second and third time to repentance which mercy as we see he daily exerciseth in the Churches This is the cause then why the Prophet repeats the same words againe Returne now againe O ye disobedient children He said before Vers 12. Thou disobedient Israel returne Now heere he adds For I haue been a husband vnto you Some thinke the word Baal which is heere vsed signifies to be sent but this signification in this place cannot agree therefore where others translate I haue had domination and lordship ouer you it agrees better but this lordship must not be vnderstood generally For after the Latines this domination is referred to the husband who is the wiues head Neither is it to bee doubted but God still continues his former speech See vers 1. and persists in the same similitude of marriage often mentioned before For he accused the Israelites of adulteries in regard they had forsaken him which is the cause he now adds And yet I am your husband He said before that if any man had put away his wife and that shee should marry another the first would neuer after be reconciled to her but contrariwise I willingly forgiue all your disloyalty and whoredomes onely hereafter carry your selues chastly towards me and you shall finde that I also will keepe my faith with you In like manner he saith heere I am your husband See vers 8. that is to say Albeit I haue put you away For hee told them before that hee gaue them a bill of diuorce that is he had as it were by a publike and autenticke instrument testified that he had cast them off and that he neuer meant afterwards to be ioyned vnto them againe in any couenant for their exile was a kind of diuorce Now he saith I am your husband for howsoeuer you haue by the breach of your faith much offended me yet doe I still continue my first plea I am your husband We now vnderstand the Prophets drift and meaning otherwise the Israelites might haue bin so forestalled with dispaire that they would vtterly haue distasted this fauourable accesse whereunto the Prophet calles and exhorts them To the end that slauish feare then should not hinder their returne God heere tels them hee will be their husband neither will he forget that first couenant and coniunction which in former time hee vouchsafed to make with them Thus you see the summe of his speech I haue once loued you with an husband-like affection true it is The summe you haue estranged your selues from me yet returne now againe vnto me for I am ready to pardon you and I will receiue you againe saith he as if you had alwayes kept your faith and loyalty with me But after he adds one out of a City two out of a family This place is well worthy our obseruation for God therin sheweth that they must not tarry one for another moreouer though all the body of the people generally should rot in the filthinesse of their sinnes God hath mercy in store if onely one will accept thereof yet if there were but one that would returne vnto him he would alwayes be ready to entertaine that one into his fauour Now this poynt was of exceeding great vse For Gods couenant was made to the whole seed of Abraham in generall and therefore they might thinke with themselues that this couenant was vtterly abolished vnlesse the whole people of God were againe gathered together Neither had God indeed chosen to himselfe out of this race one or two no not an hundred nor a thousand for hee had chosen the whole of-spring of Abraham Now because this promise was common to them all generally without any exception euery one might thus conceit in himselfe But what haue I to doe with God further than as in respect that I am descended of the race of Abraham It is not I alone then for we are all of vs the children of Abraham And yet I see scarce one that returnes to God it is of necessity then that I must likewise perish with the rest of the people Lest such a cogitation as this then should haue any way hindred or kept backe the godly therefore hee saith I will take one out of a City and two out of a family that is to say albeit there comes to me but one onely out of a City yet that one shall find the gate open if only two out of a Tribe repaire vnto me I will also entertaine them likewise Now we vnderstand the Prophets meaning I grant the expositors vnderstand these words one of a City as if God would not refuse to pardon three or foure although all the multitude besides perished But they touch not the maine matter which was chiefly intended to wit that God restraines his speech to two or three because as hath been said they might bee in perplexitie when they should thinke with themselues that all generally were chosen to bee a people consecrated vnto God Vse The fruite and benefit of which doctrine appertaines also euen to vs at this day For we see many which are so foolish to exclude themselues from all hope of saluation or at least lay such stumbling blockes in their owne way that they dare not come neere in regard one so gazeth vpon another that the multitude stumbles euery one in particular How comes it to passe that there are so many in the papacie who with a setled obstinacy resist God Is it not because they thinke to escape among the multitude Yea euen amongst our selues we see how one hinders another Therefore it behooues vs alwayes to remember this doctrine namely when God stretcheth forth his armes it is not onely to receiue the whole multitude together if with one consent they yeeld vnto him but as well to gather if it bee but two or three that shall come to