his victories ouer Egypt in three words Venit vidit vicit He came he saw he ouercame So in three words Iudah huddles vp his bargaine with this Cananitish woman Verse 2 Vidit accepit cognouit He saw her he tooke her he went in vnto her Which shewes how rash and retchlesse we are without our right guide yea and euen how shamelesse in our actions when God turnes vs ouer to our lusts and to the sinfull affections of our owne hearts Neither was this vnpunished in Iudah thus matching himselfe into this accursed stocke for God blessed him not he grew so infortunate in his posteritie that he might haue wished with Augustus Caesar Suetonius O Vtinam coelebs vixissem orbusque perissem he had had neither wife nor child For euen the fruits of this Marriage Er and Onan were accursed of God And thus will it euer come to passe where God is neglected and our carnall affections beares the sway Thirdly to come more neere to the matter it selfe The fact thus committed with Thamar he labours to conceale it as much as he can For when he had sent the Kid to redeeme the Pledge and the Messenger could not finde her he satisfies himselfe without further inquirie Accipiat sibi Let her take it saith he without more adoe ne forte simus contemptui lest if al come to light we be ashamed Thus he feares man more then the God of Heauen that made man and the shame of men he stands in more awe of then the dreadfull presence and Maiestie of God The credit and reputation of his name he preserues prefers Omnia si perdat if hee lose all yea euen God himselfe who is all in all yet will he not incurre shame and reproch at the hands of men as if God did shut vp his eyes in boxes and were in a deepe slumber as if his all-seeing eye were not present yea euen with them who would auoide his presence as if he tooke no account of mans iniquitie or that the holy One of Israel would not be reuenged Fourthly to lay open the wound yet more You heard before how he was ouer-borne with lust with incontinencie you shall now see him as farre ouer-gone with crueltie I note it the rather because they are vices which seldome doe abandon one another especially if it be true which some hold for a Maxime Euery voluptuous Prince is cruell and the more if necessitie constraine him as here this great man Iudah adiudgeth Thamar for this fact to be burnt not for any such reason I rendred before but hereby he thought to be rid of Thamar and so his sonne Shelah might be at liberty to marry elsewhere For no doubt had not this beene his purpose he would not haue beene so forward so resolute He would rather haue expostulated with her concerning the Fact For was there no orderly proceeding to be had Doth hee settle his Iudgement vpon the first impression to haue her dispatched Had she been married to two of his sonnes Er and Onan and is his fauor no better nay are his words so bitter the words of death Surely yea here is but a word and a blowe As peremptorie was he as euer was Dauid 2. Sam. 11.5 The man that hath done this shall surely dye and little thought it concerned him so neere Educite eam Bring her forth Verse 24. he spake imperatiuely and this was generosum and spoken like a King but vt comburatur that she may bee burnt and her complaint not entred her cause not heard this was scelerosum and spoken like a Tyrant Nay here is one thing more that fils vp the measure of his iniquitie and makes him wicked aboue measure for hee would haue had her dispatched being great with child Here was nihil virtutis besides the first sillable nihil humanitatis besides the Name Pietatis omniâ—o nihil Nay rather Excede pietas Be gone pietie be gone Though he had not regarded her because she had offended yet me thinkes he should haue respected the poore infant who offended not could it speake to any other then to the bowels that bare it Or plead at any Barre either for it selfe or the Mother being as yet imprisoned in the Wombe and not so soone enlarged as it should haue beene enwrapped with the slames of Death 2. King 8. The teares in the eyes of Elisha I can scarce remember without teares when so earnestly hee eyed Hazael knowing that amongst other villanies committed by him hee should rend in pieces women great with child I pray what answere made Hazael againe Is thy seruant a Dogge that he should doe this thing So brutish so inhumane Deut. 24.16 How did God prouide against this Rigour when he made a Law that the Child should not suffer for the Father nor the Father for the Child When Iudgement of death passeth vpon a woman with child the execution is deferred till she be deliuered This was practised amongst the Athenians and it was the Law of the ancient Romans Aelianus lib. 5. Suetonius in vita Claudij Eras in Paedagog Yet Suetonius who wrote the liues of the twelue Caesars and indeede he wrote as Erasmus wittily eà dem libertate quà ipsi vixerunt euen as freely as they liued