mother Mary and fleeth into Egypt Mat. 2. And properly putteth meat into the childs mouth 2280. Er and Onan died Gen. 38. ER and Onan hauing committed horrible sinne before God are slaine and no seed left vnto them Then according to the custome Thamar thought to haue had the third sonne Selah to haue raysed vppe seede But Iuda neglecting it shee attyred her selfe like a light woman and lay in the way as Iuda should goe to the sheepe shearing whom Iuda knew and at the time she bare two children Phares and Serah for which fact Iuda would haue burnt her Whereby we may know that before the law giuen by Moses they had the same equitie of iustice for punishing of sinne that they had afterwards In Moses Law a Magistrate might not be condemned vnder three witnesses Thamar condemneth Iuda by three witnesses his Seale Bracelet Staffe From this deede of Iuda we may vnderstand that the prerogatiue That his brethren should praise him could not be meant of himselfe but herein is manifest the gifts of God to be of grace and not of nature For if Iuda had bene rare for godlinesse the prerogatiue of nature might seeme to haue caused Christ to haue come of him 2288. Isaack died Gen. 35. being 180. yeeres old HEe is the longest liuer after Heber and liueth longer then Abraham To shew that he was a child of Promise For if Abraham begetting him when he was old he should haue died quickelie what rare blessing had it beene to Abraham And therefore that the power of God might be seene euen in the weakenesse of man Isaack hath a longer life than Abraham or any after him Heereuppon it may bee concluded the booke of Tobias to bee false because it maketh Tobies life so long and thereby seemeth to crosse Iacobs blessing Besides wee shall finde that in Nehemiahs time they which came out of captiuitie doe out-liue any in the Scriptures that come after and these men were accounted old The longest liuer of them commeth short of Isaacks age Ezrom borne of him nothing is spoken  2298. Iacob goeth into Egypt Gen. 47. Hee is nourished of Ioseph 17. yeeres NOw for this number of 215. how is that performed Genesis 17. where God saith to Abraham Thy seede shal be euill intreated in a land that is not theirs 400. yeeres Seeing they continue in Egypt but 215. yeeres they were afflicted by some of Egypt 400. yeeres For Ismael the Egyptian by Hagar mocketh Isaack in the beginning of the 400. yeeres and that mocking in the Scripture is called persecution and in the end of 400. yeeres they were afflicted vnto the comming out of Egypt so that they were not in Egypt 400. yeeres but they were afflicted first and last 400. yeeres Psal 105. Israel came into Egypt and Iacob was a stranger in the land of Cham to confirme the couenant that he made with Abraham and the oath that he sware vnto Isaack which he appointed to Iacob for a law to Israel for an euerlasting Testament saying Vnto thee will I giue the land of Canaan the lot of your inheritance When as yet there were but a few of them and they strangers in the land what time as they went from one Nation to another and from one kingdome to annother people hee suffered no man to doe them wrong but reprooued euen Kings for their sakes saying touch not mine anointed and doe my Prophets no harme Yet he called for a dearth vpon the land and destroyed all the prouision of bread But hee had sent a man before them Gen. 45. Euen Ioseph which was sold to be a bondseruant whose feet were hurt in the stocks and the yron entred into his soule vntill the time that his cause was knowne The word of the Lord tried him This famine ouer all the land of Canaan may appeare to be a punishment on Iacobs familie for selling Ioseph into Egypt IAcob goeth into Egypt and there telleth Pharaoh that he was 130. yeeres old Though Pharaoh in his demaund meant no more than a heathen man would to wit to know his yeeres and the age of his life Yet God so disposeth Iacobs answere that he signifieth vnto him that his comming into Egypt with seuentie soules is answerable in a contrarie degree to the first scattering of the seuentie families at the building of the tower of Babell In the 4◠yeeres there came three discents from Iacob Whereby it appeareth that Iuda and Pharez could not bee much elder when they begot children than Salomon was when hee begot Roboam which was about twelue yeeres of age By meanes of which speedie encrease there were of these seuentie in 215. yeeres sixe hundred thousand fighting men besides women and children godlie and of the