'T is pity to divide the Text , when the words speak nothing but Vnion ; I shall endeavour to keep my self close to the scope of them , whilst I confine my Discourse unto these Three Particulars .

First , Here is the Promulgation of two great Authorities , and that made to those who are Subjects unto Both : the Promulgation is to be made by the High Priest ; who , while he speaks for his Prince unto the People , doth at the same time declare his own appointment to be of a Divine Right : He shall be thy Spokesman to the People ; — He shall be , even He shall be to thee instead of a Mouth .

Secondly , Here is the due Execution , firm Establishment and sure Administration of both these Authorities ; whilst the Prince doth defend the Priest ; he doth so stand by himself ; the Throne is thus established to him in Righteousness , the Kingdom is confirmed in the hands of Moses , whilst he is unto Aaron instead of God .

Thirdly , Here is a Promise of success to Both ; an assurance that God will not be wanting , where this Vnion is continued ; and that taken from the Phrase , or manner of expression in the Text , relating to the last words of the foregoing verse , spoken by God himself by way of Promise , — He shall be ; and , — Thou shalt be ; and then , — I will be with thy Mouth , and with his Mouth , and will teach you what ye shall do : This is the sum of the Text , and the Designe of what further I have to say from it .

" Of which that I may so speak and you so Hear , * * Can. Eccl. Angl. 55. that we may all of us profit , Let us pray , &c.

First , The Promulgation of two great Authorities , and that made to those who are Subjects unto Both , the Promulgation is from the High Priest , who while he speaks for his Prince unto the People , doth at the same time declare his own appointment to be of a Divine Right : — He shall be thy Spokesman unto the People ; He shall be , even He shall be to thee instead of a Mouth .

He shall be thy Spokesman ; Et lequetur ipse pro te cum populo ;

He shal speak for thee to the people ; Targ Onk. that so they may be taught to obey , not for wrath , but for conscience sake : & accidet ut sit ipse Tibi in interpretem , Targ. Jonath . and he shall speak from thee to whomsoever thou thy self shalt go , or send him ; He is to be no other then a Voice crying , whether it be in Egypt , or in a Wilderness , to prepare thy way before thee , and to make thy paths strait ; quicquid Moses mandasset tanquam intellectus concipiens ; Tostat . Abul in loc. hoc Aaron loquetur , tanquainos exsequens . Whatsoever Moses , who reigned as King in Jeshurun did dictate out of the abundance of his heart : whose wisdom was as the wisdom of an Angel of God , to know all things to be done ; that Aaron the High Priest was to declare and publish and to speak it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Oracles of God . Thus the Priests lips are to preserve and to proclaim knowledge ; the people are to seek the laws of God , and of the King at his Mouth ; that is , so far the laws of Both , as their salvation may be concerned in the cheerfulness of their obedience ; and to tell them , that if they do in the least resist , they shall receive unto themselves damnation ; For as the Priest is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts ; so , not unfitly is he also the messenger of the Lords Anointed .

And this may not improperly be the reason of the present Institution in the Text ; if the Prophet be the Mouth of God ; well may he be so unto his Prince , who is instead of God , Jer. 15.19 . Thou shalt be as my Mouth ; ( says God unto his Prophet ) even as the Mouth of God : The Law of God is dumb , it is as a dead letter without a lively Voice to publish it ; how shall they believe , except they hear ? and how shall they hear without a Preacher ? — The Law of Man is dumb too ; Promulgatio est de essentia legis ; Promulgation is of the very essence of a law in order to its being observed ; and great security there is unto the Subject , that the laws of God and Man do not thwart and contradict each other , when the Trumpet is blown in Sion , and the Voice is from the Sanctuary that bespeaks Obedience unto Both : It is not then absurd , that the Keeper of the Kings Conscience should be His Confessour ; he to tell , when commanded , unto the people what are the thoughts of his heart ; the practise is as antient , as the present Institution in the Text ; and perhaps as an intimation , how fit it is that it should be still continued in those polities that are called Christian , the Office is again confirmed upon Aaron , by this Repetition of it , He shall be ; even , He shall be to thee instead of a Mouth .

