Hence we read of the children of Solomon's ser-
vants, after the return from the Babylonish capti-
vity. Ezra. ii. 55. Neh. xi. 3. They were the
children or posterity of the seven nations of Canaan,
that Solomon had subjected to bond-service.
Thus David subdued the whole land of Canaan,
strictly so called. But then that was not one half,
102 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION.
nor quarter of what God had promised to their fa-
thers. The land promised to their fathers included
all the countries from the river of Egypt to the river
Euphrates. These were the bounds of the land
promised to Abraham. Gen. xv. 18. ' In that same
day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,
Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river
of Egypt, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.'
So again God promised at mount Sinai, saying,
' And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even
unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert
unto the river : for I will deliver the inhabitants of
the land into your hand, and thou shalt drive them
out before thee. Every place whereon the soles of
your feet shall tread, shall be yours : from the wil-
derness and Lebanon, from the river, the river
Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea, shall your
coast be.' Exod. xxiii. 31. Deut. xi. 24. The same
promise is made to Joshua : ' Every place that the
sole of your feet shall tread upon, have I given unto
you, as I said unto Moses ; from the wilderness and
this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river
Euphrates. All the land of the Hittites, and unto the
great sea, towards the going down of the sun, shall
be your coast.' Josh. i. 3, 4. But what Joshua gave
the people the possession of, was but a small part
of this land. And the people never had had the
possession of it, till God gave it them by David.
This large country not only included that Canaan
which was divided by lot to those who came in
with Joshua, but the land of the Moabites and Am-
monites, the land of the Amalekites, and the rest
of the Edomites, and the country of Zobali. All
these nations were subdued, and brought under the
children of Israel by David ; and he put garrisons
into the several countries, and they became David's
servants. David extended their border to the river
Euphrates, as was promised ; ' and David smote
also Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as
he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates.'
2 Sam. viii. Accordingly we read, that Solomon his
IROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIV1TV\ 103
son ' had dominion over all the region on this side
the river, from Tiphsah even unto Azzah, over all
the kings on this side the river.' 1 Kings iv. 24.
This, Artaxerxes king of Persia takes notice of long-
after. ' There have been mighty kings also over
Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries be-
yond the river ; and toll, tribute, and custom was
paid unto them.' Ezra. iv. 20.
Joshua, that type of Christ, did but begin the
work of giving Israel the possession of the promised
!and ; and left it to be finished by that much greater
type and ancestor of Christ, even David, who sub-
dued far more of that land than ever Joshua had
done. In this extent of his and Solomon s dominion
there was some resemblance of the great extent of
Christ's kingdom, which is thus expressed : ' He
shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from
the river unto the ends of the earth.' Psal. Ixxii.
8.
9. God by David perfected the Jewish worship,
and added to it several new institutions. The law
was given by Moses, but all the institutions of the
Jewish worship were not ; some were afterwards
added by divine direction. So this great type of
Christ did not only perfect Joshua's work, in giving
Israel the possession of the promised land, but he
also finished Moses's work, in perfecting the insti-
tuted worship of Israel. Thus there must be a num-
ber of typical prophets, priests, and princes, to
complete one figure or shadow of Christ the anti
type, he being the substance of all the types and
shadows. Of so much more glory was Christ ac-
counted worthy, than Moses, Joshua, David, Solo-
mon, and all the prophets, priests, and princes,
judges, and saviours of the Old Testament.
The ordinances of David are mentioned as of
equal validity with those of Moses. ' Also Jehoiada
appointed the offices of the house of the Lord by
the hand of the priests, the levites, whom David
had distributed in the house of the Lord, to offer
the 'burnt-offerings of the Lord, as it is written in
104 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION.
the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing,
as it was ordained by David.' 2 Chron. xxiii. 18.
