his manumission Val. Max. l. 2. c. 1. and not doing his duty to his Master for such were again to be made bond-slaves if the crime could be proved against them Ver. 15. And you were now turned Being frighted into a temporary reformation but all was in hypocrisy as now well appeareth Falling Stars were never but Meteors In proclaiming liberty every one to his neighbour Your servants were your neighbours and their flesh as your flesh Neh. 5.5 and should have been so considered In the Law the servant paid the half-shekel as well as his Master And in the Gospel Servus est domini sui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as there is neither Jew nor Greek so neither bond not free but all are one in Christ Jesus Gal. 3.28 whether he be Lord or losel And ye had made a Covenant before And have not all done so in Baptism that Beersheba or well of an oath Ver. 16. But ye turned Exprobrat recidivum Judaeorum scelus qui scilicèt primam virtutem turpiter deluserint violarint He upbraideth them and deservedly with their Apostacy and perjury Peter also thundereth against such 2 Pet. 2. And polluted my name sc By the violation of your solemn vow so doth every profligate professour and ungirt Christian Whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure Liberty is a desirable and delectable commodity Those that live in Turky Persia yea or but in France c. esteem it so Ver. 17. Ye have not harkened unto me in proclaiming liberty Ye have not done it because ye have not continued to do it ye have lost the things that you had wrought Behold I proclaim a liberty for you God loves to retaliate Here he abandoneth these Apostates to the plagues instanced Let them use you at their pleasure saith God I have no mercy for such mercilesse wretches neither care I what becometh of you Ver. 18. That have transgressed my Covenant His Covenant he calleth it by a weighty Emphasis because about a businesse by him commanded and wherein he was engaged not as a bare spectatour but as a severe avenger of their perjury Hom. Il. l. 3. Tul. de Invent Liv. l. 1. Virg. Aeneid 8. Hinc foedus à foedo animali diviso When they cut the Calf in twain To shew the correspondency of wills whereunto the contracters did bind themselves and the punishment of dissection or other violent death whereunto they submitted themselves in case they brake promise The rise of this rite in covenanting See Gen. 15.9 10 17. The Heathens used the like ceremony as is to be seen in Homer Cicero Livy Virgil caesa jungebant faedera porcâ The Romans cut a sow in twain and when it was divided the Faeciales or heralds gave one half to one party and the other half to the other and said So God divide you asunder if you break this Covenant and let God do this so much the more as he is more able Ver. 19. The Princes of Judah These were most of them cut in pieces by the King of Babylon as the calf had been Ver. 20. And their dead bodies Chap. 7.33 16.4 Ver. 21. Which are gone up from you But will be upon you again ere long they are but gone back to fetch bear as it were You have deceived you servants with a vain hope of liberty and so you do now your selves See chap. 37.8 22. Ver. 22. Behold I will command i. e. By a secret instinct I will move CHAP. XXXV Ver. 1. THe Word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord The eighteenth Sermon ordine tamen arbitario non naturali delivered divers years before the former and here placed not in its proper order but as it pleased him that collected them into this Book Ver. 2. Go unto the house of the Rechabites So called of one Rechab the Father of Jonadab who was famous for his Piety in Jehu's dayes 2 Kings 10.15 three hundred years at least before this Prophecy of Jeremy They were of the posterity of Jethro Moses Father-in-Law and lived up and down in the land upon their employments weaned from the world and exercising themselves in the Law of God See 1 Chron. 2.55 Where they are called the families of the Scribes that dwelt at Jabez as being men learned in the Laws of God Of them came the Essenes a studious and abstemious Sect among the Jews and they might better then those Donatists have taken to themselves the title of Apotactici so called from their renouncing the world And give them wine to drink Heb. make them drink wine i. e. set it before them and then leave them to their own liberty Ver. 3. Then I took Jaazaniah Whether actually or in vision only it skilleth not but the former way probably Ver. 4. And I brought them into the house of the Lord That it might be made a publike businesse and so the better work upon all that should hear of it The son of Igdaliah a man of God A Priest and Prophet or Teacher of the people So in the new Testament others are called Gods children his servants and his people but Ministers only are called Gods men 1 Tim. 6.11 2 Tim. 3.17 Which was by the chamber of the Princes Or of the Prefects of the Temple that were next under the High-Priests Ver. 5. Drink ye wine T was a double temptation unto them 1. To have pots and cups of wine set befor them 2. To be bid drinke it by a Prophet and at Prophets chamber But they were resolved in obedience to their Father Jonadab to forbear Yet if Jeremy had said Thus saith the Lord Drink wine they ought to have done it but this he did not Ver. 6. We will not drink wine This they were resolved on not because they were perswaded as Mahomets followers are that in every grape there dwelt a devil but because Jonadab the son of Rechab their Progenitour 2 Kings 10.15 had two or three hundred years before charged them to forbear not thereby to establish any new arbitrary service or any rule of greater perfection of life as the Papists misalledge it in favour of Monkery and other will-worships and superstitious observances but only as a civil ordinance Hae leges vita potius erant honestatis quam salutis animae about things external the foundation whereof is laid in the word which commendeth modesty humility sobriety heavenly-mindednesse c. Ver. 7. Neither shall ye build house But be content and dwell in tents as the ancient Patriarches were and as your Ancestours in Midian removing from place to place after the manner of the old Nomades so shall ye be the better prepared for a change in the state which this good old man might foresee and foresignify to his Nephews enjoyning them therefore to follow their shipeherdy only as men lesse addicted to the world and bent for heaven That ye may live many dayes in the land Whilest ye obey my charge Long life is promised
as far as to the Book of Ezra That upon the Pentateuch formerly published is much enlarged and the other newly added both in folio A COMMENTARY OR EXPOSITION UPON THE PROVERBS of SOLOMON CHAP. I. Vers 1. The Proverbs OR Master-sentences Maximes Axiomes Speeches of special precellency and prodominancy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dominari quae vita dominae moderatices esse debent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Received Rules that must over-rule matters and mightily prevail in the minds of men The principal no doubt they are of those three thousand mentioned 1 King 4.32 and far beyond those golden layings of Phocylides prophanely preferred before these holy parables by that Apostate Julian De Euripide Cicero pronuâ—ciavit plures esse in eo sententias quam verba ansu nefario as having in them more sentences than words and being so farre above all humane praise for weight and worth that as Salast writeth of Carthage I had better speak nothing of them than too little sith too much is too little Of Salomon who better a deal deserves to bee stiled Master of the Sentences than Peter Lombard and to bee esteemed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as one saith of Homer or as another saith of Hierome Zenophon that hee was a man quem nullum scibile latuit that knew all that was knowable by a man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euripid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Demost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thucyd Diodor King of Israel Eccles 1.1 King of Jerusalem which was now the Israel of Israel as Athens was in its flourish said to bee the Greece of Greece yea the Soul and Sun and eye of Greece yea the common School of all mankind For King Solomon exceeded all the Kings of the Earth both in Riches and in Wisdome And all the world sought to see Solomon to hear his Wisdome which God had put into his heart 1 King 10.23 24. For the more wise the Preacher was the more hee taught the people knowledge and cause them to hear and searched forth many Parables Eccles 12.9 Even words of delight vers 10. See the Note there Vers 2. To know Wisdome That is to give others to know to wise them as Dan. 12.3 to give the knowledge of salvation Luk. 1.77 to shew men great and mighty things which they know not Jer. 33.3 but may here hence bee taught better than out of Lipsius his Bee-hive or Machiavels Spider-web Vers 3. To receive the instruction Tertullian calls the Bible and the Proverbs by a specialty Nostra digesta from the Lawyers and others our Pundects from them also Is there not a thin veil laid over them which is more rarified by reading and at last wholly worn away Surely as by much reading the Statute-book men grow worldly-wise And as a friend it is Chrysostomes comparison that is acquainted with his friend will get out the meaning of a letter or phrase which another could not that is a stranger so it is in Scripture And herein as one well observeth the poorest Ideot being a sound Christian goeth beyond the profoundest Clarks that are not sanctified that hee hath his own heart instead of a Commentary to help him to understand even the most needful points of the Scripture Vers 4. To give subtilty Serpentine subtilty Gen. 3.1 sacred sagacity a sharp wit a deep reach a Spirit that searcheth all things yea the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2.10 â—nd transformeth a man into the â—ame Image from glory to glory Pet. Marâ— in Rom. Ep. dedicat â— Cor. â— 1â— Equidem scâ—â— mâ—â—tos essâ— qui hâ—c non redanâ—â— non pâ—â—cos qui ea rideant nosque infâ—nire arbitâ—ntur faith Peter Martyre 〈…〉 velim c. that is I wot well there bee many that will not beleeve it and not a few that will deride it and think wee are â—ad in ascribing so much to the Scriptures But oh that they would bee entreated to make trial a while and to take to the reading of the Bible Male mihi sit 〈◊〉 eum in 〈◊〉 causa jure auâ—im nisi â—andem capiantur sentient dentiqua quamtum divina hac ab humanis distent c. Let mee never bee beleeved if they perceive not a plain and palpable difference betwixt these and all humane writings whatsoever And to the same purpose Erasmus Erasm Praefat. in Lucam expertus sum in â—â—cipso saith hee I can speak it by experience that there is little good to bee gotten by reading the Bible cursorily and carelesly But do it duly and diligently with attention and affection and you shall finde 〈◊〉 an efficacy as is 〈◊〉 bee found in no other Book that can bee named To the simple â—atuo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fatuello Lipsius this diminutive to the silly-simple whose learning hangs not in his light who holds not 〈…〉 wise to bee taught that is not uncounsellable unperswadâ—â—le 〈…〉 qui sibi sapit Chytraâ—s hee is two fools that it wise in his own eyes Prâ—â—â— 3. 〈…〉 â—â—noro sed ignorantiam meam non ignoro Little though it 〈…〉 â—et this I know that I know but little Arist Ethic. lib. 1. Job 1â— 12 Eccles 11.10 To the young man Though rude and rash â—ead-long and â—ead long â—ntameable and untractable as a wilde-asse-colt though 〈…〉 lusts 2 Tim. 2.22 and madly set upon sin yet hee may cleanse his waies by cleaving to Gods Word Psal 119.9 and become a young Saint an old Angel whereas otherwise like young Lapwings hee is apt to bee snatched up by every Buzzard Vers 5. A wise man will hear Hearing and seeing are by Aristotle called the learned senses because by these doores learning yea life entreth into the soul Isa 55.3 David Chytrous when hee lay a dying lift up himself to hear the discourses of his friends that sate by him and said that hee should dye with better cheer if hee might dye learning something Si moriâ—undâ—â— etiam si quid â—idic â—sset Meich Adam And will encrease learning Take heed what you hear unto you that hear shall more bee given Mark 4.24 See the Note there Onely ponder and apply what you hear For they that do otherwise are like the Wolf who never attain to any more divine learning than to spell Pater but when they should come to put together and to apply it to their souls they say Agnus their minds running a madding after the profits and pleasures of the world and they thinking those little less than mad thaâ— run to and fro to encrease knowledge Dan. 12.4 Vers 6. To understand a Proverb and the Interpretation Or the sweetness thereof there being nothing so sweet to a good soul as the knowledge of dark and deep mysteries Psal 119.103 Heb. Meâ—it â—aâ— unde fortasse Graecum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Latiâ—um Mel. Rivet where the same word is used The little Book of the Revelation was in Johns mouth sweet as hony Rev. 10.9 10. See
is his Castle the flying roul of Curses that is ten yards long and five yards broad shall remain in the midst of it and consume it Zach. 5.4 But hee blesseth the habitation of the just â—abvenaki casam expouit tuguriolum egregio sensu saith Mercer The poor little cottage or tenement of the righteous there is a blessing in it there is contented godliness which is greatest gain the bessing of God which maketh rich 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here are the gods could the Philosopher say of his poor habitation meaning his heathenish houshold gods what ever else is wanting to mee How much more may a Saint say so of his God who will awake for him and make the habitation of his righteousness prosperous Job 8.6 Vers 34. Surely hee scorneth the scorner Those proud haughty scorners Prov. 21.24 with 1 Pet. 5.5 who jeer at this Doctrine Facit ut aliis siut ludibrio ubi in calamitatem inciderâ—nt Rab. Levi. and at those that beleeve it Surely God scorneth these scorners for hee loves to retaliate hee that sitteth in heaven laughs a good at them Psal 2.4 hee makes them also in his just judgement a derision to others and punisheth them with the common hatred of all Contempt being a thing that mans nature is most impatient of and in carnal reason Tallying of injuries is but justice But hee giveth grace to the lowly Though oppressed by scorners yet shall they bee no losers for God will give grace and hee will give glory vers 25. grace and glory what things bee these and no good thing will hee withhold from them that walk uprightly Psal 84.11 Humility is both a grace and a vessel to receive grace And as hee that goeth into a Pond or River to take up water puts the mouth of his vessel downward and so takes it up In like sort hee that looks for any good from God must put his mouth in the dust and cry out Lord I am not worthy c Non sum digniis at sum indigens Psal 70.5 I am poor and needy make haste unto mee O God c. Vers 35. The wise shall inherit glory Not have it onely but inherit it Hoc est proprio perfecto perpetuo jure possidebunt as Pellican they shall have it as their proper perfect and perpetual right But shame shall bee the promotion of fools A fair promotion they come to but good enough for them unless they were better If they attain to high places and preferments these prove but as high Gibbets to bring them to more disgrace in this world and torment in the next Some there bee that read the Text thus But shame taketh away the foolish that is it carrieth both them and their hope away in a pinch of time or twinkling of the eye as it were CHAP. IV. Vers 1. Hear yee Children AUdite seâ—em juvenes quem juvenem senes audierunt Hear mee now an old man O yee youths whom old men once gladly heard when I was but a youth with this speech Augustus pacified his mutinous Army Aspice vultus Sol Phaâ—tonti apud Ovid. Meâ— Ecce meos utinamque oculos in pectore posses Inserere patrias intus deprendere curas Behold my looks and O that thou could'st see Mine anxious thoughts and careful heart for thee Vers 2. For I give you good Doctrine The common cry is who will shew us any good and every man will lend both ears to a good bargain The doctrine here delivered is good every way whether you look to the Author Matter or Effect of it and is therefore worthy of all men to bee received 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a verbo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod est accipere as the Hebrew word here used for Doctrine importeth The vulgar renders it Donum bonum tribuam vobis I will give you a good gift even that good part that shall never bee taken from you Vers 3. For I was my Fathers Son q. d. I that am now so famous for wisdome was once as wise as a wilde Ass-colt But I had the happiness to bee taught and tutoured by the best and wisest man in his generation and therefore you should the rather regard my Doctrine Plato praised God that he was Pupil to Socrates Bucholcerus that hee was bred under Melanchthon Mr. Whatâ—ley under Mr. Dâ—ds Ministry and I under Mr. Ballams at Evesham Holy David was far beyond any of these as being divinely inspired and rarely qualified Such a heart so well headed and such a head better hearted was not to bee found among the sons of men for hee was a man after Gods own heart his counsel to his Son therefore must needs bee very precious and ponderous See some of it for a taste 1 Chron. 28.9 10. Tender and onely beloved Filiu◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Greeks commonly called their children 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latine Chari Darlings as Hee in Plantus Domi domitus fui usque cum Charis meis Plaut Menech Act. 1. Scen. 1. I was hardly handled at home together with my dear children In the sight of my Mother Who had other children 1 Chron. 3. but Solomon shee loved best because hee had most grace And as a special fruit of her love shee gave him excellent counsel in her Lemuels lesson Prov. 31. His fall was therefore the more blame-worthy because hee had been so piously educated Vers 4. Hee taught mee also As Cato taught his own children and took it for no disgrace though so great a man Nurture is as necessary for children as nourishment Eph. 6.4 which they that neglect to bestow upon them are peremptores potius quam parentes not Parents but Paricides One cause of Julians Apostacy were his two heathenish Tutors Libanius and Jamblicus from whom hee drank in great prophaneness Doubtless David had Nathan the Prophet and the best hee could get to breed up his son in the best things but yet so as himself had a main stroke in the business And said unto mee Jacobus Valentinus and some others grounded an opinion from these words Praefat. in Cant. Cantiâ— that Solomon received this whole Book of Proverbs following from his Father David but that is no way likely The substance of his Fathers Doctrine hee briefly sets forth in this and the five following verses and then proceeds in his own words Retain my words As the good stomack doth food as the good earth doth seed that is bene occatum occultatum saith One. Vers 5. Get wisdome get understanding Compara sapientiam compaâ—a intelligentiam So Chrysostome Comparate saeculares comparate vobis biblia animae pharmaca Get you Bibles by all means whatever they cost you you may better want bread light c. than the knowledge of the Scriptures Austin makes mention of some that neglected the means of knowledge because knowledge puffeth up and so would bee ignorant that they might bee humble and want knowledge that they