From all which I might raise and prosecute this Observation ;

That the Ministerial Function is the most proper , certain , effectual and perpetual Mouth of the Common-wealth ; and that from the Chief Magistrate to the People ; and therefore is by no means to be excluded Senates : Aaron is to be the Mouth of Moses , in every thing in which Moses ought to be his God , and that is , reciprocally , and Universally upon all accounts , and at all adventures . They are the words of him who was both a King and a Preacher , Eccles. 12.9 . The Preacher must be wise to teach the people knowledge ; how can he find out acceptable words , such words as may be as goads or nails fastned in a sure place , unless he be permitted to converse with those that are the Masters of Assemblies , and so may he speak such words , as are given forth from one Shepherd ? But , I need not magnifie the Priest's Office in this particular ; the happy temperament of the Constitution under which we live is an abundant demonstration to us , that the laws by which we are governed were instituted in the fear of God , and consequently the Obligation is greater upon the Subject to obey them , since the Authority that confirms them is both Spiritual and Temporal .

I pass by this double honour ( possibly some think it too much for those that labour in the Word and Doctrine ) and I follow that which is the great designe of the Text , the Vnion that is here fixed , and everlastingly to be promoted ; and therefore , the Word is singular , Regis & Sacerdotis unum est Os ; there is but one Mouth assigned both to King and Priest ; the one is to think , the other to speak the same thing , Moses and Aaron to go hand in hand together : Hence it is observable , that they were Both of the Tribe of Levi , verse 14. Is not Aaron the Levite thy Brother ? — The Levite , and thy Brother ; and his Mouth to be thy Mouth ; to speak the words which thou shalt put into it ; Why then should there be any difference betwixt Moses and Aaron , since they are Brethren ? They are Both of the same Tribe , which the Lord had chosen out of all the Tribes of Israel to come and Minister before him ; the One was to deliver , the Other to teach and instruct , Both together to establish and confirm in a perpetual and never ceasing Oeconomy what are the judgments and the statutes of God and Man .

And , all this not to Jacob and Israel onely ; but , to Pharaoh and the Egyptians also :

1. Aaron is the Mouth of Moses to the People ; that is , to Israel ; to tell them that they are the Visited and Beloved of the Lord ; to proclaim to them the Royal Law of liberty out of the house of bondage from their slavery ; to wish them to follow the directions of their Law-giver Moses , who will rule them according to the integrity of his heart , and guide them with the skilfulness of his hand : — with the skilfulness of his hand ; with great and wonderfull Dexterity , will he extricate them out of all their miseries , remove their shoulders from the burdens , and their hands from making the pots .

2. And so Aaron to be the Mouth of Moses to Pharaoh and his fervants ; to denounce and execute as many Plagues on him and his people as are the Tribes of Israel , ( if you reckon the plagues and signs together from first to last ) a Plague for each Tribe ; because of the hard and cruel bondage wherein he made each of them to serve ; neither would he permit them to depart in peace from amongst them , that they might worship the Lord their God .

And here by the way we may take notice , how necessary is this Vnion betwixt King and Priest ; how comfortable is their mutual assistance then especially , when there is danger of a common enemy both to Church and State ; when there are a Generation of Men like Pharaoh , who will not permit the people to be at quiet , onely because Moses and Aaron would have them to serve the Lord ; how should Moses at such a time stand at the door of the Tabernacle with the Rod of God in his hand for the defence of Aaron ? and , how should Aaron lift up his voice in the behalf of Moses , hold up his hands , lest that Amalech prevail ? In a word , The Commandment is to go forth from Both , to restore and to build the Temple ; the One must stand like stout Nehemiah with his Sword in his hand , that so the work be not hindred ; the Other , not unlike holy Ezra , a Prophet of the Lord , with the Sword or the Keys of the Kingdome in his Mouth , that so it may be perfected in righteousness ; great is the care which Both together must take for , many are the kindnesses which Both together must do unto the House of God , and the Offices thereof .

