God made two great lights the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night he made the starres also and God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth God in Creation did with the light as he did with the waters which being made were divided the waters above the firmament were divided from the waters under the firmament and the waters under the heaven he gathered together into one place Gen. 1.9 God prepared a certaine great vessell into which the waters were called and gathered that they should not spread over the earth as they did at first which gathering together of the waters God called Seas Gen. 1.10 Thus the light which was spread and scattered through the ayre over all the earth God gathered into severall vessells Pulchritudo es ornamenta coeloruÌ„ stellae sunt sicut terrae animantia et plantae Sanct and the gathering together of light he called Sunne Moone Starrs which are as Job here calleth them the garnishing of the heavens Moses epitomiseth or briefly summs up his larger narrative of the Creation in these words Gen 2.1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them that is they were finished not onely as to their essentials but ornamentalls not only was the foundation layd the walls and pillars the beames and rafters of that goodly structure set up and perfected but all the furniture of it was brought in and the beautyes of it compleated Now as gemms minerals plants trees and all living creatures are the Garnishing of the Earth and the host of God there so the Sunne Moone and Starrs are the garnishing of heaven and the host of God there David speaketh of these distinctly Psal 33.6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth All creatures whether placed in heaven or earth are for their number their strength their order their readynes at a call or command the host of God Earthly Princes shew their power in their hosts and armyes of what power God is both his acts and his hosts aboundantly declare And as these creatures are the armyes or host of God in heaven and earth so they are the Adornings and Garnishings of heaven and earth Job in this place speaketh onely of the former By his Spirit he hath Garnished the Heavens Onely here take notice that some expound the word Spirit for the winde which bloweth in the ayre and so render the text thus By his winde hee garnisheth the heavens As if this were Jobs meaning that God sending forth the windes dispelleth and scattereth those clouds foggs and mists which often cover the face of the heavens and hinder our beholding their glory and garnishings According to this interpretation the garnishing of the heavens is nothing else but the removing of that which obscureth the Garnishing of them And it is true that when the heavens are maskt over with clouds and darknesse God by the winds cleareth the ayre and so reneweth the face of those heavenly bodyes But I passe by this and shall onely insist upon the former exposition of these words as being more sutable with Jobs scope and more expressive of the power and Glory of God in the great things which he hath wrought for us By his Spirit hee garnisheth the heavens Hence learne First We ought joyntly to acknowledge and give glory to the Father Son and Spirit in the worke of Creation Solomon in his advice to the young man sayth Eccl 12.1 Remember thy creators in the dayes of thy youth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 creatorum tuorum Mysterâ—um Sanctae Trinitatis Pisc Wee translate in the singular number creator but the Hebrew is plural Creators intimating the mystery of the Holy Trinity as Moses also is conceaved to doe in that plural expression Gen 1.26 And God sayd let us make man in our image after our likenes And though this be added in a way of Eminency when the particular creation of man is set downe yet we are to understand it so generally of the whole worke of Creation and as of the worke of Creation so of all other divine workes towards the creature Redemption is the worke of the Father and of the Spirit as wel as of the Son and sanctification is the worke of the Father and of the Son as wel as of the Spirit The three persons worke together onely they have a distinct manner of working according to which each worke is chiefely attributed to that person and so creation is specially appropriated to the Father Redemption to the Son and Sanctification to the Holy Ghost Seing then all Three worke together in all things towards us All three ought to be equally and eternally honoured worshipped loved and obeyed by us By his Spirit he hath garnished the Heavens Secondly Observe The heavens are full of beauty God hath not onely made them but adorn'd them What a rich and Royall Canopy hath God hung over the heads of poore wormes dust and ashes God did not thinke it enough to give us a house unlesse he gave us also a pleasant house he was not satisfied in setting up a large fabricke for us unlesse he also furnished and garnished it for us God hath made the world not onely usefull but contentfull to us he hath fitted it not onely for our necessity but delight The earth is beautifull but the heavens exceed in beauty The heavens are the Ceiling of our house and the Starres are like Golden studs and sparkling Diamonds in that Ceiling We may inferre three things from the Garnishing of these heavens First If the heavens which we see are so glorious what are the heavens which no eye hath seene If God hath thus discernably adorned the first and second heavens how unconceaveable are the ornaments of the third heavens If nature hath so much beauty in it how beâ—utifull a thing is Glory If God hath prepared such heavens as our eyes see for those who hate him then surely eye hath not seene eare hath not heard nor hath it entred into the heart of man to understand what those heavens are which God hath prepared for them and for them alone who love him The light of these visible heavens is but darkenes to that inheritance of the Saints in light The Moone-light if I may so speake of that state shall be better and more illustrious then the Sun-light of this and the light of the Sunne shall be sevenfold as the light of seven dayes in that Great day when the Lord shall perfectly bind up All the breaches of his people and heale the stroake of their wound God who by his Spirit hath garnished these heavens will be himselfe with his Son and Spirit the eternal Garnishing of those heavens Secondly Seing God hath been so bountifull and munificent as to Garnish the heavens for us even for us by his Spirit seing he hath provided such
in man to desire God to strike through his pride and it is a great act of mercy to man when God doth so The more God smiteth our sins the more he declares his love to and his care of our soules The remainders of pride in the Saints shall be smitten through but sinners who remaine in their pride shall be smitten through themselves God whose power and understanding are made known by smiting through the proud waves of the Sea will at last make his Justice and his holynes knowne by smiting through the proud hearts of men or rather men of proud hearts Proud men strike at God yea kicke against him no wonder then if he strike and kicke them All the sufferings of Christ are wrapt up under that one word His humiliation implying that as he was smitten for all our sins so most of all for our pride That man whose pride is not smitten to death or mortifyed by the death of Christ shall surely be smitten to death even to eternall death for his pride As God understandeth thoroughly who are proud so by his understanding he will smite through the proud JOB CHAP. 26. Vers 13 14. By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens his hand hath formed the crooked Serpent Lo these are parts of his wayes but how little a portion is heard of him but the thunder of his power who can understand JOB hath given us a particular of many illustrious works of God what he doth in the depths below Et ut in opere ipsius pulcherrimo desinam hic ille est qui coelos illa enarrabili pulchritudine exornavit spherae illae suis giris undique coelos serpeÌ„tium instar percurreÌ„tes sunt opus manibus ipsius tornatum Bez and what in the hights above in this verse he gives another instance and that a very choyce one upon the same subject As if he had sayd After all this large discourse which I have made of the workes of God I will conclude with that which is the most remarkeable peice of them all This is he who hath adorn'd the heavens with that unutterable beauty wherewith they shine and the spheares which wind and turne round about the heavens like Serpents are smoothed and polished by his hand Vers 13. By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens The Spirit of God is taken two wayes in Scripture First q. d. visua voluntate ut nomen spiritus saepius in scriptura usurpatur sed malo ipsum dei spiritum almum accipere quo omnia deus fecit Merc for the power of God Secondly and so here for God the power as distinct from the Father and the Son By whom God wrought all things in the creation of the world Gen 1.2 The Earth was without forme and voyd and darkenes was upon the face of the deepe and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters It is a rule in Divinity That the external workes of the Trinity are undevided and so the Three Persons concurred in the making of the world God the Father created and is called Father in Scripture not onely in relation to the Eternall ineffable Generation of God the Son but also in reference to the production of the creature God the Son or the Eternal Word created Joh. 1.1 2 3. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God All things were made by him and without him was nothing made that was made God the Spirit or Holy-Ghost he likewise created and He onely is mentioned by Moses distinctly or by name as the Agent in the original constitution of all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non simplicem motionem denotat sed qualem columba perficit cum evis ad excludendum pullos incubat Rab Selom Verbum â—ranslatum ab avibus pullitiei suae incubantibus Jun. And the Hebrew word rendred in our translatioÌ„ moved the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters by which the Agency of the Spirit in that Great worke is expressed caryeth in it a very accurate significancy of that formative vertue or power which the Spirit put forth about it For it is a metaphor taken from birds who sit upon their eggs to hatch and bring forth their young ones and so importeth the effectual working of the Spirit whereby that confused masse or heape was drawne out and formed up into those severall creatures specifyed by Moses in the Historie of the Creation Among which we find the Garnishing of the heavens spoken of here by Job is reported by Moses for the worke of the fourth day Further we may consider the heavens first in their matter and being secondly in their beauty and ornaments Job speakes of the latter By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adornavit decoravit pulchrè fecit God hath not onely created but pollished and as it were painted or embroydered the heavens The originall word implyeth the making of them beautifull contentfull and pleasant unto the eye this is the Lords worke And therefore as the whole world because of the excellent order and beauty of it is exprest in the Greeke by a word that signifies beautifull 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so some parts of the world have a speciall beauty and lustre put upon them beyond the rest The heavens are not like a plaine garment as we say without welt or guard but they are laced and trimmed they are enamel'd and spangled they glister and sparkle in our eyes with rayes and beames of light By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens If it be asked what is this garnishing of the heavens I answer the setting or placing in of those excellent lights Sunne Moone and Starres in the heavens are the garnishing of them Light is beautifull and the more light any thing hath the more beauty it hath Precious stones have much light in them those lights the Starres are as so many stones of beauty and glory set or moving in the heavens Light as diffused and shed abroad in the ayre is exceeding delightfull and beautifull but light as it is contracted and drawne together into the Sunne Moone and Starres is farre more beautifull light in the ayre pleaseth the eye but light in the Sunne conquers and dazzel's the eye by the excessive beauty and brightnesse of it In the first day of the Creation God sayd Let there be light and there was light but in the fourth day he sayd let there be lights that is let there be severall vessells to receave hold and containe light and then to issue it out among the inhabitants of the earth Gen. 1.14 And God sayd let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signes and for seasons and for dayes and for yeares and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth and it was so And
