sayd to the children of Israel I set here before you life and death eate of the one and liue and eate of the other and die eternally Yet could not be content with this glorious estate but did eate of the forbidden fruit by the perswasion of a woman which God framed out of Adams ribbe and ioyned to him to be an helpe for him Before they had continued in Paradise one day as it is written Psal 49. Adam being in honour continueth not a night but is like to the beasts that perish which woman was deceiued by the subtiltie of a Serpent that is of the Deuill speaking in a Serpent which beast was fittest to possesse to the deceiuing of her because he excelled all other beasts in the field in wit For if an Asse had sayd so much to her as did the Serpent it is very likely shee would haue examined the cause further but he hauing once bin an Angel of light but not keping his first originall being throwne downe from heauen continuing his knowledge though he lost his vertue was not to seeke either for matter or oportunitie enuying their states to bring his murtherous purpose to passe for so is he called the Serpent the old Deuill or Satan who was a Murtherer from the beginning but knowing the prohibition commeth to the woman saying Yea hath God sayd Yee shall not eate of euery tree in the garden to whome the woman answereth saying We may eate freely of the fruite of the Trees in the garden but as for the Tree in the middest of the garden God hath sayd yee shall not eate of it nor touch it least happily you die Out of which speeches the Serpent beeing a ramping and a roaring Lyon going about seeking how hee might deuoure her quickly sucketh aduantage finding her to haue digressed from the words of the commaundement adding thereto a tricke of his owne head saith to the woman Ye shall not die at all but you shal be as Gods knowing good and euill In that he saith gods he meaneth not the true God for whatsoeuer hee speaketh is to be taken in the worst meaning that can be made of it but he meaneth you shal be in the state of damnation as Deuils which are called Princes Gods of the world And likely enough that he touched the fruit because that shee added to the Commaundement the worde touche Now the woman beholding the fruit that it was good to eate pleasant to the eyes a Tree to be desired to get knowledge She tooke of the fruit did eate gaue also to her husband and he did eat These 3. properties aboue are expounded in Iohn Wantonnes of the eies Lust of the flesh The pride of life By reason of which sinne Adam and Eue seeing their owne nakednes sowed figge-tree leaues together and hidde themselues from the presence of God among the Trees of the garden their soules beeing then in the state of Damnation with a light shining in darknes but their darknes not comprehending the same shewing thereby the weaknes of their nature and of their posteritie God but a little leauing them to their selues that when they had sinned they had rather hide themselues in darkenesse and seek to stockes and trees that haue no help in them than to God that made them But Dauid afterwards being clothed with the spirit of wisedome vnderstanding acknowledgeth the power of God to ouer-reach the compasse of mans vaine imagination when he sayth Whether shall I flye from thy presence If I take the winges of the morning and flye to the vttermost part of the world thou art there If I climbe vp to heauen thou art there If I goe downe to hell thou art there also For God who made the eye shall not hee see all the dwellers vppon earth who hath weighed all men in a ballance numbring the dayes and verie haires of their heads diuiding to euerie one their double portion according to the fore-purpose of his election being a righteous Iudge sparing not the person of Adam though hee were a King and the stateliest King that euer should bee but calleth him to account in the coole of the same day wherein he was created and fell punisheth him though not according to the desert of his transgression like a merciful Iudge that would saue and as a Father that pitieth his owne childe knowing whereof he was made and that he was but dust sayth to Adam What hast thou done and leauing him to consider of his sinne goeth to the woman with like tendernesse saying What hast thou done as if he should haue sayd Oh daughter haue I made the heauens and the host thereof that is Angels Sunne Moone and Starres c. to be thy seruants and the earth and all that therein is to be obedient at thy call breathing into thy nostrils life wherby thou becamest a liuing soule in the image of God that is in righteousnesse and true holynesse to be a temple and a Tabernacle for the holy of the holyest to dwell in and hast thou defiled the same with fond lusts regarding the wordes of the Serpent the Father of lyes not respecting my power and my seueritie that as I made thy body and soule that I could destroy the same whereby thou hast purchased the execution of my law established at thy creation to thee and thy husband what hast thou done But God hauing examined the matters and finding them both guiltie and the malice of the Serpent to bee the cause of their guiltinesse neuer stayeth iudgement nor vouchsafeth once to reason the matters with him but presently curseth him and punisheth Adam and the woman and curseth for their sakes the earth plants and whole course of nature and made them of obedient seruants rebellious enemies to Adam and his posteritie And because Adam was not deceiued but the woman became into the transgression he maketh her will subiect to the desire of her husband encreasing her sorrowes and her conceptions Thus he chastiseth them but giueth them not ouer but pronounceth to the woman a short but a pithy sentence That the seede of the woman should breake the head of the Serpent That is to say I will cause one to be borne of the womans seede which shall subdue the Deuill and the Deuill shall doe his endeauour to trip vp his heeles by tempting him In this beginneth a controuersie against the Iewes of later times who hold opinion that the Messias or Christ whome wee vphold to be the mediator between Gods iustice and mans sinne shall be some great Emperor that shall deliuer them from bodily oppression howbeit they cannot deny but that by the death which God threatneth to Adam for his transgression Rabbi Moses vnderstandeth a spirituall death that is to wit the death of the soule wounded with sinne and forsaken of her life which is God and that by the venome of the Serpent he meaneth sinne it selfe which shall cease saith he vnder the Messias And the Thargum of Ierusalem sayth
