from the face of the Serpent Rev. 12.14 Vers 13. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper Sin is a Traytor and must not be hid for if so now it sucks a mans breast shortly it will suck his bloud Sin is a sore and must be opend a sicknesse and must be declared to the Physician the concealing of one circumstance may endanger all Sin is a deformity that must be uncovered or God will never cover it see it wee must to confession or see it we shall to our confusion If Job had covered his transgression as Adam or after the manner of men hee had undone himself Job 31.33 It is the manner of men and they have it from Adam to palliate their sins and plead for them to eleviate and extenuate them to mince and excuse them Sin and Shifting came into the world together Sin and Satan are alike in this they cannot abide to appear in their own colour Some deal with their souls as others doe with their bodies when their beauty is decayed they desire to hide it from themselves by false glasses and from others by painting so their sins 3 Joh. 2. from themselves by false glosses and from others by excuses These must not look for Gaius's prosperity The Sun-shine also of their outward prosperity ripens their sin apace and so fits them for destruction Never was Ephraims case so desperate Hosea 4. as when God said Ephraim is joyned with Idols let him alone Nor Jerusalem so neer destruction as when God said My fury shall depart from thee I will bee quiet and no more angry Ezek. 16.42 To prosper in sin is the greatest unhappinesse that can befall a man out of Hell But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them c. Confession of sin must be joyned with confusion of sin or all is lost Papists use confession as Drunkards use Vomiting that they may adde drunkennesse to thirst Profane people use it as Lewis the eleventh of France did his Crucifix he would swear an oath and then kiss it and swear again and then kisse it again So they sin and confesse they doe not well nor will they strive to doe better As they sorrow not to a transmentation with those Corinthians so they confesse not to an utter abandoning of their wicked courses They confesse as those Israelites did Numb 14.40 Wee have sinned we will goe up They might as well have said Wee have sinned wee will sin for God had flatly forbidden them to goe up at that time They confesse as Saul did I have sinned viz. in humouring the people yet honour mee said he before the people As the Philistians confessed Gods hand yet sent away the Ark so doe these They that confesse and forsake not are only dog-sick when they have disgorged their stomacks they will return to their vomit Shall have mercy Confesse the debt and God will crosse the book he will draw the red lines of Christs bloud over the black lines of our sins and cancel the hand-writing that was against us No sooner could David cry peccavi I have sinned but Nathan said Transtulit peccatum tuum Dominus God hath taken away thy sin yea transtulit He hath translated it he hath caused thy sin to passe over from thee to Christ Isa 53.6 Rom. 4.8 Confession is the Souls vomit and those that use it shall not only have ease of conscience but Gods best comforts and cordials to restore them again Cum homo agnoscit Deus ignoscit saith Augustine It is not here Confesse and be hanged but Confesse and be saved In the Courts of men it is safest to say Non feci quoth Quintilian I did it not Per Miserere mei tollitur ira Dei to plead Not guilty Not so here Ego feci is the best plea I did it I have done very foolishly Have mercy upon me O Lord c. Judah that is Confession got the Kingdome from Reuben it is the way to the Kingdom No man was ever kept out of Heaven for his confessed badnesse many are for their supposed goodness Vers 14. Blessed is the man that feareth alwayes That is in the fear of the Lord all day long chap. 23.17 Duo sunt timores Dei servilis amicalis saith Bede There is a two-fold fear of God Servile and Filial perfect love casts out the former breeds and feeds the latter By this fear of the Lord it is that men depart from evil that they shake off security that they abound in Gods work that they may abide in his love that they set a jealous eye upon their own hearts and suspect a Snake under every Flower a snare in every Creature and doe therefore feed with fear and rejoyce in fear passe the whole time of their sojourning herein fear yea work out their whole salvation with fear and trembling O the blessednesse of such But he that hardneth his heart As a perfect stranger to Gods holy fear the contrite heart ever trembles at Gods Word Isa 57.17 Why hast thou hardened our hearts from thy fear Isa 63.17 which as Fire doth Iron mollifies the hardest heart and makes it malleable Fear is a fruit of repentance 2 Cor. 7.11 yea what fear which intenerates the heart and makes it capable of Divine impressions as Josiah On the other side the Jews feared not God because of a rebellious heart Jer. 5.22 23. Shall fall into mischief Manifold mischief ruine without remedy chap. 29.1 The incestuous person though delivered up to Satan repented and recovered but he that is delivered up to an hard heart to a dead and dedolent disposition is in a manner desperate and deplored he heaps up wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2. This made a reverent man once say If I must bee put to my choyce I had rather be in Hell with a sensible heart than on earth with a reprobate mind A hard heart is in some respect worse than Hell sith one of the greatest sins is farre greater in evil than any of the greatest punishments as one hath well observed Vers 15. As a roaring Lion Latrocinium cum privilegio and a ranging Bear Regiment without righteousness turns into tyranny and becomes no better than robbery by authority Look how the Lion frayes the poor beasts with his roaring so that they have no power to stirre and then preys upon them with his teeth And as the Bear searches them out and tears them limb-meal So deal Tyrants with their poor Subjects Zeph. 3.3 Her Princes within her are roaring Lions her Judges evening Wolves they gnaw not the bones till the morrow Such were those Cannibals in Davids dayes that eat up Gods people as they eat bread Psal 14.4 such those miscreants in Micah who did eat the flesh of Gods people and flayd their skin that brake their bones and chopt them in peeces as for the pot chap. 3.3 Much like those American Cannibals who when they take a Prisoner feed upon him alive and by degrees cutting
