especially if it be confidered, what Mofes fays of that Tribe in his laft Bleffing, Deut. XXXII. 9. They have obferved thy Word, and kept thy Covenant.

adit a f

SUL. The other Place that is, or may be infifted upon, is Numbers XXXII. 10, 11, 12. And the LORD's Anger was kindled again the fecond time, and He Swear, faying, &c. :

}

Sol, 1. To this I Anfwer,That Mofes here plainly Alludes to the XIV Chapter, where the matter is Recorded at large, and where it is Evident, the Commination was pointed only at thofe that were nuinbred in the firft Mufter, viz. at Mount Sinai; and according to the Rule given to us by Divines, for the Interpretation of Scripture, This Reference, or Abridgment must be explained and governed by the Text and History at large in the XIV Chapter, and not that by this; so that what has been faid already on the XIVth Chapter, will ferve for an Answer to this.

2. Befides, If, the 13 verfe even. of this Context be well confidered, which runs thus, And the LORD's Anger was kindled against Ifrael, and He made them wander in the Wilderness forty Years, until all the Generation that had done Evil in the fight of the LORD was Confumed and compared with the other parallel Places before-mentioned; and efpecially that of Deuteronomy II. 14, 15, 16 It will appear that the

Gene

Generation that did Evil in the fight of the LORD, and were confumed, as noticed in the XXXII Chapter of Numbers, were the Generation of the Men of War, against whom the Hand of the LORD was, and who dyed, and were confumed, as the LORD Swear unto them: Thus Mofes himfelf explains it. And Jofbua after the death of Moses, gives the fame Account of this Matter; Joshua V. 4 & 5. All the People, that came out of Ægypt, that were Males, even ALL THE MEN OF WAR, dyed in the Wilderness; and more fully in the 6 verfe ; For the Children of Ifrael walked forty Years in the Wilderness, till all the People that were Men of War which came out of Egypt were confumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD fware that he would not shew them the Land which the LORD fware unto their Fathers that He would give us, a Land that floweth with milk and honey.

I come now to take a brief Notice, of the Mistake I hinted at, touching the AGE of ELEAZER the Prieft.

The Author of the Chronological Connection, beforementioned, Affirms that Eleazer and Ithamar Sons of Aaron could not be twenty Years old at the coming out of Egypt. The truth of it is, He that will Affert, that every Man of the Children of Ifrael that came out of Egypt at twenty Years of Age (fave CALEB and JOSHUA) dyed in the Wilderness; will be under a Ne

ceffity

ceffity of saying, that ELEAZER was under twenty Years, when he came out of Egypt: For it is moft certain, that he went into Canaan with Fofbua. But let us a little Examine the particular Cafe of ELEAZER. Ca

The first mention that we find of him,is Exodus VI.23, & 25. And ELEAZER Aaron's Son took him one of the Daughters of Putiel to Wife,and fhe bare him Phineas,&c These are the HEADS of the FATHERS of the LEVITES according to their Families. Here first, ELEAZER is taken notice of, as one that had been Married fometime, and alfo the Birth of his Son Phineas,that was fo famous in the Wilderness. Secondly; the Text reckons ELEAZER among the Heads of the Fathers of the Levites and is it probable that all this while he should be under the Age of Twenty? It cannot be. In the next place, I would have it confidered, that ELEAZER entred upon, and executed the Priefs Office in the Wilderness, in the Second Year after their coming out of Egypt: See Levit. VIII. 9,10. particularly Chap. X. verfe 16 to the end. Now the Priests were not to enter upon their Office till thirty Years of Age, Numbers IV. 1, 2, 3. Moreover the Figure that -Eleazer made in Egypt, and quickly after their coming from thence, befpeaks him not only a Perfon of Gravity, but a Man of Years. JOSHUA was forty-five Years old when the Children of Ifrael came out of Egypt, and yet he is called a Young Man. Thefe two famous Worthies JOSHUA and ELEAZER entred into Canaan together; and by the History feemed to have dyed about the fame

time. And it is very probable they might be near of an Age, as MOSES and AARON their Predeceffors were However that be, I fubmit it to the Learned, Whether upon the whole it be probable, much less certain, that ELEAZER was under Twenty Years of Age, when the Children of Ifrael came out of Egypt.

P. S. It was no small Satisfaction to me, after I had drawn up the Materials of this Exercitation, and in a manner digested it, to find the Learned Mounfieur Saurin himself of the fame Opinion, as towards the end of his Vol. before-mentioned, viz. pag. 561. tho' be fags nothing as to the cafe of Eleazer in particular. Had I made any ufe of his Method or Arguments, I fhould readily have acknowledged it,

[56]

The ORACLE

OF

The TRUE GOD Compar'd with thofe of the Heathen.

IN

An OCCASIONAL MEDITATION

A

was one.

On I. Samuel XXIII. 11, 12.

MONG the various ways or divers manners wherein GOD was pleased to speak to the Fathers in times paft, the Answers given from before the HOLY ORACLE This Method indeed was not used, upon ordinary Occafions,but pro re nata,in cafes of extraordinary Difficulty and Importance, especially when the Public was concerned. How or in what manner thefe Oracular Refponfes were given, I fhall not here determine. The Learned cannot agree upon it. The Jews fay the Anfwer was understood and taken from the Luftre with which the Stones in the Breaft-Plate of the High Priest shone at that time. Some of the Learned are of Opinion, that an Articulate Voice was heard from within the Sanctum San&torum.

And

others,