him out of a City or out of the whole people He adds And I will bring you to Sion This hath been once spoken of before thus God would giue them to vnderstand that their exile should last but for a while and that the Israelites should once againe recouer their inheritance if he may perceiue in them a true and sound conuersion Vers 15. And I will giue you pastors according to mine owne heart and they shall feed you with knowledge and * or wisedome vnderstanding that is with knowledge and wisedome GOd here promiseth he will in such wise prouide for the good and welfare of the people after their returne out of their banishment that they shall not thenceforth bee in danger to fall into the like ruine For the cause why God executed this vengeance is to be obserued Isa 5.13 which also is specified by Isaiah in chap. 5. The reason saith hee why my people are led captiue is onely for want of knowledge Therefore hell hath enlarged her soule or throat He saith then that the reason why the people perished was because knowledge perished and that their
Prophet heere shewes the reason why he speakes so bitterly to them Because a man indeed would haue thought this an excessiue manner of speech to compare this people vnto a common strumpet who fiskes abroad into euery corner But this reason stood in stead of a thousand to take from them all shifts and euasions namely that it was to no purpose for them to rest vpon such broken reeds and deceiueable leaning stockes Why so Because they were accursed of God For had hee permitted them freely to haue vsed them then had they not been so sharply reprooued But seeing God had forbidden them to goe downe into Egypt this in the first place was an abominable confidence secondly it was a meanes to make them altogether carelesse of Gods assistance and as you would say to reiect all his promises For in as much as their affections were fast glued to the Egyptians they also imagined that in them their safety was secure By meanes whereof it came to passe that their prayers were not onely few and faint but they scarcely so much as vsed any at all Thus we see how the Prophet passeth not his bounds heere in this his vehement reprehension vttered against the Iewes in setting shame and ignominie before their eyes namely because they gaue that glory to the Egyptians which appertained vnto God making their account as if they had been the authors of their safety and thereby also they buried in obliuion yea contemned all the promises of God and vtterly neglected inuocation vpon his name The Lord then saith he abhors thy confidences In the next place he saith Neither shalt thou prosper thereby No good can come of that action that God approoues not This must bee diligently obserued namely that when we take ought in hand which God approoues not that no good can come vnto vs thereby Why so Because he will frustrate all our hopes Let vs know then that the Prophet sets a punishment before all vnbeleeuers who not contenting themselues with Gods protection wander in their vaine and idle confidences and had rather enioy the fauour and good liking of men than the fauour and loue of God Now it followes THE THIRD CHAPTER Vers 1. * or put the case And saying If a man put away his wife and shee goe from him and become another mans shall hee returne againe vnto her shall not this land heereby be polluted And thou thou hast played the harlot with many louers notwithstanding returne vnto me saith Iehouah MAny thinke this verse depends vpon the former so as they reade it ioyntly together God hath reiected thy crooked confidences See chap. 2.37 And saying c. But as I thinke this agrees not because Ieremiah heere begins a new speech namely God endeauours to reconcile this people euen as if a husband should desire to receiue an adulterous wife into his fauour againe meaning wholly to passe by her former faults and hereafter to esteeme of her as a chast and loyall wife Thus you see this verse cannot agree with that reproach which we saw before but the Hebrew word which is put heere in the beginning of this verse as I thinke signifies that which we haue in our vsuall speech as you would say or rather put the case For the Prophet brings not in God speaking heere but hee comes in with a common sentence and therefore he saith Put the case that a man put away his wife and she become another mans shall she returne againe to the first No for this is not the custome I therefore will shew my selfe more fauourable than any man whatsoeuer for I will be most ready to take thee againe prouided thou promise me for the time to come to carry thy selfe as an honest woman ought to doe to wit loyally towards me in renouncing all thy former loose and lewd behauiour You see there is no great difficulty in that which the Prophet meant to say nor in the summe of his speech For God here shewes that his wrath shall be appeased towards the Iewes if so be they proceed not on still in their vngodlinesse obstinately and rebelliously And the better to expresse this his clemency he vseth a similitude which ought aduisedly to be noted Before he said that hee held the place of an husband and that this people was vnto him in his account as a wife chap. 2.2 In the next place he bewailes their grieuous ingratitude and disloyalty in that they had thus forsaken him telling them it was all one as if a wife forsaking her husband should prostitute her selfe to all commers Heere he adds Behold if an husband put away his wife and she marry with another he