was blessed and so must stand it coulde not be altered If they desired so to destroy them that they shoulde bee no people or but a fewe it was playnly tolde them that they shoulde bee as the dust of the earth that is innumerable If they desired but to holde them vnder for that point they had their aunswere also that they had the strength of the Vnicorne and that as a Lion they shoulde anietly sende on their pray Easilie distressed by others when the Lord was offended with them but afterward invincible wheresoever they cam and rise vp and lie downe at their pleasure During the time that the Lorde was offended with them and for that cause woulde not giue them any entrie yet into the lande of promis nor to preuaile against their enimies a fewe of the Canaanites beate them away when they approched but somewhat neare to the border of them But afterwarde when the time of that his displeasure drewe towardes an ende and that nowe hee was disposed to bring them in and to make it known that they were his people howe notably did they preuaile in whatsoeuer they tooke in hande Nom. 21.3 They notably preuayled against certaine of the Canaanites that prouoked them in the way Ib. 21.35 they vtterly destroyed the two kingdomes of the Amorites that denied them passage and they did so great an execution against the Midianites who by their wiles had wonne certaine of the Israelites to idolatrie Nom. 31.32.35.49.50.25 and whoredome that being but twelue thousande in all they stewe the fiue kinges of the Midianits and Balaam their lewde Prophet with them and tooke a notable pray besides of sixe hundred threescore and fifteene thousand sheepe threescore twelue thousande beeues threescore and one thousande asses and thirtie and two thousand maidens and yet notwithstanding lost not one man of their companie whereupon they gaue a free-will offering of sixteene thousande seuen hundred and fiftie shekels of golde amounting vnto in our coine about 7468 ounces When they were to make their entrie howe did Iordan that great water stay his course beeing at that time strong and great and gaue them passage on the drie grounde and immediatly after how did those strong and high walles of Iericho of themselues fall downe on euery side as the people of Israel stoode about them A while after again when a great power of the enimies had gathered them selues together against the people of Israel Iosh 10.11.14 howe did the Lorde destroy a great number of them with haile from Heauen and howe did both the Sunne and the Mooone stay their course and stoode still where they were at the commaundement of Ioshua to giue them time and light to make an vtter destruction of them And so proceeding in the conquest hee slewe one and thirtie Kings tooke away their kingdomes and parted the same among the people But the whole course of the scriptures besides doe playnely witnes that howsoeuer it hath pleased God oft times to stay for a season the iust and due aduancement of his owne glorie and therein to holde his children vnder some harde and grieuous discipline yet in the ende and when the time appointed was come hee hath fully declared what regarde hee had both vnto the cause it selfe and vnto those that tooke part with it And seeing that by these fewe not culled out of the whole but taken as they lie together within that compasse it is apparant ynough what comfort we might haue in the rest that are of this kinde therefore it shall not bee needefull to prosecute all but to holde our selues contented onely with these 17 Wherein if yet this once more wee come in our selues what letteth The application of those former examples unto our selves and to the present estate of the Church now but that out of the examples before set downe wee also might rayse vnto our selues the selfe same comfort that before wee spake of Hath Ishmael beene so long grieuous to Izhak already and yet may wee in no wise hope that hee can bee cast out as yet Shall Esau still bee so heauie to Iaakob for the blessing that is bestowed on him shall hee make him still to runne his countrie and to serue in so harde a bondage else-where and shall the Lorde playnely pronounce that the elder shoulde bee subiect vnto the yonger and yet may we not after so long and grieuous banishmentes endured hope in the end to see the performaunce of that his promis no not nowe when wee see that from Heauen hee hath giuen vs such helpes and made vs so ready a way vnto it May wee in Ioseph so plainly behold the very cause why they haue bin so grieuous vnto vs liuely set forth in perfect colours and yet may we in no wise hope to find the like issue likewise in the end for what other cause haue they but for that they doe perceiue that God meaneth for to aduaunce the selfe same cause that wee haue in hande And seeing that for a time they haue kept it vnder why may we not hope that there is a time likewise when it is to preuayle