rusheth with as much violence as an overflowing flood Hinc apparet fructus liberi arbitrii saith Oecolampadius See here the fruit of free-will and what man will do being left to himself Carnal affections are forcible and furious Plato himself saw and could say as much In Phadâ—o when he compared concupiscence to an headstrong horse that runneth away with his rider and cannot be ruled Ver. 7. Yea the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed time These fouls though wanting reason know well when to change quarters whether against summer as the stork turtle and swallow or against winter as the crane But my people know not the judgement of the Lord Whether his summer of grace offered or his winter of punishment threatened to embrace the one or to prevent the other See a like dissimilitude and opposition Isa 1.3 Ver. 8. How do ye say We are wise If ye were so ye would never say so Surely I am more brutish then any man said holy Agur Prov. 30.2 This only I know that I know nothing said Socrates Neither know I so much as this that I know just nothing said a third How could these in the text say We are wise when the fouls of the ayr outwitted them confer Job 35.11 The Law of the Lord is with us Vox est Pharisaeorum So the Jesuites at this day as of old the Gnosticks will needs be held the only knowing men The Empire of learning belongeth to the Jesuites say they a Jesuite cannot be an heretick Casaub ex Apologista Jungantur in unum dies cum nocte lux cum tenebris c. i. e. Let day and night be jumbled together light and darkness heat and cold health and sickness life and death so may there be some likelihood that a Jesuite may be an heretick saith one of them The Church is the soul of the world the Clergy of the Church and we of the Clergy saith another Lo certainly in vain made he it i. e. The Law for any good use that this people or their leaders put it to See Hos 8.12 Rom. 2.17 25. Ver. 9. The wise men are ashamed They have cause to be ashamed of their grosse ignorance and folly ver 7 8. and greater cause then ever humble Austin had to say Scientia mea me damnat my knowledge undoeth me Lo they have rejected the word of the Lord As to any holy practice their knowledge is only Apprehensive and notional not Affective and practical And what wisdom is in them q d. None worth speaking of they lose their civil praises because not wise to salvation Ver. 10. Therefore will I give their wives For a punishment of their rejecting my Word which ought to be received with all reverence and good affection Dilher Elect. lib. 1. cap. 2. The Turkes do so highly respect the Alchoran which is their Bible that if a Christian do but sit upon it though unwittingly they presently put him to death For every one c. See chap. 6.13 Ver. 11. For they have healed See chap. 6.14 Ver. 12. Were they ashamed See chap. 6.15 Ver. 13. I will surely consume them saith the Lord Texitur hic quasi tragoediae scena here followeth a kind of Tragedy saith an Expositour God is brought in threatening the Prophet bewailing the people despairing and yet bethinking themselves of some shelter and safeguard if they knew where to find it c. There shall be no grapes on the vine nor figs But instead thereof I will give them waters of gall to drink ver 14. Tremellius and Piscator read it thus There are no grapes on the vine nor figs on the figtree yea the leaves are fallen that is say they there is no power of godlinesse found among them no not so much as any profession neither fruit nor leafe And the things that I have given them shall passe away I will curse their blessings Mal. 2.2 and destroy them after that I have done them good Josh 24. Ver. 14. Why do we sit still Here the people speak see on ver 13. being grievously frighted upon the coming of the Chaldees and thereupon consulting what course to take but all would not do ver 16. Let us be silent Sic silent pavidimures coram fele For the Lord our God hath put us to silence Hath expectorated our courage and stopped our mouths And hath given us waters of gall to drink Succum cicutae our bane our deaths-draught so that now we know by woful experience what an evil and bitter thing sin is for a drop of honey we have now a sea of gall Ver. 15. We looked for peace but no good came Our false Prophets have merely deluded us So poor souls when stung by the Friers Sermons were set to pennances and good deeds which stilled them for a while but could not yeeld them any lasting comfort The soul is still ready to shift and shark in every by-corner for ease but that will not be till it comes to Christ Ver. 16. The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan See chap. 4.15 this caused in the Jews hearts a motion of trepidation confer Job 39.20 It is the priviledge of believers in nothing to be terrified by their adversaries Phil. 1.28 but with the horse spoken of Job 39.22 to mock at fear and not to turn back from the dint of the sword Ver. 17. Behold I will send Serpents Cockatrices i. e. Chaldees no lesse virulent then serpents as violent as horses Serpentum tot sunt venena quot genera tot pernicies quot species tot dolores quot colores saith an Ancient Serpents are of several sorts Isidor lib. 12. cap. 2. but all poisonful and pernicious The Basilisk or Cockatrice here instanced the worst sort of serpents say the Septuagint here goeth not upon the belly as other serpents but erect from the middle part and doth so infect the aire that by the pestilent breath coming therefrom fruits are killed and men being but lookt upon by it and birds flying over it stones also are broken thereby and all other serpents put to flight Dlod Pisc And they shall bite you There is an elegancy in the original Ver. 18. When I would comfort my selfe c. Or as some render it O my comfort against sorrow i. e. O my God others my recreation is joyned with sorrow Ver. 19. Behold the voyce of the cry This was it that broke the good Prophets heart the shrieks of his people Haec est querela hypocritarum Oecol Is not the Lord in Zion Thus in their distresse they leaned upon the Lord as Mic. 3.11 and enquired after him whom in their prosperity they made little reckoning of Why have they provoked me to anger q. d. The fault is meerly in themselves who have driven me out from amongst them by their Idolatries Ver. 20. The harvest is past the summer is ended They had set God a time and looked for help that summer at farthest but the Lord as he
