not manifesting but concealing this future evill 2. If contrary unto the accustomed mercies of the wise God toward the inquisitive sons of un-advised man Gods predestination concerning Isaac be revealed Tell it not in Beersheba for should the Patriarch know it would bring down his gray haires with sorrow to the grave 3. If to the unhappy ears of the surprised old Father it must come Prepare him a little Give him his full sleep a full meal and due store of wine Place in a readiness about him Lovers and Friends if not to share and divide yet to bewail and bemoan his Woe Then but not untill then give unto him some easy hint some warie fore notice of what will seem sad news at the best 4. If this be not to tempt but to indulge if no company nor Comforters may be admitted Solitary and forlorn as he is let him by himselfe alone recieve the intelligence but let him receive it with a still voice let him not receive it over hastily To bolt upon one over sodainly startleth even then when one bringeth a blessing how much more when one cometh not to befriend but to afflict 5. If sodainly and unexspectedly the newes must affright if in an hour that he is not aware of the aged and trembling parent must hear the tidings of his dear-sons fate Mention it unto him in the day time there is in Day light some light of comfort Mention it not in the night season in all Darkness there is Dread If heretofore there fell upon this faithful Patriarch such a horrour at the going down of the Sun a greater horrour will seise him now in the night in the dark night in the dead time of the dark night 6. If to add to the discomfort there must be a dreadfull horrour upon his mind then when he heareth his Isaac's doom send I pray thee by the man whom thou wilt send by some Cushi or by some Amalekite for How dismall are the Feete of him that bringeth bad errands If Ahimaaz be a good man King David will from Ahimaaz exspect good tidings Such is their Clemency It is by their inferiour Judges that Princes condemn their own lips speake not except pardons If therefore any Enemies Abraham hath let one of them be unto him the black messenger of his Isaac's death but let not the Lord speake unto his servant lest he dye In the last place As the Destinie of Isaac was brought unto Abraham in the horrour of Darknesse and that too not by some Enemie or stranger neither by some neighbour or friend no not by some Man of God no nor yet by some Angel of the Lord but by the dreadfull JEHOVAH himselfe So 1. God who at Sundrie times spake in diverse manners spake in this third age of the World neither by Vrim nor by Thummim but either in Dreames or in Visions Oh not in a Dreame lest that feare not in a Vision lest that terrifie the Patriarch such a Dreame such a Vision as this will make his whole head sick and his whole heart faint 2. Let not the good old man espie an estranged looke from his hitherto benigne Lord rather let him not see the face of God at all for Who can see the face of God and live 3. Suppose that the Lord do indeede un-cloth himselfe of his majestie and terrour Suppose he speak face to face with Abraham as a man speaketh with his friend Neverthelesse as the case now standeth he in so doing Will not as his manner was confirm and comfort this Holy Father but he will as his manner is not deterre and dismay Him For 4. Call thy Daughter Jo-ruhamah and thy Son Lo-ammi Call Na-ommi not Naomi but Marah If a signet on the Lords right hand Jeconiah may not be deal squarely with him name him not Jeconiah but Coniah And if a God come not to blesse but to tempt if he come to un-Abraham the Patriarch say a not Abraham but Abram 5. I have called thee by thy name thou art mine The favouritie as ever awaketh starteth up and with joy answereth unto his name but b Hope disappointed maketh his heart sick For. In v. 2. of Gen. 22. Abraham was tempted 1. IN the b Surprize of which he a never dreamed He a thought to heare not the dire will but the good pleasure of his bountifull Lord He a expecteth not a burden but a blessing not a strict charge but enlarged promises not a billing command but loving kindnesses better then life Me thinks I see me thinketh I hear the overjoyed heart of this surprised Favourite b interrupting his God Take now O blessed possessour of heaven and of earth Thou art alwaies like thy self Thou art alwaies giving Take now thy son Which of the two sons whom the Lord hath graciously given unto mee Him by the Bond-woman or Him by the Free-woman Thine only Isaac The apple of mine eye and of thine eye also O my God Whom thou lovest And O most high God whom Thou lovest And get thee unto the land of Moriah For there the Lord will command his blessings And there for a burnt offering offer Most probably hitherto this Favourite fed his hopes But when it b added for a burnt offering offer Him then