against them and to attayne vnto the honour that is due vnto it In bondage likewise long wee haue beene with the children of Israel in the lande of Aegypt and may wee not looke with them also to bee deliuered When the Lorde wee see hath sent his Moses and Aaron with the worde of his mightie power when wee see that those his seruauntes faythfully doe their message to Pharaoh and require him in the name of the Lorde to let his people goe when wee see it is euident also that the Lorde so ioyneth with them that notably hee sheweth foorth his power before them all and strongly shaketh certayne of those states that stande against him must wee notwithstanding be so farre out of heart without former oppression that wee may in no case hope although wee haue so pregnant tokens that nowe the Lorde is in hande to worke foorth our wished deliueraunce And what though nowe it doe repent many of them that they haue set vs goe so much as they haue what though hearing that we are sometimes intangled in some wildernesse of theirs thereupon they come foorth against vs with a freshe power either to bring vs back into bondage againe or else to put vs all to the sword Is it of necessity that because they woulde so haue it therefore it must bee so in deede Can they in no wise otherwise take it but that if once we bee entangled then are they sure to preuaile agaynst vs When they haue seene such iudgementes of God before and themselues haue lately ynough sufficiently felt the hande of God in this quarrell can they notwithstanding neuer suspect that the wrath that of Lord which they haue so many ways so iustly prouoked may by such meanes trayne them foorth to further vengeance Or if the oportunitie of the place giue heart
they were holpen by him How slenderly he set in hand to séeke redresse in these matters may sufficiently appeare if we do but vnfould his doings herein and consider of them For certeyne it is that somewhat he did and such as might beare a reasonable shew and yet notwithstanding his doings being better considered he did in a manner nothing at all That somewhat he did That which might beare some reasonable shewe was first on behalfe of some part of the people then afterward somewhat that he did on behalfe of them all That which he did on behalfe of some part of them was that peece of seruice that he did at o 11.1.13 Iabesh Gilead one of the the Cities beyond Iorden which Nahash the King of the Ammonites had strongly besieged and when the Citizens sued for peace he would in no wise graunt it vnto them but vpon a very cruell and dishonorable condition which was that he might thrust out the right eye of euery one of them and so bring a perpetuall reproach vpon them and vpon the whole nation withall Wherevpon the spirit of the Lord comming vpon Saule he sent foorth his messengers to commaund the people forth-with to followe he quickly got a great number together made haste to Iabesh raysed the siege and gaue a notable ouerthrowe to the enemie Insomuch that whereas before certeyne euill persons made light account of him which also was easily put vp of the rest now were the people generally so farre in loue with this their new King that had not Saul himself stayed them needes would they haue had those ill persons to haue been sought out and for that their former contempt to be put to death now That which afterward he did on behalfe of them all was some part of it of his owne accord and some part agayne by the direct commandement of God Of his owne accord both he did somewhat at the first entrie into his kingdome and afterward he proceeded somewhat further also At his first entrie into his kingdom both p 13.2 he chose out 3000. men to haue in a readinesse vpon all occasions two thousand to attend vpon himselfe and the other thousand on Ionathan his sonne and q 13.5 when the Philistims now began to inuade them agayne he did not only r 13.35.16 addresse himselfe to giue them battaile but also when as ſ 14.1.15 by other meanes they were discomfited he t 14.20 followed vpon them and gaue vnto them a great ouerthrow That which somewhat after he did was in effect no more but this that he did his endeuour in some measure to deliuer his countrie from their enemies Which thing is deliuered vnto vs by two speciall poynts one how he esteemed of such as were meet for the warres the other in what sort he dealt with the enemie Concerning the former u 14 52. it is sayd that he made much of them Concerning the latter it is sayd first generally that x 14.47 not only he did still warre vpon them on euery side and that y 14.52 right sore agaynst the Philistims but also that he z 14.4 euer put them all to the worse and did a 14.48 much rid his people out of the hands of those that spoyled them More specially there are numbred among them not only those of whom we haue some storie set downe as the Ammonites Philistims and the Amalekites but others