ingagements which when it was once done a most joyful man was hee saith Master Fox in his life For bills and obligations do mancipate the most free and ingenuous spirit and so put a man out of aim that hee can neither serve God without distraction nor do good to others nor set his own state in any good order but lives and dies intangled and puzled with cares and snares and after a tedious and laborious life passed in a circle of fretting thoughts hee leaves at last instead of better patrimony a world of intricate troubles to his posterity who are also taken with the words of his mouth Vers 3. When thou art come into the hand For the borrower is servant to the lender Hieron ad Celantiam Prov 22.7 And Facilè ex amico inimicum facies cui promissa non reddes saith Hierom. A friend will soon become a foe if unfriendly and unfaithfully dealt with Not keeping time makes a jarre in payments and so in friendship too as well as in Musick Ezek. 32.2 34.18 Go humble thy self Crave favour and further time of the Creditour say Doubt not of your debt onely forbear a while Cast thy self at his feet as to bee trodden so the Hebrew word here signifieth Stick not at any submission so thou mayest gain time and get off and not bee forced to run into the Usurers Books that Amalec or licking people which as Cormorants fall upon the borrowers and like Cur-doggs suck your blood onely with licking and in the end kill you and crush you rob you and ravish you Psal 10.8 9 10. And make sure thy friend For whom thou standest ingaged call upon him to save thee harmless For as Alphius the Usurer sometimes said of his Clients Horat. Epod. Colum. de re rust l. 1. c 7. Optima nomina non appellando mala fieri Even good Debters will prove slack pay-masters if they bee let alone if not now and then called upon Some read the words thus Multiply thy friends or sollicite them viz. to intercede for thee to the Creditor and to keep thee out of this brake Vers 4. Give not sleep to thine eyes c. Augustus wondred at a certain Knight in Rome that owed much and yet could sleep securely Dio. and when this Knight dyed hee sent to buy his bed as supposing there was something more than ordinary in it to procure sleep The opportunity of liberty and thriving is to bee well husbanded lest some storm arising from the cruelty of Creditors or mutability of outward things over-whelm a man with debt and danger as the whirlwind doth the unwary traveller upon the Alpes with snow Now if such care bee to bee taken that wee run not rashly in debt to men how much more to God If to undertake for others bee so dangerous how should wee pray with that godly man August From my other-mens sins good Lord deliver mee If wee are so to humble our selves to our fellow-creatures in this case how much more should wee humble our selves under the mighty hand of God Jam. 4.10 that hee may lift us up in due season If this bee to bee done without delay where the danger reacheth but to the outward man how much more speed and earnestness should bee used in making peace with God whose wrath is a fire that burns as low as hell and getting the black lines of our sins drawn over with the red lines of his Sons blood and so utterly razed out of the book of his remembrance Vers 5. As a Roe from the hand c. This creature may bee taken but not easily tamed It seeks therefore by all means to make escape Cald. Paraph. in Cant. 8.14 and when it fleeth looketh behinde it holding it no life if not at liberty And as a bird A most fearful creature and desirous of liberty Nititur in sylvas quaeque redire suas that Avis Paradisi especially that being taken never gives over groaning till let go again Vers 6. Go to the Ant thou sluggard Man that was once the Captain of Gods School is now for his truantliness turned down into the lowest form as it were to learn his A b c again yea to bee taught by these meanest creatures So Christ sends us to School to the birds of the air and Lilies of the field to learn dependence upon divine Providence Matth. 6. and to the Stork Crane and Swallow to bee taught to take the seasons of Grace and not to let slip the opportunities that God putteth into our hands Jer. 8.7 This poor despicable creature the Ant is here set in the chair to read us a Lecture of sedulity and good husbandry What a deal of grain gets she together in Summer What pains doth shee take for it labouring not by day-light onely but by Moon-shine also What huge heaps hath shee What care to bring forth her store and lay it a drying on a Sun-shine day left with moisture it should putrifie c. Not onely Aristotle Aelian and Pliny but also Basil Ambrose and Hierom have observed and written much of the nature and industry of this poor creature telling us withall that in the Ant Bee Stork c. God hath set before us as in a picture the lively resemblance of many excellent vertues which wee ought to pursue and practise These saith One are veri laicorum libri the true Lay-mens books the images that may teach men the right knowledge of God and of his will of themselves and their duties Vers 7. Which having no guide overseer c. How much more then should man who hath all these and is both ad laborem natus ratione ornatus born to labour and hath reason to guide him Only hee must take heed that hee bee not Antlike wholly taken up about what shall wee eat or what shall wee drink c. Vers 8. Provideth her meat in the Summer Shee devours indeed much grain made chiefly for the use of man But deserves saith an Interpreter for this very cause to bee fed with the finest wheat and greatest dainties that all men may have her alwayes in their eye Diligent men to quicken their diligence and sluggards to shame them for their slothfulness And gathereth her food in harvest That may serve in Winter It is good for a man to keep somewhat by him to have something in store and not in diem vivere Quintâ—l as the fowls of heaven do Bonus Servatius facit bonum Bonifacium as the Dutch Proverb hath it A good saver makes a well-doer Care must bee taken ne Promus sit fortior Condo that our layings-out bee not more than our layings-up Let no man here object that of our Saviour Care not for to morrow c. There is a care of diligence and a care of diffidence a care of the head and a care of the heart the former is needful the latter sinful Vers 9. How long wilt thou sleep O sluggard
neither speak falsely nor rashly but upon due deliberation and undoubted certainty See my True treasure pag. 122. Vers 8. All the words The Rabbine have a saying That there is a mountain of sense hanging upon every tittle of the Scriptures There is nothing froward or perverse in them Some places of Scripture may seem to cross other places but they do only seem so Men may think they are like the accusers of Christ never a one speaking like the other but those that understand them shall finde them like Nathan and Bathsheba both speaking the same things The old Rabbins could not reconcile Ecclesiastes some passages in it to the rest of the holy Scriptures and had therefore some thoughts to conceal it from the people But this was their weakness Kabuenaki and would have been their wickedness Vers 9. They are all plain to him that understandeth Plain in things necessary to salvation for as all duties so all truths do not concern all men God doth not expect or require that every man should bee a Doctor in the chair but those points that direct to duty here and salvation hereafter are clear express and obvious to them that desire to understand them for some there are Bern. qui ut liberius peocent libenter ignorant It was a smart answer which Mr. Durant a witty and learned Minister of the Reformed Church of Paris gave to a Lady of suspected chastity and now revolted When shee pretended the hardness of the Scripture Why said hee Madam what can bee more plain than Thou shalt not commit Adultery Had shee not been failing in the practice of what shee could not but know shee had found no cause to complain of the difficulty of that which shee could not know Vers 10. Receive mine instruction and not money That is Rather than mony as I will have mercy and not sacrifice that is rather than sacrifice Knowledge of the Scriptures is the greatest riches Col. 3.16 Let the word of Christâ— dwell richly in you 1 Cor. 1.5 The Corinthians were inriched in all knowledge Plato gave three hundred flourens for a Book that hee liked Called Sophron Dionysius said that Aristippus was alwayes craving mony of him but Plato desired nothing but Books What spending of money and lavishing out of the bag is there for humane learning And yet Aristotle himself could say that a little knowledge though but conjectural about heavenly things is to bee preferred above much knowledge though certain about inferiour things Vers 11. For Wisdome is better than Rubies See the Note on Chap. 3.15 Vers 12. I Wisdome dwell with Prudence I draw all into practice and teach men to prove by their own experience what that good and holy and acceptable will of God is Of the most that would bee held knowing men it may well bee said as Tully sayes the Proverb went of the Athenians that they used their wisdome as men do artificial teeth for shew onely And that they did scire quae recta sunt sed facore nolle know what was right but had no minde to do accordingly Socrates said there was no difference between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wisdome and Prudence or Moderation Xenoph. de dictis factis Socrat. Sith hee that knows good things to do them and evil things to avoid them is to bee held a wise man and none else And finde out knowledge of witâ—y inventions Tending to piety Not those toylsome toyes sophismata quae nec ignoranti nocent nec sciâ—ut enâ— juvant Seneca that are hard to come by but of no use or worth proof or profit These are but laborious loss of time as Aristotle hath it like an Olive of Date-stone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist hard to crack the one or cleave the other but nothing or nothing worth ought when crackt or cloven within either Wisdome findes her Scholars somewhat else to do than to bee so busily idle Witty shee allows them to bee but not wittily wicked not wise to do evil inventers of 〈◊〉 or idle things Walk circumspectly saith shee not as fools but as wise â—â—ing the times understanding what the will of the Lord is and putting it in speedy execution Eph. 5. â—5 16 17. Keep therefore and do it for this is your wisdome c. Deut. 4.6 See the Note there this will speak you far more witty than those Wits of the World who seek out many inventions Eccles 7.28 but all to no purpose and become vain in their imaginations their foolish heart being darkned â—â—m 1.21 Vers 13. The fear of the Lord Which is an high point of heavenly wisdome Chap. 1.7 to the praise whereof this therefore appertaineth There are that make this verse an explanation of the former thus I finde out the knowledge of witty inventing such as are the fear of the Lord the hatred of evil yea of inward evils as Pride Arrogancy c. Odi fastum istius Ecclesiae I hate the pride of that Romish Church said Basil long since I hate vain thoughts But thy Law do I love Psal 119.113 I hate and abhor lying vers 163. Yea I hate every false way both in my self and others vers 104. Thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans which I also hate Rev. 2. Gods people partake of the Divine nature and so have God-like both sympathies and antipathies they not only leave sin but loath it and are at deadly feud with it They purge themselves by this clean fear of God Psal 19.7 from all pollutions not of flesh onely worldly lusts and gross evils but of spirit also that lye more up in the heart of the Country as Pride Arrogancy c. so Perfecting holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 There may bee some kinde of pride in sincerity and of humility in hypocrisie But hypocrisies humility is followed with pride and sincerities pride with humility This latter humility is the better And here onely it is seemly for vertue to come behinde vice Hypocrisie is proud because it is humble Sincerity is humble because it is proud And the evil way That is Custome of committing sin Viam pro frequentatione accipiunt Hebraei And this the godly man doth not that hee may appear to do so Velleius sed quia aliter facere non potuit as one falsly and flatteringly said of Cato but because having his heart seasoned with this holy fear hee can do no otherwise Vers 14. Counsel is mine c. Christ is wise in heart and mighty in strength Job 9.4 his Churches both Counsellor Isa 9.6 and Champion Isa 37.23 24. And though shee bee but a Virgin daughter of Zion yet shee despiseth her adversary and laughs him to scorn vers 22. because shee hath one that is in love with her and will fight her quarrel who is De Achille Homeurs De Achille Câ—ullus Tho 2.2 q. 10. aâ—t 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
Cabbin Chest and corner above-board were searched and some things found to draw him further on so that the hatches must bee opened which seemed to bee unwillingly done and great signs of fear were shewed by their faces Speeds hist of great Britain fol. 1174. This drew on the Doctor to descend into the hold where now in the Trap the Mouse might well gnaw but could not get out for the hatches went down and the sails hoysed up which with a merry gale were blown into England where ere long hee was arraigned and condemned of high Treason and accordingly executed at Tiburn as hee had well deserved Vers 13. The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips His heart is oft so full of venome that it cannot bee hid but blisters his tongue and breaks out at his lips to his own ruine as it befell Story Campian Garnet and other Popish poysonful Spiders who were swept down by the hand Justice and drew their last thred in the Triangle of Tiburn Detexit facinus fatnus non implevit as Tacitus saith of one that was sent by the Senate to dispatch Nero but bewrayed and betrayed himself But the just shall come out of trouble They suffer sometimes for their bold and free invectives against the evils of the times or otherwise for discharging their consciences but they shall surely bee delivered There is yet one man saith Ahab Micaiah the son of Imlah by whom wee may inquire of the Lord but I hate him for hee doth not prophesie good concerning mee but evil It is very probable that Micaiah was that disguised Prophet who brought to Ahab the fearful message of displeasure and death for dismissing Benhadad for which hee was ever since fast in Prison deep in disgrace But God with the temptation made a way for him to escape So hee did for Peter Act. 12. Paul 2 Tim. 4. All the Apostles Act. 4. John Baptist indeed was without any law right or reason beheaded in prison Act. Mon. fol. 1423. as though God had known nothing at all of him said George Marsh the Martyr And the same may bee said of sundry other faithful witness to the truth but then by death they entred into life eternal Mors fuit aerumnarum requies which was Chaucers Motto besides that heaven upon earth they had during their troubles Philip Lansgrave of Hesse being a long time prisoner under Charles the fifth was demanded what upheld him all that while Respondit divinas consolationes Martyrum se sensisse hee answered that hee had felt the divine comforts of the Martyrs The best comforts are usually reserved for the worst times Vers 14. A man shall bee satiated with good c. There are empty Vines that bear fruit to themselves Hos 10.1 And as empty Casks sound loudest and base metal rings shrillest so many empty Tatlers are full of discourse sed cui bono as hee said Plato and Xenophon thought it fit and profitable that mens speeches at meals should bee written And if Christians should so do what kinde of books would they bee Mat. 12. Mal. 3. And yet for every idle word account must bee given as for every good word there is a book of remembrance Much fruit will redound by holy speeches to our selves much to others Paul sheweth that the very report of his bands did a great deal of good in Cesars house A poor captive Maid was the means of Naamans conversion As afterwards the words of his servants were greater in operation with him than the words of the great Prophet Elisha One seasonable truth falling upon a prepared heart hath oft a strong and sweet influence Sometimes also though wee know that which wee ask of others as well as they do yet good speeches will draw us to know it better by giving occasion to speak more of it wherewith the Spirit works more effectually and imprints it deeper so that it shall bee a more rooted knowledge than before for that satiates the soul that is graciously known and that is graciously known that the Spirit seals upon our souls In the morning therefore sow thy seed and in the evening with-hold not thy hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper this or that or whether they both shall bee alike good Eccles 11.6 And the recompence of a mans hands shall bee given unto him Hee shall eat the fruit of his doings Isa 3.10 For the talk of the lips if that bee all tendeth onely to penury Prov. 14.13 Nos non eloquimur magna sed vivimus said they of old Origens teaching and living were said to bee both one Hee cannot look to bee satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth qui operibus destruit quod recte docet who sayes one thing and doth another A smoothe tongue and a rough hand carries away double judgement Vers 15. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes Hee thinks his own wit best Arachne ap Ovid. Consilii satis est in me mihi hee will not part with his Commonwealth of bables for the Tower of London And such a fool is every natural men Job 11.12 wise enough haply in his generation so is the Fox too wise with such a wisdome as like the Ostrich-wings makes him out-run others upon earth and in earthly things but helps him never a whit towards heaven nay hinders him and hangs in his light as it fared with the Pharisees Matth. 21.31 Of such it may bee said as Quintilian said of some over-weeners of themselves that they might have proved excellent Scholars if they had not been so perswaded already so might many have been wise if they had not been conceited of their own wisdome and saved if not over-well perswaded of their good estate to God-ward They clasp and hug the barn of their own brain with the Ape till they strangle it At parit ut vivat regnetque beatus Hor. Ep. 2. Cogi posse negat But hee that hearkneth to counsel is wise Hee that suspecting his own judgement takes advice of wiser than himself seldome miscarries There is that self-love in many that they think their Mole-hill a Mountain their Kestril an Eagle their Goose a Swan And being self-conceited they love to bee flattered Not so the wise man hee knows that humanum est errare And that Triste mortalitatis privilegium est licere aliquando peccare Hee is therefore glad of good counsel and thankful for a seasonable reproof Let the righteous smite mee Vers 16. A fools wrath is presently known Hee hath no power over his passions Hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fool and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suddenly rashly is from the same root Like Tow hee is soon kindled like a pot hee soon boyls and like a candle whose tallow is mixt with brine as soon as lighted hee spits up and down the room A fool uttereth all his minde Prov. 29.11 The Septuagint render it All his anger 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
light of a Candle fed by base and stinking matter soon wasting and ending in an offensive snuffe The light of the wicked shall be put out and the spark of his fire shall not shine The light shall be dark in his Tabernacle and his Candle shall be put out with him Job 18.5 6. Ecquandone vidisti stammam stipula exertam claro strepitu largo fulgore cito incremento sed enim mater alevi Apuleius in Apolog. caduco ine endio nullis requiis Salomon compares it fitly to a handful of brush-wood or sâ—are thorn under the pot Eccles 7.6 Vers 10. Only by pride cometh contention Hebr dabit jurgium Pride if there be no cause of contention given will make it Transcendâ— non obedio perturbo is the Motto written upon prides tripple-crown A proud person is full of discontent nothing can please him c. Just like one that hath a swelling in his hands something or other toucheth it still and driveth him to out-cries Pride maketh a man drunk with his own conceits Hab. 2.5 The proud man is as he that hath transgressed by wine And drunkards we know are quarrelsome The Corinthians had riches and gifts and learning and carried aloft by these waxen wings they domineered and despised others 1 Cor. 4.8 they were divided and discontented 1 Cor. 3.3 and these over-flowings of the gall and spleen came from a fulnesse of bad humours Pride is a dividing distemper gowty swoln leggs keep at a distance bladders blown up with wind spurt one from another and will not close but prick them and you may pack a thousand of them in a little room But with the well-advised is wisdome The meeknesse of wisdome as St. James hath it Chap. 3.13 of the which we may well say as Tertullus said to Felix Acts 24.2 By thee we enjoy great quietnesse It was a great trouble to Hamaâ— to lead Mordecai's Horse which another man would not have thought so The moving of a straw troubleth proud flesh whereas humility if compelled to goe one mile will goe two for a need yea as far as the shooes of the Gospel of peace can carry it The wisdome from above is peaceable Jam. 3. Vers 11. Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished De malè quasitio â—ix gauget tertius haeres Horat. Ill gotten goods fly away without taking leave of the owner leaving nothing but the print of talons to torment him Prov. 23.5 Many when they have a losse in their riches it is as it were raked out of their bellies Joh 20.15 A piece of their very heart goes with it But he that gathereth by labour shall encrease Howbeit sometimes it is otherwise Master we have laboured all night and taken nothing Behold Luke 4. is it not of the Lord of Hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity Hab. 2.13 There is a curse upon unlawful practices though men be industrious as in Jehojakim Jer. 22. Vers 12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick Hope 's hours are full of eternity and how many see we lye languishing at Hopes Hospital as hee at the Pool of Bethesda Spes in terronis incerti nomen boni spes in divinis nomen est certissimi Heb. 11.1 Hope unfailable Rom. 5.5 is founded upon faith unfained 1 Tim. 1.5 But when the desire cometh As come it will to those that wait patiently upon God for waiting is but hope and trust lengthened Deo confisi nunquam confusi The vision is but for an appointed time therefore wait Hab. 2.3 you shall be well paid for your patience Wee are apt to antedate the Promises and to set God a time as they Jer. 8.20 looked for Salvation at Summer at furthest We are short breathed short-spirited But as God seldome comes at our time so he never fails at his own and then he is most sweet because most seasonable Vers 13. Who so despiseth the Word shall be destroyed Bishop Bonners Chaplaine called the Bible in scorn his little pretty Gods Book Lindan paâ— lib. 1. cap. 9. Commonitorium Bell. Gifford and Rainold said it contained doctrinam peregrinam strange doctrin yea some things profane and Apocryphal The more modest Papists account Traditions the touch-stone of doctrin and foundation of faith And repute the Scriptures to be rather a kind of store-house for advice in matters of Religion We account them the Divine beam and most exact ballance Cor animam Dei the heart and soul of God as Gregory calleth them the best fortresse against errours as Austin c. though some of our sublimated Sectaries blaspheme that blessed Book as a dead letter and a beggerly element But he that feareth the Commandement That honoureth the Scriptures and trembleth at the Word preached as King Edward the sixth did that second Josiah and as Queen Elizabeth his sweet sister Temperance as he used to call her who when the Bible was presented to her as she rode triumphantly thorow London after her Coronation she received the same with both her hands and kissing it laid it to her breast saying that it had ever been her delight and should be her Rule of Government Vers 14. The law of the wise is as a well of life Or the Law to the wise is a fountain c. whence he may draw the best directions and helps to holinesse and happinesse It confines him to live in that element where hee would live as if one were confined to Paradise where hee would be though there were no such Law The wicked on the contrary leaps over the pale after profit and pleasure and falls upon the snares of death as Shimei sought his Servants lost himself Vers 15. Good understanding giveth favour See this exemplified in Joseph David Daniel Paul Acts 27.43 28.2 God oft speaketh for such in the hearts of their enemies who cannot but admire their piety and patience and spend more thoughts about them than the world is aware of as Darius did about Daniel when cast into the Den. Natural conscience cannot but doe homage to the Image of God stamped upon the natures and works of the godly when they see in them that which is above the ordinary nature of men or their expectation they are afraid of the Name of God whereby they are called Deut. 28.9 10. and are forced to say Surely this is a wise and understanding Nation Deut. 4.6 God is in this people of a truth 1 Cor. 14.25 Certainly this was a righteous man Luk. 23.47 But the way of transgressors is hard Or rough and rugged Satan is a rough harsh Spirit hence Devils are called Sheguirim hairy ones Levit. 17.7 Satyres Isa 34.14 So are all his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fierce heady high-minded 2 Tim. 3.3 4. living in malice and envie hateful and hating one another Tit. 3.3 Such were Ishmael Esau Saul Antiochus that little Antichrist the Pope that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and our Richard the
