silence; insomuch that, after that, no man durst ask any question at all; the account of which you have in Matth. xxii. 28, and some following verses; and it stands thus: The Sadducees came to him with an instance of a woman who had had seven husbands, who were brethren; and their question upon it is, Whose wife she should be in the resurrection? To which Christ replies, having observed to them their ignorance of the Scriptures, and the power of God, that "in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels of God in heaven;" and then adds, "But, as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." But now here lies a difficulty, how this appears to be a proof of the resurrection of the dead.

Some have thought, that our Lord's design is to prove the immortality of the soul, which the Sadducees denied, as well as the resurrection of the dead; for they that deny the former, deny the latter; and some of the same arguments which prove the one, prove the other. Menasseh-ben-Israel, a learned Jew of the last century, produces this same passage of Scripture to prove the immortality of the soul, and argues from it much in the same manner as Christ does. But it is certain, that our Lord produced this testimony as a proof of the resurrection. In one of the evangelists, it is said, "As touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God?" &c. Mat. xxii. 31. And in another, "Now, that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," &c. Luke xx. 37. Let it be observed, then, that it is not said, I was, or I will be, but I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; which is expressive not only of a covenant which had been made, but of one that abides and continues, which must be either the covenant of grace made with them

in Christ, of which they had some glorious discoveries and manifestations, or some particular covenant respecting them and their posterity. As for the covenant of grace, this respected not their souls only, but their bodies also, even their whole persons; therefore, as their souls now live with God in the enjoyment of the promised good, it is necessary that their bodies should be raised from the dead, that, with their souls, they may enjoy the everlasting blessing of glory and happiness; otherwise, how would God's covenant be "an everlasting one, ordered in all things, and sure?" The learned Mr. Mede thinks, that Christ has respect to the covenant which God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in which he promised that he would give the land of Canaan to them, and to their posterity; not their posterity only, but to them also; therefore he observes, that it was necessary that they should be raised from the dead, that they, in their own persons, might enjoy the promised land. It must be acknow ledged, that this is a way of arguing the Jews were used to, which may be the reason of the Scribes being so well pleased with it; and therefore said, "Master, thou hast well said," Luke xx. 39. Such kind of arguments as these, to prove the resurrection of the dead, are now extant in their Talmud. For instance; R. Simai said, "From whence is the resurrection of the dead to be proved out of the law? from Exod. vi. 4, where it is said, And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan; it is not said to you, but to them.'" But, not to insist any longer on this proof, I proceed,

2. To another passage of Scripture, for the confirmation of this doctrine, which is in Job xix. 25, 26, 27, "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself; and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me." I shall not trouble you with the different versions of these words, some

favouring, and some not, the doctrine of the resurrection and, it must be owned, that none of the Jewish writers understand the words of a real, but of a figurative or metaphorical resurrection, and suppose Job's meaning to be, that he should be delivered from the afflicted state, in which he then was, and be restored to his former health, honour, and happiness; in which sense of the words, they have been followed by some learned Christian interpreters, at which the Socinians very greedily catch. Temporal afflictions are, indeed, sometimes signified by death, and a deliverance out of them must be as life from the dead; but that this cannot be Job's sense and meaning here, may be concluded from the following hints. Job was so far from having any faith in, or assurance of his restoration to his former state of health, honour, and riches, that he had no hope, no expectation of it; nay, seems entirely to despair of it, though his friends endeavoured to support him with views of it, on condition of his repentance. He declares, chap. vi. 11, and vii. 7, 8, and x. 20, and xvi. 22, and xvii. 1, 14, 15, 16, that he had no reason to hope for life, that he should quickly be gone, and therefore had made death familiar to him; that he did not expect to see any more temporal good; yea, in very chapter, at the tenth verse, he says of God, "He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone; and mine hope hath he removed like a tree," and continues his doleful moan to the very words under consideration; so that it must seem unlikely, that, on a sudden, he should have his expectations of outward prosperity raised. No; the words are rather expressive of what was his inward support and comfort under present afflictions, and in the views of approaching death and the grave. They are an answer to what Bildad had said, in the preceding chapter, verses 12, 13, 14, concerning the wicked man; where, though he may not directly mean Job, yet he had his eye upon him, when he says, "His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side. It shall devour the strength of his skin, even the first

this

born of death shall devour his strength. His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors." Well now, as if Job should say, Supposing all this, yet this is my comfort, I know my interest in the living Redeemer, and am comfortably persuaded, that when he appears at the latter day, though this body of mine is now reduced to skin and bones, and will shortly be the repast of worms, yet it shall be raised again, and, in this very flesh of mine, shall I see God, and everlastingly enjoy him. The preface to the words shows, that it was something future, and at a great distance, which he had in view, even after the consumption of his own body, and at the appearance of his Redeemer in the latter day; and which was very considerable, and of moment; and therefore he says, " Oh, that my words were now written! Oh, that they were printed in a book! that they were graven with an iron pen and lead, in the rock for ever! Besides, the vision of God with the eyes of his body, which he expected, is not suited to any state and condition in this life, but rather to the state of eternal glory and happiness, when saints shall see him in the Mediator, as he is; nor can Job's words have reference to the vision he had of God, of which he speaks, chap. xlii. 6, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee." Since that issued not barely in peace, joy, and comfort, but likewise, in conviction of his folly and weakness, in self-abhorrence and deep humiliation. Add to all this, that Job, in the close of this chapter, put his friends in mind of the awful judgment, "Be ye afraid of the sword; for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment;" between which and death, there must be a resurrection from the dead, of which he had before spoken, that so every one may come forth to judgment, and receive the things done in their body, whether they be good or evil. From the whole, we may conclude, that Job here declares his faith, concerning the resurrection of the dead at the last day, and not his own restoration,

from outward misery to outward happiness. An ancient writer once thought, that nothing could be a plainer proof of this doctrine; for, says he, "no one since Christ speaks so plainly of the resurrection, as this man did before Christ.'

3. Another testimony I shall produce for the proof of this doctrine, shall be Isa. xxvi. 19, "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body, shall they arise; awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth her dead." In ver. 14, the prophet says, "They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise." The meaning of which words is, either that those tyrants, who formerly had dominion over the people of Israel, were dead, and should not live any more in this world, or rise again, to tyrannize over them; or that many of the people were dead, or should die by the sword, famine, &c. and not live again; which the prophet mentions, by way of complaint, and as the effect of unbelief, to which these words are an answer. The person speaking is the Messiah, to whom the characters given, in ver. 4, 12, 13, belong; who assures the prophet, that though his men or people were dead, yet they should live again; that they should be raised again, either at the time of his resurrection, or by virtue of it. The words are literally true of Christ's resurrection, and of ours by him,* who, as he was to be born, and die, and rise again, in order to be the Saviour of his people, so many of them were to rise along with him; therefore he says, "With my dead body shall they arise;" which was fulfilled at the time of Christ's resurrection,† when "the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints, which slept, arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection." Though these words may be rendered either thus, "As my dead body shall they arise," i. e. in the same way and manner. Christ's resurrection is the

•See my book of the prophecies of the Old Testament, &c. literally fulfilled in Jesus, p. 183.

† Matt. xxvii, 52, 53.