoſe Promiſes is ſet before us in Gen. 17. 6, 7, 8. In the 6th Verſe; The Promiſe of a numerous Offspring is repeated in ſuch Terms as do import (if not Inlargement, yet at leaſt) a farther Explication of what was before promiſed in Gen. 13. 16. And I will make thy Seed as the Duſt of the Earth, &c. For here the Promiſe runs thus; I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make Nations of thee; and Kings ſhall come out of thee. Theſe Words in their firſt and literal Sence had their Accompliſhment in the natural Offspring of Abraham; and are particularly intended of his Seed by Iſaac; For tho' it be true that other Nations beſides Iſrael did ſpring from Abraham, yet the Context will evince it to be that Seed with which the Covenant of Circumciſion ſhould be eſtabliſhed, that is here meant; and that was with the Seed of Abraham by Iſaac only. To ſee therefore the fulfilling of this Promiſe, we muſt look to the twelve Tribes of Iſrael, that were as ſo many diſtinct Peoples, and Nations, with reſpect to their Power and Number; tho' with reſpect to Religion and Government united in one Polity, and ſo but one people: And to this Promiſe Jacob hath an Eye in his bleſſing of the Sons of Joſeph Gen. 48. 19. where he ſaith that Manaſſeth (the Father of one of the Tribes of Iſrael) ſhall be a People, and ſhall become great: i. e. His Seed ſhall be numerous and ſtrong, and ſhall make up one People, or one of the Nations, that God had promiſed ſhould come of Abraham; And yet Ephraim his younger Brother muſt have the Preeminence in being the Father of another diſtinct People, or Tribe, that ſhould be ſtronger then Manaſſeth and more numerous; in that his Seed ſhould become the Fulneſs of Nations (ſo it is in the Hebrew) i. e. a very great Nation and People. That Diſtinction of Tribes which was after obſerved among the Iſraelites, ſeems to be firſt pointed at in theſe Words, I will make Nations of thee; And the following Words, viz. Kings ſhall come out of thee; do not only ſignifie the Eminency of Abraham's Seed in general, but more particularly reſpect their forming under a diſtinct Polity, and Government of their own, or (as Ezekiel ſpeaks Chap. 16.) proſpering into a Kingdom; and living under the Rule and Conduct of Judges, and Princes raiſed up among themſelves; as they were from Moſes his time (who was King in Jeſhurum, when the Heads of the People and the Tribes gathered themſelves together, Deut. 33. 5.) by whoſe Miniſtry God ſettled their State, and Government, by Laws peculiar to themſelves; and fulfilled the Covenant of their Fathers therein. This Branch of the Promiſe contains more than was expreſly given to Abraham before.
§. 10. In the following Words Gen. 17. 7. we have the Aſſurance of this, and of the enſuing Promiſes alſo, which God gives unto Abraham by paſſing them into a ſolemn Covenant, and conſequently, an Interpoſition of himſelf, and Engagement of all the Perfections and Properties of his divine Nature, to be exerted for the making of them good: Thus you read; And I will eſtabliſh my Covenant between me and thee; and thy Seed after thee in their Generations; for an everlaſting Covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy Seed after thee.
Unto this is added the Promiſe of their Inheritance, Ver. 8. And I will give unto thee, and to thy Seed after thee, the Land wherein thou art a Stranger, all the Land of Canaan for an everlaſting Poſſeſſion; and I will he thire God.
The Difficulty ariſing from thoſe Terms in the Promiſe which give the Right of the Inheritance of Canaan to Abraham in the firſt place, hath been already conſidered and cleared; as alſo how the Land of Canaan may be ſaid to be an everlaſting Poſſeſſion: And in the ſame fence is this Covenant ſaid to be everlaſting: Iſrael could not be finally cut off from the promiſed Inheritance, until the Covenant it ſelf, by which it was given to them did expire: As was, therefore, the Duration of the Inheritance, and of Iſrael's Right therein, ſo was the Duration of this Covenant, Everlaſting, not abſolutely, but with ſuch a Limitation as the Nature of the things ſpoken of doth neceſſarily require, and as is uſual in thoſe Scriptures that ſpeak of things pertaining to the Jewiſh State. There is therefore, no more Reaſon to conclude from this Term, That the Covenant of Circumciſion was directly and properly a Covenant of ſpiritual and eternal Bleſſings, than there is to affirm that the Land of Canaan and the good things thereof, were a ſpiritual and eternal Inheritance.
§. 11. Howbeit, From the ſtrict Connexion of this 7th Verſe with the 6th, and the Aſſurance here given that God will eſtabliſh his Covenant with the Seed of Abraham, to be their God; it is evident;
That the Number of Abraham's carnal Seed, and the Grandeur of their civil State, is not all that is promiſed in this Covenant, nor yet the principal Bleſſing beſtowed on them therein; but rather, The forming of them into a Church-State, with the Eſtabliſhment of the Ordinances of publick Worſhip among them, wherein they ſhould walk in a Covenant-Relation to God, as his peculiar People (underſtand it ſtill of the old Covenant, whereing they had their peculiar Right and Priviledg) No leſs can be intended in this, I will be a God unto them in their Generations; And it is alſo made more evident by the following Account that is given of this Tranſaction with reſpect to Iſaac and Iſhmael; Gen. 17. 18-21.
When the Lord had promiſed unto Abraham a Son by Sarah, whoſe Name ſhould be called Iſaac; he thus prays for Iſhmael, O that Iſhmael might live before thee! which the Chaldee paraphraſeth thus, might live, and Worſhip before thee: No doubt his Prayer was, that Iſhmael might alſo be an Heir of the Bleſſing of this Covenant; But that was not granted to him; for the Lord would have his Covenant Seed called in Iſaac only: with him God would eſtabliſh his Covenant, having appointed and choſen him alone to be the Heir thereof, who was to be a Child of Promiſe, and Son of the Free-Woman: And yet for Iſhmael (in ſpecial Favour to Abraham, whoſe Seed he was) thus much is obtained, that he ſhould be made fruitful, and multiplyed exceedingly; twelve Princes, or Heads of great Families, ſhould ſpring of him (which imports ſome Analogy to the twelve Tribes of Iſrael after the Fleſh, whoſe old Covenant-State was typified in Iſhmael) and God would make him a great Nation: And yet all this lay ſhort of the Bleſſing of Abraham's natural Offspring by Iſaac; from which Iſhmael was now excluded; It is plain therefore, that the Priviledg of the Eccleſiaſtical, as well as the flouriſhing of the Civil State of Iſrael did ariſe unto them out of the Covenant of Circumciſion.
The like may be obſerved of Eſau afterwards, whom the Lord rejected before he was born; excluding him from the Priviledg and Bleſſing of this Covenant, which deſcended upon Jacob only: And yet Eſau was alſo the Father of a great Nation, and of many Kings, and had the Inheritance of many outward Bleſſings aſſigned to him, Gen. 27. 39.
We conclude therefore, That notwithſtanding the carnal Seed of Abraham could not, as ſuch, claim a Right in the ſpiritual and eternal Bleſſings of the New-Covenant, becauſe of their Intereſt in the Covenant of Circumciſion; yet their Priviledges and Advantages in their Church-State, tho' immediately conſiſting in things outward and typical, were of far greater Value and Uſe, than any meer worldly, or earthly Bleſſing; as giving them choyce means of the Knowledg of God; and ſetting them nearer to him than any Nation in the World beſides.