O then ! may Aarons Bells never ring backward ! if ever , let it be to call the people as One man , to the quenching of a common flame ; let it be to stand between the living and the dead , when a Plague is begun , that it may be staid ; pro Te loquetur , He shall speak for Thee to the people ; surely then he is not so to speak , as to inveigh against him to aggravate his failings , to exasperate and calumniate his Person before the people ; he may lift up his Voice like a Trumpet , but it must not be the Trumpet of sedition , the Alarm of War sounding to battel from the Pulpit ; let him cry aloud , yea and he may not spare to tell Judah and Israel of their sins , but it is not fitting to say to a Prince that he is wicked ; Such language as this does least of all become the Mouth of Aaron ; Much more unseemly is it for him to say before the People , ( be they Israel , it will increase their murmurings , be they Egyptians it will add to their hard-heartedness ) that Moses is ungodly . God doth hear the blasphemy of those who do in the least , though it be but in a thought , slander the footsteps of his Anointed : Aaron himself was too sad an instance of this , when he murmured against Moses , saying , Numb. 12.2 . Hath the Lord indeed spoken onely by Moses ? hath he not also spoken by us ? Yes , he hath spoken by you Both ; and yet the Leprosie upon Miriam's forehead , may be an intimation unto Aaron that he do cover his Mouth , and shut his lips , such language as this hath defiled them , Vnclean , unclean . But the meekness of Moses was soon intreated , and the God of mercy did accept of his intercession , so that immediately there was a healing of this breath , and Aaron is still continued to be the Mouth of Moses to the People .

To the People : if to Moses , surely much more to them ; and the People are to attend to him with reverence upon this treble account , because that he is the Mouth of God , of the King , and also of the People ; Heb. 5.1 . Every High Priest is ordained for men ( that is ) is set over men in things pertaining to God ; the manner of expression in the Original is the same with the Septuagint in my Text , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every High Priest is set over men , as concerning those things which are to God-ward , that is , ( the interpretation may fairly be admitted without any great stress upon the words ) set over the ordinary sort of men to tell them with Authority and with power what is their duty either to God or his Vicegerent , to the Lord of Lords , or to those who are instead of God ; and they who do resist or despise either One or the Other , do not despise or resist the Man in either of them , but the God that is in them , Both. And this brings me to the

Second thing I observed from the Text , which is the due Execution , firm Establishment and sure Administration of both these Authorities together , and that no otherwise then by a Divine Dispensation ; Whilst the Prince doth defend the Priests of the most High God , he doth so stand by himself ; the Throne is thus established to him in Righteousness , the Kingdome confirmed in the hands of Moses , whilst he is unto Aaron , and to his sons instead of God .

Instead of God ; — in his quae ad Deum , that is in the Letter of the Text , Vulg. in those things which pertain to God ; Tu eris illi in Principem quaerentem Doctrinam à facie Domini . Targ. Jonath . Thou shalt be a Prince to him , a Prophet as well as he , yea and somthing more then a Prophet , he shall seek the word , which he is to speak , from thee ; and that as it were from the face of God , Numb . 12.6 , 9. If there be a Prophet among you , I the Lord will make my self known to him in a Vision , or I will speak to him in a dream : but my servant Moses is not so ; this is the difference betwixt him and Aaron ; with him will I speak Mouth to Mouth , even apparently , not in dark speeches , and the Similitude of the Lord ( that is of God man to come in the flesh , this Similitude of the Lord , as praelusory to the reality of his Incarnation ) shall he behold . So that what was Jethro's counsel betwixt Moses and the People , seems here to be Gods institution betwixt him and Aaron , cap. 18.19 . Moses was to be to Aaron to God ward , to bring the causes unto , and to receive the Law from God ; and Aaron being to be his Oratour or his Herald was to make Proclamation of the Divine Law unto the People , and upon all occasions to consult the Face of Moses , the Face which did shine because of the Divine Glory on it , and was therefore to be consulted as an Oracle : This Paraphrase , though it may be true in the Letter of the Text ; yet to take in the scope of the whole Paragraph , which is , a Vnion fixed by God himself betwixt these two , we must as to this expression further improve our search :

Instead of God : — that is , to defend him , that so he may speak boldly for thee , as he ought to speak ; that his Mouth , which is no longer his , but Thine , may be opened for Thee in confidence . We find in this book of Exodus , that Princes , and the chief Ministers of Justice amongst men are first called Gods , cap. 21.6 . the servant that had a mind to continue with his Master for ever , was to come unto the Judges ; that is , unto the Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Original , and before them was the perpetual service to be ratified ; and again cap. 22.8 . The thief was to be brought to the Judges , that is to the Gods ( the same word in the Original ) to see whether he had put his hands to his neighbour's goods : and vers. 28. such Magistrates are secured from all manner of slander that may be cast upon them by malice of evil speaking , Thou shalt not revile the Gods , nor speak evil of the Ruler of thy people .

