worse then the thiefe who yet is odious and driuen frō habitation with men in their free dwelling houses into a loathsome prison among brutish companions For he vnlesse he be cruell also is content to take a share in his goods whom he robbeth but the cruell man is not content with a share but if his might be sutable to his mind he will haue all at one time or other that is his whom he pursueth yea he wil thrust him out of house and home yea and out of the world also before he can be satisfied Caine a little after the corrupt estate of things entred into the world was a patterne of cruel ones who when he had no cause giuen him by Abel his innocent brother of hard handling him yet because he was accepted of God and himself not did not hate him only without a cause but which was most vnnatural and monstrous in him rosevp against him and slue him Pharaoh when he had almost tyred the poore people of God who were strangers in his land with burdens and toile asmuch as they could beare yet was not satisfied therewith but made their burthen farre greater til their life was more vnwelcome then death itselfe that his crueltie might be manifest to all Haman so exceeded herein that it was too little to take the goods of Gods people from them and to hold them bondmen vnlesse hee might haue their liues also And what should I speake of Iezabel who being a woman exceeded men who were cruell also And of Rehoboams cruell handling his subiects as his storie declareth and of Iosephs brethren who consented to sell him into a far countrey whence he might neuer returne to trouble them as they hoped but further the most of them agreed to take away his life also and yet if they had killed him euen they themselues had lost their liues also in the famine that God sent afterwards they being preserued by Ioseph among all other men These might make crueltie odious to vs. But many that heare this of it desire to know what manner of thing it is that rageth after this sort and like the flaming fire deuoureth and destroyeth where it commeth Their demand is godly and I will briefly satisfie it That they may therefore cease maruelling that this fury crueltie I meane bringeth such strange effects forth they may know that it is a vile and vitious habit or custome whereby men are carried to do things both harsh and hard and that beyond all course and compasse of reason Now where men are thus set vpon their will to deale with other and are led to it without reason much more without religion there how can they chuse but to bee rigorously handled and cruellie delt with who fall into their hands Which maketh the cruell man to bee hated of all For such are barbarous and vnciuell as if they had sucked the Dragons in the desert and their hearts so bound with the sinewes of iron that they spoile them whom they pursue as raging raine and tempest rendeth the trees and destroyeth the fruites and they are no more mooued with the life of a man then if a dogge had fallen before them And therefore no maruell that Dauid hauing his choice of plagues presented to him made a present exception to his owne nature and kind fearing and knowing the crueltie of men saying let me not fall into the hands of man This the Heathen Seneca saw when he said Thou art deceiued if thou giuest credit to the lookes of those that meet thee They haue the faces of men the minds of wild beasts If he spake this of man in generall what would he haue said particularly of the cruell man with whom this speech is as common burne kill cut Poison young old men women brethren kindred as to eate their meate Whosoeuer doe but crosse them with a mistaken word or wrie countenance it is but a word and a blow with them and though they murther vpon light occasions and haue no gaine by their death they haue inough in that they take pleasure in it But whither might a man goe in this argument I will giue an instance in lower matters of this kind Hereof it is that if one neighbour bee trespassed by another in his corne or other commodities by cattell or any other way though it bee without any fault of him that hath done the trespasse the other is readie in rage and furie to seeke reuenge by laming and hurting the cattell which hee would doe to the owner like Lamech if he durst or will with spite and railing and exacting at his hands sixe times the valew of the damage and detriment that he sustained though if he annoy the other in a worse manner he yet maketh nothing of it but will shift it of This is a cruell part in things of so little valew vnto a neighbour What would hee doe thinke wee or he that is like minded to him in matters of waight and to a stranger and so much the more I may call such dealing crueltie seeing it is offered by such an one as trespasseth another time in a farre worse manner himselfe The like may be said of cruell Landlords Masters Guardians Stepmothers c. which measure not them whom they offend against by themselues For though there be diuers degrees in the many kinds of this foule vice of crueltie yet we must know that the least and lowest is vnseemely in a man and odious Indeed it is more noisome and furious if it bee accompanied with enuy therefore Salomon saith Who can stand before enuy for the enuious are obstinate and cannot bee reconciled Therefore whatsoeuer measure be offered by such it is certaine that it shall be hard inough seeing their very mercies are crueltie What remaineth then for such persons to doe to the end they may if it be possible cast of this crueltie as a most filthie and loathsome garment but this that they giue themselues no rest til it become as odious and loathsome to them as it is to other which is not hard for him to obtaine that will be perswaded to looke into the odiousnesse of it that when he hath found it he may fall downe at the Lords feete for mercie to couer the foulenesse of it and forgiue it and that being beleeued imbrace gentlenesse and mercie and kindnesse toward others in stead of rigor Like the Iaylor in the Actes who though he had vsedg reat crueltie against Paul and Silas yet when hee repented did wash their wounds most louingly which before scourging of them he had made in their bodies and set meate before them in his house most chearefully whom he had before thrust hungry into the inward prison most cruelly Also let it teach vs both to pray that wee bee not giuen ouer into the hands of vnreasonable and vnconscionable men who are as absurd as cruell in their malice As the Apostle willeth the people to pray 2. Thes 3.