would neuer entertaine such a wife againe into his fauour for hee was forbidden so to doe by the Law But see how ready I am notwithstanding to take thee againe albeit the diuorce came not as in respect of my fault For it was the custome of the husbands then to put away their wiues when there appeared in them any cause of dislike It is not a simple comparison as many thinke neither doe I know whether all follow this opinion for the expositors doe not so much as touch this exposition because God doth not simply heere compare himselfe with an husband that hath put away his wife for her lewdnesse but as I haue said there are two distinct members in regard the Iewes were wont to cashere their wiues for very light causes yea for such as were of no moment at all Now God speakes thus in Isaiah Isa 50.1 Shew me your bill of diuorce as if he should say I haue not put away your mother For at that time when any purposed to put away his wife he was liable by the law to the note of some ficklenesse For what I pray you was that bill of diuorcement but a testimony of the wiues chastity otherwise if the woman had been taken in adultery the husband needed not to send her away for shee was to suffer death Thus then adulterous women vsed not to be diuorced Leuit. 20.10 Deut. 22.21 Deut. 24.1 But if a mans wife had liued honestly with her husband and yet notwithstanding he meant to put her away hee was bound by the law to giue her a bill of diuorce on this manner I put away this woman not for breaking or violating the marriage band but because her personage or qualities are not to my liking Thus the husbands were obliged to incurre some note of inconstancy and therefore it is that the Lord saith in Isaiah Shew me the bill of your mothers diuorce as if he should say it is shee her selfe that hath cast me off it is she who by her whoredomes hath broken the sacred bond of marriage it is not I then that am the cause of this alienation God meant not heere then to signifie that he diuorced the people for that was a thing worthy of blame and therefore could not agree with Gods nature but as
redemption vpon such gracelesse ones who thus abused their liberty For they tooke occasion hereby to ouerflow in all lasciuiousnesse But if any had rather follow the other reading I will not gainsay him and then the sense will be It is long agoe since I disburthened thee of thy yoke and brake thy bands but thou hast said that is thou didst promise me for he speaks of this people as of a woman which is the cause that it is put heere in the feminine gender as also in regard that God held the place of an husband towards his people therefore he no sooeer accuseth them of disloyalty but he by and by speakes vnto them as an husband doth to a shamelesse woman who hath giuen ouer her selfe to the committing of adultery Thou therefore hast said vnto me that is to say thou didst promise me that thou wouldest not passe that is that thou wouldest assuredly keepe thy selfe chast and loyall to me alone And thus in stead of the particle ki which among the Hebrewes is a note of rendring the cause we may put in the place of it an aduersatiue to wit Notwithstanding it being so taken in other places of the Scriptures But or Notwithstanding then thou hast runne vpon euery high mountaine c. as harlots are wont to doe in seeking their maintenance But as I haue said I rather thinke that God complaines heere of his people in that by the fauour hee shewed them touching their deliuerance and freeing them from the yoke they thereby tooke occasion to giue ouer themselues to all dissolute behauiour For thus the text runnes very well and all the parts and members thereof concur very fitly one with another Whereas the Lord puts them in mind of breaking their bands and bursting their yoke some referre this onely to the first redemption But I mislike not of their opinion who thinke the Prophet speakes of many deliuerances For we know the Israelites were not for once onely deliuered out of the land of Egypt but that God euer anon stretched forth his hand assoone as they were afflicted and oppressed He had long since then taken the peoples yoke from of their neckes but it was at sundry times as we may perceiue by the history of the Iudges See Nehem. 9.28 Seeing the peoples liberty then proceeded meerly from Gods free bounty who had for the sames sake redeemed them ought they not to haue yeelded themselues obedient to their Redeemer For the people were therefore set at liberty The end why God redeemes vs. that they should wholly dedicate themselues to his seruice Thus then God heere accuseth the ingratitude of this people because they imagined hee thus deliuered them Doct. that they might afterwards resemble wild beasts as wee shall see hereafter That wee may the better vnderstand the Prophets meaning then we must haue an eye to that which Saint Paul saith in Rom. 6. namely that whilest we serue sinne wee are freed from Gods righteousnesse for then we runne after our lusts and haue no bridle left to keepe vs in But after God hath once set vs free from this wofull seruitude vnder sinne then wee begin to be seruants vnto him and his righteousnesse And thus being freed and deliuered from sinne wee become seruants of righteousnesse this is the end of our redemption But many abuse this grace of God taking occasion thereby to breake foorth into all intemperancy Vse behauing themselues so inordinatly as if there were no law nor rule to keepe them within the bounds of holinesse and