Exercitations concerning the name, original, nature, use, and continuance of a day of sacred…

And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it God rested from all his work which he had created and made. You may as well break off the order and continuation of the Words and Discourse in any other place, as in that pretended. And it may be as well feigned that God finished his work on the seventh day, and afterwards rested another seventh day; as that he rested the seventh day, and afterwards blessed and sanctified another. It is true there may be sundry Instances given out of the Scripture of sundry things inserted in Historical Narrations by way of Anticipation, which fell not out until after the time wherein mention is made of them: But they are mostly such as fell out in the same Age or Generation; the matter of the whole Narration being entire within the memory of men. But of so monstrous and uncouth a Prolepsis as this would be, which is supposed, no Instance can be given in the Scripture, or any sober Author; especially without the least notice given that such it is. And such Schemes of Writing are not to be imagined, unless necessity from the things themselves spoken of, compel us to admit them; much less where the matter treated of, and the coherence of the words, do necessarily exclude such an Imagination, as it is in this place. For without the Introduction ⟨p. 66⟩of the words mentioned, neither is the Discourse complete, nor the matter of Fact absolved. And what lieth against our Construction and Interpretation of these words, from the Arguments insisted on to prove the Institution of the Sabbath in the Wilderness, shall be afterwards considered.

And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it God rested from all his work which he had created and made. You may as well break off the order and continuation of the Words and Discourse in any other place, as in that pretended. And it may be as well faigned that God finished his work on the seventh day, and afterwards rested another seventh day; as that he rested the seventh day, and afterwards blessed and sanctified another. It is true there may be sundry Instances given out of the Scripture of sundry things inserted in Historical Narrations by way of Anticipation, which fell not out until after the time wherein mention is made of them: But they are mostly such as fell out in the same Age or Generation; the matter of the whole Narration being entire within the memory of men. But of so monstrous and uncouth a Prolepsis as this would be, which is supposed, no Instance can be given in the Scripture, or any sober Author; especially without the least notice given that such it is. And such Schemes of Writing are not to be imagined, unless necessity from the things themselves spoken of, compell us to admit them; much less where the matter treated of, and the coherence of the words, do necessarily exclude such an Imagination, as it is in this place. For without the Introduction