as to have none about them or with them but the meaning is they would have none in power but themselves none in possession but themselves they are unwilling that any should have an estate but themselves they would have all others to be their underlings and tenants their servants and villaines to till their ground and gather in their revenewes they onely would be Freeholders all others must hold by their Copy and doe them homage If the greatest man in the world were turned alone into the world he would have but an ill being of it therefore the meaning of the Prophet is that they would be placed alone in the midst of the Earth to command and rule all others must serve them And they whose pride ambition or covetousnesse provokes them to dwell thus alone in the earth shall finde nothing beyond this earth but fire to dwell in Secondly Observe this That for a Magistrate to favour men because of their greatnesse and power is an utter departure from his duty The poore man should have the Earth that belongs to him as well as the rich The meane mans right to his little is as good as the mighty mans to his great deale Justice gives every man his owne without respect to the Owner Thirdly Consider the words as a charge brought against Job hee being a man in Authority and in place Then Note He that lets wicked men oppresse or wrong others when he is invested and entrusted with power to hinder them betrayeth his trust and looseth the ends of his investiture The Lord chargeth Eli 1 Sam. 3.13 because of the great Iniquitie which his Sonnes committed but it might be said What was their sin to him Yes it lay in his power to hinder them for Eli was the chiefe Magistrate in Israel and therefore the Lord concluded I will judge his house for ever for the Iniquity which he knoweth because his Sonnes made themselves vile and he restrained them not But did not Eli restraine them there is a restraining First By way of Councell and advice and in this sense Eli did restraine them Chap. 2.23 24. Hee said unto them why doe yee such things for I heare of your evill dealings with all the people nay my Sonnes for it is no good report that I heare yee make the Lords people to transgresse Thus he put a morall stopp in their way shewing the hainousnesse of their sinne and dehorting them from it but Eli being a man in Power and Authoritie might have gone another way to worke with them hee might have punished them for their sinne And because hee did not here was Elies sinne and this is suggested as Jobs sinne Hee was a man in Power yet he winked at those violent ones and let them carry all in the Earth when as hee might have mended the matter by checking their insolencies doing the poor right This is charged on Thiatira in reference to the neglect of using their Church-power Revel 2.20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that woman Jezabell that Cals her selfe a Prophetess to teach and to seduce my Servants to commit fornication c. That Angel sufferd her how did he suffer her hee did not use that Power that Christ had Committed to the Church to admonish to reprove to cast out he did not stopp that seducing Prophetesse by a due Exercise of Spirituall Power but sufferd her to seduce uncontrol'd The more Power wee have to prevent or remove eyther Spirituall or civill Evills the greater is our sinne when it is not done if Eliphaz had not supposed Job a Magistrate hee could not have layd this burden upon him or have represented him in fault because the mighty man had the Earth and the honourable man dwelt in it oppressing the weake and vexing those of low degree Eliphaz goes yet one step further in the prosecution of this charge and Arraignes him for another Crime and that a very great one The mighty man had the Earth the honourable man dwells in it But Vers 9. The widdow thou hast sent empty away and the armes of the fatherless have been broken As if he had said Thou didst fill the full with good things but the hungry thou hast sent empty away The honourable have been provided for but they who were destitute of all friends found no friendship at thy hands unlesse the breaking of their owne armes Thou hast sent widows away empty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verbum dimittendi violentiam quandam affert ut sit idem quod eijcere extrudere expellere There is somewhat considerable in the nature of the word which wee render sent for it implyes a putting away with a kinde of violence thou hast cast them out or bid them be packing thou hast put them off with rigour and distast As if he had sayd Thou hast not onely let them goe from thy house unreleeved but thou hast reviled them and thrust them away because they asked releife So we may expound it by that Gen. 3.23 24. And the Lord God sent him that is Adam forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken What this sending forth was is expressed in the next verse So hee drove out the man Such a sending away is here intended thou hast sent widows away as we speake with a witness thou hast chide or rated them out of thy presence As it is said of Gallio Acts 18.16 17. That he cared for none of those things and hee drave them from the Judgement-seate Thus thou hast sent widdows away Complutenses Further In the Chaldee Language the word signifies to stripe or to pluck off the very skinne This is yet more tyrannical Thou hast sent them away spoyled and stript or as it followeth in the Text empty Thou hast sent widowes away c. It was not the mighty man nor the great ones of the earth that he is charged to deale thus unkindly or rather cruelly with but the widow that hightens the sinfullnes of his tyranny This very word by which a widow is expressed in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a verbo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod est colligare ergo ligata dicitur per contrarium intellectum quia jam soluta viro Significat etiaÌ„ habere linguam colligatam i. e. â—bmutescere aut mutuÌ„ esse quòd mortuo viro non valeat loqui litigare quamvis contra aequuÌ„ jus rapinam bonorum suorum patiatur Rab Mord. as well as her condition calls for helpe and pitty It comes from a roote that signifies either to binde or to be silent taking it in the first signification to binde the widdow may be so called for two reasons First because the widow is as it were bound about with afflictions and sorrowes shee hath many troubles about her as so many bonds from which shee cannot free her selfe without running into many other troubles Secondly The widow is so called by
people Stupidus esplanè nisi tua scelera harum tuarum calamitatū aquae more inundantium obruentium causam esse vides Merc heare ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not Make the heart of this people fat and make their eares heavy and shut their eyes What were these eyes and eares that were to be made heavy and shut Surely they are to be understood not of Organicall but of intellectuall eares and eyes But who was to shut these eyes A holy Prophet And how was hee to shut them By prophecying or speaking to them in the Name of the Lord. The proper worke of the Word is to open the eyes and enlighten the minde But when a people have long shut their owne eyes against or onely dallyed with that transcendent mercy the light then God which is the severest judgement shuts their eyes and darkens them with light Of this Judiciary darkness some interpre◠the present Text as if Eliphaz had sayd there is a worse plague upon thee then all those spoken of even blindness and confusion of minde so that thou canst neyther see what brought thee into them nor how to finde thy way out but art as a man under water or in the darke amuzed in these thy afflictions not knowing what to doe or which way to turne thy selfe Secondly Darkness taken improperly is Externall so a state of sorrow and affliction is a state of darkness As before snares so here darkness notes any troublesome condition or the trouble of any mans condition And when to darkness this is added Darkness that thou canst not see it may import the greatest degree of darkness even darkness in perfection or as the Scripture speaks thick darkness yea outer darkness There is a darknes in which wee may see a darknes which hath some kinde of light in it but when darknes is so thicke that we cannot see that is that we cannot see any thing in it as we commonly say of extreame darkness 't is so darke that a man cannot see his hand then 't is perfect darkness Light is not properly seene but 't is the medium or meanes by which wee see much lesse is darknes seene it being properly that which intercepts and hinders sight yet 't is rare to meete with darknes which hath not some mixture or tinctures of light or with such darknes as in which nothing at all can be seene yet such was this metaphoricall darknes with which he supposed Job was muffled up I have more then once in other passages of this Booke met with and explained this terme shewing how and why afflictions and troubles are expressed by it and therefore I shall not now stay upon it Onely here take notice Gentiles idem sentire gustiebant dum non eosdem in prosperis quos in adversis adibant deos In prosperis quidem solē Jovem opulentū Minervam Mercurium Apollinem hos omnes quasi lucis secundarum rerum largitores at in adversis tellurem Neptunum alios malorum depulsores nocte multum potentes quasi tenebrarum ipsi domini essent Bold That the old Heathens had such conceptions of darkness And therefore being in a prosperous state they had recourse to the Sunne to Jupiter Minerva Mercury their Idol-Deities as the dispensers of light and comfort but being under sufferings and sorrows they made their applications to the Earth to Neptune and others whom they vainely beleeved were Rulers of the Night and Lords of darkness as if these could command and chase away all evills from them Scripture Language is full of such Descriptions about men in sorrow Darkness that thou canst not see And abundance of waters cover thee * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quamvis multitudinē aut inundationē significat cum celeretate quadam strepitu The word rendred abundance signifies a company or troope of waters which meete and march together even as horses prepared for battell and ready to give the charge So the word is translated 2 Kings 9.17 A Watchman from the Tower sayd I see a company And that was Jehu with his troopes who came marching furiously with the revenge of God in his hand upon the house of Ahab And so Ezek. 26.10 By reason of the abundance of their horses their dust shall cover thee thy walls shall shake at the noyse of the Horsemen and of the Wheeles and of the Chariots Reade the same use of the word Isa 60.6 The multitude some read the inundation of Camels shall cover thee They shall come in such abundance that they shall come like a floud and shall be as the gathering of many waters Troopes of Horses and Camels rush together as many waters And waters rush and throng together even as many horses Thus here abundance or an Army of waters come in upon thee and cover thee Waters in Scripture frequently signifie afflictions Isa 43.2 When thou passest thorow the waters that is thorow great afflictions I will be with thee Psal 18.16 Hee drew me out of many waters That is out of many afflictions Psal 66.12 Wee went through fire and water but thou broughtest us forth into a wealthy place Fire and water note all sorts of afflictions hot and cold moyst and dry And some conceive that water in a metaphoricall sence is so often used in Scripture to signifie affliction because water in a proper sence did once afflict the whole world As the generall Judgement upon the world at the last day shall be by fire so the first generall Judgement upon the world was by water it was a floud of waters by which the Lord destroyed the old world Likewise Pharaoh and his Host of Aegyptians which was the second most Eminent Judgement that ever was in the world were overwhelmed by the waters of the red Sea Thus Moses sang Exo. 15.4 5. Pharaohs Chariot his host hath he cast into the Sea his chosen Captaines also are drowned in the red Sea The depths have covered them they sanke into the bottome as a stone And againe v. 10. The Sea covered them they sanke as Lead in the mighty waters Water being the Element and the Instrument which God hath so often used in his angry dispensations towards sinfull men it may emphatically expresse any dispensation of his anger Yet if we consider the very nature of the thing it selfe it carrieth significancy enough to be the Embleme of saddest and soarest affliction First There is in water a swallowing power as water is easily swallowed so it swallowes all up Man cannot subsist in it when it is most peaceable and he can hardly escape out of it when 't is enraged Sorrow and affliction are swallowers also unlesse mercy appeare and moderate them they drowne and overthrow all The Apostle useth that expression when he adviseth the Corinthians 2 Ep 2.7 To forgive and comfort the incestuous person whom according to his advice they had formerly Excommunicated or cast out from fellowship in the
