Exposition of the Laws of Moses, Exegesis 8 · Chapter 26
CHAPTER XXVI. Of their Day.
GEN. 1.3. And the Evening and the Morning were the firſt day.
A Day in the Scripture, is either a naturall,Dies Naturalis. Artificialis. Propheticu…. artificiall, or a propheticall day.
The naturall day conſiſteth of foure and twentie houres, comprehending day and night, Num. 8.17. In that day that I ſmote every firſt borne in the land of Egypt. But Exod. 12.29. it is ſaid, that at midnight the Lord ſmote the firſt borne of Egypt; ſo that by day here is meant the whole twentie foure houres.
The artificiall day began at the Sunne-riſing, and ended at the Sunne-ſetting, Exod. 16.14. Why ſit yee all the day from morning till night? And it had three Periods in it, morning, mid-day, and evening; and the mid-day is called Zeharaijm, foreign Meridies.and it is put in the duall number, becauſe it containeth a part of the forenoone, and a part of the afternoone.
Pſal. 65.8. Thou makeſt the outgoings of the morning, and the evening to rejoyce; the outgoings of the morne, is the riſing of the ſtarres before the Sunne riſe, as foreign, and the outgoings of the evening, that is, when the Moone riſeth, and the ſtarres with her, as Heſperus; the Sunne is ſaid to go out as it were out of his chamber, when he ariſeth out of the Sea, or the earth, Pſal. 19. And he is ſaid to goe in and to dip in the Sea, Mark. 4. when he ſetteth.
Ortus Heliacus. Chronicus. Coſmicus.Ortus Heliacus, is when the ſtarres ariſe with the Sunne; Ortus Chronicus, is the riſing of the ſtarres with the Moone; Ortus Coſmicus, is when the ſtarres riſe at certaine ſeaſons in the yeare, as Orion, Plejades, &c.
A Propheticall day is taken for a yeare in the Scriptures; as they had a propheticall day, ſo they had propheticall weekes, propheticall moneths, and propheticall yeares.
Propheticall dayes, weekes, and yeares.A weeke ſignifieth a weeke of yeares, as Daniels ſeventie weekes, Dan. 9.25. So the monethmonth ſignifieth a monethmonth of yeares, according to the Greeke computation, counting thirtie dayes to a monethmonth; ſo the yeare ſignifieth a yeare of yeares, Iere. 28.3. Adhuc duo anni annorū; So theſe places in the Revelation, Forty two moneths an hundreth and ſixtie dayes three yeares and an halfe, ſo time, times, and halfe a time, are prophetically to be underſtood; A propheticall day, is a yeare; the weeke ſeven yeares, the monethmonth thirtie yeares, and the propheticall yeare three hundreth and ſixtie yeares, and this way they counted, to ſignifie the ſhortneſſe of the time.
A day is applyed in the Scripture firſt to our eſtate in grace, Heb. 4. To day if ye will heare his voyce, A day applied to the eſtate of grace.harden not your hearts; and all the Compariſons in the Scriptures are taken from the forenoone, to ſhew the growth of grace; Firſt, foreign, or the morning Starre, and the dawning of the day, and the day-ſtarre ariſe in your hearts, 2 Pet. 1.19. Secondly, to the Sunne-riſing, Eſay 8.10. It is becauſe there is no morning in them; and thirdly, to the Sunne in the ſtrength of the day, Iudg. 5.3.
Then the declination of grace is compared to the Sunne in the afternoone, Iere. 6.4. Ariſe, Declination of grace compared to the declining of the Sunne.let us goe up at noone; woe unto us for the day goeth away, for the ſhadowes of the evening are ſtretched out, Micah 3. And the Sunne ſet upon the Prophets.
The forenoone is compared to the time of grace before it come to the declining, therefore let us make great reckoning of this time to redeeme it, Pſal. 108.2. I my ſelfe will awake early: but in the Originall it is more emphaticall, [Hagnira ſhahher] Expergefaciam auroram. foreign Expergefaciam Auroram.As if David ſhould ſay, the morning never tooke me napping, but I wakened it ſtill.