was Abraham tempted 1 What had He sinned that among all the inhabitants of Gods earth He alone should be singled out for such a prodigie as this Had he trespassed against a Neighbours Wife reason good then that he should give his first born for his transgression the fruit of his body for the sin of his soul But blessed be his God He had wrought no such follie hee Admit he had Here after the son of Davids adulterie shall dye a natural death and shall the Son of Abrahams integritie be haled like a beast unto the slaughter 2. Offer him up there To whom Satan He was a murderer from the beginning As for the God of all flesh His Delight is not to destroy but to preserve the work of his own hands 3. Of man shall mans blood be required Doth God trapan Abraham If when He shew his brother a mark was set upon Cain should Abraham slay his son would his God hold him guiltless 4. Take now thy Son For what for a burnt offering 1. Behold for a burnt offering some Lamb or Kid is proper such a firstling the righteous Abel offered up and with that sacrifice the Lord was then well pleased Doth he now forget to be gracious And hath he shut up the bowels of his compassions The tender mercies of the wicked are cruell Are the tender mercies of JEHOVAH so too Loe the blood of bullocks or of he goates of Lambs or of Kids he doth not now require the blood of which the preserver of men is now pleased to drink is mans blood 2. As mans blood so not the blood of some murderer rebel or oppressor not the blood of some Cain Lamech or Nimrod but of one harmless and blameless of one
neck Joseph shall please himself in weeping the bowels of Abraham yern upon Isaac's neck he may not weep 4. Abraham was tempted in the No time b given The daughter of Jephthah so God will order it shall go childless among Women a joyful mother of children a happy mother in Israel she shall not be nevertheless this indulgence her tender father may grant he may safely give unto her fâ—ll two months space and therein to bewail and celebrate her Virgin life before she be finally consecrated a Nunn a Vestal a Votarie to her God But as for the Father of Isaac He must seize he must apprehend he must take his Isaac not two months hence but presently Where it is said unto him b Take thy son there it is said unto him b Take thy son now 5. Whither must he take Him 1. Answ Not unto the tent of his abode for there he might have rushed upon have gulped down and irrevocably have executed the unnatural Duty ere ever his more considerate heart had given place unto the recoilings of his fatherly compassions Loving-Kindnesses and affections 2. Answ Neither might that neighbouring grove be the shadow of his sons death for there he might have called in aid But 3. Answ He was to take his son unto a place d afarr off which place mount Moriah by name was above forty miles distant from Beersheba which forty miles were in this winterly season unto the feeble Knees and languishing Spirits of heavie hearted Abraham little less d then three daies journey During a great part of which three daies to speake was to betray his grief to be silent was to breed suspicion to stand still was disobedience to return back was rebellion and to go forward was death 4 Answ Get thee into the land of Moriah unto one of the mountains which b I will tell thee of How shall he get thither The same Vision which a disturbed his first nights rest will these next two nights hold his eyes wakeing or if slumber he doth his very shuntings will affright him How can a dejected crasie aged person travail if he wanteth both sleep and sustenance He can eat no food except bread of affliction and he more heartily feedeth upon his griefes then upon that I dare not say he mingleth his drink with teares for these he suppresseth In the stead of weeping openly he bleedeth inwardly and no marveil seeing every step between Beer-sheba and mount Moriah presseth so heavily upon his drooping Spirits Father said the g secure lad Where is a Lamb for the burnt offering Nigh at hand thought the Father but he durst not say so He was glad to pluck up his Spirits when with a sorrowful heart I wisse he happily replied h God will provide himself a lamb my son Hungry and thirsty his soul fainting in him upon naked mountains in bleak weather slowly and mournfully he laggeth on glad if he might be priviledged to sprinkle the ground with teares and his head with Ashes but he may not thus mitigate his afflictions When after many and many a wearisom step he long at the last d saw the place afarr off much more when he i came quite to it then more then ever he fixed his farewel eye upon his now short-liv'd Isaac And the more he now fixed his eye upon his Isaac the more did his eye now affect his heart But more by many degrees more was his sad and mournfull heart pittifully greived then when he k