Lord is God of the hills and not of the valleys therefore will I deliver this great multitude into thy hand As if he had said however you deserve not in the least that I should owne you or assist your cause yet that I may confute the blasphemous and derogatory principles of these Syrians I will give you a second victory against them even in the valleys where they suppose they have you at an advantage and shall deale with you beyond the extent of my power and Territory Though God had no cause to respect the honour of the Israelites yet he could not forget the honour of his owne name which was obscured by those superstitious Syrians The most received Doctrine Divinity of the Heathens confined their Gods to certaine places some to this City some to that some to the hills some to the plaines some to the Sea others to the Land 'T is sayd that the same night in which Alexander the Great of whose Conquests Daniel Prophesied was borne that the Temple of Diana at Ephesus was burnt to the ground And the Heathens gave this as the reason of it because Diana was absent from hir Temple being gone to assist at the birth of Alexander implying that their Goddess was so in one place as she could not attend what was done elsewhere Such were the grosse conceits which they had of their Gods and they imagined the God of Israel to be such a one as their owne The veriest Idolater in the world presumes his God as good as any is But Jehova the living God hath taught us to say Who is a God like unto thee and our experiences have sealed to it that there is none like the God of Jesurun who rideth on the heavens for thy helpe and in his excellency on the skyes Deut. 33.26 And wee have learned to comfort our selves in all places and streights in this assurance that he is the God of the hills as well as of the valleys of the Sea as well as the dry Land and that he is as truely present in the lowest depths as in the highest heavens Is not God in the height of heaven And behold the height of the Starres how high they are The Hebrew is Behold the head of the Starres The head of a man is the highest part of him and the head of any thing is the top of it Behold the head or height of the Starres how high they are Starres are high but God is higher many creatures are high but God is high above all creatures The creature is strong but God is stronger the creature is wise but God is wiser the creature is glorious but God is infinitely more glorious The glory wisdome strength and highest height of the creature is but a glimpse of what God is The Starres are high I shall not enter into an Astronomicall Discourse about the Starres or the height of Starres I shall not meddle with a Jacobs staffe to take the elevation of the Starres no need of such Discourse here all that is intended by Eliphaz is a proofe that God is infinitely exalted in his highnes and majesty above the Starres Behold the height of the Starres how high they are This word behold in Scripture is often applied to things of wonder To say behold is not a calling for the bare act of the eye to see the height of the Starres but it calls for a worke of the minde duly to consider of and to wonder at their height Some creatures especially the heavenly are not onely usefull but wonderfull and 't is as hard to understand them as it is comfortable to enjoy them The Hebrew word for Heaven cometh from a roote which signifies to amaze and astonish And indeed there are naturall wonders and mysteries enow in the heavens to astonish any considering man And the true reason why we are no more astonisht at them or doe no more admire them is because we doe so little consider them We often see or looke upon the Starres but we seldome behold them And therefore David saith Psal 8.3 When I consider the heavens the worke of thy fingers the Moone and the Starres which thou hast ordained what is man that thou art mindfull of him As the beholding and consideration of our owne workes will make us ashamed because they appeare so bad so the consideration and beholding of the works of God will make us astonisht because they appeare both so good and great Behold saith the Apostle 1 Joh. 3.1 what manner of Love the father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God even this transcendent Love of God in our Adoption is passed by as a small matter by those who will not take the paines or rather the pleasure and leysure to behold and consider the manner of it No mervaile if the power of God in making the highest Starres be passed by as a low thing by those who doe not behold that is diligently consider them Behold the height of the Starres how high they are Wee are called to consider this Hence note That it is our duty to contemplate the excellency of the creature God hath not onely given us the booke of the Scripture but of the creature and we must attend to the reading of this as well as of that even to the reading of every lease and line of it There are foure great leaves of this booke First the heavens secondly the earth thirdly the Sea fourthly the aire These are the foure great leaves of this booke of the creature in every one of which we should labour to be expert Scholars and spel out the name and minde of God in them For though as I said before beholding notes wondering yet wee must not behold them to wonder at them like children but we must behold them to learne somewhat from them or to be instructed by them as men Behold the Starres First In their number As God said to Abraham Gen. 15. 5. Looke now towards Heaven and tell the Starres if thou be able to number them and he said unto him so shall thy seed be 'T is matter of wonder that God should make so many of those eminent Lights that he should set up so many flaming torches in heaven for man to see his way and worke by on earth That God who hath spread this Canopie over our heads should also embroyder it with such a multitude of Golden spangles which render it as much our delight as it is our duty to behold them Secondly Behold the Starres in their order they move by rule they keepe their rankes none of them goe out of their place or forsake their station They who are skilled in the motion of the Starres know where to have them a hundred yeare hence In the 5th of Judges it is said The Starres in their courses fought against Sissera Thirdly We should consider the Starres in their magnitude what vast bodyes they are Some of them are bigger then the whole body
of the earth as Philosophy teacheth us though to appearance not bigger then the blase of a Candle nor broader then the palme of a hand Fourthly Consider also the difference of the Starres in their greatnesse and magnitude they are all great but not all of a greatnesse not all of one size Astronomers divide the Starres into sixe magnitudes We should likewise observe and wonder at their light which is their glory the light of the Starres is the glory of the Starres and so the more light any Starre hath the more glory it hath Thus one Starre differeth from another Starre in glory 1 Cor. 15.41 But I shall not stay upon these things having insisted somwhat largely upon them at the 9th Chapter v. 9. Whether I referre the Reader Onely note here that as the Starres of heaven are of several degrees God hath not levell'd them eyther in light or magnitude so he hath diversly distributed the light of parts and gifts of understanding and knowledge of estate and power to and among the children of men here on earth 'T is good for all that all are not alike The universe could not be eyther so beautiful or so orderly if every particular had the same beauty or were of the same order And he that cannot be content to have lesse and to be lesser then another is altogether unfit not onely to be as great or to have as much as another but to be or have any thing at all Nor is any man more fit to be more then he is then he that can rejoyce while another is more then he Secondly Note The creature leads us to God That 's the tendency and scope of all that is here asserted Eliphaz calls not Job to the meditation or contemplation of the Starres to leave him there Some study the heavens much but their lives are earthly they study the Starres yet there is nothing but dirt in their hearts and the reason is because they study the Starres for the Starres sake and not for Gods sake and make the Starres their end not their way or as Starres to lead them to God This is the reason why many Astronomers and Philosophers who busie their heads and minds much in speculation about the nature of the heavenly bodyes know not at all what it is to have their conversations in heaven or to minde the things that are above Wee should so behold the glory of the Starres as from thence to inferre that God is much more glorious yea that these things which were made glorious have no glory in comparison of that Glory which made them Plato taught his Scollers to say The earth is beautifull the heavens are more beautifull but God who made the earth and the heavens is more beautifull then both The visible creature shewes the invisible God Psal 19.1 2. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy worke But O how glorious is the invisible God who hath made such visible creatures and what a work-Master is he who hath set up such a work Rom. 1.20 The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearely seene being understood by the things that are made even his eternall power and godhead The things that are made carry us to the maker of them and they tell us that none but he who hath an eternall power and godhead could possibly make them The Heathen thought the Sunne Moone and Starres to be Gods therefore certainly there is very much of God much of the glory and power of God to be seene in them And Job saith which doth plainly shew that in nature it is so Chap. 31.26 If I beheld the Sunne when it shined or the Moone walking in brightnesse and my heart hath been secretly inticed or my mouth hath kissed my hand this also were an iniquity to be punished by the Judge for I should have denyed the God that is above That is if I have been inticed to worship the Sunne or Moone as ravisht with their beauty for 't is so farre from being a sin that 't is a duty to behold the Sunne when it shineth and the Moone walking in brightnes but so to behold them as to adore them or doe obeysance to them which was the custome of the Heathen expressed it seemes among them by kissing their hand as we doe at this day in token of respect and reverence to men above us this is an iniquity even that grosse iniquity of Idolatry or worshipping the creature in stead of or more then the Creator who is blessed for evermore Now I say inasmuch as these creatures have so much of God in them that many Heathens have mistaken them for God how will it condemne us of dulness and stupidity if we be be not led to God in the knowledge and beholding of them For as to make these creatures Gods so not to see God in these creatures is to deny the God that is above Thirdly While we behold the Starres of heaven it should exceedingly both humble us and make us thankful for whose use comfort and accommodation in this life God set up those Glorious Lights God did not make them for his owne use he had no need of them he was from everlasting without any of these creatures The Starres are nothing to him The Sunne is nothing to him yea in that state of glory where we shall injoy God for ever we shall have light without Sunne so that these lights were made for our use and for ours onely while we are walking in the darke vale of this present world Now while we behold the height of the Starres how high they are and consider for whom as well as by whom they were made even for us for poore us who are but dust and ashes This should at once lay us low in humblenes looking upon them as an honour to great for us and rayse us up in thankfullnes because the benefit and comfort of them is so great to us Thus David speakes in that excellent prophecy of Christ Psal 8.3 When I consider thy heavens the worke of thy fingers the Moone and the Starres which thou hast ordained what is man that thou art mindfull of him and the sonne of man that thou visitest him As if he had said thou hast made all these creatures for man see what a heaven what starrs God hath framed and set up for man Lord what is man that thou art mindfull of him Thus behold the height of the starres how high they are as to lead thee unto God and to admire his highnes so to be humbled at thy own basenes and to be thankfull for his benefits Eliphaz having laid downe these two Propositions God is on high and the Starres are high proceeds to make an inference from both which he formeth up by way of supposition from Jobs owne mouth Vers 13. And thou sayest how doth God know As if Eliphaz had said thou art so farre from making that right improvement which thou
