done? If he were only to reinforce what Mofes commanded, that was the Bufinefs of leffer Prophets, and would make him lefs than Mofes ; which, I fuppofe, none of you will fay.

Ifai. Ixv. 17. lxvi. 22. lxv. 15.

But, befide Mofes, we have the joint Voice of all the Prophets, who do, in exprefs Terms, declare that the Meffiah would make great Changes from what Mofes commanded, and introduce a much more glorious State into the Church; which Ifaiah expreffes by new Heavens, and a new Earth; and tells, that, at that Time, God would throw off the Jews, and make others his Chofen. And ye (fays God to your Nation) hall leave your Name for a Curfe to my Chofen: For the Lord God hall flay thee, Jer. iii. 16. and call his Servants by another Name. And, in thofe Days, faith the Lord, they shall fay no more, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord: Neither fall it come to mind, neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visit it, neither fhall that be done any more. Behold the Days come, faith the Lord, that I will make a new Covenant with the House of Ifrael, and with the House of Judah: Not according to the Covenant that I made with their Fathers, in the Day that I took them by the Hand to bring them out of the Land of Egypt.

Chap. xxxi. 31. 32.

Pfal. xl.

And it is told, that the Meffiab fhould be a Prieft, but not of the Order of Levi, as before fhewn, p. 48. And as to your Priesthood, fo it is faid, That God would reject and put an End to your Sacrifices, and bring, in their Place, the 6, 7. great and only expiatory Sacrifice of the Meffiah. Sacrifice and Offering thou didst not defire; Burnt-offering and Sin-offering haft thou not required. What then? A Body haft thou prepared me (fays the Meffiah): And, Lo, I come! to do thy Will, O God. In the Volume of the Book it is fo written of me.

Thus

Thus it is written of the Meffiah, and of the Changes which he was to introduce: Yet you will have none of them, because they are Changes: Though you make no Scruple of the Changes by David, Solomon, and others, of which there were no Prophecies; nor did they atteft their Miffion, as our Meffiah has done, by fuch a Multitude of Miracles, and of fuch a wonderful Nature, as never before were fhewn upon the Earth.

Deut. iv.

2. V. 32.

xii. 32. Jof. i. 7. Prov. xxx. 6.

Nay, you yourselves have made Alterations, without the Command of any Prophet that, you can produce, or of any Miracles to warrant you. For you are commanded, not to add to what Mofes commanded, as well as not to diminish: Yet how many Traditions of your Elders do you obferve, that were never commanded by Mofes? As, the washing of Pots and Cups, &c. If that were all; for you have Traditions quite contrary to the Laws of God, and which render them of none Effect. Mofes faid, honour, that is, fupport your Father and Mother: But ye fay, If a Man has made a voluntary Corban, or Gift of what he has, though in Reverfion, to the Temple, or other Use of your Law, he is free from that Part of the fifth Command; which you have thus enervated by your Tradition. And many other fuch-like Things do ye. Nay, you have laid an eternal Fund of Traditions, to vie with the written Law: Thefe you fuppofe delivered to Mofes, and by him orally conveyed to your Elders, of which they have the keeping; and their Stock is inexhaustible: And thefe you make of equal Authority to the written Law.

What Prophet or Miracle had you for Changing of the Poffure in Eating of the Paffover? fo pofitively commanded, Exod. xii. 11. Yet, after you were at Reft in Canaan, you made your own Conftruction upon the Equity of the Command, and releafed yourfelves from the Trouble of that Manner of eating it.

C 4

You

VI. The Hiftory of thefe falfe Meffiahs has been wrote by Johannes a Lent; and printed, Herbona, 1697, with fufficient Vouchers from the Rabbies of the Jews themselves. Let me but name them, to fhew the Suc ceffion of Delufion in the Jews. You have heard before, out of Jofephus, the Multitudes of false Meffiahs before the Destruction of Jerufalem. Afterwards, A.C. 114, you fet up another, in the Reign of Trajan, one Andrew, which occafioned the Destruction of many Thoufands of you. Again, in the Reign of Adrian, another, whom ye called Bar Cochab, i. e. the Son of a Star; alluding to the Star of Jacob, Num. xxiv. 17. And again, Rebelling under this Meffiah caused a moft dreadful Deftruction amongst you; infomuch, that, as yourfelves have told it in your own Books, there was twice the Number of Jews, that perifhed upon this Occafion, more than all those that came out of Egypt; and that you suffered more under Adrian, than under Nebuchadnezzar, or Titus. When you were at laft undeceived (too late), then you changed the Name of this falfe Meffiah from Bar Cochab, the Son of a Star, to Bar Cofibah, i. e. the Son of a Lye, as being a falfe Meffiah.