The worship of Israel was perfected by David, by
the addition that he made to the ceremonial law,
which we have an account of from the xxiiird to the
xxvth chapters of the first book of Chronicles, con-
sisting in the several orders and courses into which
David divided the levites, and the work and business
to which he appointed them, different from what
Moses had done ; and also in the divisions of the
priests the sons of Aaron into four and twenty
courses, assigning to every course their business in
the house of the Lord, and their particular stated
times of attendance there : and appointing some of
the levites to a new office, which was that of sing-
ers ; and particularly ordering and regulating them
in that office, as you may see in the xxvth chapter
of the 1 Chronicles. He also appointed others of
the levites to the several services of porters, treasu-
rers, officers, and judges : and these ordinances of
David were kept up henceforth in the church of
Israel, as long as it remained. Thus we find the
several orders of priests and the levites, the porters
and singers, after the captivity. So we find the
courses of the priests appointed by David still con-
tinuing in the New Testament. Zacharias the father
of John the Baptist was a priest of the course of
Abia, which is the same with the course of Abijah
appointed by David. 1 Chron. xxiv. 10.
Thus David as well as Moses was like Christ in
this respect, that by him' God gave in some degree
a new ecclesiastical establishment, and a new insti-
tution of worship. Not only so, but by those ad-
ditions David abolished some of the old institutions
of Moses that had been in force till that time ; par-
ticularly those laws that appointed the business of
the levites, which we have in the iiird and ivth chap-
ters of Numbers, which very much consisted in their
charges of the several parts and utensils of the ta-
bernacle there assigned to them, and in carrying
those several parts of the tabernacle. But those
FROM DAVID TO THE C A PT 1 VKTY *'' '^ t'105)\%,
laws were now abolished by David ; and^ey â– were
no more to carry those things, as they had been -^
used to do. But David appointed them to other
work instead of it. 1 Chron. xxiii. 26. Also to the
levites he said, * they shall no more carry the taber-
nacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof : '
a sure evidence that the ceremonial law given by
Moses is not perpetual, as the Jews suppose, but
might be wholly abolished by Christ : for if David,
a type of the Messiah, might abolish the law of
Moses in part, much more might the Messiah him-
self abolish the whole.
David, by God's appointment, abolished all use
of the tabernacle that was built by Moses, and of
which he had the pattern from God : for God now
revealed it to David to be his will, that a temple
should be built, that should be instead of the taber-
nacle. A presage of what Christ, the son of David,
would do, when he should come, viz. abolish the
whole Jewish ecclesiastic constitution, wdiich was
but as a moveable tabernacle, to set up the spiritual
gospel temple, which was to be far more glorious,
and of greater extent, and was to last for ever.
David had the pattern of all things pertaining to the
temple shown him, even in like manner as Moses
had the pattern of the tabernacle : , and Solomon
built the temple according to that pattern which he
had from his father David, which he received from
God. 1 Chron. xxviii. 11, 12, 19. 'Then David
gave to Solomon his son, the pattern of the porch,
and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries
thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of
the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the
mercy-seat; and the pattern of all that he had by the
Spirit, of the courts of all the house of the Lord, and
of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of
the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedi-
cated things.— All this, said David, the Lord made
me understand in writing by his hand upon me,
even all the works of this pattern.'
10. The canon of scripture seems about the close
p
]06 HISTORY OF REDEMPTIOM.
of David's reign to have been farther enlarged by
the prophets Nathan and Gad. It appears proba-
ble by the scriptures, that they carried on the histo-
ry of the two books of Samuel from the place where
Samuel first left it, and finished them. These seem
to be the book that in scripture is called the book
of Samuel the seer, and Nathan the prophet, and
Gad the Seer. ' Now the acts of David the king,
first and last, behold they are written in the book of
Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the
seer.' 1 Chron. xxix. 29.
11. The next thing I would take notice of, is
God's wonderfully continuing the kingdom of his
visible people in the line of Christ's legal ancestors,
as long as they remained an independent kingdom.
Thus it was without any material interruption. In-
deed the kingdom of all the tribes was not kept in
that line ; but the dominion of that part of Israel in
which the true worship of God was upheld, and
which were God's visible people, was always kept
in the family of David, as long as there was any such
thing as an independent king of Israel, according to
his promise to David : and not only in the family
of David, but always in that part of his posterity
that was the line whence Christ legally descended ;
so that the very person that was Christ's legal an-
cestor, was always in the throne, excepting Jehoahaz,
who reigned three months, and Zedekiah ; as you
may see in Matthew's genealogy of Christ.