honesty This is the cause then why God complaines of the Israelites But thou saidst I will not serue for it is too grosse an ingratitude yea it is too much that thou hast done already to dreame that I haue not redeemed thee as also not to vnderstand that my meaning in vsing thee with such respect was to teach thee that thou wert wholly mine For he that is redeemed by another is no more his owne 1. Cor. 6.19.20 What Condition redemption containes in it God had redeemed this people and therefore the redemption contained in it an obligation binding the people ouer to yeeld voluntary obedience vnto God and to be gouerned by him Thou hast said then I will not serue Thus God complaines that he hath ill imployed the benefits and graces which hee bestowed vpon the people in regard they abused the liberty hee gaue them to all excesse of riot And the reason which followes manifests it yet better For thou runnest as an harlot saith hee vpon euery high mountaine and vnder euery greene tree For we know that the Israelites no sooner reuolted from Gods true worship but they chose them places here and there as if the tops of the mountaines and shadowie places vnder greene trees had had more holines in thē than any other And euen thus it fares with the Papists at this day for their deuotion that is to say that diuellish fury which transports them from place to place is the very same Oh say they such a place is holier and better than that So did the Israelites for they thought themselues nearer heauen when they were mounted aloft vpon the tops of the hils likewise they thought they they had more familiar accesse to God when they were below vnder the thicke shade And we see also how euery profane man almost is bewitched after the same manner For when they are on the mountaines they thinke that makes them nearer to God they also imagine that some diuinity is secretly included as well by the riuers sides as vnder greene trees For as much then as this superstition had long continued among the Israelites God heere thus reprocheth them for their running and wandring to and fro But the similitude which hee vseth must be obserued For he compares them to harlots who hauing cast off all shamefastnesse trudge hither and thither not onely to satisfie their base and filthy lusts but also their insatiable couetousnesse whlch sets them so on gog He saith then Thou rannest about vpon euery mountaine and vnder euery leaued tree like an harlot or harlot that thou art as if hee should say See the reward thou gauest me for my mercy in redeeming thee thou thinkest thou hast obtained leaue now to ouerflow now in all impiety Thinke well then what hath occasioned thee thus to prostitute thy selfe to all villany and wickednesse It followes Vers 21. And I planted thee as a vine of choyce noble or exquisite for so much the Hebrew word signifies wholly of faithfull plants or approoued seed and how art thou then turned vnto me into the plants of a strange or wild vine GOd here cōfirmes that he said in the former sentēce for there he condemned the Israelites because they ranne riot after their superstitions notwithstanding God had redeemed them to another end namely that they should suffer themselues to be gouerned by his hand I saith he then haue planted thee a choyce vine that is to
I said there is a double similitude or comparison Albeit an husband in his discontent had reiected his wife and that by meanes thereof by his owne fault he occasions her to marry another notwithstanding after a second hath lien with her because hee thinkes he is now despised he esteemes it so great an indignity that he will neuer admit of any reconciliation But I thinke you will not say that I haue sent you away you rather haue played the part of a disloyall wife hauing prostituted your selues to the first commers yet am I ready notwithstanding to receiue you into fauour and to forget all your former slips and falles Now we haue the summe of that which the Prophet meant to say heere And in this second member there is a comparison from the lesse to the greater For the agreemēt would be more easily effected if the wife hauing been reiected by her husband should afterward come to please him and recouer his fauour albeit she had married another but when an adulterous wife finds her husband so willing and ready to pardon her it is a very rare example and hardly shall it be discerned in any one We see then how our Lord magnifies his mercy towards this people by an argument taken from the lesse to the greater which he the rather doth that the Iewes might be so much the more without excuse in that they had so obstinately reiected so great a fauour which God freely offered them But heere a question may be asked namely Quest wherefore the Prophet saith That this land is polluted with pollutions or in this I will in the first place speake of the words Answ and afterwards I will dispatch the rest All in a manner turne it thus Hath not this land been polluted with pollution But in reading this place thus I know not what sense to draw from it vnlesse peraduenture God meant to compare the wife diuorced to the land or rather that suddenly breaking off his speech hee meant to transferre that which he had said touching the reiected wife to the land or at least that hee now expounds the figure which he formerly vsed And yet wee may take it in this sense reading it apart thus In this to wit if it so fall out that some one take her for his wife the second time who had married another For