Again, the title of a _holy nation_ confirms the same: for _holy_ signifies, that which is God’s by special, not by general right. All the earth, as is said in the text, is God’s; but all the earth is not called _holy_, but that only which is set apart for his especial service, as was the nation of the Jews. It is therefore manifest enough by this one place, that by the _kingdom of God_, is properly meant a commonwealth, instituted, by the consent of those which were to be subject thereto, for their civil government, and the regulating of their behaviour, not only towards God their king, but also towards one another in point of justice, and towards other nations both in peace and war; which properly was a kingdom wherein God was king, and the high-priest was to be, after the death of Moses, his sole viceroy or lieutenant. But there be many other places that clearly prove the same. As first (_1 Samuel_, viii. 7) when the Elders of Israel, grieved with the corruption of the sons of Samuel, demanded a king, Samuel displeased therewith, prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord answering said unto him, _Hearken unto the voice of the people, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them_. Out of which it is evident, that God himself was then their king; and Samuel did not command the people, but only delivered to them that which God from time to time appointed him. Again, (_1 Sam._ xii. 12) where Samuel saith to the people, _When ye saw that Nahash, king of the children of Ammon, came against you, ye said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us; when the Lord your God was your king_. It is manifest that God was their king, and governed the civil state of their commonwealth. And after the Israelites had rejected God, the prophets did foretell his restitution; as (_Isaiah_, xxiv. 23) _Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem_; where he speaketh expressly of his reign in Zion and Jerusalem; that is, on earth. And (_Micah_, iv. 7) _And the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion_: this Mount Zion is in Jerusalem, upon the earth. And (_Ezek._ xx. 33) _As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you_; and (verse 37) _I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant_; that is, I will reign over you, and make you to stand to that covenant which you made with me by Moses, and brake in your rebellion against me in the days of Samuel, and in your election of another king.