Christ was legally descended from the kings of
Judah, though not naturally. He was both legally
and naturally descended from David. He was na-
turally descended from Nathan the son of David ;
for Mary his mother was one of the posterity of
David by Nathan, as you may see in Luke's genealo-
gy. But Joseph, the reputed and legal father of
Christ, was naturally descended of Solomon and his
successors, as we have an account in Matthew's
genealogy. Jesus Christ, though he w^as not the
natural son of Joseph, yet by the law and constitu-
tion of the Jews, he was Joseph's heir, because he
FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 107
was the lawful son of Joseph's lawful wife, conceived
while she was his legally espoused wife. The Holy
Ghost, raised up seed to him, A person, by the law
of Moses, might be the legal son and heir of another,
whose natural son he was not. Sometimes a man
raised up seed to his brother ; a brother, in some
cases, was to build up a brother's house. Thus the
Holy Ghost built up Joseph's house. And Joseph
being in the direct line of the kings of Judah, of the
house of David, he was the legal heir of the crown
of David ; and Christ being legally his first-born
son, he was his heir ; and so Christ, by the law, was
the proper heir of the crown of David, and is there-
fore said to sit upon the throne of his father David.
The crown of God's people was wonderfully kept
in the line of Christ's legal ancestors. When David
was old, and not able any longer to manage the
affairs of the kingdom, Adonijah, one of his sons,
set up to be king, and seemed to have obtained his
purpose. But Adonijah was not that son of David
which was the ancestor of Joseph, the legal father
of Christ ; and therefore how wonderfully did Pro-
vidence work here ; what a strange and sudden re-
volution ! All Adonijah's kingdom and glory vanish-
ed away as soon as it was begun ; and Solomon, the
legal ancestor of Christ, was established in the
throne. And after Solomon's death, when Jeroboam
had conspired against the family, and Rehoboam
carried himself so that it was a wonder all Israel
was not provoked to forsake him, and ten tribes
did actually forsake him, and set up Jeroboam in
opposition to him ; and though Rehoboam was a
wicked man, and deserved to have been rejected
altogether from being king, yet he being the legal
ancestor of Christ, God kept the kingdom of the
two tribes, in which the true religion was upheld,
in his possession ; and notwithstanding his son
Abijam was another wicked prince, yet they being
legal ancestors of Christ, God still continued the
crown in the family, and gave it to Abijam's son
Asa. And afterwards, though many of the kings of
108 HISTORY OF RLDEMPTION.
Judah were very wicked, and horridly provoked
God, as particularly Jehoram, Ahaziah, Ahaz, Ma-
nasseh, and Amon ; yet God did not take away the
crown from their family, but gave it to their sons
for the same reason. So speaking of Abijam, it is
said, ' Nevertheless, for David's sake did the Lord
his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his
son after him, and to establish Jerusalem.' Also
when speaking of Jehoram's great wickedness, it is
said, * Howbeit the Lord would not destroy the
house of David, because of the covenant that he had
made with David, and as he had promised to give a
light unto him, and to his sons for ever.' 1 Kings xv.
4. 2 Chron. xxi. 7.
The crown of the ten tribes was changed from
one family to another continually. First, Jeroboam
took it ; but the crown remained in his family only
one generation after his death, it only descended to
his son Nadab ; and then Baasha, who was of ano-
ther family, took it, and it remained in his posterity
but one generation also after his death. Then Zimri,
who was his servant, took it; and then, without
descending at all to his posterity, Omri took it, and
the crown continued in his family for three succes-
sions. Next Jehu, who was of another family, took
it, and the crown continued in his family for three or
four successions ; and then Shallum, who was of
another family, took it ; and the crown did not de-
scend at all to his posterity, but Menahem took it,
and it remained in his family but one generation
after him. Then Pekah, of another family, took it,
and after him Hoshea, who was still of another
family. So great a difference was there between
the crown of Israel, and the crown of Jadah; the
one was continued evermore in the same family, and
with very little interruption, in one right line ; the
other was continually tossed about from one family
to another, as if it were the sport of fortune. The
reason was not because the kings of Judah, many of
them, were better than the kings of Israel, but the
one had the blessing in them; they were the an-
FKOM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY, 109
cestors of Christ, whose right it was to sit on the
throne of Israel. But with the kings of Israel it
was not so ; and therefore Divine Providence exer-
cised a continual care, through all the changes that
happened in so many generations, and such a long-
space of time, to keep the crown of Judah in one
direct line, in fulfilment of the everlasting covenant
he had made with David, the mercies of which
covenant were sure mercies : but in the other case,
there was no such covenant, and so no such care of
providence.
