A53678:1636
A continuation of the exposition of the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the…
A continuation of the exposition of the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews viz, on the sixth, seventh, eight, ninth, and tenth chapters : wherein together with the explication of the text and context, the priesthood of Christ ... are declared, explained and confirmed : as also, the pleas of the Jews for the continuance and perpetuity of their legal worship, with the doctrine of the principal writers of the Socinians about these things, are examined and disproved / by J. Owen ...
London: printed for Nathaniel Ponder, 1680
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Answ. (1.) Moses may be said to be the Mediator of the Old Covenant in a general sense, inasmuch as he went between God and the People, to declare the Will of God unto them, and to return the profession of Obedience from them unto God; But he was in no sense the Surety thereof. For on the one side God did not appoint him in his stead to give Assurance of his fidelity unto the People. This he took absolutely unto himself in those words wherewith all his Laws were prefaced; I am the Lord thy God. Nor did he, nor could he on the other side undertake unto God for the People; and so could not be esteemed in any sense the Surety of the Covenant. (2.) The Apostle hath no such argument in hand, as to compare Christ with Moses, nor is he treating of that Office wherein he compares him with him, and prefers him above him, which was his Prophetical Office whereof he had before discoursed, Chap. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Wherefore
Answ. (1.) Moses may be said to be the Mediator of the Old Covenant in a general sense, inasmuch as he went between God and the People, to declare the Will of God unto them, and to return the profession of Obedience from them unto God; But he was in no sense the Surety thereof. For on the one side God did not appoint him in his stead to give Assurance of his fidelity unto the People. This he took absolutly unto himself in those words wherewith all his Laws were prefaced; I am the Lord thy God. Nor did he, nor could he on the other side undertake unto God for the People; and so could not be esteemed in any sense the Surety of the Covenant. (2.) The Apostle hath no such argument in hand, as to compare Christ with Moses, nor is he treating of that Office wherein he compares him with him, and prefers him above him, which was his Prophetical Office whereof he had before discoursed, Chap. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. VVherefore
3. It was the High Priest alone who was the Surety of that Covenant. It was made and confirmed by sacrifices, Psal. 50. 5. as we shall see more at large afterwards, Chap. 9. 19, 20. And if Moses were concerned herein, it was as he executed the office of the Priest in an extraordinary manner. Therefore the High-Priest offering solemn sacrifices in the name and on the behalf of the People, making Atonement for them according to the terms of that Covenant, supplied the place of the Surety thereof. And we may observe, That