of York and Lancaster were slain eighty Princes of the blood royal and twice as many Natives of England as were lost in the two Conquests of France Dan. Hist The dissentions between England and Scotland consumed more Christian blood wrought more spoil and destruction to both Kingdomes and continued longer than ever quarrel wee read of did between any two people of the world Camd. Elis 165. Bee wise now therefore O yee Kings c. Tu vero Herodes sanguinolente time as Beza covertly warned Charles the ninth author of the French Massacre Many parts of Turkie lie unpeopled most of the poor being enforced with Victuals and other necessaries to follow their great armies in their long expeditions of whom Turk Hist scarce one of ten ever return home again there by the way perishing if not by the enemies sword yet by want of victuals intemperateness of the air or immoderate pains-taking Hence the Proverb where-ever the Great Turk sets his foot there grass grows not any more Vers 29. Hee that is slow to anger is of great understanding The wisdome from above is first pure then peaceable tractable c. Thunder Hail Tempest neither trouble nor hâ—â— caelestial bodies Anger may rush into a wise mans bosome not rest there Eccles 7.9 it dwells onely where it domineers and that is onely where a fool is Master of the family A wise man either receives it not or soon rids it Bee slow to wrath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ira horror furor wrath war jar strife c. is a lesson that God hath engraven as one wittily observeth in our very nature For the last letter that any childe ordinarily speaketh is R. and that 's the radical letter of all words of strife and wrath almost in all languages But hee that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly Hee sets it up upon a pole as it were hee makes an Oyes and proclaims his own folly by his ireful looks words gestures actions as that furious Fryar Feuardensius doth in his book called Theomachia Calvinistica where hee took up his Pen with as much passion and wrath as any souldier takes up his sword Such another hasty fool was Fryar Alphonsus the Spaniard who reasoning with Mr. Bradford Martyr Act. Mon. was in a wonderful rage chafing with Om and Cho so that if Bradford had been any thing hot one house could not have held them Vers 30. A â—ound heart is the life of the flesh A heart well freed from passions and perturbations holds out long and enjoys good health Neither causeth it molestation of mind or want of welfare to others R. Levi. It is the life of fleshes in the plural not onely its own but other mens bodies are the better at least not the worse for it whereas the envious and angry man rangeth and rageth and like a mad Dog biting all hee meets sets them as much as in him lies all a madding and undoes them But envy is the rottenness of the bones A corroding and corrupting disease it is like that which the Physicians call Corruptio totius substantiae it dries up the marrow and because it cannot come at another mans heart this hell-hag feeds upon its own tormenting the poor carkass without and within It is the moth of the soul and the worm as the Hebrew word signifies of the bones those stronger parts of the body it is the same to the whole man that rust is to Iron as Antisthenes affirmeth it devoureth it self first as the worm doth the Nut it grows in Socrates called it serram animae the souls saw and wished that envious men had more ears and eyes than others that they might have the more torment by beholding and hearing of other mens happinesses For invidia simul peccat plectitur expedita justitia Like the Viper it is born by eating through the dams belly Like the Bee it loseth its sting and life together like the little Flie to put out the Candle it burns it self like the Serpent Porphyrius it drinks most part of its own venome like the Viper that leapt upon Saint Pauls hand to hurt him but perished in the fire or as the Snake in the Fable that licked off her own tongue as envying teeth to the file in the forge In fine Envy slayeth the silly soul Job 5.2 as it did that fellow in Pausanias who envying the glory of Theagenes a famous wrestler Pausan Eliac p. 188. whipt his Statue set up in honour of him after his death every night so long till at length it fell upon him and killed him Vers 31. Hee that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker Sith it is hee that maketh poor and that maketh rich and thereby killeth and maketh alive 1 Sam. 2.6 7. Rich men onely seem to bee alive Hence David sending his servants to that Pamphagus 1 Sam. 25.6 that rich cormudgin Nabal speaketh on this sort Psal 88.5 Thus shall yee say to him that liveth there is no more in the Original as if rich men onely were alive poor people are free among the dead free of that company as David was when they are crushed and oppressed especially by rich Cormorants and Cannibals Psal 14.4 A poor mans livelihood is his life Luke 8.43 for a poor man in his house is like a snail in his shell crush that and you kill him This reflects very much upon God the poor mans King as James the fourth of Scotland was called who will not suffer it to pass unpunished for hee is gracious As unskilful Hunters may shoot at a beast but kill a man So do these oppressours hit God the poor mans maker But hee honoureth him that hath mercy on the poor Quibus verbis nihil gravius nihil efficacius dici potuit God takes it for an honour how should this prevail with us Honour the Lord with thy substance Prov. 3.8 and take it for a singular honour that hee will vouchsafe to bee thus honoured by thee as David did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 12.23 2 Sam. 29. How exceedingly shall such bee honoured in that great Panegyris at the last day when the Judge shall say Come yee blessed c. I was hungry and yee fed mee c. Mat. 25. Vers 32. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness Being arrested by death as a cruel Serjeant in the Devils name hee is hurried away and hurled into hell as dying in his sins and killed by death Rev. 2.23 And oh what a dreadful skreek gives the guilty soul then to see it self launching into an infinite Ocean of scalding lead and must swim naked in it for ever But the righteous hath hope in his death Death to the righteous as the valley of Achor is a door of hope to give entrance into Paradise to the wicked it is a trap-door to Hell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Improbi dum spirant sperant justus etiam cum expirat speâ—at Aelian tells how hee
shall come with a Writ of Habeas corpus and the Devil with a Writ of Habeas animam when the cold grave shall have their bodies and hot hell hold their souls O that they that have their hands elbow deep in the earth that are rooting and digging in it as if they would that way dig themselves a new and a nearer way to hell O that these greedy moles these insatiate muck-worms would be warned to flye from the wrath to come to take heed of hell beneath and not sell their souls to the Devil for a little pelf as they say Pope Silvester did for seven years enjoyment of the Popedome Oh that they would meditate every day a quarter of an hour as Francis Xaverius counselled John 3. King of Portugal on that divine sentence What shall it profit a man to win the whole world and lose his own soul Hee should bee a loser by the sale of his soul hee should bee that which hee so much feared to bee a beggar begging in vain though but for a drop of cold water to cool his tongue Vers 25. The Lord will destroy the house of the proud Where hee thinks himself most safe God will pull him as it were by the ears out of his Tabernacle hee will surely unroost him unnest him yea though hee hath set his nest among the stars as hee did proud Lucifer who kept not his first estate but left his habitation Jude 6. which indeed hee could hold no longer for it spued him out into hell that Infernus ab inferendo dictus See the Note on Chap. 12.7 14.11 But hee will establish the border of the widow Not the rest of her goods onely but the very utmost borders of her small possession Shee hath commonly no great matters to bee proud of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor any Patrons to stick to her and stickle for her Shee hath her name in Hebrew of Dumbness because either shee cannot speak for her self death having cut off her head her husband who was wont to speak for her or if shee do speak her tale cannot bee heard Luke 18.4 God therefore will speak for her in the hearts of her greatest opposites and oppressours Hee also will do for her and defend her borders as hee did for the Shunamite and for the Sareptan and for the poor Prophets widow whose debts hee paid for her and for the widow of Naim whose son hee raised unrequested Luke 7.13 Especially if shee bee a widow indeed 1 Tim. 5. such as Anna was Luke 2. A vine whose root is uncovered thrives not a widow whose covering of eyes is taken away joyes not But in God the fatherless findeth mercy Hos 14.3 and hee will cause the widows heart to sing for joy Job 29.13 Vers 26. The thoughts of the wicked are abomination Let him not think to think at liberty Thought is not free as some fools would have it To such God saith Hearken O earth Behold I bring evil upon this people even the fruit of their thoughts Jer. 6.19 The very Heathen could say Fecit quisque quantum voluit what evil a man wills hee doth And Incesta est sine stupro quae stuprum cupit Hee that lusteth after a woman hath lain with her in his heart If I regard iniquity in mine heart saith David shall not God finde this out and for it reject my prayer Psal 66.18 Kimchi being sowred with Pharisaical leven makes this strange sense of that Text If I regard iniquity onely in my heart so that it break not forth into outward act the Lord will not hear mee that is hee will not hear so as to impute it or account it a sin But was not this coedem Scripturaerum facere as Tertullian hath it to murder the Scripture or at least to set it on the rack so to make it speak what it never intended to force it to go two miles when it would go but one But the words of the pure are pleasant words Such as God books up Mal. 3.16 and makes hard shift to hear as I may so say for hee hearkens and hears ibid. The rather because these pleasant words are the fruits and products of that law of grace within that good treasure that habit of heavenly mindedness they have acquired For though the heart of the wicked bee little worth and as little set by Yet the tongue of the just is as choice silver Prov. 10.20 See the Note there Hee mints his words and God layes them up as his riches yea looks upon them as apples of gold in pictures of silver Prov. 25.11 as gold put in a case of cut-work of silver which is no less precious than pleasant See Eccles 12.10 with the Note there Vers 47. Hee that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house Fires his own nest while hee thinks to feather it fingers that that will burn in his purse will prove lucrum in arca damnum in conscientia gain to his purse Augustin but loss to his conscience Adde hereunto that the covetous mans house is continually on a tumult of haste and hurry Up up up saith hee to bed to bed quick at meat quick at work c. what with labour and what with passion and contention hee and his houshold never live at hearts-ease and rest Thus it was in the houses of Laban and Nabal But hee that hateth gifts shall live Viz. Gifts given to pervert or buy justice The fire of God shall devour the Tabernacles of such corrupt Judges Job 15. So for those that are bribed out of their Religion Joh. Egnat Gelli dâ—al 5. Stratagema nunc est Pontificium ditare multos ut pii esse desinant The Papists propose rewards to such as shall relinquish the Protestant Religion and turn to them as in Ausburgh where they say there is a known price for it of ten Florens a year In France where the Clergy have made contributions for the maintenance of Renegado Ministers Thus they tempted Luther Specul Europ Hem. Germana ills bestia non curat aurum but hee would not bee hired to go to hell and thus they tempted that noble Marquess of Vicum Nephew to Pope Paul the fifth who left all for Christ and fled to Geneva but hee cryed out Let their money perish with them that prefer all the worlds wealth before one dayes communion with Jesus Christ and his despised people Vers 28. The heart of the righteous studieth to answer His tongue runs not before his wit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but hee weighs his words before hee utters them as carrying a pair of ballance betwixt his lips and dips his words in his minde ere men see what colour they are of as Plutarch saith Phocion did Hee hath his heart not at his mouth but at his right hand saith Solomon to make use of when hee sees his time Melancthon when some hard question was proposed to him would take three dayes deliberation to answer it
superiour to fortune yet in an instant with his state in one battel overthrown into the bottome of misery and despair Ibid. 287. and that in the middest of his greatest strength Vers 19. Better it is to bee of an humble spirit An humble man is worth his weight in gold hee hath far more comfort in his losses than proud Giants have in their rapines and robberies Truth it is that meekness of spirit commonly draws on injuries A Crow will pull wooll from a Sheeps side shee durst not do so to a Wolf or Mastiff Howbeit it is much better to suffer wrong than to do it to bee patient than to bee insolent to bee lowly in heart and low of port than to enjoy the pleasures or treasures of sin for a season Vers 20. Hee that handleth a matter wisely shall finde good Doing things with due deliberation and circumspection things of weight and importance especially for here Deliberandum est diu quod statuendum est semel wee may look for Gods blessing when the best that can come of rashness is repentance Youth rides in post to bee married but in the end findes the Inne of repentance to bee lodged in The best may bee sometimes miscarried by their passions to their cost as good Josiah was when hee encountred the King of Egypt and never so much as sent to Jeremy Zephany or any other Prophet then living to ask Shall I go up against Pharaoh or not And who so trusteth in the Lord happy is hee Let a man handle his matter never so wisely yet if hee trust to his own wisdome hee must not look to finde good God will cross even the likeliest projects of such and crack the strongest sinew in all the arm of flesh The Babylonians held their City impregnable and boasted as Xenophon witnesseth that they had twenty years provision afore-hand but God confuted their carnal confidence The Jews in Isaiah when they looked for an invasion looked in that day to the Armour of the house of the Forrest and gathered together the waters of the lower Pool numbred the houses and cast up the ditches to fortifie the wall but they looked not all this while to God their Maker c. therefore they had a day of trouble and of treading down and of perplexity by the Lord God of Hosts in the valley of Vision Isa 22.5 8 9 10. where the beginning is creature-confidence or self-conceitedness the end is commonly shame and confusion in any business Whereas hee that in the use of lawful means resteth upon God for direction and success though hee fail of his design yet hee knows whom hee hath trusted and God will know his soul in adversity Vers 21. The wise in heart shall bee called prudent Hee shall have the stile and esteem of an intelligent though not haply of an eloquent man Of some it may bee said Solin Praefat. as Solinus saith of his Poly-histor to his friend Antius Fermentum ut ita dicam cognitionis ei magis inesse quam bracteas eloquentiae deprehendas you may finde more worth of wisdome in them De libris Aâ—â—ici scriptum reliquit Cicero ces hoc ipso fulsse ornates quod ornamenta negligerent than force of words Bonaventure requireth to a perfect speech Congruity Truth and Ornament This latter some wise men want and it is their Ornament that they neglect Ornament as Tully writes of Atticus and as Beza writes of Calvin that hee was facundiae contemptor verborum parcus sed minime ineptus scriptor a plain but profitable Author And the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning That is eloquence with prudence edifieth and is of singular use for the laying forth of a mans talent to the good of others As one being asked whether light was pleasant replied That is a blinde mans question 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so if any ask whether eloquence and a gracious utterance bee useful in the Church of God It is an insulse and inficete question Zanchy speaking of Calvin and Viret who were Preachers together at Geneva when hee first came thither out of Italy useth these words Zanch. Miscel Ep. ded Sicut in Calvino insignem doctrinam sic in Vireto singularem eloquentiam in commovendis affectibus efficacitatem admirabar i. e. As Calvin I admired for excellent learning so did I Viret no less for his singular eloquence and efficacy in drawing affections Beza also was of the same minde as appears by that Epigram of his Gallica mirata est Calvinum Ecclesia nuper Quo nemo docuit doctius Et miratur adhuc fundentem mella Viretum Quo nemo fatur dulcius Vers 22. Understanding is a well-spring of life Vena vitae as the heart is the principle of life the brain of sense so is wisdome in the heart of all good carriage in the life and of a timely laying hold upon eternal life besides the benefit that other men make of it by fetching water thence as from a common Well But the instruction of fools is folly When they would shew most gravity they betray their folly they act not from an inward principle therefore they cannot quit themselves so but that their folly at length will appear to all men that have their senses exercised to discern betwixt good and evil There are that read the Text Castigatio stultorum stuititia est It is a folly to correct or instruct a fool for it is to no more purpose than to wash a Blackmore c. Vers 23. The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth Frameth his speech for him and seasoneth it with salt of grace ere it sets it as a dish before the hearers Nescit paenitenda loqui qui proferenda prius suo tradidit examini saith Cassiodere Lib. 10. Ep. 4. Hee cannot lightly speak amiss that weighs his words before hee utters them The voice which is made in the mouth is nothing so melodious as that which comes from the depth of the breast Heart-sprung speech hath weight and worth in it And addeth learning to his lips By restraining talkativeness and making him as willing to hear as to speak to learn as to teach to bee an Auditour as an Oratour Vers 24. Pleasant words are as an hony-comb Dainty and delicious such as the Preacher set himself to search out Eccles 12.10 Such as his father David found Gods words to bee Psal 119.103 Wells of salvation Isa 12.2 Breasts of consolation Isa 66.11 The hony-drops of Christs mouth Cant 4. Oh hang upon his holy lips as they did Luke 19. ult Hast thou found hony with Sampson Eat it as hee did Prov. 25.6 Eat Gods book as John did Rev. 10.9 finde fatness and sweetness in it Psal 63.5 Get joy and gladness out of it Psal 51.8 And if at any time the word in searching our wounds put us to pain as hony will cause pain to exulcerate parts let us bear it and not bee like children who though they
