Balaam letting out his Tedder for a time permitting him not only to go along with the Messengers of Moab c but also to erect Altars and offer Sacrifices and to use Inchantments for three times then pulls him back with shame and ignominy Thus God oft suffers Wicked Men to carry the Ball upon their foot 'till they come almost to the Goal and then defeats them of their golden dreams and highest hopes as he did this wicked Couple Balak had not his will nor Balaam his wages God made fools of them both pulling that morsel out of their mouths which they had almost devoured The Fifth Remark is Balaam before his departure gave Balak that pestilent Counsel of seducing Israel to Idolatry and Adultery v. 14. and after put into practice Numb 25.1 c. And tho' Moses concealeth the Counsel in this place because as Chaskuni saith Balaam said it to Balak in secret yet afterwards God reveals and records it Numb 31.16 and our Lord relates likewise what this Advertisement or Doctrine of Balaam was in particular Rev. 2.14 Balaam might assure Balak that at presen the was in no danger of Israel for God had Commanded that they should not meddle with Moab Deut. 2.9 but they shall subdue Moab hereafter to prevent this evil insnare them saith he with thy Idols c. then God will become their Enemy Thus Court Parasites propound to Princes Suavia potius quà m sana Consilia pleasing but pestilent Advice and so do officiously mischieve them yet Moab was destroyed after 2 Sam. 8.2 and Jerem 48. at large The Third Particular of Balaam's Extatick Oration which is his double Prophecy concerning the Rise of Christ and the Fall of Nations affords these Remarks First From his knowledge of Mysteries he so much magnifies in himself ver 16. Balaam saith he had the knowledge of the Most High that is not so much knowledge as the All knowing God hath but as the Chaldee Paraphrast explains it the most high God did illuminate him with this Prophetick knowledge this Sentence is added here more than was said in his Preface or Prologue to move attention v. 4. yet this great knowledge Balaam had was but Intuitiva Mentis consisting in the speculations of his mind it was not Directiva Vitae not directing him to lead the life of the Righteous that he might dye the death of the Righteous he knew but by hear-say as a Blind Man knows Colour the eye may be clear when the hand or leg are lame with a Palsie his light did but serve to light him into utter darkness he rebell'd against his light Job 24.13 and perished Balaam had so much light of knowledge that some say he sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost in giving such pestilent Counsel to Balak v. 14 c. The Second Remarks is from Balaam's Prophecy of the Kingdom of Christ saying I shall see him but not now I shall behold him but not nigh v. 17. Wherein he professeth that he saw by a Prophetick Revelation the future Kingdom of the Church the Israel of Godâ— begun in David but compleated in Christ the Son of David as if it were now present tho' the event were yet a great way off Balaam might say thus either 1. In the person of his posterity respecting those Wise Men his Countrey-Men of the East who came to Worship Christ at his Birth Mat. 2.2 and then saw him c. or 2. He might speak it in his own person that though he could not expect to see Christ coming in the Flesh his first coming in this life but he should be sure to see him in his second coming to Judgment at the Resurrection for then Every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him Rev. 1.17 Tho' Balaam here was Orthodox in this profession of his faith yet had he no well-grounded hope to see Christ as Abraham did who saw him and rejoyced John 8.56 Nor as Job did who beheld him as bis Redeemer c Job 19.25.27 't is only the pure in heart that shall see him then to their comfort Mat. 5.8 The Third Remark is The Rising-Star he foretells may partly be meant David who subdued Moab 2 Sam. 8.2 Psal 60.10 but chiefly 't is Christ who was usher'd into the World by a Star Math. 2.3 and calls himself the bright and Morning-Star Rev. 21.16 who was not so bright and glorious at his first coming but afterwards his glory increased to the brightness of the Sun Mal. 4.2 the Disciples beheld the glory of the Father in him Joh 1.14 Thus the Jews of old understood this Star for the false Christ who rose among them in the days of Trajan the Emperour and was called in allusion to this very Prophecy of Balaam Bar-â—ochab that is the Son of the Star but he being after slain in Battel the Jews seeing themselves deceived call'd him Bar-chozibah the Son of a Lye or falsehood c. The Fourth Remark is A Scepter shall rise out of Israel c v. 17. is also a Prophecy of Christs Kingdom for Shebet a Rod or Scepter is the Ensign of Dominion and Power of Government the Sign being by a Metonymy set for the thing signified Thâ—â—s that Mighty Monarch held a Golden Scepter in