Vers 35. And all his sons c. Oh faces hatcht with impudence Oh hearts hewen out of a rock Could they cause his wo and then comfort him Miserable comforters were they all such as the Usurer is to the young Novice or the Crocodile that weeps over the dead body that it is devouring These were the evill beasts that devoured Ioseph * Nullae infestae hominibus bestiae ut sunt sibi fâ—â—ales plerique Christiâ—â—ti Am. Marcell l. 2. c. 2. A sad thing that a Heathen should see cause to say so Heb. 11.34 But he refused to be comforted Wherein he shewed his fatherly love but not his son-like subjection to Gods good providence without the which no evil beast could have set tooth in Joseph whom he was sure also to receive safe and whole again at the Resurrection which was a great comfort to those afflicted Iews Dan. 12.2 and those mangled Martyrs His father also wept for him Iacobs father Isaac saith Iunius which might very well be for he lived twelve years after this and likely loved Ioseph best for his great towardlinesse Vers 36. And the Midianites Little knew Ioseph what God was in doing Have patience till he have brought both ends together CHAP. XXXVIII Vers 1. And it came to passe at that time BEfore the rape of Dinah the sale of Ioseph and soon after their return from Mesopotamia Iudah went down from his brethren A green youth of 13. or 14. years of age left his company where he might have had better counsel There is a special tye to perseverance in the Communion of Saints They that forsake the assembling of themselves together are in a fair way for Apostacy Heb. 10.25 To a certain Adullamite There is a double danger of evil company 1. Infection of sin at least defection from grace 2. Infliction of punishment Rev. 18.4 Vers 2. And Iudah saw there c. He saw took went in all in haste Patre inconsulto forte etiam invito His father neither willing nor witting Hence for a punishment was so little mercy shewed to his sons These hasty headlong matches seldom succeed well It is not amiss to marry but good to be wary Young men are blamed of folly for following the sight of their eyes and lust of their hearts Eccles 11. Sed Leo cassibus irretitus dicet Si praescivissem Vers 3. Bruson lib. 4. cap. 9. And she conceived c. St. Hierome tells us of a certain drunken nurse that was got with child by her nursling a boy of ten years old This he relateth as monstrous and takes God to witness that he knew it to be so Vers 6. And Iudah took a wife for Er When he was but 14. Musculus years of age as appears by the Chronicle seven years after the selling of Ioseph And here it is well observed that though Iudah took a wife without his fathers consent yet he will not have Er to do so Vers 7. Wicked in the sight of the Lord A Sodomite In Heb. vi etâ—y esse aâ—lusio seu inver o neminis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 erat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 q. d. Er erat vigil perversuâ— say the Hebrews but this is hard to say As an evil doer he was soon cut off Psal 37.9 God would not have such to be his Son Christs progenitor Too wicked he was to live you may know him to be the son of a Canaanitess Partus sequitur ventrem Vers 8. And Iudah said unto Onaâ— At fourteen years of age likewise For from the birth of Iudah to their going down to Egypt were but 43. years And yet before that Perez had Hezron and Hamul being married about the fourteenth year of his age which was doubtless too soon Childhood is counted and called the flower of age 1 Cor. 7.36 And so long the Apostle would have marriage forborn Whilest the flower of the plant sprouteth the seed is green unfit to be sown Either it comes not up or soon withereth Over early marriages is one cause of our over-short lives Venery is deaths best harbinger saith One. Vers 9. When â—e went in unto his brothers wife God for the respect he bears to his own Institution of marriage is pleased to bear with cover and not impute many frailties follies vanities wickednesses that are found betwixt man and wife Howbeit Intemperans in conjugio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suae adulter est Aug. In uxorem alienam â—mnis amâ—â— turpis est in suam vero 〈◊〉 imius Hieron Seneca there is required of such an holy care and conscience to preserve between themselves by a conjugal chastity the marriage bed undefiled taking heed of an intemperate or intempestive use of it which by Divines both Ancient and Modern is deemed no better then plain adultery before God Qui cum uxore sua quasi cum aliena concumbit adulter est saith that Heathen Onans sin here was self polâ—ution aggravated much by his envy that moved him to it expressed in these words lest he should give seed to has decea sed brother And the more sinful was this sin of his Hebraei inquiunt perinde ut homicidam reum esse qui temere semen prosurdit Mercer in loc in spilling his seed because it should have served for the propagation of the Messiah Therefore the Lord slew him As also because he was not warned by his brothers punishment Vers 10. Wherefore he slew him God oft punisheth the abuse of the marriage-bed either with untimely death It was well said of One that Venus provideth not for those that are already born Cuffes Differ of Ages 106. but for those that shall be born or else with no children mis-shapen children ideots or prodigiously-wicked children c. Cavete Let this consideration be as the Angel standing with a drawn sword over Balaam's shoulders Vers 11. Lest peradventure he die also c. Judah lays the fault all on her whereas it was in his sons Sarah on the other side blamed her self onely for barrenness Gen. 16.2 Judge not that ye be not judged but if we judge our selves we shall not be judged In judging of the cause of our crosses we are oft as far out as she was that laid the death of her childe to the presence of the good Prophet Vers 12. The daughter of Shuah c. This was just in God upon Judah for his fraudulent dealing with Tamar whom he neither married to his son Shelah nor suffered to be married to another Sin is oft punished in kinde Vers 13. To shear his sheep And so to put by his sorrow as Jonathan did his anger by going into the field to shoot At sheep-shearings they had feasts 1 Sam. 25.8 11. Vers 14. Covered her with a vail As they that do evil shun the light She was going about a deed of darkness For she saw that She was grown She ran into this foul sin partly for revenge and partly for issue But this excuseth
hist Pontif. Rom. p 309. And how fitly are the Papists called Heathens by Saint John Revel 11.2 Sith besides their Atlas of Rome on whose shoulders the whole Church that new heaven must rest there was at Ruremund in Gilderland a play acted by the Jesuites Anno 1622 under the title of the Apotheosis of Saint Ignatius Vers 27. And all the days of Methuselah He lived longest of any yet wanted thirty one yeers of a thousand Nemo patriarcharum mille annos complevit quâ—a numerus iste typum babeat perfectionis â—ic nulla perfectio pietatis Occolampad Oecolampadius thinks there was a mystery in this that they all dyed short of a thousand which is a type of perfection To teach us saith he that live we never so long here and grow we never so fast in Grace we cannot possibly be perfect till we get to Heaven Henoch lived long in a little time and foreseeing the flood named his son Methuselah that is to say He dyeth and the dart or flood cometh And so it fell out for no sooner was his head laid but in came the flood Isai 57.1 The righteous are taken away from the evil to come And their death is a sad presage of an imminent calamity Hippo could not be taken whiles Augustine lived nor Heidelberg while Paraeus Semen sanctum statumen terrae Isai 6.13 Junius The holy Seed upholdeth the State Tertul. Absque stationibus non staret mundus The innocent shall deliver the Iland and it is delivered by the pureness of thy hands alone Job 22.30 When one sinner destroyeth much good Eccles 9.18 Paulin. Nolan in vita Ambros De Fabio Cunctatore Silius Ambrose is said to have been the Walls of Italy Stilico the Earl said That his death did threaten destruction to that Countrey Hic patria est murique urbis stant pectore in uno Vers 29. This same shall comfort us Herein a figure of Christ And Peter Martyr thinks that Lamech was in hope that this son of his would have been the Christ A pardonable error proceeding from an earnest desire of seeing his day whom their souls loved and longed for Saluting the promise afar off 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 11. Heb. 11. and waiting for the consolation of Israel Luke 2.25 Vers 32. And Nâ—ah begat Sem Ham and Japheth Twenty yeers he had heard from God That the world should be destroyed before he had any childe Revel 14. Here was the Faith and patience of this Saint At length he hath Japheth first though Shem be first named because he was in dignity preferred before his brother to be grandfather to the Messiah Now any relation to Christ ennobleth either place or person If it were an honor to Mark to have been Barnabas his sisters son what is it then to be allyed to the son of God Mic. 5.2 Matth. 2.6 Bethlehem where he was born though it were least saith Micah yet it was not the least saith Matthew among all the cities of Judah because out of it should come Christ the Governor CHAP. VI. Verse 1. When men began to multiply NOt good men onely but bad men too who therefore took them more wives then one that they might multiply amain A numerous off-spring is no sure signe of Gods special favor It is well observed That when God promised children as a blessing he said Psal 118.3 Psal 104.15 Judg. 9.13 The wife should be as the vine and the children as olive plants Two of the best fruits the one for chearing the heart the other for clearing the face the one for sweetness the other for fatness Blessed is the man that hath his quiver full of such as are as the arrows of a strong man Whence it follows That they must have more in them thâ—n nature for arrows are not arrows by growth but by art So they must be such children the knottiness of whose nature is refined and reformed and made smooth by Grace This workmanship of God in the hearts and lives of children is like the graving of a Kings Pallace or the pollished corners of the temple Psal 144.12 This preserves Jacob from confusion and his face from waxing pale This makes religious parents to sanctifie Gods name even to sanctifie the holy One and with singular encouragement from the God of Israel Isai 29.22 23. It never goes well with the Church but when the Son marries the Mother Isai 62.5 Vers 2. That the sons of God saw the daughters Sons of God such as had called themselves by his name Chap. 4.26 his peculiar professant people called Sons of Jehovah Deut. 14.1 yea his first-born and so higher then the Kings of the earth Psal 89.27 Dan. 7.17 18. Hence Dan. 7. after mention made of the four Monarchies a greater then them all succeedeth and that is the Kingdom of the Saints of the most high Saints at large he meaneth all that have made a covenant with him by sacrifice Psal 50.5 Now we read of sacrificing Sodomites Isai 1 10. sinners in Sion Isai 33.14 profligate professors Matth. 7.23 That though called Israel yet are to God as Ethiopians Amos 9.7 Such were these Sons of God Saw the daughters of men that they were fair Beauty is a dangerous bait and lust is sharp-sighted It is not safe gazing on a fair woman How many have died of the wound in the eye No one means hath so enriched hell as beautiful faces Take heed our eyes be not windows of wickedness and loop-holes of lust Make a covenant with them as Joh Job 31.1 Pray against the abuse of them with David Psal 119.37 and curb them from forbidden objects as Nazianzen who had learned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to nurture his eyes as himself tells us See the Note on Chap. 3.6 They took them wives Of their own heads without Gods license or parents consent as Esau did And of all which they chose that is That they liked and loved Thus Amor sormae rationis est oblivio insaniae proximus turbat cousilia altos gencrosos spiritus frangit Jerom. Eccles 11. as some marry by their ears upon meer hear-say others by their fingers ends for money so these gallants married by their eyes they were led by the lust of their hearts and sight of their eyes as Solomons yonker not considering that favor is deceitful beauty vanity c. And that many a woman is like Helen without but Hecuba within or an Earthen potsherd covered with silver-dross Prov. 26.23 Vers 3. My spirit shall not alway strive That is I 'll consult no longer but resolve to ruine them as some gloss it Or I 'll pull the sword out of the sheath the soul out of the body as others gather out of the Hebrew word here used Sunt qui deductum volunt à Nadan Vagina But they do best in my minde that sense it thus My Spirit whâ—reby I hitherto went and Preached by Noe and other
