Noah, a

oufnefs.

Lamech truely prophefied of Noah, that he alfo would be a comfort to wretched mortals. And he was fo, Ift. By preaching, with an extraordinary zeal, the righteousness of faith; of which presently. 2dly. By obtaining a refpite of the imminent deftruction by means of his prayers, and exemplary holinefs of life, till the ark fhould be compleated: for, Ezekiel claffes him, with Daniel and Job, as one, who was very prevalent by his deprecations. Ezek. 14. 14, 20. 3dly. By preferving the remains of the perifhing world in the ark, which he had built at God's command, and performing very many things, in which we might fee him, as a type of the Meffiab, and of the fpiritual and heavenly benefits to be obtained by him. Of which we are to fpeak more fully hereafter.

VII. We have just now faid, that Noah was a preacher preacher of righteousness. This we learn from Peter, of righte- who calls him unquxa Tns dixaooms a preacher of righteoufcefs 2 Pet. 2. 5. But righteoufhefs fignifies not only that virtue of man, which confifts in rectitude and a conformity to the rule; but also that obedience of the Meffiab, whereby the ungodly is juftified; the righteousness which is of God, and opposed to our own righteousness, Rom. 10. 3. Noah was a preacher of both thefe. He not only pathetically exhorted the men of his time to a holy life, and to the practice of religion, in order to escape the wrath of God, that was hanging over them, but also preached that righteoufnefs of the Meffiah; which, as it is the fame with refpect to its efficacy, yesterday, to day and for ever, fo it is alfo witneffed by the law and the prophets, Rom. 3. 21, and of which himfelf was heir, as Paul affirms, Heb. 11. 7. For, feeing he was not ignorant of fo great a benefit; nay, and even enjoyed it: it is quite inconfiftent with the piety of the man, and the zeal, with which he was animated for the glory of God, and for the falvation of his brethren, to fuppofe he would conceal it from them.

VII. Here

VIII. Here we are to Peter, Pet. 3. 19, 20. Chrift, who was quickened

explain another paffage of 1 Pet. 3.
Where he thus fpeaks of 19, 20,
by the fpirit: Ev (véal) explained.

Καὶ τοῖς ἐν φυλακῆ πνέυμασι πορευθεὶς ε κήρυξεν, ἀπειθήσασι πολέ,
by which (fpirit) alfo he went and preached unto the
Spirits in prison; which fometime were disobedient, when
once the long fuff ring of God waited in the days of Noah
while the ark was a preparing. It is to no purpofe to
fay, how variously this paffage has been treated by
interpreters; tho' if it be well confidered, the
meaning will appear eafy and plain. The Lord Chrift,
fays he, who was raifed from the dead by the infinite
power of his Spirit, formerly went, came out of
heaven, not indeed in the flesh affumed, and perfo-
nally united to himself, but in the demonftration of
his fpirit, by which he formed the prophets, and
among them alfo Noah. By the miniftry of these
prophets, who were stirred up by his Spirit, he him-
felf preached. For, not fo much the prophets, as the
Spirit of Chrift, which was in them, fpake, 1 Pet. 1.
11. By that preaching, he invited the spirits to faith
and repentance, that is, thofe fouls of men, which are
now separated from the body, and fuch are usually
called fpirits, Heb. 12. 23, and now are in prifon, in
5, according to the fyriac interpreter, in hell;
compare Rev. 20. 7; because they were difobedient,
and rejected the preaching of Chrift by Noah, when
the divine goodness and long-fuffering called them to
repentance. Peter therefore declares, that Chrift for-
merly, and especially in the days of Noah, preached
by his fpirit, by the prophets; and what elfe did he
preach, but himself, and faith and repentance,
whereby they might come to him? In this fenfe alfo
Peter writes chap. 4. 6, that the gospel was preached to
them that are dead; namely, when they were formerly
alive. Thus to the fame purpose, Naomi faid to her
daughters in law, Ruth 1.8, as ye have dealt with the
dead and with me.
IX. Neither

Bb 3

Of the

of Chrift

IX, Neither improperly, nor without authority preaching does Peter refer the preaching of the prophets, and by Noah, efpecially of Noah, to Chrift. For, Chrift, who calls Mofes alio h mfelf Jehovah the redeemer, expressly proclaims, 1 testifies, have not spoken in fecret from the beginning, Ifa. 48.16,17. Gen. 6.3. And what elle can the meaning be, but that I have

Perverted by Grotius.