reports of Claudius that he spared not to put to death women great with child Generall Historie of Spaine Pag. 420. Such was that horrible outrage of the Sicilians vpon the French mentioned in the generall Historie of Spaine who slew them with such cruelty that where they knew any women of their owne Nation begotten with child of the French they ripped open their wombes and slew both women and children because they would be sure to leaue none of their French seede in the Countrey answerable to this was the clemencie of Q. Acts and Monuments Pag. 129. Maries Bishops who burning a woman great with child her wombe burst and the Babe sprang forth which labouring to auoid the flame they tooke and cast into the fire againe I will say no more but surely this was an hard doome for Thamar Hexapla in Gen. pag. 302. and so much the more vniust because this punishment was not arbitrarie in Iudah for hee had no such authoritie an honourable man hee was indeede but no Magistrate there to command the execution of any such Iustice Iudah is now at the highest Concerning Thamar 2. Thamar if we pull off her vaile we may easily see that though it couered her face yet it could not couer her sinne For though Iudah knew her not to be Thamar yet Thamar knew him well inough to be Iudah and it is more then manifest that she willingly committed this Incest And say she did it not in any desire of inordinate lust as it is like she did not but rather successionis gratia desiring onely to haue issue Et ex ea familia quam delegerat and of that Family and I ribe too that shee had chosen
the fruit of all humane policie besides the sting it leaues behinde and the poore conscience set vpon the Rack they are many times circumuented in the plots and proiects caught in their owne snares and ouerthrowne in their owne deuises Our age haue not wanted experience of such politicians who hauing soared aloft in the highest pitch of fauour with their Prince and haue beene as starres fixed in that glorious or be of the state They needed not haue begged for honour as Saul did of Samuel Honour mee before this people 1. Sam. 15.30 Gen. 32.9 They might haue said with Esau I haue enough my brother Their height haue beene like the height of Cedars yet because they were not vpright in heart but dissembled in their conscience with God and man as Ahab in his repentance 1. Kings 21.27 some of them subtilly turning their outside to one Religion their inside to another Others seeking to coÌ„passe their lusts through prodigious and disasterous courses they haue beene catched in their owne snares God discouering their wisedome to be foolishnesse and all their deuices vanishing away as the fome vpon the waters And as the Gibeonites got nothing by their craft but perpetuall slauerie so they dishonour and reproch Dead flies Iudges 9. causing the sweet ointment of their honourable reputation to putrifie and euen stinke vpon the earth as sometime the bowels of Antiochus did But thus will it euer come to passe that when greatnesse is not supported with goodnesse Mole ruit suà it ouerthrowes it selfe with the owne weight So iustly may it be said of all such polliticians as Paul spake of the Gentiles to another purpose Cum se prositeantur esse sapientes flulti facti sunt Rom. 1.22 VVhen they professe themselues most wise they proue themselues most fooles I will not precisely say that either this or any the former were causes of Iudahs remorse but now wee will come to the greatest and the last The consideration of the sinne it selfe as it was an offence against God He knew he had not done well The horrour of the fact condemned him Gen. 3.7 the sinne presented it selfe before him as the sinne of Adam the eyes of his iudgement and vnderstanding were opened which at the first were dimmed and dammed vp that now he saw the foule errour he had committed and no doubt his sinne lay at his doore Gen. 4.7 his conscience pursues him attaches him condemnes him Great is the power of conscience He sees he sees the greatnesse of his sinne he knowes God is displeased and therefore is touched with remorse for it I say againe Great is the power of conscience Eadem est index eadem tortor eadem Carcer Ipsa iudicat ipsa accusat ipsa damnat It is both witnesse iudge prison iaylor It iudgeth accuseth and damneth perpetually Wee neede no worse enemie then a guiltie conscience It is like an ill conditioned wife it makes a man euer range abroad he neuer loues to be at home he desires not the company of it we thinke it our enemie as Ahab both thought and spake of Elias 1. Kings 21.20 The rubs and checkes of conscience are full of restlesse terrours as if it were vexed with furies And surely little rest had Iudah after sinne had set vp her rest For when sinne comes into the heart Aut Caesar aut nullus Apoc. 18.7 she will be Caesar or no body I tell you shee will reigne alone and say with