perfect Sabbath hee had performed some part of the Lawe and thereby beene partaker with Christ in the worke of our Redemption Againe if Adam had continued in the image of God which is in righteousnesse and true holinesse vntill the Sabbath hee would haue performed the ordinances of the Sabbath which was to eate of the tree of life which was made for a Sacrament of conseruation vnto him and should not haue needed a Redeemer Hee did not eate of the Tree of Life for God after his fall setteth Cherubims to keepe the way of the Tree of Life least Adam eating should liue for euer Whereby it appeareth that if hee had eaten thereof before hee had not fallen Therefore it cannot be that Adam continued perfect vnto the Sabbath And further it is written Psal 49. Adam being in honour continueth not one night but is like to the beasts that perish Cedrenus a Greeke writer saith that Adam fell the sixt day of the first weeke Saint Augustine saith the woman streight way after her creation before she accompained with Adam became into the transgression otherwise Kaine had beene conceaued without sinne Theophilact vpon Matthew sayth that as man was formed the sixt day and did eate of the tree the sixt howre so Christ reforming man and healing the fall was fastened to the tree the sixt day and the sixt howre And in the storie of the creation in Genesis presently after the fall Moses speaketh of the Redemption And without wee compare the Creation with the Redemption wee misse of all For Adam to bee compared with Christ is the summe of all And wherefore should all the actions of the Redemption bee accomplished in such rarenesse except to bee aunswerable both to the fall and to the time of the fall Wherefore it is needfull wee should know our thraldome if wee will receaue comfort by the Redeemer thus First Christ the Restorer was borne of a Virgine Why because by a Virgine destruction came to the world Chrysostome compareth Eue and Marie together thus Eue beeing a Virgine hearing the wordes of the SERPENT and beleeuing them brought foorth DEATH The Virgine Marie hearing the wordes of the Angell Gabriel and beleeuing them brought foorth Life Againe why should Christ die on the sixt day rather than on the fifth or fourth And why was there darkenesse vntill the coole of the day rather than till the Sunne setting but to make the Redemption answerable to euery part of the fall because God according to the secret counsell of his owne will before the foundations of the earth were laide would make the Art of saluation so easie and the harmonie of the Bible so tuneable that no musicke in the world can bee more pleasant to the eare than the meditation of the loue of God towards vs in Christ is comfortable to the heart of man Therefore the meditation of Adams fall and the victorie of Christ ought to bee continually in our mindes Now compare Christ with Adam Adam Christ The first Adam was made a soule hauing life of earth earthly therefore by the earthly one came disobedience sinne iudgement condemnation death was created on the sixt day and did eate of the tree the sixt howre was made a man without a Father made not inferiour to the Angels lost all was tempted lost saluation at the time of eating was made ruler of the world and did not hold it did fall in the Garden his soule was in darkenes from the sixt houre vntil the ninth howre by breaking one commandement lost all was called to account at the ninth howre was debarred of the tree of life was driuen out of Paradise was the head of his Wife was a King Prophet Sacrificer liued a thousand yeeres wanting seuentie The second Adam was made a spirit giuing Life from heauen heauenlie thetefore by the heauenly one came obedience grace forgiuenesse iustification life reforming man healing the fall is fastened to the tree the sixt day the sixt howre was made a man without a Father made lower then the Angels is crowned with glory and all the Angels worship him being man whereby wee may know the world was made subiect to a man was tempted brought saluation to all at the time of eating was made ruler of the world and did hold it went into a Garden to recouer Adams fall in the garden when he suffered caused darkenes to couer the whole earth from the sixt howre till the ninth howre by fulfilling all the commaundements brought life to all at the ninth howre yeeldeth vp the Ghost and goeth to giue account to his Father is the true Tree of Life on that day openeth Paradise to the poore theefe the head of his Church was a King Prophet Sacrificer was borne seuentie yeeres before foure thousand BEcause these two Tables consist onely of numbers and that numbers in the scripture are great helpes for the vnderstanding of the same before wee come to speake of Seth it is not amisse to lay downe what numbers are of most vse in the Bible namely 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 12. 1 Expressing the vnion of the Godhead and from thence the vnitie of all godly as being members of one head Christ Iesus which is made plaine Psal 133. Behold how good and comely a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in vnitie c. 3 The distinguished Trinitie within which number many excellent things fall out still to put vs in minde of the vndeuidable coeternitie of Father Sonne and holy Spirite To shew that neither in eldest yongest or middlemost but in Gods free election standeth our eternall happinesse Adam Kaine Of Adam the eldest extreame wicked Abel Of Adam the eldest extreame wicked Seth. Of Adam the eldest extreame wicked Noah Iaphet Of Noah the youngest wicked Sem Of Noah the youngest wicked Cham. Of Noah the youngest wicked Terah Haran Of Terah the middlemost was wicked Nachor Of Terah the middlemost was wicked Abram Of Terah the middlemost was wicked Three Angels appeared to Abraham in his Tent. Three Fowers of precious stones were set in Aarons breast Three Things reserued in the Arke Three Taken vp in the old Testament and 3 in the new The Booke of the Lawe The pot of Manna and Aarons rod that did alwaies flourish Three Parts was Ierusalem diuided into Three Letters the root of euerie word in the Hebrew tongue Three Captiuities of the Iewes Three Times was the Temple grosly poluted by the Babilonians Antiochi Romanes Three Times a yeere were the Iewes bound to come to Ierusalem to giue account of their Religion Three Dayes and Nights was Ionas in the Whales belly Nights and dayes was Christ in the graue Iohns viz. Iohn Baptist Luk. 1. Iohn Euangelist Mat. 4. Iohn Marke Act. 12. Iob saued 3 Eliphaz Sophar Bildad Daniel saued 3 Ananias Azarias Mishael Noah saued 3 Sem. Cham. Iaphet In the 3. seuenth Iubile the Iewes felaway and then Ieremie said O earth earth earth Heare the word of the Lord
for the pleasantnesse of the taste and the vnlawfull desire that shee had of diuilish knowledge not long before was driuen out of Paradise whose blessing of procreation was ioyned with sorrow of conception whose innocent soule by breaking but one commaundement became guiltie of eternall death and lost the whole glory of Paradise and was driuen out into mountaines as not worthy to enioy the benefit of the tree of life in the garden of Eden But Enosh being a godly man and knowing that the fruits of worldly sorrow are likewise eternal death of godly sorrow repentance which word signifieth a changing of iudgement from ignorance to true knowledge to the renewing of the spirit nameth his sonne Kenan Contrite or repenting or a looking backe into their impieties detesting their vaine conuersation to the killing of sinne in himselfe and to the embracing of righteousnesse For it is not onely required of a man to eschew euill but withall to doe good to flee darkenesse if wee will enioy light to follow the right way if wee will not erre to auoid the mire and durt if we will be cleane and without spot and forbeare to be euill if we will begin to be good for it is not enough for a valiant man to doe what he may but also he is bound to attempt nothing but what he ought And as repentance is the fruit of godly sorrow so thankefulnesse to God for deliuerance from like trials proceedeth from repentance Therefore Kenan the Contrite nameth his sonne Mahalaleel my praise God which none can doe effectually without a lowly mind sanctified first by grace to the subduing of the