Lion to be made a dead dogge is basenesse enough Therefore we may clearely see by this that the seeking of glory as Salomon saith is no glory but the glory of such is their shame For although for a time it may hold and last yet in a short time it shall vanish and end with reproch whatsoeuer else goe with it And so it is generally in all pride and vaineglory as I noted out of Gaals example before it shall end with shame and contrarily the humble and lowly in mind shall be exalted For there can not one tittle of Gods word fall to the ground but it must be verified to the comfort of the one and the iust rewarding of the other In this verse let vs further see for the Lord would not giue him the honor to be slaine in warre what he did when he had his deaths wound doth he crie for mercy was that as it ought to haue been thought vpon And yet the most past grace will lightly desire that he may haue three words before he die for then though it be to small purpose he thinks to aske mercy but the glory that this monster had hunted after in his life-time that was all that hee regarded euen now at his wofull end as his words testifie to wit That it might not be said that a woman slew him declaring thereby that he more feared infamy then damnation The multitude of desperate wretches that die in all ages with as little hope of saluation as hee did maketh it lesse to be considered and bewailed but what is more fearefull then to thinke a man should go to hell so apparantly and as it were visibly Where wee are to obserue that such as mens thoughts and affections are in their life time such they bee commonly at their death They loued not blessing saith the Prophet and therefore it is farre from them in their need so it is said elsewhere they sought not after God neither desired acquaintance with his waies while they liued and therfore God ordinarily suffereth them not to begin to doe it at their end They remembred not their maker in the daies of their youth neither shall they haue grace to doe it at their death but as they are mercilesse so God iustly recompenceth them with iudgement without mercy in their latter yeeres And the like we reade of Saul But yet for all this is one of a thousand thinke we of such as he was perswaded to repentance in the time of his iolitie nay doth not one follow anothers course to condemnation daily and from age to age And such as haue their libertie to aske three words before they die how vse they it what come they to but euen to worse then nothing Euen as Abimelechs few words did Let it not be said that a woman slew me And so their three words are vsed as Saul vsed his at his death Draw out thy sword and thrust me through And as that wicked man mentioned in the booke of Monuments who when he was haled violently on a bridge by his Horse into the riuer being put in minde of his three words he said thus Horse and man to the diuell A notorious adulterer there was a few yeeres agone who also had poysoned many youthes by his vncleane conuersation and lewd example and tongue he liued till he was threescore yeere old to resemble him to the sinner whom Salomon speakes of Eccles 7. neuer could hee bee brought to sauour or taste either preaching or praying which yet hee saw many zealously did round about him he might haue spend fiftie pound land by the yeere by his marriage but being visited by God in a strange manner and losing his maintenance by the death of his wife his bodie â—ore plagued with paine and diseases when he lay like a lazer in a barne for thither he was thrust through pouertie and there he died now to come to the point for the which I alleaged this example hee being moued by such as came to him when they saw in what miserie hee lay to call vpon God hee answered with fearefull oathes Is this a time to pray The which seeing he was neuer acquainted with in all his life wee see hee was farre off from it shunned and lothed it at his death by Gods righteous iudgement And as wee haue heard that it is commonly so with the vilest persons at their death as it hath been in their life so it were good wisedome for vs to seeke the Lord while he may be found in the daies of our youth lest if we should not goe about it till death it should not bee a sound turning to God but in mood and passion by violence and in feare onely gone about and who knoweth not that late repentance is dangerous And so let them reioyce and blesse God who haue made the Lord chiefe with them in their young yeeres and haue counted his seruice perfit freedome such shall not neede to feare that God will frowne vpon them and forsake them in their age or at their death but as many haue done shall reioyce most for this that they made the Gospell their solace in their life time and Gods fauour their portion and ioy and would not for all the riches of the vngodly haue done otherwise for so they should haue been