he lighted upon a certain place Little thinking to have found heaven there Let this comfort travellers and friends that part with them Jacob never lay better Malâ— cubans suaviter dormâ—â— sâ—licitèr somâ—â—â—t then when he lay without doors nor yet slept sweeter then when he laid his head upon a stone He was a rich mans son and yet inured to take hard on Vers 12. Behold a ladder Scala est piorum in hoc mundo peregrinatio saith Pareus after Iunius But besides this interpretation our Saviour offereth us another Ioh 1.51 applying it to himself the true ladder of life per quem solùm in coelum ascendere possimus He that will go up any other way must as the Emperour once said erect a ladder and go up alone He touched heaven in respect of his Deity earth in respect of his humanity and joyned earth to heaven by reconciling Man to God Gregory speaks elegantly of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he joyned heaven and earth together as with a bridge being the onely true Pontifex or bridge-maker Heaven is now open and obvious to them that acknowledge him their sole Mediator and lay hold by the hand of faith on his merits as the rounds of this heavenly ladder These onely ascend that is their consciences are drawn out of the depths of despair and put into heaven as it were by pardon and peace with God rest sweetly in his bosom calling him Abba Father and have the holy angels ascending to report their necessities and descending as messengers of mercies We must also ascend saith S. Bernard by those two feet as it were Meditation and Prayer yea there must be continual ascensions in our hearts as that Martyr said M. Philpot. And as Iacob saw the Angels ascending and descending and none standing still so must we be active and abundant in Gods work as knowing that our labour is not in vain in the Lord Bern. and that non proficere est deficere not to go forward is to go backward Vers 13. I am the Lord God of Abraham c. What an honour is this to Abraham that God was not ashamed to be called His and his sons God! Eusebâ—â—s the Historian was called Eusebius Pamphili for the love that was betwixt him and the Martyr Pamphilus as S. Hierome testifieth Friend to Sir Philip Sidney is ingraven upon a Noble-mans Tomb in this Kingdom The old Lord Brook as one of his Titles Behold the goodness of God stooping so lowe as to stile himself The God of Abraham and Abraham again The friend of God Vers 14 15. And thy seed shall be as the dust Against his fourfold cross here 's a fourfold comfort as Pererius well observeth a plaister as broad as the sore and soveraign for it Against the loss of his friends I will be with thee 2. of his country I will give thee this lond 3. against his poverty Thou shalt spread abroad to the east west c. 4. his solâ—tariness and aloneness Angels shall attend thee and Thy seed shall be as the dust Num. 23.10 c. And who can count the dust of Iacob saith Balaam that Spelman of the devil as One calls him Whereunto we may adde that which surpasseth and comprehendeth all the rest In thee and thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed Now whatsoever God spake here with Iacob he spake with us as well as with him saith Hosea Chap. 12.4 Vers 16. And I knew it not Viz. that God is graciously present in one place as well as in another Our ignorance and unbelief is freely to be confessed and acknowledged Thus David Psal 73.22 Agur Prov. 30.2 Pray for me In his Letter to Ridley Act. Mon. 1565. Seâ—m in 3 Sund. in Advent saith Father Latimer to his friend pray for me I say for I am sometimes so fearful that I would creep into a mouse-hole And in a certain Sermon I my self saith he have used in mine earnest matters to say Yea by S. Mary which indeed is naught Vers 17. How dreadful is this place The place of Gods publike Worship is a place of Angels and Archangels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Chrysostom it is the Kingdom of God it is very heaven What wonder then though Iacob be afraid albeit he saw nothing but visions of love and mercy Psal 5.7 In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple saith David The very Turk when he comes into his Temple lays by all his State and hath none to attend him all the while Omninò oportet nos orationis tempore curiam intrare coelestem saith S. Bernard in qua Rex regum stellato sedet solio Bern. de divers 25. c. Quanta ergo cum reverentia quanto timore quantâ illuc humilitate accedere debet e palude suâ procedens repens vilis ranuncula Our addresses must be made unto God with the greatest reverence that is possible Vers 18. And set it up for a pillar The better to perpetuate the memory of that mercy he had there received and that it might be a witness against him if hereafter he failed of fulfilling his vow It is not amiss in making holy vows to take some friend to witness that in case we be not careful so to fulfil them may minde us and admonish us of our duty in that behalf Iacob that was here so free when the matter was fresh to promise God a Chappel at Bethel was afterwards backward enough and stood in need that God should pull him by the ear once and again with a Go up to Bethel and punish him for his delays in the rape of his daughter cruelty of his sons c. Gen. 35. Vers 20. And Iacob vowed a vow The first holy votary that ever we read of whence Iacob also is called The father of vows which out of this Text may be thus described A Vow is nothing else but a religious promise made to God in prayer and grounded upon the promise of God whereby we tie our selves by way of thankfulness to do something that is lawful and within our power with condition of obtaining some further favour at the hands of God Thus Iacob vows to God onely he is the sole object of Fear therefore also of Vows See them set together Psal 76.11 Next he prays when he vows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a vow and a prayer are of neer and necessary affinity See Psal 61.6 Iudg 11.30 31. That was a blasphemous vow of Pope Iulius that said Act. Mon. he would have his will al despito di Dio. And not unlike of Solyman the Great Turk in a Speech to his Souldiers So help me great Mahomet Turk hist I vow in despite of Christ and Iohn in short time to set up mine Ensignes with the Moon in the middle of the Market-place in Rhodes Iacob as he vowed onely by the Fear of his father Isaac so he presented