Babylon Sedeoregina I sit as Queene But Iudah heere did by his sinne as Christ did by the euill spirit Mat. 8.32 he casteth it out his lustfull affections he sent packing as Christ did the Diuels into the Heard of swine and said vnto them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bee gone his little pleasure with Thamar turnes him to much displeasure Nocet empta dolore voluptas Horat. and brings him out of fauour with God and all good men Therefore here is his resolution he breakes off his wickednesse and comes at her no more Here is the first maine part of Repentance to abandon sinne as the first step of the ladder to heauen And I doubt not but Iudah ascended the next and the rest For what can be more Being truely touched for this offence hee resolues no more to touch Thamar Repentance being nothing else but a transmutation and change of the minde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a turning from sinne and a returning to God Neither is it qualitas or habitus but opus a worke and not euery work neither but a worke of grace In which Terminus à quâ—t Terminus ad quem there is something we must renounce and vtterly go from Something we must recouer embrace and haue recourse vnto As Lot went from Sodome to Zoar Gen. 19.18 so must we goe from the dotage of sinne to the knowledge of grace We must kill and crucifie the old man with the lusts and concupiscences therof and we must quicken raise vp the new If we haue giuen ouer our members to vncleannes as Iudah had here done we must addresse our selues to the contrarie Ephes 4.24 and make them the seruants of righteousnesse in holinesse as the Apostle speaketh These are the passages to the gate of life Abandon thy sinne and winne heauen renounce thy pleasures Luke 16.25 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 16.12 and thou shalt haue pleasures for euermore No kingdome of glory if thou beest not first in the kingdome of grace no kingdome of grace if thou hast not first abandoned the kingdome of sinne First in this we are nats borne in the other renati borne againe but in the third beati blessed for euer Happy is that man whose second birth hath altered and changed the first for he shall finde peace and ioy at the last There must be a change of life in euery man else must wee pay dearely for it at our change of death I pray what preserued Nineueh from destruction Fasting and sackcloth No no saith a Father it was the Renouation and change of their liues It is not ciborum abstinentia Chrysost Hom. 3. ad populum Antioch abstinence from meates that God so much lookes after but peccatorum fuga auoidance from sinne What profiteth it to take downe the bodie by fasting saith Ierome animus intumescit superbia and the minde swolne and puffed vp with pride or to be nice forsooth Ierome ad Caelantium and curious in drinking a cup of wine and yet ira odio incbriari make themselues drunke with malice and contentions or to whip chastice keepe downe their bodies by discipline and yet stand in the defence of publique Stewes and wallow in the profusion of insatiable lusts It is the renouation and change of the minde that is all in all which ariseth not so much from the wrath of God for the sinne as from the hatred and detestation of it because it is sinne So much for the
rule must here take place Let him that thinketh he stand Ambrose take heede lest he fall Labi humanum prolabi Diabolicū We do freely confesse and acknowledge the infirmities of holy men to the shame of this flesh and bloud that we beare about vs and to the glorie of God The Scripture hath not concealed them and we ought to make a good vse of them as an ancient Father saith Patriarchae nos instruunt non solū docentes sed etiam errantes we may learn many good instructions as vvel from their sins as from their graces as vvell from their faults as from their vertues Therefore if these holy men of God these Worthies of the world fell so dangerously it should bee our dayly prayer vnto God that hee vvould hold vs vp against all the temptations of the Diuell allurements of the vvorld and prouocations of our Flesh vvhatsoeuer A second reason vvhy the Incest of these two is related is this yee know the manner of the Iew vvas much to boast of his pedigree and descent Inuenall Nil nisi Cecropides I tell you he vvill be noble or nothing In the 8. of Iohn they told Christ to his face that they were not the children of fornication Iohn 8.41 Now this serues to abate their pride and insolencie here may they see what manner of beginning they had here is the Rocke whence they vvere hewen their generation is knowne to the vvorld Let them look back to their great Ancestor the Prince of their Tribe and they shall finde sufficient matter of humiliation Thirdly the report of Iudahs Incest was yet for a further cause more then all the rest Wee know that Christ came of the Tribe of Iudah