then vtterly to seeke how to be saued Oh one sweete fruite of a godly life beside many other enioyed before is a most Christian and comfortable death so saith the Psalmist Marke the end of the righteous and ye shall see that the end of such a man is peace As for Abimelechs Page he was as he had been trained by him one fit to serue him onely in euill Like master like man such an one as hath many followers of which sort of hangbies few vnder such masters as themselues be few of them are I say found to come to good But both of them desperate rash murtherous and fraught with such sinnes as commonly accompanie these Yea and yet such hold vp their heads in the world for whom who seeth not but that the prison is fitter where they may be kept from doing mischiefe rather then to commit many lewd parts at libertie abroad But seeing such are past admonition taking let theÌ„ that are teachable learne to take such seruants to be neere at hand to them who may in danger giue aduice to them if need be as Naamans seruants did to the preseruing of his health rather then to be as too many are that is to say furtherers of their vtter vndoing or death And such as deserue well as Ioshuas and the seruants of Cornelius were let them I say be well incouraged and rewarded which are to be reioyced in of their masters when the other being intertained but to their owne and their masters vndoing or great detriment shall load both themselues and them with their bellies full of shame and sorrow Of this argument I spare
to speake more heere being as much and a great deale more as is like to be regarded of such as I speake of Thus we haue seene the wofull end of this cursed Abimelech and of the wicked men of Shechem who had been the furtherers of him to the mischiefe that he wrought And after these troublers of the land were taken away there was peace and euery man left off from the worke that Abimelech had drawne him to and went home to his owne place where first it may be seene what stirre disquiet and trouble one vile person may make in the Church or Common-wealth the Lord so punishing the peoples sinne as partly I noted before in this chapter Absolon was but one man but how did he disquiet his father and the whole land Likewise Sheba the sonne of Bicry that raised a new commotion against Dauid and so the Prophet Elias told Ahab that he troubled all Israel And so I may say of Achan and of Kora and of many other euery of these was but one in his attempts but each of these what plagues and mischiefe wrought they by their seuerall sinnes though most of thē priuate persons to the whole state of the Church and Common-wealth of Israel If wee compare the sinnes of the whole body with the sinnes of a few wee shall finde that the sorrow which few brought vpon the whole companie came little short of the plagues which God inflicted vpon the whole when all prouoked him Although alas what speake I of particular actions Adam his sinne first brought a feareful confusion into the whole creation What wonder then if this contagion and pestilence hath euer since and still doth cause the like disorder in the places where it rangeth whose deformitie yet and the mischiefe that it workes though we see as it were with our eyes who almost is not bewitched with the painted beautie thereof But to returne when Achan Sheba Absolon were taken away behold all was whist againe and a great calme there was after so horrible tempests The whole Church is as a ship in which if there be one Ionah what tumult makes he but cast him out and the danger is ouer And as this is true of great sinners and publike offenders so it is true of more inferiour and priuate persons as of Magistrates in their precincts Headborowes in townes Masters and parents in families seeing but for the badnes of such the rest should be in peace And further by the rooting out of Abimelech let vs confesse it to bee a great benefit when such authors of mischiefe and workers of iniquitie bee taken away and therefore giue all our endeuour for the maintenance of peace and to make holy and right vse of it while we enioy it For as wee may see by these that sought peace after the death of Abimelech euen so the most that are vsed to trouble other in time waxe wearie of it In these two verses is the shutting vp the whole chapter Iothams prophecie is verified and Gods iudgement thereby declared how hee rewardeth iniquitie Of which this I say briefly seeing in some sort it hath been touched already that they who take ill matters and bad in hand shall haue smal cause to reioyce thereof in the end For their sinne will finde them out when they thinke least of it And it is most like also that looke what way they haue sinned euen the same way their sinne may be punished as here it was Stone for stone Abimelech killed his brethren vpon a stone and he is killed by a weake woman most vnlikely with a stone The like wee haue heard of Adonibezek and of Oreb and Zeeb who tooke their death where they wrought mischiefe Oh how doth God recompence into their bosome in full measure heaped vp and running ouer vnto such The which they will not foresee and so preuent vntill they smart and be past recouerie If this cannot moue any of the like sort to take warning by such watch-words in time to hate their bad course and that with detestation at least let those that haue shunned and declined from such euill waies reioyce with thanksgiuing and that vnfained for that they haue been preserued from them and that they haue chosen the good way to walke in it howsoeuer they haue had many prouocations vnto the contrary And last of al we may see here that as God reuenged the innocent blood of Gedeons sonnes so God will take