outstrip them are too forward they that fall short of them are deeply censured Vers 7. Now therefore restore Let knowledge reforme what ignorance offended in The times of ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men every where to repent Act. 17.30 As a Master when he sets up his servant a double light expects more work and better We have a priviledg not onely above the blinde Ethnicks but above the Church of the Old Testament The sea about the Altar was brazen 1 King 7.23 And what eyes could pierce thorough it Now our sea about the Throne is glassie Rom. 4.6 like to Chrystall clearly conveying the light and sight of God to our eyes God hath destroyed the face of the covering cast over all people Esa 25.7 And we all with opeâ— face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord must see to it that we be changed into the same image from glory to glory 2 Cor. 3.18 If those good souls passed from strength to strength Psal 84.7 travelling many a weary step to see the face of God in Sion in the obscure glass of the Ceremonies vae torpori nostro wo to us if now that such a light is sprung up we walk not as children of that light To know heavenly things is to ascend into heaven Prov. 30.3 4. And to know our masters will is a great talent of all other there is a much in that Luke 12.48 But then not to do his will so known is to be beaten with many stripes None so deep in hell as your knowing men because they imprisoned the truth which is as a Prophet from God in unrighteousness Rom 1.18 they kept it in their heads as rain in the middle region Sapientes sapien ter descendunt in infernum Bern. not suffering it to warm their hearts or work upon their affections therefore came wrath upon them to the utmost None are oftner drowned then they that are most skilfull in swimming So none sooner miscarry then men of greatest parts For he is a Prophet and he shall pray for thee The proper work of a Prophet Jer. 27.18 If they be Prophets let them intreat the Lord they shall be heard when others shall not as the fathers blessing is most effectuall as the child could not be raised till Elisha came himself nor the sick be healed till the Elders of the Church be called for Jam. 5.14 The Apostles divided their time betwixt praying and preaching Act. 6.4 So did the Priests of the Old Testament Deut. 33.10 They shall teach Jacob thy judgements they shall put incense before thee As with every sacrifice there was incense so should every Ministeriall duty be performed with prayer St. Paul begins his Epistles with prayer and proceeds and ends in like manner What is it that he would have every of his Epistles stamped with by his own hand but prayer for all his people 2 Thess 3.17 18. Thou shalt surely dye So dear to God are his Saints that he grievously punisheth even Kings for their sakes as Jehoram in his bowels with an incurable disease 2 Chron. 21.18 Non desunt qui ad phthiriasin referunt quo avâ—s quoque ipsius Herod mag periit Beza Annot in Act. 12. Oroâ—ius He protested siquam sui corporis partem Lutherianismo sciret insectam revulsurum illicè ne longiùs serperet Sleid. Comment l. 9. Act Mon. 1914. the two Herods by the lousie malady Maximinus the Emperor a cruell persecutor cast upon his bed of sickness by God was glad to crave the prayers of the Church as Eusebius relates it Valens being to subscribe an Order for the banishment of Basil was smitten with a sudden trembling of his hand that he could not Afterward he was burned to death by the Gothes whom he had corrupted by sending them Arrian teachers The putting out of that French Kings eyes which promised before with his eyes to see Anne du Bourg one of Gods true servants burned who seeth not to be the stroke of Gods own hand Then his son Francis not regarding his fathers stripe would needs yet proceed in the burning the same man And did not the same God give him such a blow on the ear as cost him his life As for Charles the ninth author of the French massacre though he were wittily warned by Beza to beware upon occasion of that new Star appearing in Cassiopeia Novem 1572. which he applied to that Star at Christs birth and to the infanticide then with Tu verò Camdens Elis sol 165. Herodes sanguinolente time yet because he repented not God gave him blood to drink as he was worthy for the fifth moneth after the vanishing of this Star Constans fama est illum Act. Mon. fol. 1949. dum è variis corporis partibus sanguis emanaret in lecto saepe volutatum inter terribilium blasphemiarum diras tantam sanguinis vim projecisse ut paucas post horas mortuus fuerit This Charles the ninth in the massacre of Paris beholding the bloody bodies of the butchered Protestants Spec. bel sac p. 248. and feeding his eye upon that wofull spectacle is said to have breathed out this bloody speech Quam bonus est odor hostis mortui Another great Queen seeing the ground covered with the naked carcasses of her Protestant Subjects said M. Newcomâ—n Fast Serm. 27. Like Hannibals O formosum spectaculum De Alexandra Josephus Act Mon. fol. 1 901. that it was the bravest peece of Tapestry that ever she beheld but it was not long that she beheld it Our Queen Mary though non naturâ sed Pontiâ—iciorum arte ferox Ipsa solùm nomen regium ferebat caterùm â—mnem regâ—i potestatem Pharisaei possidebant dyed of a Tympany or as some by her much sighing before her death supposed she dyed of thought and sorrow either for the loss of Callice or for the departure of King Phillip This King going from the Low-countries into Spain by Sea with resolution never to remove thence fell into a storm in which almost all the Fleet was wracked his houshold-stuffe of very great value lost and himself hardly escaped Hist of Coun. of Trent 417. He said he was delivered by the singular providence of God to root out Lutheranisme which he presently began to do protesting that he had rather have no Subjects then Lutheran Subjects Whether it was this Phillip or his successor I cannot certainly tell But Carolus Sexibaâ—â—â— tells a lamentable story of one of those two Phillips Hear him else Vlcerum magnitudinem multitudinem acorbitatem fatorem lecto tanquam durae crucâ— â—â—â—o integra affixionem ut in nullam prope commoveri partem possit acres continuosque annâ—r um sex podagrae dolores febrim 〈◊〉 cum dupâ—ici per anâ—os 〈…〉 intima Carot Sâ—ribâ—n Instit princip c. 20. adeoque ossiâ—â—â— medullas depascentem gravissimam 22. dierum dysenteriam quâ— nâ—c moram darâ—t nec detersionâ—m admitteret perpetua
acquainted with Gods counsell saith Luther wherein he rested Yet he was bound 1. For that the rite of sacrifices so required â—ee 2 King 10.12 2. Lest any involuntary motion by pangs of death should be procured Whence divers of the Martyrs as Ridley Rawlins c. desired to be bound fast to the stake lest the flesh should play its part Râ—â—â—ins when the Smith cast a chain about him at the stake I pray you good friend said he Knock in the chain fast for it may be Act. Mon. â—ol 1415. that the flesh would strive mightily But God of thy great mercy give me strength and patience to abide the extremity Nâ—ture at death will have a bout with the best whether he dye as Elisâ—a slowly or as Eliah suddenly Vers 10. And Abraham stretched forth his hand c. What Painter in the world can possibly express the affection of Abraham when thus he bound his son and bent his sword Surely that Painter that set forth the sacrificing of Iphigenia Aspiâ—â— vulius ecce meos utiâ—amque â—culos in pectora po es Inserâ—re Sol Phetonti apud Ovid 1 Cor. 3. would here also have drawn Abraham as he did Agamemnon with his face veyled as not able to delineate his unconceivable grief But a man in Christ is more then a man and can do that that other men cannot reach unto It was a matter of blame to the carnall Corinthians that they walked as men And our Saviour looks for some singular thing to be done by those that pretend to him Matth. 6.47 Abraham had denyed himself in his beloved Isaac and therefore went an end with his work hard though it were Another that hath not done so shall finde a heavy business of it an unsupportable burden Sozomen tells of a certain Merchant whose two sons being taken captives Sozom l. c. 14. and adjudged to dye he offered himself to dye for them and withall promised to give the Souldiers all the gold he had They pitying the poor mans calamity admitted of his request for one of his sons which he would but let them both scape they could not because such a number must be put to death The miserable man therefore looking at and lamenting both his sons could not finde in his heart to make choice of either as overcome with an equall love to them both but stood doubting and deliberating till they were both slain At the siege of Buda in Hungary there was among the German Captains a Noble-man called Erkius Raschachius whose son a valiant young Gentleman being got out of the Army without his fathers knowledge bore himself so gallantly in fight against the enemy in the sight of his father and the Army that he was highly commended of all men and especially of his father that knew him not at all Yet before he could clear himself he was compassed in with the Enemy and valiantly fighting slain Raschachius exceedingly moved with the death of so brave a man ignorant how near he touched himself turning about to the other Captains said This noble Gentleman whatsoever he be is worthy of eternall commendation and to be most honourably buried by the whole Army As the rest of the Captains were with like compassion approving his speech the dead body of the unfortunate son rescued was presented to the most miserable father which caused all them that were there present Tuâ—kish hist to shed tears But such a sudden and inward grief surprized the aged father and struck so to his heart that after he had stood a while speechless with his eyes set in his head he suddenly fell down dead Anno Dom. 1541. Heb. 11. And took the knife to slay his son The Apostle saith He did offer him up a slain sacrifice God took it in as good part as if indeed he had done it because he would have done it Every man is so good before God are he truely desires to be Bernard In vitae libro scribuntur omnes qui quod possunt faciunt etsi quod debent non possunt saith one Father And another Augustin Basil Tota vita boni Christiani sanctum desiderium est Ambulas siamas Non enim passibus and Deum sed affectibus currimus Tantùm velis Deus tibi praeoccurret saith a Third Vers 11. And said Abraham Abraham Twice for hastesake yet not at all till the very instant When the knife was up the Lord came God delights to bring his people to the Mount yea to the very brow of the hill till their feet slip and then delivers them He reserves his holy hand for a dead lift Onely be sure you look to your calling for it was otherwise with Jepthta Judg. 11. whom St. Augustin calls facinorosum improbum a lewd and naughty man in his questions upon the Old Testament What then would he have said to Thomas the Anabaptist Stumpf. l. 5. who beheaded his brother Leonard in the sight of his parents at Sangall in France Anno 1526. pretending the example of Abraham As did likewise those odious Idolaters of old that offered their children in sacrifice to Moloch in the valley of Hinnom which was so called because the poor child put into the arms of the red-hot image was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nohem that is roaring or because the Priests comforting the parents said Condimeâ—tum crit tibi Jalkut â—n Jerem. Jeheunâ—h Lach. It shall be profitable or pleasant to thee as Kimchi hath it So because Abraham planted a grove to serve God in Gen. 21.33 the Devil Gods Ape set the blind Heathens a work to plant a thicket near the altar of their god ' Priapus whereinto his worshippers stepped when the sacrifice was ended and there like bruit beasts promiscuously satisfied their lusts thereby as they conceived best pleasing their God which was the true cause as it seems that the true God commanded that no Groves should be planted near the place of his worship and if any were they should be cut down Vers 12. Lay not thine hand upon the Lad As he was about to do having armed his pious hand not onely with the knife but with faith that works by love as had likewise David when going against the Giant he slyes upon him Bucholcer perinde ac si fundae suae tunicis non lapillum sed Deum ipsum induisset aâ— implicuisset Now I know that thou fearest me With a fear of love Hos 3.5 Fulgentius And here that of Fulgentius is true and taketh place Deum siquis parùm metuit valdè contemnit hujus qui non memorat beneficentiam auget injuriam God knew Abrahams fear before but now he made experience of it Nunc expertus sum saith Junius Nune omnibus declarasti saith Chrysost Vers 13. Behold behind him a Ram Belike the Angell called behinde him which when he turned to listen to he spied the Ram caught in a thicket Heb. Sabâ—ech which signifies the perplexity winding or