Secondly,The day repreſenteth the ſhortneſſe of our life. the day repreſenteth the ſhortneſſe of our life to us, and it is compared to an artificiall day, Pſal. 90.5. In the morning it flouriſheth, and groweth up, but in the evening it is cut downe and withereth: it is like Ionas Gourd, which groweth up in one artificiall day, and decayeth againe; and the houres of the day whereunto our life is compared, are like planetary houres, long in the Summer, and ſhort in the Winter: Compare our dayes with the dayes of our fathers, they are but few and evill, in reſpect of their dayes, therefore our dayes are called dies palmares.
The Lord made the day for man to travaile,The day was made for man to travaile in it. and the night for him to reſt in, therefore they are monſters in nature, that invert this order, who ſleepe in the day and wake in the night, Pſal. 104.23. Man goeth forth unto his worke, and to his labour, untill the evening. And Verſ. 20. Thou makeſt darkneſſe, and it is night, wherein all the beaſts of the Forreſt doe creepe forth: Thoſe who turne day into night, follow the beaſts, and not man; ſuch a monſter was Heliogabalus, who would riſe at night, and then cauſe morning ſalutations to be given unto him: the Hiſtory ſaith, that the world ſeemed to goe backward in this monſters dayes: this ſort of people Seneca calleth them our Antipodes, for when we riſe they goe to bed & contrà.
How they reckoned the dayes of the Weeke.
THe Iewes reckoned their dayes thus; Prima Sabbath, ſecunda ſabbath, the firſt day of the weeke, the ſecond day of the weeke, &c. Secondly, the Latine Church reckoned from the Paſſeover, Prima feria, ſecunda feria, &c. Thirdly, they borrowed afterward another ſort of reckoning from the Heathen, who reckoned their dayes by the Planets, the Sunne, the Moone, Mercurie, Mars, &c.
Queſt. What is the reaſon that they reckoned not the dayes of the weeke according to the order of the Planets, for the Planets ſtand after this order, Saturne ſtands in the higheſt place, then Iupiter, next Mars, and ſo in order Sol, Mercurie, Venus, and then Luna. Iupiter followeth not Saturne in the dayes of the weeke, but Sol; ſo Mercurie followeth not Sol but Luna.
Anſw. The order of the dayes of the weeke is Mathematicall; for the ſeven Planets being ſet downe in a circle according to their owne naturall order, by an equall diſtance, they make ſeven triangles, reaching from their baſes to the Hemiſphere, whoſe baſes ariſe from the ſeverall corners drawne in the circle, in whoſe circumference, the ſeven Planets are ſet downe according to their owne order, making up one equall triangle in every one of their two ſides, as, ☉ Sol, ☽ Luna, ♂ Mars; ☉ Sol is in the right ſide of the triangle, ☽ Luna in the top, and ♂ Mars in the left ſide of the triangle; and ſo from ♂ Mars to ♃ Iupiter by ☿ Mercurie; and from ♃ Iupiter to ♄ Saturne by ♀ Venus; and from ♄ Saturne to ☽ Luna by ☉ Sol, and from the ☽ Moone to ☿ Mercurie by ♂ Mars; and from ☿ Mercurie to ♀ Venus by ♃ Iupiter, as yee may ſee in the figure following.
A Demonſtration to ſhew how the dayes are reckoned according to the ſeven Planets.
Queſt. Whether may theſe names of the weeke dayes which are impoſed by the Heathen, be uſed in the Chriſtian Church or not?
Anſw. The Apoſtles themſelues uſed ſuch names for diſtinction, as Areopagus, Mars ſtreete, Act. 17. So, we ſailed in a Shippe whoſe Badge was Caſtor and Pollux. Act. 28. and ſuch like.