Hobbes - Leviathan.pdf

wisdom, riches, and honour; for the text saith, "And Solomon awoke,
and behold it was a dream":*(5) so that generally the prophets
extraordinary in the Old Testament took notice of the word of God no
otherwise than from their dreams or visions that is to say, from the
imaginations which they had in their sleep or in an ecstasy: which
imaginations in every true prophet were supernatural, but in false
prophets were either natural or feigned.
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* Numbers, 12. 6, 7, 8
*(2) Exodus, 33. 11
*(3) Deuteronomy, 13. 1
*(4) Joel, 2. 28
*(5) I Kings, 3. 15
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The same prophets were nevertheless said to speak by the spirit;
as where the prophet, speaking of the Jews, saith, "They made their
hearts hard as adamant, lest they should hear the law, and the words
which the Lord of Hosts hath sent in His Spirit by the former
prophets."* By which it is manifest that speaking by the spirit or
inspiration was not a particular manner of God's speaking, different
from vision, when they that were said to speak by the Spirit were
extraordinary prophets, such as for every new message were to have a
particular commission or, which is all one, a new dream or vision.
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* Zechariah, 7. 12
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Of prophets that were so by a perpetual calling in the Old
Testament, some were supreme and some subordinate: supreme were
first Moses, and after him the high priests, every one for his time,
as long the priesthood was royal; and after the people of the Jews had
rejected God, that He should no more reign over them, those kings
which submitted themselves to God's government were also his chief
prophets; and the high priest's office became ministerial. And when
God was to be consulted, they put on the holy vestments, and
enquired of the Lord as the king commanded them, and were deprived
of their office when the king thought fit. For King Saul commanded the
burnt offering to be brought;* and he commands the priest to bring the
Ark near him;*(2) and, again, to let it alone, because he saw an
advantage upon his enemies.*(3) And in the same chapter Saul asketh
counsel of God. In like manner King David, after his being anointed,
though before he had possession of the kingdom, is said to "enquire of
the Lord" whether he should fight against the Philistines at
Keilah;*(4) and David commandeth the priest to bring him the ephod, to
enquire whether he should stay in Keilah or not.*(5) And King
Solomon took the priesthood from Abiathar,*(6) and gave it to
Zadok.*(7) Therefore Moses, and the high priests, and the pious kings,
who enquired of God on all extraordinary occasions how they were to
carry themselves, or what event they were to have, were all
sovereign prophets. But in what manner God spake unto them is not
manifest. To say that when Moses went up to God in Mount Sinai it
was a dream, or vision, such as other prophets had, is contrary to
that distinction which God made between Moses and other
prophets.*(8) To say God spake or appeared as He is in His own
nature is to deny His infiniteness, invisibility, incomprehensibility.
To say he spake by inspiration, or infusion of the Holy Spirit, as the
Holy Spirit signifieth the Deity, is to make Moses equal with
Christ, in whom only the Godhead, as St. Paul speaketh, dwelleth