his hand Esth 4.11 and 't is said The Lord breaketh the Scepter of Rulers Isa 14.2 that is their Dominions So the Scepter of Christ's Kingdom is call'd a Scepter of Righteousness Psal 45.7 Heb. 1.8 and he shall Rule Nations with a Rod or Scepter of Iron Psal 2.9 wherewith he broke down the Dominion of Moab from corner to corner as this was done literally by David 2 Sam. 8.2 so Spiritually by Christ in destroying all Idolaters represented by Moab and Antichrist their head who some say was to be a Moabite however like Moabite Mengrels in Religion The fifth Remark is This Scepter of Christ shall conquer also the Children of Seth which some suppose to be 1. The Name of some famous King of the Moabites or the Name of some eminent City in Moab 2. Some take it for all the Children of Adam seeing Seth was the third Son of Adam Gen. 4.25 Abel being slain and all Cain's Posterity drowned by the Floud so that the Race of Mankind remained in Seth's Posterity by Noah 3. Others take the Name Seth not as a Proper but as an Appellative Name signifying such as were behind that is behind Balaam's back while he turned his face towards Israel ver 1. and those People behind Balaam's back while he stood in that posture were the Ammonites the Midianites and other Oriental Countreys reaching so far as Euphrates whom Junius and Tremellius call filios podicis expounding Seth by Achor pone behind Sons behind the Brich c. The sixth Remark is Edom c. shall be a possession for Valiant Israel c. ver 18 19. This truth was foretold Gen. 25.23 and fulfilled in part 2 Sam. 8.14 Jacob being a Type of the Godly and Esau of
at his alcending out of the Earth Suppose he had been Buried in it which cannot upon any solid groud be supposed yet having been Buried about Two Years before this time his Body must needs be so putrified and his Mantle so marr'd much more that the Devil could not assume either but it was a meer Aerial shew of the Devil 's making to represent Samuel and to act his part but no real thing More of this Subject may be met with in Descanting upon the following Verses The Ninth Remark is How the Dialogue was Transacted betwixt Saul and Satan Mark First Saul greets the Spectrum with Congees and Adoration v. 14. Mark Secondly Mock Samuel complains that he had disquieted him v. 15. which the true Samuel would not have said had he come in obedience to God's Command When God sent Moses and Elias at the Transfiguration of Christ Matth 17.3 They complained not of any disquietment And as this Elias or Elijah said to Ahaziah Is it because there is not a God in Israel that thou sends to Beelzebub the God of Ekron 2 King 1.2 3. So the true Samuel would have said to Saul such words How hast thou sinned thy God away that now thou art constrained to make the Devil and this Witch thy Refuge c. Mark Thirdly Saul Answers Pardon me for disquieting thee because my Distress hath forced me to this unmannerly incivility I am at a non-plus and none but thy self can direct me as formerly thou hast done in thy Life time what is best to be done by me in this distressed condition v. 15. So that God had so blinded Saul's Eyes for his greater condemnation that he verily believed Satan in Samuel's Shape and Garb and Acting his Part was the very real Samuel raised from the Dead and had it been so yet was it false that Saul had disquieted him for he was not the cause that was the Witches work but the occasion thereof only Mark Fourthly The Spectrum's Answer Wherefore dost thou ask of me v 16. Knowest thou not that I cannot favour thee seeing thou art God's Enemy God will do for David what I told thee off c. v. 17. As Satan had Personated Samuel in his Form so now in his Words in all this conference And God permitted both Saul to think it was the true Samuel for his sorer punishment and this Evil Spirit to speak so Gravely so Severely and so Divinely as Samuel himself could not have Delivered himself in a more Elegant and Succinct Oration N. B. No Divine of the highest Rank could have Preached any Funeral Sermon better than the Devil doth Saul's here c. Yet the Devil's design was to nourish Saul and to encourage others in this wicked way of Consulting with Witches Yea and God comples this Lying Spirit to tell some truths as Matth. 