to support her that her sighes for her sins were many and that her heart was faint or heavy through fear of wrath yet not without hope of mercy which made her thus to repaire unto him by Prayer Qui nihil sperat nihil orat CHAP. II. Ver. 1. HOw hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud Heb. with a thick cloud nothing like that bright cloud wherein he appeared to his people as a token of his grace at the dedication of the Temple 1 Kings 8.10 How comes it about and what may be the reason of it Oh in what a wonderful manner and by what strange means hath the Lord now clouded and covered his people whom he had established as Mount Zion with blackest calamities and confusionâ—s taking all the lustre of happinesse and of hope from her and that in his anger and again in the day of his anger tantaene animis coelestibus irae And cast down from heaven to the earth i. e. From the highest pitch of felicity to the lowest plight of misery This was afterwards indeed Capernaums case but when Micah the Morashite prophecied Mic. 3.12 Jer. 26.18 that Zion should be plowed as a field and Jerusalem laid on heaps it seemed a Paradox and very few believed him Christ's disciples also had a conceit that the Temple and the world must needs have one and the same period which occasioned that mixt discourse made by our Saviour Mat. 24. But Gods gracious presence is not tyed to a place The Ark Gods foot-stool as here it is called was transportative till setled in Sion so is the Church militant in continual motion till it come to triumph in heaven and those that with Capernaum are lifted up to heaven in the abundance of means may be brought down to hell for an instance of divine vengeance And remembred not his foot-stool The Temple and therein the Ark to teach them that he was not wholly there included nieither ought now to be sought and worshipped anywhere but above Sursum corda Sept. Ver. 2. The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Judah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the sea swalloweth up a ship as an earthquake swalloweth up whole town-ships as fire swalloweth up fuel or as Moses his serpent swallowed up the Sorcerers serpents And hath not pitied This was worse then all the rest Isa 47.6 He hath thrown down Not shaken them only and so left them standing but utterly subverted them and that in great displeasure Deo irritato irato God set on the Chaldees and was the Author not of their evil will but of their work He hath brought them down to the ground Though for their height they seemed to threaten heaven He hath polluted the Kingdom and the Priests Which were held holy and inviolable Profanavit regnum coeli say some Rabbines here He hath profaned the Kingdom of heaven for so they accounted the Commonwealth of Israel which Josephus calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a God-government But now God had dispriviledged them and cast them off as a thing of naught Ver. 3. He hath cut off in his anger all the horn of Israel i. e. All the strength and beauty the royal majesty especially Psal 89.24 132.17 He hath drawn back his right-hand Wherewith he was wont to shelter them and to fight for them Or Israels right-hand sc by disabling them for it is God that strengtheneth and weakeneth the arm of either party Ezek. 30.24 And he burned against Jacob Or in Jacob i. e. He declareth his displeasure among his people as clearly as a flame of fire that is easily discernd Ver. 4. He hath bent his bow like an enemy He doth not only help the enemies but himself fighteth against us with his own bare hand He hath bent his bow id est vim suam ultricem saith Origen that is his avenging force So the Poet faineth that Apollo shot his deadly shafts into the camp of the Grecians He stood with his right-hand Heb. He was set Vulg. Firmavit dextram suam he held his right hand steddily that he might hit what he shot at In the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion In Jerusalem that was sweetly situated as a tabernacle pitcht in a pleasant plain but now a field of blood He hath poured out his wrath like fire i. e. Abundantly and most vehemently perinde ac Aetna Hecla c. Ver. 5. The Lord was an enemy This the secure and foolish people would not be drawn to beleeve till now they felt it therefore it is so reiterated He hath swallowed up Israel he hath destroyed c. This he had said before Redundanti copia exponit quae autea dixcrat ver 2. but in cases of this kind people love to say the same things over and over And hath increased mourning and lamentation Heb. lamentation and lamentation q. d. this is all he hath left us And this she speaketh mourning but not murmuring non litem intendit Deo sed confessionem edit Ver. 6. And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle Redit ad deplorandam religionem nothing grieves a good soul so much as the losse of religious opportunities Old Eli's heart was broke before his neck at the news of the Ark taken As if it were of a garden As if it were some cottage or hovel set up for a short time in a garden for the repose of the gardiner Es 1.8 He hath destroyed his places of the assembly Whence we were wont to hope for help in answer to our prayers There it was that he formerly brake the arrows of the bow the sheild and the sword and the battle Psal 76.3 See the Note there Hence 2 Chron. 4.9 the great Court of the Temple where the people used to pray is called Gnazarah that is help and defence The King and the Priest Zedekiah and Serajah and with them the Kingdom and the Priesthood Haec jam pro vili sub pedibusque jacent Ver. 7. The Lord hath cast off his Altar She goeth over it again as the main matter of her grief that she was bereft of the outward exercises of religion Longe fecit procul removit à se quasi remed osam sibi ingratam molestam His altar God had cast into a corner as that which was an eye-sore to him his Sanctuary he abhorred or dissolved c. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord Where God was wont to be praised with heart and voyce now the enemies reboate and roar out Jo triumphe Jo Paean Victoria all 's our own Ver. 8. The Lord hath purposed to destroy Non casu non subito non temere sed maturo destinato decreto Gods Providence which is nothing else but the carrying on of his decree extendeth to smallest matters much more to the subversion of States and Cities He that stretcht out a line sc Of destruction or a levelling line See 2 King 21.13 Esa 34.11 Jerusalem was