the battlements of the walls of the City c. The Souldiers of Pelopidas were no less excessive when for grief of his death they would neither unbridle their horses nor untie their armor nor dress their wounds Something here may be yeelded to nature nothing to impatiency Immoderate sorrow for losses past hope of recovery is more sullen then usefull Our stomach may be bewrayed by it not our wisdome The Egyptians mourned seventy dayes for Jacob Joseph who had more cause but withall more grace mourned but twenty dayes Mark 5.38 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut Iam. â— 1 God flatly forbad his people those heathenish customes of shaving their heads and cutting their flesh Lev. 21. intoken of mourning for the dead We read in the Gospel of minstrels and people making a noise at the terming-house as they call it Matth. 9.23 And the Jews that were comforting Mary Perinde ac 〈◊〉 intercute laberantes salsamenta comederent Cartwr when they saw her rise up hastily and go forth followed her saying She goeth unto the grave to weep there Joh. 11.31 Such customes it seems they had in those dayes amongst them to provoke themselves to weeping and lamentation which was saith One as if they that have the dropsie should eat salt meats How much better Father Abraham here who came indeed from his own tent to Sarahs to mourn for her as good reason he had but exceeded not as the Jews think is signified by that one letter less then ordinary in the Hebrew word for weep Libcothah used here in the text Baal-turim gives but a bald reason of it parùm flevit erat enim vetula Abraham wept not much for her she being but an old-wife and past her best Buxtorfe gives a better pâ—tiùs quià luctus ejus fuit moderatus And therefore also in the next verse it is said that he stood up from before his dead where in likelyhood he had sitten a while on the earth as was the manner of mourners to do Job 2.12 13. Esa 47.1 to take order for her buriall as having good hopes of a glorious resurrection Excellent for our purpose is that of St. Hierome Lugeatur mortuus sed ille quem Gehenna suscipit quem Tartarus devorat in cujus poenam aeternus ignis aestuat Nos quorum exitum Angelorum turba comitatur quibus obviam Christus occurret c. gravemur magis si diutiùs in tabernaculâ— istâ— habitemus Mourn for none but such as are dead in their sins killed with death as those Rev. 2.23 Vers 3. And Abraham stood up from before his dead So she is called eight severall times in this Chapter Pareus in loc to note that death makes not any such divorce between godly couples and friends but that there remains still a blessed conjunction betwixt them which is founded in the hope of a happy resurrection Jobs children were still his even after they were dead and buried How else could it be said that God gave Job twice as much of every thing as he had before Iob. 4â— 10 13. sith he had afterwards but his first number of children viz. Seven Sonnes and three daughters Vers 4. That I may bury my dead out of my sight She that had been the desire of his eyes Ezek. 24.16 the sweet companion of his life is by death so defaced that he loathed to look on her This we are to think on in our mourning for the dead to bewail the common curse of mankinde the defacing of Gods image by death through sin c. And yet to comfort our selves in this that these vile bodies of ours shall once be conformed to Christs glorious body the standard in incorruption Phillip 3. ult agility beauty brightness and other most blessed and unconceivable parts and properties Vers 6. Thou art a Prince of God amongst us That is excellent or prosperous as Gen. 21.22 and it was their ingenuity and candor to acknowledge it Gods people are Princes in all lands Psal 45. Kings they are in righteousness and peace but somewhat obscure ones as was Melchisedec and therefore little set by 1 Joh. 3.1 2. Vnkent unkist as the Northern Proverb is So was Christ the heir of all But we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him that 's enough for us In the mean space the righteous is more excellent then his neighbour let him dwell by whomsoever and shall be more prosperous if it may be for his good Vers 7. Abraham stood up and bowed himself c. It is very comely in Christians to salute willingly and in words and gestures to shew civill respect even to wicked men Abrahams behaviour to these Hittites may shame the most Christians yea the very Hittites themselves D. Hall may teach them good manners Even the savage Cannibals saith a grave Divine may receive an answer of outward courtesie If a very dog fawn upon us we stroke him on the head and clap him on the side Much less is the common band of humanity untied by grace If Elisha bad his man or our Saviour his Disciples salute no man by the way that was for haste sake they should not hinder themselves in their journey by overmuch courtesie Our Saviour was sweet and sociable in his whole conversation and the proud Pharisees upbraided him with it He never refused to go to any mans table when invited yea to Zacheus he invited himself Not for the pleasure of the dishes but for the benefit of so winning a conversation Corn. Nepos in vita Attiâ—i Courtesie allureth mens minds as fair flowers do their eyes Pomponius Atticus so carried himself at Athens Harpocrat in voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut communis infimis par principibus videretur Alexander the Great got the hearts of his Foot-souldiers by calling them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his fellow-footmen Aristotle the better to insinuate into his hearers read not to them as other Philosophers used to do from a lofty seat or desk but walking and talking with them familiarly as with his friends 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diâ—g in Apollo's porch he made them great Philosophers Vespasian was as highly esteemed by the people for his courtesie as Coriolanus contemned and condemned of all for his rusticity With one churlish breath Rehoboam lost ten tribes whom he would and might not recover with his blood But whatsoever David did pleased the people What a deal of courtesie passed betwixt Boaz and his reapers The Lord be with you said he The Lord blesâ— thee said they Ruth 2.4 The Turks salutation at this day is Salaum alâ—ek Peace be to thee the reply is Aleek salâ—um Peace be to thee also Blounts voyage into the Levant The Romans had their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answerable to our Good-morrow and Good even That finger next to the thumb they called Salutaris Dio in vita Adriani Becman de Origin in verbo
dead forty years before is now by Gods blessing made lively and lusty Vers 5. Abraham gave all c. So Esa 19.25 Assyria is the work of Gods hand and Israel his inheritance Vers 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sopb Gasp Eâ—s Panis mica quam dives pater-familias projicit canibuâ— Abraham gave gifts So doth God to reprobates but they are giftless gifts better be without them Saepe Deus dat iratus quod â—egat propitius God gives wealth to the wicked non aliter ac siquis crumenam auro plenam latrinae injiciat The Turkish Empire saith Luther as great as it is is but a crust cast to the dogs by the rich House-holder or as Josephs cup c. East-ward to the East-countrey To both the Arabia's which were Countries rough but rich looked rudely but searched regularly afforded great store of fine gold pretious stones and pleasant odours Vers 8. Gave up the Ghost Defecit lenitèr expiravit Describit Moses placidam optatam quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in Abraham Gods friend is no wonder But how could that Apostate Julian say trow Vitam reposcenti naturae tanquam debitor bonae fidei rediturus exulto Sure it was but a copy of his countenance but not of his dying countenance for no wicked man alive can look death in the face with blood in his cheeks Dyed in a good old age Or with a hoar head after a hundred years troublesomepilgrimage in the promised land We if for one year we suffer hardship think it a great business Non quia dura sed quia molles patimur saith Seneca An old man and full of years The godly have oft a satiety of life as willing they are to leave the world as men are wont to be to rise from the board when they have eaten their fill Cur non ut plenus vitae conviva recedis Said the Heathen Poet and they feign that when Tithonus might have been made immortal he would not because of the miseries of life This made Plotinus the Platonist account mortality a mercy Aug. de Civ Dei l. 4. c. 10. Siquis Deus mihi largiatur ut ex hac aetate repurascam in cunis vagiam valdèrecusem Cato ap Cic. de senect Camd. Elisabeth fol. 325. and Cato protest that if any God would grant him of old to be made young again he would seriously refuse it As for me said Queen Elisabeth in a certain speech I see no such great cause why I should be fond to live or afraid to dye And again whiles I call to minde things past behold things present and expect things to come I hold him happiest that goeth hence soonest Vers 9. And his sons Isaac and Ismael c. It is like that Abraham a little afore his death sent for his two sons and reconciled them This joyning with Isaac in the burying of Abraham some take for an argument of his repenance whereunto also they adde that his whole life time is recorded in holy Scripture which cannot be shewed of any reprobate and that he is said when he dyed to be gathered to his fathers Which is besides Mamre Where seventy six years before he had entertained the Lord Christ and heard from his mouth the promise of the Messiah Wherefore in remembrance of that most amiable apparition and for love and honour of the divine promise there uttered he would there be buried in full hope of a glorious Resurrection and that his posterity might take notice that he even dyed upon the promise As that brave Roman Captain told his Souldiers Xiphilinus that if they could not conquer Britain yet they would get possession of it by laying their bones in it Vers 13. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael When Isaac was twenty yeers married and had no childe and afterwards nothing so many as Ishmael nor so great in the world This is Gods usual way of dealing forth his favours Saints suffer wieked prosper This made Pompey deny Divine Providence Brutus cry out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dio Cassius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thucyd Psal 73.10 expounded Exoriuntur sed exuruntur Hos 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O miserable Vertue slave of Fortune c. The Athenians in Thucydides when they had lost Nicias their good General who together with his whole Army perished in Sicily were at a great stand and much offended seeing so pious a person fare nothing better then those that were far worse And what wonder when Jeremiah and David stumbled at the same stone ran upon the same rock and were well-high shipwrackt Jer. 12.1 Psal 73.3 4. Neither they onely but many other of Gods dear servants as it is in the same I salm vers 10. Therefore his people return hither that is are every whit as wise or rather as foolish as I have been to mis-censure and misconstrue Gods dealings on this manner to repent me of my repentance and to condemn the generation of the just because waters of a full cup are wrung out to the wicked When David went into Gods Sanctuary and there consulted his Word he was better resolved Then he saw that the sunshine of Prosperity doth but ripen the sin of the wicked and so fits them for destruction as fatted ware are but fitted for the slaughter What good is there in having a fine suit with the plague in it Poison in wine works more furiously then in water Had Haman known the danger of Esthers banquet he would not have been so brag of it The prosperity of the wicked hath ever plus deceptionis quam delectionis saith One more deceit then delight able to entice and ready to kill the entangled As cunning to do that as the spirit that seduced Ahab and as willing to do the other as the Ghost that met Brutus at the battel of Philippi In which respect David Psal 17. having spoken of these men of Gods hand that have their portion in this life c. wishes them make them merry with it and subjoyns As for me I will behold thy face in righteousâ—ess I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness As who should say I neither envie nor covet their happiness but long after a glorious resurrection and have in the mean while that which is sufficient to sustain me I shall behold thy face in righteousâ—ess Menach on Levit. 10. that is Beshechinah in Christ as Rabbi Menachem expounds it And one good look of God is worth all the world It is better to feel his favour one hour then to sit whole ages as these Ishmaelites did under the worlds warmest sun-shine Vers 14. And Mishma and Dumah and Massah Out of these three names which signifie Hearing Silence and Suffering the Masorites gather the three principal duties of man in common conversation viz. to hear keep silence and bear these say they make a quiet and good life Sustine Abstine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epictâ—t Camd. Elisab
rogum iofiluero quam ullum peccatum in deum commisero Pintus in Dan. Jam. 1. ult Psal 119.1 I will rather leape into a bone-fire saith another of the Fathers then wilfully commit wickedness against God Of the Mouse of Armenia they write that she will rather dye then be defiled with any filth Insomuch as if her hole be besmeared with dirt she will rather chuse to be taken then to be polluted Such are or ought to be the servants of God unspotted of the world undefiled in the way Vers 13. And it came to pass c. Incontinency is a breeder It never goes alone as some say the asp doth not but hath many vices Impudency subtilty treacherous cruelty c. that come of it and accompany it crying out and calling to one another as they once did 2 King 3.23 Now Moab to the spoil Vers 14. See he hath brought in an Hebrew So she cals him by way of contempt as they called our Saviour Nazarene and his followers Galileans The Arrians called the true Christians Ambrosians Athanasians Homousians c. And at this day S. Humph. Lynde D. Fulk Rhem. Test on act 11 sect 4. the most honourable name of Christian is in Italy and at Rome a name of reproach and usually abused to signifie a fool or a dolt Vers 15. And it came to pass c. How many innocents in all ages have perished by false accusation Here this vermine accuseth her husband of foolishness her servant of filthiness which she first affirmeth secondly confirmeth Rev. 12. by producing his garment left in her hands That accuser of the brethren set her on as he did the malicious heathens to traduce and denigrate those pure primitive Christians purer then snow whiter then milke ruddier then rubies their polishing was of Sapphire Lam. Tertullian 4.7 as so many murderers man-eaters adulterers Church-robbers traytors c. Which last Lipsius calls Vnicum crimen corum Arch. Vssier de christ Eccles success statu page 236. qui crimine vacabant So the Waldenses were spitefully accused of Manichisme and Catharisme and thereupon a Croisado was published against them as common enemies So a little afore the Massacre of Paris it was given out by the French Papists that the Protestants in their conventicles plotted treason acted villany c. And after the Massacre there was a coyn stamped Camd. Elisab fol. 163. Qui son chiâ—n vult tuer la rage luy met sus A French proverb in the fore-part whereof together with the Kings picture was this inscription Virtus in rebelles and on the other side Pietas excitavit justitiam Those that kill a dog make the world believe he was mad first So the enemies of the Church first ever traduced her to the world and then persecuted her first pulled off her vaile and then wounded her Cant. 5.6 Vers 17. And she spake unto him c. Here the adulteress hunteth for the precious life Prov. 6.26 Her lust as Amnons turneth into extream hatred This is just the custome of a Curtisan Aut te ardentèr amat aut te capitaliter odit Mantuan Heathens tell us the like of their Hippolytus that when Phaedra his step-mother could not win him to her will this way she acensed him to his father Theseus as if he had attempted her chastity whereupon he was forced to fly his country Likewise of Bellerophon a young Prince with whose beauty Sthenobaea Queen of Argives being taken sollicited him to lye with her which when he refused she accused him to her husband Ovid. Metam that he would have ravished her This he believing sent him with letters to Iobates King of Lycia to make him away Iobates put him upon many desperate services Homer Iliad l. 6. to have dispatcht him But finding him a valiant and victorious man he afterward bestowed his daughter on him with part of his Kingdom Which when Sthenobaea heard of she hang'd her self for wo. So perhaps did this huswife in the text when she saw Ioseph so highly advanced by Pharaoh The death howsoever was too good for her Vers 19. His wrath was kindled Heb. exarsit nasus ejus Good cause he had if all had been true that his wife told him Prov. 6.34 35. It is well known how the rape of Lucrece was punished upon the Tarquines Valentinian the Emperour defiled the wife of his subject Maximus Maximus afterwards slew Valentinian Eudoniam Valeutiniani uxorem vi compressam turpiâ—â—â—â—uptiis sibi copulas succeeded him in the Empire ravished his wife and forced her to marry him She to be revenged sent for Gensericus who seized upon all Italy c. But Potiphar was too light of belief and should have examined the matter ere he had condemned the man Credulity is a note of folly Prov. 14.15 Vers 20. And Iosephs Master took him It was a providence that he had not presently slain him upon that false accusation The Devil is first a liar and then a murtherer But he is limited by God Joh. 3. Ioseph is imprisoned in the round tower where they hurt his feet with fetters Psal 105.18 the iron entred into his soul He meanwhile either pleads not or is not heard Doubtless he denyed the fact but durst not accuse the offender His innocency might afterwards appear and thereupon the chief Keeper shew him favour ver 21. But his Master should have been better advised If he lived till Ioseph was advanced he had as good cause to fear his power as ever Ioseph's brethren did Cardinal Woolsey was first Schoolmaster of Magdalen School in Oxford after that beneficed by Marquess Dorset whose children he had there taught Where he had not long been but one Sir Iames Paulet upon some displeasure Negotiations of Card. Wols pag. 2. set him by the heels which affront was afterwards neither forgotten nor forgiven For when the School-master became Lord Chancellour of England he sent for him and after a sharp reproof imprisoned him A good president for men in authority which work their own wiles without wit not to punish out of humour c. Discite justitiam moniti c. Despise not any mans meanness we know not his destiny Vers 21. But the Lord was with Ioseph A prison keeps not God from his witness the Apostles and Martyrs whose prisons by Gods presence became palaces the fiery furnace a gallery of pleasure the stocks a musick-school Act. 16.25 Bradford Act. Mon. sol 1489. after he was put in prison had better health then before and found great favour with his Keeper who suffered him to go whither he would upon his promise to return by such an hour Ibid. 1457. to his prison again CHAP. XL. Vers 1. Had offended their Lord the King of Egypt VVHat their offence was is not expressed The Hebrews say Pharaoh found a flye in his cup and a little gravel in his bread and therefore imprisoned these two great Officers
c. The better any one is the more inclined to weeping 1 Sam. 20. as David then Jonathan Nam faciles motus mens generosa capit Paulus non tam atramento quam lachrymis chartas inficiebat saith Lorinus And took from them Simeon and bound him He is thought to have been the chief doer in the sale of Joseph and is therefore singled out for punishment Judas Iscariot is said to come of his tribe Of a turbulent and restless spirit Joseph knew him to be and therefore detained him saith Musculus lest he should have hindered the motion of bringing down Renjamin Vers 25. Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks This was the revenge he took upon them for their many misusages So Joshua marched all night and fought all day for the Gibeonites that had deceived him So Elisha set bread and water before the Syrians that came to surprize him So S. Paul bids If thine enemy hunger feed him c. Injuries are more bravely overcome with benefits then recompenced with the pertinacy of a mutual hatred Speciâ—sius aliquanto injuriae beneficiis vincuntur quam muâ—ni odii pertinacia pensantur Val. Max. lib. 4. c. 2. said a very Heathen Vers 27. To give his Asse provender in the Inne Their Innes then were not so well furnished as ours are but they were forced to carry their provender which was a trouble Vers 28. My money is restered Joseph had stollen this benefit upon them which they mis-interpret their own misgiving hearts telling them that Gods just hand was in it for their hurt Conscience being now awakened meets them at every turn till they were soundly humbled and had made their peace Better a sore then a seared conscience as better a tormentful strangury then a senseless lethargy Bee-masters tell us that those are the best hives that make the greatest noise Vers 29. And they came to Iacob Who had looked many a long look for them no doubt and was now glad to see their faces and full sacks But this joy lasted but a little while for no sooner had he heard them speak but he was thunderstruck as it were so little stability is there in any worldly felicity The Saints have all here their back-burdens of afflictions yet some have more then some as Iacob who was seldom without God not only gave him a draught of them but made him a dyet-drink Look how your refiners of sugar taking sugar out of the same chest some thereof they melt but once other again and again not that it hath more dross in it but because they would have it more refined So is it here Vers 35. And it came to passe as they emptied Calvin's note on this text is that Ioseph was herein overshot and ill-advised for that intending to succour his father by sending back his money he grieved and frighted him But this might be Iacob's fault more then Iosephs We many times mistake God himself through self-guiltiness as if he meant to kill us with kindness which is a great unthankfulness See my Love-tokens p. 32. Vers 36. Simeon is not That is As good he were not for ye have left him prisoner and unless ye return the sooner with Benjamin which I cannot yeeld to is like to be put to death as a Spie See here the pangs and passions of a parent and how love descends Vers 37. Slay my two sons A simple and sinfull offer