66

tr

publickly preached, from the very beginning? Nor is it altogether improbable, tnat Peter had a view to Gen 6. 3, and the Lord faid, my fpirit fhall not always ftrive with man; that is, "I will not always contend against their wickednefs by fruitless exhortations "and rebukes, made by my prophets, actuated by my fpirit; but for the determined fpace of a hun"dred and twenty years, will invite them to repent"ance by my long-fuffering and forbearance of "wrath; but when that term is once expired, I will deftroy them all by a deluge." From this it ap pears, that, in the time of Noah, Jehovah contended with men by the preaching of his Spirit. That Spirit, by whofe infpiration, the word of life was declared, is by Peter justly called the Spirit of Chrift: not only because he is the Spirit of the Son no lefs than of the Father, but also because it is owing to the furetiship of Chrift, that the word of grace is propofed to finful man. The Spirit therefore, preaching that word, may by a peculiar appropriation be pointnd out as the Spirit of Chrift the furety. All this is to inform us, that the fame doctrine of falvation concerning the fame Chrift, and through him, was, by means of the prophets, preached from the remoteft antiquity.

X. I cannot here but take notice, how ftrangely Grotius perverts and corrupts this eminent teftimony of Peter. He feems to envy us, and refuse, that we can find Chrift and his works in the ancient ages of the world: and therefore he applies what Chrift is faid to have performed in the time of Noah, to what was done by the Apoftles, and to the preaching of the Gospel, to the Gentiles. By the Spirits in prifon

he

he understands the fouls of men in the body, as in a fheath. But how does he prove it think you? Peter, fays he, borrows a fimilitude from the times of Noah. Then

that is, if we regard the לא ירון רוחי באדם,God faid

propriety of the words, my fpirit fhall not be fo detained in man as in a fheath, that is, the foul, which I gave him (Wifd. 12. 1) fhall not be useless, as a sword in its fheath, which by no means answers the end, it was made for. Let us proceed. A prison is usually called Quranin; but the fheath is, as it were, the prison of the fword, the Chaldees calling a fheath 7. The fame name they give to the body of a man, as Dan. 7. 15, and the talmudifts often. But on the words who were disobedient &c, he obferves. They were fuch as the fouls, who did not obey formerly in the times of Noah; he speaks as if they had been the fame and they were the fame spirits or fouls, not numerically, as Ariftotle fpeaks, but generically; that is, fouls equally ufelefs to God; namely as thofe, who did not obey the preaching of Noah. Men altogether alienated from God, did not believe Noah, did not believe Christ. If I rightly take the meaning of the intricate difcourse of this otherwife illuftrious perfon, the fum of his opinion comes to this. Chrift, by the spirit, put into the Apostles, preached the Gospel to the Gentiles, whofe fouls were fhut up in the body, as in a prison and fheath, and who are juftly accounted the fame with the disobedient men, who lived in the days of Noah, the fame, I fay, not numerically, but by imitation of their wickedness. I tremble at the reading fuch things, and imagine, I fee in them a fpirit, which will not have the Holy Ghoft to have faid, what he actually has, and which fhamefully mifapplies its learning: let us now make this appear. XI. 1. The explication of the words of God, Refuted. Gen. 6. 3, tho' countenanced by fome jewish and chriftian doctors, is abfurd. Among others fee Buxtorf in Vindic. Verit. Hebrace. p. 639. For, the B b 4

foul

foul of man is no where in fcripture, called the Spirit of God. It is, indeed formed in man by God, Zech. 12.1, yet not called the Spirit of God, but the fpirit of man, Eccles. 3. 21, and the spirit of man which is ~ in him, 1 Cor. 2. 11. In vain are alledged to the contrary, Ezek. 37. 14, and Pf. 104. 30; for, there the Spirit of God does not denote the foul, or life of the creatures, but the author of that life. Nor does the grammatical analogy admit the deriving 7 Jadon from, for, in that cafe, the points ought to be. : altered: the letter daleth ought to have a dagefch forte, because nun is excluded, and under jod, a Chirek. Not to mention, that neither in the Talmudifts nor Chaldee, nor books of the Old Teftament, is there any word derived from 7, which fignifies to be detained in a fheath: so that this explication is rafhly urged, without either reafon or authority 2dly. The application of thofe words to the words of Peter is ftill more abfurd, as if hence we could understand, A what is meant by the fpirits in prifon. For, certainly, the Spirit of God is one thing, the fpirits of difobedient men another. And fhould we grant, which yet we do not, that there is in Hebrew a verb derived from , a fheath; this m, a fheath is certainly nn. thing, which the feptuagint render Koheory 1 Chro 21. 27, and puran another, which, according to the venerable Beza's obfervation, when it does not fignify the fourth part of the night, always denotes a prifon. To conclude, what method of commenting is it? That the words of Peter, namely the spirits in prison, fhall be explained from Gen. 6. 3, IS and moreover explained from ; and again d П denotes a prifon, because a fheath is the prion ci of the fword: and then the body be the prifon of the foul: and therefore the spirit's in prison iǹ Peter, shall denote the fouls contained in the body, as in a fheath. How far fetched, uncertain and trifling is all this? 3dly. It is molt abfurd of all, to make the Gentiles,

*

; ידון רוח:

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