so do many feed greedily on sins murthering morsels Ver. 15. Loe I have given thee Cows-dung This was some mitigation Something God will yield to his praying people when most bitterly bent against them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contabescerâ— foetidum fieri Ver. 16. Behold I will break the staff of bread Bread shall be very scarce and that which men have shall not nourish or satisfy them they shall have appetitum caninum See Isa 3.1 with the Note and take that good cousel Amos. 5 14 15. lest we know the worth of good by the want of it Ver. 17. And be astonied At their straits and disappointments And consume away for their iniquity Levit. 26.31 They shall pine away in their iniquity this is the last and worst of judgements there threatened after those other dismal ones CHAP. V. Ver. 1. ANd thou son of man See on chap. 2.1 Take thee a sharp knife This was the King of Babylon as Isa 7.20 The Turk is at this day such another Mahomet the first was in his time the death of 800000 men Selymus the second in revenge of the losse received at Lepanto Turk Hist 885. would have put to death all the Christians in his dominions Take the a barbers razor Not a deceitful razor as Psal 52.2 but one that will do the deed sharp and sure Pliny telleth us out of Varro Lib. 7. cap. 59. that the Romans had no barbers till 454 years after the City was built antè intensi fuere And cause it to passe upon thy head and upon thy beard As hairs are an ornament to the head and beard so are people to a City But as when they begin to be a burthen or trouble to either they are cut off and cast away so are people by Gods Judgements when by their sins they are offensive to him dealing as Dionysius did by his god Aesculapius from whom he presumed to pull his golden beard David felt himself shaved in his Embassadours so doth God in his servants whose very hairs are numbred Matth. 10.30 in his Ministers especially who by a specialty are called Gods men 1 Tim. 6.11 2 Tim. 3.17 with whom to meddle is more dangerous then to take a Lion by the beard or a bear by the hair Then take the ballances to weigh This sheweth that Gods Judgements are just to a hairs weight And capillus nous suam habet umbram saith Mimus And divide the hair Dii nos quasi pilas habent saith Plautus imo quasi pilos saith Another Ver. 2. Thou shalt burn with fire a third part i. e. with famine pestilence and other mischiefs during the siege of Jerusalem Pythagoras gave this precept among others Vnguium criniumque praesegmina ne contemnito But God findeth so little worth in wicked people that he regardeth them not but casteth them as excrements to the dunghil yea to hell Psal 9.17 And smite about it with a knife They shall be slain with that sharp knife or sword ver 1. after that the City is taken Thou shalt scatter in the wind Sundry of them shall fly for their lives but in running from death they shall but run to it Amos 9.1 2 3 4. 2.13 14 15 16. Ver. 3. Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number A remnant is still reserved that the Lord God may dwell among men Psal 68.18 See Jer. 44.28 2 King 25.12 Isa 1.9 6.10 Ver. 4. Then take of them again and cast them into the midst of the fire Thus evil shall hunt a wicked man to overthrow him Psal 140.11 See the Note there he shall not escape though he hath escaped his preservation is but a reservation to further mischief except he repent And burn them in the fire Such he meaneth as were combustible matter for there were a sort of precious ones amongst them who being brought by God through the fire were thereby refined as silver is refined and tryed as gold is tryed c. Zach. 13.9 See the Notes there Ver. 5. This is Jerusalem i. e. This head and beard so to be shaved ver 1. by the hair of the head some think the wise men of that City are figured out and by the hair of the beard are the strong men the razor of Gods severity maketh clean work leaveth no stub or stump behind it I have set it in the midst of the nations As the head heart and center of the earth See Psal 74.10 Ezek. 38.12 and God had peculiar ends it it that the Law might go forth out of Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem and that all Nations might flow unto it Isa 2.2 3. Talis est Roma Christianis Such now is Rome to Christians saith à Lapide bur lay a straw there say we or as the Glosse saith upon some decrees of Popes Haec non credo I believe it not See Rev. 17.5 Ver. 6. And she hath changed my judgements into wickednesse This was a foul change this was to do evil as she could Jer. 3.5 this was ingratitude of the worst sort such as Socrates called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 manifest in â—ustice Such a wretched change is complained of Jer. 2.11 Rom. 1.23 25. Jude 4. but nowhere in so high an expession as this as One observeth More then the Nations Because the Jews had better Laws but worse dispositions then they Ver. 7. Because ye multiplyed sc Your transgressions and superstitions or because ye have abounded with blessings and made me so ill a requital Some render it Quia tumultuastis ves plus quam vicinae gentes and indeed there were many murthers committed amongst them and many revolts from forrain Princes whom they had sworn to serve Neither have done according to the judgement of the nations But have out-sinned them qui deos suos quamvis viles multos non mutant who change not their gods as you have done Me Jer. 2.10.11 but follow the natural light of reason some of them at least do so Rom. 2.14 which you have debauched See 1 Cor. 5.1 Ezech. 16.46 47 48. Ver. 8. Behold I even I am against thee Whether thou wilt believe it or not Thou holdest it unlikely but shalt find it true and that I am very serious not saying these things in terrorem only Ecce me adversum te venientem so some render it Behold I am upon my march against thee and will punish thee surely severely suddenly And will execute Judgements For the non-execution of my Judgements in the former sense taken as ver 7. In the sight of the nations In whose sight thou hast so sinned and who will rejoyce at thy sufferings Ver. 9. And I will do in thee that which I have not done None shall suffer so much here or sink so deep in hell as a profane Jew a carnal Gospeller who is therefore worse then others because he ought to be better Oh the height and weight of those Judgements that shall be heaped upon such See Lam.