part with such innocents Hurt them not therefore for the time will come when thou shalt pay deare for thy so doing of which point looke more in the former part of the historie The end of the ninth Chapter THE SIXTIE ONE SERMON ON THE TENTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES Vers 1. After Abimelech there arose to deliuer Israel Tola the sonne of Puah the sonne of Dodo a man of Issachar and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim 2. And he iudged Israel three and twentie yeeres and died and was buried in Shamir 3. And after him arose Iair a Gileadite and iudged Israel twentie and two yeeres 4. And he had thirtie sonnes that rode on thirtie asse colts and they had thirtie cities which are called Hauoth-Iair vnto this day which are in the land of Gilead 5. And Iair died and was buried in Kamon THE summe of this Chapter is briefly this that the children of Israel hauing enioyed peace and libertie for a time vnder Tola and Iair fell againe afterward to Idolatrie Whereupon the Lord also did againe deliuer them into the hands of their enemies wherfore they calling vpon God were at the first sharply reproued but afterward truly repenting they obtained fauour with God and were released of their sinnes as before time By occasion whereof entrance is made into the storie of their deliuerance in the chapter following The parts of it are three The first containeth the time of their peace to verse the sixth The second a new defection and reuolt of the people from God to verse the 17. The third mentioneth the preparation that the Ammorites made against the children of Israel and the peoples and Princes meeting and comming together to consult and agree how to goe against them and this is to the end of the Chapter The first part of the Chapter GOd raised vp these two Iudges to wit Tola and Iair after the former to keepe the people in the true worship of God and in outward peace Here to speake somewhat in this first part of both these two Iudges of Israel ioyntly together and afterward somewhat seuerally this is to be noted of the former that after the ouerthrow of that cursed Abimelech the people of Israel had a long time of peace in both their daies that is 45. yeers Where note that though God iustly punisheth the sins of mē as he did theirs here yet he doth still remember his people and regard them sending them peace againe afterwards euen as
may faint by and by and in like manner giue ouer in making our requests to God yea and that for great matters if we preuaile not at once How vnlike are we to the woman of Canaan who would take no repulse nor be discouraged by the hardest answer that was giuen her And our Sauiour hath taught vs that if we were importunate with him we could not faile nor goe without that which we aâ—ke our requests being made according to his will And this is one speciall point of wisedome wherein the children of light are to learne of the children of this world Now further to passe to the second thing of the three we see that by this following him thus with continuall vrging of him he yeelded to her suite and told her the meaning of the riddle So that he who withstood her at the first was afterwards ouercome It teacheth that when we haue ouercome a temptation at the first assaulting vs which one would thinke were hardest to doe in respect of times following yet we may possibly be ouercome of it afterwards and be giuen ouer to it as for example whether it be to such vnlawfull demaunds as this was or to incontinencie filthy gaine seeking or any such like The reason is because we are fickle and flexible and doe not strengthen our selues to be constant at one time as an other in a good thing neither be oft instant with God by feruent praying watching neither couenanting against sin or not looking carefully to the keeping of them neither disgrace sin by meanes whereof Satan taketh his aduantage against vs one time or other Euen so the same Samson here spoken of did afterwards the very like who withstanding the inticements of a subtile woman as now he did at the first and that with full purpose for a time to doe so still yet yeelded by long perswasion vnto her vniust and vnreasonable request at the last It is no marueile to see it thus in some particular sinne and temptation that one is brought to yeeld at last who resisted at the first for we see it to be so in the generall liking and imbracing of the whole doctrine of the Gospell That some who receiued it with ioy for a time yet fall away from the loue of it afterward as if they had neuer imbraced it Therefore much more they who haue resisted a sinne for a time may possibly afterward fall into it notwithstanding And it ought to make the best of vs constant in watching against all euill as well as at the first remembring that our Sauiour his charge is peremptory and indefinite reaching at all times Watch. As for them who neuer haue had any sound proofe of the forgiuenes and death of sinne wrought in them by the power of the Word no marueile if this inconstancie bee seene in them that they please themselues ouer-much in their good actions and soone are discouraged either from within or without themselues by the least occasion The best people must plie God with their prayers to hold out and to build vp daily vpon a good foundation Can a rush grow without mire or can a man be watchfull to persist in the good course which he hath seemed to like or in hating the sinne which hee seemed to haue disliked when there is nothing to set him forward in a matter of such difficultie Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdome of God neither is Satan diuided in himself Reioyce not men in their shewes therefore