2. The words may be rendered, instead of ye might well bear with him, ye might well bear with me, as is observed in the marginal reference; the word him being in an Italic character, as will be elsewhere observed,[[38]] is not in the original, and therefore me may as well be supplied as him, and so the meaning is this; ye bear with false preachers, are very favourable to them, and seem a little cold to us the apostles; so that I am afraid, as is observed in the foregoing verse, lest your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ; you can bear with these false teachers, and will you not bear with me? as he says, ver. 1. Would to God you could bear with me a little in my folly, and indeed bear with me. It is a sign religion is at a low ebb, when it is with some difficulty that professors are persuaded to bear with those that preach the pure gospel of Christ, who are too prone to turn aside to another gospel. Take the words in either of these senses, and they exactly harmonize with that text in Galatians, and not, as the objectors pretend, contradict it.
Object. 7. Another charge of contradiction, which is brought against scripture, is, that our Saviour saith, Matth, x. 34. Think not that I am come to send peace on the earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword: this is contrary to Christ’s general character, as a prince of peace, Isa. ix. 6. and to the advice he gives his disciples, not to use the sword, because such shall perish by it, Mat. xxvi. 52. and what be saith else, My kingdom is not of this world, John xviii. 36. and therefore not to be propagated by might or power, by force or civil policy, or those other carnal methods, by which the kingdoms of this world are advanced and promoted.
Answ. For the reconciling this seeming contradiction, let it be considered, that Christ did not come to put a sword into his followers hands, or to put them upon making war with the powers among whom they dwell, for the propagating the Christian religion; his gospel was to be advanced by spiritual methods: in this sense, the design of his coming was not to send a sword, but to bring spiritual peace to his people; but when he saith, I came to send a sword, it implies that his coming, his kingdom and gospel, should occasion persecution and war, by reason of the corruption of men; this the gospel may do, and yet not put men upon disturbing their neighbours, or making war with them; and this is not contrary to Christ’s general character of coming to be the author of spiritual peace to his people.
Object. 8. Another contradiction is pretended to be between 1 Kings viii. 9. and Heb. ix. 4. in the former it is said, There was nothing in the ark but the two tables, which Moses put there; in the latter, that there was the golden pot, that had manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.
Answ. This seeming contradiction may easily be reconciled: for we suppose it true that there was nothing in the ark but the two tables, as it is said in the former of these scriptures; therefore to explain the latter agreeably to it, two senses may be given of it.
1. It is not necessary to suppose, that the apostle means, in the ark was the golden pot, &c. but in the holiest of all, which he mentions in the foregoing verse; therefore the meaning is, as in the holiest of all, there was the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant, so in it was the golden pot and Aaron’s rod: but because there may be an objection against this sense, from its being said in the words immediately following, that over it were the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy-seat, where it refers to the ark, and not to the tabernacle, or holiest of all; if therefore the cherubims were over the ark, then the other things must be supposed to be in it, which objection, indeed, is not without its force, unless we suppose that the words[[39]] may be rendered in the higher parts of it, to wit, of the holiest of all, were the cherubims of glory above the mercy seat, and accordingly the meaning is this; that within this second vail was not only the ark, the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod, &c. but also the cherubims of glory, which were above them all: but since the grammatical construction, seems rather to favour the objection, there is another sense given of the words, which sufficiently reconciles the seeming contradiction, viz.
2. When it is said,[[40]] that therein, or in it, to wit, the ark, was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, the meaning is, they were near it, or beside it, or some way or other fastened, or adjoining to it, in some inclosure, in the outside of the ark, whereas nothing was in it but the two tables; so that there is no real contradiction between these two scriptures.
Many more instances of the like nature might have been given, but, instead thereof, we shall rather chuse to lay down some general rules for the reconciling seeming contradictions in scripture, which may be applied by us in other cases, where we meet with the like difficulties. As,
1. When two scriptures seem to contradict each other, we sometimes find that this arises from the inadvertency of some who have transcribed the copies of scripture, putting one word for another; though it may be observed,
(1.) That this is not often found; for as great care has been taken in transcribing the manuscripts of scripture, as in any manuscripts whatever, if not greater.