Reuben was the eldest but not the wisest Age is no just measure of wisdome Howbeit of him we may learn in our parents fear no be hardy and hearty in our brethrens distress to be eager and earnest Vers 38. Ye shall bring down my gray haires c. To the state of the dead not to hell or Limbus Patrum Many of the Ancients erroneously held that mens souls were not judged till the last day nor rewarded or punished but reserved in some secret Receptacles Bell. de Purg. lib. 1. unto the general Judgment Bellarmine would hence prove Purgatory Luther also seems to approve of that figment of the Fathers For in his notes upon this text he will have Sheol here translated the grave to be an under-ground-receptacle of all souls where they rest and sleep till the coming of Christ But gray haires descend not further then the grave And Luther somewhere intreats his Readers that if they find any thing in his books that smelleth of the old cask they should consider he was not only a man but sometime had been a poor Monk c. CHAP. XLIII Vers 1. And the famine was sore in the Land IN the promised Land Drus in Adag Hold out faith and patience Os quod in sorte tua cecidit rodas Bear thy cross and be content Vers 2. Buy us a little food They had learned to live with a little which is a great skill nature is content with a little grace with less Paratum se esse cum jove de falicitate coutendere fi aquam haberet offam Aâ—lian Epicurus himself was wont to say if he might have but aquam offam a draught of water and a morsell of meate he could live happily Vers 3. Ye shall not see my face c. No acceptation without Benjamin that son of sorrow So neither with God without sound repentance This is the rainbow which if God seeth shining in our hearts he will never drown our souls Vers 6. And Israel said c. Here he begins to outwrestle his fears by resting upon God and is therefore called Israel Vers 7. Could we certainly know c. Inferences many times are made upon what we say or do such as we never thought of Aug. lib. 1. de Trint c. 3. ad sinem Arbitror nonnullos in quibusdam locis librorum meorum opinaturos me sensisse quod non sensi aut non sensisse quod sensi faith Augustine And it fell out accordingly For as Baronius witnesseth after Saint Austins death there arose up divers who out of his writings wrested and inconstructed Quiex ejus scriptis male perceptis complures invexerunt errores Annal. tom 6. ad Ann. 450. brought in many errours which they endeavoured to maintain by the name and authority of Saint Augustine And the like may be said of Luther Vers 8. Send the lad A large lad that was thirty year old and had ten children But he is so called because the yongest son of them and the fathers darling Vers 9. I will be surety for him Herein he was a type of Christ that came of him who is both our surety to God for the discharge of our debt and duty and Gods surety to us for the performance of his promises Heb. 7.22 Vers 10. For except we had lingered c. In the words of God there is not any hyperbole to be found In the words of men related by the Scripture if we meet with such kind of expressions as this and that Joh. 21.25 it nothing derogates from the
sack Sacco soluto appâ—râ—it argentum saith Ambrose When God comes to turn the bottome of the bag upward all will out Sin not therefore in hope of secrecy on the fair day at the last day all packs shall be opened Vers 13. Then they rent their clothes In token of the renting of their hearts for their sins which now had found them out and they their sins for misery is the best art of memory being like to that helve Elisha cast into the waters which fetcht up the iron in the bottome Conscience is like a looking-glass which while it lyeth all covered with dust sheweth not a man his naturall visage but when it is wiped then it makes the least blemish appear Never till now could we hear these men confess Now what shall we say unto my Lord what shall we speak saith Iudah the Confessour so his name signifieth Or how shall we cleer our selves God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants Not this that they were now charged with for why should they be false to their own innocency but their cruelty to Ioseph and other like foul offences for the which God in his just judgment had now brought them to condigne punishment How could Ioseph hold when he heard all this and not cry out as Paul did in a like case to his disconsolate Corinthians Though I made you sorry with a letter with a cup I do not repent though I did repent for I perceive that this same epistle cup hath made you sorry though it were but for a season Now I rejoyce not that ye were made sorry but that ye sorrowed to repentance For ye were made sorry after a godly manner that ye might receive dammage by us in nothing For behold this self-same thing that ye forrowed after a godly sort what carefulness it hath wrought in you yea what apology yea what indignation yea what fear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Satisfaction saith the old Interpreter It may be he meant a new life to make amends thereby to the Congregation offended saith Bradford Serm. of Repent 14. Dan. hist fol. 51. yea what vehement desire yea what zeal yea what revenge in all things ye have approved your selves to be clear in this matter Vers 14. They fell before him on the ground Humble submission they knew if any thing would make their peace and procure their pardon Sic ventos vincit dùm se submittit arundo It is no hoysing up sail in a storm no standing before a Lion c. William the Conquerour often pardoned rebels and received them into favour as he held submission satisfactory for the greatest offences and sought not to defeat them but their enterprizes Vers 15. What deed is this that ye have done As Joseph here so Christ sometimes personates an adversary when he intends most love _____ Wot ye not that such a man as I c. If that be true that some conceive of Joseph that he here and ver 5. made himself a sooth-sayer he was certainly too blame The lip of excellenoy becometh not a fool saith Solomon but much less doth lying beseem a worthy man That is It is naught when wicked men will be using gracious words to seem religious But it is far worse when good men will use the fashion of the wicked that they may seem impious Vers 16. What shall we say c. An ingenuous and penitent confession joyned with self-loathing and self-judging teaching us how to confess to God Sit simplex humilis confessio pura fidelis Atque frequens nuda discreta et lubens verecunda Integra secreta lachrymabilis accelerata Fortis accusans se punire parata These sixteen conditions were composed in these verses by the Schoolmen And such a Confession is the spunge that wipes away all the blots and blurs of our lives 1 Ioh. 1.7 Never any confessed his sin in this sort to God but went away with his pardon Wot ye what quoth King Henry the eighth to the Duke of Suffolk concerning Stephen Gardiner when he had confessed his Popery for which he should have been the morrow after sent to the Tower he hath confessed himself as guilty in this matter as his man and hath with much sorrow and pensiveness Act. Mon. fol. 1175. sued for my pardon And you know what my nature and custome hath been in such matters evermore to pardon them that will not dissemble but confess their fault How much more will God Vers 17. But the man in whose hand c. This was the white that Joseph shot at in all this interdealing with them to try the truth of their love to Benjamin and whether they would stick to him in his utmost perill God hath like ends in afflicting his children Ezek. 21.21 The King of Babylon stood at the parting way at the head of the two wayes to use divination So doth God he knows that the best divining of men is at the parting-way there every dog will shew to what master he belongs God shoots at his servants for triall as men shoot bullets against armour of proof not to hurt it but to praise it Vers 18. For ihou art even as Pharaoh This he saith the better to insinuate for great men love to hear of their honour and are tickled with their great titles P. Jovius Paulus Jovius writing of Pompey Colomia Bishop of Reatino saith that when the said Bishop by the means of many great personages was reconciled again and brought into favour with the Pope whom he had formerly offended and that when they signified so much unto him in a short letter in whose superscription Bishop of Reatino by chance was left out he receiving the letter threw it away and bad the messenger go seek some other Pompeio to whom the letter was directed Vers 30. Seeing that his life is bound up God loved his Son Jesus infinitely more then Iacob did Benjamin he exalts his love far above that of any earthly parent which is but a spark of his slame a drop of his Ocean And yet he freely parted with him to certain and shameful death for our sakes God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son c. This is a Sic without a Sicut there is nothing in nature whereby to resemble it Vers 32. For thy servant became surety So did Christ for us and therefore he must acquit us of all our sins ere he could go to his father Loe herein lyes the strength of that reason Joh. 16.10 He shall convince the world of righteousnesse because I go to the Father Vers 34. For how shall I go up c. Here love ascends as fit it should Iudah a man wise and well-spoken prefers his fathers life before his own liberty He could not live to see the death of his aged father B. Fulgos lib. 5. A certain Citizen of Toledo being condemned to dye his son ceased not with prayers and tears to intreat that
he might be put to death instead of his father This he obtained after much suite and most gladly dyed for him At Gaunt in Flanders when a father and his son were condemned to dye together the Earl desirous to make trial whether of the two were more loving granted that he should live that would cut off the others head And after much adoe between them the father Philip. Cameâ—ar Cent. 1. cap. 92. by many arguments perswaded his son to be his executioner CHAP. XLV Vers 1. Then Joseph could not refrain NO more can Jesus in the extream afflictions of his brethren Esay 42.14 he must cry like a travelling woman which though she bite in her pain for a while cannot long contain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Herodot As Croesus his dumb son burst forth into Kill not King Croesus so when the Church is over-laid by Satan or his instruments his bowels work he can hold no longer but cryes Save my child Do the young man Absolom no hurt I was but a little displeased and they have helped forward the affliction Zach. 1.15 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies or bowels Their groans and moans as every word of Judah's pathetical speech to Joseph are as so many darts and daggers at his heart he must take course for their relief and rescue For he is a very tender-hearted Ioseph said that Martyr and though he speak roughly to his brethren and handle them hardly M. Sanders Act. and Mon. 1â—64 yea and threaten grievous bondage to his best beloved Benjamin yet can he not contain himself from weeping with us and upon us with falling on our necks and sweetly kissing us c. as he sweetly goes on in a letter to his wife pray pray for us every body we be shortly to be dispatched hence to our good Christ Amen Amen Cause every man to go out from me That he might weep his fill and not discover his brethrens faults to strangers It is wisdome in plaistering the wounds of others to clap our hand on the place that the world may be never the wiser Mercer thinks that Ioseph concealed from his very father the hard dealings of his brethren with him for if he had known he would likely have set some note upon them for their cruelty as he did upon Simeon and Levi for their bloody butchering of the Shechemites Vers 3. I am Joseph What a word was that At the hearing thereof what a strange conflict of contrary passions fell out in the hearts of the Patriarchs Wonder doubt reverence fear hope guiltiness joy grief struck them at once Shall it not be so with the Jews at their glorious conversion when they shall hear I am Jesus of Nazareth Zach. 12.10 Rev. 1.7 whom ye have persecuted and pierced See the Notes on Chap. 38. ver 27. Vers 4. I am Ioseph your brother Therefore you are to expect no hard sentence from a brothers mouth Christ is not ashamed nor will be at last day to call us brethren Pattern of Piety He that was willingly judg'd for me said that good woman will surely give no hard sentence against me We may say boldly to him as Ruth did to Boaz Spread thy skirt over me for thou art a neer kinsman Ruth 3.9 Vers 5. Now therefore be not grieved c. See here a lively image of Christs love toward his enemies for whom he prayed and dyed to give them repentance and remission Act. 5.31 This Angel of the Covenant first troubles the waters and then cures those cripples that step in This Sun of righteousness first draws up vapours of godly grief and then dispells them A bruised reed shall he not break and smoaking wick shall he not quench Mat. 12.20 till he bring forth judgment to victory that is weak grace to perfection To preserve life Animant is cujusque vita in fugaest saith the Philosopher and must be maintained by means Isai 57.10 Hence it is called the life of our hands because upheld by the labour of our hands Vers 7. God sent me before you He it is that by a powerfull providence orders all the disorders of the world by a certain counsell to his own ends and at length to his own glory The hands that nailed Christ to the cross were wicked hands Act. 2. 