bee repeated which is a more artificial kinde of selling their gifts than if they had professedly set them to sale as the Greek Orator observeth Both these take a wrong course to bee rich Isocr ad Demon. The way were to give to the poor and not to oppress them Psal 76.11 1 Tim. 6.17 and to bring presents to him that ought to bee feared sith it is hee alone that giveth us all things richly to injoy Vers 17. Bow down thine ear and hear Here begins say some Interpreters the third book of Solomons Proverbs as the second began at Chap. 10. And indeed hee here seems to assume a new kinde of bespeaking his son different from his discourse in the twelve preceding Chapters and much like that in the nine first And apply thy heart c. q. d. Call up the ears of thy minde to the ears of thy body that one sound may pierce both at once otherwise thou wilt bee like the Wolf in the fables thou wilt never attain to any more divine learning than to spell Pater and when thou shouldest come to put together and to put thy heart to it as Solomons phrase here is instead of Pater thou wilt say Agum thy minde running a madding after profit and pleasures of the world as hath been once before noted Vers 18. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee Heb. In thy belly that is in thine inwards Truth it is that St. John found the little book hee ate whether wee understand it of the Revelation only or of the whole Bible which Bishop Bonners Chaplain called in scorn his little pretty Gods-book it much matters not bitter in his belly though sweet in his mouth Rev. 10.10 because Ministers finde it grievous to bee kept from making known the whole counsel of God to their people But the Word of God attentively heard and by an after meditation well digested and incorporated into the soul is sweeter than hony as David felt it and yeelds more pleasure than all the tasteless fooleries of this present world They shall withall bee fitted in thy lips Thou shalt need no other help to discourse thou shalt get a singular dexterity and volubility of holy language being able to utter thy minde in pure Scripture Loquamar verba Scripturae saith that incomparable Peter Ramus Utamur sermone Spiritus sancti c. thou shalt so speak and so do as one that must bee judged by that law of liberty Jam. 2.12 Vers 19. That thy trust may bee in the Lord Onely a divine word can beget a divine faith and herein the Scripture excells all humane writings none of which can bring our hearts to the obedience of faith I can speak it by experience saith Erasmus that there is little good to bee got by the Scripture Erasm Praef. in Lucam if a man read it cursorily and carelesly But if hee exercise himself therein constantly and conscionably hee shall feel such a force in it Pet. Mart. Praf in com in Ep. ad Rom. as is not to bee found again in any other book whatsoever I know saith Peter Martyr that there are many that will never beleeve what wee say of the power of Gods word hidden in the heart and not a few that will jear us and think wee are mad for saying so But O that they would but bee pleased to make trial Malèe mihi sit ita enim in tanta causa jurare ausim nisi tandem capiantur Let it never go well with mee for so I am bold to swear in so weighty a business if they finde not themselves strangely taken and transformed into the same image if they pass not into the likeness of this heavenly pattern The Ephesians trusted in God so soon as they heard the word of truth they beleeved and were sealed Ephes 1.13 And the Thessalonians faith was famous all the Churches over when once the Gospel came to them in power 1 Thess 1.5 8. To thee even to thee Men must read the Scriptures as they do the statute-Statute-books holding themselves as much concerned therein as any other threatning themselves in every Threat binding themselves in every Precept blessing themselves in every Promise resolving to obey God in all things as convinced of this that these are verba vivenda non legenda words to bee lived and not read only Vers 20. Have not I written to thee excellent things Heb. Princely things Principles for Princes Rare and Royal sentences The word signifies say some the third man in the Kingdome for Authority and Dignity Others read the words thus Have not I three times written for thee concerning Counsels and Knowledge meaning his three books Proverbial Penitential Nuptial Key of the Bible by Mr. Roberts The Canticles were penned perhaps in his younger years saith one when his affections were more warm active and lively in spirituals The Proverbs in his manly ripe age when his Prudence and parts were at highest most grave solid setled Ecclesiastes in his old age c. Vers 21. That I might make thee know the certainty And so finde firm footing for thy faith Luke 1.3 5. These words of God are true saith the Angel Rev. 21.9 These words are faithful and true Rev. 22.24 void of all insincerity and falshood How can it bee otherwise when as they are as Gregory speaks Cor animae the very heart and soul of the God of truth Greg. in Reg. 3. there must needs bee a certainty in these words of truth neither need wee hang in suspence When some took Christ for John Baptist some for Elias Mat. 16. some for Jeremias But whom say yee that I am to teach that Christ would not have men stand doubtful halt between two bee in Religion as beggers are in their way ready to go which way soever the staff falleth but to search the Scriptures and grounding thereon to get a certainty a full assurance of underderstanding Col. 2.2 so as to bee able to say Wee have beleeved therefore have wee spoken 2 Cor. 4.13 Vers 22. Rob not the poor c. Here some Caviller will bee apt to cry out Object Quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor hidlu After so promising a Preface and such wooing of attention wee looked for some new matter and that of best note too But behold here is nothing but what wee had before Sol. Phil. 3 1. It is truth saith the Wise man and yet I must tell you that to write the same things to mee indeed is not grievous but for you it is safe See the like Psal 49.1 2 3 c. The scope of the Psalm is to shew the happy and secure estate of the Saints in trouble Object Sol. and the slippery condition of the wicked when at their height Now whereas some might object and say this is an ordinary argument we have heard of it an hundred times The Psalmist answers that yet this is the great wisdome that
that found his Glove with a desire to restore it him Mr. Sam. Ward but pursued inwardly with a guilty conscience leaps over a hedge plunges into a Marle-pit behind it unseen and unthought of wherein he was drowned But the righteous is bold as a Lion Conscientia pura semper secura a good Conscience hath sure confidence and he that hath it sits Noah like Medius tranquillus in undis quiet in the greatest combustions freed if not from the common destruction yet from the common distraction for he knows whom hee hath trusted and is sure that neither life nor death nor things present nor things to come Rom. 8.38 can ever sunder him from Gods love in Christ He is bold as a Lion saith the Text yea as a young Lion that is in his hot bloud and therefore fears no other creature yea when he is fiercely pursued hee will never once alter his gate though he dye for it No more will the righteous man his resolution against sin such is his Christian courage Daniel chose rather to be cast to the lyons than to bear a lyon in his own bosome to violate his conscience The primitive Christians chose rather to be abandoned ad leones quam ad lenones they preferred affliction before sin And this their persecutors counted not courage and magnanimity but wilfulness and obstinacy Tertul. in Apolog But they knew not the power of the Spirit nor the privy armour of proof that the righteous have about their hearts that insuperable faith whereby some have stopped the mouths of lyons quenched the violence of fire c. Heb. 11.33.34 and whereby they do all daily encounter and conquer that roaring lyon the devil quenching his fiery darts c. Eph. 6. Vers 2. For the transgression of a land many are the Princes Either many at once or many ejecting and succeeding one another to the great calamity and utter undoing of the People as may be seen in the books of Judges and Kings as in the Roman state after Nero's death by the succession of Galba Otho and Vitellius What a deal of trouble was here in the time of the Heptarchy and in the dissensions of the two houses of York and Lancaster causing the death of twice as many natives of England Daniels hist 249. as were lost in the two conquests of France besides 80 Princes of the blood royal slain And all this is said to be for the transgression of a land thus chastised by the LORD Elihu tells Job that the hypocrite is set to reign for the peoples sin Job 34. and Levit. 26. it is threatned as an heavy curse If yee still trespass against mee I will set Princes over you that shall hate you mischievous odious Princes odious to God malignant to the People And Isa 3.4 I will give children to be their Princes and babes shall rule over them How many Kings had the ten Tribes after their defection from the house of David and not one good one amongst them all And what got most of the Roman Cesars by their hasty honours nisi ut citius interficorentur saith one but to be slain the sooner Very few of them till Constantine but died unnatural deaths If ye do wickedly ye shall perish both you and your King 1 Sam. 12.25 But by a man of understanding and knowledge As one sinner may destroy much good Eccles 9.18 so one excellently wise man called here a man of understanding knowledge there is no copulative in the Original the state may be prolonged there may be a lengthening of its tranquillity it may be delivered by the pureness of thine hands Job 22.30 See 2 Sam. 20.16 c. Eccles 9.13 c. Jer. 5.1 Religious and prudent Princes especially may do much in this case 2 King 22.20 Vers 3. A poor man that oppresseth the poor c. Such an oppressour bites hard as a lean louse doth makes clean work plunders to the life as they say omnia corradit converret Poor men should pitty poor men as knowing the misery of poverty but to oppress or defraud their comperes is greatest inhumanity as that merciless fellow servant did Matth. 18.28 c. A Weesel is a ravenous beast as well as a Lyon a Sparrow-hauk as greedy as an Eagle and more mercy is to be expected from those more noble creatures than from the base and abject Vers 4. They that forsake the Law praise the wicked As Machiavel doth Cesar Borgia that bipedum nequissimum proposing him for a pattern to all Christian Princes as Onuphrius the Popes Biographer doth Hildebrand or Gregory 7th in five books written of his noble acts and great virtues whom Cardinal Benno truly describeth to have been a murtherer an adulterer Epiphan barcâ— 38. a conjurer a Schismatick an heretick and every way as bad as might be Epiphanius tells us that there were a sort of brain-sick hereticks that cried up Cain and were therefore called Cainites They also commended the Sodomites Korah Judas the traitour c. In the book of Judith the act of Simeon and Levi upon the Shechemites is extolled and there was one Bruno that wrote an Oration in commendation of the devil But they that keep the law contend with them Moved with a zeal of God they cannot be silent As Craesus his dumb son they cry out Wilt thou â—ill my father dishonour my God c Good blood will never belye it self good metal will appear How did young David bristle against black-mouthed Goliah and enter the lists with him Do not I hate them that hate thee saith he Psal 139. Yea I hate them with a perfeâ—â— hatred I cast down the gauntlet of defiance against them I count them mine enemies Asa cannot bear with Idolatry no not in his own mother Our Edward the sixth would by no means yield to a toleration for his sister Mary though solicited thereunto by Cranmer and Ridley for politick respects Mihi quâ—dem Auxentius non alius erit quam diabolus quamdiu Arrianus said Hilary I shall look upon Auxentius as a devil so long as he is an Arrian It was the speech of blessed Luther who though he was very earnest to have the Communion administred in both kinds contrary to the doctrine and custome of Rome yet if the Pope saith he as Pope commanded me to receive it in both kinds I would but receive it in one kind sith to obey what he commands as Pope is a receiving of the mark of the beast Vers 5. Evill men understand not judgement They are wise to do evil but to do good they have no knowledge their wits work not that way they are bard and brutish as horse and asse Psal 32. Yea they fall beneath the stirrup of reason and know not their owner which yet the ox and asse doth Esa 1.3 no wiser at 70 years old than at seven Ut liberius peccent libenter ignorant not willing to know what they are not minded to practice But they
wherein thou shalt finde fulness of matter in fewness of words Or by these that is by the holy Scriptures which according to some interpreters are called in the former verse Lords of Collections because they are as Lords paramount above all other words and writings of men that ever were collected into volumes Odi ego meos libros saith Luther Luth. in Genes I do even hate the Books set forth by my self and could wish them utterly abolished because I fear that by reading them some are hindred from spending their time in reading the sacred Scriptures Of these it is that the Psalmist saith Moreover by them is thy servant warned or clearly admonished as the word signifies and in doing thereof there is great reward Psal 19.11 Of making many Books there is no end Ambition and covetousness sets many Authors a work in this scribling age Scribimus indocti doctique c. Presses are greatly oppressed and every fool will bee medling that hee may bee a fool in Print Multi mei similes hoc morbo laborant ut cum scribere nesciant tamen a scribendo temperare non possunt Many are sick of my very disease saith Erasmus that though they can do nothing worthy of the publick yet they must bee publishing hence the world so abounds with books even to satiety and surfeit many of them being no better than the scurf of scald and scabby heads And much study is a weariness to the flesh Hierome renders it Labor carnis a work of the flesh They will finde it so one day to their sorrow that are better read in Sir Philip than in St. Peter in Monsieur Balsaâ—s letters than St. Pauls Epistles The holy Bible is to bee chiefly studied and herein wee are to labour even to lassitude to read till being overcome with sleep wee bow down as it were to salute the leaves with a kiss Hierom ad Eust as Hierome exhorted some good women of his time All other Books in comparison of this wee are to account as waste Paper and not to read them further than they some way conduce to the better understanding or practising of the things herein contained and commended unto our care Vers 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter scil Touching the attainment of true happiness Let us see for a perclose of all where and how it may bee had Shall I tell you in two words saith the Preacher I will so and see that yee mark it In the Original the word rendred conclusion here hath the first letter bigger than the rest to stir up the greater attention to that which follows sith in this short sentence is contained the sum of all Divinity Fear God and keep his commandements Bear an awful respect to the Divine Majesty a reverential fear and from this principle obey God in every part and point of duty Do this and live for ever Do it in an Evangelical way I mean for wee can do it now no otherwise Wish well to exact obedience as David doth Psal 119.4 5. Oh that I could keep thy commandements accurately and woe is mee that I cannot And then bee doing as thou canst for affection without indeavour is like Rachel beautiful but barren Bee doing I say at every thing as well as at any thing for thou must not bee funambulus vertutum as Tertullian phraseth it one that goeth in a narrow tract of obedience No thine obedience must bee universal extending to the compass of the whole Law which is but one copulative as the Schools speak And then Aug. beati sunt qui praecepta faciunt etiam si non perficiunt they are blessed that do what they can Bern. though they cannot but under-do And in libro tuo scribuntur omnes qui quod possunt faciunt si quod debent non possunt They are surely written all in Gods Book that do what they can though they cannot do as they ought I cannot let slip a Note given by one that was once a famous Preacher in this Kingdome and still lives in his printed Sermons The Book of Ecclesiastes saith hee begins with All is vanity and ends with fear God and keep his commandements Now if that sentence were knit to this which Solomon keepeth to the end as the haven of rest after the turmoils of vanity it is like that which Christ said to Martha Thou art troubled about many things but one thing is necessary That which troubleth us Solomon calls vanity that which is necessary hee calls the fear of God From that to this should bee every mans pilgrimage in this world Wee begin at vanity and never know perfectly that wee are vain till wee come to fear God and keep his commandements For this is the whole duty of man Heb. This is the whole man q. d. Hee is not a compleat man hee loseth all his other praises that fears not God It is the very nature and essence of man to bee a reasonable creature Now what more reasonable than that God should bee feared and served What more irrational than irreligion See 2 Thes 3.2 and what is man without true grace but praestantissimum brutum as one saith a very fair beast Vers 14. For God shall bring every work into judgement Full loth is sinful flesh to come to judgement but will they nill they come they must God will bring them Angels will hale them out of their hiding holes Rocks and mountains will then prove a sorry shelter sith rocks shall rent and mountains melt at the presence of the Judge Let us therefore judge our selves if hee shall not judge us and take unto us words against our sins if wee will not have him to take unto him words against our souls Hos 14.2 And then Ita vivamus ut rationem nobis reddendam arbitremur saith the Heathen Oratour Let us so live as those that must shortly bee called to an account For who can tell but that hee may suddenly hear as that Pope did and was soon after found dead Veni miser in judicium Come thou wretch receive thy judgement Let this bee firmly beleeved and thorowly digested and it will notably incite us to the fear and service of God This some Heathens knew Zaleucus Locrensis in the Proeme to his Laws hath these words Hoc inculcatum sit esse Deos venturum esse summum fatalem illum diem Remember to press often upon the people these two things First That there are Gods Next to these Gods an account of all must bee given The Areopagites at their Council were wont diligently to enquire what every of the Athenians did Rouz his Archaeol Atti. 125 and how hee lived that men knowing and remembring that once they must give an account of their lives though but to earthly Judges might imbrace honesty With every secret thing For at that day of Revelation as it is called Wee must all appear or bee made transparent pellucid and clear like