his providence had so ordered that he should see them passing and invite them to his house How glad was this good man of an occasion to shew kindness acknowledging Gods good providence And how improvident are we for our selves that will not offer a sacrifice when God sets up an altar before us So do as thou hast said The Angels needed not his courtesie yet kindly accept of it Good offers or offices even from inferiours are not to be rejected but regarded yea rewarded Vers 6. Make ready quickly Habent aulae suum Ciâ—ò Ciâ—ò saith One. So had Abrahams house here He she the boy and all hasted and had their severall offices The very expression it self here used is concise and quick Much like that of the Prophet in the case of returning to God If ye will enquire enquire return come Esa 21.12 Silius Praecipitatempus mors atra impendet agenti Three measures of fine meal Three pecks for three mens dinners and the best of the best too fine meal the fat calf butter and milk Gods plenty of all and hearty welcome the good-man himself standing by and bidding them Go to which shews his humanity and his humility also Dat bene dat multum qui dat cum munere vultum Vers 9. Behold in the tent David compares a good woman to the vines upon the walls of the house because she cleaveth to her house Others to a snail that carrieth her house on her back St. Paul reckons it for a vertue in a woman to keep at home Tit. 2 5. Prov. 7.11 and Solomon for a sign of a lewd huswife that her feet abide not in her house Vers 10. According to the time of life That is when this time shall return again this time twelve-moneth See vers 14. with the Note to it Sarah heard it in the tent door She was listning out of womanish curiosity Yet some think the Angel asked for her on purpose that she hearing her name mentioned might listen Vers 11. Now Abraham and Sarah were old So when we were altogether without strength according to the time of life Christ dyed for the ungodly Rom. 5.6 Vers 12. Sarah laughed Gods promises seem absurd and ridiculous many of them to humane reason which therefore must be silenced and shut out as Hagar was for it will argue carnally as that unbeleeving Lord 2 King 7.2 storms at Gods offers as Naaman at the message looks upon Gods Jordan with Syrian eyes as he and after all cryes out with Nicodemus How can these things be measuring God by its own modell and casting him into its own mould After I am waxed old shall I lust Old and cold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is our English proverb and the Greek word for an old body signifies one in whom naturall heat is exstinct It is a most undecent thing to see the pleasures of youth prevailing in times of age among old decrepit goats Were it not monstrous to behold green apples on a tree in winter My Lord being old also This was the onely good word in the whole sentence God takes notice of it and by St. Peter records it to her eternall commendation 1 Pet. 3.6 yea he was so well pleased with her subjection to her husband whom she here in her heart calleth Lord that he is content to forgive her great sin of unbeliefe Vers 1.3 Said to Abraham wherefore did Sarah laugh The wives sin reflects upon the husband But Solomon shews that some wives are so intemperate and wilfull that a man may as well hide the wind in his fist or oyl in his hand as restrain them from ill-doing Prov. 27.15 16. Liberum arbitrium Hcidfeld pro quo tantopere contenditur viri amiserunt â—â—xores arripuerunt saith One wittily Vers 14. Is any thinâ—â—oo hard for God He can do all things pessiâ—le and honourable He cannot lye dye deny himself for that implyeth impotency He could not do any mighty work in his own Country because of their unbeleef Mark 6.5 6. He could not because he would not He can do more then he will as of stones raise up Churches Matth. 3.9 Call for legions Matth. 26.53 Create more worlds in an instant But whatsoever he willeth that he doth in heaven and earth and none can saâ— What doest thou Our God can deliver us Dan. 3.17 Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean Matth. 8.2 c. I will return to thee according to the time of life He returned not personally that we read of but virtually he did by making good his promise at the appointed time That of Doctour Sands afterwards Bishop of Worcester is wonderfull and worth relating He departing the land for fear of Q. Mary took his leave of his Host and Hostess who was childless and had been married eight years When the wind served as he went toward the ship he gave his Hostess a fine hand-kerchief and an old royall of gold in it thanking her much and said Be of good comfort Act Mon. fol. 1874. ere that one whole year be past God shall give you a child a boy And it came to pass that day twelve-moneth lacking one day God gave her a fair son Vers 15. I laughed not for she was afraid And well she might for as every body hath its shadow so hath every sin its fear Her sin she saw was detected and her conscience she felt was troubled hence her fear Nay but thou didst laugh A lye must be roundly reproved and the truth asserted She laughed but within her self but as good she might have laughed out aloud for God searcheth the heart I pray thee O Lord was not this my saying when I was in my Country Jon. 4.2 No Jonas it was not thy saying it was onely thy thinking but that 's all one before him who understandeth thy thoughts afar off Psal 139.2 Vers 16. To bring them on the way A special piece of courtesie and much spoken of in Scripture 3 Joh. 6. Acts 20.38 21.5 Ram. 15.24 1 Cor. 16.11 Tit. 3.13 Vers 17. Shall I hide from Abraham My bosom-bosom-friend He shall be both of Gods Court and his Councel His secret is with them that fear him The Kings of Israel had some one Courtier called the Kings Friend by a specialty to whom they imparted arcana Imperii State-secrets Such an Office had Abraham about God who calls him Abraham my Friend See what our Saviour saith to all his John 15.15 This honor have all his Saiâ—as Vers 18 19. Seeing that Abraham c. Gods first motive here is from his own antecedent love to Abraham as the second from his consequent Vers 19. For I know him God hath a quick eye to see our good works He weighs and rewards every circumstance Christ could tell that the people had come from far to heat him that they had fasted three days John 6. that they went in a Wilderness where they could not cater for themselves that if they should be
strain vade tibi Get thee gone Gen. 12.1 Gen. 22.2 Here God led Abraham into temptation but delivered him from evill Have you not been tempted saith a Holy man in this or that kinde It is because God in mercy would not lead you into temptation Baines Letters Yea this is in some sort more to be acknowledged then victory when you are tempted For not to be tempted is more immediately from God and less in mans power then to prevail against temptation Sith nothing doth overcome us against our will but without our will God doth lead us into triall for he knoweth we would taste little of these if we might be our own carvers Vers 3. And Abraham rose up early c. To shew his prompt and present obedience He neither consulted with his wife nor with his own reason Exod. 4. She might have haply hung upon him and hindered him as Zipporah did Moses to the hazarding of his life He captivates all the powers of the soul to his Creator goes after him without sciscitation and so shews himself to be renewed in the spirit of his minde that is in his naturall reason for that like an old Beldam is the mother and nurse of all our distempers and outstrayes Cassianus tells us of a young man that had given himself up to a Christian life And his parents Cassianus misliking that way wrote letters to disswade him from it which when he knew he would not once open them but threw them in the fire Let us do so by the suggestions of flesh and blood and the counsell of carnall friends or we shall never rest and feast in Abrahams bosome I know not by what reason said Borthwick the Scotch Martyr they so called them my friends Act Mon. fol. 1157. which so greatly laboured to convert me as they called it neither will I more esteem them then the Madianites which in time past called the children of Israel to do sacrifice to their Idols Vers 4. Then on the third day A great while for him to be plodding ere he came to the place But we must conceive that his brains were better busied then many of ours would have been therewhile We must not weigh the cross for then it will prove heavy we must not chew the pill but swallow it whole else it will prove bitter