appointeth his Ministers their several stations together with the bounds of their habitations Shall eat the most holy things Ministers must eat as well as others they are not of the Camelion-kind cannot live upon air and the Lord Christ hath ordained that as they which waited at the Altar were partakers of the Altar so also should they that preach the Gospel live of the Gospel 1 Cor. 9.13 14. And the meat-offering and the sin-offering i. e. The Priests share out of them For besides their tithes and glâ—be or subburbs the Priests had many rich revenues and were far better provided for then now-adays Gospel-ministers are however begrudged that little that is allowed them Ver. 14. Then shall they not go out of the holy place Ministers may not leave their station lay aside their holy calling entangle themselves with worldly cares and businesses but Hoc agere make their Ministry their businesse giving themselves wholly to it Verbi Minister es hoc age this was Mr. Perkins his Motto And say to Archippus Take heed to the Ministry which thou hast received in the Lord that thou fulfil it Coloss 4.17 But there they shall lay their garments And not go amongst the people in them lest they make themselves over-cheap or the people superstitious by placing holinesse in their seeing or touching those holy vestments And shall put on other garments Ministers Oecol as in doing their office they must use all becomming gravity and authority as the Embassadours of Christ so at other times they must familiarize themselves with their people becoming all things to all men in Paul's sense that they may win some Ver. 15. Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house The inner part of the Church the Church invisible is first and chiefly to be looked into rather then the external adjuncts as multitude prosperity clarity antiquity c. the Substantials rather then the Accidentals The Church of Rome borrows her mark from the market Plenty or cheapnesse c. Vilissimus pagus saith Luther the meane stvilage seems to me to be an ivory Palace if there be but in it a faithful Pastour and a few true believers Ver. 16. Five hundred reeds Loe here the large extent of the holy Catholike Church the Communion of Saints See the Note on chap. 40.1 Ver. 17.18 He measured the North-side five hundred reeds To shew that many should come from all coasts and quarters to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven Mat. 8.11 See the Note there Ver. 20. He measured it by the four sides The Church is fair and firm for it is quadrangular so is every true member thereof homo quadratus four-square stedfast and unmovable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 always abounding in the Work of the Lord c. 1 Cor. 15. ult his heart is fixed trusting in the Lord Psal 112. He quits himself well in all estates and comes of a gainer Gold is purged in the fire shines in the water as on t'other side clay is scorcht in the fire dissolved in the water The new Jerusalem is said to lye four-square Rev. 21.16 See the Note there CHAP. XLIII Ver. 1. AFterwards he brought me Non nisi dimenso prius montis ambitu The Prophet saw not the glory of God till he had first seen the Mount measured the Temple restored Men must usually wait upon God in the use of means ere they see the King in his glory Even the gate that looketh toward the East Men must awake out of the West of wickednesse and stand up from dead courses and companies if Christ the day-star from on high shall give them light Ephes 5.14 Luke 2.78 79. Ver. 2. And behold the glory i. e. The vision of the glory God who by the East-gate had left the Temple and the City chap 10. doth now the same way return and filleth the house with the glory of his presence And his voice was like a noise of many waters Importing the multitude of his attendants and his irresistible power in his Gospel especially which is the power of God to salvation and like a mighty torrent bears down all before it And the earth shined with his glory How can it do otherwise when the Sun of righteousnesse cometh in place and irradiateth both Organ and Object 2 Cor. 4.6 Into Solomons Temple God came in a thick cloud not so here Light is now more diffused then ever woe be to those that wink or who seek straws to put out their eyes withal as Bernard hath it Ver. 3. And it was according to the vision Being so much the sweeter and the welcomer to me Hence he so oft repeateth it And the Jew-doctours observe that eight times in this one Verse Visionis ac videndi vocabulum repetitur the word for Vision and to see it is made use of When I came to destroy the City i. e. To foretel the destruction of it chap. 9.2 5. from which time forth it was a done thing See Jer. 1.10 with the Note And I fell upon my face In reverence to his Majesty in admiration of his mercy and in the sense of mine own unworthinesse The nearer any one cometh to God the lower he falleth in his own eyes and the more doth rottennesse enter into his bones Ver. 4. And the glory of the Lord See ver 2. By the way of the gate The ordinary entrance into the Temple There if anywhere God is to be found where should a man be sought for but at his house Say he be from home a while yet thither he returneth So here Ver. 5. So the Spirit took me up Who was fain upon my face The lowly shall be lifted up And brought me into the inner court As being a Priest so is every true believer 1 Pet. 2.9 Rev. 1.6 Filled the house Gods presence is the full glory of each good soul See Hag. 2.7 Ver. 6. And I heard him speaking unto me The man Christ Jesus standing by Here then is a meeting and the mystery of the blessed Trinity yea here is a double mystery to be taken notice of viz. those two wonderful unions of three persons in one God and of Christs two natures in one person Ver. 7. The place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet i. e. My Church which is unto me instead of heaven and earth Behold the place of my throne c. so some read it others as for the place of my throne c. Isa 66.1 No more defile But hallow for negative holiness alone is little worth Nor by the carcasses of their Kings i. e. Their idols not unfitly called carcasses Piscat 1. Because void of life 2. Stinking stuffe See Levit. 26.30 Jer. 16.18 These were oft brought in and countenanced by their Kings Ver. 8. In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds By broaching falshoods for truth and setting humane devices in competition with the good Word of God That
