bic The four fucceeding Reigns, which fte are all that were before the Babylonish Captivity, being very wicked, after the Abominations of their Fathers, we may prefume the High-Places were reviv'd, among the reft of their Impieties; but however there is no more mention of them in Scripture, after the Reign of good Fofab.

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4

SECT. V.

The TEMPLE.

1

We come, next, to speak of the Temple, which was built by Solomon, at Jerusalem. Mofes, having declar'd to the Ifraelites in the Wilderness, to this Purpofe; when ye Deut. go over Jordan, and dwell in the land xii. 10. which the LORD your God giveth you to inberit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in fafety; then there shall be a place which the LORD your God fhall choose, to caufe his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burntofferings and your facrifices, your tythes and the heave-offering of your hand; and all H 2

your

your choice vows which ye shall vow unto the LORD. Take heed to thy felf that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place that thou feeft. But, in the place which the LORD fhall choofe in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

The Tabernacle therefore having ferv'd as a proper Expedient for all these religious purposes, while the People remain'd in the Wilderness, and were not come over Jordan; and fo long after (with the promifcuous Use of the High-Places) till the 2 Sam. Reign of David; when the LORD had vii. I. given him reft round about from all his enemies: That pious King propos'd building a proper, that is, a magnificent House, for the Ark of God; and began to confult with Nathan the Prophet, about it. But God having reveal'd to Nathan that it was not his Pleasure that David should build the Temple, at that Time, but leave it to be done by his Son and Succeffor Solomon, David defifted from his Purpose.

1 Chron. xxi. 28.

But afterwards, upon a certain Occaxxii. 1. fion, feeing that the LORD had anfwer'd

kim,

him, in the threshing-floor of Araunah or Ornan the Jebusite; (and confequently, did not, any longer, require him to go up to the tabernacle of the LORD which Mofes made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt-offering, which were, at that feafon, in the high-place at Gibeon;) he facrificed there; and faid; This is the house of the LORD God; and this is the altar of the burnt-offering for Ifrael.

:

This was the Defignation of the Place where God would have the House for his Name. And tho' David had been forbidden to build it himself, yet he prudently prepar'd Stores of all kinds of Materials; and fet workmen about the Stone, Iron, and Timber Work; that his Son Solomon, who was then young, might, at his coming to the Kingdom, find these Things in a Readiness, and carry on the Building with the greater Expedition.

1

When he had done this, he call'd an Afsembly of all the principal Men of his Kingdom; and spoke to them, as follows; Hear me, my brethren, and my people. As 1 Chron. for me, I had in mine heart to build an boufe of reft for the ark of the covenant of H 3

xxviii. I.

the

the LORD, and for the footftool of our God; and had made ready for the building. But God faid unto me, thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou baft been a man of War, and haft fhed blood: Solomon, thy fon, shall build my house, and my courts, &c. Then David gave to Solomon his fon, the pattern of the porch, and of the boufes thereof, and of the treasures thereof, and of the mercy feat; and the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, &c.

2 Chron. iii. I.

SECT.

VI.

Building of the Temple by Solomon.

Solomon, accordingly, in the fourth year of his reign, began to build the house of the LORD at Jerufalem, in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father; in the place that David had prepar'd in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebufite: the particular Account and Defcription of Kings which Building is given in the Scripture; 2 Chron, to which I fhall refer those who are defiiii.

vi.

rous of feeing it, only adding that from thence it will appear to have been a very noble and magnificent Structure.

The

vi. 38.

2 Chron.

The Temple being finish'd, in the space of seven years, the Ark of the Covenant Kings of the LORD, was brought up out of the city of David, which is Sion; by the v. 2. Priests and Levites, into the Oracle of the House, which was the most holy Place, even under the Wings of the Cherubims; For the cherubims Spread forth their wings over the place of the Ark: there having been no Thing nor Part in the old Taber! nacle, but what was provided in this Temple in a much more fumptuous and grand manner.

SECT. VII.

Dedication of the TEMPLE.

When Solomon had order'd every thing according to the Plan and the Directions he had receiv'd from David his Father; and the holy Furniture and Utenfils were fix'd in their proper Places, he proceeded to the Confecration of it; which was perform'd with a Solemnity and Grandeur fuitable to the occafion, and every way becoming the Character of the Prince who had the conducting of it. I will not anticipate H 4

the