We must not plod too much but ply the Throne of Grace for a good use and a good issue of all our trialls and tribulations Vers 5. Abide you here with the Asse This the Hebrews use for a proverb against such as are dull and uncapable Zophar saith That man is born as a wild-asses-colt As an Asses foal for rudeness and a wild-asses for unruliness Job 11.11 It imports that he is untamed and untractable till a new heart be put into him Agur had not the understanding of a man till he spake to Ithiel and Vcall for it Prov. 30.1 2. He wants the totum hominis that doth not fear God and keep his Commandements Eccles 12.13 Tu Asinus unum estote Alex. Cook his Abatement of Popish brags Epist will not do it which was the counsell given to a young Novice entring a Monastery And come again to you Nesciens formam rei futurae prophetavit sciens de eventu prophetavit quod ignoravit saith Amb. Vers 6. And laid it upon Isaac his son Who was herein a lively type of Christ bearing the cross whereon he was offered up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Plutarch speaking of the Roman fashion of crucifying malefactors And surely it was by a wonderfull providence of God that the Jews brought our Saviour to Pilate to be put to death sith they hated nothing more then to confirm or countenance the Roman tyranny among them by any means Hence Gamaliel gave counsell to dismiss the Apostles Act. 5.38 And hence the chiefe Priests and Rulers took it so exceeding haynously that Paul was taken out of their hands by the chiefe Captain Act. 23. But God had a hand in it that this and other types and Scriptures might be fulfilled that foretold the very manner of his death on a tree Let the Jews stumble now at the cross and fall backward Let the Gentiles jear us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 borreo dicere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In vita peregr Omnis homâ— aut est cum Christo regnaturus aut cum Diabolo cruciandus Aug. Justin l. 18. as Luciâ—n doth for that we deny the multitude of their gods and yet believe in a crucified God Let us desire to know nothing but Christ and him crucified and if ever we desire to be Kings in heaven and every man must be aut Caesar aut nullus a King or a caytiffe Let us seek by the eye of faith to see the Sun of righteousness in the West as Stratoes servant taught him Let us look upon Christ hanging on the cross dying on that Altar and we shall live for ever Vers 7. Where is the Lamb for a burnt offering Isaac was not to be told now what belonged to a sacrifice He had been long since taught by his father what was to be done in the service of God When I was young my father taught me saith Solomon Prov. 4.4 so did his mother also Primas in Philip Greg. Moral l. 27. c. 14. Prov. 31. in her Lemuels lesson Plantas tenellas frequentius adaquare proderit saith Primasius Vers 8. God will provide himself a Lamb A pious and precious Proverb much to be mused on and made use of Qui finxit alas papilioni is curabit omma when we are in an exigent and see not whither to turn us Then say Deus viderit God will with the temptation also give an issue 1 Cor. 10.13 Necesse est adesse divinum ubi humanum cessat auxilium saith Philo. Sciat etiam Celsitudo vestra saith Luther in a letter to the Prince Elector of Saxony Sâ—uâ—tet Ann. I would your Highness should well know that businesses are far otherwise carried and concluded in heaven then at the Diet at Norinberg c. And to Phillip Melancthon he writes thus Si nos ruemus ruet Christus unà ille regnator mundi esto ruat c. Sed scribo haec frustrà quia tu Scuâ—tet Annal secundùm philosophiam vestram has res ratione regere hoc est ut ait ille cum ratione insanire pergis occidis teipsum nec vides prorsus extra manum tuam consilium positam esse causam etiam extra curam tuam velle agi Vers 9. And they came to the place Mount Moriah where the Temple was afterwards built This was a little from Salem 2 Chron. 3.1 as Mount Calvary also was a little from Jerusalem And bound Isaac his son Who strugled not neither resisted though able for his age being twenty five year old as Josephus makes him others thirty three to have overmastered his old father He was
the battlements of the walls of the City c. The Souldiers of Pelopidas were no less excessive when for grief of his death they would neither unbridle their horses nor untie their armor nor dress their wounds Something here may be yeelded to nature nothing to impatiency Immoderate sorrow for losses past hope of recovery is more sullen then usefull Our stomach may be bewrayed by it not our wisdome The Egyptians mourned seventy dayes for Jacob Joseph who had more cause but withall more grace mourned but twenty dayes Mark 5.38 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut Iam. â— 1 God flatly forbad his people those heathenish customes of shaving their heads and cutting their flesh Lev. 21. intoken of mourning for the dead We read in the Gospel of minstrels and people making a noise at the terming-house as they call it Matth. 9.23 And the Jews that were comforting Mary Perinde ac 〈◊〉 intercute laberantes salsamenta comederent Cartwr when they saw her rise up hastily and go forth followed her saying She goeth unto the grave to weep there Joh. 11.31 Such customes it seems they had in those dayes amongst them to provoke themselves to weeping and lamentation which was saith One as if they that have the dropsie should eat salt meats How much better Father Abraham here who came indeed from his own tent to Sarahs to mourn for her as good reason he had but exceeded not as the Jews think is signified by that one letter less then ordinary in the Hebrew word for weep Libcothah used here in the text Baal-turim gives but a bald reason of it parùm flevit erat enim vetula Abraham wept not much for her she being but an old-wife and past her best Buxtorfe gives a better pâ—tiùs quià luctus ejus fuit moderatus And therefore also in the next verse it is said that he stood up from before his dead where in likelyhood he had sitten a while on the earth as was the manner of mourners to do Job 2.12 13. Esa 47.1 to take order for her buriall as having good hopes of a glorious resurrection Excellent for our purpose is that of St. Hierome Lugeatur mortuus sed ille quem Gehenna suscipit quem Tartarus devorat in cujus poenam aeternus ignis aestuat Nos quorum exitum Angelorum turba comitatur quibus obviam Christus occurret c. gravemur magis si diutiùs in tabernaculâ— istâ— habitemus Mourn for none but such as are dead in their sins killed with death as those Rev. 2.23 Vers 3. And Abraham stood up from before his dead So she is called eight severall times in this Chapter Pareus in loc to note that death makes not any such divorce between godly couples and friends but that there remains still a blessed conjunction betwixt them which is founded in the hope of a happy resurrection Jobs children were still his even after they were dead and buried How else could it be said that God gave Job twice as much of every thing as he had before Iob. 4â— 10 13. sith he had afterwards but his first number of children viz. Seven Sonnes and three daughters Vers 4. That I may bury my dead out of my sight She that had been the desire of his eyes Ezek. 24.16 the sweet companion of his life is by death so defaced that he loathed to look on her This we are to think on in our mourning for the dead to bewail the common curse of mankinde the defacing of Gods image by death