23. And Iudas was sent to his place for being guide to them that took Iesus And yet they did no more Act. 1.16 then what Gods hand and counsell determined before to be done Act. 4.28 for his glory and the salvation of his elect This Pliny derides as a strange doctrine but Plato hammers at it when he saith Irridendum verâ— curam agere rerum humanarum illuâ— quicquid est summum Plin. lib. 2. cap. 7. that God doth always 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Indeed he doth all in number weight and measure as the wise-man saith He alters the property of his peoples afflictions and by an Almighty Alchymy turns dross to gold c. As a skilfull Apothecary he makes of a poisonfull viper a wholesome triacle Vers 8. It was not you that sent me Ioseph makes the best of an ill matter that they may not be over-whelmed with grief Ier. 31.19 Postquam osten sum fuerit mihi Tremell and so made a prey to the divell 2 Cor. 2.11 After I was made known to my self saith Ephrahim I repented Get thee saith Mr. Bradford Gods Law as a glass to look in so shalt thou see thy face foul-arraieâ— and so shamefull saucy mangy pocky and scabbed that thou canst not but be sorry at the contemplation thereof c. Especially if thou look to the tag M. Bradf Serm. of Repent pag. 26.27 tied to Gods Law the malediction which is such as cannot but make us to cast our currish tailes betwixt our legs if we believe it But here to cleer our eye-sight and keep us upright we must annoynt our eyes with Christs eye-salve Rev. 3.17 We read of a sensible eye-salve made of Christs spittle and clay Ioh. 9.6 As it were Bright in loc of the knowledg of Christ by his word which proceedeth out of his mouth as also of the knowledg of our selves who being made of earth do savour nothing else but earth Both of these two knowledges are to be joyned and beaten together in a lumpe else they help not For our misery acknowledged without Christ breedeth desperation and Christ without sence of our vileness presumption Vers 9. Come down unto me tarry not Christ seems to send from Heaven and say unto us in like sort God hath made me Lord of all come up unto me tarry not Should the King call us to court upon no other condition then to have and enjoy the pleasures and treasures there to be had old Iacob never went so willingly into Egypt as we should gladly accept and imbrace such a motion Vers 10. Thou shalt be neer unto me So sweet
time about cap and surpliss They could never agree till they met in prison and then misery bred unity then they could heartily bewaile their former dissentions about matters of no more moment Epist 36. ad Reg. Elizabeth Peter Martyr commends it to the care of Queen Elizabeth that Church-governours indeavour not to carry the Gospell into England upon the cart of needless ceremonies By his advice among others in King Edward the sixths dayâ—s some people contending for one image some for another the King took down all those Balâ—ams-blocks And the very self-same day and hour wherein the reformation enjoyned by Parliment was pat in execution at London by burning of idolatrous images the English put to slight their enemies Act. Mon. 〈◊〉 in Muscleborough field is Mr. Fox hath well observed We had Images and other like popâ—sh paltrement pressing in upon us again and amain not long since till God stirred up the spirit of our religious Nehemi ths to step between and stop the torrent whom therefore God I doubt not will crown with conquest over all their and his Churches enemies Vers 20. And he set Ephraim before God many times sets the yonger before the elder makes the last to be first and the first last to shew the freedom of his grace and that he seeth not as man seeth 1 Sam. 16 7. The maids were first purified and perfumed before Ahashuerosh chose one But Christ first loves and then parifies his Church Eph. 5.25 26. and loves because he loves Deut. 7.7 8. And hath mercy on whom he will have mercy Rom. 9.18 Vers 21. Behold I dye This was a speech of faith uttered without the least fear consternation or dismayment As it was no more betwixt God and Moses but goe up and dye so betwixt God and Iacob but behold I dye Death he knew to him should neither be totall but of the body only nor perpetuall of the body but for a season only See both these set forth by the Apostle Rom. 8.10 11. Vers 22. I have given thee one portion Ioseph had the double portion as Iudah the dignity from Reuben who had forfeited both by his incest And here it appeareth that the right of the first-born to a double portion was in force and in use before that law Deut. 21.17 as was also the Sabbath circumcision and the raising up seed to a deceased brother With my sword and with my bow That is with the warlike weapons of my sons Simeon and Levi whose victory he ascribeth to himself not as it was wickedly got by his sons for so he disavows and detests it Chap. 49. but as by a miracle from heaven the Canaanites were held in from revenging that slaughter and made to fear his force and valour The Chaldee Paraphrast expounds it metaphorically I took it with my sword and my bow hoc est oratione deprecatione mea saith He by my prayer and supplication Prayers indeed are bombardae instrumenta bellic a Christianorum saith Luther a Christians best Arms and Ammunition The Jesuites pretend and protest that they have no other weapons or wayes to work but preces lachrymas Whereas it is too well known that they are the greatest Incendiaries and boutefeau's of Christendome and their faction a most agile sharp sword whose blade is sheathed at pleasure in the bowels of every Common-wealth but the handle reacheth to Rome and Spain CHAP. XLIX Vers 1. Gather your selves together THis is Jacobs swan-like song his last bequeath Sic ubi fata vâ—cant uâ—is abjectus in herbis Ad vada Maeandri conciuit albus olor Ovid. Epist his farewell to the world and it is a most heavenly one The wine of Gods Spirit is usually strongest and best at last in the hearts of his people his Motions quickest when natural motions are slowest most sensible when the body begins to be senseless most lively when holy men are adying Look how the Sun shines most amiably toward the descent and Rivers the nearer they draw to the sea the sooner they are met by the tide so is it with the Saints when nigh to death when grace is changing into glory they deliver themselves usually to the standers by most sweetly So besides Jacob did Moses Joshuah Paul and He in whose one example is a globe of precepts Our Lord Jesus Christ in that last heavenly Sermon and Prayer of his Ioh. 14.15.16.17 Whereunto let me add that faithful Martyr John Diazius who was cruelly butchered by his own brother Alphonsus Diazius and that meerly for his religion See the Notes on Chap. 4. ver 8. I remember saith Senarclaeus his friend and bed-fellow who wrote the history of his death when he and I were at Newburg the very night before he was murthered he prayed before he went to bed more ardently then ordinary and for a longer time together After which he spent a good part of the night in discoursing of the great works of God and exhorting me to the practice of true piety Ego verò illius oratione sic incoudebar ut cum eum â—issâ—â— entem audirem â—piritus ancti verba me audire exâ—stimarem Ibid. Quest Answ And truly I felt my self so inflamed and quickned by his words that when I heard him discoursing methoughts I heard the Spirit of God speaking unto me This and much more Senarclaeus writes to Bucer who at that time had employed Diazâ—us to over-look the right printing of a book of his that was then in the Press That I may tell you that which shall befall you But how knew Moses this last speech of Jacob being born so long after Partly by Revelation and partly also by Tradition For the words of dying men are living Oracles and their last speeches are long remembred And the accomplishment of all these Prophecies in their due time as the following Scriptures shew adds much to the authority of Moses's writings and confirms them to be faithful and true as He saith Joh. 21.24 Vers 2. Hear ye sons of Jcaob and hearken Draw up the ears of your souls to the ears of your bodies that one sound may pierce both at once Let him â—hat hath an ear to hear hear not only with that outward gristle that grows upon his head but with his utmost intention of mind attention of body and retention of memory and of pracâ—câ— also He that hears the Word of God must hear as if he did for so he doth hear for life and death he must as Jacob bids his sons hear and hearken Vers 3. Virgil. My might and beginning of my strength Nate meae vires The word here used signifieth the straining of the body forcibly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to effect a thing much desired such as was that of S. Paul Phil. 3.13 and that of Eliah 1 King 18.42 when he prayed and prayed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam. 5.17 as St. Iames hath it that is with utmost intention of affection