And how oft have you been deceived fince! In the Year of Chrift 434, in the Reign of Theodofius the Younger, another Pfeudo-Meffiah arose in the Island of Crete, who faid that he was Mofes, and fent from Heaven, to carry the Jews in Crete on dry Ground, thro' the Sea; and perfuaded feveral of them to throw themselves into the Sea.

In the Year of Chrift 520. another Pfeudo-Meffiah, one Dunaan, arose in Arabia; and, with the Jews who followed him, fet upon the Bishop and Chriftians in the City of Negra, and committed great Outrages, till he was destroyed.

A. C. 529, the Jews and Samaritans in Palestine were feduced into Rebellion by Julian, a Pfeudo-Meffiah, which occafioned the Deftruction of many of them.

And when Mahomet appeared about the Year 620, the Jews flocked to him as their Messiah; to which he

at

at first pretended: And they ftuck to him, till, as fome fay, they faw him eat Camels Blood; or, as others tell, for other Reasons, they left him. Indeed he left them, and fet up other Pretences.

After A. C. 721, they followed a certain Syrian, who faid that he was Chrift.

A. C. 1137, they followed another in France, which occafioned their Banishment out of that Country, and the Slaughter of great Numbers of them.

The Year following, viz. A. C. 1133, in Perfia, a falfe Meffiah taking Arms, brought great Mischiefs upon the Jews there.

A. C. 1157, the Jews rifing under another Meffiah in Spain, had well nigh all of them been cut off.

A.C. 1167, they fuffered much under another Meffiab in the Kingdom of Fez.

And the fame Year under another in Arabia, who gave for a Sign, that after his Head was cut off, by the King of Arabia, he would rife to Life; which he did not; but by this escaped a more cruel Death. And not long after, in the fame 12th Century, they fuffered much by another beyond Euphrates, who gave for his Sign, that he would go to Bed at Night Leprous, and rife Sound in the Morning.

About the Year 1174, another rose in Perfia, and led the Jews into Rebellion, which occafioned great Deftruction among them: And one David Almusar occafioned the like to them in Moravia in Germany.

And again, in the fame Century, another Pfeudo-Meffiab.-All mentioned by Maimonides, and other Jewish Rabbins: Who likewife tell us of that most famous Pfeudo-Meffiah in Perfia, called David El David, alias David Alroy, about the Year 1199 or 1200, a great Magician, who deluded many of the Jews.

A. C. 1222, many Jews followed a falfe Meffiah in Germany, whom they called the Son of David. And the fame Year expected their Mafiah to be born of a Woman, then with Child at Worms; but it proved a Girl.

A. C. 1465, when the Saracens made fuch Inroads upon Chriftendom, the Jews then thought their Merah was come to fight their Battles.

And the fame Year, Rabbi Abraham Avenaris, a Jewish Aftrologer, from the Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the Sign Pifces, foretold the Coming of the Meffiah to be then at hand.

And afterward, R. Abarbanel, in his Commentary upon Daniel, p. 84, 86, gathered the Time of the Meffiah's Coming from the like Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Pisces.

About the Year 1497, the Jews were again deceived in Ishmael Sophus, whom they took for their Meffiah; who, having got together an Army of vile and pro. fligate Men, purfued his Victories fuccefsfully thro Media, Parthia, Perfia, Mefopotamia, and Armenia; but at laft cheated the Jews, and fet up a newSect for Mahomet.

A. C. r500, Rabbi Afcher Lemla appeared in Germany, as the Forerunner of the Meffiah, who, he promised fhould come and restore the Jews to the Land of Canaan, that fame Year. And the Jews generally everywhere did believe him, and appointed public Fafts and Prayers to prepare for the Coming of their Meffiah.

About the Year 1534, a new Meffiah rose up in Spain, who was burned by Charles V.

As was another at Mantua, R. Salomo Malcho; whom many of the Jews did believe came again to Life, after he was burned; and every Sabbath vifited his Wife Zephati.

But the Emperor fpared R. David, who called himfelf one of the Emiffaries of the Meffiah, then foon to come: Who, when he was at Rome, is faid to have fafted fix Days together.

Another Pfeudo-Meffiah rofe up in the Eaft Indies, about the Year 1615.

And another in Holland, A. C. 1624.

But the famous Pfeudo-Meffiah Sabethai Zevi, A. C. 1666. is a Story remarkably known, who, after all the Expectation of the People of the Jews, turned at laft Mahometan, to fave his Life.

But