but get the assurance of Gods fauour and not patch vp an euill heart with a fewe colours of goodnesse which are not ioyned with substance Also this weaknes and follie of Samsons before I passe to the third point teacheth another thing that when we haue ouercome an hard difficultie and greater temptation yet we may be afterwards ouercome of a small one For he had concealed the opening of the riddle to his father and mother to whom he had farre greater reason to tell it as hauing so long proofe of their pietie loue and faithfulnesse rather then to her a stranger and whom hee knew to bee void of the most of them if not all And it is like hee tolde not them lest they should by some occasion haue opened it to the Philistims as his wife did now vnto them His follie in bewraying it to his wife was like the sin of the man of God who came to reproue Ieroboams idolatrie at Bethel For he hauing a charge giuen him of God that he should goe into no house in that wicked place to eate or refresh himselfe did well and carefully obserue it in the place where it was hardest to doe it that is the Kings house and yet behold hee was ouercome and went from his charge through foolish credulitie where he might much more easily haue kept it that is to his fellow For hee being inuited home by the King he withstood it not fearing his displeasure but when afterwards he was moued by the old Prophet of Bethel to goe to his house and eate he went with him contrary to the commandement of the Lord and was therefore after his departure slaine of a Lion in the high way The reason hereof both in him and as many as offend that way that they are ouercome of a smaller sinne when they haue ouercome a greater is this that men are more afraid of committing that and distrusting themselues seeke the more feruently to God for helpe and obtaine it but when it is a smaller sinne we doe not so much suspect and feare our selues and so being vnarmed and ill prouided we doe the easilier fall into it And thus it commeth to passe that when we haue slaine a Lion a Beare foiles vs and hauing deuoured a camell a gnat chokes vs that is wee auoid the harder inconuenience and yet bewray and shew our weakenesse in a smaller which wee might more easily haue ouercome And so it fareth with vs in repenting that for a great trespasse we are easilier brought to relent seeing wee know that wee were more hardned in and by the committing of it and yet in a lesse offence wee shall hardlier bewaile and confesse it seeing the heart in committing of that doth not see so much euill Therefore it is well with Gods seruants while they liue by their former experience and renue their care of pleasing God and feare of the contrary for then they shall bee so farre from this distemper that they shall be able with the same Prophet at another time to beleeue that hee who deliuered them from the Lion and Beare the more dangerous will not suffer the Philistim to preuaile Now to come to the third point whereas it is said that when Samson had opened it to his wife she did by and by tell it to her countrey men the Philistims it appeareth that all her weeping to her husband was but dissimulation and falsehood treacherie and vnfaithfulnes euen a packe of mischiefe she
so it hath bin in former times that when mens waies haue pleased the Lord he hath caused not only their very enemies to be at one with them but also their very hearts to be intirely knit to them Yea many sillie persons so furnished with grace by God haue forced great ones to wish from their hearts for all their wealth and power that they were like to them And yet this is more that a Minister of the Gospell who is to challenge them openly that keepe not the commandements of Iesus and in his name to rebuke and threaten the workers of iniquitie though all this is of the louing and kinde Preacher done to saue their soules by turning them from their euill waies that such a Minister I say who is not only hated for his good will and counted their enemie for telling them the truth but also accused by them pursued also and not suffered to be quiet among them yet should constantly hold out his labours with a life vnoffensiue what a work of God thinke we is that in him who were like to continue so gracious a course in the middest of so many discouragements whereof I haue mentioned but a few if the Lord should not giue them faith to beleeue that of their loue to him they should feed his lambes and his sheep and that in so doing they assure themselues they shall be plentifully rewarded and to this end that he will giue them shoulders I meane courage to beare their so great a burthen These are no small things which yet God worketh among vs that we may see he regardeth vs as he did some in former times The other and last thing to be noted in this second part is of Sisera that the Lord pulled him downe and cast him from his so great honour and valiantnes For as it was a great abasement for such a Nimrod to be driuen to so great a streight as to lurke in another mans house not daring to peere foorth as the sillie bird beaten into the bush by the hawke so it was yet farre baser to fall by the hand and at the feete of a woman Let vs learne that the Lord bringeth to naught the high and haughtie and that to their vtter shame who were so great and proud It is no strange thing in the Scriptures to finde it thus though fooles wonder at it who will learne no instruction by it The Lord casteth the mightie from their seate Witnesse Abimilech who in his desperate mood being striken on the head with a milstone by a woman called his page and bid him to runne him through lest it should be said A woman slew him And yet that which was said