Some indeed had other Notions of God. The more ignorant sort of the Jews confined him to the Temple*. And God intimates, that they had such a thought when he asserts his presence in Heaven and Earth, in opposition to the Temple they built as his House, and the place of his Rest*. And the Idolaters among them, thought their Gods might be at a distance from them, which Elijah intimates in the scoff he puts upon them*, Cry aloud, for he is a God, meaning Baal; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey; and they follow his advice, and cried louder, v. 28. whereby it is evident, they looked not on it as a mock, but as a truth. And the Syrians called the God of Israel the God of the hills, as though his presence were fixed there, and not in the valleys*; and their own Gods in the Valleys, and not in the Mountains; they fancied every God to have a particular Dominion, and presence in one place, and not in another; and bounded the Territories of their Gods, as they did those of their Princes.* And some thought him tied to, and shut up in their Temples and Groves wherein they worshipped him*. Some of them thought God to be confined to Heaven, and therefore sacrificed upon the highest Mountains, that the steam might ascend nearer Heaven, and their Praises be heard better in those places which were nearest to the Habitation of God. But the wiser ⟨p. 245⟩Jews acknowledged it; and therefore called God place*, whereby they denoted his immensity; he was not contained in any place, every part of the World subsists by him: He was a place to himself, greater than any thing made by him. And the wiser Heathens acknowledged it also.
Some indeed had other Notions of God. The more ignorant sort of the Jews confin'd him to the Temple*. And God intimates, that they had such a thought when he asserts his presence in Heaven and Earth, in opposition to the Temple they built as his House, and the place of his Rest*. And the Idolaters among them, thought their Gods might be at a distance from them, which Elias intimates in the scoff he puts upon them*, Cry aloud, for he is a God, meaning Baal; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey; and they follow his advice, and cried louder, v. 28. whereby it is evident, they looked not on it as a mock, but as a truth. And the Syrians call'd the God of Israel the God of the hills, as though his presence were fixed there, and not in the valleys*; and their own Gods in the Valleys, and not in the Mountains; they phansied every God to have a particular Dominion, and presence in one place, and not in another; and bounded the Territories of their Gods, as they did those of their Princes.* And some thought him tied to, and shut up in their Temples and Groves wherein they worshipped him*. Some of them thought God to be confined to Heaven, and therefore sacrificed upon the highest Mountains, that the steam might ascend nearer Heaven, and their Praises be heard better in those places which were nearest to the Habitation of God. But the wiser ⟨p. 245⟩Jews acknowledged it; and therefore call'd God place*, whereby they denoted his immensity; he was not contain'd in any place, every part of the World subsists by him: He was a place to himself, greater than any thing made by him. And the wiser Heathens acknowledged it also.
- *Hierom. on Isa. 66.1.
- *Hammond on Matth. 6.7.
- *1 King. 18.17.
- *1 King. 20.23.
- *Med. Diatrib. vol. 1. p, 71, 72.
- *Dought Analec. excurs. 61. 113.
- *[Greek or Hebrew] Grot. upon Mat. 5.16. Mares. contra Volk. lib. 1. cap. 27. p. 494〈non-Latin alphabet〉 Grot. upon Mat. 5.16. Mares. contra Volk. lib. 1. cap. 27. p. 494