For which caus also it was a received tradition among the the Jewes that during those four daies the Lamb was tied to their bed posts Ver. 4. Shall make your count seil of Communicants that the whole may bee eaten up and everie one have enough Spiritual blessings may bee divided in solidum one may have as much as another and all alike The Gentiles also are called to fruition and feeding on the Lamb. Ver. 5. Without blemish Christ that immaculate Lamb of God was hereby typified 1 Pet. 1.19 See the Note there From the sheep or from the goats A lamb to shew Christ's innocencie meekness patience profitableness Or a kid to shew that hee was a sinner 1. By Imputation for God made our sins to meet upon him Isa 53.6 2. By Reputation for hee made his grave with the wicked ver 9. Ver. 6. Vntil the fourteenth daie See the note on ver 3. In the evening Christ came in the evening of the world Heb. 1.2 in the last hour 1 Job 5. when all laie buried in darkness in the even-tide of our sin and death Ver. 7. And strike it on the two side-posts Not on the threshold Wee may not tread under foot the Son of God or count the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing Heb. 10.29 but get our hearts sprinkled therewith by the hysop-bunch of Faith from an evil conscience that wee may serv the living God Heb. 9.14 Ver. 8. In that night By candle-light so must wee feed upon Christ lumine supernaturali Isa 53. by his knowledg doth God's righteous servant justifie manie Rost with fire Not raw wee may not grosly conceiv of Christ nor rashly receiv him Not boiled bur rost to shew that Christ was rosted in the fire of his father's wrath sicut tostis cibariis non adhibentur alia ut in â—lixis fieri consuevit it à solum Christum debemus apprehendere fide Alsted saith an Interpreter And unleavened bread See the Note on 1. Cor. 5.7 8. And with bitter herbs To teach that looking upon Christ whom they have pierced men must bee in bitterness Zach. 12.10 and feel what an evil and bitter thing sin is Jer. 2.19 beeing readie to suffer hardship with Christ though hee should feed us to the full with bitter herbs and make us drunk with wormwood Lam. 3.15 Ver. 9. His head with his legs To let us see our need of whole Christ and our most perfect comunion with Him Ver. 10. And yee shall let nothing of it remain Wee may not presume to sin in hope of pardon Christ will not stand us for a sinning-stock Ver. 11. With your loins girt As prest and intent to the service so wee should bee at all times but especially when to depart out of the Fâ—ypt of this life and to take heaven by force Then if ever wee should hoc agere gird up the loins of our minds c. 1 Pet. 1. And yee shâ—ll â—at it in hast As not doubting of deliverance and waiting a call out of life It is the Lord's passover A sacramental expression like that of our Savior This is my bodie Mat. 26.26 see the Note there The sacraments of the old Testament were both saeraments and types but those of the New are sacraments onely Ver. 12. And will smite all the first-born This crosseth not that in Ezek. 18. The son shall not bear the iniquitie of his father for God never punisheth the innocent becaus all are guiltie before Him These Egyptians had slain Israël God's first-born And it is the observation of Theodoret that when God smote Pharaoh's first-born hee drew blood of the arm for the cure of the head which becaus it mended not thereupon came also to confusion and upon all the Gods of Egypt As hee did here upon the Popish Idols in the begining of the Reformation by detecting their vanitie and laying their honor in the dust Ver. 13. I will pass over you Or over-skip you So hee dealeth oft by his who should therefore keep a passover for our safetie Ver. 14. By an Ordinance for ever Till Christ our passover should bee sacrificed for us and then the Christian passover was to succed Ver. 15. Yee shall put away leaven All unsoundness in point of Faith and insinceritie in point of Practice See the Note on 1 Cor. 5.7 Ver. 16. An boliâ— convocation This same word in the Hebrew signifieth the holie Scriptures Nehem. 8 9. to teach us saith one that the Scriptures ought to be read in the Congregation and holie Assemblies Ver. 17. In this self-same daie Heb. In the bodie or strength of this daie so the mid-daie is called Art thou delivered helped write up the time and place Ver. 18. Vntil the ane and twentieth daiâ— As Austin said of the feast of Pentecost might these of the Passover may wee of the Powder plot Gaudet produci haec solemnitas It were well iâ— this holie-daie were a double-daie Ver. 19. No leaven found See the Note on ver 15. Shal bee cut off For a smal fault as it may seem to som but the less the matter the greater is the contempt in denying to do it Keep therefore God's commandement as the sight of thine eie Look to those minntula Legiâ— that yee may live Ver. 20. Yee shal eat nothing leavened Watch carefully against corruption in life and doctrine bee punctual in your preparation to and participation of the Christian passover Ver. 21. All the elders of Israël The masters of Families who in this Familie-service were to kill and eat and set before the rest of the houshold as priests at home and to shew them the meaning of that mysterie Ver. 22. A bunch of hysop An herb of a purging propertie See 1 Cor. 6.11 The blood that is in the bason The remembrance of Christ's bloodie passion must bee kept fresh in our hearts Strike the lintel Profess Christ crucified Tâ—m recent milâ—i nunc Christus ac si hac borâ â—â—dissâ—t sanguinem Luth. honor him by a holie conversation minde him in your out-goings and in comings None of you shal go out Bee not of those that withdraw to perdition but of them that believ to the salvation of the soul Heb. 10.39 Mingle no more with the Egyptians Ver. 23. Will not suffer the destroier Angels delight to bee executioners of God's judgments and Saviors of his people Ver. 24. For ever See the Note on ver 15. Ver. 25. Yee shal keep this service yet with som variation of circumstance Ver. 26. When your children Children are to bee carefully catechised and informed Eph. 6.4 See the note there Luther scorned not to profess himself discipulum Catechismi a Catechism Scholar Ver. 27. Bowed the head In token of submission to the command and thank fulness for such a salvation Ver. 28. Went away and did c. They that will not timously obeie God's sweet precepts shal one daie have no other command to obeie but that bitter Ite maledicti Go
gods because Moses his politie could not consist of true worshippers and professed Idolaters To the third Commandement there were two kindes of blasphemie or cursing of God whether it were mediate or immediate direct or indirect One proceeding of insirmitie and impatience the other of malice and obstinacie This later was to bee punished with stoning that former with som corporal punishment as beating boring the tongue c. To the fourth Commandement The wilful profanation of the Sabbath was punished with death Tithes Offerings First-fruits Firstlings and the like were commanded by God as part of the Priest's maintenance due to them by the verie law of Nature And the same custom is at this daie commendably kept up there not beeing a more equal and easie waie of mainteining the Ministers of the Church and so of upholding the Church's Ministerie To the fifth Commandement Wrong don to a Parent whether by striking or cursing is parricide and to bee punished with death so is wrong offered to the chief Magistrate this is treason Parents had power to command and correct their children yea in som cases to sell them to their brethren the Israëlites and to sue out a Writ of Execution against them if uncounsellable and incorrigible The Privilege of Primogeniture made for the honor of the familie and prefigured hrist The chief Magistrate is both ordained and ordered by God Deut. 17. Inferior Magistrates must neither bee strangers nor eunuchs nor bastards nor Ammonites nor Moabites Deut. 23. But they must bee men of courage fearing God c. To the sixth Commandement Four sorts of capital punishments were in use among God's people viz. stoning burning beheading and strangling Execution was don either by the whole people or els som deputed thereunto Man-slaughter was committed either by man or beast If by a man either it was voluntarie and that was punished with death or involuntarie and in that case they had their cities of Refuge these prefigured Christ our sole Sanctuarie of safetie But if by a beast the beast was stoned as also the master of the beast if don by his default Blows that caussed loss of limbs were punished with the like loss or if not with a reasonable recompens Violence offered to a woman quick with childe so as shee lost her fruit was death but if shee were not quick it was onely a monie-mulct God straitly charged them to abstein from the use of beast's blood that they might learn to abstein much more from sheddid man's blood Lepers were to live apart lest the sound should bee infected and to intimate the contagiousness of sin A Jewish servant if hee should not go free at the year of Jubilee was to bee bored in the ear with an awl and to live and die with his master Hereto also pertein their laws for War as that new-married men timorous persons and plough-men should bee excused that a souldier should bee twentie years of age at least that the General should desire passage through his brother's countrie that hee should send forth spies offer peace lead on his souldiers use stratagems spare fruit-trees equally divide the spoil reserv a part thereof for God see that the Camp bee kept clean from sin c. To the seventh Commandement Adulterie was death and in the High-priest's daughter Fornication was burning becaus hee was a special type of Christ and therefore his familie should bee without blame or blemish Sodomie and bestialitie were likewise death so was the deflouring of an espoused virgin and a rape The Priest might not marrie anie but a virgin The price of an harlot might not bee brought into the Sanctuarie Polygamie and Divorce were permitted onely and not commanded Marrying with the brother's widdow was peculiar to the old Testament They were to marrie within their own tribes becaus our Lord was to spring of the Tribe of Judah Hee that defiled a virgin was both to marrie her and to endow her so that hee had her parents consent thereunto The prohibited degrees both of Consanguinitie and Affinitie are Moral Lev. 18. 20. and grounded upon verie good reason To the eighth Commandement Man-stealing Sacrilege and compound theft were punished with death Usurie is condemned by the Law of God The Law for things borrowed deposited intrusted lent or found is grounded upon this Rule Hee that marreth another man's goods robbeth him God would not have anie poor that is sturdie beggers amongst his people To the ninth Commandement Hereunto belong the laws for Ecclesiastical and Civil judgments SECT III. Of the signification of the Cerimonial Laws and first for holie Places THese Laws concern either holie Places Times Things or Persons The general law for holie Places was That in that place onely that God should chuse holie Services should bee performed And this signified 1. that through Christ alone wee must go to God in everie divine dutie 2. That the time shall com when wee shall injoie the immediate presence of God in heaven The special Law was as touching the Tabernacle a lively type of Christ and of the Church and of each Christian Now in the Tabernacle are considerable 1. The causses and 2. the parts thereof The causses that concurred to the making of it up are 1. The Matter which was various voluntarie and sufficient This figured that Free-will-offering wherewith everie man ought to honor God by trading with his talent and by doing what hee is able for the maintenance of the Ministerie andrelief of the needie 2. The Form and so the Tabernacle was to bee made according to the pattern received in the Mount To teach us that God will bee served according to his own prescript onely and not after man's inventions 3. The Efficient was everie skilful workman and by name Bezaleël and Aholiab These later figured out the Churches Chieftains and Master-builders as those former all gifted Ministers These were the causses of the Tabernacle the parts thereof as well conteining as conteined follow These all were so framed as that they might easily bee set up or taken down and so transported from place to place whereby was signified that while wee are in this tabernacle of the bodie which shall bee taken down by death and set up again by the resurrection wee are absent from the Lord and that the whole Church not onely is a stranger upon earth but also moveth from one place to another as God disposeth it The Covering of the Tabernacle set forth that the Church and her members do ever sit safe under God's protection The Court made up of divers pillars signified that the Church in regard of the Ministerie therein is the pillar of Truth and that the offices and abilities of the several members ought to bee as props to the whole bodie The holie Instruments and implements served to set forth all the pretious gifts and ordinances of the Church such as are the Word Sacraments Faith Holiness c. The Taches whereby the Curtains were knit together signified that