Here it must not be omitted, that there was once
a very strong conspiracy of the kings of Syria and
Israel, in the time of that wicked king of Judah,
Ahaz, to dispossess him and his family of the throne
of Judah, and to set on it one of another family,
even the son of Tabeal. Isai. vii. 6. ' Let us go up
against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach
therein for us, and set a king- in the midst of it, even
the son of Tabeal.' And they seemed very likely to
accomplish their purpose, insomuch that it is said,
ver. 2, ' The heart of Ahaz and his people was
moved, as the trees of the wood are moved with
the wind.' On this occasion God sent the prophet
Isaiah to encourage the people, and tell them that
it should not come to pass. And because the case
seemed so desperate that Ahaz and the people
would very hardly believe, therefore God directs the
prophet to give them this sign, viz. that Christ
should be born of the legal seed of Ahaz. Isai. vii.
14. ' Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a
sign : Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a
son, and shall call his name Immanuel.' This was
a good sign, and a great confirmation of the truth of
what God promised by Isaiah, that the kings of
Syria and Israel should never accomplish their pur-
pose of dispossessing the family of Ahaz of the
crown of Judah, for Christ the Immanuel was to be
of them.— I have mentioned this dispensation of
providence in this place, because though it was con-
110 IIISTOllY OF REDEMPTION.
tinued for so long a time, yet it began in Solomon's
succession to the throne of his father David.
12. The next thing I would take notice of is, the
building of the temple : a great type of three things,
viz. of the human nature of Christ, of the church,
and of heaven. The tabernacle seemed rather to
represent the church in its moveable, changeable
state in this w^orld. But that beautiful, glorious
costly structure of the temple that succeeded the
tabernacle, and was immoveably fixed, seems espe-
cially to represent the church in its glorified state in
heaven. This temple was built according to the
pattern shewn bj^ the Holy Ghost to David, and by
divine direction given to David, in the place where
was the threshing-fioor of Oman the Jebusite, in
Mount Moriah. 2 Chron. iii. 1. In the same moun-
tain, and doubtless in the very same place, Abra-
ham offered up his son Isaac ; for that is said to be
a mountain in the land of Moriah, which mountain
was called the mountain of the Lord, as this moun-
tain of the temple was. ' And Abraham called the
name of that place Jehovah-jireh ; as it is said to
this day. In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.'
Gen. xxii. 2, 14.
That the human nature of Christ was the anti-
type of this temple, appears, because Christ being-
shown the temple of Jerusalem, says, ' Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up,' speak-
ing of the temple of his body. John ii. 19, 20. This
house, or a house built in this place, continued to be
the house of God, where his church worshipped till
Christ eame. Here was the place that God chose,
where all their sacrifices were offered up till tiie
great sacrifice came, and all others ceased. Into
this temple or rather the temple afterwards built in
this place, the Lord came, ' even the messenger of
the covenant.' Here he often delivered his heaven-
ly doctrine, and wrought miracles ; here his church
was gathered by the pouring out of the Spirit, after
his ascension. Luke xxiv. 53. Speaking of the
FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. Ill
disciples, after Christ's ascension, it is said, ' And
they were continually in the the temple, praising and
blessing God.' And of the multitude that were con-
verted by that great out-pouring of the Spirit on
the day of Pentecost, it is said, ' they continued
daily with one accord in the temple.' The apostles
also v/ere ' daily in the temple, and in every house,
where they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus
Christ.' Hence the sound of the doctrine went
forth, and the church spread into all the world.
Acts ii. 46. V. 42.