flesh Mahalaleel knowing that such fruit is required of such a tree nameth his sonne Iared the lowly which gifts of grace God bestoweth vpon such onely as he accepteth vnto himselfe as it is written Blessed is the man vnto whom God imputeth not his sinne c. So that a man hauing thus purged himselfe from the iniquitie of wicked men marking the rules of Gods eternall wisedome he shal be a vessell sanctified vnto honour meete for the vses of the Lord 2. Tim. 2. Therfore Iared the lowly nameth his sonne Henoch the holy Now God commaunding all men to direct their steppes by the straight line of his word first layeth downe his will what we ought to doe to please him and then induceth vs thereto not onely by hope of eternall life but promiseth vs in this life long and happy daies as in the eternall lawe is expressed Loue God aboue all and thy neighbour as thy selfe that thy dayes may bee longe in the Land which the Lord thy God giueth thee c. Henoch therefore being assured of the infinite mercies of God towards him and his seede by faith still beholding as in a glasse the redemption by the Sonne of God the summe of all saluation nameth his sonne Methushelah long life or Speare-death For euen as the point of a Speare keepeth off that which would otherwise destroy euen so Methushelah kept away the Floud a longe time from drowning the World But because men should not thinke that any liueth without calamities least outward happinesse should make men to forget God Methushelah hauing heard his fathers and himselfe also being a Prophet preach of the destruction of the world by the floud calleth his sonne Lamech that is Stroken or Hart-wounded which is to be vnderstood that in respect that he being neere those times of dangers many of his posteritie were like to be drowned not only in the floud but eternally tormented for ioyning with the wicked mockers which despised the preaching of the Fathers But although God throweth mens consciences downe for a while with griefe of other mens iust punishment yet hee rayseth them vp againe giuing them hope of his assured promises and a sweet comfort of eternall life Lamech being thus strengthned with the faith of his Fathers ayming still to the sentence of saluation pronounced in Paradise calleth his Sonne Noah Restorer or Comforter saying This Sonne shall comfort vs concerning the sorrow of our hands and concerning the earth which the Lord hath cursed Wherein he sheweth that he both looked backward to the creation and forward to the Redemption by Christ the Seede of the Woman that should bruse the head of the Serpent Thus much for the vse of the names of the Ten Fathers before the floud in generall ⧠Now follow their liues and deaths in particular and first for Adam There is a great doubt made of the time of the yeere of Adams creation and of the day of his fall and is refused as a thing vnprofitable to be knowen and vnpossible to be proued First for the time of his Creation IT is certaine he was created in September at the time that fruits be ripe which is at the fall of the leafe and that was the fittest time seeing in the course of nature there was no fitter time to expresse the nature of Adams fall And as the fall of Adam being answerable to the fall of the leafe because by his fall death was brought vpon all So the death of Christ beeing contrarie to Adams fall because it brought life to all the fittest time to resemble this life in the course of nature was the spring therefore Christ dyed at the spring to deliuer vs out of the spirituall prison when as all thinges shewe themselues to bee deliuered out of this earthly prison Now for the day of Adams fall IT was on fryday the sixt day the day of Adams creation at the time of eating For wee doe not reade that euer Adam did eate before he did eate of the forbidden fruit Therefore when by the storie the time of eating cannot be separated in time reason sheweth vs to ioyne them in time for Satan was a Murtherer from the beginning and we must bring it from the beginning as neere as can be not crossing any Scripture The searching of this matter is not of small importance for from the true vnderstanding of the creation we see the cleerenesse of the Redemption and not marking the creation aright is the cause of much follie and they that misse of the lawes of creation are sure to misse of the lawes of Redemption And Moses making mention of many times hee would not haue omitted the time of the fall except it had beene done presently after the creation thetefore Adams fall must needes bee layd as neere the beginning as may bee not crossing the story The bare narration sheweth that no famous action went betweene the commaundement and the fall and the shortnesse of the time doth shewe the force of the aduersarie Besides it is a great sinne to say that euery man except Christ could fulfill any one point of the Lawe for thereby wee darken the glory of Christ and prooue him not to haue performed the whole lawe If Adam had continued vntill the Sabbath in his innocencie no doubt he would haue kept a perfect Sabbath and if hee had kept a
Iewes was extinct Iohn was banished into Patmes and is commaunded to write to the Seuen Congregations in Asia the lesser where Iaphets Sonnes were first setled to so many Congregations as Iaphet had Sonnes Grace and peace from him that was and is and which is to come and from the seuen Spirits expressed in Esay 11. which are before his throne and from Iesus Christ which is a faithfull witnesse and first begotten of the dead Alpha and Omega the first and the last who is aliue but was dead and behold he liues for euer and euer and hath the keys of hell and of death and giueth light and life to Iaphet the Gentile who was in darkenesse and in the shadowe of death perswading him to dwell in the Tents of Sem to be a dweller in the spirituall Canaan and a Citizen in the heauenly Salem where there is no earthly Temple For God almightie and the Lambe are the Temple of it Now for Sem. SEm being one Hundred yeares old begetteth Arphaxad two yeeres after the flood so old was Abraham when hee begat Isaack He is in vertue equall with any before the flood This Sem was a King Prophet Sacrificer He signifieth A Name to teach them that the should looke to him in whom Sem and the whole world should be blessed He had fiue sonnes Elam Ashur Arphaxad Lud. Amram Elam of whom the Persians Ashur of whom the Assyrians Arphaxad of whom Christ Amram of whom the Aramites Lud of whom the Lidians There be diuers which condemne Genealogies warranted therby as they affirme by Saint Pauls Councill to Timothie neither that they giue heed to fables and Genealogies endlesse which breede rather questions then godly edifying by faith Indeed seeing Genealogies are of great consequence to the prouing of Christ to be the Messias the Iewes to crosse this faine diuers of their owne which S. Paul calleth endlesse and therefore to be auoided as also tales inuented by them whereby they corrupted the story of the Scriptures But this condemneth not the Genealogies which the Holy Ghost penneth but rather approueth them And if we doe but crosse the account laide downe by the heathen we do obscure the euidence of the Scriptures Thus much for the answere of this obiection 100. Arphachsad borne HIs name signifieth Healing Some hold that the Caldeans come from him CHRIST healeth all our infirmities Shelah borne HIs name signifieth Spoyling He was the Father of the Shelanites When