also of whom we haue no further storie as the Moabites Idumeans and the Kings of Zoba That which he did by the speciall commaundement of God was his expedition b 15.1.9 agaynst the Amalekites at such time as God was disposed to be auenged on them for an old iniurie that almost 400. yeres before they had done to the children of Israel as in the Wildernesse they were passing on to the land of promise In which expedition although he did not execute the iudgment of God agaynst them so strictly and fully as he was commaunded to do yet c 15.7.8 made he a great destruction of the enemie and besides that d 15.6 had a speciall care of the Kenites certeyne auncient friends of the children of Israel to get them out of the way But that it was nothing to speake of that they perished not with the other That yet notwithstanding all these goodly shewes he did in a manner nothing at all it appeareth in this for that the Lord doth flatly reiect him for the want that he found in him Which want of his was of the chiefe and principall matter of all that is of an heart or setled purpose in al things to awayt the Lords direction and then to frame his doings thereafter For seeing that now he was chosen to bee King of Israel that is both to susteyne the person of God among them and to gouerne them not as his owne but only as the people of God how could he but see that now of necessitie he must needes resigne himselfe vnto God euer to seeke his direction of him and in all things to do as he should appoynt That so he did not we haue deliuered vnto vs by two examples that playnlie declare how short he was in those two poynts one in that e 13.9 he awayted not the comming of Samuel the other in that f 15.9 he did not execute the sentence of GOD agaynst the Amalekites with that seueritie that was appoynted In both which notwithstanding we may see that he grewe so néere to his full duetie in those two poynts that a reasonable man would thinke he had done very well and yet in trueth he came very short of that which he ought to haue done in deede For as touching the former of them that is the awayting of Samuels comming the storie is this that Samuel promised to come thether vnto him g 10.8 both to instruct further what he should do and h 11.14 to renew or establish the kingdome vnto him with the generall consent of all before the Lord and therefore willed him there to abide till he came vnto him i 10.8 naming in deed but seauen dayes after the manner of their kinde of speach but yet not meaning any determinate number but that if he thought he taried somewhat long yet not to be wearie for so small a matter This platforme being layd forth vnto him now are wee to see how néere it is that he seemeth to come vnto it and how farre in trueth he commeth short of it He may seeme to come néere vnto it both in that he taried so long as he did and in that he had so good cause as he had then to breake vp He taried k 13.8 vntill the seauenth day and as it seemeth vntil the time of the euening sacrifice of that day it may be also that he taried fully the seauen dayes outright and so consequently altogether so long as the Prophet in strict letter required of him
good a forwardnes for that matter that well may we hope of the like successe in the end We see also what is the course wherein wee are to awayt this goodnesse of God and of howe little force it is that out of the oddes betwixt David and vs may bee obiected What therefore remayneth nowe but to lift vp our heades and to awayte the full aduancement of that glorious kingdome of Christe among vs In the house of Abraham Ishmael for a time was grieuous to Izhak because of the promise but his mother and hee were for the same cast out in the ende In the wombe of Rebekah Esau stroue against Iaakob his brother but both it was tolde Rebekah by and by that the elder shoulde serue the yonger and afterwarde it was brought to passe in deede that so hee did Esau hated Iaakob agayne because of the blessing wherewith Father Iahak had blessed him and although him selfe had made but very slender account of it yet when hee sawe that his brother had it hee fully purposed to destroy him for it But Iaakob was had to a place of safetie in the meane season while his brothers wrath was asswaged and his brother himselfe otherwise placed and afterwarde was hee brought home in peace with abundance of riches many children and a great familie vnto the quiet and peaceable fruition of so much of that blessing of his as that present estate of his was capable of peaceably soiourning in that lande of promis an earnest to him and to his children of greater mercies intēted towards them whence Esau and his were already remooued Ioseph Ioseph for the speciall knowledge that God had giuen him of great aduauncement in time to come was by his naturall but vnnaturall brethren soulde for a bond-slaue and so by them cast what was in them into the