as we haue shewed this was forbidden by the law neither could it bee auoided but the husband of such a wife must be reputed an adulterer if he tooke her againe for his wife whom he had once put away For by the bill of diuorce the woman was at liberty not that God permitted it so to be but because the women were guiltlesse they were borne withall for God laid all the fault vpon the husbands Now in this case when the wife who had been diuorced from her first husband ioyned her selfe in marriage with another this second marrying was lawfull so as if the first husband would recouer his wife whom he had forsaken he therein violated and brake the faith of the second marriage And in this sense it is the Prophet saith that in this the land shall be polluted as if he would haue said It is not lawfull for the husband to recall his wife to him notwithstanding he be most ready to entertaine her into his fauour and good liking and yet doe I saith the Lord expect nothing else but that you should returne vnto me As touching these words we haue already seene how the Prophet saith not without cause In this that is to say it would breed such confusion if a woman should bee married now to this man and then to another and in conclusion should returne againe to the first that by meanes heereof the band of humane society and order would be broken Moreouer by meanes heereof the sacred band of matrimony would be violated which notwithstanding is one of the most principall bands that men haue to preserue and establish the right gouernment of the Common-wealth When he adds but thou hast played the harlot with many louers it is the better to confirme that which wee haue seene before namely that the people offended not in one thing alone but were growne like common strumpets who indifferently without any choyce at all prostitute themselues to the first customer which is signified by these words many louers that is with many whore-masters for he calles them companions or louers who seeme to sue to one woman Then he adds yet turne againe vnto me saith the Lord that is I am most ready to receiue thee to mercy if so be thou wilt confesse thy fault Quest But heere may arise a question namely how God promiseth to doe that which himselfe in his Law had forbidden to be done But the solution is easie Answ I grant that so farre forth as respect was to be had to the right of maintaining humane society there was no other remedie to be giuen but seeing men had this liberty to put away their wiues it was not freely to be permitted without some restraint lest so it might seeme that God meant to cherish and approoue of their lightnesse and inconstancy It was very requisite then that wayward and peeuish husbands should be thus chastised that it might at no hand be lawfull for them to take againe into their fellowship the wife whom they had once put away otherwise euery one would haue been ready to haue changed their minds euery third day or at least euery yeere and then would haue been as ready the fit being ouer to haue demanded her againe God himselfe therefore imposed this law vpon diuorces that the man who had once put away his wife might not afterward receiue her againe But the case is otherwise in respect of God therefore no wonder if he retaine this right and power of receiuing the Iewes againe into fauour vpon their amendment It followes Vers 2. Lift vp thine eyes to the high places that is to the little hils or mountaines and behold in what place thou hast not played the harlot thou hast sitten waiting for them in the wayes namely to allure them as the Arabian in the wildernesse and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredomes and with thy malice FOr as much as the Prophet had taxed the Iewes for such as were become common and that they made no choyce at all who were one so they might bee the other euen like loose strumpets after they are growne past shame lest they should make their replies and also lest at any time they should alleage that they neuer so much as meant to commit such an offence hee makes them as it were their owne iudges Lift vp saith he thine eyes to the high places and behold that is I produce testimonies manifest enough for there is not the least mountaine in the land whereon thou hast not played the harlot with thine idols For we haue seene before and shall haue occasion oft times in this prophesie to repeat
far from fearing Iudah for whose cause the ten tribes are here brought in vnder the similitude of an adulterous wife that contrariwise she is said to be fearlesse p. 156. Vers 9 Yea contrariwise by the lightnesse of her whoredomes she defiled the land that is he euen made it guilty by her idolatry p. 157. Vers 10 And if in the dayes of good King Iosias they made any shew of conuerting vnto God yet in respect of the multitude all was but from the teeth outward and meerly in hypocrisie p. 158. Vers 11 Therefore the Prophet concludes that if comparison should now be made betweene Iudah and Israel that Israel of the two would prooue herselfe lesse guilty first in regard the Iewes had among them the Temple the sacrifices wherof they gloried not a little and therefore as they had better meanes so they should in the second place haue giuen good example to the other Lastly they should haue become wise by seeing their brethren so sharply punished for their Idolatry as it were euen before their eyes p. 159. The twelfth Lecture Vers 12 Now God seeming to haue bestowed labour in vaine vpon Iudah he turnes his speech from them to the poore scattered ten Tribes offering them mercy if yet they would conuert and lest they might obiect their owne vnworthinesse against that God opposeth one argument which might serue in stead of a million to induce them to beleeue to wit an argument taken euen from his owne gracious nature Returne thou backsliding Israel Why For I am mercifull saith he p. 162. 