he is thirtie yeeres old he begetteth Heber Heber a representer of the sonne of God who beginning to be thirtie yeeres old buildeth vp the decayed walles of the Gentiles Thirtie yeeres after the promise giuen to Abram was it before his seed began to be afflicted Ioseph being thirtie yeeres old expoundeth Pharaohs dreame Heber signifieth Pilgrime or stranger so saith Abraham I am a stranger and Pilgrime giue me a place for money to burie my dead So saith Saint Peter repeating the same storie I beseech you as Pilgrims and strangers to abstaine from fleshly lusts which fight against the soule Hebers posteritie went as strangers flitting from land to land looking for a Citie whereof God was the builder Heb. 11. Hereby we are taught that the world is not the end to which wee were created but that the glory of God is the end or marke that wee ought to leuell at For if we consider Man and the World in man the sences and in the world the sensible things Man as the beholder the world as the Theatre Man as the guest in the world the Feast prepared of all things conuenient for him wee will presently say not only that they be made one for another but also that in very deed the world was made for man and not man for the world And againe if wee consider how the world affordeth content of pleasures to all the sences but nothing sufficient to content the minde shall wee not conclude that as the pompe of this pilgrimage cannot bee mans end so can it not also bee his full contentation but man by a peculiar priuiledge hath an Vnderstanding wit which was giuen vnto him and Will which he receiued franke and free the one to knowe and discerne the leuell of his ende the other to loue and embrace it Seeing then the hither ende of all creatures heere beneath is Man and the furthest end of them is God the neerest and immediate end of man is to know God in the death merits of his Sonne Christ and them to embrace as the soueraigne welfare and comfort of our soules when from this handfull of earth our soules must goe to God that gaue it And what gaineth it a man to get all the kingdomes in the world by humane policie and want grace to ayme the end of our pilgrimage at heauen For what else is the getting of this world but a proofe of want and pouertie And what are honour vaine titles and Imperiall glories but a stampe of the diuels nature Therefore as the end of the first man when he was in his perfect holines was to attaine vnto God so the end of vs who by regeneration are partakers of that righteousnes must tend wholly to the mortifying of our worldly affections and accounting of these transitory momentaries as though they were not And to be short like as the soule is the shape of man so is the knowledge of God the true shape of mans vnderstanding and what desire we but the things that are and what can he want which possesseth him in whom all things are Then let vs say that as it had beene a happie case for Adam to haue continued still in his first estate so is it now for vs to returne thither againe that is to be set againe in Gods fauor that we may one day see his face yet againe And because this vnspeakeable blessednesse cannot be brought to perfection in this life so full of miserie we must so dispose our life in this world not to liue still in the world but to die in respect of these dead things and to liue vnto God if we intend to liue the true and euerlasting life for our true resting point is the turning againe vnto God from whose fauour and fellowship we be departed Man is composed of bodie and soule the body mortall the soule immortall now if we set mans felicitie in his bodie onely we doe too great wrong both to the soule and to the whole man For if it consist in the bodie it perisheth and fadeth with the body and then what remaineth to the soule which ouerliueth but wretchednesse but wee looke for a felicitie which belongeth to the whole man In the soule ioyned with the body we haue three abilities Life Sence Vnderstanding The soule giueth life vnto the body and the perfection of life is health If our life then serue to no other end than the outward things of this pilgrimage what had the first man to do with any of them who was created perfect
yeeres olde and three quarters answerable to the death of Christ at his death seeing his death was a figure of the death of Christ There is nothing precisely determined by the Scriptures and therefore it is left for vs to follow which we will This Isaack in respect of the commaundement of God that he should be offered vp and the obedience of Abraham in offering him was dead and was restored to Abraham as if he had beene risen from the dead He was offered on mount Moriah a part of the mountaine of Sion called afterwards Ierusalem Of this Christ speaketh O Ierusalem Ierusalem that thou sawest those things that concerne the peace but now they are hid from thine eyes therefore thou art Iebus that is troden downe God altereth the name of Moriah to Ierusalem because he would haue kept in memorie Abrahams obedience Sems religion and therefore giueth it a name comprehending both for in respect of Abraham he calleth it Iire Abraham giuing it the name Iehouah Iire that is in the mount will the Lord be seene In respect of Sem he keepeth the name of Salem still and so it is called Iire Salem the Sight of peace From this storie the Iewes might haue knowne the death of Christ seeing Christ compareth them together and yet by putting Christ to death haue saued the world though not heaped condemnation on their owne heads For as it was prophecied that one man must die for all the people so they might haue thus reasoned We know this is the Messias and that he must die for the sinnes of the people Isaack beeing a figure and this time wherein hee nowe is on the earth agreeing with Daniels seuens Therefore as Abraham offered vp Isaack so let the high sacrificer according to the lawe put him to death But then as Saint Peter speaketh if they had knowne this they would not haue crucified the Lord of glorie But as the windowes of Salomons Temple bee narrow without and wide within so Christ speaketh of parables that they are therefore spoken that in hearing they should not heare and in seeing they should not see least they should repent and bee saued The Authour to the Hebrewes sayth By faith Abraham offered vppe Isaack and hee that receiued the promise offered his onelie begotten sonne to whome it was saide In Isaack shall thy Seede bee called for thee considered that God was able to raise him vppe euen from the dead from whence hee receiued him also after a sorte Christ in the Gospell affirmeth That Abraham sawe my dayes that is in Isaack and reioyced God speaketh from heauen to Abraham in this sorte By my selfe haue I sworne because thou hast done this thing and haste not spared thine onely sonne therefore will I surely blesse thee In Rom. 8. Saint Paul speaketh thus What shall we say then to these things If God be on our side who can be against vs who spared not his owne sonne but gaue him to death for vs how shall he not with him giue vs all things also Compare Isaack with Christ Was not Abraham our father iustified by workes when he offered his son Isaack vpon the Altar Iam. 2. Isaack was bound Isaack after 3. daies was offred vp to death and after a sort reuiued to life God spared not his owne sonne but gaue him for vs all to death Christ was bound Hauing suffred death riseth vp againe the third day to life 