the Lord and the light shall shine upon thy wayes or there shall be light in stead of darknes in thy pathes This light may be taken three wayes First A light of direction thou shalt see what to doe So it answers the former promise Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee Thou shalt not make blind decrees or decrees in the darke thou shalt not decree at a venture or at random the light shall shine upon thy wayes thou shalt have the light of the Word and the light of the Spirit to direct thee in making thy decrees and for the ordering of thy whole conversation Secondly Light shining upon his wayes is the prosperity of his wayes as if he had sayd successe shall attend thy undertakings the favour of God and his blessing shall be upon what thou takest in hand as the Sun shining upon the earth ripens the fruits thereof so the light heate and influence of divine favour shall ripen thy undertakings and bring them to a desiered perfection Light in Scripture is often put for prosperity as hath been shewed from other passages of this booke Thirdly The light shall shine upon thy wayes that is thou shalt have personall Comfort and Contentment in thy wayes that 's a different blessing from the former 't is possible for a man to be in a prosperous way and yet himselfe to take no Comfort nor Contentment in it When these three lights shine upon any man in his way or upon the wayes of any man when the Lord shewes him what he should do when he prospereth succeeds what he doth and when he hath comfort joy in what he is doing or hath don then the blessing is full As the Lord meets him that rejoyceth in his way and worketh righteousnesse so the Lord doth often meet those that worke righteousnesse in their way causing them to rejoyce And then the light shines upon their way indeed This is a further adddition unto the promise of successe before given From the first notion of light first Observe The righteous are under a promise of direction and guidance by God they shall see their way and know what to doe by a divine light The steps of a Good man are ordered by the Lord Psal 37.23 That is the Lord gives him light to see how to order his steps He hath not onely an outward naturall light shining in the ayre and an outward spirituall light shining in the rule but he hath an inward spirituall light shining in his heart or that outward rule planted within as it followes at the 31 verse of the same Psalme The law of his God is in his heart and none of his steps shall slide The law in the heart is a rule within which directs the good man what to doe and gives him such good direction that none of his steps shall slide He shall not walke like a man upon glasse or ice all whose steps are slips or in danger of sliding but he shall walke like a man upon plaine firme ground whose very steps are as sure as standings As Saints who were darknes are made light in the Lord in reference to their state so they have light from the Lord in reference to their walkings and as they receive a light from God whereby they know all things that is those great things which concerne Eternal life 1 Joh. 2.20 Yee have an Vnction from the holy one and ye know all things Now as they have a light promised them that they may know all things that is all necessary saving truths or doctrines of salvation for attaining the next life so a light is promised them whereby they may doe all things that is all their necessary workes businesses and affaires which concerne their duty in this life From the second notion of light Observe Righteous men such as turne unto the Lord shall have a Blessing in their way their way shall prosper As they shall have a light shining to shew them their way so to prosper them in their way God is a Sunne and he is a Shield Psal 84.11 And as he is a Sunne to give light and a Shield to protect so no good thing will he withold from them that walke uprightly That is he will not hinder or stopp those good things from them which their soules desire or move after they shall prosper in their way yea when 't is sayd He will not withhold c. there is more intended then expressed for the meaning is he will plentifully give forth or powre out all good things to and upon them who walke uprightly From the third notion of light learne That the Lord gives Godly men Joy and Comfort in their way Though their way be a way of much labour yea and a way of much danger too though it prove a way full of sweat trouble yet the Lord will cause a light to shine upon them and refresh them in their way To the righteous there rises up light in darknes The light of joy in the darknes of sorrow the light of comfort in the darknes of trouble They who walke in the light of truth and holines usually finde the light of joy and comfort in their way and are sure to finde it in their end The wayes of wisdome saith Solomon Pro. 3.17 are wayes of pleasantnes and all her pathes are peace and if at any time her wayes and pathes are not peace and pleasantnes as to the outward man they often are not while we are travelling in them yet they are alwayes so in the close of our travells Psal 37.37 Marke the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace Yea when others finde most trouble in their way then God is neerest to him for support as it followes in the next words Vers 29. When men are cast downe then thou shalt say there is a lifting up and he shall save the humble person In this and the following verse Eliphaz gives a firme assurance to Job by way of promise that he should not onely be delivered but should have two further priviledges First That himselfe should be exalted when others were cast downe or that he should be saved in times of common calamity ver 29. Secondly That he should be a meanes of safety to others and should prevaile with God for their deliverance he shall deliver the Island of the Innocent c. vers 30. That 's the generall scope of these two verses according to our translation as will further appeare in the explication of them Vers 29. When men are cast downe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 depressus prostratus When they are prest or opprest with mountaines of affliction and trouble So the word is used Esay 2.17 The loftines of man shall be bowed downe that is the lofty man shall be bowed downe as a man with a heavy burden upon his backe Wee say when men are cast downe the word men is not exprest in the
Hac ratione liber evaderem ab iniquis vitae meae Judicibus calumniatoribus ut ultra mihi disceptatione contentione opus non erit all their charges shall be reprobated and rejected God who hath once Justified a person will never lay any thing to his charge and what charge soever others bring against him Gods justification will take it off The Apostles challenge is universal Who shall lay any thing c It is universal two wayes First in regard of persons accusing he excepts none in earth heaven or hell Secondly in regard of crimes he excepts no sort of sinne let them seeke and finde what they can be they sins against God or man be they sins of omission or commission be they sins never so much aggravated or sadly circumstantiated though against both light and love yet they will not doe against a person Elect and Justified Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect wipes away all charges Accused they may be though justified but condemned they cannot be because justified The best of Saints on earth have much in them and much is done by them which might be matter of charge against them for he that saith he hath no sin in him hath indeed no truth in him 1 Joh. 1.8 but Justifying Grace is their full discharge Againe As the word Judge is expounded universally for all those that did or might accuse Job Observe The best and most righteous on earth meete with many harsh accusers and hard Judges David had those who layd to his charge things that he knew not Psal 35.11 The Jewes returned from Babylon to build their City and Temple were charged with sedition Jeremie was charged with treason Paul was called a pestilent fellow and the primitive Christians were generally loaded with slaunders by the Heathen Misreport and reproach are the portion of Saints from the world And how sadly Job was charged all along by his friends and how severely censured hath appeared every where in this Booke especially in the former Chapter ver 5 6 7. Is not thy wickednes great and thine iniquities infinite for thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought and stripped the naked of their cloathing c. Had not Job reason to looke upon it as a great mercy to be delivered from such a Judge And hath not every Godly man reason to make Davids choyce 2 Sam. 24.14 Let me fall into the hand of the Lord for his mercies are great and let me not fall into the hand of men Now as men are for the most part over-severe executioners of Gods sentence so they are usually over-severe Judges in giving their owne whether sence or sentence concerning others And therefore Jobs faith did prophecy this good to himselfe That God having heard him and judged him he should be delivered for euer from man his Judge And let this be the comfort of the righteous who are oppressed with the hard opinions of men That God will at last deliver them for ever from every rigorous and unrighteous Judge In that Great day as the Apostle Jude calls it the cause of every righteous man shall be disputed before God and then they shall be delivered for ever from their Judge And this did exceedingly beare up the spirit of the Apostle Paul in the midst of the various censures and judgements of men concerning him he knew their judgement should be taken off at last 1 Cor. 4.3 4. With me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you or of mans judgement yea I judge not my owne selfe But he that judgeth me is the Lord therefore judge nothing before the time till the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darknesse and make manifest the counsells of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God That is every righteous man though dispraised and despised though judged and condemned by men though blackt over with false reports and reproaches yet then every righteous man shall have praise from the most righteous God He will then doe all his people right who have been wronged and passe a just sentence upon those who have suffered much and long under unjust censures And so shall they be for ever delivered from their Judge JOB CHAP. 23. Vers 8 9 10. Behold I goe forward but he is not there and backward but I cannot perceive him On the left hand where he doth worke but I cannot behold him hee hideth himselfe on the right hand that I cannot see him But he knoweth the way that I take when he hath tryed mee I shall come forth as gold IN the two former verses Job exprest much Confidence of a good issue in his Cause could he but finde God and come to tryall And he reneweth this againe at the 10th verse Expressing the same Confidence When he hath tryed mee I shall come forth as gold But though he was thus Confident of a faire coming off in Case he could finde God yet he seemes in these words to cast off all Confidence of finding him forasmuch as yet he could not or had not Expressing himselfe here as a man that had travelled into all parts and quarters of the world East West North and South to finde a friend yet could not meet with him Behold I goe forward but he is not there and backward but I cannot perceive him On the left hand where he doth worke but I cannot behold him he hideth himselfe on the right hand that I cannot see him There is a threefold scope held forth about these words First As if Job did here deplore his fruitles paines in wishing for his appearing before God and in appealing to his Tribunal for as yet he saw himselfe unanswered and frustrated in his expectation God did not appeare to him in his troubles nor declare his purpose towards him Declarat Job se non posse ratione humana per res naturales quas per quatuor mundi plagas significat cognoscere certò clare rationes divinorum judiciorum Pined Secondly His scope may be to assert the hiddennes of the wayes of God or that the wayes of God are not to be found out nor understood by all the paines and industry by all the endeavours and disquisitions of man let him turne himselfe which way he will East or West North or South yet he must say I cannot behold him Thirdly Some conceive that Jobs intent is to declare his owne understanding or meaning in that earnest wish which he lately made Haec subjungit ad declarandū dei immensita tem ne quis putaret eum ex istimasse deum corporeum esse aut corporali loco circumscribi cum de illius tribunali loquutus est Id about his admittance to the Throne of God O that I knew where I might finde him that I might come even to his seat v. 3d He was not so grosse as to thinke that God was Confined to any