household of faith to shew how God could performe his promise to Abraham that hee would make his seede as the starres of heauen and as the sand of the sea shoare Hereupon Abacuck saith that the counsels of God are eternall thereby teaching vs to marke diligently the time wherein God performeth his promises which may be made familiar by examples in this sort It is said Gen. 3. The seede of the woman shall breake the head of the serpent This was not performed till Christ tooke flesh of the Virgin and became man which was 4000. yeeres wanting but 70. after the promise made to Adam Satan to trie this tempteth Christ and is ouerthrowne Abraham goeth forth of his countrey to embrace the promise that God would giue him a land 430. yeeres before his seede should enioy it But the true performance was long after that is to say in Christ as Zacharias speaketh Luke 1. To performe the oath which he sware to our Father Abraham that would giue vs. God speaketh as though it should presently fall out but seeing one thousand yeres in his sight are as one day we must marke how his counsels are eternall It was spoken in King Achaz dayes by Esay 7.14 Beholde a Virgin shall conceaue a sonne He nor his seed sawe the performance thereof so was Isaack a figure of Christ and the Lambe kept it in memorie Daniel in his time prophesieth of 70. seuens or 490. yeeres before Christ the King should be killed to performe euerie vision and prophecie 2315. Iacob died in Egypt c. Gen. 49. HE is brought from Egypt to Canaan to bee buried in Hebron with Abraham and Isaack as a signe that he looked for the resurrection and enioying of the spirituall Canaan This place Caleb afterwards claimeth for an inheritance when he commeth into the lande for it was the first purchase and a signification of our pilgrimage in this life hauing here no abiding place Now let vs compare the iourneys of Abraham Iacob Iacobs sonnes and Christ together Abraham Iacob Iacobs sonnes Christ Was borne in Mesopotamia Hee goeth to Canaan Hee returneth to Egypt Hee dieth in Canaan Was borne in Canaan Hee goeth to Mesopotamia Hee returneth to Canaan Hee goeth into Egypt Hee is brought
the Gentiles is vnderstood vnder these words And God will perswade Iapheth to dwell in the Tents of Sem. The Prophet Noah spake not at randome when he sayd Blessed be the God of Sem. But what is there spoken short in due time is drawne out longer and the not regarding the blessing of Sem doth make many things in the new Testament to be neglected And first for Cham. HIs name signifieth Hote or Cholericke and those Countreys did his Sons after the confusion of tongues possesse namely in Africa in the South Countrey C ham the Prince of Affricke the spreader of wickednesse inhabited the fourth part of the world with his families His house neuer got any victorie but for some especiall punishment to bee shewed vpon Sems house C ham had a curse in this world and doubtlesse in the world to come He had foure Sonnes the first Cush of whome came the Ethiopians or in our tongue Burnt faces the second Mitzraijm of whome the Egyptians come for Mitzraijm doth signifie Egypt The third Put of whome the Lybians and Blackamores come and the fourth Canaan of whome the Cananites come in whome the curse of Cham was pronounced notwithstanding it falleth out also in all his other Sonnes And as Canaan was a slaue of slaues so are they that are of the like infidelitie so that oftentimes for the horrible impietie of one man the whole Nation fareth the worse This Canaan had eleuen Sonnes and himselfe made the twelfe and his Countrey was called Canaan which once was Paradise And as Paradise to Adam resembled the state of heauen so did the land of Canaan to the Israelites and the Iewes for it was a land abounding with all good things In Paradise was the tree of life In Canaan Christ was borne the true Tree of life Adam neglecting the true seruice of God in Paradise was driuen from thence The Iewes neglecting their Sabbaths and finally the knowledge of Christ were likewise driuen out of Canaan But as notwithstanding Adams fall saluation in Paradise was promised to all the world so notwithstanding the sin of the Iewes Christ in Canaan wrought the full saluation of all the world These eleuen Sonnes of Canaan were setled in one soyle that is in Canaan which is about One Hundred and Sixtie miles from North to South and Sixtie miles from Eeast to West Their names are Zidon who built Tyrus the glorie of the world for traffique of Marchandize