through sin c. And yet to comfort our selves in this that these vile bodies of ours shall once be conformed to Christs glorious body the standard in incorruption Phillip 3. ult agility beauty brightness and other most blessed and unconceivable parts and properties Vers 6. Thou art a Prince of God amongst us That is excellent or prosperous as Gen. 21.22 and it was their ingenuity and candor to acknowledge it Gods people are Princes in all lands Psal 45. Kings they are in righteousness and peace but somewhat obscure ones as was Melchisedec and therefore little set by 1 Joh. 3.1 2. Vnkent unkist as the Northern Proverb is So was Christ the heir of all But we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him that 's enough for us In the mean space the righteous is more excellent then his neighbour let him dwell by whomsoever and shall be more prosperous if it may be for his good Vers 7. Abraham stood up and bowed himself c. It is very comely in Christians to salute willingly and in words and gestures to shew civill respect even to wicked men Abrahams behaviour to these Hittites may shame the most Christians yea the very Hittites themselves D. Hall may teach them good manners Even the savage Cannibals saith a grave Divine may receive an answer of outward courtesie If a very dog fawn upon us we stroke him on the head and clap him on the side Much less is the common band of humanity untied by grace If Elisha bad his man or our Saviour his Disciples salute no man by the way that was for haste sake they should not hinder themselves in their journey by overmuch courtesie Our Saviour was sweet and sociable in his whole conversation and the proud Pharisees upbraided him with it He never refused to go to any mans table when invited yea to Zacheus he invited himself Not for the pleasure of the dishes but for the benefit of so winning a conversation Corn. Nepos in vita Attiâ—i Courtesie allureth mens minds as fair flowers do their eyes Pomponius Atticus so carried himself at Athens Harpocrat in voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut communis infimis par principibus videretur Alexander the Great got the hearts of his Foot-souldiers by calling them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his fellow-footmen Aristotle the better to insinuate into his hearers read not to them as other Philosophers used to do from a lofty seat or desk but walking and talking with them familiarly as with his friends 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diâ—g in Apollo's porch he made them great Philosophers Vespasian was as highly esteemed by the people for his courtesie as Coriolanus contemned and condemned of all for his rusticity With one churlish breath Rehoboam lost ten tribes whom he would and might not recover with his blood But whatsoever David did pleased the people What a deal of courtesie passed betwixt Boaz and his reapers The Lord be with you said he The Lord blesâ— thee said they Ruth 2.4 The Turks salutation at this day is Salaum alâ—ek Peace be to thee the reply is Aleek salâ—um Peace be to thee also Blounts voyage into the Levant The Romans had their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answerable to our Good-morrow and Good even That finger next to the thumb they called Salutaris Dio in vita Adriani Becman de Origin in verbo
mercy unto them Their iniquity was now full Gen. 15.16 they filled the land with filthiness from corner to corner Ezra 9.11 they were ripe for the sickle ready for the vintage of Gods wrath which now came upon them to the utmost Vers 3. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them As neither with any other that were idolaters Ezra 9.1 2. Vers 4. For they will turn away thy son As the outlandish women did Solomon 1 King 11.2 4. What 's the reason the Pope will not dispence in Spain or Italy if a Papist marry a Protestant yet here they will but in hope to draw more to them The Tyrant Mezentius tyed the living bodies of his captives to the dead but the dead did not revive by the living Corpora corporibus jungebat mortua vivis Virgil. the living rather putrified by the dead Vers 5. And break down their images Cromwel did notable service here in Henry 8. time by discovering the knavery of Popish Priests and pulling down those mawmets and monuments of idolatry the Rood of grace the blood of Hales c. And in Edw. 6. his dayes the same day the Popish pictures were publikely burnt at Paul's Cross Act. Mon. the great victory was gotten by the English at Muscle-borough field in Scotland Vers 6. For thou art an holy people Viz. with a federal holiness which yet without an inherent holiness in the heart and life will profit a man no more then it did Dives in the flames that Abraham called him Son or Judas that Christ called him Friend An empty title yeelds but an empty comfort at last Vers 8. But because he loved you Loe he loved you because he loved you This may seem idem per idem a womans reason But it excellently shews the ground of Gods love to be wholly in himself Vers 9. The faithful God The God of Amen Psal 31.6 Amen the faithful and true Witnesse Rev. 3.14 that will not suffer his faithfulness to fail nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips Psal 89.33 all his precepts predictions promises menaces being the issue of a most faithful and righteous Will void of the least insincerity or falshood Thou spakest also with thy mouth and hast fulfilled it with thy hand as it is this day saith Solomon in his prayer 1 King 8.24 Neither could ever any day or age produce one instance to the contrary The promises are ancient Tit. 1.1 2. and yet they never failed nor the menaces Zeph. 3.5 Vers 10. He will not be slack slow he may be but sure he will be Val. Man supplicii tarditatem gravitate compensat The higher he holds his hand the heavier he will strike Aries quo altius erigitur hoc figit fortius Arcus quò retrahitur longius hoc jaculatur ulterius Aqua quae aegre calefit agrè denuò frigescit c. Vers 13. And he will love thee So he did before vers 8. but so he will continue to doe See a like expression 1. Joh. 5.13 These things write I unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God Vers 14. Thou shalt be blessed There is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Godliness 1 Tim. 6.6 See the Note there Vers Martial 15. And the Lord Health is a sweet mercy Non est vivere sed valere vita A sickly life is a lifeless life A healthy body is the reward of piety Prov. 3.8 Vers 20. Send the hornet See the Note on Exod. 23.28 Vers 21. For the Lord thy God is amongst you And how many do you reckon him for as Antigonus said once to his souldiers when they feared their enemies as more in number Vers Aurum Tolosanum 25. Left thou be snared Lest it prove as the gold of Tholouse baneful to all that fingered it or the sepulchre of Semiramis which they that rifled expecting to finde treasure met with a deadly poison CHAP. VIII Vers 1. ALL the Commandements All is but a little word but of large extent There are magnalia legis minutula legis Look to both the greater and the lesser things of the law Matth. 