a diaphanous body as the word there signifies before the judgement-seat of Christ 2 Cor. 5.20 all shall bee laid naked and open the Books of Gods Omniscience and mans Conscience also shall bee then opened and secret sins shall bee as legible in thy fore-head as if written with the brightest Stars or the most glittering Sun-beams upon a wall of Crystal Mens actions are all in print in Heaven and God will at that day read them aloud in the ears of all the world Whether it bee good or evil Then it shall appear what it is which before was not so clear like as in April both wholesome roots and poisonable discover themselves which in winter were not seen Then men shall give an account 1 De bonis commissis of good things committed unto them 2. De bonis dimissis of good things neglected by them 3. De malis commissis of evils committed by them 4. Lastly De malis permissis of evils done by others suffered by them when they might have hindered it LAUS DEO A COMMENTARY OR EXPOSITION UPON THE CANTICLES OR Solomons Song of Songs CHAP. I. Vers 1. The Song of Songs NOt a light Love-song as some prophane persons have fancied and have therefore held it no part of the sacred Canon Theodoret. lib. 5. de Provid Sic coena a Dionysio caeremonia caeremoniarum ab alio Pascha celebritas celebritatum dicitur But a most excellent Epithalamium a very divine Ditty an heavenly Allegory a Mystical-marriage-song called here The Song of Songs as God is called the God of Gods Deut. 10.7 as Christ is called the King of Kings Rev. 19.16 as the Most Holy is called the Holy of Holies to the which the Jew-doctors liken this Canticle as they do Ecclesiastes to the Holy place and Proverbs to the Court to signifie that it is the treasury of the most sacred and highest mysteries of holy Scripture It streams out all along under the parable of a Marriage Hieron prooem in Ezech. that full torrent of spiritual love that is betwixt Christ and the Church This is a great mystery saith that great Apostle Ephes 5.32 It passeth the capacity of man to understand it in the perfection of it Hence the Jews permitted none to read this sacred Song before thirty years of age Let him that reads think hee sees written over this Solomons porch Holiness to the Lord T. W. on Canti◠Procul hinc procul este profani nihil hic nisi castum If any think this kind of dealing to bee over-light for so grave and weighty a matter let them take heed saith one that in the height of their own hearts they do not proudly censure God and his order who in many places useth the same similitude of marriage to express his love to his Church by and interchangeably her duty toward him as Hos 2.19 2 Cor. 11.2 Ephes 5.25 with vers 22 23 24. where the Apostle plainly alludeth and referreth to this Song of Songs in sundry passages borrowing both matter and frame of speech from hence Which is Solomons Hee was the Pen-man God the Author Of many other Songs hee was both Author and instrument 1 King 4.32 Not so of this which therefore the Chaldee Paraphrast here entituleth Songs and Hymns in the plural for the surpassing excellency of it which Solomon the Prophet the King of Israel uttered by the spirit of Prophecy before the Lord the Lord of all the Earth A Prophet hee was and is therefore now in the Kingdome of Heaven notwithstanding his foul fall whereof hee repented Luk. 11.28 For as it is not the falling into the water that drowns but lying in it So neither is it the falling into sin that damns but dying in it Solomon was also King of Israel and surpassed all the Kings of the Earth in wealth and wisdome 2 Chron. 9.22 yea hee was wiser than all men 1 King 4.31 And as himself was a King Psal 45.2 so hee made this singular Song as David did the 45 Psalm concerning the King Christ and his spiritual marriage to the Church who is also called Solomon Cant. 3.11 and greater than Solomon Matth. 12.42 If therefore either the worth of the writer or the weightiness of the matter may make to the commendation of any book this wants for neither That is a silly exception of some against this Song as if not Canonical because God is not once named in it for as oft as the Bridegroom is brought in speaking here Rom. 9. ◠so oft Christ himself speaketh who is God blessed for ever Besides whereas Solomon made a thousand Songs and five 1 King 4.32 this onely as being the chief of all and part of the holy Canon hath been hitherto kept safe when the rest are lost in the Cabinet of Gods special providence and in the chest of the Jews Gods faithful Library-keepers Rom. 3.2 Joh. 5.39 It being not the will of our heavenly Father that any one hair of that sacred head should fall to the ground Vers 2. Let him kiss mee with the kisses of his mouth It must bee premised and remembred that this Book is penitus allegoricus parabolicus as one saith allegorical throughout and aboundeth all along with types and figures with parables and similitudes Quot verba tot sacramenta So many words so many mysteries saith Hierome of the Revelation Apocalypsin fateor me nescire exponere c. exponat cui Deus concesserit Cajet Possev in Biblioth select which made Cajetan not dare to comment upon it The like may bee truly affirmed of the Canticles nay wee may say of it in a special manner as Possevinus doth of the whole Hebrew Bible tot esse sacramenta quot literae tot mysteria quot puncta tot arcana quot apices Hence Psellus in Theodoret asketh pardon for presuming to expound it But difficilium facilis est venia In magnis voluisse sat est In hard things the pardon is easie and in high things let a man shew his good will and it suffiseth The matter of this Book hath been pointed at already as for the form of it it is Dramatical and Dialogistical The chief speakers are not Solomon and the Shulamite as Castalio makes it but Christ and his Church John 3.29 Christ also hath his Associates those friends of the Bridegroom viz. the Prophets Apostles Pastors and Teachers who put in a word sometimes As likewise do the fellow-friends of the Bride viz. whole Churches or particular Christians The Bride begins here abruptly after the manner of a Tragedy through impatience of love and an holy impotency of desire after not an union onely but an unity also with him whom her soul loveth Let him kiss mee c. Kissing is a token of love 1 Pet. 5.14 Luk. 7.45 and of reconciliation 2 Sam. 14.33 And albeit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Philo observeth Love is not alwaies in a kiss Joab and Judas could kiss and kill
serving the Lord with one shoulder Zeph. 3.9 not shouldering one another and striving for precedency but content with a parity and in giving honour going one before another The six branches in the golden Candlestick joyned all in one and the Cherubims in the Temple looked one toward another which some think signified the agreement and oneness that should bee between the Ministers of the Gospel Which came up from the washing 2. Fair and white washed in the Kings Bath of Christs blood famous and eximious for their extraordinary and exemplary holiness It is their office to bee fullones animarum to make and keep white the fleeces of their flocks the peoples souls And therefore themselvs had need bee as Jerusalems Nazarites were Lam. 4.7 Purer than Snow whiter than Milk c. Whereof every one bears Twins Gemelliparae It must bee Ministers care to bring many to God whom they may one day present with Here am I and the children whom thou hast given mee Aarons sonnes by generation are said to bee Moses his sonnes by institution and instruction Numb 3.1 See Gal. 4.19 1 Cor. 4.15 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them Vers 3. Thy lips are like a threed of Scarlet Which hath two comely properties Small and Ruddy A thin lip is a sign of eloquence Job 12.20 Pitho sits upon it as on the other side a thick lip is an uncircumcised lip Exod. 6.12 a polluted lip Isa 6.5 Scarlet or Coralline lips are counted a great grace as white black blewish lips are held no small deformity The Churches lips are her Christian confessions whether to God or men To God when she acknowledgeth his favours and so covereth his Altar with the calves of her lips or confesseth her sins with all the aggravations bringing them forth as they did the vessels of the Sanctuary Ezra 8.34 by tale and by weight bewailing and begging pardon of all their transgressions in all their sins as the words are Levit. 16.21 To man shee confesseth when shee makes a wise and bold profession of the truth not afraid with any amazement 1 Pet. 3.6 but ready to resist even unto blood Heb. 12.4 The Tabernacle was covered over with Red and the Scarlet Whore would fain perswade us that shee takes up that colour for the same intent to note that wee must stand to the profession of the truth even to effusion of blood This confession of the mouth Rom. 10.10 is set forth here by lips red as Scarlet because it must be lively not fady or frigid but full of Faith and died in Christs blood It is also described by a threed of Scarlet because as a threed it must bee drawn out to the full length and not cut off so long as life lasteth for any fear or other by-respect whatsoever Surely as Austin said of the feast of Pentecost Gaudet produci haec solennitas so may wee say of Christian confession It rejoyceth to bee held out to the last breath And as the silk-worm stretcheth forth her self before shee spin and ends her life in her long wrought clew so is it with the faithful Confessour And thy speech is comely Because grave and gracious framed in Scripture-phrase as much as may bee and therefore comly and delectable Loquamur verba Scripturae utamur sermone Spiritus Sancti c. said that incomparable man Peter Ramus Let us speak the very words of Scripture let us make use of the language of the Holy Ghost and for ever abominate those Logodaedali learned Asses that prophanely disdain at the stately plainness of Gods blessed Book and that think to correct the Divine Wisdome and eloquence with their own infancy and sophistry It is the Church onely that speaks handsomely because holily and as the Oracles of God 1 Pet. 4.11 Shee is as one well saith of Basil suaviter gravis graviter suavis nihil habens affectatae loquacitatis sweetly grave and gravely sweet neither troublesomely talkative nor sinfully silent verborum parca Casaub sententiarum dives as another saith of Livy few words but full of matter Thy Temples are like a peece of a Pomegranate A Pomegranate hath many grains within his case and a little round circle or Crown without upon his head Now these grains being sweet in taste and red in colour are orderly set one by another and point up and as it were look up altogether unto the Crown To intimate thus much say Beda and Haimo that the children of the Church must grow on still toward the mark not onely when they enjoy the sweet taste of pleasant prosperity but also when they bear the red colour of bloody persecution And consenting in a kinde of conformity and perfect peace they must point up all together with the finger of Faith to Christ and look up continually with the eye of love to their head Christ who being first crossed is now come to be crowned with honour and glory Some do explain this peece of a Pomegranate when it is cut to signifie the reverend and modest countenance of the Church as fearing and taking heed lest shee should speak or do amiss or blushing if shee hath failed Others expound it of the good works of Gods people compared vers 9. to an Orchard of Pomegranates beautiful and comely but yet imperfect like as there is no Pomegranate that hath not one rotten grain in it Vers 4. Thy neck is like the Tower of David i. e. Fair and forcible erectum celsum upright and lofty It betokeneth the invincible courage and comfortable carriage of the Church not giving place to her enemies by subjection no not for an hour Gal. 2.5 Many a time have they afflicted mee from my youth may Israel now say yet never have they prevailed against mee c. Psal 129.1 2 c. Neither shall the gates of Hell ever do it Shee shall set her feet in the necks of her enemies but her neck as the horses Job 39.19 shall bee cloathed with thunder so long as with stretcht-out neck shee looks up unto the Hills from whence cometh her help Psal 121.1 Even those everlasting Hills Gen. 49.26 where her David the Lord Christ dwells as in a Tower 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and from thence succours her as the people said once to David 2 Sam. 18.3 Besides the fresh supply of his free Spirit Phil. 1.19 fortifying their hearts against the tyranny of sin and terrour of hell hee hath furnished for her a most admirable Armory viz. the Sacred Scriptures with armour that is polished and prepared for most necessary uses Justin So that the Saints are those true Argyraspides as Alexanders old souldiers were called for defence they have besides that privy armour of peace with God Phil. 4.7 and joy in the Holy Ghost Nehem. 8.13 the breast-plate of righteousness the girdle of truth the shield of faith and shooes of patience And for offence they have the sword of the Spirit and darts of Prayer Ephes 6 14
well-beloved q. d. It is such excellent wine as I would wish it or send it even to the dearest and best friend I have Prov. 23.31 even to her that I love as my self if not before my self Or thus which springs and sparkles in the cup. 1 Cor. 1. Causing the lips of those that are a sleep to speak Utterance is called a gift and dumb Christians are blame-worthy as well as dumb Ministers Wee should all strive to an holy ability and dexterity of savoury discourse And for this end the Word of Christ should dwell richly in us in all wisdom our hearts should endite a good matter that our tongues might bee as the pen of a ready writer Let there bee a good treasure within in our hearts and the law of kindness will soon be in our lips for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Graceless men are gagd by the devill they cannot so much as lisp out one syllable of good language if they attempt it they shew themselves but bunglers and say Sibbolath for Shibboleth you may soon see they speak by rote and not by experience But those that have well drunk of this wine of the Word made effectual by the Spirit talk lustily Act. 2.4 11 14 yea their tongues never lin talking and preaching forth the praises of him who hath drawn them out of darkness into his marvelous light they speak as the Spirit gives them utterance Those that were in a dead sleep of sin are soon set a work to awake and sing Isa 26.19 This should stir us up to study the Word of God and there-hence to learn language The hundreth and nineteenth Psalm is by David set before it as a Poem of commendation mentioning it in every verse testimonies laws statutes c. Like as when a book is set forth verses of commendation are oft prefixed Such another but far shorter is that Psal 19. vers 7 8 9 10 11. The Holy Ghost doth so much the more highly there extoll it because men are wont to have it in very light account and to hold it a disparagement to be eloquent and mighty in the Scriptures Vers 10. I am my Beloveds I see I am so saith the Spouse by that ample commendation that hee hath now again given mee notwithstanding all my former failings in duty towards him There fall out some fallings out betwixt married couples sometimes but then they fall in again they cannot fadge together haply so well at first but being well pieced again they love better than before So is it here The sins wee commit make no change in Christ no substantial alteration For first upon the same grounds hee chose us hee loves us still hee chose us freely because hee would hee chose us for his love and loves us for his choice Secondly there is the same bent of minde and frame of heart towards him remains in us still And therefore as there is a transient act of sin passeth from us so a transient act of chastisement for sin may pass from him Christ looked upon Peter after his denial with the same familiarity as before Jehoshuah the High-Priest though hee were so ill cloathed and had Satan at his right hand to accuse him yet hee stood before the Angel Zech. 3.1 Christ did not abhor his presence nor reject his service Ephraim repenting after his revolt is re-entertained with all sweetness Jer. 31.20 See the Note on chap. 2.16 6.3 And his desire is towards mee His desirous affection hee loves mee as passionately as any woman doth her dearest husband Gen. 3.16 his love to mee is wonderful passing the love of women His desire is so toward mee that as Livia by obeying her husband Augustus commanded him and might have what she would of him so may I of Christ Compare Gen. 4.7 with Isa 45.11 The Church here well understood the latitude of that royal charter and makes it a prop to her Faith and a pledge for her perseverance Vers 11. Come my Beloved let us go forth into the field Being now fully assured of Christs love shee falls a praying shee makes five requests unto him in a breath as it were 1 That hee would come 2 Go forth with her into the field 3 Lodge with her in the villages 4 Get up early to the vineyards 5 See if the vine flourish pomegranates bud c. And further promiseth that there shee will give him her loves Assurance of Christs love is the sweet-meats of the feast of a good conscience said Father Latimer Now it were to bee wished that every good soul whiles it is banqueting with the Lord Christ by full assurance as once Esther did with Ahasuerus would seasonably bethink it self what special requests it hath to make unto him what Hamans to hang up what sturdy lusts to subdue what holy boons to beg c. How sure might they be to have what they would even to the whole of his Kingdome Suitours at Court observe their mollissima fandi Tempora their fittest opportunities of speaking and they speed accordingly A Courtier gets more many times by one suit than a trades-man can do with twenty years pains-taking So a faithful prayer made in a fit season in a time when God may bee found as David hath it is very successful Psal 32.6 Beggery here is the best trade as one said Common beggery is indeed the easiest and poorest trade but prayer is the hardest and richest The first thing that she here begs of him is that hee would come and that quickly and this wee all daily pray Thy Kingdome come both that of grace and the other of glory The Jews also in their expectation of a Messiah pray almost in every prayer they make Thy Kingdome come and that Bimherah Bejamenu quickly even in our days that wee may behold the King in his beauty Let our hearts desire and prayer to God be for those poor seduced souls that they may be saved And the rather because they have a zeal of God and his Kingdom but not according to knowledge Rom. 10.1 2. As also because their Progenitours prayed hard for us and so some take it to bee the sense of the Spouses second request here Let us go forth into the field that is into the world for the field in the parable is the world Mat. 13.38 let us propagate the Gospel all abroad and send forth such as may teach all nations Mat. 28.19 and reveal the mystery that hath been kept secret since the world began that obedience may bee every where yielded to the faith Rom. 16.25 26. Let us lodge in the villages That is in the particular Churches for Tom. 3. p. 81. vilissimus pagus est palatium eburneum in quo est Pastor credentes aliqui saith Luther the poorest village is to Christ and his Spouse an ivory palace if there bee but in it a godly Minister and some few beleevers Melanchthon going once upon some great service
Sermon preached by Mr. Paul Bains Mr. Whateley by Mr. Dod. In Righteousness or by Gods faithfulness in fulfilling his promises whereby they are made partakers of the Divine Nature having escaped the corruption that is in the World through lust 2 Pet. 1.4 Ver. 28. And the destruction Heb. the shivering or shattering Tremelius rendereth it the fragments or scraps sc of the dross above mentioned these shall be broken and burnt together Shall be together As well the sinners in Zion or Hypocrites as the Transgressors or notorious offendors shall be destroyed without distinction Such as turn aside unto their crooked wayes stealing their passage to Hell as it were the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity with openly prophane persons Psalm 125.5 The Angels also shall bundle them up together to be burnt Mat. 13.30 Ver. 29. For they shall be ashamed of the Okes Pudefient peribunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they shall be ashamed of their false wayes of worship but not with a godly shame such as was Ephraims Ier. 31.19 that made him say What have I do any more with Idols Hos 14.8 See Ezek. 16.61 36.31 Dan. 9.5 2 Thess 3.14 Of this holy shame Chrysostom saith that it is the beginning of Salvation as that which drives a man into himself makes him fall low in his own eyes shame and shent himself in the presence of God seek for covering by Christ that the shame of his nakedness may not appear Rev. 3.18 c. But the shame here mentioned is of another nature unseasonable unprofitable not conducing at all to true Repentance such as was that of Cain and of those Jews in Jeremy Chap. 2.26 and of Reprobates at the Resurrection Dan. 12.2 Which ye have desired Or have delighted in as Adulterers do sin their sweet sin Alludit verecunde ad scortationem qua est in idolorum cultu Oecolamp as they call it And the Gardens where you have wickedly worshipped Priapus or Baal-peor That ye have chosen Where ye have had your sacra electitia which now ye see cannot help you Ver. 30. For ye shall be as an oak Peccato poenam accommodat By oaks they sinned and by a withering oak is their punishment set forth Infelicissime marcesceth exarescetis Jun. as also by a garden that wanteth water wherein every thing fadeth and hangeth the head as suffering a Marasus Well might God say Hos 12.10 I have multiplied Visions and used similitudes by the Ministery of the Prophets such as are very natural plain and proper Ver. 31. And the strong shall be as tow The Idol is here called the strong one either by an Irony sicut siquis scelestum bonum virum dicat as if one should say to a knave You are a right honest man or else according to the Idolaters false opinion of it and vain expectation of it like as 2 Chron. 28.23 the gods of Damascus are said to have smitten or plagued Ahaz not that they did so indeed for an Idol is nothing in the world and this strong in the Text is weak as water Ier. 10.5 2 Cor. 8.4 but he thought they did so like as the silly Papists also think of their He-saints and She-saints whereof they have not a few but are shamefully foyled and frustrated besides that they are here and elswhere threatned with unquenchable fire Hierom following Symmachus for tow hath the refuse of tow which is quickly kindled And the maker of it Or and his work that is all your pains taken to no purpose in worshipping your mawmets and bringing your Memories as they are called and presents to them And they shall both burn together As one saith of Aretines obscene book that it is opus dignum quod cremetur cum Authore Boissard Biblioth Rev. 19.20 fit for nothing but to make a bone-fire to burn the Author of it in The Beast and his Complices shall be cast alive into the burning lake And none shall quench them Hell-fire is unquenchable chap. 30. ult Mat. 3.12 This Origen denied and is therefore justly condemned by all sound Divines CHAP. II. Ver. 1. THe word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw An august Title or inscription such as is not to be found in the whole book again unless it be in the former Chapter There alass he had laboured in vain and spent his strength for nought and in vain as chap. 49.4 Howbeit he will try again as considering that he had lost many a worse labour and although his Report were not believed chap. 53.1 yet he would bestow one more Sermon upon them the short Notes and general Heads whereof we have in this and the two following Chapters I say the general Heads For Calvin in his Preface to this Book telleth us that it was the manner of the holy Prophets to gather a compendious summ of what they had preached to the people and the same to affix to the gates of the Temple that the Prophesie might be the better viewed and learned of all after which it was taken down by the Priest and put into the Treasury of the Temple for the benefit of after-Ages Ver. 2 3 4. And it shall come to pass c. See for these three Verses what I have noted on Micah 4.1 2 3. where we shall find that that Prophet hath the self-same words with this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So hath Obadiah the same with Jeremy St. Mark with St. Matthew St. Iude with St. Peter the blessed Virgin in her Magnificat with holy Hannah in her Canticle c. Ver. 5. O house of Jacob So Mic. 2.7 O thou that art called the house of Jacob and the house of Israel Isa 5.7 Thou that art called a Jew and makest thy boast of God Per aemulaticnem provocat Oecolamp Rom. 2.17 This Rupertus maketh to be the voyce and advice of the converted and Christian Gentiles to the Iews others of our Prophet to his perverse Country-men to joyn with the Gentiles or rather to go before them as worthy Guides in Heaven-wayes and not to lie behind those whom they have so much slighted Let us walk in the light of the Lord that is in the Law of the Lord for Lex est Lux Prov. 6.23 and not by the sparks of our own Tinder-boxes Isa 50.11 not by the Rush-candle of Philosophical prescriptions Let us walk in the fear of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est in Apostrophe and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost as Acts 9.31 Ver. 6. Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people Or But thou hast c. By a sad Apostrophe to God he sets forth the Iews dereliction and destruction irrecoverable together with the causes of it their impiety cruelty c. but especially their contempt of Christ and his Kingdom Let us beware and be warned by their example Rom. 11. To be forsaken of God is the greatest mischief Lay hold upon him therefore with Mary Magdalen and say nobiscum
