Proposition 1

PROPOSITION. I.

That there is a great and general Calling of the JEWS yet to come. As there was a time when God rejected them, for the horrible contempt which they cast upon Christ and his Gospel, in which they were made a scorn and a reproach to the world, and were dispersed from one end of the earth to another; so there will a time come when there shall be a National return of them to God, and they shall accept of Christ for their Lord and Savior. The truth of this has been, and still is denied, and strenuously oppugned by some; and the seemingly long delay of it, has made many to hesitate about it; and it is not to be wondered at, for Christ predicted (Luke 18:8), When the Son of Man comes, shall he find faith on the Earth? Which some have interpreted to have a respect to the belief of this truth. But there are others who with as great vigor defend it, and have solidly confuted all the pretended pleadings against it; and although it be not a Fundamental Article of Salvation, yet there is so much of consolation arising from it to the people of God, in these dark days of tribulation upon the Church of Christ, that it is worth our while a little to refresh ourselves with the speculation of it. And here let me premise, That this truth is purely of Revelation, and the credit of it depends entirely on the Divine Testimony; we must therefore Search the Scriptures, if we would know whether it be so. And among many Scripture confirmations of it, give me leave to offer a few considerations; and to make way to this. Observe,

1. That there are many texts of Scripture which are to be understood of the Spiritual Israel. The whole mystical body of Christ, made up of both Jews and Gentiles, are frequently called the Israel of God, and the Seed of Abraham. This must not be denied; for, as God first chose that Nation to be a peculiar people to himself; so he has seen meet to put their name upon the Church, even in Gospel times: and there are some places that cannot bear another interpretation; see (Galatians 6:16), Peace be on them, and on the Israel of God. We are told of a Jew outwardly, and one that is so inwardly (Romans 2:28), and in chapter 9:6, All are not Israel that are of Israel. Accordingly there are prophecies in which Gospel ordinances are represented under legal expressions, but must be spiritually interpreted; such is that (Malachi 1:11), In every place incense shall be offered to my Name, and a pure offering. And some think that the last eight chapters in the prophecies of Ezekiel are so to be understood.

2. There are promises made to the Jews which did properly refer to their return from Babylon. There was such a return afforded them after their captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, and God beforehand gave them many supports, and encouraging promises about it, wherein he prefixed the time when, and the manner how it should be brought about; and there are many discourses in the Prophets which had a proper and direct aim at it: we are therefore told how Daniel, by reading of these prophecies, and making a calculation from them, came to know that time to be near its accomplishment (Daniel 9:2), I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, &c. that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem.

3. There are predictions of glorious things in the Gospel day, that had a special reference to the power and efficacy of the word in the Apostles' times. The bringing in of the Gospel dispensation, and the great changes that were wrought thereby, was a matter of admiration, and was therefore often foretold in the Old Testament: and on this account we are acquainted that these and those things were the fulfilling of such and such prophecies: particularly, the astonishing giving of the Holy Ghost, appearing in the fiery tongues given the Apostles soon after Christ's Ascension, of which Peter gives that account (Acts 2:16 &c.), This is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel, &c.

4. There are texts of Scripture that have their several degrees of accomplishment. Though there [illegible] but one thing that is ultimately designed in [illegible], and till that be brought about, they are [illegible] completely fulfilled; yet they shall be [illegible] in some preludious providences, that [illegible] in them a specimen of the same [illegible] and are, as it were, earnests of what is to [illegible]; and so one and the same word may be said to have been accomplished more than once: though that which it mainly intended is still expected; which might be instanced in divers particulars.

Now from what has been said, we may proceed to the thing in hand: and in general, observe, That though there be a mystical sense in some prophecies about Israel, yet they go too far, who would restrain all altogether to this, as those do who deny this doctrine. Yes, there is a compound sense in many of these things, and they aim both at the one and the other: and though divers things did refer to the return from Babylon, yet not all, but some look farther; yes, even those that engross that in them, have a longer reach in them, many of them: and though some things had their fulfillment in the days of Christ and his Apostles, yet others had not, but still remain to be brought to pass; and those which then had a beginning have a greater fullness behind; and that the calling of the JEWS is one of these will be evident, if we consider.

1. That there is a Calling of the JEWS mentioned distributively with that of the Gentiles, and therefore it must be literally understood with respect to that Nation, and cannot be restrained to the mystical body of Christ, which comprehends all of both sorts in it. This is designedly handled by the Apostle in Romans 11. The thing he there aims at, is to show that God has not utterly cast off that Nation, and he argues it from the reason of their being cast off (verse 11, 12), Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid, &c. He therefore asserts that there will be a time when they shall be restored again to a Church state, and return into favor with God; for which he also brings Scripture evidence (verse 25, 26), Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in; and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written, &c. Nor can these things be understood allegorically, without violence done to the whole scope of the context.

There is a calling of the Jews foretold to be in the days of the Gospel. Their call and return from Babylon was before Christ's coming in our flesh, but there is another spoken of which is to be after that, and therefore God makes mention of doing it a second time (Isaiah 11:11, 12). The Lord shall set his hand again the second time, to recover the remnant of his people, from Assyria, and from Egypt, &c. And he says that this shall come to pass in that day: which the whole context assures us, is the day of the Gospel after Christ had appeared in our nature: and doubtless whatever was prophesied concerning that people, after their return to their land must look forward; and many things cannot be understood of any but the Gospel day: and such is our text and context; inasmuch as Zechariah was one of these prophets who prophesied to the returned captivity; and the tenor of this particular vision of his points us to the day when Christ had been crucified among them.

There is a calling of the Jews mentioned, that is to be after they had been rejected, and dissipated, for their despising of Christ. And therefore the casting them off, or unchurching them, and this return of theirs are joined together; yes, the Apostle in the forecited Romans 11 brings this in as a relief against despondency, with respect to the former, where he purposely speaks of their being cut off, and tells us that they shall be grafted in again: see in particular, verse 15, 16, and verse 24. This also is the call which our text points to, as evident from chapter 12:10 &c. Christ therefore so speaks of their rejection as that which had a limited time (Luke 21:24): Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

There is a national calling of them spoken of. There were indeed many of them effectually called by Christ and his Apostles, and many that believed in those days; three thousand were added at one time (Acts 2:41), and five thousand at another time (Acts 4:4), besides many more upon other occasions (Acts 2:4). The Lord added daily to the Church such as should be saved. But all this while the nation stood off, and did not embrace Christ; that therefore is yet to come. On this account the Apostle in Romans 11, having in the beginning of the chapter proved that they were not utterly cast off, because there were so many called already, proceeds from verse 11 to tell us of a more general return of them, and assures us that it shall be all Israel (verse 26): not as if every individual shall thus be saved, but the body of that nation that shall then be living.

There are such things asserted in the word of God concerning this call, as have never yet been accomplished. The happy state of that forlorn nation, is so set forth as it never arrived to, after their return from Babylon, till their being cut off from being a people by the Romans. To this we may refer the prophecy in Isaiah 65:18 to the end, and that in Hosea 3:4, 5, and that in Zechariah 12:6, 7, 8, which must needs refer to times yet unfulfilled, for hitherto they are the most scattered, contemptible and scorned people in the whole world, and have so continued for more than sixteen hundred years.

To all let me add, that the providence of God towards them is to be adored, in that they remain to be a distinct people to this day. Notwithstanding all the calamities that have befallen them, and the horrible dispersions of them upon the face of the earth, yet they keep themselves a separate people in life, manners, and customs, diverse from other nations; which certainly must be for some glorious end designed by the all-wise God: and what shall we suppose it to be, but that which is thus fore-signified?