of him was reprochfull enough to wit that a base page slew him and agreeth well with the point in hand Thus Absolon who had stomacke to rise against his father so kinde to him was brought to a base and reprochful death very fit for such an one being thrust through by Ioabs common souldiers And Iezabel scorning God and his Prophets was according to the foretelling of the Lord made dogges meate and dung vpon the earth being throwne out of the window from her royall palace The proud and stout Iewes who railed on Peter calling him despitefully a drunken man were so terrified with their sin that they were glad to seeke to be comforted euen by him whom they had scorned And well is it with them whose pride the Lord resisteth in mercie for their good as hee did Pauls by appalling him first and then sending him to poore Ananias who being his comforter now had been a prey for him if God had not preuented it For the rest whom I haue mentioned they excepted also in the second of the Acts the other I say were resisted to their cost and vtter vndoing And so by the foolishnes of preaching as it pleaseth the world to call it and an humble submitting of themselues to his holy doctrine they that are saued must attaine but as that generation of vipers the Pharisies were glad to come to Iohns ministerie if so be they tooke any good by it Be we therefore humble and meeke they who are graced are they that finde fauour with him but as for the proud he resisteth them and setteth himselfe against them till they be confounded if they so abide and be brought to naught And therefore let the scorners and enemies taunt and mocke the simple professors of the truth like Edomites they shall one day wish they had been like them and iudge them more happie then themselues as Diues for all his superfluitie did wish that he might haue had not the estate of Lazarus which he saw no hope to attaine but the thousand part of it euen that he might dip his finger in cold water and quench his thirst which yet might not be granted him And therefore let vs but stay a while and containe our selues and wee shall see these boasters and contemners if they will needs hold on their course wee shall see them I say swept away and they shall be no more so little cause shall we see of hauing our teeth water after their dainties They are wise who can in the iolitie and prosperitie of the enemies of the Church see their ouerthrow by faith and count their florishing and bragges to be but vaine crakes And thus much be said of the second part of the Chapter THE THIRTIE FIVE SERMON ON THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES The third part of the Chapter Vers 28. The mother of Sisera looked out at a window and cried through the lattesse Why is his charet so long a comming why tarrie the wheeles of his charets c. Vers 29. Her wise Ladies answered her yea she answered her selfe with her owne words Vers 30. Haue they not gotten and they diuide the spoile euery man hath a maide or two Sisera hath a prey of diuers coloured garments a prey of sundrie colours made of needle worke on both sides for the chiefe of the spoile Vers 31. So let all thine enemies perish O Lord but they that loue him shall be as the Sunne when he ariseth in his might And the land had rest fortie yeeres IN these words is contained the third and last part of the song of Debora and so of the Chapter and hath two members in the first she bringeth in the boastings of the women that were enemies to Gods people and Siseras deare friends and derides them in the first three verses In the last member she opposeth a propheticall prayer against their boastings wishing therein to the remainder of Gods enemies destruction and to the Israelites all increase of good things and that increase she laieth out by a comparison of the Sunne from the rising to the noone tide euen such she wisheth it to be More particularly to come to the first point she saith that Siseras mother was looking
his refusing it and of Gedeons Ephod and the danger that came thereby whereto is to be added the sinne of Israel to the end of the chapter The first part of the Chapter TO begin with the first part it is said that the men of Ephraim contended sore with Gedeon and fell out with him for that he called them not to the battell against the Midianites as appeareth in the first verse whereto the milde answere of Gedeon is to bee marked which is set downe in the second verse And thirdly how they were appeased by it as wee reade in the third Of these let vs heare more perticularly as they lie in order And heere first some man might thinke it an vnseasonable accident that befell Gedeon euen in the chiefe spring of his glory I meane that in the very necke of the victory should come vpon him such a crosse blow as to turne the solemnity and honour of his great acts in subduing the Midianites into reproch and abasement But the most wise God who best knoweth how to keepe his owne children in compasse and seeth what corruption they carry about them by meanes whereof they cannot beare any great blessing or prosperity without swelling and pride he I say doth commonly so dispose of them that with rare and speciall liftings vs and heightenings of them either in grace wealth honour and successe or the like hee matcheth and mixeth some great coolings and buffetings of them to keep them from falling dangerously in so slppery a place as they stand in Of Gedeon we cannot certainly say any thing to his iust reproofe in any grosse manner but of great infirmities of his wee haue heard and therefore doubtlesse hee being a man hee had that in him which might haue puffed him vp vpon so great successe if God had not by this great