8.29 such as the rending of Saul's Kingdom from him because the whole was not at first taken from Saul's Posterity but a part of it was held for a while by Ishbosheth his Son See the like 1 King 11.31 in Rehoboam's Reign c. Mark Fifthly The Spectrum tells Saul of his sins the causes of his sufferings but with notorious partiality Saul had committed many heinous sins for which he deserved Rejection c. as the Murthering of so many of the Lord's Priests the persecuting of Innocent David against his own knowledge and Conscience and that sin now to wit his resorting to a Witch for Relief But the Devil nameth not a word of these save only that concerning Amalek v. 18. N. B. Note well The wiles of the Devil and his methods here He had before tempted Saul to spare Amaleck under the notion of a work of mercy and when he had overcome him to commit it then he accuses him for it and presses it upon his Conscience now in distress to bring him into despair for this horrible sin But such a Preacher is the Devil here 'T is the work of pious Preachers to Declare the whole Counsel of God Act. 20.27 and not to mince the matter as the Devil doth here telling Saul of one sin only and passing over others in silence Nor ought Ministers to administer Corrosives when Cordials are needful nor on the contrary Cordials for Corrosives but a word in season Isa 50.4 Mark Sixthly This Mock-Samuel comes in with his Moreover to Morrow thou and thy Sons shall be with me c. v. 19. Here he lays more load upon this already Despairing Wretch Saul that he might hurry him head-long to Hell Thus Satan played the fawning parasite with Saul until he had sinned but now after he had sinned he proves a Cruel Tyrant to him This in the general N. B. Note well And more particularly Mark this Mock-Samuel's double Quibble in his two Ambiguous expressions exactly like the Devil's Oracles at Delpho's which might be taken in a Double Sense either Good or Evil to save the Devil's Credit however the Event happened which he could but give his conjecture thereof from the probability of his comparing Causes with Causes so might be mistaken The first quibble here is To Morrow which strictly taken signifies the next Day and so the Devil Lyed for it was two or three Days after this that Saul and his Sons were slain seeing the Philistines were now but preparing for the Battle Achish created David his Captain of the Life-Guard v. 2. here but 't is from the disgust of the Philistines Lords David was dismissed Chap. 29.2 c. But if Morrow be largely taken as oft it is for a time near approaching as Exod. 13.14 Deut. 6.20 Josh 4.6 21. in all which places it is read the time to come but more plainly Matth. 6.34 So Satan saved his Credit as the Man did in his Motto Good Ale to Morrow for nothing The second of Satan's quibbles was Shall be with me that is in a good state if understood of Samuel or in a bad state if understood of Satan who was thought by Saul to be Samuel and therefore flattered him into an opinion of his future felicity especially for his dying in the cause of God for his Israel But the true sense is In the state of the Dead and not either Hell or Heaven for Heaven was too good a place for Wicked Saul and Hell too bad a place for Godly Jonathan Hereby also Satan perswades Saul that the Soul Dies with the Body c. The Tenth Remark is Saul's consternation He swounds at the sad tidings v. 20. When Saul had sought the Devil as he should have sought God by fasting and prayer then the Devillurches him in this forlorn state for we find not a word more of or from this Mock-Samuel but the Witch comes and commiserates him after this private conferrence v. 21. Prepares a Morsel for reviving him after his long fasting Saul is sullen yet she with his Servant compels him to Eat for loth she was he should Die within her Doors lest she should be questioned for
sort of Persecutors he violently broke open many Doors of the Houses where those Christians had their private Meetings and there he spared none of either Sex but haled both Men and women by the Hair of their Heads as if they had been taken Captives in the heat of War and cast them into Prison and still which was worse than all this he compelled them to blaspheme Acts 26.11 that is not only to renounce their Religion but also to curse their Crucified Christ therefore confesseth that he had been not only a Persecutor but one who had been notoriously Injurious 1 Tim. 1.13 Phil. 3.6 The Remarks hereupon are 1. That there is a blind Zeal misguided by an Ignis Fatuus a Will-with-Wisp or rather by a false Fire from Hell His Zeal was only exercised in persecuting the Church Phil. 3.6 that could not conform to the Pharisaical Traditions N.B. Zeal is good when it acts in a good matter Gal. 4.18 but this of Saul's was not so Gal. 1.13 He saith the same of his own Zeal as of that of the Jews that it was a Zeal without knowledge Rom. 10.2 3. though a warm yet a blind Zeal They knew not that Christ was the End and Accomplishment of the Law and that his Righteousness not that of the Law was only acceptable to God If Zeal be not qualified with knowledge all will be on fire as the primum-mobile with its swift Revolution would be were it not cooled by the counter-motion of the lower Spheres Blind Zeal is as wild-fire in the hand of a Fool 't is like the Devil in the Demoniack which casts him sometimes into the Fire and sometimes into the Water Mark 9.22 Ignorance is a great Breeder and mostly great-bellied which Aristotle himself makes the Mother of mis-rule and mischief The dark corners