be spoken by the Lord c. As if he had sayd the wisest man in the whole world cannot tell how a man should escape eternal darknes or damnation there is no possible way no doore of hope to escape by if he neglect that great salvation But what 's neglect it is a light passing by of a thing when offered non-acceptance is a neglect Suppose you doe no more when light is offerd to you but onely passe it by because you have no minde to it you are not taken with the beauty and worth of it If you doe nothing against it onely you doe not embrace it you cannot escape And when the Apostle saith you cannot escape without saying from what you may say the worst you can or can imagine and that 's it which he meanes you cannot escape even the wrath of God and death eternal Now if but to neglect salvation or the light which is indeed onely not to elect it or not to make it our choice be so damnable a sin what is it to rebell against the light to doe which is the worst that we can doe even the perfection of wickednes Surely they who thus rebel against the light shall as the Psalmist speakes Psal 49.19 Goe to the generation of their fathers where they shall never see light They who rebel against the light of knowledge shall not enjoy the light of comfort As they have desiered the absence of the former light so they shall be punished with the absence of the latter Lastly As in these words Job shewes who they were that acted those grosse wickednesses even they who rebelled against the light We may observe They who rebell against the light will close with and embrace any sin whatsoever or They who are all for darknes are for any wickednes They who rebell against this beautifull thing light are forward to embrace the foulest monster Those things which 't is a shame to speake of or so much as to name these rebels against light are ready to doe The Psalmist moves God in prayer to looke to his Covenant by this argument Psal 74.20 For the darke places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty that is of cruel men or of men so full of cruelty that they deserve rather to be called cruelty then cruel this sort of men inhabit and fill up all those places where the light of holy truth doth not shine Now if they who want the light or have no true knowledge of God among them are hereby as it were prepared for and put onne to the acting of all manner of wickednes how much more are they prepared for the acting of any wickednes who have thrust the light from them and are in darke places of their owne making The Prophet Hosea shewes Chap. 4.1 that where there is no knowledge of God in a land for want of meanes there is no truth nor mercy that is there is none exercised in that land but oppression deceit and falsehood beare downe all how much more must it be so where there is no knowledge of God in a land because of the contempt of meanes and rebellion against the light What wickednes will not they doe in the darke who put out the Candle that they may not see what they doe These are they who rebell against the light and as it followeth They know not the way thereof nor abide in the pathes thereof These latter words are an illustration of the former They know not the wayes thereof This not knowing may be taken either for a simple ignorance when we know not eyther because we have not an ability to know or because we have wanted all opportunities and helpes to get knowledge or secondly not knowing may be expounded of a willfull affected ignorance they know not that is they desire not to know and so I conceive the meaning of they know not is not that they were simply ignorant or invincibly ignorant as they are who sit in a land of darknes and in the valley of the shadow of death but that these rejected the land of light and so were under an affected ignorance They knew not the truth because they would not Againe We may be sayd not to know that Non nosse vias lucis est non agere ea quae in luce agi solent Illud nescire dicimur quod non probamus which we doe not delight in approve and practice We know no more to purpose then we presently doe or have a purpose to doe when the season or opportunity calls us to it How much light soever a wicked man hath yet he knowes not the wayes of light because he doth not rejoyce or delight in the wayes of light as also because he doth not so much as approve the wayes of light and if he neyther delight in nor approve of those wayes no mervaile if he walke not in those wayes nor as 't is in the last clause of the verse abide in the pathes thereof As if he had sayd Suppose they come sometimes into the wayes of light and truth suppose they sometimes doe that which the light directs them to yet they abide not in it This is a further Character of the disposition and temper of wicked men who though possibly for a fit or for a turne or two they walke in the wayes of light yet they abide not in the pathes thereof And this latter peice of their sinfullnes ariseth from the former why doe they not abide in the pathes of light even because they know not the wayes thereof that is because they doe not approve or delight in the wayes thereof Whence note Wee cannot be constant in that which wee doe not affect If a man doth not know that is love and affect the wayes of light he will never abide in the pathes of light what wee love with that we close what wee affect in that we stick The reason why the wicked abide in the pathes of sin is because they love and delight in them All the pathes of wickednes are pathes of pleasantnesse to the wicked and therefore they abide in them No man would be at all much lesse would he be long in a way that he doth not like And that 's the reason why wicked men if ever they doe this or that particular act of righteousnesse and holinesse yet they cannot persevere in such actings A wicked man doth Good as a godly man doth evill upon a temptation not upon approbation some carnal ayme or interest of profit or credit tempts him to doe good but he doth not approve the good which he doth And hence it is that as a good man abides not in the pathes of darknes so a wicked man abides not in the pathes of light True holines doth not begin at action but at affection They begin at the wrong end with Religion who begin with doing rather then with liking Many doe this and they doe that whereas they should strive to approve and pray
persons not limited to this or that particular nation or person yea he hath dominion not onely over all here below but in heaven above as Bildad speakes a little after He maketh peace in his high places Christ is Prince of the Kings of the earth Rev 1.5 He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings Rev. 19.16 that is not onely a King or a Lord excelling all other Kings and Lords but also ruling them or reighning over them Kings are his Subjects Secondly His is an absolute dominion that is he governes by no law but by his owne will this kinde of dominion is proper unto God alone He doth and he onely may governe by his owne will Hee doth in heaven and earth what ever pleaseth him This was spoken of Job 23.13 Hee is in one minde and who can turne him and what his soule desireth that hee doth Hee doth not goe out of himselfe for his rule his owne desire is his rule all the desires of God are holy just and righteous and therefore his desire and will may well be his rule It is good that he should have an absolute dominion and rule according to his owne will who cannot will any thing but what is good And 't is but just that he should rule as he pleaseth who cannot be pleased with any thing but what is just Thirdly His is an everlasting dominion Psal 145.13 Psal 66.7 As men are mortall so are States Kingdomes and Empires The strongest and greatest of them have had their fates and funerals Wee see what changes there have been of dominion and power out of one hand into another but the dominion of God is subject to no change nor knoweth it any fate The Babylonian the Persian the Graecian and the Roman Monarchyes have seene their day but the dominion of Jesus Christ is an everlasting dominion Dan. 4.34 't is so acknowledged even by Nebuchadnezzar And at the end of the dayes I Nebuchad-nezzar lift up mine eyes unto heaven and mine understanding returned unto mee and I blessed the most high and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever whose dominion is an everlasting dominion and his Kingdome is from generation to generation Fourthly His is an Effectuall Dominion As he hath a right to doe what he will so he hath strength to effect what he willeth Such is the dominion of God and because it is such even an uniâ—â—rian absolute everlasting and effectuall Dominion Therefore let man remember his duty Dominion calleth for subjection That 's the Apostles rule Rom. 13.1 Let every soule be subject unto the higher powers and if every soule ought to be subject unto the higher powers among men then every soule ought to be subject much more to the power of God for his is the highest power And thus we ought to submit First Unto his lawes Legislative power is his what God sayth must be our rule We may not dispute much lesse quarrell at any of his commands but obey them naturally the heart of man rebells against the law of God Rom. 8.7 The carnall minde is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be that is it cannot be subject while it remaineth carnal onely a renewed or a spirituall minde submits to a spirituall law Secondly Submit to his workes to what he doth as wel as to what he saith and that first in the provision and allowances that he makes for you that is a part of Gods dominion to cut out a portion for every man Therefore in every estate be content secondly submit to the works of God in his afflictions and chastisements 1 Pe. 5.6 Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time When old Eli heard that terrible message concerning the destruction of his whole family for Samuel told him every whit and hid nothing from him hee sayd it is the Lord let him doe what seemeth him good 1 Sam. 3.18 Thus the Church sate downe in silence not speaking a word because it was the act of God Lam. 3.28 Thirdly submit to God in the whole compasse of his government in ordering the affayres of the whole world when he breaks and when he builds when he sets up and when he pulls downe when he makes peace and when he makes warre in all these acts of dominion submit to God When the Prophet calls us to behold what desolations the Lord maketh in the earth he adds this word as from the Lord Be still and know that I am God Psal 46.10 As if the Lord had sayd Let none question mee for what I have done I am God and if ye know indeed that I am ye will not have a word to say against what I doe So Zech 2.13 Be silent O all flesh before the Lord for he is raised up out of his holy habitation He is risen to make great changes therefore be silent submit let there be no murmuring at no contending with his providences for dominion and feare are with him Some render this word feare as an adjunct or Epithete of the former Dominatus quidem formidabilis est penes illum Jun Dominion and that a terrible fearefull or formidable dominion is with him but rather distinctly as wee Dominion and feare are with him God hath no feare in him nor upon him for he is as infinitely above all feare as he is above hope But feare is with him or feare is his because he is so much to be feared Feare is with God upon this threefold account First Because many at present doe feare the Lord every Godly man is a man fearing God Secondly Because every man ought to feare dread and stand in awe of God even the Princes and powers and dominions of the earth ought to feare the Lord. Psal 2.11 Be wise now therefore O ye Kings be instructed O ye Judges of the earth serve the Lord with feare and rejoyce with trembling Kings and Judges must serve and feare the Lord or serve the Lord with feare Who then must not Thirdly Feare is with him because all shall feare and dread him at last whether they will or no they whose proud hearts stout it against God they that goe on impudently in sinne fearelesse of the Majesty and wrath of God yet a time will come when their stomacks shall be taken downe a time will come when all the world shall tremble before the Lord. As now many doe it and as all ought to doe it so all shall doe it Isa 2.19 They shall goe into the holes of the rocks and into the tops of the ragged rocks for feare of the Lord and for the glory of his Majesty when hee ariseth to shake terribly the earth Such a day is comming upon the lofty ones upon the Cedars and upon the Oakes upon the fearelesse and they shall feare and which is the greatest argument of feare run into a hole for feare It is prophecyed Revel 6.15 That the