cruel usage of his suffering Saints Micah 3.3 Heb. 11.35 and the dutie of all that have benefit by him to flea off the old man with his deceitful lusts Ephes 4.22 dealing thereby as the Turk dealt by him that betraied the Rhodes Lâ—unclav Hee presented unto him his promised wife and portion but withal told him that hee would not have a Christian to bee his son-in-law and therefore caussed his Baptized skin as hee called it to bee flaied off and him to bee cast into a bed strawed with salt that hee might get a new skin See Mark 9.49 Ver. 7. Fire upon the Altar That sire from heaven Lev. 9.24 which the Heathens apishly imitated in their Vestal fire Typing either the scorching wrath of God seising upon Christ or the ardent love of Christ to his and their zeal for him Ver. 8. In order upon the wood Shewing that Ministers must rightly divide and dispose the Word of God 2 Tim. 2.15 and evidently set forth Christ crucified Gal. 3.1 Ver. 9. Shall hee wash Shadowing Christ's perfect puritie Heb. 7. and our intire sanctification Ezek. 26.35 Heb. 10.22 Of a sweet savor unto the Lord The burning and broiling of the beasts could yield no sweet savor but thereto was added wine oil and incens by God's appointment and then there was a savor of rest in it Our praiers as from us would never pleas but as indited by the Spirit and presented by Christ they are highly accepted in heaven Ver. 10. A male without blemish But cursed bee that cosener that hath in his flock a male and sacrificeth unto God a corrupt thing Mal. 1.14 Ver. 11. On the side of the Altar northward Not Eastward as the Heathen sacrifices or to note the obscuritie of the Legal Cetimonies Ver. 12. In order See the Note on Vers 8. Ver. 13. Hee shall wash See the Note on Vers 9. Ver. 14. Turtle doves or young pigeons Old turtles and young pigeons are the best God must have the verie best of the best as beeing best-worthie Ver. 15. Wring off his head Or pinch it with his nail that the blood might go out without separating it from the rest of the bodie This figured the death of Christ without either breaking a bone or dividing the God-head from the manhood As also the skill that should bee in Ministers to cut or divide aright the word of truth Ver. 16. His crop with his feathers Or the maw with the filth thereof that is the guts which receiv the filth sent unto them from the maw was pluckt out and the blood strained at the side of the Altar this signified those clods of blood wrung from our Saviour before his oblation upon the Cross Ver. 17. Aâ—d hee shall cleav it That the inward part might bee laid on the fire See Psal 51.18 19. Mark 12.33 CHAP. II. Ver. 1. Of fine flour NO quantitie is here prescribed becaus it was a Free-will-offering onely it must bee fine no bran in it to shew the puritie of Christ's sacrifice Heb. 7.26 and of our services through him Mal. 3.11 By means of the oil of his Spirit and incens of his Intercession Ver. 2. Shall burn the memorial of it Whereby God was inminded as it were of the partie offering and acknowledging all his store to bee from God Ver. 3. Shall bee Aaron's and his sons As meat for them hence it was called a Meat-offering and sent them to Christ the meat that endureth unto life everlasting John 6.27 Ver. 4. Vnleavened cake mingled with oil Sinceritie is the mother of serenitie Truth of tranquillitie Ver. 5. Baken in a pan Afterwards parted in pieces and oil powred upon it signified the graces of God's Spirit wherewith Christ was fully annointed within and without Psalm 45.8 and wherewith wee should bee tempered and annointed 1 John 2.27 2 Cor. 1.21 Ver. 6. And pour oil thereon Jacob was the first wee read of that consecrated his offerings with oil Gen. 28.18 Probably hee had it from his predecessors Ver. 7. Baken in the frying-pan So My heart is frying of a good matter saith David Psalm 45.1 Ver. 8. Hee shall bring it unto the Altar God would have all their offerings brought to one Altar both to figure out the one onely all-sufficient-sacrifice of Christ and to teach all the faithful to consent in one and the same truth of the Gospel Ver. 9. Amemorial thereof Signifying the perpetual benefit of Christ's death to all believers Ver. 10. Shall be Aaron's and his son's Ministers maintenence Ver. 11. Nor anie honie Which hath a leavening virtue in it Sweet sins are to bee abandoned there will bee bitterness in the end Prov. 26.26 27. Ver. 12. Yee shall offer them i. e. With the first-fruits yee shall offer both leven Lev. 23.17 and honie 2 Chron. 31.5 Both which are somtimes taken in the better part Mat. 13.33 Cant. 4.11 Ver. 13. Shalt thou season with salt Called here the salt of Gods's covenant as signifying the covenant of God made with us in Christ who seasoneth us and make's all our services savorie See the Note on Mark 9.49 50. Ver. 14. Green ears of corn To signifie that God should bee served with the first-fruits of our age the primrose of our childe-hood CHAP. III. Ver. 1. Whether it bee male or female IN Christ there is neither male nor female but all one Gal. 3 28. Souls have no sexes In Thank-offerings the female also might pass to teach that God look's not so much to the worth of the gift as the honestie of the heart that offer 's it Leavened bread also in this case was accepted Lev. 7.13 Ver. 2. Vpon the Altar round about This signified that plenteous redemption by the blood of sprinkling Ver. 3. The fat that covereth the inwards Heartie thanks must bee given to God such as cometh not from the roof of the mouth but the root of the heart An aërie God bee thanked profiteth not Sing with grace in your hearts is the best tune to anie Psalm The voice which is made in the mouth is nothing so sweet as that which com's from the depth of the breast Ver. 4. With the kidnies Those seats of Lusts Earth lie members must bee mortified by the thankful Ver. 5. Vpon the burnt-sacrifice Which was first offered to teach us that sin must bee pardoned ere our Thank-offerings can bee accepted It is therefore ordinarily best to begin our praiers with confession of sin and petitions for pardon through Christ Ver. 8. Laie his hand See the Note on Chap. 1. v. 4. Ver. 9. The whole â—ump Which in those countrie-sheep is verie large yet not so large as those in America The world encompassed mentioned by Sr. Francis Drake as big as kine and supplying the room of horses for burthen or travel Ver. 11. It is the food That whereupon God himself seemeth to feed Psalm 50.13 Ver. 12. That yee neither eat fat nor blood Neither bee carnal nor cruel but let your souls delight in the
vengeance Well might K. James say that if God did leave him to kill a man he would think God did not love him David Gods darling falling into that crimson sin carried the bruise of that fall with him to his grave Woe to those Italians Sands his Relation of West Relig. Sect. 13. that blaspheme oftner then swear and murther more then revile or slander Vers 23. They stript Joseph out of his coat For 1. It was an eye-sore to them 2. Therewith they would colour their cruelty And this whiles they were doing Ioseph used many intreaties for himself but they would not hear him Gen. 42.21 Reuben also pleaded hard for the child but all to no purpose Gen. 42.22 their tender mercies were cruelties Vers 24. They cast him into a pit Where they meant he should pine and perish with hunger which is a more cruel death Druso adcò alimenta subducta ut tomentum a culcitra tentaverit mandere Tacit. then to dye by the sword Lam. 4.5 Thus dyed Drusus by the command of Tiberius meat being denyed him he had eaten the stuffings of his bed I have heard of a certain Bishop saith Melancthon who having cast ten men into a dungeon for their religion sake kept them there so long without all manner of meat that they devoured one another Joh. Manl. loc com 124. Vers 25. And they sate down to eat To weep for their wickedness they should have sate down rather But the Devill had drawn a hard hoof over their hearts that either they felt no remorse of what they had done for present or else they sought to ease themselves of it by eating and merry-making They drank wine in bowles but no man was sorry for the affliction of Joseph Nay perhaps Amos 6.8 they had so tyred themselves with making away their brother that they were even spent again and stood in need of some refreshing The good providence of God was in it howsoever that they should there sit down till the Merchants came by from Gilead which was a Mart for Merchants Ier. 8.22 22.6 All things co-operate for good to them that love God Rom. 8.28 Vers 26. What profit is it c. Cui bono said that old Judge in Rome Cic. orat pro C. Rabir. This is a song that most men will listen to As the Jassians in Strabo delighted with the musick of an excellent Harper ran all away when once they heard the Market-bell ring save a deaf old man that could take little delight in the Harpers ditties But it were to be wisht that whenever we are tempted to sin we would ask our selves this question What profit is it c. Vers 27. For he is our brother and our flesh This consideration should be as the Angels call to Abraham to stay our hand from striking another 1. That he is our brother in respect of God for have we not all one father hath not one God created us Mal. 3.10 Next that he is our flesh in regard of our first parents Act. 17.26 Esay 58.7 Vers 28. For twenty peeces of silver A goodly price not all out the price of a slave Exod. 21.32 Here they sold the just one for silver Pirke R. Eliez ch 38. and the poor for a pair of shooes Amos 2.6 The Hebrews tell us that of these twenty shekels every of the ten brethren had two to buy shooes for their feet And they brought Ioseph into Egypt Little knowing what a price they had in their hand even the Jewel of the world and him that should one day be Lord of Egypt The Saints for their worth are called Princes in all lands Many righteous are many Kings Compare Matth. 13.17 with Luk. 10.24 Psal 45. Kings in righteousness though somewhat obscure ones as Melchizedek Heb. 7. They are called the world Joh. 3.16 every creature Mark 16.16 all things Col. 1.20 Gods portion Deut. 32.9 the dearly beloved of his soul Jer. 12.7 a royal Diadem in the hand of Iehovah Esay 62.3 This the cock on the dunghill the Midianitish muck-worms take no notice of They could see no comliness in Christ though the fairest of ten thousand nothing more then a despicable man Joh. 6. How can this man give us his flesh to eat God had hid him in whom all the treasures of worth and wisdom were hid under the Carpenters son Colos 2. This pearl was covered with a shell-fish so are all Gods precious people for most part abjects in the worlds eye their glory is within their life is hid they are great heirs but as yet in their non-age Kings but in a strange country heads destinated to the diadem but this the world knows not 1 Ioh. 3.1 Let it suffice us that God and all that can spiritually discern know it and so shall others as Ioseph's brethren did him in his bravery For when Christ our life shall appear we shall appear with him in glory Vers 30. The child is not and I c In an old Manuscript I met with these words thus pathetically rendred Heu quid agam periit puer ille puer puer ille Reuben was the eldest and therefore thought he should be most blamed Besides he had not forgot how highly his father had been lately offended with him for his detestable incest Vers 32. Know now whether it be thy sons coat One Philip Bishop of Beau-vieu in France in the time of our Richard the first being a martial man and much annoying our borders was by King Richard in a skirmish happily taken and put in prison The Bishop hereupon complained to the Pope who wrote in the behalf of his son as an Ecclesiasticall person c. The King sent to the Pope the armour he was taken in with these words engraven thereon Know whether this be thy sons coat or not Heyl. Geog. pag. 108. Which the Pope viewing sware it was rather the coat of a son of Mars then a son of the Church and so bad the King use his pleasure Vers 33. It is my sons coat c. The Lord may well say as much of hypocrites Their outward from of godliness is the garb of my sons and daughters but some evil spirit hath devoured them who use it only in hypocrisie They are fair professors but foul sinners And when the filthy sinner goes damâ—ed to hell what shall become of the zealous professor As the Churl said to the Bishop of Cullen praying in the Church like a Bishop but as he was a Duke going guarded like a tyrant Whither thinkest thou the Bishop shall go when the Duke shall be damned Vers 34. Mourned for his son many dayes Puerilitas est periculorum pelagus Few live to be old for one evil beast or another that devours them As for one apple that hangs till it falls many are endgel'd down or gathered off the tree We should learn to bury children and friends whiles yet alive by acting their death to our selves aforehand