23.23 Vers 2. To know what was i.e. To discover and make known to thy self and others When fire is put to green wood Tentatut sciat i. c. ut scire nos faciat Aug. there comes out abundance of watery stuffe that afore appeared not When the pond is empty the mud filth and toades come to light The snow-drift covers many a muckhill so doth prosperity many a rotten heart It is easie to wade in a warm bath and every bird can sing in a Sun-shine-day c. Hard weather tryes what health afflictions try what sap we have what solidity Withered leaves soon fall off in windy weather Rotten boughes quickly break with heavy weights c. Vers 3. And he humbled thee Humbled they were many of them but not humble low but not lowly Perdiderunt fructum afflictionum c. Aug. That he might make thee know We never know so well how good sweet and seasonable the Lord is as when under the cross Vexatio dat intellectum That man doth not live See the Note on Matth. 4.4 Vers 4. Thy rayment waxed not old It was not the worse for wearing but grew as their bodies did as some are of opinion They needed not to trouble themselves with those anxious thoughts of Heathens what they should eat drink or put on Never was Prince served and supplyed in such state as these Israelites were Vers 5. That as a man chasteneth his son This is reckoned here as an high favour So Job accounts it Chap. 7.17 18. and Paul describes it Heb. 12.7 8. and Jeremy prayes for it Jer. 10.24 Vers 6. Therefore thou shalt keep As good children are the better for beating and do gather under the wing of a frowning father Vers 7. That spring out of vallies Quantum miraculi sit in admiranda illa fontium perennitate nemo credo Philosophorum satis explicare hactenus potuit The perennity of springs is a just wonder and not far from a miracle Vers 8. A land of wheat and barley Sumen totius orbis Strabo basely slandereth this fat and fertile country as dry and barren but Rabshakeh 1 King 18.32 and Tacitus tell us otherwise The testimony here given of it is above all exception Vers 9. Thou shalt not lack any thing in it Of the Island Cyprus it is said that it sendeth forth great abundance of commodities to other Countries of whom it craveth ho help again It was anciently called Macaria Turk hist the Blessed Marcellinus to shew the fertilty of it saith that Cyprus aboundeth with such plenty of all things that without the help of any other forreign Countrey it is of it self able to build a tall ship from the keel to the top sail and so put it to Sea furnished of all things needful Of
whither they went Instar caeci oculos claufit vo cantemque Deum secuâ—us est Bucholcer But having God by the hand they knew they could not go amiss This was a blessed blinde obedience not to dispute but to dispatch to wink and put themselves into Gods hand to be led about at his pleasure to follow him without sciseitation CHAP. XII Verse 1. Now the Lord had said to Abraham BUt was not this to command him to do that which was against nature No but onely against corrupt nature which must be denyed and mortified or there is no Heaven to be had Father and friends must be hated that is not loved as Esau have I hated where they hang in our light or stand in our way to keep us from Christ Matth. 10.37 Get thee out of thy Countrey This is a hard saying to flesh and blood for Nescio qua natale solum c. But hard or not hard it must be done because God bids it and difficulty in such a case doth but whet on heroick spirits making them the more eager and resolute It pleased David well to be set to fetch a hundred foreskins of the Philistims Gods Kingdom must be taken by violence It is but a delicacy to dream of coming thither in a Feather-bed Too many with Joseph dream of their preferment but not of their imprisonment He that will be Christs Disciple here and coheire hereafter must deny himself that 's an indispensable duty Abraham was old-excellent at it And from thy kinred and fathers house Who set out fair with Abraham as did likewise Orphah with Ruth But setled in Haran which was also in Chaldea not far from Vr and would go no further after the old mans death There they had feathered their nests gathered substance and got souls that is servants vers 4. and therefore there they would set up their staff and afterwards turned again to Idolatry Gen. 31.30 53. Joshua 24.2 Many follow God as Sampson did his parents till be light upon a honycomb or as a dog doth his master till he meet with carrion and then turn him up Demas forsook God and embracing this present world became afterwards a Priest in an Idol-Temple as Dorotheus tells us Vnto a land that I will shew thee Yet told him not whither Dorotheus till he was upon the way but called him to his foot that is to follow him and his direction Isai 41.2 Magnus est animus qui se Deo tradidit saith Seneca Eundum quocunque Deus vocarit saith Another Etiamsi in ea loca migrandum esset Pigris ubi nulla lampas Arbor aestivâ recreatur aurâ Quod latus mundi nebulae malusque Jupiter urget Vers 2. And I will make of thee a great Nation Pareus in Rom. 11.25 See my true Treasure â— 297 Why then should the scornful Jews call us Nations or Gentiles in contempt yea Heathen-bastards Heathen-dogs as they do at this day Surely either themselves are of this great Goi or Nation here mentioned or else they have not Abraham to their father chuse them which I will bless thee As a father his children with all spiritual comforts and earthly contentments Eph. 1.3 Judg. 1. with the blessings of the right hand and of the left with the upper and nether springs as Caleb blessed his daughter Achsah He will give grace and glory and if that be not enough no good thing will he withhold c. Psal 84.11 Hence Moses cryes out Happy art thou O Israel Who is like unto thee c. Deut. 33.29 And make thy name great A great name then is a great blessing So David took it 2 Sam. 7.9 And it was no small comfort to him that whatever he did pleased the people Blessing and praise or good name is expressed by one and the same word in both Testaments Prov. 27.21 Onely as it is in the same Text it then proves a blessing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when it is to a man as the fining pot for silver and furnace for gold when it melts us and makes us better when it works in us a care to walk worthy of the praise is given us to purge our selves from all filth that we may be as pure vessels meet for the Masters use fit to be set upon the celestial shelf as that Martyr phrased it Act. Mon. Since thou hast been precious in my sight thou hast been honorable Isai 43.4 Vertue is insteed of a thousand Escucheons And thou shalt be a blessing That is in a high degree blessed Vir bonus est commune bonum or a common blessing to all whereever thou comest who shall fare the better for thee Or a publike pattern of blessing so some Hebrews expound it Those that wish well to themselves or others shall pray God that Abrahams blessedness may befal them The contrary hereunto is now befaln his unhappy posterity for their obstinacy A curse they are become among the Gentiles In execrationibus dicunt Judaeus sim si fallo Sanct. as was foretold them Zach. 8.13 Sanctius upon that text tells us That all over Turkey they have taken it up for a curse I would I might die a Jew then And let me be a Jew if I deceive thee Vers 3. And I will bless them that bless thee Some there are that will curse those whom God blesseth but nothing so many as they that will rise up and call them blessed These are expressed here in the plural number those in the singular onely For who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good 1 Pet. 3.13 But say there be some Balaams that would curse Gods Israel or some Esaus that could wish them unblest again yet God will turn Balaams curse into a blessing Nehâ— 13.2 which is reckoned as a great favor and he will tell Esau if not in his ear yet in his conscience that Jacob is blest and he shall be blest If Isaac Gen. 27.33 drawn aside by natural affection would go about to reverse the blessing God will cause him to tremble very exceedingly and so over-aw him that he shall not be able to do it But see here as in a mirror the wonderful love of God to his children So dear they are unto him that he cannot but love all that love them and bless those that bless them They have a powerful speech in Spain He that wipes the childes nose kisseth the mothers cheek Surely as natural parents take the kindnesses and unkindnesses shewed to their children as done to themselves so doth God And in thee shall all families c. That is In thy seed as it is interpreted Acts 3.25 Gal. 3.9 16. Gen. 22.18 To wit In Christ that shall take flesh of thee as both Peter and Paul expound it Hence Christ is called the gift John 4.10 and the benefit 1 Tim. 6.2 by an excellency and the desire of all Nations Haggai 2.7 sent a purpose to