2145. Sara died Being 127. yeeres old She was buried in Canaan in the field of Machpelah which Abraham bought of the Hittites This place they would haue giuen Abraham freely for they confessed that hee was a prince of God amongst them but he would buy it because they should not say that they had made Abraham rich wherefore we must know if we will be godlie that all our life is but a pilgrimage and that wee are but straungers and that all our inheritance is nothing else but a place for buriall The Hebrewes expound Sarahs death a mortification and dying vnto sinne Rebecca is married to Isaack Gen. 25. When he is 40. yeeres old She is the daughter of Bethuel the sonne of Nachor the sonne of Terah and brother of Abraham her Grandfather Nachor was an idolatrer but her grandmother Milka is thought to bee of a good Religion in that two of her sonnes Bethuel and Kemuel haue El. the mightie God in their names Isaack goeth to Mesopotamia for a wife of his owne kinred for in Canaan there were none of his kinred and of the women of the lande he might not marrie Iacob his sonne likewise goeth to Mesopotamia to Laban the Brother of Rebecca and there taketh him wiues of the same kindred 2158. Sem died Gen. 11. This Sem was a great King and liued Sixe Hundred yeares as Noah before the flood He is called Melchisedech the King of peace Hee dwelt at Salem where his name continued Sixtie and fiue ages halfe One hundreth and thirtie answerable to Seth till that the Apostles receiued the holy Ghost after the ascention of Christ Hee is resembled to the Sonne of God Sems house beleeued that Christ should come till hee came and when he came they denyed him and were cut off 2160 Esau and Iacob borne Gen. 25. The first matter in this storie to bee considered is how the two twinnes in Rebeckahs wombe are called two nations Malachi speaking in the person of God saith I haue loued Iacob and hated Esau So Saint Paul saith to the Romanes Cap. 9. Ere they were borne it was sayd The elder shall serue the younger as it is written Esau haue I hated and Iacob haue I loued ESaus description is thus layd downe in the Scriptures First that he was hayrie that hee was of great courage and at his birth Iacob holdeth him by the heele God thereby shewing at their birth what should be the course of their liues afterwards Homer maketh mention that Vlisses ouerthrew Aiax by striking him on the leg The Greeke translators handle it so and call him Thermistes that is to say a Heeler Esau was a Hunter liuing like the Ruffians and Roysters of our time He selleth his birth-right for a messe of pottage for Iacob would not giue it vnto him except Esau would first sweare to sell him his birth right Saith Esau I am contented for it will bee so long ere it will be enioyed that I and my sonnes Sonne shal be dead first So with an oath he sold Iacob his birth-right therefore hee was called Edom Redde pottage No doubt Isaacks men knew this to bee a rare blessing and seeing he had despised it they must needs whensoeuer they called him Edom keepe his wickednesse in memorie for by this sale he despised Noah Sem Heber and Abraham and all his victories in the faith of which blessing Abraham ouercame so gloriously This is the first combate by the which Iacob a Heeler supplanteth Esau The whole posteritie of Esau bare the name of this infidelitie hee thought it a
him by faith It is sayd that this commaundement of embracing Christ is the first for if this were not the other were to small purpose Now that the Iewes should not be amazed at sixe hundred and thirteene Lawes seuen weekes betweene their comming out of Egypt and the giuing of the Lawe were allowed them for meditation And yet as they made nothing of the Lambe so Antichrist treadeth vnder foot the sufferings of Christ This Commandement of thy God they brought out of Egypt Clemens Alexandrinus saith That Egypt is a signe of the wicked world therefore euerie man must looke by the Redeemer to bee deliuered And wee must remember Moses Law You shall not doe after the manner of the Nations from whence ye came nor whither you goe Concerning the Ceremonie of Sitting Standing at the Passeouer This is the consent of the Iewes they of fit yeares did sit Those which were young did stand vnlesse they were bidden to sit At the first instituting of the Passeouer the gesture was prescribed being fit for them who were presently with speed to passe away When it is repeated againe when they are in the Land this action is left out Christ sat with his Apostles after the manner of the wild Irish on the ground From this we may gather that it is left to the circumstance of time and place and which fitteth best in discretion the manners and comlinesse of the Countrey Therefore the best is that which the common weale alloweth Fiftie dayes after his ascention Christ sendeth downe his spirit And thereby maketh the preaching of the Gospell equall in maiestie to the giuing of the Law Concerning the day no day is prescribed therefore the Church thought good to appoint the first Sabbath after the full moone For Easter mention is made of the Lords day in the 20. Actes 1. Cor. 16. in cap. 1. The next thing to be handled is the giuing of the Law GOd calleth simple men out of Egypt and willeth them to heare and iudge of his Lawes and telleth them Heare Israel I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt c. In this first sentence you haue the Gospell taught in these wordes Thy God For by this is vnderstood the Redemption by Christ For though God in respect that he is Creator is God both of the wicked and the Godlie yet he neuer calleth himselfe The God of the wicked Hitherto is all the Lawe referred For all the prophesies in Christ are Yea and Amen This entrance to the Law by the Gospell is exceeding necessarie For seeing if we behold the infinite maiestie of God in our weaknesse there is no cause but of trembling and feare it pleaseth God in the face of Thy God the Redeemer to shew himselfe fauourable and reconciled whereby we may approch with boldnesse Yet this doctrine of the preaching of the Gospell in the Law hath beene verie much doubted of and hath beene thought erronious But I will aske them Seeing the Law comprehends all righteousnesse and there is no righteousnesse but which is there commanded if to beleeue in Christ which is the Gospell is not there commanded to doe it must needs be sinne And Saint Paul for commaunding beleife in Christ had bene by law lawfully put to death if Moses in his law had not commaunded it All our men which write Catechismes do apply the Sabbath and the Sacraments together so against their wils they confesse that the doctrine of the Sacraments is in the Law Saint Paul if he were demaunded this question would answere to this as Christ himselfe doth The Pharisees demand of Christ Which is the first Commandement He answereth them demandeth another question Whose sonne is the Messias They answere Dauids If he be Dauids sonne how then doth he in spirit call him Lord For if he be his Lord how is he then his sonne And thereupon because the Iewes vnderstood not this he pronounceth against them a great many of Woes This is yet thought doubtfull seeing the Creed hath beene taken for a distinct and diuided thing from the Law But if they marke they shall finde the verie same taught in the Creed which is taught in Heare Israel thy Lord thy God For I beleeue in God the Father Almightie and in Iesus Christ his onely sonne our Lord hath the