neither speak falsely nor rashly but upon due deliberation and undoubted certainty See my True treasure pag. 122. Vers 8. All the words The Rabbine have a saying That there is a mountain of sense hanging upon every tittle of the Scriptures There is nothing froward or perverse in them Some places of Scripture may seem to cross other places but they do only seem so Men may think they are like the accusers of Christ never a one speaking like the other but those that understand them shall finde them like Nathan and Bathsheba both speaking the same things The old Rabbins could not reconcile Ecclesiastes some passages in it to the rest of the holy Scriptures and had therefore some thoughts to conceal it from the people But this was their weakness Kabuenaki and would have been their wickedness Vers 9. They are all plain to him that understandeth Plain in things necessary to salvation for as all duties so all truths do not concern all men God doth not expect or require that every man should bee a Doctor in the chair but those points that direct to duty here and salvation hereafter are clear express and obvious to them that desire to understand them for some there are Bern. qui ut liberius peocent libenter ignorant It was a smart answer which Mr. Durant a witty and learned Minister of the Reformed Church of Paris gave to a Lady of suspected chastity and now revolted When shee pretended the hardness of the Scripture Why said hee Madam what can bee more plain than Thou shalt not commit Adultery Had shee not been failing in the practice of what shee could not but know shee had found no cause to complain of the difficulty of that which shee could not know Vers 10. Receive mine instruction and not money That is Rather than mony as I will have mercy and not sacrifice that is rather than sacrifice Knowledge of the Scriptures is the greatest riches Col. 3.16 Let the word of Christâ— dwell richly in you 1 Cor. 1.5 The Corinthians were inriched in all knowledge Plato gave three hundred flourens for a Book that hee liked Called Sophron Dionysius said that Aristippus was alwayes craving mony of him but Plato desired nothing but Books What spending of money and lavishing out of the bag is there for humane learning And yet Aristotle himself could say that a little knowledge though but conjectural about heavenly things is to bee preferred above much knowledge though certain about inferiour things Vers 11. For Wisdome is better than Rubies See the Note on Chap. 3.15 Vers 12. I Wisdome dwell with Prudence I draw all into practice and teach men to prove by their own experience what that good and holy and acceptable will of God is Of the most that would bee held knowing men it may well bee said as Tully sayes the Proverb went of the Athenians that they used their wisdome as men do artificial teeth for shew onely And that they did scire quae recta sunt sed facore nolle know what was right but had no minde to do accordingly Socrates said there was no difference between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wisdome and Prudence or Moderation Xenoph. de dictis factis Socrat. Sith hee that knows good things to do them and evil things to avoid them is to bee held a wise man and none else And finde out knowledge of witâ—y inventions Tending to piety Not those toylsome toyes sophismata quae nec ignoranti nocent nec sciâ—ut enâ— juvant Seneca that are hard to come by but of no use or worth proof or profit These are but laborious loss of time as Aristotle hath it like an Olive of Date-stone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist hard to crack the one or cleave the other but nothing or nothing worth ought when crackt or cloven within either Wisdome findes her Scholars somewhat else to do than to bee so busily idle Witty shee allows them to bee but not wittily wicked not wise to do evil inventers of 〈◊〉 or idle things Walk circumspectly saith shee not as fools but as wise â—â—ing the times understanding what the will of the Lord is and putting it in speedy execution Eph. 5. â—5 16 17. Keep therefore and do it for this is your wisdome c. Deut. 4.6 See the Note there this will speak you far more witty than those Wits of the World who seek out many inventions Eccles 7.28 but all to no purpose and become vain in their imaginations their foolish heart being darkned â—â—m 1.21 Vers 13. The fear of the Lord Which is an high point of heavenly wisdome Chap. 1.7 to the praise whereof this therefore appertaineth There are that make this verse an explanation of the former thus I finde out the knowledge of witty inventing such as are the fear of the Lord the hatred of evil yea of inward evils as Pride Arrogancy c. Odi fastum istius Ecclesiae I hate the pride of that Romish Church said Basil long since I hate vain thoughts But thy Law do I love Psal 119.113 I hate and abhor lying vers 163. Yea I hate every false way both in my self and others vers 104. Thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans which I also hate Rev. 2. Gods people partake of the Divine nature and so have God-like both sympathies and antipathies they not only leave sin but loath it and are at deadly feud with it They purge themselves by this clean fear of God Psal 19.7 from all pollutions not of flesh onely worldly lusts and gross evils but of spirit also that lye more up in the heart of the Country as Pride Arrogancy c. so Perfecting holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 There may bee some kinde of pride in sincerity and of humility in hypocrisie But hypocrisies humility is followed with pride and sincerities pride with humility This latter humility is the better And here onely it is seemly for vertue to come behinde vice Hypocrisie is proud because it is humble Sincerity is humble because it is proud And the evil way That is Custome of committing sin Viam pro frequentatione accipiunt Hebraei And this the godly man doth not that hee may appear to do so Velleius sed quia aliter facere non potuit as one falsly and flatteringly said of Cato but because having his heart seasoned with this holy fear hee can do no otherwise Vers 14. Counsel is mine c. Christ is wise in heart and mighty in strength Job 9.4 his Churches both Counsellor Isa 9.6 and Champion Isa 37.23 24. And though shee bee but a Virgin daughter of Zion yet shee despiseth her adversary and laughs him to scorn vers 22. because shee hath one that is in love with her and will fight her quarrel who is De Achille Homeurs De Achille Câ—ullus Tho 2.2 q. 10. aâ—t 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