bless us in turning every one of us from our iniquities Acts 3.25 Vers 4. So Abram departed He had now enough having such precious promises though he had had nothing else He parted with his friends and kindred but is now become the friend of God and akin to Christ Let their money perish with them who esteem all the gold in the world worth one days society with Jesus Christ and his holy Spirit said that Noble Marquess Galeacius Caracciolus His life set forth by Master Crashaw who being Nephew to Pope Paul the fifth and a Prince of great wealth and power left all for Christ living and dying a poor exile at Geneva that he might enjoy the liberty of his Conscience and serve God according to the truth of the Gospel Remarkable is that which Calvin writes of him in his Dedicatory Epistle to him set before his Commentary upon the first to the Corinthians Etsi neque tu c. And Lot went with him Herein Abraham was more happy then Caracciolus For he being converted by Peter Martyrs Lecture on the first Epistle to the Corinthians and resolving thereupon to leave all and go to Geneva opened his minde to some of his most familiar friends and wrought upon them so far as they promised and vowed to accompany him c. But when they came to the borders of Italy and considered what they forsook they first looked back with Lots wife and then without any intreaty went back as Orphab so going out of Gods blessing into the worlds warm Sun Ibid. p. 11. as they say which yet they long enjoyed not For they were after taken by the Spanish Inquisition and forced to abjure Christian Religion being neither trusted nor loved of one side nor other And Abraham was seventy five yeers old when he departed So he continued a Pilgrim for a hundred yeers together Gen. 25.7 having ten sore tryals and every one worse then other Vers 5. And Abraham took Sarai his wife The faithful companion of all his travels and troubles One that did him good and not evil all her days Prov. 31. And although she suffered much hardship with him and for his sake and was oft put too 't yet she was not afraid with any amazement as many a woman would have been 1 Pet. 3.6 A valiant woman she was and no less violent then he for Gods Kingdom whereof Canaan was but a type Vers 6 7. And the Canaanite was then in the Land And the Lord appeared to Abram The sight of those wicked Canaanites might discourage him and unsettle his faith But then the sight of God relieved him he is the first man that God is said to appear to and the promise unto thy seed will I give this Land could not but put spirits into him and make his good old heart to dance Lâ—valtoes in his bosom When the poor soul even sinks sometimes at the sight of these Canaanites corruptions and despairs almost of a Conquest God lets in a beam of his own Light and comforts it with some cordial promise which is as Boaz was to Naomi A restorer of his life and a nourisher of his old age Ruth 4.15 Vers 8. And there builded he an altar to Jehovah Although the Canaanite was then in the land God hath promised when he cleanseth his Church that the Canaanite shall be there no more Zach. 14.21 Philip. 2 15. But while they are there we must shine as lamps amidst a crooked and cursed generation Holding forth the word of life as an ensign bearing up Gods name as a badge or beacon wearing his mark in our foreheads Rev. 9. the place of open profession setting up an altar even amidst Idolaters as Abraham and calling it Jehovah Nissi The Lord is my banner as Moses Exod. 17.15 Some that seemed to wish well to Edmund Allin Martyr bid him keep his conscience to himself and to follow Baruchs counsell Act. Mon. fol. 1796. Chap. 6. wherefore when ye see the multitude of people worshipping them behinde and before say in your hearts O Lord it is thou that oughtest onely to be worshipped These had more of Nicodemus in them then of Nathaniel Vers 8. And he removed from thence Because his building altars to Jehovah was offensive to the Canaanites Indeed it was a wonder they stoned him not but God restrained them And there he builded an altar to the Lord This was still his first care where ever he came and should be ours We are a Kingdome of Priests and have an altar Heb. 13.10 which is Christ who sanctifies the offering Matth. 23.19 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually Heb. 13.15 Imo altare extruamus non lapideum sed carneum in cordibus Vers 9. Going on still toward the South As toward the Sun whereby may be figured saith an Expositor his progresse in faith and grace as Prov. 8.14 2 Cor. 3.18 Vers 10. Abram went down into Egypt Which the Hebrews much condemn him for saying that it was out of distrust and that for this fault of his the Israelites suffered so long and hard bondage in Egypt But that 's but a rash judgement and as weak an argument For God though he must be trusted yet he may not be tempted But tempted he is First when men are too much addicted to the means as Thomas Secondly when they reject them as Ahaz who would not ask a sign though offered him it was not diffidence but obedience in Abraham to go down to Egypt that Granary of the world when now by the want of food in Canaan he found it was Gods will he should seek out Vers 11. Behold now I know that thou art a fair woman And yet she was now sixty five years of age wherein she was a figure of Jerusalem the mother of us all Gal. 4.26 with Cant. 1.14 and 4.1 Sarahs chief beauty was that of the hidden man of the heart as saith St. Pet. 1 Pet. 3.4 6. But outward beauty is very lovely and attractive Plato calls it the principality of nature Aristotle a greater commendation then all Epistles And being asked whether beauty were amiable He answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That 's a blinde mans question The Poet could say Gratior est pulchro veniens in corpore virtus That virtue hath a better grace That shineth from a vertuous face Howbeit Seneca saith he was out in that saying Ipsa magnum sui decuâ— est corpus suum consecrat Sen. Epist 67. for that Vertue needs no ornament more then she hath of her own but beautifies her self sufficiently and consecrates the body wherein she dwels But by the leave of so great a Philosopher I am of the Poets minde And although I grant that favour without grace Salvian Guâ—us praeter formam nihil unquam bonus laudavit Salust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dio. Artax omnium hominum pulcher ait Aemil. Prob. Aeliaâ— var. hist l. 12. c. 1.