very same sentence with the former Heare Israel I am the Lord thy God And surely they little know what they teach that doe not in such reference applie the Lawe and the Gospell together God deliuereth the Law in this sort I Am the Lord thy God which with a mightie hand and stretched-out arme shewing my wonders in the land of Egypt haue brought thee out of bondage It is therefore reason that seeing I onely haue done these things for you that you reuerence no Gods but me And seeing I neuer shewed my selfe in any bodily apparance and the Creatures doe but in a sort expresse my infinite power and wisedome it is reason that you should not after the manner of the Nations which I destroy make any image to represent my glory And seeing that hee hath commaunded Holinesse because he himselfe is Holy therefore we must take heed of foolish and vaine calling and talking of the name of God Now for as much as these things may the better be considered hee hath appointed a day of Rest that thereby calling to mind the Creation the fall and restoring we may sanctifie the Lord in our soules And hath appointed it the seuenth day because we should keepe in memorie how God rested from Creating and thereby learne that the true knowledge hereof is the Rest and life of the soule But seeing these things cannot be done without mainteining of policie therefore it is commanded that their should bee honour giuen to Superiors as to Fathers and loue performed by them to subiects as to children which is preserued if Murther Adulterie Theft False witnesse and an vniust desire of thâ— which is not ours be auoided These Lawes are so certaine and plaine that the heart of the simplest cannot but acknowledge them righteous For they may see likewise how one commaundement dependeth of another as lincks of a golden chaine The Cabalists say that these lawes were giuen to man for the sinne of the serpent that is to say not for vs to accomplish for wee cannot attaine thereto but to shew vnto vs how farre the infection of that venome hath carried vs away from that duetie which God requireth of vs which end of the lawe is greatly enlightned into vs by the comming of the Messias in that he teacheth vs that the Lawe is not satisfied with an outward and Pharisaicall obedience by hypocrisie but by the vncorrupt obedience of the heart and by the acknowledgement of our disobedience And Moses and the Prophets commaunded circumcision of heart the offering of prayse and obedience and to abstaine from vnhallowing the Sabbath day with vnrighteousnesse therefore the seruice which
Chams house and yet God of his especiall grace gaue her the light of his countenance and was mercifull vnto her because she beholding the impieties of the vncleane Cities of Canaan and their reward and the Storie of Lots wife which no doubt was famous the loathsome life of the Egyptians and their plagues embraced the Couenant to Abraham and the oath that hee sware vnto Isaack The manners of these Egyptians are expressed by the woman in the Gospell which had her daughter possessed with a Deuill Christ telleth her that it is not lawfull to take the Childrens bread and to cast it to Dogges As if Christ should say Moses in his lawes and religion hath cut you off like Dogges to whome precious things must not bee throwne and therefore I am not in mercie to regard you She answereth It is true Lord that wee are cursed and by Moses law cut off from saluation and it is likewise true that wee are not the Children yet wee see that the little Dogs eat of the crummes which fall from the Childrens table And Moses himselfe hath a law that if any will learne the Religion of Iuda hee shall be admitted so that yet there is some hope for the Dogs Goe thy way saith Christ thy faith hath saued thee And no doubt as this poore womans daughter was possessed with a Deuill in bodie so the mindes of the Egyptians had many Deuils seeing they were full of superstition witchcraft and coniuring They worshipped one Ammon a Deuill yet there were many of Chams house saued This I inferre because Rahab was of Cham. And this opinion is confirmed by her Storie who was saued when Iericho was destroyed Shee telleth the Spies I knowe that the Lord hath giuen you the Land for we haue heard how the Lord dryed vp the Redde Sea before you for the Lord your God hee is the God in heauen aboue and in the earth beneath thereby shewing that she embraced the promise made to Abraham that in his seede all Nations in the earth should bee blessed It is testified of both these women that their faith did saue them The Lord likewise in the dayes of his flesh went into Iericho the Citie of Rahab long agoe accursed 2610. The first Iubilee IT hath his name from Iobal a Horne because in the beginning of the Feast trumpets of Rammes hornes were to bee blowne and thereby the yeare was proclaimed It was the Fiftieth yeare after the setling the people in the Land as Leuit. 25. You shall reckon to you seuen Seuens of yeares and the Fiftieth shall be a yeare of Iubilee c. And it was to be kept solemnely vntill the death of Christ The cause of keeping it was to put them in minde of the great victories which God had giuen them ouer their enemies in the Land of Canaan so that by this ceremonie likewise the Redemption by the conquest of Christ ouer our spirituall enemie which the yeare of Iubilee signified was also proclaymed For if they considered the promise made to Abraham concerning this Land and their deliuerance out of Egypt being in bondage and how they were placed in the Land by Iesus their Captaine the death of Christ which deliuered them from the snares and bondage of the Deuill must needes bee made plaine vnto them Iobal doth signifie Ioyfull In it all Lands that were bought of any of the Tribes was to returne to the old Possessor then all prisoners were set at libertie Figuring that ioyfull yeare of the Lord wherein we should be freed from the bondage of Satan wherof Esay speaketh He shall heale the broken heart and bring the gladsome tidings of the Lord Iustice shal be the girdle of his loynes and faithfulnesse the girdle of his reynes then the Woolfe shall dwell with the Lambe and the Leopard shall lye with the Kidde and the Calfe and the Lion and the fatte beast and a little Chila shall lead them the sucking Child shall play vppon the hole of the Aspe and the wayned Child shall lay his hand vppon the Cockatrice hole then shall none hurt nor destroy in the mountaine of mine holynesse for the earth shall bee full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters that couer the Sea Es 11. The meaning is that the prophane beasts of the world which nowe know not Christ shall in this ioyfull yere be lightned with the brightnesse of his glorie and shall reioyce and be glad for so great saluation and shall be members of one head Christ Iesus louing one another as Christians whose ioy is expressed verie largely in the 35. of Esay The desert and the Wildernesse shall reioyce and the wast ground shall flourish as a Rose it shall flourish aboundantly and shall greatly reioyce also and ioy the glorie of Lebanon shall be giuen vnto it the beautie of Charmell and of Sharon they shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellencie of our God strengthen the weake hands and comfort the feeble knees say vnto them that are fearefull Be stronge feare not behold your God commeth euen God with a recompence will come and saue you then shall the eyes of the blinde be lightned and the eares of the deafe be opened then shall the lame man leape as an Hart and the dumbe mans tongue shall singe for in the Wildernesse shall water breake out and riuers in the desart and euerlasting ioy shall bee vppon their heads they shall obtaine ioy and gladnesse and sorrow and mourning shall flye away To returne to the obseruation of the time of the Iubilee Moses saith You shall reckon to you seuen Seuens of yeares and the Fiftiet◠shall bee a Iubilee Leuit. 