163. Vers 13 Onely they were to acknowledge their inquity For he that hideth his sinne shall not prosper And lest they might say they were to seeke how to frame their inditement against themselues God to preuent that excuse frames it for them putting the words as it were into their mouthes adding in the end the cause of all to wit they refused to heare those wholesome instructions which God tendred them out of his word p. 64. 65. 66. Vers 14 But because poore sinners are not easily brought to beleeue that God meanes as he speakes when he offers them mercy he exhorts them the second time to returne vnto him vpon this ground viz. that sowsoeuer they had shewed themselues as a disloyall wife towards him yet he retained the affection of a louing husband towards them and would be ready to accept them againe into his fauour though but one out of a City or but two out of a Tribe should come vnto him p. 168. 169. 170. And would be ready to shew a token of his especiall fauour Vers 15 vpon them namely in giuing them Pastors after his owne heart which should breake vnto them the bread of life p. 171. 172. And thus after God and they should be at one againe then Vers 16 would he cause both the houses of Iudah and Israel to become one also so as all causes of emulation and debates being done away they should like brethren hold the band of vnity and amity one with another p. 173. 174. Which exposition is here confirmed with the cause thereof Vers 17 rendred in regard God would correct that subbornnesse of heart after which formerly both of them had walked p. 175. The thirteenth Lecture For Gods wrath being now appeased after both houses Vers 18 had been thus seuerely chastised he would cause them like brethren to returne out of the land of their captiuity as it were hand in hand into the land of their natiuity p. 178. 179. But what should be the meanes to effect this God would Vers 19 giue them the spirit of prayer by which they should cry vnto him Abba Father And this not for any merits of theirs for by their sinnes Vers 20 they had deserued the contrary therefore they were to acknowledge that God did it freely and for his owne mercy sake And thus the Prophet once againe seekes to awaken the Iewes by the example of the Israelites p. 181. Bringing them in lamenting whilest the Iewes lay securely Vers 21 snorting in their impenitency p. 182. 183. Here God is brought in as a father relenting towards a Vers 22 gracelesse sonne and the Israelites repenting towards their good father p. 184. 185. Vers 23 And withall confessing their folly and errour which they could not see before to wit that whereas the helpe of one God had been alwayes sufficient for them in all extremities yet as if he had been too weake to saue them they thought it the safer way to trust to a multitude of Gods p. 185. 186. Vers 24 The odiousnesse of which sinne they might well discerne in seeing how their fathers had smarted for it in that as a consumption it deuoured both them and theirs p. 186. Vers 25 Themselues also being heires of their fathers iniquities tasted in like manner with them of the same punishments from their youth in regard both of them had done wickedly against God euen from their youth p. 187. 188. The fourteenth Lecture Chap. 4 Vers 1 Israel hath oft been summoned to conuert but lest shee should please her selfe in a fained or halfe conuersion the Lord wisheth her in this place to fall to it in good earnest p. 190. 191. Vers 2 The truth of which their conuersion he wisheth them to testifie by vsing the name of God reuerently and vprightly in all the parts of his worship and seruice p. 192. 193. Shewing that if they had taken this course they might euery way haue been mirrours of Gods mercies but the contrary was the cause of Gods curses vpon themselues which also kept off the Heathens from comming in to partake with them in the worship of the true God who had promised that in Abrahams seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed p. 194. 195. Vers 3 Now because their sinnes had of old taken deepe rooting within them he vseth a similitude vnder which he tels them it is vnpossible they should euer become fruitfull vnlesse they suffered the word of God as a plough to rend vp the fallow ground of their hearts that so these vices which for the hurt they did he compares to thornes might be rooted vp p. 196. 197. Vers 4 And that they might the rather be brought vnto it he puts the Iewes in mind of the Sacrament of Circumcision wherein they gloried so much wishing them not to rest in the bare and outward ceremony only but to shew foorth the effect thereof first in their inward man and then in their whole conuersation p. 198. And this he bids them doe without delay for if they deferred their repentance it would bee the next way to hasten the wrath of God to breake forth vpon them as fier which being once inflamed will not easily be quenched p. 200. For if it be once kindled all defences wherein they trusted Vers 5. 6. should turne into smoke and vanity p. 201. The fifteenth Lecture That he might yet strike the greater terrour into them he