There is no King saved by the multitude of an host a mighty man is not delivered by much strength a horse is a vaine thing for safety neither shall he deliver any by his great strength So we must acknowledge That if God will any King may be destroyed by the smallest host that a mighty man may be overcome by that which hath no strength that a fly is a sufficient thing for ruine and that if God say the word even that shall not onely trouble but subdue any man with its little or no strength Secondly Note The power which God can draw forth is a limitlesse power His Armyes are without number When Princes have greatest Armyes they may number them and tell you how many hundreds and how many thousands and how many hundred thousands they have We have read of many very numerous Armyes but wee never yet read of an innumerable army onely Gods army is without number and therefore onely his knowes no bounds Is there any number of his Armyes And upon whom doth not his light arise Here Bildad sets forth the glory of the goodnes De homine propriè dicit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 superquem etsi omnia similitèr lumen virtutem ab eo accipiunt Merc omniscience and omnipresence of God by his sending forth his beams of light as he in the former part of the verse sets forth the glory of the greatnesse and power of God by his sending forth the Armyes of his strength Vpon whom doth not his light arise The text may be read thus Vpon whom doth not his light stand or upon whom shall not his light stand Wee say upon whom doth not his light arise Both translations are good But what is this light of God First Wee may understand it of that common light the light of the Sunne for that is Gods light and the universall arising of it upon the world is a wonderfull worke of God For as God made the light and gathered it into that great vessel the Sunne so hee carrieth it about the world every day The light of the Sunne is the messenger of Gods care and love to man every morning Math. 5.45 Hee maketh his Sunne to rise on the Evill and on the Good that is upon all Good and Evill divide the whole world between them and while the text in Mathew saith that God maketh his Sunne to rise c. it intimates that the Sunne riseth dayly by speciall direction from God The Sunne is his and the light is his There is no creature that enjoyes the light of the Sunne but is beholding to God for it Hee that made the Sunne maketh the Sunne to rise as if the Sunne like a weary or tired traveller were unwilling to rise in a morning and renew his Journey or long stage about the world till called up by God and commanded out for the service of mankinde of Sun-light we may say Vpon whom doth not his light arise Secondly This light may be taken more strictly for the light of divine goodnesse All the good the peace the comfort which wee injoy in the world is comprehended under the name of light When the Psalmist sayth Light is sowen for the righteous his meaning is good or comfort is sowen for the righteous Psal 97.11 and Vpon whom doth not this light arise The goodnesse of God extends it selfe over all God doth good to all though he doth more good for some for as God would have us to doe good to all but specially to the houshold of faith so doth hee Hee sends forth so much light of goodnesse as will make all men eternally inexcusable who abuse it but he sends forth so much light of his goodnes to some as will make them eternally happy The light of his gooddesse riseth upon good men to cause them to rejoyce and live comfortably And unlesse some light of his goodnes did arise upon evill men even upon the worst of men they could not subsist nor live at all His light is the life of man and upon whom doth not this light of divine goodnesse arise Thirdly Wee may expound this light of the light of divine wisdome which disposeth and ordereth all things And doth not this light arise upon the whole creation doth not this light shine upon every creature doth not this light direct the wayes of man on earth yea doth not this light arise upon the Angels in heaven to direct them in all their wayes Fourthly Wee may understand this light of the light of that knowledge by which God himselfe knoweth all things As God is light essentially or as all that he is is light so we may say more especially of his knowledge it is light Knowledge is the light of man and therefore we say of an ignorant or unknowing man that he is in darkenes and thus also knowledge is the light of God and when the Apostle John saith 1 Epist 1. That in him is no darkenes at all his meaning is in him is no ignorance at all God sends forth this light of his knowledge all the world over he takes notice of all As nothing is hid in a common sence from the heate or light of the Sunne in its walke about the world so nothing is hid in any the strictest sence from the knowledge of God Vpon whom doth not this light arise wee are alwayes in the presence of God his eye is upon us and sees us hee sees where we are and what wee doe and as this light of his shines upon all things so it will at last bring all things to light Now among these foure interpretations given I conceive that the word light is to be taken here in the second sence upon whom doth not his light arise That is the light of the goodnes of God V detur potius lacis nomen ad vâ—in quam omnibus insundit pertinere per eam sunt omnia id quod sunt Merc which goodnesse is the infinite freenes and readines of his nature to doe good And this light of his goodnes arising upon the creature is five-fold First There is an upholding or preserving Goodnes by which all things are maintained in their state and being Secondly There is a quickning and refreshing goodnes whereby all things men and among them godly men especially are renewed and revived in their wel-being Thirdly There is a protecting goodnes of God whereby his are kept while they are in dangers Fourthly There is a delivering goodness whereby his are brought out of and set free from danger Fifthly There is a strengthning and supporting goodness whereby his are enabled to beare all the evills with which they are exercised in this world And upon whom yea upon what doth not the light of the goodnes of God arise every day in some one or more of these particulars Hence Observe All the light of man or the light of all men is from God If any light arise upon man it is of God and upon what
the punishment of that transgression which was death inflicted for eating thirdly the depravation of the whole masse of mans nature by which as Bildad speaks Every man borne of a woman is uncleane And these three fell upon the whole posterity of Adam or upon all that are borne of a woman in a threefold way First The very act of Adams sin becometh ours for wee did participate with him and had as it were a hand in it because wee all were seminally in him so that when he sinned wee all sinned being in his loynes long before we were borne as Levi paid tythes in Abraham before hee was borne Heb. 7.9.10 Thus wee all sinned in his sinning and had a share in that act of his because hee stood as the roote of mankinde and as having entred a covenant with God in that capacity For he sinned not onely as a single person but as hee was the representative of all mankinde and therefore what hee did we are reckoned as doing the same with him Secondly The guilt of that sin is ours by particular Imputation as the fact is ours by common participation for as if Adam had stood in a state of Innocency that had redounded to us for good so his fall or sin redoundeth to us for evill Thirdly There is the pravity or corruption of nature issuing from that first sin and that is chiefly aymed at in the present text And this is derived to us by propagation The defilement of nature descendeth and passeth from generation to generation therefore how can hee that is borne of a woman be clean and that defilement hath two things in it First The losse of original purity or the defaceing and blotting out of the image of God in which man was created Secondly A succession of horrible deformity and disorder which consisteth first in a pronenes to all evill secondly in an impotency and weakenes yea in an aversenes from and enmity against all that is good So then we have to doe with the very act of Adams sin by participation with the guilt of it by imputation and with the filth and deformity of it by propagation From all which it may wel be questioned How can hee be cleane that is borne of a woman and concluded Every man borne of a woman is uncleane Vers 5. Behold even to the Moone and it shineth not and the Starres are not pure in his sight In this verse Bildad proceedeth to argue downe the presumption as hee conceived of Job by calling him to consider those things which are farre below God and yet were farre above him as if he had said Wilt thou contend with God when thou canst not contend with the Moone and Starres they have a brightnes beyond any thing of thine why then doest thou insist so stiffely upon the shinings of thy conversation towards men and the brightnes of thine integrity towards God Behold even to the Moone and it shineth not There is a twofold understanding of these words first some expound them by descending as if Bildad had spoken thus Behold O Job and be both ashamed of and astonished at thy owne folly in venturing upon a tryal before God who is of such infinite purity that while he looketh upon all these heavenly lights that are above the Moone even to or as low as the Moone which as Astronomers teach is the lowest of all the planets it shineth not there is no brightnes no beauty in any of them They are all in comparison of God but clouds and darkenes but clods of earth and dirt And if they shine not in the eye of God surely much lesse doest thou who art a worme and but a clod of moving or breathing earth Secondly Others expound it by ascending As if Bildad had spoken thus Behold O Job and tremble at thy presumption in desiring that God should take so exact a scrutiny of thee of thy cause for look upon all the parts of the inferiour visible world look upon all their glories and excellencies and look not only upon those things that are creeping here upon the Earth but lift up thine eyes as high as the Moone it selfe Behold even to the Moone which is as it were the boundary between the upper and the lower world The Moone being the lowest of the upper world and the highest of the lower world now saith Bildad surveigh the world up to the Moone and it shineth not But doth not the Moone shine yes the Moone shineth the Moone is that lesser light which was made to rule the night Gen. 1.16 Why then doth hee say it shineth not the meaning is onely this that Moone-light and Sun-light that all creature-light is no light nor their shining to be called shining when we speake of the light and shinings of God himselfe The Moone shineth for the use and to the eye of man but the Moone shineth not for any use to or in the eye of God As because he is light he needeth no light so because there was no light till he created it the light of the creature is nothing unto him The Moone and Starres shine but when the Sunne is up they shine not that is not to our view the Starres shine as much in the day as in the night though wee cannot see them being over-powred by that greater light the light of the Sunne So when the glory of the Lord appeareth both Sunne and Moone disappeare and are no moore seene Ne luna quidem lucida est collata eum deo Vatabl. The light of the world is no light where God is named doe but speake of God and all the beauty and brightnesse of the creature fades and is extinct The Moone is a very beautifull creature considered by it selfe as Job speakes to shew how farre he was from idolizing it notwithstanding all that beauty wherein it appeared to him Chap. 31.26 If I beheld the Sunne when it shined or the Moone walking in brightnesse that is if I beheld eyther Sunne or Moone so as to adore and worship them if I reckoned any thing of Moone and Sunne in comparison of God if I did not judge the light of both as darknes and obscurity in reference to him if I did not behold them so as if I did not behold them not being taken up or dazzl'd at all with their shining brightnes scarse at all seeing not at all admiring any brightnes but the brightnes of God if it were not thus with me if I stood not at this distance and upon these termes with the best of the creatures then c. It argues that there is much natural beauty in the Moone when as Job to shew his spirituall chastity saith that the beauty of it did not at all withdraw or steale away his heart from God Indeed such is the beauty of the Moone that it is used to shadow out the Church in her spirituall beauty Cant. 6.10 Who is shee that looketh forth as the morning faire as the Moone The Moone is