moste yrkesome and grieuous miserie of perpetuall bondage and after againe by the false accusation of the wicked and by the credulitie of such as had authoritie was cast into prison and there for a time both hee and his innocencie lay fast bound and in a manner buried together Yet in the end hee was deliuered his innocencie made knowne and himselfe brought to maruellous honour vnto whome not onely the Aegyptians but his owne brethren also yeelded all the obeisance they coulde The children of Israel in bondage The children of Israel for a time were in bondage and serued the Aegyptians a long season and by them were kept in miserable slauerie and when Moses himselfe pitying their estate was very forwarde and would haue holpen them somewhat before the time was come though at that true hee was in great fauour in the court and very mightie yet was hee not able to bring it to passe but medling with it somewhat to timely made it worse then it was before But afterwarde when the time was come God himselfe required the King of Aegypt to let his people goe to serue him and when hee woulde not hee powred foorth his plagues vpon them in so plentifull manner that hee made him fayne against his wil to let them goe and to suffer them to take away with them all their iewels and precious thinges euen all the spoyle of the Lande of Aegypt Intangled And when soone after hearing that the children of Israel were intangled in the Wildernes so that he might haue them at great aduantage to destroy them euery one hee repented nowe that hee had let them goe before and sought for to get them into bondage agayne or else to destroy them hee quickly founde that the date of the bondage of the people of God was nowe at end and that hee might not in any wise looke not so much as to bring them nowe afresh into their former estate of bondage againe much lesse to preuaile against their liues although of long time they had so done before Their intangling in the wildernesse was not to put them into their handes agayne but to prouoke them to come out to receiue the vengeance that they had so iustly deserued that seeing they would in no time finde the good and mercifull calling of God leading them vnto a sounde repentaunce of the former oppression and cruelty that they had exercised against the people of God they might now in their most iust destruction giue matter of great comfort and ioy to the people of Israel then and of better aduice and moderate dealing to all posterities that were to come In the wildernes as they passed by In the wildernes and hauing already nowe begun that long and tedious iourney of theirs as they trauailed on in their owne weakenesse fayntly ynough to the lande of promis the Amalekites that dwelt thereby coulde not finde in their heartes to suffer them to passe so quietly by them but must needes lay themselues in ambush to annoy them and euer nowe and then cut of some straglers of them But such order was taken with them that both presently they were beaten home by a fewe souldiers that were sent to encounter them and while Moses getting vp to an hill that was thereby helde vp that staffe of his whereby so many great workes haue beene done as the standarde of the Lorde vnto his people and had withall for the time to come an heauier iudgement denounced against them that for this their discurtesie to the people of God they shoulde afterwarde bee vtterly destroyed from the face of the earth A while after themselues Refusing to to enter into the land of promis euen all the whole company of them a very fewe seuerall persons onely excepted did so much offend the Lorde for that they woulde not enter the lande when the Lorde had layde it open vnto them that now by oath and sentence giuen hee excluded them for euer and woulde neuer suffer any of them all to goe in and see the goodnesse of it But yet mindefull of his promise to Abraham Izhak and Iaakob he afterward brought in their children into it as many in number as their fathers were that were excluded and somewhat me after that they were growne vp to mans state and had for a time born the punishment of their fathers sins Towards the end of this their iourney howe did the Moabites and Midianites together when they sawe the children of Israel to bee a mightier people Secretly assaulted by the wicked practises of the Moabites and Midianites then that by strong hande they coulde haue any hope to preuayle against them giue themselues to secrete practises howe earnestly did they labour Balaam for that cause to come vnto them howe many sacrifices did they willingly offer howe earnestly and howe often did they intreate the highest power of all to haue giuen them some hande against the Israelites the Israelites that meant no yll against them and that quietly lay in their campe little knowing how these were occupied And yet when they had done all that they coulde they coulde doe nothing Israel