r ever was offered to him, even that holy foederal Sacrifice, of which he took half the Blood and put it in Bafons, and half of it he fprinkled on the Altar; and when he had rend the Book of the Covenant in the Audience of all the People, he fprinkled the Blood upon them, and faid, Behold the Blood of the Covenant, which the Lord hath made with you. As a Priest he offered another most folemn Sacrifice to God, when he confecrated Aaron, and his Sons to minifter to him in the Prieft's Office, at which time he took of the Blood of the Ram of Confecration, and fprinkled it upon the Altar, and put it upon the Tips of their right Ears, the Thumbs of their right Hands, and the great Toes of their right Feet, and also sprinkled it with the holy Oyl upon them, and their Garments, by which, as the Text faith, Aaron, and his Garments were hallowed, and his Sons, and their Garments with him. As a Prieft he had Power to go into the Tabernacle to fpeak with God, whofe Voice he heard from the Mercy-feat from between the two Cherubims, and to bless the People with Aaron; and to haften to my Subject, as a Prieft he cried unto the Lord for Miriam, and the Lord healed her; as a Prieft "he interceded with God after the Sin of the Golden Calf, when the Lord faid, let me alone that I may confume them. But he made Atonement for their Sin by his Interceffion, and upon the Continuance of his Mediation by earneft Prayers, and Supplications, God alfo promised to let his Prefence go with them, and to give them reft. At Taberah alfo, when the Lord was provoked to confume the People with Fire, he prayed unto the Lord as a Prieft, and the Fire was quenched. And to conclude, t W $ Numb. vii. 89. Lev. ix. 23. as as a facerdotal Prince he mediated between God, and the People at Horeb, when as he speaks, Deut. v. 5. I food between the Lord, and you at that time, and with refpect to which the Law that God then gave them, is faid by the Apostles to have been ordained by Angels in the Hands of a Mediator. So after Aaron, and his Sons were confecrated to the Prieft's Office, and the Priesthood was as it were entailed upon them, they became by virtue of their Office the great Mediators betwixt God, and Men in the Jewish Church. I have already more than once mentioned Aaron's ftaying the Plague by of fering Incense in the Jewish Camp, and in the xxx. Chapter of Exodus, verfe 10. it is faid of the Altar of Incense, That Aaron Shall make Atonement upon the Horns of it once in a Year with the Blood of the Sin-offering of Atonements, as being most holy unto the Lord. This was done on the tenth day of September, the great day of Expiation, which is particularly defcribed in Lev. xvi. where we read, how the High Prieft on that day of every Year made Atonement for himself, for his House, and for all the Congregation of Ifrael, by Sacrifices there mentioned, and by entring into the moft holy place within the Veil with a Cenfer full of burning Coals of Fire from off the Altar, and his Hands full of sweet Incense, the Cloud of which was to cover the Mercy-feat, and with his Finger to fprinkle the Mercy-feat Eastward feven times with the Blood of the Sin-offerings, as the Apoftle obferves, Heb. ix. 7. where he faith, But into the fecond went the High Prieft alone once every Year, not without Blood, which be offered for himself, and for the Errors of the Peo Ego fequefier, medius fui inter Dominum & vos in illo tempore. Verfio vulg. Cum quidem ego tunc inter Jovam, & vos enuntiandorum illius dictorum fequefter effem. Caftal. Cyprianus de Lapfis. Nam Moifes pro peccatis, &c. ple. ple. To this let me add the Example of Samuel's 7 Levit. xvi. a S. Hierom upon the place: Poftquam Sacerdotes pro populo deprecati funt, & dixerunt parce, Domine, populo tuo, &c. Zelatus eft Domias terram fuam, quam prius quafi alienam contempferat, & paffus fuerat, between the Porch, and the Altar, and let them fay, Spare thy People, O Lord Then will the Lord be jealous for his Land, and pity his People. Here, Sir, for the fake of your late Writer, and his Second, let me defcant a little on the Prophet's Definition of a Priest: The Priefts, the Minifters of the Lord. wn Mefhorte Fehovah, in the Greek Verfion οἱ λειτεργέντες της κυρίῳ, thole who minifter to the Lord, in the Chaldee Paraphrafe, those who minifter before the Lord, and you may fee in the Margin how aptly St. Hierom applies the place to the Chriftian Priefts. To thefe let me add two more Defcriptions of the Jewish Priests out of Philo in his Life of Mofes The firft of which is this, οἷς ἐπέτραπται τα τρὶ τὰς εὐχὰς καὶ θυσίας, καὶ τὰς anλas λalvelias, to whom the care of Prayers, and Sacrifices, and all other (holy) Miniftrations is committed. The other is this: iegowns, un μόνον τὰ ἀνθρώπεια, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ θεῖα διέπη, Mofes, as a Prieft, did not only adminifter [or prefide over] humane, but divine Affairs. Sir, all thefe Defcriptions of a Prieft, with that of the Apoftle in his Epiftle to the Hebrews, come to no more than this, that a Prieft of any Religion, is a Minifter of his God over the People, to take care of his Worship, whatever that is, and its Rites, and all other holy Miniftrations, in his Rank, and Order; and if this be a good Definition of a proper Priest, and adequate to the thing defined, I appeal to you, Sir, whether Bishops, and Presbyters are not proper Priefts. Other modern Writers define a Prieft by t fuerat, locuftâ vaftante, populari etiam noftris temporibus vidimus agmina locuftarum terram texisse Judaam, quæ poftea mifericordiâ Domini inter Veftibulum, & Altare, hoc est, inter Crucis, Refurre&tionis locum, Sacerdotibus, & populis Deum deprecantibus atque dicentibus parce populo tuo vento furgente, in mare primum, & noviffimum præcipitata funt. Outram. de Sacrificiis. p. 47. Propria erant Sacerdotii munera, Deo rem divinam facerent, ejufque nomine populo benedicerent. C I his Office thus: A Perfon whofe Office it is to perform divine Services to God, and in his Name to bless the People, which, I think, cannot de denied to belong to a Bishop, or Presbyter of the Church. The Lord thy God (faith Mofes) bath chofen the Priests the Sons of Levi to come near to him, and minifter to him, and to blefs in the Name of the Lord. And fo hath he chofen the Orders of Bishops, and Presbyters to approach him, and minifter to him, and blefs the People alfo in his Name. So in 1 Chron. xvii. 13. it is likewife written, Aaron was feparated, that he should fan&ifie the most holy things, he and his Sons for ever to burn Incenfe before the Lord, to minifter unto him, and blefs in his Name for ever. This is a Defcription of the Priests under the Jewish Law, and Sanctuary, but then, Sir, you know, that the Priesthood being changed, there was a neceffity that a change fhould also be made of the Law; and therefore excepting the burning of Incenfe, which was an appointed Rite of the Jewish Priesthood, and Worship, and abolished by the change of the Law, every word of this Description of the Jewish Priests, belongs properly to the Chriftian Liturgs, or Minifters, and by confequence they muft be proper Priefts. So faith S. Hierom on Ifaiab Ixvi. 21, 22. Quando dicit, affumam ex iis in Sacerdotes, &Levitas, oftendit vetus Sacerdotium prætermif fum, &c. When he faith, I will take of them for Priefts, and Levites, he fhews that the old Levitical Priesthood is laid afide, which defcended not by Eletion, but by natural Order, and Family-fucceffion for the Priesthood being changed, it was neceffary there fhould be an Alteration of the Law, and that they should be made Priests by Election, upon whom he Priesthood was to be conferred not by right of * Deut. xxi. 5. Hebr. vii. 12. Blood |