fayre yet she hath her spots But God is fayre without any spot and therefore the fayrenes of the Moone is no fayrenes at all to his There is another reading of the words Behold even to the Moon and it doth not extend its tents 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Et non expandit lumen suum in modum Tenâ—oâ—â— Complut or doth not extend its light like a tent for when the light is spread first out it is like the spreading of a tent upon the mountaines To which the Prophet Joel seemeth to allude Chap. 2.2 in that phrase As the morning spread upon the mountaines Behold to the Moone and it doth not spread out its light nor extend its tents Our translation reacheth the sence fully It shineth not Yea the Starres are not pure in his sight The Starres are supposed higher and greater then the Moone The Starres are pure and splendid bodies as hath been shewed from other places of this booke So that when Bildad saith The Starres are not pure it is not an absolute denyall of their purity but as himselfe expounds it they are not pure in the sight of God The Starres have neyther those spots nor those changes which the Moone hath they are a more cleare and a more certaine light yet Even the Starres are not pure in his sight and wee may reckon the Sunne among the Starres too though sometimes they are spoken of distinctly Sunne Moone and Starres Thus Bildad pleads the excellency of God above the most excellent creatures how much more above man who is now cast much behind many of the creatures through the corruption of his nature and is not disparaged by being compared to the meanest of them Behold even to the Moone and it shineth not and the Starres are not pure in his sight Hence Observe The glory or beauty of the most glorious and beautifull Creatures is no glory no beauty compared with the glory and beauty of God Bildad instancing in the most beautifull Creatures takes in the beauty of all the creatures all which is but a ray a beame of his infinite light but a drop of his infinite Ocean their glory is but an effect of his and though the meanest of them are perfect in their state yet the best of them are not perfect in degree It was sayd anciently Looke upon the heavens they are beautifull looke upon the earth that also is beautifull but he that made heaven and earth is infinitely more beautifull then eyther of them both or then both of them When God had finished the worke of Creation it is sayd Gen. 1.31 And God saw all that he had made and behold it was very good How then is it sayd here that the Moone shineth not and that the Starres are not pure in his sigh I answer First as before all things which God made were good as creatures but nothing was as good as the Creator Secondly I answer the creature is not now so good as it was when first created the sin of man did not onely pollute and staine the glory of man but of the whole creation and therefore the Apostle sayth Rom. 8.20 21 22. That the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope because the creature it selfe also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travelleth in paine together untill now From this illustrious context it appeares that God for mans sin hath put the whole creation to disgrace and suffering and that all creatures are fallen from their first perfection by the fall of the first man The very lights of heaven are made darke and the Starres impure by mans impurity Now if by the sin of man those creatures who in themselves are sinlesse even the Moone and Starres have contracted defilement and are not without blemish in the sight of God then how much lesse is man by whom they have taken this infection free from blemish or infection himselfe as Bildad inferres in the next words and close of the Chapter Vers 6. How much lesse man that is a worme and the son of man which is a worme As if he had sayd If the Sunne Moone and Starres are not pure in his sight how much lesse is man pure Nor is Bildad content to say how much less is man but he giveth a very debasing comparison of man How much lesse is man that is a worme Cum precedit sententia negativa particulae illae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commodè redduntur quanto minus Pisc and the son of man which is a worme How much lesse We may say also how much more is man impure in his sight So the original words are often rendred as the reader may see in those places Prov. 11.31 Prov. 15.11 Bildad layeth man as low as he can shewing that he is so farre below the Starres that hee is as low as a worme and if the Starres be impure in the sight of God how much more is man a worme What 's a worme what a darke dull thing is a worme to a Starre yet that is not so dull a thing to a Starre as a Starre is to God therefore if the Starres be not pure in his sight how much lesse man that is a worme A worme is one of the meanest Creatures and the word that is here used signifieth the meanest of wormes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vermis parvus in carne aut caseo nascens properly and strictly those little wormes which breed in flesh or Cheese or in any other kinde of food when it is corrupted The word is used Exod. 16.24 where it is said of the Manna that was reserved contrary to the command of God That it bred wormes such a worme is man and Bildad is not content to say this once but he saith it againe And the son of man which is a worme Here is the same thing doubled And 't is doubled by Bildad to assure us of the truth and certainty of of it as if he had said I am not afraid to averr what I have spoken I have said it and I say it againe how much lesse man who is a worme and the son of man which is a worme The son of man that is any man high or low rich or poore learned or unlearned they who are at greatest distance in themselves meete all in this They are wormes To be called the son of man imports the meanenes of man and minds man of his weaknes and frailty Ezekiel the Prophet is often spoken to by the Lord in this stile Son of man the reason given by some is this because hee was a man often rapt up in the visions of God or had the visions of God sent downe to him hee was a man that lived so much in heaven that hee might even forget that hee was of the earth therefore the
covering then our actions heere have no covering Hypocrites put many coverings upon their actions they have many policies to vaile and screene them from the eye of man but the actions of men have no covering before God yea the hearts of men have no covering before God As Solomon in the Proverbs which place was lately toucht upon argues from this reason because hell and destruction are before him Prov. 15.11 Hell and destruction are before the Lord how much more then the hearts of the children of men As if he had sayd God who looketh into hell which is not onely darkenes but outer darkenes that is darkenes without any thing that hath the least ray or similitude of light in it God I say who looketh into this hel can looke into the hearts of men much more There are some men I grant whose hearts are a very hell a very deepe and they hope to hide themselves in the depth of their owne hearts from the sight of God as the Prophet telleth us Isai 29.15 Woe unto them that seeke deepe to hide their councell from the Lord and their workes are in the darke and they say who seeth us and who knoweth us And what doth he meane by the deeps which they seeke doe they seeke caves and dens of the earth to take counsel or consult together in no they may be in the open ayre and yet seeke deepe to hide their counsells from God so that the meaning is they seeke to keepe their counsels close lockt up in their hearts but woe unto them that digge thus deepe to hide their counsells from God for they cannot be hid for even hel is before him and destruction hath no covering how then shall these destroyers cover themselves or any of their counsels from him As the reason of all things is naked and manifest before God so are the motions and actions of all persons Thirdly When 't is sayd Hell and destruction are before him that word before doth not onely imply that God hath a view or sight of what is in hel but also that hee hath power in and over hel and can doe what he will there hell is naked before him that is hee hath hell at his dispose Hence note The power and providence of God reaches to those things that are most remote He orders all things in hell as well as upon the earth his power rules there where there seemes to be least order yea where there is no order at all They who are cast into hel kept no order while they were upon the earth nor are they in any willing order there when we see confusions in the world wee say what a hell is there or we say Hel is broken loose hell is a place of confusion yet hell is before God he keepes hell in order And when by reason of troubles and confusion among men wee are ready to say there is a hell in the world yet this hell is naked before God he disposeth and orders those places persons and things which are most confused hell and destruction are before him Before I passe from these words I shall onely take notice that there are many words in Scripture by which hell is exprest The Rabbins number seven or eight heere are two First Sheol or the grave because we lye as it were buried there in a second death Secondly Abaddon or destruction because all are there in a perishing state or as given up into the hand of destruction Thirdly Hel is called Tsalmaveth or the shadow of death and by the shadow of death is not meant a smal appearance of death as the word shadow is used Jam 1.17 where the Apostle exalts the glory of the Lord in his unchangeablenes that he is the Father of lights from whom every good gift and every perfect gift cometh downe with whom is no variablenesse neither shadow of turning that is he is not subject to any turning at all but hel is called the shadow of death as shadow is put for strength and power and so to be under the shadow of God or man is to be under their protection Thus hell is the shadow of death that is the strength and power of it Death never triumphs so much in its strength as it doth in hell Fourthly Hel is called Erets tachith which signifyes first the earth under or the lowest and most inferiour earth whence in Scripture hell is called the bottomlesse pit and the way to it is described by descending and going downe as heaven is described by ascending and hight heaven is high and the highest ascending is our ascending to heaven so hell is low and the lowest descending is descending into hel Secondly it imports feare vexation and trembling hell is a land of trembling it is a land of feare it is sayd of Caine that when he went out of the presence of God after he had murthered his brother he went into the land of Nod that is into a land of trembling which some expound not of any speciall place that he went to but that every place where he went was to him a land of trembling hee having much feare and dread upon his conscience after he had embrewed his hands in his brothers blood Hel is indeed the land of Nod a Trembling land They who have not rejoyced with trembling in this world shall sorrow with trembling for ever in the world to come Fifthly Hel is called Bershiachathith that is the piâ—â—â— corruption not that the bodyes of the damned shall corrupt in hell as they doe in the grave for though we cannot say that the bodyes of the wicked shall be raysed incorruptible as the bodyes of the Saints shall yet they shall be raysed immortall and in that sence incorruptible that is they shall never dye but they shall be corruptible that is filthines and corruption shall be upon them The bodyes of Saints onely shall be raysed so incorruptible that nothing of corruption shall be seene upon them or felt by them but the bodyes of the wicked shall ever feele corruption and beare the markes of it without total corrupting or perishing as corrupting and perishing are taken for not-being The wicked would be glad that they might perish so but they shall not hel will be a pit of corruption to them for whatsoever is painefull and grievous to the flesh shall dwell in their bodyes and therefore it is called the pit of corruption and it may also be called a pit of corruption in a morall sence because all their sins and lusts shall remaine upon them for ever hel-fire cannot purge the soule from sin nor free any man from the power of that old man who as the Apostle speakes Eph 4.22 Is corrupt according to the deceitfull lusts Nothing but the blood of Christ can purge the soule from corruption Hell is for the punishment of corruption but not at all for the purging of it and therefore it is well called the pit of corruption Sixthly It is called Erets