dead forty years before is now by Gods blessing made lively and lusty Vers 5. Abraham gave all c. So Esa 19.25 Assyria is the work of Gods hand and Israel his inheritance Vers 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sopb Gasp Eâ—s Panis mica quam dives pater-familias projicit canibuâ— Abraham gave gifts So doth God to reprobates but they are giftless gifts better be without them Saepe Deus dat iratus quod â—egat propitius God gives wealth to the wicked non aliter ac siquis crumenam auro plenam latrinae injiciat The Turkish Empire saith Luther as great as it is is but a crust cast to the dogs by the rich House-holder or as Josephs cup c. East-ward to the East-countrey To both the Arabia's which were Countries rough but rich looked rudely but searched regularly afforded great store of fine gold pretious stones and pleasant odours Vers 8. Gave up the Ghost Defecit lenitèr expiravit Describit Moses placidam optatam quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in Abraham Gods friend is no wonder But how could that Apostate Julian say trow Vitam reposcenti naturae tanquam debitor bonae fidei rediturus exulto Sure it was but a copy of his countenance but not of his dying countenance for no wicked man alive can look death in the face with blood in his cheeks Dyed in a good old age Or with a hoar head after a hundred years troublesomepilgrimage in the promised land We if for one year we suffer hardship think it a great business Non quia dura sed quia molles patimur saith Seneca An old man and full of years The godly have oft a satiety of life as willing they are to leave the world as men are wont to be to rise from the board when they have eaten their fill Cur non ut plenus vitae conviva recedis Said the Heathen Poet and they feign that when Tithonus might have been made immortal he would not because of the miseries of life This made Plotinus the Platonist account mortality a mercy Aug. de Civ Dei l. 4. c. 10. Siquis Deus mihi largiatur ut ex hac aetate repurascam in cunis vagiam valdèrecusem Cato ap Cic. de senect Camd. Elisabeth fol. 325. and Cato protest that if any God would grant him of old to be made young again he would seriously refuse it As for me said Queen Elisabeth in a certain speech I see no such great cause why I should be fond to live or afraid to dye And again whiles I call to minde things past behold things present and expect things to come I hold him happiest that goeth hence soonest Vers 9. And his sons Isaac and Ismael c. It is like that Abraham a little afore his death sent for his two sons and reconciled them This joyning with Isaac in the burying of Abraham some take for an argument of his repenance whereunto also they adde that his whole life time is recorded in holy Scripture which cannot be shewed of any reprobate and that he is said when he dyed to be gathered to his fathers Which is besides Mamre Where seventy six years before he had entertained the Lord Christ and heard from his mouth the promise of the Messiah Wherefore in remembrance of that most amiable apparition and for love and honour of the divine promise there uttered he would there be buried in full hope of a glorious Resurrection and that his posterity might take notice that he even dyed upon the promise As that brave Roman Captain told his Souldiers Xiphilinus that if they could not conquer Britain yet they would get possession of it by laying their bones in it Vers 13. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael When Isaac was twenty yeers married and had no childe and afterwards nothing so many as Ishmael nor so great in the world This is Gods usual way of dealing forth his favours Saints suffer wieked prosper This made Pompey deny Divine Providence Brutus cry out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dio Cassius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thucyd Psal 73.10 expounded Exoriuntur sed exuruntur Hos 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O miserable Vertue slave of Fortune c. The Athenians in Thucydides when they had lost Nicias their good General who together with his whole Army perished in Sicily were at a great stand and much offended seeing so pious a person fare nothing better then those that were far worse And what wonder when Jeremiah and David stumbled at the same stone ran upon the same rock and were well-high shipwrackt Jer. 12.1 Psal 73.3 4. Neither they onely but many other of Gods dear servants as it is in the same I salm vers 10. Therefore his people return hither that is are every whit as wise or rather as foolish as I have been to mis-censure and misconstrue Gods dealings on this manner to repent me of my repentance and to condemn the generation of the just because waters of a full cup are wrung out to the wicked When David went into Gods Sanctuary and there consulted his Word he was better resolved Then he saw that the sunshine of Prosperity doth but ripen the sin of the wicked and so fits them for destruction as fatted ware are but fitted for the slaughter What good is there in having a fine suit with the plague in it Poison in wine works more furiously then in water Had Haman known the danger of Esthers banquet he would not have been so brag of it The prosperity of the wicked hath ever plus deceptionis quam delectionis saith One more deceit then delight able to entice and ready to kill the entangled As cunning to do that as the spirit that seduced Ahab and as willing to do the other as the Ghost that met Brutus at the battel of Philippi In which respect David Psal 17. having spoken of these men of Gods hand that have their portion in this life c. wishes them make them merry with it and subjoyns As for me I will behold thy face in righteousâ—ess I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness As who should say I neither envie nor covet their happiness but long after a glorious resurrection and have in the mean while that which is sufficient to sustain me I shall behold thy face in righteousâ—ess Menach on Levit. 10. that is Beshechinah in Christ as Rabbi Menachem expounds it And one good look of God is worth all the world It is better to feel his favour one hour then to sit whole ages as these Ishmaelites did under the worlds warmest sun-shine Vers 14. And Mishma and Dumah and Massah Out of these three names which signifie Hearing Silence and Suffering the Masorites gather the three principal duties of man in common conversation viz. to hear keep silence and bear these say they make a quiet and good life Sustine Abstine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epictâ—t Camd. Elisab