25. Wherein wee may behold the wonderfull prouidence of God for them so long as they kept his Sabbaths for the Nine and fortieth yeare did yeeld corne for three yeares No doubt this must needs make the Nations astonished to see that the Children of Israel had such a God as could in one yeare giue them corne for three yeares so that they should neither sowe nor reape when themselues had scarce corne with great labour for one yeare Amos in his prophecie findeth great fault with those which hoard vp corne and pronounceth a woe vnto them for so doing But wee are to vnderstand that when the Israelites neglected their Sabbaths and forgot the great benefites they had receiued becomming Idolatrers and polluted with the abhominations of the land into which they came their ioy was turned into sadnesse and their Iubilees vnto their destructiō For in the seuenteenth Iubilee they hauing despised the prouidēce of God they haue Sedechias a most wicked King set ouer them and in Iehoiakims time they are carried quite away into Babylon and there are as dead bones for Seuentie yeares vntill the land had payd her owne Sabbaths which they had omitted when they dwelt vpon it Therefore wee are to note that wee shall neuer keepe our religion easie and plaine but by casting the Iubilees right which we
and made Baal Berith their God and they remembred not the Lord their God which had deliuered them out of the hands of all their enemies on euery side neither shewed they mercie on the house of Ierubbaal or Gedeon according vnto all the goodnes which he had shewed vnto Israell Then Abimelech went vnto his fathers house and slue his brethren the sonnes of Ierubbaal or Gedeon about seauentie persons vpon one stone so Abimelech raigned three yeares ouer Israel But God sent an euill spirit betweene Abimelech and the men of Sechem and they brake their promise to him that the cruelty toward the seauentie persons and their bloud might come and be laid vpon Abimelech their brother And a certaine woman cast a peece of a mil-stone vpon Abimelechs head brake his braine panne And when the men of Israel saw he was dead they departed euery one vnto his owne place Thus God rendred the wickednesse of Abimelech which he did vnto his father in slaying his seauentie brethren To shew that God by vntimely and miserable death taketh vengeance on tyrants euen in this life Iud. 9. After Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Thola of the tribe of Isachar and he iudged Israel twentie three yeares and died and was buried in Shamir And after him arose Iair of the tribe of Manasses and iudged Israel two and twentie yeares and he had thirtie sonnes that rode on Asse-coltes signifying they were men of authority They had thirtie Cities which are called Hauoth Iair vnto this day and are in the land of Gilead And Iair died and was buried in Chamon And the children of Israel wrought wickednes againe in the sight of the Lord and serued Baalim and Ashtarath and the Gods of Aram and the Gods of Sidon and the Gods of Moab and the Gods of the children of Ammon and the Gods of the Philistines and forsooke the Lord and serued him not And in processe of time the children of Ammon made warre with Israel and they said vnto Iephte of the tribe of Ephraim Come be our Captaine and the spirit of the Lord came vpon Iephte he went to the children of Ammon to fight against them and the Lord deliuered them into his hands Whereupon he according to a foolish vow being ouercome with blinde zeale not considering whether the vow were lawfull or no offred vp his onely daughter in sacrifice and Iephte iudged Israel six yeares Iud. 11. and 12. Chap. Iessai borne ALthough he was but an obscure man in respect of worldly glory yet no doubt he was a very godly man and taught his sonnes the religion of God in that the holy Ghost doth so often repeate his name in the Scripture In the Reuelation chap. 5. Christ is calâ—ed the Lion of the tribe of Iuda and the roote of Iessay And Esay chap. 11. prophecying of the graces of Christ saith There shal come a rodde sorth of the stock of Iessay and a branch shall growe out of his rootes and the spirit of the Lord shall rest vpon him the spirit of wisdome and vnderstanding the spirit of counsell and strength the spirit of knowledge and of the feare of God c. To shew that as Dauid who in diuers respects figured Christ came out of Iessay a man without dignity so Christ shoulde come of a poore Carpenters house as out of a dead stocke as Esay 53.2 He shall growe vp before him as a branch and as a roote out of a dry ground he hath neither forme nor beautie when we shall see him there shal be no forme that we should desire him Againe with the very same skorne that the Iewes despised Christ vpbrayding him by the basenesse of his kindred Is not this the Carpenters sonne doe the Israelites obiect against the house of Iuda when the ten Tribes ioyned with Ieroboam 1. King 12. saying What haue wee to doe with Iessay what haue we to doe with the house of Dauid As if they should say why Iessay was but an husbandman and Dauid was but a sheepheard we will not be subiect to so base kindred nor suffer such a foole as Roboam of their bloud to raigne ouer vs for we be noble and vnfitte to be gouerned by such a poore stocke but we will worship Ieroboam of the house of Ioseph for he is a noble man and diuers valiant and worthy men came of his kindred in the time of the Iudges And so they indeede vtterly forsooke the house of Iuda the stocke of Iessay and walked in the waies of Ieroboam choosing rather for outward dignity to goe to destruction than embracing vertue depend vpon the promises of God to obtaine eternall life Therefore our Sauiour Christ saith in the Gospell Whosoeuer denyeth me before men I will denie him before my Father which is in heauen Luke 9. AFter Iephte Abesan of Bethleem of the tribe of Iuda iudged Israel seauen yeares He had Thirtie sonnes and thirtie daughters He died and was buried at Bethleem And after him iudged Israel Elon of the tribe of Zabulon and hee iudged Israel ten yeares Tthen he died and after him Abdon of the tribe of Ephâ—aim iudged Israel eight yeares and he had 40. sons and thirtie Nephewes that rode on seauentie asse-coltes and he died Iud. 12. But the Children of Israel continued to commit wickednesse in the sight of the Lord and the Lord deliuered them into the handes of the Philistines Fortie yeares Then the spirite of the Lord came vpon Sampson of the Tribe of Dan and with the iawe-bone of an Asse hee slue a Thousand of the Philistines and he iudged Israel Twentie yeares The Philistines in reuenge of this put out both his eyes but the Lord strengthned Sampson against them and hee slue at the time of his death three Thousand more of them Here is perfourmed Iacobs Will in Gen. 49. Where hee saith Dan shall be a Serpent by the way and an Adder by the path byting the Horse heeles so that his Rider shall fall backeward And in Iudg. 16. Hee ouerthroweth the house where the Princes of the Philistines were so that he slue more at his death than in all his life and notwithstanding he died with them yet hee looked for saluation in Christ of whom he himselfe was a figure Now compare him with Christ Sampson Christ was a Nazarite vnto God to the time of his death and saued Israel from the handes of the Philistines was brought before the Princes and mocked at his death ouercame more than in his life was a Nazarite vnto the time of his death and deliuered vs from the spiritual Philistins Sathan and his Angels was brought before the Magistrates and was mocked at his death ouercommeth him that had the power of death The Ceremonie of the Nazarites is prescribed in Numb 6. They were such as vowed themselues to God and from the vaine desires of the world 2870. Heli of the Tribe of Leui iudged Israel Fortie yeares THis Heli