13. It is here worthy to be observed, that at this
time, in Solomons reign, after the temple was
finished, the Jewish church was raised to its high-
est external glory. The Jewish church, or its or-
dinances and constitution, is compared to the moon.
Rev. xii. 1. 'And there appeared a great wonder
in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the
moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of
twelve stars.' As this church was like the moon
in many other respects, so it was in this, that it
waxed and waned like it. From the first foundation
of it, in the covenant made with Abraham, when
this moon was now beginning to appear, it had to
this time been gradually increasing in its glory.
This time, wherein the temple was finished and de-
dicated, was about the middle between the calling
of Abraham and the coming of Christ, and now it
was full moon. After this the glory of the Jewish
church gradually decreased, till Christ came ; as I
shall have occasion more particularly to observe
presently.
Now the church of Israel was in its highest ex-
ternal glory : now Israel was multiplied exceedingly,
so that they seemed to have become like the sand
on the sea shore. 1 Kings iv. 20. Now the kingdom
of Israel was firmly established in the fam,ily of
which Christ was to come ; now God had chosen
the city where he would place his name ; now he
had fully given his people the possession of the pro-
mised land, in quietness and peace, even from the
112 II I STORY OF REDEMPTION,
river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates ; and all
those nations that had formerly been their enemies,
quietly submitted to them ; none pretended to rebel
against them. Now the Jewish worship in all its
ordinances was fully settled : now, instead of a
moveable tent and tabernacle, they had a glorious
temple; the most magnificent, beautiful, and costly-
structure, that then was, ever had been, or has been
since. Now the people enjoyed peace and plenty,
and. sat every man under his vine and fig-tree, eating
and drinking, and making merry. 1 Kings iv. 20.
Now they were in the highest pitch of earthly pros-
perity, silver being as plentiful as stones, and the
land full of gold and precious stones, and other
precious foreign commodities, which were brought
by Solomon's ships from Ophir, and which came
f/om other parts of the world. Now they had a
king reigning over them v/ho was the wisest of men,
and probably the greatest earthly prince that ever
was. Now their fame went abroad into all the
world, so that many came from the utmost parts of
the earth to see their glory and their happiness.
Thus God was pleased, in one of the ancestors
of Christ, remarkably to shadow forth the kingdom
of Christ reigning in his glory. David, who was
a man of war, a man who had shed much blood,
and whose life was full of troubles and conflicts, was
more of a representation of Christ in his state of
liumiliation, his militant state, wherein he was con-
flicting with his enemies. But Solomon, who was
a nmn of peace, was a representation more especially
of Christ exalted, triumphing, and reigning in his
kingdom of peace. And the happy glorious state
of the Jewish church at that time did remarkably
represent two things. (1) That glorious state of
the church on earth, that shall be in the latter ages
of the world ; those days of peace, when nation
shall not lift sword against nation, nor learn war
any more. (2) The luture glorified state of the
church in heaven : the earthly Canaan was never
so lively a type of the heavenly Canaan as it was
FROM DAVID TO THE CAniVITY, 113
then, when tlie happy people of Israel did indeed
enjoy it as a land flowing with milk and honey.
14. After this the glory of the Jewish church
gradually declined more and more till Christ came-,
yet not so but that the work of redemption still
went on. Whatsoever failed or declined, God still
carried on this work from age to age ; this building-
was still advancing higher and higher. It still went
on during the decline of the Jewish church, towards
a further preparation for the coming of Christ, as
well as daring its increase ; for so wonderfully were
things ordered by the infinitely wise Governor of
the world, that whatever happened was ordered for
good to this general design, and made a means of
promoting it. When the people of the Jews flou-
rished, and were in prosperity, he made that to con-
tribute to the promoting this design ; and when
they were in adversity, God made this also to con-
tribute to the carrying on of the same. While the
Jewish church was in its increasing state, the work
of redemption was carried on by their increase ;
and when they came to their declining state, from
Solomon's time till the appearing of Christ, God car-
ried on the work of redemption by that. The very
decline itself was one thing that God made use of
as a farther preparation for Christ's coming.
As the moon from the time of its full, is approach-
ing nearer and nearer to her conjunction with the