stretched forth his hand and took the Knife For 6 Abraham was tempted as in the place appropriated to this sacrifice so in the sacrifice to be offered up The sacrifice to be offered up was b a burnt offering and this ye know required f as well fire as a Knife This burnt offering was k first to be slain and then i to be consumed with fire I say again Isaac was 1 as first to be bound and then to be layed over the altar upon the wood so first to be slain with a Knife and then to be burnt A crueltie it will be to cutt the throat of Isaac but the inhumanitie ceaseth not here for when his throat is cutt then must his body his whole body be burned wholy burned to ashes Sirs if this be that death which Isaac is to suffer say I Let me not see the death of the Lad. But to make the catastrophe yet more tragical His Father must see it And yet is this sigh this prodigious Sight but the least of his trialls For 7. Abraham was tempted as in the sacrifice b assigned so in the sacrificer b ordained Isaac the Son He is to be the sacrifice Abraham the father He is to be the sacrificer 1. If Isaac must indeed be offered up for a burnt offering let some un-concerned stranger or other be hired to be the sacrificing Priest 2. If by a strange hand the Son of Abraham may not die Order some meane out Servant to give the deaths wound 3. If no inferiour Servant may let Eleazar the Steward undergoe this servitude 4. If Eleazar may not O let Ishmael be forced upon the Dutie 5 Let any hand whatsoever rather then the hand of Abraham himselfe binde and slay the Son of Abraham But Who may say unto God What doest thou Abraham must b apprehend Abraham must c conduct Abraham must f burden Abraham must i binde Abraham can not k refuse to slay Abraham can not refuse to burn to ashes his Son his onely Son his onely Isaac his onely Isaac whom he loveth Even so much that From v. 2. unto v. 11. of Gen. 22. Abraham was tempted IN the multitude of thoughts within Him 1. While he 1. ariseth so early 2. Sadleth the Asse 3. cleaveth the Wood 4. calleth aside two and but two young men and 5. with them draweth his Isaac out of doores 2. While he c consulteth hast and privacie for why else did he himselfe both Saddle the Asse and cleave the Wood 3. While indisposed and enfeebled as he was he c began and continued his Winterly that I may not say his fatal journey 4. When by some undoubted signall I mean by some cloud testifying Gods presence or rather by some pillar of fire or rather by some new appearing Starr he was c told of and therefore d saw the place afar off 5. While for reasons but too two well know unto himselfe he left his two young men e behind him 6. All the while that his Son was f carrying the Wood and that he himselfe was f carrying the Fire and the Knife 7. While he i 1. built the altar 2. upon it laied the Wood in order 3. bound his Son 4 laied his Son over the altar upon the Wood 5. When he took the Knife and 6. Sretched forth his hand his trembling hand to slay his Isaac his onely Isaac In all which trans-actions unto the unwillingly-willing Father of Isaac every new occurrence could be no lesse then a new conflict 2. Abraham was tempted
as well in Deede as in Thought He was afflicted if it were possible more in the evils which ominously attended these Occurrences then in these Occurrences which confusedly perplexed his Obedience 1. Abraham was comparatively a feeble person a person aged an hundred twenty five yeeres Isaac was a sturdie lad a lad aged about twenty five yeeres Isaac was f better able to carrie all the Wood requisite for a burnt offering then his Father was to bring with him the Fire and the Knife How therefore could the Patriarch singly by himselfe alone over power bind and slay the robustious youth Isaac Should the boy find his own strength should he deeme his case desperate turn again snatch the Knife out of his Parents hand and of the two evils chuse rather to Kill then to be Killed Which way could the heartlesse wearish old man be enabled to help himselfe Alas alas for his young and strong Son Isaac Abraham the aged is no match no match at all 2. On the other side Grant that Isaac will not resist unto blood Let him beyond all expectation most humbly suffer both his hands and his feete to be tied and bound Imagine him so made up of selfe-denials that he becometh obedient even unto the death If what life the Father the weake Father can not take from the Son that life the son the obedient son most chearfully layeth down Surely Sirs the Scene is now changed the unexspected submissiveness of the child charmeth and tieth up the hands and intention of the Father Had the boy bin stout hearted he might by resisting and strugling have warmed a constancy in the resolution of the parent but seeing the meek child doth more quietly then any Lamb give up his throat unto his Fathers