They are called Gods upon several accounts ; I briefly instance but in two ; the Vbiquity of their Presence , the Omniscience of their Knowledge .

1. The Vbiquity of their Presence , they are every where ; their influence is unlimited : the fancy is not new ( antienter then a modern Poet , and I hope may now be better applied ) that Kings and Princes do in this resemble the Deity , being like a Circle whose center is every where , and whose circumference is no where . God and the King can do no harm , ( says our Law ) the reason is , that Diffusive influence that is from Both directing , manageing , swaying and conveying all the good , and all the happiness that is felt or enjoyed by the lower world , or the inferiour sort of mankind ; all which is purely the product of Providence from the One , and Government from the Other ; and if the Sun shining upon a Dunghill doth exhale vapours that are offensive , it is not because there are spots in the Sun in Heaven , but there is corruption in the Dunghill upon earth .

2. The Omniscience of their knowledge ; they do as it were know every thing , Prov. 16 10. A Divine sentence is in the lips of the King , His Mouth erreth not in judgment . Who could have thought , that the way to find out the bowells of a Mother , was to make the Child a sacrifice , till King Solomon , as the first effort of his Princely Spirit , tried the experiment ? but , says the Text , 1 King . 3 28. The wisdome of God was in the King to do judgment : And this kind of Omniscience is a gift bestowed upon Judges and other Ministers of Justice when they execute the Laws of God and the King upon Capital offenders , the indictment against whom is , that they have not the fear of God before their eyes , our Law taking special notice of the malice of the heart , and proving that by some Overt-act ; whilst many times the Judge upon the Bench , to the admiration of the standers by , through a little , very little glimpse of a most improbable circumstance doth unravel a whole mystery of iniquity , so that on a sudden the Prisoner stands self-condemned at the Bar ; he might spare both Judge and Jury the trouble of bringing in , and pronouncing their Verdict , since the sentence of Death is to be read in his countenance , and his face gathers blackness ; what can all this be , but an immediate assistance , a special illumination from God himself in the moment of judgments ? Psal. 82. God standeth in the Congregation of the Mighty , he judgeth among the Gods ; ver. 6. I have said , ye are Gods .

Grotius , upon these and the like expressions in Scripture tells us , that wherever the name of God is given unto men , significat judiciariam potestatem , & jus vitae & necis , it implies a judiciary power , and that no less , than of life and death : Our blessed Saviours Comment upon the compellation ( which certainly is the best ) runs thus , Saint John 10.35 . he called them Gods , D. Ham. unto whom the Word of God came : It is observed by a learned Paraphrast of our own , that the coming of the Word of the Lord ; signifies , Gods appointing a Man to some particular Office , and giving him power and ability for the performance of that Office to which he is appointed ; and so it is constantly used in the writings of the Prophets , who do most of them begin their Prophecies with this solemn form of Words , The Word of the Lord came unto me , saying , which is no more , then as it were , the Opening of their Commission , the Reading of their Patent , the first shewing and vouching of that Authority by which they act : all which is an intimation unto us , that the Supreme Magistrate , and other subordinate Rulers and Governours sent by Him for the punishment of wickedness and vice , and the praise of those that do well , have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 something of Divinity stampt both on their Persons and their Office , and consequently that Both are Sacred .

This account you have of the Compellation , as it may be applicable either to King , Priest , or any Ministerial Dispensour of Publick Justice : whence by the way it is again observable , That the Priest had all along from the beginning his share in Civil Government ; if the Word of God came to Moses , in that he was instead of God ; yet it was to be spoken or published from the Mouth of Aaron : and therefore St. Paul , when he had spoken less warily to the High Priest , begs pardon , with an acknowledgment of his fault as a transgression of that inhibition before cited , Num. 22.28 . Thou shalt not revile the Gods : — I wist not brethren that he was the High Priest , for it is written , Thou shalt not speak evil of the Ruler of thy People ; Act. 23.5 .