hence his forwardness thus to offer God his service So ought such to do as find themselves fitted for the work If thou hast not Manchet said Bucer to Bradford give the people Barly-bread such as thou canst it will be accepted It is no small commendation to a man to addict himself to the Ministery of the Saints as the House of Stephanus did 1 Cor. 16.15 and to be to every good work ready Tit. 3.1 that is forward and forth-putting cheerful and vigorous Verba indignantis Piscat Ver. 9. And he said Go and tell this people Once my people but now no more so Loammi but a people laden with iniquity and so a people of my wrath and of my curse no longer owned by me but disavowed and abandoned as their Fathers one were Exod. 32.7 Hear ye indeed but understand not This is that heavy and dreadful doom whereunto for authority sake is premised that glorious Vision of the Lord sitting on his Throne and passing Sentence together with the renewed mission of this Prophet on so unpleasing an Errand Hear ye shall for a mischief to you but understand no more then the seats you sit on or the Pillars you lean against because stupified delivered up to a Reprobate sence And see indeed sc both my Words Jer. 2.31 and my Works when my hand is lifted up especially Isa 26.11 See chap. 42.18 19 20. But perceive not sc that the cause of your calamity is your sin the end Repentance the Author God with whom therefore it is a righteous thing to punish you with spiritual blindness and hardness of heart that ye may proceed and perish Now then if any be ignorant let him be ignorant for me as 1 Cor. 14.38 And let him that is filthy be filthy still or Let him be yet more filthy Rev. 22.11 Abeat in malam crucem as a Father saith to his incorrigible child See the like angry expressions Ezek. 20.39 Isa 50.11 Psalm 81.12 13. Matth. 23.32 34. Ver. 10. Make the heart of this people fat sc by preaching to them the Word of God which because they regard not it shall become unto them a savour of death as sweet Oyntments kill beetles as a shril voyce hurteth weak ears as Lime is kindled by cold water cast upon it c. Of such a fat heart beware fat things are less sensible and fat hearted people are noted by Aristotle for dull and stupid There is not a greater mischief can befall a man on this side Hell then to be given up to a dead and dedolent disposition such as was that of those Eph 4.18 of the Jews in Christs time and ever since and of many Papists who continue blind in the midst of so much light and will not renounce thost Errours whereof they are clearly convinced And make their ears heavy Preach them to Hell this is an accidental effect of the Word preached and proceedeth from mens corruptions Zech. 7.11 But as an hard heart so a heavy ear is a singular judgement Act. 7.51 Antagoras reciting his Thebais a book that he had made among the Boeotians and they little regarding him he folded up his book and said Ye may well be called Boeotians Eras Apophth quis boum habetis aures for ye have Oxes-ears playing upon the Notation of their Name Lest they should see with their eyes c. Or that they may not see with their eyes or hear c. but be as so many sots and stocks or statues that have eyes and see not c. to their utter ruine and destruction Neither is there any the least injustice in such a proceeding An Apprentice hath given him by his Master a Candle to light him to bed which he abuseth to light him to game or drink Hereupon his Master taketh it from him bloweth it out and sendeth him darkling to bed in the way whereto he breaketh his arms or his face by some fall will any man blame the Master sith the candle was his and allowed for use I tâ—ow not think the like here And convert which whilome they would not now they shall not but having made a match with mischief they shall henceforth have enough of it they love to have it so Jer. 5.31 they forsake their own mercies Jon. 2.8 they are miserable by their own election And be healed i. e. pardoned and purged Atque hic pulchrè exprimitur saith One ordo obtinendae salutis and here is excellently set forth the order of obtaining Salvation For first it is requisite that we have ears to hear and eyes to see not ears stopped and eyes dawbed up as these had 2. That what we hear and see we understand with the heart that is that there be yielded thereunto both Assent of the mind and Consent of the will this is Faith 3. That we turn to the Lord by true Repentance and then we are sure of healing which is by pardon of sin and power against it Ver. 11. Then said I Lord how long sc shall this sad stroke up on the souls of this poor people last Is there no hope of an end hast thou utterly cast off Israel See here the good affection of godly Ministers towards even obdurate and obstinate sinners how deeply and dearly they oft pitty them and pray from them as did also Moses Samuel Paul Vntil the Cities be wasted c. Till these uncounselable and incorrigible Refractaries be utterly rooted out by the Babylonians first and then by the Romans Ver. 12. And the Lord have removed men far away Judaea lay utterly waste for 70. years insomuch that after the slaughter of Gedaliah when all man woman and child fled into Aegypt there was not a Jew left in the Countrey And in that last desolation by the Romans such affliction befell them as never had been from the beginning nor shall be to the worlds end Mar. 13 19. Joseph After Titus had slain a thousand thousand of them and carryed away Captive 900000. more Adrian the Emperour for their sedition under Barchochach drove all the Jews utterly out of Jury set a sow of white Marble over the chief gate of Jerusalem in reproach of their Religion and by Proclamation forbad them so much as to look toward that land from any high Tower or Mountain Howbeit they afterwards obtained leave to go in once a year and bewail the destruction of their Temple giving a peice of money to the Souldiers and at this day when or wherever they build an house they use to leave about a yard-square of it unplaistered Leo Modena on which they write Zecher lechorban The memory of the Desolation It may be rendred Gods Tenth But what meant Lyra to argue from hence that Tythes are due to the Church Ver. 13. But yet in it shall be a tenth i. e. some Elect left in the land for a reserve And these are called a Tenth 1. Because as the Tenths they are consecrated to God Levit. 27. 2. Because but a
Calvin readeth it thus Shall be esteemed as the Potters clay i. e. is as easily effected as he maketh a vessel at his pleasure For shall the work say of him that made it He made me not It should say so upon the matter by denying his knowledge of it The Watch-maker knoweth every pin and wheel in it so the Heart-maker knoweth every turning and winding in it were they more then they are Ver. 17. Is it yet not a very little while Nonne adhuc paululum paululum or an hundred years hence the Gentiles shall be called by the preaching of the Apostles for here beginneth the Consolatory part of this Chapter see on ver 1. and that 's but a very small time with God He speeds away the generation that he may finish the calling of his elect and so put an end to All. And Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field Heb. Lebanon shall be turned into Carmel Sylvestria corda electorum inter gentes Piscator the wide world the wilde waste of the Gentiles confer Isai 22.15 the Elect amongst them shall be made Gods husbandry or vineyard Eph. 2.12 Rom. 11.17 è contra Carmelus fiet Libanus The fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forrest The obstinate Jews with their seeming fruitfulness shall be rejected Lo here is a turning of things upside down that you dream not of this is that marvellous work ver 14. Ver. 18. In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book i. e. the deaf and blind Gentiles being by the preaching of the Gospel drawn out of darkness into Gods marvellous light shall see and hear that which eye never saw nor ear heard neither hath entred into the heart of any natural man to conceive 1 Cor. 2.9 They shall first be illightened secondly accheared ver 19. so Act. 13.48 Rom. 14.17 The words of the book the holy Scriptures that book which the proud would not read the ignorant could not ver 11. 12. Shall see out of obscurity see their Saviour as Simeon see that blisful vision Eph. 1.18 19. See Joh. 9.39 Ver. 19. The meek also shall increase their Joy in the Lord All sincere Converts such especially as have mastered and mortified their unruly passions and are cured of the Fret these shall add Joy these shall have Joy upon Joy they shall over-abound exceedingly with Joy 2 Cor. 7.4 The poor amongst men the poor in spirit These shall greatly rejoyce both for the mercy of God to themselves and for the Justice of God exercised upon others ver 20 21. Ver. 20. For the terrible one is brought to nought This is part-matter of the Just mans joy where observe the contrary Characters given to the godly and the wicked those are said to be lowly meek poor in spirit these to be tyrants scorners sedulous in sin catch-poles incorrigible such as turn aside the Just c. ver 20.21 And all that watch for iniquity Surgunt de nocte latrones they also break their sleep to devise mischief Psal 36.4 Mic. 2.1 but they should watch for a better purpose Mar. 13.37 as Seneca also could say and Pliny qui vitam mortalium vigiliam esse pronunciat Proaem nat Hist who calleth mans life a watch Ver. 21. That make a man an offendor for a word when he meant no hurt or by perverting and misconstruing his speeches Thus they sought to trap Christ in his speeches and thus they dealt by many of the Martyrs and Confessors To say The Lord Act. Mon. fol. 1116. and not Our Lord is called by Stephen Gardner symbolum haereticorum a note of an Heretick Dr. Stories rule to know an heretick was they will say The Lord and We praise God and The living God Robert Cook was abjured for saying that the blessing with a shoo-sole was as good as the Bishops blessing Ibid. 1803. Another for saying that Alms should not be given untill it did sweat in a mans hand Mrs. Catismore for saying that when men go to offer to images Ib 952. Ib. 765. they did it to shew their new geare and that images were but Carpenters Chips and that folks go on pilgrimage more for the green way then for devotion Ib. 763. Philip Brasier for saying that when any miracle is done the Priests do noint the images and make men believe these images sweat in labouring for them Ib. 952. c. Every day they wrest my words saith David of his enemies Psal 56.5 As the spleen is subservient to the liver to take from it only the most putrid and feculent blood so do Detractors pick out the worst of every thing to lay it in a mans dish or alledge it against him And lay a snare for him that reproveth See the Note on Amos 5.10 Freedom of speech used by the Waldenses in blaming and reproving the vices and errors of great ones Girard offecit ut plures nefariae affingerentur eis opiniones à quibus omnino fuerant alieni made them hardly thought and spoken of Ver. 22. Who redeemed Abraham sc out of his Idolatry that pulled him as a brand out of Up of the Chaldees Josh 24.2 3. The Rabbins say that his Father Terah was a maker and seller of Images Concerning the house of Jacob i. e. The calling of the Jews confer Rom. 11.25 Ver. 23. The work of mine hands Created in Christ Jesus unto good works Eph. 2.10 and now sanctifying Gods name in their hearts and lives and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comforts of the Holy Ghost Thus as it were ex profâ—sso doth the Prophet Isaiah here handle the doctrine of Regeneration which and other like places whiles Nicodemus had not noted he was worthily reproved Joh. 3. Ver. 24. They also that erred in spirit Erroneous opinions and muttering against Ministers are here instanced as two special Opposites to effectual Conversion Those that relinquish not these two evils are far enough from Gods Kingdom and yet now adayes nothing more ordinary hence so few Converts so many Apostates CHAP. XXX Ver. 1. WOe to the rebellious children Vae filiis desertoribus vel Apostatis so he boldly calleth the Politicians of his time the Counsellors of State Est species quadam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aliunde quam à Deo auxilium petere Shebna and others who gave good Hezekiah ill counsel to send to Egypt for help when Sennacherib invaded him Well might St. Paul say Esaias is very bold Rom. 10.20 Consurgens enim Proceres inquit quid hoc rei est quod occeptatis malè omnino factum vae vohis vae reip toti such another bold Court-preacher was Elias Amos John Baptist Chrysostom Latimer Deering c. See Latimers letter to King Henry the eighth after the proclamation for abolishing English Books Act. Mon. fol 1591. where we may see and marvel at his great boldness and stoutness saith Mr. Fox who as yet being no Bishop so freely
my glory i. e. In Christ who is the brightness of his Fathers glory and in sending of whom the glory of his truth wisdom power justice and goodness shone forth as the Sun at noon Ver. 19. And I will set a sign among them This sign may very well be that visible pouring out of the gifts of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost under the symbol of wind and fire Scultet Act. 2. together with the signes and wonders whereby the Apostles doctrine was confirmed Others make this signe to be the Profession of the Christian faith Some also the Doctrine of the Gospel and especially the Sacraments And I will send those that escape of them i. e. The Apostles and their fellow-helpers such as were Barnabas Silas Lucas c. To Tarshish Pul To all parts of the Word East West North and South That draw the bow The Mosches or Moscovites say the Septuagint the Turkes saith one of the Rabbines See the Notes on Rev. 9.15 16 17. Ver. 20. And they shall bring all your brethren Now become all your brethren in Christ Sanctior est copula cordis quam corporis Religion is the strongest eye Vpon horses and in charets and in litters i. e. With much swiftnesse and sweetnesse though sick weakly and unfit for travel yet rather in litters than not at all The Apostles became all things to all men that they might gain them to Christ Ver. 21. And I will also take of them for Priests and for Levites For Evangelical Pastors and Teachers who have a distinct function and employment in the Church of the New Testament as the Priests and Levites had in that of the Old to teach instruct and edifie Gods people Ver. 22. For as the new heaven So shall there be a true Church and a Ministry for the good of my people to the worlds end It shall not be taken away as is the Jewish Polity and Hierarchy Ver. 23. And it shall come to passe that from one new-Moon to another God shall be served with all diligence and delight In the Kingdom of Christ here but especially in heaven it shall be holy-day all the week as we say a constant solemnity a perpetual Sabbath Act. Mon. King Edgar ordained that the Lords day should be kept here in England from Saturday nine of the clock till Munday morning The Ebionites kept the Saturday with the Jews and the Sunday with the Christians But here it is foretold and we see it fulfilled that all flesh i. e. all the faithful whether Jews or Gentiles shall not only keep every day holy-day 1 Cor. 5.8 by resting from sin and rejoycing in God but shall also both in season and out of season have their Church-meetings for holy services worshipping God from day to day and from month to month as the phrase is Esth 3.7 in spirit and in truth and having the continual feast of a good conscience Ver. 24. And they shall go forth and look upon the carkasses Rhetoricians tell us that in the introduction to a discourse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 milder affections suit best to insinuate but in the conclusion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 passionate passages such as may leave a sting behind them and stick by the hearers This Art the Prophet here useth for being now to period his Prophecy he giveth all sorts to know what they shall trust to The godly shall go forth i. e. salvi evadent liberi abibunt they shall have safety here and salvation hereafter They shall also look upon the carkasses c. they shall be eye-witnesses of Gods exemplary judgements executed on the wicked that would not have Christ to reign over them Rev. 19.21 who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the glory of the Lord and from the presence of his power 2 Thes 1.9 This the righteous shall see and fear and laugh at them Psal 52.6 giving God the glory of his justice and goodness Some think they shall have at last day a real sight of hell and the damned there Rev. 14.10 and this may very well be Oh that wicked men would in their dayly meditations take a turn or two in hell and so be forewarned to fly from the wrath to come Is it nothing to have the worm of conscience ever grubbing upon their entrails and the fire of Gods vengeance feeding upon their souls and flesh throughout all eternity Oh that eternity of extremity Think of it seasonably and seriously that ye never suffer it The Jewish Masters have in some copies wholly left out this last verse as in other copies they repeat both here and in the end of Ecclesiastes Lamentations and Malachy the last verse save one which is more sweet and fuller of comfort and that for this reason that the Reader may not be sent away sad Amama in Antibarb and so fall into desperation But of that there is no such danger sith most people are over slight in their thoughts of hell-torments regarding them no more than they do a fire painted on the wall or a serpent wrought in Arras And besides Non sinit in Gehennam incidere Gehennae meminisse saith Chysostom to remember hell is a good means to preserve us from it This verse hath sufficient authority from our Saviours citing of it Mar. 9.44 See the Note there Plato also if that be any thing in his description of hell which he calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fiery lake saith the same as here In Phaed. pag. 400. Inde dictus est Moses Atticus that their worm dyeth not neither is their fire quenched He might possibly have read Isaiah as he had done Moses T is thought Laertius telleth us that he travelled into Egypt where he conversed with some Hebrews and learned much of them And they shall be an abhorring to all flesh i. e. All good men abominate them now as so many living Ghosts walking carkases Eph. 2.2 Prov. 29. ult and shall much more at the last day when they shall arise again to everlasting shame and contempt Dan. 12. Scribendo haec studui bene de pietate mereri Sed quicquid potui Gratia Christs tua est A Commentary or Exposition upon The BOOK of the Prophet IEREMIAH CHAP. I. Ver. 1. THe words of Jeremiah Piscator rendereth it Acta Jeremiae The Acts of Jeremy Verba sive Res. as we say The Acts of the Apostles which Book also saith One might have been called in some sense The Passions of the Apostles who were for the testimony of Jesus in deaths often And the same we may safely say of Jeremy Serm. 4. contra A â—â—nos who although he were not omnis criminis per totam vitam expers which yet great Athanaesius affirmeth of him that is free from all fault for he had his out-bursts and himself relateth them yet he was Judaeorum integerrimus as of Phocion it is said that he was Atheniensum integerrimus a man of singular sanctimony and