surely that sweet singer never sang more melodiously than when his heart was broken most penitentially Psal 6. 51. Thus birds in the spring sing most sweetly when it rains most sadly and tears of true contrition are pillulae lucis pills made on purpose to clear the eye-sight When John wept the sealed book was set open to him Lilium lachryma sua seritur Light is sown for the righteous Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon c. Si verborum faciem consideremus quid poterit magis dici ridiculum saith Titleman upon the words If we look upon the out-side onely of this text what may seem to have been spoken more ridiculous Is it so great a commendation to have a nose like a tower That which wee must here-hence learn is that seeing Christ is now risen again and ascended up into heaven wee ought to bear our noses aloft as it were savouring things of the Spirit of Christ discerning things that are excellent and by a Spiritual sagacity aspiring to eternity That looketh toward Damascus The chief City of Syria having its name from the bloody excursions of theeves as Peter Martyr thinketh or else Pet. Mart. in 1 Reg. 16. as others from the blood of righteous Abel there spilled whence the place was called Damsech a bag of blood Vers 5. Thine head upon thee is like Carmel This head is Christ himself for hee is the sole head of his Church God hath put all things under his feet hence hee is here compared to Carmel because hee is high over all and given him to bee head over all things that is over all persons in the Church Ephes 1.18 22. Angels are under Christ as an head of government of influence of confirmation not of redemption as the Saints are The Angels are great friends to the Church but not members of it Heb. 2.16 The Church Christ sanctified and washed with his blood Ephes 5.26 Not so the Angels He was but a poor patron of the Popes Head-ship that said and as he thought very wisely too that hee had read in some Vocabulary that Cephas signified an head therefore Peter was head of the Church But if that should have been granted him yet it would not follow that the Pope is therefore so too For Belarmine a better scholar by far is forced to say Forte non est de jure divino Rom Pontificem Petro succedere Perhaps it is not by any divine right Lib. 2. de Rom. Pontif. c. 12. that the Pope succeedeth Peter And again Rom Pontificem Petro succedere non habetur expresse in Scripturis It is not expresly set down in the Scriptures that the Pope succeedeth Peter And the hairs of thine head like purple Which was the colour of Kings and Princes The Saints called here the hair of the Churches head for their number or multitude are Princes in all lands Psal 45.16 yea they are Kings in righteousness as Melchisedech was a King but somewhat obscure Compare Mat. 13.17 with Luke 10.24 Many righteous saith one Many Kings saith the other have desired to see those things that yee see c. The King is held in the galleries i. e. There is no King in the world so great and glorious but might finde in his heart to bee tied to these walks and to bee held prisoner in the sight of thee and thy bravery Like as King James comming first into the publique Library at Oxford and viewing the little chains wherewith each book there is tied to its place wished Rex Platon pag. 123. that if ever it were his destiny to bee a prisoner that Library might bee his prison those books his fellow-prisoners those chains his fetters Psal 138.4 5. 119. 72. The Psalmist shews by prophecying that even Kings comming to taste the excellency of the comforts of godliness and to feel the power of Gods Word should sing for joy of heart and greatly acknowledge the excelling glory of Christs Spouse the Church See Davids desire Psal 27.4 84. throughout Constantine and Valentinian two Emperours called themselves Vasallos Christi as Socrates reports the Vassals of Christ and Theodosius another Emperour professed that it was more honour and comfort to him to be membrum Ecclesiae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarch quam caput Imperit a member of the Church than head of the Empire Nay Numa second King of Rome though but a Heathen held it an higher honour to serve God than to reign over men Some Interpreters by the King here understand Christ coveting the Churches beauty Psal 45.12 and held fast bound unto her in the bands of pure affection of spiritual wedlock Vers 6. How fair and how pleasant art thou O love for delight Emphatica haec admodum sunt cum toties exclamatio ponatur saith one This is a most Emphatical exclamation proceeding from admiration and importing that all that hee could say of her was too little Well might the Prophet say As the Bridegroom rejoyceth over his Bride so doth thy God over thee Isa 62.5 Hence hee can make no end here of commending her but having finished one praise hee presently begins another This yields infinite matter of comfort to the Saints that Christ loves them so dearly prizeth them so highly praiseth them so heartily Howbeit let not them hereupon turn again to folly Psal 85.8 or give way to carnal security Laetemur in domino sed caveamus à recidivo Argue not from mercy to liberty that 's the Devils Logick but from mercy to duty as those good souls do Ezra 9.13 14. Having received such and such both privative and positive favours should we again break thy commandments There is so much unthankfulness and dis-ingenuity in such an entertainment of mercy that holy Ezra thinks heaven and earth would bee ashamed of it Shall wee continue in sin that grace may abound saith the Apostle Rom. 6.1 And it is as if hee should say that were most unreasonable and to a good heart impossible A man may as well say the sea burns or fire cools as that assurance of Christs love breeds careless and loose living They that hold so know not the compulsive power of Christs love 2 Cor. 5.14 nor what belongs to the life of God Eph. 4.18 Vers 7. This thy feature is like to a palm-tree This thy whole stature and feature of body that hath been already pourtraied and described particularly and piece-meal is like to a palm-tree strong and straight fresh and flourishing so that thou maist say with the palm in the Emblem Nec premor nec perimor Pliny Aristotle Plutarch and Gellius have written of the palm-tree that it is alwaies green bearing pleasant fruit and that it will not bow downward or grow crooked though heavy weights bee hanged upon it The Church is all this and more ever green even in the winter of affliction when the oak loseth her leaves See the Note on chap. 1.16 full of the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus
de re rust or a countrey be brought forth in one day a Nation be born at once Cardinal Pool abused this Scripture in a letter to Pope Julius 3. applying it to the bringing in of Popery again here so universally and suddainly in Queen Maryes dayes So he did also another when at his first return hither from beyond sea he blasphemously saluted the same Queen Mary with those words of the Angel Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee Ver. 9. Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth i. e. Shall I set upon a work and not go through with it God began and finished his work of Creation Christ is both Authour and finisher of his peoples faith Heb. 12.2 The holy Ghost will sanctifie the Elect wholly and keep them blamelesse unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thes 5.23 Nescit tarda molimina Spiritus sancti gratia saith Ambrose Otherwise his power and mercy would not equally appear to his people in regeneration as the power and mercy of the Father and the Son in Creation and Redemption Ver. 10. Rejoyce ye with Jerusalem As friends use to do with her that is newly made a mother Luk. 1.58 Rejoyce for joy with her Out of the Church there is no solid joy See Hos 9.1 with the Note Others may revel the godly only rejoyce their joy is not that of the mouth but of the heart nec in labris nascitur sed fibris it doth not only smooth the brow but fills the breast wet the mouth but warm the heart c. Ver. 11. That ye may suck and be satisfied with the brests of her consolations Zion is not only a fruitful mother but a joyful nurse God giveth her the blessings both of the belly and of the brests and these brests of hers are full-strutting with the sincere milk of the Word that rational milk 1 Pet. 2.2 the sweet and precious promises of the Gospel These brests of consolation we must suck as the babe doth the mothers dug as long as he can get a drop out of it and then sucks still till more cometh Let us suck the blood of the Promises saith one as a dog that hath got the blood of the bear he hangs on and will hardly be beaten off Let us extort and oppress the Promises saith another descanting upon this text as a rich man oppresseth a poor man and getteth out of him all that he hath so deale thou with the Promises for they are rich there is a price in them consider it to the utmost wring it out The world layeth forth her two breasts or botches rather of Profit and Pleasure and hath enow to suck them though they can never thereby be satisfied And shall almamater Ecclesia want those that shall milk out and be delighted with the abundance of her glory Ver. 12. Behold I will extend peace to her This and the following Promises are the delicious milk spoken of before sc pax copiosa pâ—rennis peace as a river as the waters cover the sea joy unspeakable and full of glory Gods fatherly care motherly affection c. all that heart can wish or need require Like a river As Euphrates saith the Chaldee Like a flowing stream Or overflowing as Nilus Claudian Qui cunctis amnibus extat Vtilior Ye shall be born upon her side Humanissime suavissime traÌ„ctabimini ye shall be born in the Churches armes laid to her brests set in her lap dandled on her knees c. Hac Similitudine nihil fierà potest suavius See Num. 11.12 Ver. 13. And as one whom his mother comforteth Her darling and dandling especially when she perceiveth it to make a lip and to be displeased mothers also are very kind to and careful of their children when they are grown to be men A Lapide in Isai 56.20 as Monica was to Austin and as Matres Hollandicae the mothers in Holland of whom it is reported quod prae aliis matribus mirè filios suos etiam grandaevos ament ideóque eos vocant tractant ut pueros See Isa 46.4 with the Note Ver. 14. And when ye see this your heart shall rejoyce Videbitis gaudebitis you shall see that I do not give you good words only but that I am in good earnest ye shall know it within your selves in the workings of your own hearts as Heb. 10.34 And your bones shall flourish like an herb i. e. They shall be filled again with moisture and marrow See Ezek. 37.10 11. you shall be fair-liking and reflourish And the hand of the Lord i. e. His infinite power tantorum beneficiorum in piis operatrix the efficient cause of all these comforts Ver. 15. For behold the Lord will come with fire With hell-fire say the Rabbines here with the fire of the last day say we whereof his particular judgements are as pledges and preludes And with his charrets like a whirlwind As he did when he sent forth his armies the Romans and destroyed those murtherers the Jews and burnt up their City Mat. 22.7 And when they would have reedified their City and Temple under Julian the Apostate who in hatred to Christians animated them thereunto balls of fire broke forth of the earth which marred their work and destroyed many thousands of them Ver. 16. For with fire Then which nothing is more formidable And with his sword Which is no ordinary one chap. 27.1 Ver. 17. In the gardens Where these Idolaters had set up Altars offered sacrifices Donec me flumine vivo Abluero Virg. Qui noctem in flumine purgas Pers i. e. nocturnam Venerem and had their ponds wherein when they were about to sacrifice heathen-like they washed and purified themselves one after another and not together which they held to be the best way of purifying This they did also not apart and in private but in the midst ut hoc modo oculos in nudis lavantium praesertim muliercularum corporibus pascerent that they might feed their eyes with the sight of those parts which nature would have hid for your Pagan superstitions were oft-times contrary to natural honesty Behind one tree in the midst Or as others render it after or behind Ahad which was the name of a Syrian Idol Saturnal lib. 1. cap. 23. representing the Sun as Macrobius telleth us calling him Adad Ver. 18. For I know or I will punish their works and their thoughts Or yea their thoughts which they may think to be free See Jer. 6.19 It shall come to passe that I will gather It is easie to observe that this Chapter consisteth of various passages interwoven the one within the other of judgments to the wicked of mercyes and comforts to the godly c. All Nations and tongues A plain Prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles to the Kingdom of Christ for which purpose the miraculous gift of tongues was bestowed upon the Apostles And they shall come and see