Knife Slay him that can for Abraham If cause so requireth Abraham can die in the stead of his child but slay him he cannot How shall I give thee up Isaac How shall I offer thee up my Son My bowels are turned within me and my repentings are Kindled together O that I might dye for thee my son my son 3. Let Father and Son too religiously determine that Jehovah shall fullfill his whole pleasure upon them both Let the burnt offering by God required be both by the sacrificer and by the sacrificed a free-will offering Let Isaac be slain and being slain let him be burnt to ashes An Hour hence when the beat of zeal is insensibly cooled and when Fatherly affections do as insensibly Kindle View then the Patriarch weeping for his only Isaac because he is not 4. Let him wipe all teares from his eyes and let him wipe them all away by Faith the blood upon his hands he cannot so soon wash off Loe a little distance hence two young men e wait as wel the Sons as the Fathers return Let Abraham see to it Should their blood arise at blood-guiltiness Should they in a furie avenge upon their old Master the death of their young Master the aged father I wisse is but one against two Escape for his life he cannot 5. Suppose that these two young men will keep counsel if they can yet will not Sarah be so said As for Ishmael he will suspect His turn to be the next Hardly will any Subject deem himself safe within the jurisdiction of such a Prince as hath by vertue of his arbitrarie power in a mercilesse frenzie sacrificed even his own child 6. Give Abraham his life for a prey yet if the foundations be cast down what can the righteous do In Abraham his seed which seed is Christ shall all the world be blessed Although Isaac remaineth childless in Isaac shall Abraham his seed be called Sacrifice Him and out of whose loins shall come the appointed Saviour of all mankind Verily the Faith of Abraham the hope of Gods elect the Expectation of the Gentiles are all three of them in vain if for a burnt offering Isaac be offered up childless 7. Accompt that God is able to raise him from the dead Let this Father of the Faithful believe hope and rest assured that out of the dead ashes of his Son not another but the self same Isaac whom he offered up shall be raised unto life upon earth Grant all this and more Nevertheless except his own family and with them his other relations believe the certainty of this as truly as He himself believeth it Into what a strait is Abraham now brought yea 8. Let sound believers and with them all other well-wishers make the best interpretation which they rationally can make of this Patriarch his Obedience yet for an un-provoked Father under a pretence of Religion to embrue his own hands in the blood of his own child is a Fact so inhumane so barbarous and in this age of the world so unheard of that the bruit of it will spread farr and near It will unavoidably open the mouths of evil surmisers to speak all manner of Falshoods against Him both at home and abroad 1. It will hence forward be charged against Him how 1. It was for no goodness that of old he fled his Country and hath ever since bin shifting places from one people to another Kingdom like a meer fugitive and vagabond Neither 2. had he as fifty years since he did so carelesly forsaken his own kindred and his Fathers house if he had not then bin as he now is devoid even of natural affections 3. Hagar had a taste of his kindness when he turned her packing out of doors 4 It did not over much consist with a conjugal love while his wife Sarah continued alive to take Hagar into his bed and 5. there was in him as little honesty as good nature when to humour his morose wife He contrary to the law of nations disinherited his first born son Ishmael In brief the Wisdom the sobriety the gravity the integrity c. of Abraham his whole life past will by this one dead flie in his Ointment be for ever hereafter utterly discredited to say no Worse He who most justly valued his good name above spoiles by him taken in warr must now live to be a scorn and a derision and a monster amonst Men. Wherefore if Jonah will rather flie from the presence of the Lord then adventure to be reputed a false Prophet Consider I pray you how un-supportable a temptation will then crush this reverend and venerable Patriarch when He hitherto a mighty Prince shall be had in no reputation rather when he shall be an abject and offscouring among men even the gazing stock and Spectacle of the World Might Abraham be suffered to cutt as well his own throat as the throat of Isaac might he give his body to be burnt upon his sons and with his sons ashes intermix his own this would not be unto him so great a death as that Contempt will be which the death of his Isaac will every where bring upon Him That mark which was set upon Cain will not equal the brand which