brutish for want of knowledge so the words may be rendred the heathen idol-makers especially Brutescit homo prae scientia so Vatablus 1. Every man is brutish in comparison of knowledge viz. of Gods knowledge whil'st he goeth about to search into the causes of rain lightening wind c. which God only understandeth Ver. 15. They are vanity Vanity in its largest extent is properly predicated of them And the work of errours Meer mockeries making men to embrace vanity for verity In the time of their visitation See on Isa 46.1 Ver. 16. The portion of Jacob is not like them God is his peoples portion they are his possession Oh their dignity and security this the cock on the dunghil understands not Ver. 17. Gather up thy wares out of the land Make up thy pack and prevent a plundering Reculas tuas sarcinas compone Ver. 18. Behold I will fling out the inhabitants of this land I will easily and speedily sling them and fling them into Babylon so God will one day hurle into hell all the wicked of the earth Psal 9.17 And will distresse them that they may find it so Just so as they were foretold it would be but they could never be drawn to beleeve it Ver. 19. Wo is me for my hurt my wound is grievous This is the moane that people make when in distresse and they find it so But what after a while of pausing Truly this is my grief and I must bear it i. e. Bear it off as well as I may by head and shoulders or bear up under it and rub through it wearing it out as well as I can when things are at worst they 'l mend again Crosses as they had a time to come in so they must have a time to go out c. This is not patience but pertinaecy the strength of stones and flesh of brasse Job 6.12 it draweth on more weight of plagues and punishments God liketh not this indolency this stupidity this despising of his corrections as he calleth it Heb. 12.5 such shall be made to cry when God bindeth them Job 36.11 as here Ver. 20. My Tabernacle is spoiled I am irreparably ruined like as when a camp is quite broken up not any part of a tent or hut is left standing Ver. 21. For the Pastours are become brutish The corrupt Prophets and Priests who seduced the people from the truth were persons that made no conscience of prayer hence all went to wrack and ruine Ver. 22. Behold the noise of the bruit is come This doleful peal he oft rung in their eares but they little regarded it See chap. 9.11 Ver. 23. O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himself He is not master of his own way but is directed and over-ruled by the powerful providence even this cruel Chaldaan also that marcheth against us It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps We know not what to do or which way to turn our selves only our eyes are toward thee Behold we submit to thy justice and implore thy mercy This text doth mainly make against free-will saith Oecolampadius and yet the Pelagiam would hence gather that man can by his own strength walk in the way to heaven but he must be holpen say they by Gods grace that he may be perfect Cum ratione seu modo Leniter discretè Lap. Ver. 24. O Lord correct me but with judgement i. e. In mercy and in measure Correction is not simply to be deprecated the Prophet here cryes Corret me David saith It was good for me Job calleth Gods afflicting of us his magnifying of us chap. 7.17 Feri Domine feri clementer ipse paratus sam saith Luther Smite Lord smite me but gently and I am ready to bear it patiently King Alfred prayed God to send him alwayes some sicknesse whereby his body might be tamed and he the better disposed and affectioned to God-ward Ecclesiastical history telleth of one Servulus who sick of a palsie so that his life was a lingering death said ordinarily God be thanked Ver. 25. Pour out c. This is not more votum then vaticinium a prayer then a prophecy And upon the families Neglect of family-prayer uncovers the roof as it were for Gods curse to be rained down upon mens tables meat enterprizes c. CHAP. XI Ver. 1. THe Word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord To him it came but to be imparted to other Prophets say some Priests of Anathoth say others ver 2. which might be the reason why they were so enraged against him and fought his life ver 18 19. as the Popish Priests did Mancinels Savanarolas and other faithful Preachers for exciting them to do their duties Ver. 2. Hear ye the words and speak ye Ye Priests whose ordinary office it is to teach Jacob Gods judgements and Israel his Law Deut. 33.10 Ver. 3. And say thou unto them Thou Jeremy whether the rest will joyn with thee or not Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this Covenant It is probable that Jeremy when he said thus held the book in his hand viz. the book of Deuteronomy which the Rabbines call Sepher Tochechoth because of the many increpations and curses therein contained Ver. 4. From the iron furnace Where iron is melted and a fierce fire required Obey my voyce See chap 7.23 Ver. 5. A land flowing with milk and honey With plenty of dainties The City of Aleppo is so called by the Turkes of Alep milk for if the via lactea were on earth it would be found there saith one So be it O Lord Amen Fiat Fiat Oh that there were an heart in this people to obey thy voyce And oh that thou would'st still continue them in this good land c. Our hearts should be stretched out after out Amen and we should be swallowed upon God say the Rabbines Ver. 6. Hear ye the words of this Covevant and do them Else ye hear to no purpose as the Salamander liveth in the fire and is not made hot by the fire as the Ethiopian goeth black into the Bath and as black he cometh forth Ver. 7. Rising early i. e. endeavouring earnestly See chap. 5.8 Ver. 8. Yet they obeyed not See chap. 7.24 Therefore I will bring Heb. and I brought upon them Ver. 9. A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah A combination in sinful courses this is not Vnity but Conspiracy See Ezek. 22.25 Hos 6.9 such is the unity of the Antichristian crew Rev. 17.13 The Turkes have as little dissension in their religion as any yet are a rabble of rebels conspiring against heaven Ver. 10. They are turned away to the iniquities of their fore-fathers Shewing themselves herein to be a race of rebels as good at resisting the holy Ghost as ever their Fathers were and are therefore justly chargeable with their iniquities which needeth not Ver. 11. Which they shall not be able to escape To avert avoid or abide I
1 Tim. 5.20 Ver. 6. Amen the Lord so do q. d. I wish it may be so as thou sayest with all my heart if God be so pleased But I know that this is magis optabile quà m opinabile rather to be wished then hoped for I could wish for my poor Countrymens sake to be found a false Prophet but I see little likelyhood of it Ver. 7. Neverthelesse hear thou now Audi quaeso Hear I pray thee soft words but hard arguments See on Isa 5.3 And in the ears of all the People Whom I desire to undeceive and to advise for the best whatever they think of me Let them think what they will modo impii silentii non arguar as Luther once said so that I be not found guilty of a sinful silence Ver. 8. The Prophets that have been before me c. q.d. Committamus Anania nos tempori c. Let 's be judged by our Peers or rather by our Ancients It hath been ever usual with true Prophets to declaim against the sins of the times and to proclaim divine vengeance if men amend not But thou doest nothing lesse then this Ergo. Vide Viscat 〈◊〉 Sâ—â—ol And of evil Or of famine that greatest evil of all the three where it is extream Ver. 9. The Prophet which prophesieth of peace As thou now doest but time will confute thee and event will shew thee to be a lyar Two years time will be soon come up c. How many that have taken upon them to predict the very year and day of the last Judgement have been thus confuted and confounded See Deut. 18.22 Ver. 10. Then Hananiah the Prophet took the yoke from off the Prophet Jeremiah's neck and brake it This was a most insolent and desperate fact in Hananiah but nihil est audacius illis Deprensis and a most dangerous temptation to the people to believe his prophecying Such another bold beacham was Nestorius the heretike Audâ—x erat saith Zanchy magnae loquentiae quâ unicâ fretus nihil non audebat quidom saepenumero foeliciter quod volebat obtinebat That is bold he was and big-spoken trusting whereunto he durst attempt any thing and too too oft he effected also that which he attempted so that he seduced for a while the good Emperour Theodosius and caused him to eject Cyril an Orthodox Bishop Zanch. Miscell epist dedic whom afterwards upon better consideration he restored again to his place with greater honour and condemned that hypocrite and heretike Nestorius of whom what became afterwards I wot not but Hananiah died as he well deserved for his thus daring to fight against God Ver. 11. And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people This was Prophet-like indeed first to teach by a sign and then to shew the sense of it But what maketh a parable in a fools mouth Prov. 26.7 Excellent speech becometh not a fool Prov. 17.7 The people of Rome sware to Carbo that they would not believe him though he sware so should this people have dealt by Hananiah And the Prophet went his way As weary and sorry to hear and see such grosse illusions haud dubium factus ridiculo omni populo praesenti being well laughed at Oecolamp no doubt by the seduced people but he had been well inured to bear their buffoneries besides that the bird in his bosom sang sweetly He went his way Conscia mens recti famae mendacia râ—det saith One as shunning contention and providing for edification which is not attained to by brawling and bitternesse Ver 12. After that Hananiah had broken the yoke Which he looked upon as an eye-sore while it was whole and a real contradiction to his false predictions Ver. 13. Thou hast broken the yokes of wood That were weaker and lighter nunc graviora feres But thou shalt make for them yokes of Iron Thou Jeremy shalt for a type of a cruel hard and strong bondage Bonfinius writeth of the Hungarians Hungar. rer decad 4. l. 9. that they are not to be handled gently or kindly dealt with sed virgâ ferreâ in obsequo continenendes esse but kept in order with a rod of Iron Such were these refractory Jews but they had enough of it ere God had done with them Ver. 14. For thus saith the Lord of hosts Here were right words not as ver 2. in labris nata non in fibris and therefore very forcible Job 6.25 I have put a yoke of Iron See on ver 13. And have given him the beasts All shall be his and he shall soveraign it over all as the Lion doth over the beasts of the field Ver. 15. Thou makest this people to trust in a lye Who loved to have it so chap. 6. ult and were therefore justly left to obduration and horrible destruction Ver. 16. Behold I will cast thee I will shortly lay thee low enough together with thy lordly looks as D. Taylor Martyr once told Gardiner Bishop of Winchester who reviled him and threatened him This year shalt thou dye Than which thou hadst better do any thing Ver. 17. So Hananiah dyed Two moneths after this prediction ver 1. yet the people relented not but persisted in their obstinacy to the end Such a sward or rather hoof is grown over some mens hearts as neither Ministry nor misery nor miracle nor mercy can possibly mollify CHAP. XXIX Ver. 1. NOw these are the words of the Letter Heb. of the book It is taken for any manner of writing whether longer as a book or shorter as a letter an Epistle cujus ornamentum est ornamentis carere saith Politian the two chief commendations whereof say others are shortnesse and plainnesse Here we have both and should therefore highly prize it not as Apocryphal Baruch's letter but as parcel of holy Writ worthy of all acceptation Which were carried away captive And longed for deliverance but are advised to have patience and not to antedate the promises which in their due time should be accomplished As till then obediendum est etiam dyscolis obedience must be yielded to the Babylonians now their Masters and not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward For this is thank-worthy c. 1 Pet. 2.18 Ver. 2. After that Jeconiah the King and the Queen and the Eunuches Angusta Eunuchi These Eunuches were Chamberlains to Queens but not alwaies so bold with them as Stephen the Persian presumed to be with the Queen-mother of the Emperour Justinian the second Func quam flagellis sicuti servam castigavit See chap. 24.1 Ver. 3. By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan c. Zedekiak having heard by Hananiah the Prophet that within two full years Jeconiah and the captives should come back to Jerusalem and knowing that if that should be so he must give place and part with his royal dignity sendeth an Embassage to Nebuchadnezzar to shew his obsequiousnesse Calvin and is content that his messengers should
religious brothers of love and the Bramines successours to the Brachmanni among the Indians who are extremely impure and libidinous claiming the first nights lodging of every bride Heyl. Cosmog c. having nothing of a man but the voyce and shape and yet these are their Priests Even I know and am a witnesse saith the Lord Let them carry their villany never so cleanly and closely with their Si non caste saltem caute yet I know all am now an eye-witnesse and will be one day a swift witnesse against them Vtinam animadverterent haec Principes ille qui non in sede Petri sed in prostibulo Priapi Lampsaeceni sedens fornicationes tegit sancta conjugiae vetat mera somnia vendit Dei oculos claudit saith one Ver. 24. Thus shalt thou also speak to Chemajah the Nehelamite Or Dreamer dream-wright Enthusiast such as were the Messalanian heretikes of old and some of the same stamp loaves of the same leven now-adayes Ver. 25. Because thou hast sent letters in thy name Such as Sadoletus a Popish Bishop sent to Geneva in Calvins absence to bring them back again to the obedience of the See of Rome and as we have many from the Romish factors sent hither to the seducing of not a few a subtle and shrew'd way of deceiving the simple Act. Mon. And to Zâ—phaniah The second under the High-Priest Seraiah and successour likely to that Pashur chap. 20. who was deposed for some misdemeanour like as Dr. Weston was here in Queen Maries dayes put by all his Church-dignities for being taken in bed with an harlot Of this Zephaâ—iah see 2 Kings 25.18 his office was to judge of prophecies and to punish such as he found to be false Prophets And to all the Priests Who were too too forward of themselves to bandy against Gods true Prophets chap. 26.8 and did as little need by letter to be excited thereunto Clarkes Martyr l. 136. as Bishop Bonner did to be stirred up to persecute Protestants and yet to him were letters sent from King Philip and Queen Mary complaining that heretikes were not so reformed as they should be and exhorting him to more diligence c. Ver. 26. The Lord hath made thee Priest instead of Jehoiada the Priest That heroical Reformer in the dayes of Joash 2 King 11. Therefore as he did by Mattan the Baalite so do thou by Jeremiah the Anathothite But neither was Zephaniah Jehoiada nor Jeremiah Mattan Shemaiah himself was more like a Baalite and better deserved that punishment which shortly after also befell him as was foretold ver 32. A hot-spirited man he was and a boutefeau being therefore the more dangerous He also seemed to himself to be so much the more holy by how much the Prophet whom he set against was more famous for his holinesse For every one that is mad Maniacus arreptitius fanaticus so Gods zealous servants have alwayes been esteemed by the mad world ever besides it self in point of salvation See 2 King 9.11 Act. 26.24 Jer. 43.2 That thou shouldest put him in prison As chap. 20.2 Ver. 27. Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Or restrained Jeremiah Alasse what had the righteous Prophet done he taxed their sin he foretold their captivity he deserved it not he inflicted it not yet he must smart and they are guilty Zephaniah also is here blamed for his lenity as bloody Bonner once was by the rest of the Popish Bishops who made him their slaughter-slave Ver. 28. For therefore he sent to us in Babylon And is this all the thank he hath for his friendly counsel haec est merces mundi Ver. 29. And Zephaniah the Priest read this letter For ill-will likely and with exprobration Vbi insignis elucet Dei tutela saith an Interpreter where we may see a sweet providence of God in preserving his Prophet from the rage and violence of the people so incensed Ver. 30. Then came the Word of the Lord Or Therefore came c. In the five former verses we had narrationem causae Shemajah's crime In these three last we have dictionem sententiae Shemajah's doome Ver. 31. Send to all them of the captivity Send the second time let not so good a cause be deserâ—ed Vincâ—s aliquando pertinax bonitas Truth will take place at length Because Shemajah hath prophesied unto you He hath rewarded evil thereby to himself and to his seed after him his posterity shall rue for it saith Jeremy who was irrefracti plane animi orator a man of an invincible courage and might better have been called Doctor resolutus then was afterwards Bacon the Carmelite Ver. 32. Behold I will punish Shemajah and his seed As being part of his goods and walking likely in his evil wayes He shall not have a man to dwell among his people Viz. At the return from Babylon but both he and his shall perish in this banishment which he prophesied should be shortly at an end but shall prove it otherwise See the like Amos 7.17 Neither shall he see the good He nor any of his See the like threatned to that unbeleeving Prince 2 King 7.2 Because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord So chap. 28.16 See chap. 23.27 Mat. 5.19 To be tuba rebellionis is no small fault Luther was so secundum dici sed non secundum esse so may the best be but let not the sins of Teachers be teachers of sins c. CHAP. XXX Ver. 1. THe Word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord This Chapter and the next are Jeremyes thâ— teenth Sermon as some reckon them and it is wholly Consolatory The Authour of it he sheweth to be the God of all Consolation and this the Prophet inculcateth six several times in the five first verses pro majori efficaciae that it may take the better Ver. 2. Write thee all the Words that I have spoken to thee in a book For the use of posterity as Hab. 2.2 and that the consolations may not be forgotten as Heb. 12.5 Vox audita perit littera scripta manet Ver. 3. I will bring again the captivity of Israel and Judah This promise Oecolampadins thinketh was written in the book in greater letters then the rest it was fulfilled according to the letter in carnal Israel sent back by Cyrus upon Daniels prayer who understood by that book here mentioned that the time of deliverance Convertam conversionem Vulg. yea the set time was come Dan. 9 2 but more fully in those Jews inwardly Rom. 2.29 those Israelites indeed who are set at liberty by Christ Joh. 8. and shall be much more at the last day Ver. 4. And these are the words These are the contents of this precious book every leafe nay line nay letter whereof droppeth myrth and mercy That the Lord spake See on ver 1. Ver. 5. We have heard a voyce of trembling We were at first in a pittiful plight sc when the City was taken and the Temple burnt and
gracelesnesse She remembreth not her last end i. e. What a black tail of plagues sin draweth after it Plura de extremis loqui pars ignaviae est Tacit. lib. 2. Hist and that for all these things she must come to Judgment Memorare novissima is a good preservative from sin but most men are of Otho the Emperours mind who thought it a piece of dastardy to speak or think much of death whereas Moses assureth us that by keeping out the thoughts of death we keep our spirits void of true magnanimity and that one of those that will consider their latter end would chase a thousand Deut 32.30 Therefore she came down wonderfully Heb. with wondermentâ— Her incogitancy and inconsideratnesse together with the licentious wickednesse following thereupon being more heavy then a talent of lead Zach. 5.7 brought her down with a powder as we say ita ut ad miraculum corruerit O Lord behold mine affliction If not me as utterly unworthy yet mine affliction as thou once didst Hagar's Gen. 16.13 and if I may obtain no favour yet why should the enemy insult to thy dishonour Deut. 32.27 Psal 35.26 38.16 Jer. 48.26 42. Zeph. 2.20 Ver. 10. The adversary The common enemy both of God and us out of hatred of the truth and the professors thereof Hath spread out his hand His plundring and sacrilegious hand Vpon her pleasant things But especially those that were consecrated to the service of God in the Temple The Rabbines here by pleasant or desirable things understand principally the book of the Law which say they the Moabites and the Ammonites sought for in the Temple that they might burn it because therein was forbidden their admission into the Church for ever Ver. 11. All her people sigh And so think to ease their grief They shall seek bread The staff of life which without repaire by nutrition would be soon extinct so in the spiritual life which made Job prefer the word before his necessary food There is a famine of the Word which is much worse Amos 8. Isa 5. Pray against it and prevent it They have given their pleasant things for meat Which must be had at any rate much more must the food of the soul Act. Mon. 750. Keckerm praefat Geograph Our forefathers gave five Markes or more for a good book a load of hay for a few Chapters of St. James or of St. Paul in English saith Mr. Fox The Queen of Castile sold her jewels to furnish Columbus for his discovering voyage to the West Indies when he had shewed his Maps though our Henry the seventh loth to part with mony slâ—ghted his proffers and thereby the golden mines were found and gained to the Spanish Crown Let no man think much to part with his pleasant things for his precious soul or to sacrifice all that he hath to the service of his life which next to his soul should be most dear unto him Our ancestours in Queen Maries dayes were glad to eat the bread of their souls in peril of their lives To relieve the soul Heb. to make the soul come again For Animantis cujusque vita in fuga est Life must be fetcht again by food when it is fainting away See O Lord and consider Quam delicata epulatrix facta sim to what hard meat I am held to how strait an allowance See it and be sensible of my prisoners pittance and how I have made many a meals meat upon the promises when I have wanted bread as that good woman once said Ver. 12. Is it nothing to you all ye that passe by the way Siste viator Stay passenger hast not a tear to shed c. Sanchez thinks that this is Jerusalem's Epitaph made by her self as to be engraven on her tomb to move compassion The Septuagint have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hei ad vos subaudi clamo Woe and Alasse cry I to you Make ye nothing of my misery I wish the like may never befal you Ne sit super vos for so some render the words Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow What we see in the water seemeth greater then it is so in the waters of Marah See chap. 3.1 T is sure that no temptation taketh us but what is humane or common to man 1 Cor. 10.13 But what did the man Christ Jesus suffer All our sufferings are but chips of his cross saith Luther not worthy to be named in the same day c. Wherein the Lord hath afflicted me This was yet no smal allay to her grief that God had done it The Stoicks who held that all came by destiny were noted for their patience or rather tolerance and aequanimity in all conditions Ver. 13. Form above hath he sent fire into my bones Like as when the marrow and natural moisture is dryed up by a violent fever or rather as when the solid parts of bodies below are lightening-struk from above and scorcht by these sulphureous flames that pierce unto them And it prevailed against them Or. And he ruled it viz. the fire i. e. he directed and disposed it He hath spred a net for my feet And so hamperd me an unruly creature ut constricta fuerim in ruinam that there is no escaping from him yea the more I strive to get out the faster I stick He hath turned me back Laid me on my back He hath made me desolate and faint My calamities come thick one in the neck of another words are too weak to utter them and yet here is very great copy and variety of words so that Paschasius saith this book may well be called the Lamentations of Lamentations like as Solomon's Song is called for its excellenty The Song of Songs Ver. 14. The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand Compactum est Or is bound upon his hand that is the Lord carrieth them in his continual remembrance They are wreathed Wrapped and wreathed together as a strong cord My sins are twisted together saith One and sadly accented so are the punishments of my sins saith the Church here neither can I get free but as the heifer by wriggling against the yoke galleth her neck so do I. And come up upon my neck Praeclarum scilicet monile torques mearum virtutum index insigne He hath made my strength to fall Heb. he hath caused my power to stumble i. e. so to stumble as to fall for he who stumbleth and yet falleth not getteth ground From whom I am not able to arise Only God can raise me and it is a work worthy of God who Dejicit ut relevet premit ut solatia praestet Ver. 15. The Lord hath trodden under foot As unsavory salt that is he hath covered with the greatest contempt All my mighty men Vulg. My Magnifico's or Gallants in whom I too much trusted In the midst of me In the very bosom of their mother as Caracalla killed his brother Geta consecrating the sword wherewith he