and vnwelcome crosse preuented it So Iphta comming fresh from a great conquest was suddenly quailed by his onely daughter And Iob in the middest of his flourishing and prosperous estate heares all at once of his children and substance destroyed and spoiled Likewise Dauid had few victories but the Lord sent him a cooler vpon them the rebellion of Absolon the cursing of Shemei the insurrection of Sheba the death of Ammon the slaughter of Absolon which doubtlesse were enough to purge out any superfluous humour which might rise vp in him and so to keepe him sober temperate and within holy compasse It is not so strange that the Lord should thus physicke his seruants being already surfeted with excessiue and sinfull abuse of their prosperity but it is his great mercy that he should so diet them with these potions that they may preuent surfeting The reason is because first it is the wisedome of the same Physitian to giue preseruatiues as well as purgations And againe sinne is easilier kept out from entring then thrust out of doores being once gotten in which the Lord foreseeing rather chooseth with a little hardship to the patient then by violent and extreame courses to preuent matter of disease rather then to heale the disease And the truth is it is easier for a man to bee dieted then purged I meane to beare an affliction which commeth before the spirit and conscience is wounded by a sinne then which followeth sin as the deserued punishment of it But for the point in hand let vs by this first learne what a leaud nature there is in vs that wee cannot haue a little health and welfare but presently we distemper our selues so that wee must be faine to be physickt lest wee should endanger our life I meane wee can enioy no good blessing but we forget our selues and cause the Lord to allay the sweetnesse of it with some bitternesse except he will suffer vs to be turned quite ouer with it Againe when we enioy any blessing let vs not measure the same by the pleasure and content which it giues our nature for euen in that is a sting which will secretly hurt vs but by the sober humble and thankfull affection wherewith wee imbrace the blessing And let vs know that then onely we enioy it in kind and entier otherwise by halues and scarce that And when we see that God sauceth our dainties with soure hearbs let vs be thankfull to him and say Lord I had else fed too much of this dish till I had ouerlaid my stomacke euen as children who finding hony eate too much of it therefore blessed be thy name who suffered me not to be sicke of it rather then if thou shouldest let me alone then I should bee prouoked to vomiting which were worse And this bee noted of the Lords ordering the action of these Ephramites for Gedeons good Now yet these Ephramites shew many foule faults in this action of contending with their gouernour and deliuerer of them as vnthankfulnes expostulating with him without a cause then their dissimulation who faine themselues to haue been willing to haue gone to warre with him and yet would not when they might haue done and when did they this euen when they saw the danger of the warre to bee past and ouer and that now honour was giuen to Gedeon for that which he had done whereas they had been as ready if hee had lost the victory to haue much more cast that in his teeth To prosecute these a little more particularly their vnthankfulnesse first was great and the iniurie which hee sustained thereby who ought to haue been much honoured of them for his industry and labour and highly accounted off by them for the same but if so be their vnthankfulnesse was so great towards him in this what manner of behauiour thinke wee would they haue vsed if they had sustained any wrong or violence at his hands who deale thus vndutifully nay rudely and rebelliously with them and yet hauing receiued so great a deliuerance by his meanes and so picking matter of quarrell out of a good turne and benefit But as we may note the vnthankfulnesse of men when yet they haue iust cause to shew the contrary duty as may be seene in many and namely in Absolon to his father whom when hee had deliuered from death iustly deserued hee sought his fathers life and to get away his kingdome also from him so wee may by this vnkind recompence they gaue to Gedeon for the famous act that hee wrought for their ease and peace wee I say who shall gratifie men may learne our duty thereby and that is this that we were not best neither ought wee to looke for our reward and commendation for well doing any manner of way from men but to rest in this that God knoweth our workes and it is enough that we are sure that from him we shall receiue our reward according to the words of the Apostle Be ye stedfast my beloued brethren and vnmoueable alwaies abounding in the worke of the Lord for as much as ye know that your
of Shechem died also about a thousand men and women AFter the forementioned slaughter and holding Gaal out of the citie the Israelites in Shechem thought among themselues that they would be auenged of Abimelech as it seemeth and they went out of the citie to pursue him They neuer considered what a punishment they had sustained already by their rash putting themselues vnder that vaine-glorious boaster Gaal but vnaduisedly followed their quarrell But he vnderstanding it tooke the aduantage of that their attempt and so disposed his bands of souldiers that hee set two of them to take those that came forth of the citie and slew them and hee and another band rushed to the entrance into the citie and hauing fought against it the whole day took it and slew the people in it and destroyed the citie and sowed salt in it If the men of Shechem had gone out of