and I will gather her that is driven ous, &c. And I wil make her that halteth a remnant, and her that was caft far off, a strong Nation; and the Lord fhall reign over them in Mount Sion, from henceforth even for ever.

Chap. 37. ver. 26, 27, 28.

Ezechiel fpeaks of a

time in which the two Nations should be no more two

Nations, and of an everlasting Covenant, which God would make with them in general. Moreover, faith he, I will make a Covenant of Peace with them, it fall be an everlasting Covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will fet my Sanctuary in the midft of them for evermore. My Tabernacle alfo fall be with them; yea, I will be their God, and they fall be my People. And the Heathen fhall know, that I the Lord do fanctifie Ifrael; when my Sanctuary fhall be in the midst of them for evermore. Then, faith God by the mouth of Zephaniah, will I turn to the People a pure Language, that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord, to ferue bim with one

Chap. 3.

ver. 9.

confent.

If thefe Oracles are not perfwafive enough, and you yet require more expreffive, you need but confule Efaiah for a fuller reprefentation of this Matter, And it fhall come to pass in the last days, faith he, Chap 2. verfe 2, 3. That the Mountain of the Lord's Houfe Shall be established in the top of the Mountains, and frais be exalted above the Hills, and all Nations fall flow unto it: And many People fall go, and fay, Come je, and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord, to the Houfe of the God of Facob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his Paths: For out of Zion feall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Ferufalem. And again he faith, Chap. 20. verfe 1, 2, 3. Arise, shine, For thy light is come, and the Glory of the Lord is rifen

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upon thee: And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and Kings to the brightness of thy rifing.

Pfalm 22.

verfe 27.

But who will warrant us, it was not out of fome exagerating Defires of the Prophets themfelves, which made them give aut, that the very Gentiles fhoul dcome to the Knowledge of the true God, and fhew forth his Wonders? Why may we not as well believe, that the Pfalmift only defigned to express his defire, when he faid, All the Ends of the World fhall remember and turn unto the Lord and all the Kindreds of the Nations fhall worship before him? But this fufpicion will eafily vanifh, if you'll but confider that thefe Oracles which denote the calling of the Heathen, fometimes oppofe the Gentiles to the Jews; as thus, when it is faid, That more are the Children of the defolate, than the Children of the married Wife: And efpecially when Mofes reprefents it in these Words fo worthy our Obfervation: They have moved me to jealously with that which is not God, they have provoked me to Anger with their Vanities: And I will move to jealoufie with those which are not a People, I will prodoke them to anger with foolish Nation. Who does not perceive, that a Prophecy fo often repeated, accompanied with fo many Circumstances, delivered in fuch different manners, and with all united to the actual cafting off the Jews, could not be a meer delufion, or the effect of a luxuriant Imagination, or the Product of any Defigns, which the Prophets might have to flatter either themfelves, or their own Nd

tion?

Deuter. Chap. 32. verfe 21:

them

But perhaps they foretold the Calling of the Gen tiles, not that they thought themfelves it would ever come to pass, but only to bring the Jews to Re

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pentance

pentance, by threatning them, that God would turn from them to their Enemies. To this I reply, First, That although I should grant it to be a threatning, yet it would not cease, being a Prophefie too. For fuppofing a Man had denounced God's fiery Wrath against that abominable City of Sodom, who would not after the Destruction of that Place, have thought him a true Prophet? Though perhaps before the Event, his Difcourfe might have been regarded as a brave threatning?

Further, the Circumftances which accompany this Prophecy, are too many not to be formed, with fome certain Profpect of an answerable Event. What dif ficulty is there to conceive, That the Zech. 14. 8. Law should go forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Ferufalem; That the Gentiles fhould come to the light of Sion; That living Waters should go out from Ferufalem, half of them toward the former Sea, and half of them toward the binder Sea, &c.?

But Thirdly, it is evident, That it was not by way of threatning the Jews, that the Prophets foretold them the Calling of the Gentiles; because when we denounce a Misfortune against any one, only with defign to fright him, we ufually represent the danger near as well as great, and just ready to feife him. Yet the Prophets foretold the Calling of the Gentiles, as being a thing very remote. And it fhall come to pass, faith Efaiah in the place we have already quoted, that in the last days the Mountain of the Lords Houfe, &c. Laftly, do but read the Writings of the Prophets, and obferve, that in their Predictions of the Calling of the Gentiles, they often fpeak of it as an Event that would infallibly turn to the Glory of Zion, and be followed by the true Salvation God de

figned for the true Ifraelites, though most of that Nation were to be poffeffed with a Hardness of Heart. In the day that thy Walls are to be built, faith Micah, Chap. 7. Verse 11, 12. in that day fall the Decree be far removed. In that Day alfo, he shall come even to thee from Affyria, and from the fortified Cities, and from the Fortress even to the River; and from Sea to Sea, and from Mountain to Mountain.

It is therefore very fure, that thefe Oracles by their number, plainness, and the exact description of their Circumstances, are much above the reach of all fubtilty, and unexceptionable; fo that it remains only further to enquire, Whether the Prophecy accordingly came to pafs? which we shall now take into confideration.

As to the Oracle of the Calling of the Gentiles, it is fully accomplished in all its Circumstances, if it proves true, that the Jews at prefent have nothing left now to distinguish them from thofe formerly called Gentiles; and if thofe Gentiles have received the Mercies which then exalted the Jews above them.

Heretofore, the Jews were in poffeffion of four confiderable Advantages, which distinguish'd them from the Heathen, and which formed as 'twere the Idea of of their Election: Viz. The uncorrupted Knowledge of the true God, the Priesthood, and the Kingly Office by Divine Appointment, and the Gift of Prophefie. They alone knew the true God (which was a great matter.) God was pleafed with no Sacrifices but theirs ; another confiderable Advantage. He was likewite their invisible Monarch, who govern'd them in a peculiar manner, till at length he intailed his Authority upon one only Family, which was a particular Favour. Laftly, He chofe that Nation before all other, 30 impart to them his Holy Spirit, and to work his Miracles

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Miracles in the midst of them, which was the last Mark and Sign of his Election.

But in thefe latter Days, which of all thefe Ad vantages can the Feps boast of? They have the Knowledge of the true God, but all the World hath attained to that as well as they; fo that they can no longer pretend to diftinguish themselves from other Men by that Mark. They have neither had Priefis nór Levites, ever fince the Deftruction of their Temple, their Genealogies are confounded. Their Royalty is likewife at an end, fince they are become Slaves to other Nations. And what is yet more Strange, more furprizing and more confiderable than all other Things, is, That God hath withdrawn from them the Spirit of Prophecy, which was the most effential Teftimony of their peculiar Election.

And if we now confider thofe formerly called Gentiles, we fhall find in them much more perfect Ideas of God, than the Jews ever had, we fhall fee them every where offering to him locenfe, with ob lations of Prayer and Thanksgivings, and coming to the Light proceeding out of Sion. What strange and difmal blindness hinders both the Jews and our Incredulous Adverfaries, not to reflect on the exact Agreement this Prophecy has with its Comple

tion ?

But the Fems will not allow us to be admitted into God's Covenant, by reafon of our Uncircumcifion, and our not obferving the various Ceremonies prescribed in the Law of Mofes. What then! Can they be fill Ignorant, That the Effential Part of God's Worship, and of the true Religion of their Ancestors, confifted not in them, after having been fo often reproached for it by God himself, fpeaking by the mouth of his Holy Prophets