So then ; if they Both act by one and the same Commission ; He of the two that hath the Pre-eminence , ( for a Supremacy and Subordination must be admitted , else there could be no Government , ) does no more than vindicate to himself his own Royal Prerogative ; whilst he secures , as firm and inviolable to the other , his Priestly priviledges and immunities : and in this sense most properly , and to best purpose is Moses to be unto Aaron instead of God .

Instead of God ; — yea , and that in as many respects , as Aaron was to be to him instead of a Mouth , the Relation being all along mutual and reciprocal .

Instead of God to Aaron ; — whether it be before the Israelites or the Egyptians ;

1. Before the Israelites ; — yea , though they be the two hundred and fifty Princes of the Assembly , Num. 16.1 . Men of renown , famous in the Congregation , gathered together in a grand conspiracy to invade the Priesthood ; Moses must then speak as from God himself , and declare who it is that is Holy amongst them , whom the Lord hath chosen to come nigh unto himself : v. 11. What is Aaron , that ye murmur against him ?

Before the Egyptians , — Pharaoh , his servants , and his People : cap. 7.1 . I have set thee as a God to Pharaoh , and Aaron thy Brother shall be thy Prophet : — Thou shalt speak what I command as from me to Aaron ; and He shall speak what Thou shalt suggest , as from me to Pharaoh ; and thus , — Thou shalt be as God to them Both ; Mine Oracle to the One , to reveal all my mind ; my Rod and Scourge upon the Other to execute all my wrath ; though he will not as a man of wisdom should , hear the Rod , and him that hath appointed it ; yet thou shalt multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt ; Jannes and Jambres , though they may withstand , shall not altogether prevail ; when they see the duft from under them , to crawl up in Vermin on them , they shall lay their hands upon their Mouths , and abhor themselves in that Dust , acknowledge this to be the Finger of God ; and throughout all , they shall confess , that the Rod in the hand of Moses was guided by the Arm of the Almighty .

Thus God hath fenced against a common enemy , both King and Priest in a mutual dependance : the One with a power sufficient , that he may uphold ; the Other with a sure defence that he may be sustained ; and the interests of Both these are so interwoven together , that wherever the Breach is made , the injury is alike damage to Both. It is the same God , who hath given commandment concerning Princes , that they should not be touched by the hands of violence , Touch not mine Anointed ; as they are Anointed , they are Mine , they are as my self ; who hath likewise in the very next words given it in charge , whether it be to Prince or People , to Magistrate or Peasant concerning those who have a more immediate attendance upon him , Do my Prophets no harm .

As therefore Aaron's Divine Mouth must be opened for , not against Moses , he must not traduce , speak evil of him before the People ; So Moses's God-like power must be exercised , and exerted for , not against Aaron , he must not suffer him to be exposed to the scorn and reproach of a froward , and an untoward generation .

In order to which Defence , that their persons may be Venerable whose office is so sacred , the maintenance of whom in honour is so great a security unto Majesty , to be sure Moses will be careful that Aaron and his sons have an inheritance allotted to them in the Promised Land ; and that , not apart , or distinct by themselves , but as a blessing to whole Israel , dispersed amidst and throughout all their Tribes : This was Moses's last Benediction upon the House of Levi not long before his death Deut. 33.11 . Bless , Lord , his substance , and accept the work of his hands ; smite through the loins of them that rise against him , and that hate him , that they rise not again . It is not to be imagined , that Moses will take less care of Aaron , and the Levites , than did Pharaoh of his Egyptian Priests , who in the days of famine had enough , their portion of meat assigned to them from Pharaoh's Table ; insomuch that when all the land of Egypt was bought into the Crown , Gen. 47.22 . Onely the lands of the Priests were not sold . In this sence also is Moses to be to Aaron in the stead of God , to secure unto him the Lord 's inheritance , since dreadful are like to be the effects of Sacriledge upon that Nation or People , amongst whom it is an iniquity , though endeavoured to be established by a Law ; May the King , and his Throne be guiltless , the Kingdome established unto him in Righteousness , for He onely is as God , who doth preserve in the hollow of his hand the Churches portion from the violence of such , who pant after nothing but the Dust of the Earth , upon the Head of the Poor :