the citie but to walke or to doe some businesse as some perhaps would thinke they did Abimelech should not haue needed to prepare two or three bands of armed men to set vpon a few scatteringly here and there and those vnarmed comming forth to their worke or if they had gone out vpon pleasure what had he gained to haue gone forth with bands against a few persons But it is cleare therefore as I said and most certaine that they went out in warlike manner to fight with Abimelech though they went without Gaal their Captaine being much prouoked and incensed for the losse of their neighbours whom Abimelech had slaine the day before For they were many and for that they were now heated very much and more in spite rashnesse and desire of reuenge rather then good aduisednesse they went to worke being driuen and put to their shifts as they thought and that somewhat they must doe to him either that they must ouerthrow him or else they saw that hee would surelie root out them for to this it was now come that the word of God by Iotham might be fulfilled And by this we see to what desperate shifts men are driuen by their falsehood crueltie rashnesse vaine confidence in man and by the like sinnes and what wise man would looke for any better end of such doings If God had brought vpon them that trouble in their innocencie hee would haue taught them how to beare it whatsoeuer had been like to haue followed but now they runne vpon the swords point and therefore both they that sought to fight with him abroad and they that waited for to set vpon him and his men in the citie are both of them destroyed This is the best end that sinne bringeth vpon the committers And thus wilfulnesse stomacke and stubbornesse bring many to destruction while they who are contrary minded are in peace So contention whoring drunkennesse and riot doe the like in their kind and they that seeme to bee safest and freest from danger being of that sort may looke for no better fruit nor end of their euill doings but shame sorrow and a miserable death though not by enemies as these men of Shechem found it whether it bee in their beds or wrought by their owne hands all is one if repentance breake not off their euill course The which while Gods seruants behold and see to what a wofull end their euill doings bring many who yet in their iolitie thought themselues the only wise men of others and all fooles who walked in their innocencie and vprightnesse I say while Gods seruants see this they shall praise him highly for that they followed a better course by Gods direction and euen now I say when they see Gods threats executed vpon euill doers as they were told that it should be so in the middest of their prosperitie and iolitie And all that come after them shall see good cause and haue incouragement to hold on a Christian course and to turne neither on the right hand nor on the left although they shall see pietie and good conscience to be iustled to the walles and scorned yet shal the worst day of these that practise them be farre better then the best of the other for all their setting out of the matter for a while and when their time commeth in which they shall smart then shall Gods seruants reioyce in their owne sinceritie and innocencie Let the reader looke backe to the former chapter and inlarge this point by adding thereto that which hath been noted touching the sinne and iudgement of Succoth and Penuel Now followeth the further proceeding in and laying foorth of the ouerthrow of the men of Shechem Abimelech might for all the force of them goe and dwell safely in his house as he did at Arnmah not farre from Shechem their power being weakned and Gaal thrust out by Zebul But yet they rose vp against him as we haue heard of stomack if possibly they might any way be reuenged But their so doing being told to Abimelech turned to the destruction of them that did so and to them that were in the citie with it also as appeareth in these foure next verses Reade them in the text The Lord hauing purposed their ouerthrow did thus goe forward with it for he hath many waies to execute his iudgments threatned vpon his enemies It was a iust cause to astonish the rest when he began with the formost but alas where there is no counsell from God to direct them what can they do but waite their time to follow their fellowes in the like iudgement Euen so God sometimes sweepes away all the companie of bad men and euill workers in some one place at once as hee did whole kingdomes in Ioshuas time and made his people possesse and inhabit them Sometime he keepeth them vnder and wasteth his enemies by degrees and one after another as here as before I noted out of the space of Abimelechs raigne where the same point hath been handled So they that marke it shall finde that though hee giue them their scope and libertie for a time which hee doth that they may repent they in the meane while looking after no such thing I say they that mark it shall see how God either beginneth to blow vpon their prosperitie as the East wind in the Spring beginneth to nip and hold in the leaues that were comming foorth or else as a great frost doth all at once kill them so doth he suddenly send desolation vpon them one way or other when their time is come And therefore let no seruant of God feare or be dismaied for the greatnes and pride of such for in a small time their glorie and iollitie shall vanish it shall be no more seene there is a greater then they who will surely cut off their hope and lay their glorie in the dust Oh that the righteous could then praise God for that hee hath kept them in all those times of danger within their bounds not suffering them grossely to reach out their hands