of the Earth saith the Psalmist are top-full of cruelty Psal 74.20 The Soul that is without knowledge is not good and he that without knowledge basteth with his feet sinneth saith Solomon Prov. 19.2 The faster he goeth the farther he wandereth out of the Right way Mettle in a blind Horse is dangerous Yet this mad Zealot lived a blameless life otherwise Phil. 3.6 The second Remark is This black Character is designedly given here and elsewhere of this peevish Zealot as a foil to give the more lustre to the Riches of the Grace and Mercy of God towards him in changing such a bloody worrying Wolf into such a gentle and useful Lamb and of such an unparallel'd Persecutor to make such an eminent and wonderful Pastor N.B. All this is Recorded of him that none might despair of Saving-Mercy who can but find hearts given them to repent of their sins and to be converted c. The third Remark is the prospect of that black Hue which this young Persecutor had put upon him by being dip'd in the Devil 's Dye-Fat N.B. Satan before his Fall did think none but after his Fall would have none better than himself therefore makes he Saul here as bad as himself both in Malice and Sin These two Evils whether in Devils or in Men are equally Aged and be as equally Evil both have the same Name and Nature as if there were no sin but Malice All Evil is envious The good that a bad man will not imitate he cannot but envy He that grieves not because himself is evil usually Irks that another is good As Sin separates 'twixt God and Man so it sows Enmity 'twixt the Devil and Man yet can it combine wicked men to become Sworn-Brethren in Iniquity not only in being but also in doing Evil. N.B. This Confederacy is not Union or Concord but the worst sort of Conspiracy as was that of Herod's and Pilate's against Christ When Thieves shake hands 't is done for malice and mischief against the truly honest Man Judas both consents to and consults with the Priests for killing Christ Saul consents only which is always the first step to sin with the Stoners of Stephen Acts 8.1 and 22.20 N.B. To behold Evil and not to dislike it is to consent to it By-standers may be Accessories making the offence of others their own by their consent He that forbids not Evil furthers it Particpat Nutans non obstans non manifestans Either Saul's degree was above the Office of an Executioner or his Age was under it Yet if he may not be a Partner in the Murder he will be a Witness yea a Witness of the Witnesses who laid down their cloaths at his feet Acts 7.58 N.B. No Age is innocent Childhood and Youth are vanity Eccles 11.9 10. This Young Man though not rejoycing in the vain pleasures of his Youth yet was villanous and violent in a malicious persecution of the Gospel of Truth So villany as well as vanity was found in this Youth who might be too young to have Might enough for casting a Stone at a Martyr's head with his hand yet was there no want of Malice in his heart though there was not Might in his hand to hold the cloaths of those that could more mischievously cast them So Saul stoned Stephen with his heart while his hands held the cloaths of those that did it and probably prompted them on therein So Saul stoned Stephen by the many hands of the mad Multitude as if his own hands alone were not enough to stone him N.B. Now being once flesh'd in Stephen's Blood Saul becomes a second Nimrod a mighty Hunter not satiated with devouring one silly Lamb whose flesh still sticks in this Wolf's Teeth becomes now bolder to seize upon the whole Flock Stephen's Blood had only made his mouth to water after a deeper Draught and a fuller Carouse of the Saint's Blood as one who could not sit down satisfied with destroying one single Saint without dissolving the whole Communion of Saints Having thus far spoke 1. To the Efficient Cause or Instrument of this Fourth Persecution I come 2. To speak of the sad and deplorable Effects thereof which is expressed in those words They were all scattered abroad throughout the Regions of Judaea and Samaria excepting the Apostles Acts 8.1 There be various Opinions about the All that were scattered hereby The first Opinion is that this All here is to be taken largely for the Multitude of Believers who were the Constituting Members of the first Gospel-Church at least so many of them as could not commodiously Abscond and had conveniency to fave themselves by flight This was allowed or rather commanded by Christ Matth. 10.23 Therefore they are too Rigid that discommend it The second Opinion taketh this All more strictly for all the Teachers of the Church those extraordinary Gifted Deacons and others who Preached the Word a work only proper for Ministers Acts 8.4 one of which number was Philip who Preached at Samaria verse 5 c. which very Imploy is ever most obnoxious to Persecution N.B. This sense is the more probable For 1. Luke's scope is to write an History of the one