saie Non loquendum de Deo sine lumine God will bee sanctified of all that draw nigh unto him Levit. 10.2 Put off thy shoos Of sensualitie and other sins Quid pedes saith Erasmus nisi affectus Quid pedes calceamentorum onere liberi nisi animus nullis terrenis cupiditatibus oneratus Affections are the feet of the soul keep them unclogg'd Vers 6. Hid his face So did the Seraphims with a double scarf as it were Esa 6.2 Let a man but see God and his plumes will soon fall For hee was afraid Yea hee trembled and durst not behold Act. 7.32 This was his first meeting with God When better acquainted hee grew more bold Vers 7. For I know their sorrows That 's a sweet support to a sinking soul that God know's all and bears a part Mat. 6. Your heavenlie Father know's c. That 's enough Vers 8. I am com down Hamanitus dictum ut Gen. 11.7 and 18.21 See the notes there Milk and honie plentie and dainties all things both for necessitie and delight Vers 9. The oppressions wherewith Wee are oft more beholden to our enemies insolencie then to anie innocencie of our own Deut. 32.27 Vers 10. That thou mai'st bring forth Which though as unlikely to bee don as to remove a rock with his shoulder yet setting upon it in God's strength hee effecteth it Tantiem velis Deus tibi praeoccurret Chrysost Howbeit let a man do what hee can naturally and God will meet him graciously There is no truth in such an assertion Vers 11. Who am I Worth is modest The proud man asketh Who am I not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyri Majoris sepulcro inscriptum refert Arrianus Worth with modestie is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nothing is so amiable Vers 12. This shall bee a token unto thee So hee had a double sign for his suller and further confirmation that of the burning bush for the present this of serving God at Horeb for the future Vers 13. Bâ—de What is his name God is above all name all notion When Manoah enquired after his name 'T is wonderful said hee Victorinus that is I am called as I am called but such is thy weakness that it surpasseth thy conception Afri vocant Deum ignotum Amon id est Heus tu quis es Vers 14. Plutarch de Isid Osiride I am that I am Heb. I will bee that I will bee The Septuagint render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am that Hee that is Agreeably hereunto Plato calleth God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This name of God is fully opened Rev. 16.5 It import's two of God's incommunicable Attributes 1. his Eternitie when hee saith I will bee 2. His Immutabilitie when hee saith That I will bee As Pilat said what I have written I have written I wil not alter it But how far out was Paulus Burgensis in denying Ehich to bee anie of God's names Whether Aph-hu 2 King 2.14 bee one Weems is far more questionable Vers 15. Vnto all generations The Jews to countenance their conceit of the ineffabilitie of the name Jehovah did corrupt this text and for This is my name Legnolam for ever they read Gâ—latinus This is my name Legnalam to bee concealed Vers 16. The God of Abraham c. His friends with whom hee had all things common This was a greater honor don to these Patriarches then if God had written their names in the visible heavens to bee read of all men Vers 17. I have said I will bring you up And now I am com to do it This is som part of the import of I am that I am the same yesterday Heb. 13.8 to daie and forever Ero qui eram I will bee the same to you in my performances that I was to your fathers in my promises A Land flowing with milk Sumen totius orbis as One calleth it where the hard rocks did sweat out oil and honie Deut. 32.13 See vers 8. Vers 18. Hath met with us Of his own accord and without our seeking Nolentem praevenit Deus ut velit Aug. Enchir. cap. 32. volentem subsequitur nè frustrà velit I am found of those that sought mee not Isa 65.1 Vers 19. Will not let you go A sturdie Rebel hee was but God tamed him and took him down by those ten plagues comprised in these four verses Fit cruor ex undis conspurcant omnia ranae Dat pulvis cimices postea musca venit Dein pestis pòst vlcera grando locusta tenebrae Tandem prototocos ultima plaga necat Vers 20. And after that hee will let you go When hee dare hold you no longer when I have sufficiently tam'd him and taught him as Gideon taught the men of Succoth with thorns and briars of the wilderness Judg. 8.16 Vers 21. I will give this people favor It is God that fashioneth men's spirits and speaketh oft-times for them in the hearts of their greatest enemies Vers 22. Yee shall spoil the Aegyptians By a special dispensation which none could grant but the Law-maker So Ezek. 39.10 These Jewels did afterwards becom a snare to the Israëliâ—es in the matter of the golden Calf CHAP. III. Vers i. They will not believ mee THey had formerly refused him and thrust him away Exod. 2.14 Act. 7.27 And so they might again if hee had not somwhat to shew for his extraordinarie calling Quaeque repulsa gravis Hor. In the year 434 the Jews of Creet were shamefully seduced by a Pseudo Moses who promised to divide the sea for them to bring them back to their own Countrie Funccius in Comm. Chron. Those that will not receiv the love of the truth are justly given up to the efficacie of error 2 Thess 2.10.11 Vers 3. And it became a serpent So doth the word to those that cast away the care of it it sting's them with unquestionable conviction and horror With this rod Moses should guide the Israëlites sting the Egyptians Isai 14.29 Jer. 8.17 And Moses fled from before it First flie from sin as from a serpent saith one But if thou hast taken this serpent into thy hand rest not till like Moses serpent it bee turned into a rod again to scourge thy soul Bee either innocent or penitent Vers 4. Take it by the tail which was dreadful to bee don becaus of the antipathie and likely danger but faith fortifie's the heart against the fear of the creature and carrie's a man thorough the difficultie of dutie Vers 5. That they may believ Miracles are sufficient testimonies of an extraordinarie calling from God provided that they bee true Miracles not such as Deut. 13 to confirm a calling that is agreeable to God's holy word as here Vers 6. Put now thine hand Here was sign upon sign as Chap. 3 12. So low stoop's the most high to our meanness And doth hee not the same favor for us by the often