God let the Church therefore pray in hope to be heard and to speed the better for the others insolencies These by wall understand the people within the wall Others O Mure qui nunc es merae ruinae O poor shattered wall or O City which art now nothing but bare walls without housing and inhabitants Ver. 19. Arise cry in the night A fit time for meditation and prayer as we read of David Psal 119. and of the son of David Luk. 21. In the beginning of the watches When others are in their first which is their deepest and sweetest sleep break thy self of thy rest that thou mayst give God no rest Esa 62.6 7. Omnibus signis et modis miseriam tuam expone Domino bestir thee every way alâ—'s but little enough Pour out thine heart like water That is saith Sanchez weep till thou hast wept thy very heart out if it were possible Or as others poure out thine heart to God in humble and ingenuous confession and supplication but then pour it forth as water whereof every drop will come out and not as oyle whereof some will still stick to the sides of the vessel Tundens pectus non effundens vitia ea consolâ—dâ—t saith Austin He who pretendeth to repent and yet parteth not with his sins doth but increase them Lift up thine hands toward him But withal thy heart chap. 3.41 For the life of thy young children See on ver 11 12. Ver. 20. Behold O Lord and consider to whom thou hast done this Even to thine own inheritances who suffer harder and heavier things commonly then any others And why Ingentia beneficia ingentia flagitia ingentia supplicia their offences are increased their punishments are aggravated by their obligations Shall the women eat their fruit children of a span-long 2 King 6. Joseph de bel l. 7. cap. 8. That they did so in the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldees it appeareth by this question In the famine of Samaria under Joram they did likewise as also at the last destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and at the siege of Sancerra in France Anno 1572. See the sad effects of sin and shun it if but for the ill consequents of it Shall the Priest and the Prophet be slain in the Sanctuary of the Lord It seems they were so but who they were we read not although God had cautioned Touch not mine annointed and do my Prophets no harm Priests were slaughtered where they used to slaughter beasts for sacrifices but it may be they were nothing better then Thomas Becket the devils Martyr here Act. Mon. and Adam Beton that butcherly Archbishop in Scotland who when himself was butchered cryed out Kill me not for I am a Priest Ver. 21. The young and the old lye on the ground in the streets Oh the woe of war oh the bloody work that the sword maketh wheresoever it is in commission Well may it be called an evil an only evil by an Antonomasie Esa 45.7 Ver. 22. Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrours i. e. My terrible enemies the Chaldees being called in by thee their Generalissimo came on as chearfully as if they had come to a solemn feast or some merry-meeting and not to a siege and to a bloody war which they cannot but know to be utrinque triste such as both sides usually suffer by Those that I have swadled and brought up Singula haec verba ponderanda sunt singula enim ingens habent pathos Here every word is very ponderous and pathetical Indeed this whole book is so which is the reason that there is no great cohaerence in some places thereof to be discovered For as he that is under some grievous affliction without observing of order now cryes now prayes now laments now complains c. so doth the Prophet here in the name of the Church pour forth himself tumultuarily in a flood such words as his grief ministred unto him and grief is no methodical speaker CHAP. III. Ver. 1. I Am the man Here Jeremiah in the name and place of all the Jewish people setteth forth his sufferings very passionately and elegantly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Synesius for nothing is more Rhetorical then a man in misery See on chap. 1.12 Oecol By the rod of his wrath i. e. Of Gods wrath whom yet he nameth not prae magnitudine affectus but referreth to him all his sufferings and alludeth here say some to that rod Jer. 1.11 Ver. 2. He hath led me and brought me into darknesse Perstat semper in Metaphora pastoritiâ— say some who by rod in the foregoing verse understand Gods shepherds wand wherewith when he is displeased he driveth his unruly sheep into dark and dangerous places See Psal 23.3.4 Mic. 7.9 Hinc inde continenter verberat Jun. Ver. 3. Surely against me is he turned Metaphora a colaphizantibus a Metaphor from buffetters who double their blows beating their adversaries on both sides as the smith doth his red-hot iron upon the anvil till he hath shaped it Ver. 4. My flesh and my skin hath he made old Withered it and wanzed it so that I am not like my self facta videbor anus as she said See Psal 32.3 He hath broken my bones Decayed and impaired and that with greatest torment as befalleth when bones are broken Ver. 5. He hath builded against me Bulwarkes and batteries And compassed me with gall and travel Or with venom and vexation See Jer. 8.14 In these and the like hyperbolical expressions we must note that words are too weak to utter the greatness of the Saints grief when they lye under the sense of Gods wrath and heavy displeasure Ver. 6. He hath set me in dark places Dungeons haply which are a kind of graves and where poor prisoners lye as forgotten The Persians called their prisons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oblivions And Ezekiel saith that Babylon was to the Jews as a grave where they lay for dead till those dead bones lived again chap. 37. As they that be dead of old Free among the dead and forgotten It may be said of a Saint in some cases that Vivit est vitae nescius ipse sua Ver. 7. He hath hedgd me about Surrounded me with troubles brought me into straits inextricable and importable Ver. 8. Also when I cry and shout As poor Prisoners use to do for relief and release He shutteth out my prayer Or shutteth his eare to my prayer This was very grievous to any good heart more then it could be to Tully a stranger to the true God who yet bewaileth the matter to his brother in these words I would pray to the gods for those things but that alasse they have given over to hear my prayers Ver. 9. He hath enclosed my wayes with hewn stone i. e. Most strongly and closely so that none can come at me He hath made all my paths crooked So that all things go cross with me and although they
saith that in the faculty of Physick there is nothing small 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De part anim lib. 1. cap. 5. nothing contemptible Aristotle saith in all nature nothing is so mean vile and abject that deserveth not to be admired The Rabbines have a saying that there is a mountain of sense hangeth upon every Apex of the Word of God c. And brought me thither sc To Jerusalem in vision that valley of Vision In the beginning of this book the spirit carried him into the plain of Shinar there to see a vision purporting the destruction of the material Temple Here toward the close of it he is by the same hand carryed to Jerusalem to see a mystical Temple set up in the stead thereof far more stately The sufferings of this life are in no comparison worthy of the glory that shall be revealed Rom. 8.18 Ver. 2. Brought he me i. e. The Spirit brought me who is called Gods hand ver 1. quia à Patre Filioque quasi manus dimanat so he is called the finger of God Exod. 8.19 that is his power And set me upon a very high mountain Moriah where had stood the Temple which overlooked the City and had been a kind of heaven upon earth wherein the holy Priests and Israelites were as stars By which was the frame of a City So the Temple seemed to him for its many courts walls towers gates c. So doth the Seraglio at this day Ver. 3. And behold there was a man Christ the Soveraign Architect of his Church as Rev. 11.1 This might well be brought in with an Ecce He appeared after another manner in that first dreadful vision chap. 1. Whose appearance was like the appearance of brasse Bright and durable importing Christs purity and eternity With a line of flax in his hand Christs measuring-line is the holy Scripture and the preaching of the Word so is also his measuring rod here said to be of reed but Rev. 11. of gold Both these are in Christs hand to shew that the power and efficacy of the Word read or preached is from him alone See 1 Cor. 3 9 10. 18. 2 Cor. 10.13 17. Ver. 4. Son of man A most kind compellation holding forth Christs Philanthropy or love to mankind He calleth us sons of men who for our sakes became the Son of Man that we might become the sons of God It is observed that Ezekiel with the Seventy is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the son of man but Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the son of Adam he was the next and only other common-person Behold with thine eyes and hear with thine eares and set thine heart c. We should give all possible diligence and heed to a discourse of the new Jerusalem that City of pearle setting a work both our outward and inward senses and those well exercised to discern both good and evil Heb. 5. ult Declare all that thou seest unto the house of Israel For therefore hast thou seen it The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 And as any man hath received the gift so let him minister the same to others 1 Pet. 4.10 What use is there of candle under a bushel Ver. 5. And behold a wall on the outside of the house Betokening Gods Almighty Protection of his Church and chosen Esa 26.1 Zach. 2.9 Job 1. Psal 125.1 2. Psal 46.1 c. Ver. 6. Then came he unto the gate Henceforth we shall read of gates greeces posts porches courts chambers windows c. after the manner of Solomons Temple now burnt to ashes Concerning all which various and very different are the opinions of Interpreters We shall see hereafter the whole building in heaven meanwhile for many things here mentioned we must content our selves with a learned ignorance and not call it descriptionem insulsam Sanctius Argum in hoc cap. as that Popish Commenter blasphemed or think that the holy Pen-man spake he knew not what This was basely to speak evil of the things that he knew not How much better those Rabbines who meeting with many things here inextricable and inexplicable say Elias cum venerit solvet omnia Ver. 7 And every little chamber Or Porters-lodge Ver. 8. He measured also the porch This porch which had neither doores nor roof that we read of was symbolum caeli De bell Jud. l. 6. c. 6. caelum enim undique conspicuum lateque patens significabat saith Josephus it represented heaven Ver. 9. And the porch of the gate was inward Or this was the porch of the inner gate Ver. 10. And the little chambers Here lay the door-keepers whose office was to keep out the unclean 2 Chron. 23.19 Oh for such officers amongst us Ver. 11. And the length That is the height of the gate Ver. 12. The space also before the little chambers Which space served either for seats walks or eaves rather at either end Ver. 13. Door against door The one facing the other in a direct line Ver. 14. Even unto the post i. e. The height was the same everywhere See these things best set forth by pictures at the end of Castalio's and Lavaters Annotations on the Text. Ver. 16. Narrow windows i. e. Narrowed the better to let in light and so shadowing out that spiritual illumination and joy wrought in the hearts of the children of light See Esa 42.7 49.6 60.19 20. Mic. 7.8 Luk. 2.32 Joh. 3.19 8.24 9.5 12.35 36 46. Were palm-trees As for ornament so in token of Victory gotten by the Saints who do over-overcome Rom. 8.31 37. 1 Cor. 15.54 55. Ver. 17. Then brought he me into the outward court In this Temple were more Courts and more Chambers then ever were in Solomons Heaven is large and full of mansions Joh. 14. And a pavement made More costly and stately then that of Ahashuerosh Esth 1.6 Gods people are said to be living stones 1 Pet. 2. more precious then Sapphires Esa 54. firm as a pavement by faith and low by humility submitting to their teachers Heb. 13.17 and obeying from the heart the form of doctrine delivered unto them Rom. 6.17 Ver. 18. Was the lower pavement See on ver 17. Ver. 19. An hundred cubits Square Ver. 21. Of the first gate i. e. Of the east gate first measured Ver. 22. And their windows See ver 16. And they went up unto it by seâ—â— steps Whereby was noted the Saints progress in knowledge and holinesse Luk. 17.5 Rom. 1.17 Rev. 22.11 still climing up toward the heavenly Temple Psal 84.7 Ver. 31. And palm-trees See on ver 16. Eight steps See on ver 22. Ver. 35. And measured it according to these measures Vilalpandus here noteth that whatsoever is measured in one gate the same is common to all the rest Ver. 38. Where they washed the burnt-offering All must be pure and clean in Gods Service Pura Deus mens est c. This washing of
seeen as in a glasse for so the light pierceth the firmament and Stars Let us therefore keep these bodies of ours clean and filth-free that they may be fit vessels and receptacles of such a transcendent glory And they that turn many to righteousnesse Heb that justify many sc Ministerially as instruments in Christs hand for we preach Christ yea we give what we preach We give the knowledge of salvation for the remission of sins Luke 1.17 we deliver men from hell Job 33.24 we save the souls of them that hear us 1 Tim. 4.16 As the Stars frr ever and ever What a glorious place is heaven then Festinemus ad clarissimam patriam corrigamus mores moras c. What though Christs Ministers be here slighted and slurred they shall one day shine as stars yea the meanest of them velut inter stellas Luna minores What then the Doctores Seraphici Ver. 4. But thou O Daniel shut up the words Sith the full understanding of them is reserved to after-tâ—mes and event will prove the best interpreter as it doth in all Prophecies which are as riddles till accomplished and men must mean while be content with a learned ignorance Omnis prophetia priusquà m compleatur aenigma est Irenaeus But what meant Jachidâ—es the Jew to give us this glosse upon the text God sealed up the time of the coming of the Messias revealing it only to Daniel and that his coming might be accelerated by their deserts like as for their sins which are many it is retarded He concludeth well howsoever God will one day give us a clear vision viz. when he shall bring back our Captivity then shall we understand things as they are Even to the time of the end The time appointed ver 9. Many shall run to and fro For increase of divine knowledge they shall spare for no pains care or cost as the Queen of Sheba the Ethiopian Eunuch c. See Prov. 18.1 Acts 17.11 12. Increase of knowledge is promised only upon our industry and it is especially promised to these latter times Joel 2.28 wherein we find to be as in our climate much light little heat our heads are so big like children that have the rickets that the whole body fareth the worse for it Bullinger thus interpreteth the text that toward the end of the world men shall run to and fro being certain of nothing but destracted in opinion variis se adjungent sectis Zegedin they shall joyn themselves to diverse sects They shall run to and fro saith Another Expositor velut canes famelici as hungry dogs and there shall be much knowledge in the world that is there shall be innumerable opinions and sectâ— abroad wherewith many being infected shall be at no certainty in the matters of salvation For the confirmation therefore and comfort of the last ages of the World wherein these things shall befal shut up the words and seal the book Ver. 5. Then I Daniel looked As being as yet unsatisfied And behold there stood other two Angels on each bank of the river Tigris by whose interrogation Daniel is further resolved about the vision Ver. 6. And one said i. e. An Angel inquisitive about the affaires of the Church for Daniel's further information To the man cloathed in linnen Of whom see chap. 10.5 Which was upon the waters See chap. 8.16 How long shall it be to the end of these wonders i. e. The forementioned mysteries viz. concerning the Saints sufferings the end of the world the coming of Christ the resurrection of the dead life and death everlasting Ver. 7. And I heard the man The Man Christ Jesus When he hâ—ld up his right hand and his left hand Assuring and assevering the matter with both hands earnestly That it shall be for a time and times and an half i. e. For a time most certain with God and by him determined but to us uncertain and unknown Broughton thinketh that this term of three years and an half sheweth the term of Christs persecution in the dayes of his flesh which was just so many years But there is more in it then so See Revel 6.11 a parallel text and such like glasses set one against another do cast a mutual light When he shall have accomplished to scatter the power When the Church shall be at the greatest under when the number of the Elect shall be consummated and they sorely afflicted by the Devil and his Agents then shall Christ appear to their relief as it were out of an engine See 2 Thess 2. 1 Tim. 4. Rev. 6. Ver. 8. And I heard but I understood not This he ingenuously confesseth for the best know but in part 1 Cor. 13. And if any man thinketh that he knoweth ought he knoweth nothing yet as ought to know 1 Cor. 8.2 Let this be noted by such as professe to know beyond the periphery of humane knowledge all that is knowable Any created Understanding is but as Aeschylus saith of fire stolen by Prometheus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a spark of the All-wise Gods fire The Prophets themselves understood not some things that were shewed unto them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 6. de Rep. without a further light from the Father of lights whose alone it is to illighten both Organ and Object as Plato also could say What shall be the end of these things An end he much desired and the Angel for him ver 6. But men must have patience and wait Gods end Ye have need of patience or tarryance saith the Apostle Heb. 10.36 that after ye have done the will of God and suffered it too grievous though it be for present ye may receive the promise Good men find it oft more easy to bear evil then to wait till the promised good be enjoyed Ver. 9. And he said Go thy way Daniel q. d. Though dearly beloved Quiesce tibi satis esto yet of some things thou must be content to be ignorant It should suffice thee to be of Gods Court though not altogether of his Council See ver 13. There is a laudable and learned ignorance as of Vnnecessaries of Impossibles or of Vnprofitables such as are the term of our lives the end of the world the Reprobation of others c. For the words are closed up Viz. Till future ages which are more concerned in them and till which these things shall be concealed Ver. 10. Many shall be purâ—fied and made white c. q. d. It is enough for thee to know and that I should now tell thee quales sint futuri homines postremi saeculi what kind of folk there shall be towards the end of the world Some shall be good people and they shall meet with hard measure but all shall be for the best unto them in the end See chap. 11.35 Others shall be as bad and so desperately set upon sinning that they shall mind nothing else no not when these Prophecies are fulfilled but be destroyed for lack of