Heth Gebusi who after Sems death as it should appeare possessed Ierusalem Amori Girgashi of whome there were some left till Christs time as Mat. 8.28 Hiuits of whome Abraham bought his burying place of whose kindred also Esau tooke him wiues Arkite Siuite Aruadite Zemathite Hemathite It is supposed they had so many tongues as there were Nations but it was no otherwise than our Cornish and Northerne men differ in their tongues These were Lordes of the whole soyle to plant build and replenish it against time to come that the twelue Tribes of Israel might haue Vineyards that they neuer planted and houses that they neuer builded Wherevpon Moses sayth Deut. 32. When the most high God diuided to the Nations their inheritance hee appointed the borders of a people according to the number of the Sonnes of Israel And when God promiseth to Abram Genes 14. that hee will giue his seede a Land that shall flowe with Milke and Honie hee bordereth it from Egypt to the great Riuer the Riuer Euphrates within which borders are contained the seuerall Lordships of Canaan and his Sonnes namely the Kenites the Kenâ—sites the Cadmonites the Hethites the Pheresites the Gyaunts the Amorites the Cananites the Girgashites and the Gebusites Because C ham scorned his Father who was the restorer of all the world therefore his Countrey was to bee giuen to Sems House the Iewes and they were driuen out of their Land by the Sword of Ioshua except some fewe who were left in the Land to bee spurres in the sides and thornes in the eyes of the Israelites who were to possesse it that when through the aboundance of wealth they grewe to forget God they might bee chastened with his rodde of correction Thus Kaines curse is extended euen to Canaan his youngest Sonne and hee is made a Seruant of Seruants to Sem that the blessing to Sem might appeare and the open cursed should serue the open blessed although it bee Nine Hundred yeares after Noahs prophecie to shewe that although God suffer the wicked a while and doth deferre his punishments vntill the sinne of the Ammorites come to a full ripenesse that yet hee is a righteous Iudge and sitteth vpon a fierie throne from whose presence doth issue Riuers of fire to consume all such as will not learne to knowe the seede of the woman to bee able to breake the head of the Serpent nor desire to dwell in the Tents of Sem acknowledging the God of Abraham the God of Isaach and the God of Iacob to bee the true God that keepeth couenant with all whose garments were washed in wine and his mantle in the bloud of grapes Nor marke that Shiloh is that Emanuel God with vs who is that Stone that can grinde the mightiest Gyaunt in the Land of Canaan to powder who haue eyes and will not see how God with fire from heauen consumed their Cities turning Lots wife into a pillar of salt ouerthrewe their kinsmen Pharaoh in the Redde Sea and made the walles of Iericho to fall downe without violent handes Chams house was not plagued for building Babel onely but for falling from the Religion of Sem and his posteritie had a deadly minde against true Religion And as Cham and the rest are in Gehenna in darkenesse so in the Scripture they are left in darknesse For there is no time of any of them mentioned when they died but are left in darkenesse The wicked men of Canaan would neuer yeeld to the truth but praised Gods of gold brasse and stone Now followeth for Iaphet HIs name signifieth Perswaded He had seuen Sonnes Gomer Magog Madai of whome came the Meedes Iauan of whome the Grecians and the Romanes come and Tubal and Mesech of whom the Muscouites come And Tiras of whome the Thrasians come Of these were the Isles of the Gentiles diuided in their Lands Iaphet hee was partaker with Sem in the action of couering their Father but Sem had the prerogatiue of the promise concerning Christ notwithstanding Iaphet was the elder And if you marke through all the Bible you shall not find the first borne of any of Christs Auncestors to haue the promise pronounced to them in open termes because Christ the first begotten of his Father would not come according to the lust of the flesh or course of nature but by grace Sem in regard of that had the glorie of God preached in his Tents vntill the acceptable Child did come in whome all Nations should bee blessed And when the glorie of Sems house which were the