and in that golden Genealogie in the Gospell Mat. 1.3 Iudah is numbred amongst others in the series and Ranke as Christs Ancestor vvho begat Phares and Zara of Thamar Now the holy Ghost in reckoning vp the progenie and descent of Christ glanceth at the notorious sinnes of Iudah as he doth the like of Dauid and therefore doth not onely say hee begat Salomon Verse 6 but addeth of her who was the wife of Vriah where Dauid is detected for his Murder and Adulterie So Rahab the Harlot is also mentioned in that line as an Ancestor of Christ vvho was married to Salmon a Prince of the Tribe of Iudah Truth seekes no corners and the holy Ghost vvho is the author of truth vvill not conceale these grosse blemishes and staines euen in those who according to the flesh were the ancestors of Christ What should this meane To haue our line drawne from incestuous and adulterous commixtures we hold it no small infamie and disparagement It is noted for a dishonour vnto Claudius Caesar Suetonius that his Father Drusus was begotten in Adulterie Iudg. 11.1 Iphtah the Giliadite was a valiant man Iudg. 11.1 but hee vvas the sonne of an Harlot there is his blemish Iudah honorably descended the Praise of the Lord according to the interpretation of his Name he saued the life of his brother innocent Ioseph by his counsell Gen 31.27 moued no doubt euen by Gods Spirit so to doe yet by your leaue he gaue aduice to sell him to the Ismaelites hee went from his brethren ioynes himselfe with the Cananites marries into their stocke defrauds Thamar of her husband commits Incest with her and cruelly adiudgeth her to be burnt Heere is heaping of sin vpon sinne as they which built Babell laid one bricke vpon another and must he be the Tribe euen the very Prince of it whence the Holy and blessed Redeemer of mankinde should descend Surely yea for in him that is Christ there was treasured vp all riches of grace Col. 2 9. and he indeede not to bee made noble by his stock or parentage neither did the grosse infirmities of his progenitors any whit disparage him for he clensed and purified all in his holy and vnspotted Conception He could haue made choise of another race but herein herein appeared his wonderfull humilitie abasing himselfe in that wherein men for the most part are wont to be proud of I meane bloud and parentage The whole course of his life Augustine witnessed his humilitie Fecit te fecit multa propter te nay propter te fecit seipsum He made thee he made many things for thee nay for thee he made himselfe Phil. 2.7 VVhat Of no reputation saith Paul Phil. 2.7 hee tooke vpon him the shape of a seruant and humbled himselfe vnto the death euen vnto the death of the crosse He humbled himselfe not onely in his death but in his life not onely in his life but in his birth not onely in his birth but euen before his birth in his race in his descent Vt qui pro peccatoribus moriturus erat Muscul in Mat. per peccatores patres auceret generationem saith Musculus vpon the first of Mathew That he who was to die for sinners deriued his race from sinfull men Non liberaretur humanum genus nisi Christus dignaretur esse humanus August saith S. Augustine he must become man to deliuer mankinde and hee must pay the price of sinne Gregor in Moralibus who knew no sinne Nisi ipse indebitam mortem susciperet nunquam nos â debita morte liberaret saith Gregorie in his Morals Vnlesse hee had suffered a death not due he could neuer haue freed vs from the death that was due not due to him but to vs most due Neither was it necessarie that his puritie and sanctitie should depend vpon his Ancestors for he was holinesse it selfe and all their impurities were clensed away in his puritie their sinnes of Crimson Esay 1.18 he made as white as Snow and their sinnes of Scarlet as white as VVooll So much for the second point VVe had done with Thamar before 3. Iudahs remorse Ouid. Metamorph. She conceiues by Iudah Conceptaque crimina portat as the Poet spake of Myrrha and at the appointed time her wombe was eased of the Burthen Heb. 121. Iudah for his part had a burden too a burden of sinne that pressed him downe and lay heauy at his heart and now hee goeth about to lighten himselfe of it You haue heard heretofore an hard discourse against Iudah his sinne discouered and laid open Yet when I spake hardest of him I might haue said vnto you in the language of the Shunamite vnto her husband 2. Kings 4.32 or of Domitians Crow vpon the Top of the Capitoll 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suetonius All shall be well For you shall now heare better of Iudah then you haue heard Blessed O blessed is that man who though he hath spent himselfe in peruerse waies displeasing vnto God can yet with Iudah remember himselfe lay his hand vpon his heart bee pricked in conscience with remorse for his sinne and say Lord I haue offended thee in this or that sinne and as neere as