fallen it is fallen Babylon the great Citie For she made all nations to drinke of the wine of the wrath of her fornication And I sawe a woman sitting vpon a scarlet coloured beast full of names of blasphemie which had seauen heads and ten hornes and in her forehead was a name written A mistery Great Babylon the mother of whoredomes and abhominations of the earth And I sawe the woman drunken with the bloud of Saints and with the bloud of the Martyrs of Iesus And the Angell said vnto me The woman which thou sawest is the Great City which raigneth ouer the Kings of the earth Ap. 18. And after this I saw an other Angel come downe from heauen and hee cryed with a loude voice saying It is fallen it is fallen Babylon the great Ciâ—ie and is become the habitation of Deuils and the hould of al foule spirits and a cage of euery vncleane and hatefull bird For all nations haue drunke of the wine of her fornication and the Kings of the earth haue committed fornication with her and the Marchants of the earth are waxed rich of the abundance of her pleasures And I heard an other voice from heauen say Goe out of her my people that ye be not partakers in her sinnes and that ye receiue not of her plagues for her sinnes are come vp to heauen and God hath remembred her iniquities Reward her euen as she hath rewarded you and giue her double according to her workes and in the cup that shee hath filled to you fil her the double in asmuch as she glorified her selfe and liued in pleasure so much giue ye to her torment and sorrowe for she saith in her heart I sit being a Queene and am no widdow and shall see no mourning Therefore shal her plagues come at one day death and sorrowe and famine and she shal be burnt with fire for strong is the Lord God which wil condemne her O heauen reioyce of her and yee holy Apostles and Prophets for God hath giuen your iudgment on her Then a mighty Angel tooke vp a stone like a great milstone and cast it into the sea saying With such violence shall the great citie Babylon be cast and shal be found no more And as the Iewes doe praise God after their deliuerance so is it said that vpon the deliuerance from this spirituall bondage all Christians shall say Let vs be glad and reioyce and worship God saying Amen Hallelu-iah for our Lord God Almighty hath raigned At this deliuerance out of Babell about the euening offering the Angell Gabriel appeareth to Daniel and telleth him the exact houre of Christs death Dan. 9. in these wordes Seauenty seauens or 490 yeares are exactly decreed for the death of Christ the King the most Holy to finish sinne to bring in iustice to reconcile iniquity to annoint the most Holy and to performe euery vision and prophecie By this key the Iewes might haue vnderstoode the death of Christ the sonne of all saluation These seauenty seauens are distinguished into seauen seauens and the Temple shall be built into sixtie two seauens wherein Religion shall seeme to be vtterly obscured and into one seauen in the halfe of which Christ the King must be killed not for himselfe but for the people as Dan. 9. The time of the sixtie two seauens is prooued out of the Grecians Storie whome God in his secret wisedome vsed though vnwittingly to themselues to be recorders of his truth These seauens of weekes I wil handle more at large at the death of Christ where they are fully accomplished Vpon the vision of the foure Beasts in Dan which represent foure stately kingdomes figured before in Nebucadnetzars image which he sawe in his dreame Dan. 2. ariseth a great question Whether the fourth Beast containe the kingdome of the Romanes or not It is certaine it doth not and thus it may be prooued Of the first which is the Lion to be meant of Babylon the Beare to be the kingdome of the Medes and Persians and the Leopard to be Alexanders kingdome there is no controuersie but then of the fourth Beast with ten hornes lyeth the question It is said that a stone shall be cut without hands and shall become a great mountaine and shall fill al the earth and shal fal vpon the image and punne it to dust This stone is Christ vpon whose birth this vision ends for the stone falling vpon the feete of iron clay the whole image fell and was beaten to powder If then vpon the birth of Christ the fourth kingdome must be punned to dust and al the beasts be consumed in the fire by the Ancient of daies as Daniel 7. then the fourth kingdome cannot be the Romanes For vntill the comming of Christ they were in no glory and then were they in their chiefest glory for although a little before indeede they had conquered all the world yet the world did not consent to pay tribute vntill Christs time and therefore it could not bee said a full conquest For it is neuer a full conquest vntill a generall consent of tribute be graunted If it be obiected that it is meant of the second comming of Christ how is euery vision and prophesie performed in Christ and with what authority could Daniel speake of the second comming before hee had mentioned the first Therefore to hold this to be meant of the Romanes proueth Christ not to be yet come nor the ceremonies of Moses to be abolished Againe the fourth Beast that is the fourth kingdome hath relation to the fourth part of the image And by the legges of iron clay and thereby as the legges of one body being twaine are expressed Wherefore as the legges of contrary natures that is of iron and clay being twaine proceede out of one body so the kingdome which by them is signified must be a diuided Nation ruling one kingdome which the Romanes were not for Augustus Caesar was onely Emperour otherwise you darken the Romanes glory Againe it is said of these legges that is of this fourth kingdome that they shall striue by marriages because they were two Nations that is of Syria and Egipt to be as one body But as iron cleaueth not in nature with clay no more should they bee one Whose stories if you examine in Iustine and other heathen Authors you shall find they were from time to time preuented by vntimely deathes For the wiues killed their husbands the mothers their sonnes the sonnes their mothers so that they could not bring to passe their purpose This cannot be applied to the Romanes for they were still one sole gouernment and vniuersall Emperours of themselues Againe the little horne that is the tenth horne of the fourth beast is Antiochus the vilde who is the last part of the fourth beast whose villanies indeede are answerable to the impieties of the Romanes therefore in the Reuelation the whole time of their gouernment is by allusion called daies 1260. a time 2. times and halfe