swallow up his Church and people The Church blesseth God for her deliverance from troubles under this Allegorie of Waters Psal 124.2 3 4 5. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us they had swallowed us up quicke when their wrath was kindled against us then the waters had overwhelmed us the streame had gone over our soule then the proud waters had gone over our soule Waters streames proud waters are nothing else but the persecuting spirit and proceedings of ungodly enemyes And why did not these lay all wast God would not suffer them When the Serpent Rev 12.15 16. cast out of his mouth waters as a flood after the woman that is stirred up many troubles that he might cause her to be carryed away that is utterly ruin'd of the flood The earth helped the woman saith the text that is as is conceaved God made earthly men by the use of earthly meanes and for the attaining of earthly ends as a bound to stop those waters or as a gulfe to swallow up those waters which should have swallowed up the Church All these things doth he and we may be fully assured he can doe all these things and many more who hath compassed the waters with bounds yea we may be assured that he will continue to them because as he hath so he will compasse the waters with bounds Vntill the day and night come to an end or as our Marginal reading hath it untill the end of light with darkenes This last clause of the verse is a proverbiall speech signifying perpetuity or that such a thing eyther shall not be at all or shall be as long as the world lasteth But shall day and night light and darkenes end when the world or this frame or constitution of things endeth Will there not be day and light or an eternal day of light in the heavenly Glory is not that called An inheritance among the Saints in light Col. 1.12 And will there not be night and darkenes or an eternal night of darkenes in hellish misery is not that called outer darkenes How then is it sayd here that day and night shall come to an end I answer Though after the end of this world there shall be both day and night light and darkenes yet there shall be no vicissitude of day and night as there is in this present world and as 't is promised there shall be to the end of this world Gen 8.22 While the earth remaineth seed-time and harvest and cold and heate and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease These are called the Ordinances of the day and of the night and the stability of them is made the shadow of that stability of God to his gracious promise that the seed of Israel should not cease from being a nation before him for ever Jer. 31.35 36. In this world light and darkenes day and night are comming and going departing and returning continually And in this sence day and night shall come to an end at the worlds end Job speakes of day and night in course and succession not of day and night in being or constitution when he sayth he hath compassed the waters with bounds untill the day and night come to an end The Hebrew strictly translated makes this resolution of the doubt more cleare and doubtlesse for that doth not say absolutely that day and night light or darkenes shall come to an end but that there shall be an end of light with darkenes that is of the intercourse or change between day and night between light and darkenes Ad consummationeÌ„ lucis cum tenebris Jun or untill the consummation of light with darkenes that is untill light and darkenes have consummated or fulfilled their course one with another Hence observe First Beyond this world there are no changes of times or seasons In the world to come all is day and light to the Godly to those who dye in the Lord and all is night and darkenes to the wicked to those who dye out of the Lord. Heaven and hell a state of eternal Blessednes or wretchednes have no changes in them nor any thing that is Heterogeneall or of another kinde Heaven which hath light and joy in it hath no darkenes no sorrow at all in it Hell which hath darkenes and sorrow in it hath no light nor joy at all in it The mixtures and changes of light and darkenes of joy and sorrow of paine and pleasure are made here on earth The wine of the wrath of God and the wine of the love and consolations of God shall be powred out without any the least contrary tincture or mixture in the life which is to come Light with darkenes shall no more be heard of They who goe into light shall never see darkenes and they who goe into darkenes shall never see light Wee are now as Job speakes in the 14th Chapter of this Booke v. 14. Waiting all the dayes of our appoynted time untill our change come and when that change is once fully come we shall goe beyond all changes Day with night will then be at an end Secondly Observe What God doth he can alwayes doe As he hath hitherto compassed the waters with bounds so he can compasse them with bounds untill the day and night come to an end Men can doe that to day which they are so farre from being able to doe untill the end of dayes that possibly they cannot doe it the next day The hand of man is continually shortning in regard of naturall strength or activity and it seldome keepes long at the same length in regard of civil strength or Authority As there are many things which man cannot nor ever could doe so there are many things which once a man could doe but now he cannot He is changed or the times are changed eyther he hath not the same power in himselfe or the same powers are not continued unto him That man may be found shaking and trembling who a while before as it is sayd of the Assyrian Isa 14.16 made the earth to tremble and did shake kingdomes insomuch that all as 't is at the 10â—h verse of the same Chapter shall speake and say unto him Art thou also become weake as we art thou become like unto us Thus we see the mightiest men cannot doe what they have done they who have compassed the rage and fury of men with bounds can bound them no more bat they breake in upon them like a wide breaking in of the Sea and beare downe all before them But the power of God knowes no abatings nor his hand any shortnings as he hath bounded both the natural and mysticall waters so he can and will bound them and none shall hinder untill the day and night come to an end The Lord sayth David Psal 29.10 sitteth upon the flood yea the Lord sitteth king for ever As if he had sayd The Lord doth not onely sit upon that is
rule and governe the floods for a while but he ruleth and governeth them alwayes he sitteth upon them king for ever even untill day and night come to an end Thirdly note The waters shall never totally overflow the earth As God hath given them a bound so such a bound as shall keepe them in compasse for ever And as we have an assurance in the power of God that he can keepe or compasse the waters with bounds to the end of the world so also we have his promise and his faithfullnes engaged that he will maintaine those bankes and bounds and keepe them in such repayre that the waters shall never prevaile over them Gen. 9.8 9 10 11. And God spake unto Noah and to his sons with him saying and I behold I establish my Covenant with you and with your seed after you c. neyther shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood neyther shall there be any more a flood to destroy the earth And as mankinde is under this promise of freedome from an universal deluge so every godly man may rise up to this assurance that no waters of any sort can wet so much as the sole of his foote or the hemme of his garment but as they have leave and commission from him who hath compassed the waters with bonnds untill the day and night come to an end JOB CHAP. 26. Vers 11 12. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproofe He divideth the Sea by his power and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud JOB still proceedeth in the enumeration and illustration of the mighty works of God what he doth in the clouds and what in the heavens was shewed from the former context Here Job tells us what the Lord doth with the heavens He who made the heavens and stretched out the North over the empty place can make these heavens totter in their place and tremble when he pleaseth The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproofe There are three things to be enquired into for the opening of this verse First What is meant by the pillars of heaven Secondly How the pillars of heaven may be said to tremble and be astonished Thirdly What we are to understand by the reproofe of God Columnae coeli i. e. Angeli contremiscunt Aquin Angelos vocat columnas coeli quia sâ—ilicet eorum officio admâ—nistratur motus coelorum Aquin when he sayth they are astonished at his reproofe The pillars of heaven tremble There are various opinions about these pillars first many of the Latins hold that these pillars of heaven are the Angells by whose assistance say some Philosophers the motions of the heavenly bodyes with their orbes or spheares are guided and maintained And doubtlesse as the Angels have great employments upon and about the earth so also in and about the heavens and therefore may not improperly be called the pillars of heaven in which sence also the Angels are called the powers of heaven as some interpret Math 24.29 where Christ prophesieth that immediatly after the tribulation of those dayes the Sunne shall be darkened and the Moone shall not give her light the starrs shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be shaken Many of the antients interpret those powers of heaven by the Angels as if the Lord would doe such things in that great day as should trouble and astonish not onely men on earth but the Angels in heaven who may be called the pillars of heaven as some eminent men for parts and power are called the pillars of the earth And wee may suppose them pillars of heaven not for the strength and sustainement of heaven Stabilitaâ—eÌ„ permanenteÌ„ in natura angelorum intelligamus nemine Columnarum Philip but for the beauty and ornament of it As we see many pillars in stately Pallaces which are not placed there to beare up the weight of those buildings but only to adorn beautifie them Or Angels may be called the pillars of heaven because of the firmenes and stability of their owne nature not as if they were any firmenes or establishment unto heaven Secondly By these pillars of heaven are conceaved to be meant the high mountaines of the earth which seeme to touch the heavens according to sence and so to sustaine and beare them up as pillars but this opinion not being grounded upon any truth in nature but onely upon a popular errour though it be a truth that even these supposed pillars of heaven tremble at the reproofes of God I shall not insist at all upon this interpretalion Thirdly These pillars of heaven say others are the ayre for as the lowest parts of the earth are called the foundations of the earth because the foundation of a building is layd lowest so the lower parts of heaven the ayre which is sometimes called heaven yea the firmament of heaven Gen. 1.20 may be called the pillar of heaven 'T is true also that the Lord maketh dreadfull combustions by stormes and tempests in the ayre insomuch that those pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproofe But I shall not give this neyther as Jobs meaning here Terra tota velut orbis totius fundamentum ac firmanentum Merc Fourthly By the pillars of heaven others understand not the ayre or the mountains but the whole body on globe of the earth Thus David speakes 2 Sam. 22.8 Then the earth shooke and trembled the foundations of heaven moved and shooke because he was wroth where the foundations of heaven in the latter part of the verse may be expounded by the earth in the former part of the verse For if we consider the whole fabricke of the world together then the earth seemes to be the foundation or pillar of heaven And frequent experiences in all ages especially in some parts of the world have felt and reported the trembling of the earth We commonly call it an Earth-quake and Philosophers teach us that the reason of it in nature is the strength of vapours included in and striving to make their way out of the bowels of the earth And as this trembling of the earth hath a reason in nature so it is often caused by speciall command from God as a reproofe of the sinfullnes of man or to awaken him from his sin yet Fifthly I rather conceive that this phrase The pillars of heaven is used onely in a generall sense and not particularly intended eyther of Angels or mountains of the ayre or of the earth but that the pillars of heaven are the strength of heaven the strength of a building consists in the pillars that beare it up take away the pillars and it falls downe as Sampson sayd to the lad that held him by the hand suffer me that I may feele the pillars whereupon the house standeth and when he had once moved them the house fell Judg. 16.26.30 so that when Job sayth the pillars of heaven tremble the