of the tower of Confusion 70 of Sems posteritie 600. yeeres after were forced to goe into the land of Cham and there compelled to be bricke-makers vnder Pharaoh King of Egypt because they despised the blessing of Sem and remembred not the story of the 70. Families that built the tower of Babell To shew that when in prosperitie men forget God turning his graces into wantonnesse and his blessings to foolish pleasures that hee will take his blessings of bread and wine and oyle from vs driue vs into forraine Nations amongst Egyptian dogges to seeke reliefe whose succour shal be yokes of heauy bondage to punish vs in the same pleasure wherein we offended All the Seuentie Families doe afflict Sem for this before he hath his full renowne and in scattering of Iocktanes Sons they are placed furthest off Ierusalem of any Peleg diuided Christ is Palmoni the secret Numberer that weigheth numbreth and diuideth Vnto the building of the Tower of Babel we haue Sem Name Arphachsad Heaâ—ing Sale Spoyling Heber Pilgrime Peleg Diuâ—ded Put these together and you haue a short sentence A good name like precious Oyle shall heale the spoyling of poore strangers for God will dâ—uâ—de to euerie one accordâ—ng to his workes 1787. Regu borne Euill 1819. Sarug borne Bough or Plant. 1849. Nachor borne Drie 1878. Terah borne Smelling AN euill Plant that hath lost his sappe and is become drie being not watered with the dew of heauenly grace can giue no good smell which appeareth in that Terah quite forgetting that euer God created and consumed the world and brought the deuises of the Sonnes of Noah his great Grandfather to open shame of eternall memorie scattering them vp and downe like Vagabonds ouer all the earth figuring the calamities of their later ages the punishment wherof chiefely to be perfourmed in his owne kindred became an Idolatrer as Ioshua 24. Your Fathers in old time worshipped strange Gods euen Terah the Father of Abraham c. But marke the euent For euen as the Sonnes of Sem for ioyning with the rest were scattered with the rest so the posteritie of Terah by Abram euen the best of them namely the Iewes were once scattered Vagabonds ouer all the earth for not embracing the couenant of Abraham Isaack and Iacob but in mercie gathered together againe to the Mountaine of grace to Iacobs Well that giueth euerliuing water to so many as would acknowledge Christ the Rocke to the Land that flowed with Milke and Honie to Bethel the house of Iehouah where they might see a Ladder reaching from heauen to earth with Angels ascending and descending to that fresh springing hill of Sion which is watered with the dew of Hermon from whence it runneth like the precious oyntment that ran downe from Aarons beard to wash away their former vncleanesse and to purge their filthy leaprousie that they might be a sweet smelling sacrifice vnto the Lord holy and acceptable before his Throne hauing an high sacrificer to enter into the Holy of Holyest to make intercession for them that they might be free from confusion and deliuered out of the bondage of the outward and spirituall Babel But euen as the dog that returneth to his vomite and the hogge to his wallowing in the mire so these Iewes of vncircumcised hands and hearts forgetting all those and many more benefits of God bestowed vpon them crucifying Christ the King of glorie the God of Sem and not remembring their former punishments are once againe so scattered ouer the face of the earth that while the world endureth they shall be Vagabonds and neuer gathered together againe To teach vs that if God spared not them nor suffered them to continue in their transgressions being his peculiar people that wee are to looke for no other recompence than they had if we despise the knowledge of Christ as they did Terah hath three Sons Haran Nachor Abraham as Adam and Noah had 1996. Peleg died being 229. yeeres old He had not halfe the yeares of his Father Heber the most aged man after the flood liued not to halfe Methushelahs yeres to shew the curse that came by the flood So euery man in the world hath part of Gods curse by the flood 1997. Nachor died being 148 yeares old  2006. Noah died being 950 yeares old He liued after the flood 350 yeares that is Seuen Fifties or Seuen Iubilees of yeres as many as were from conquering the Land of Canaan to the gouernment of Samuel Noahs whole life was a singing of saluation to the holy Lambe seeing all the world drowned and he onely saued When Noah dyeth Abram was borne So God stirres vp one good man after another oftentimes 2008. Abram Borne His name signifieth His Father being the Tenth from Noah another establisher of Religion as Noah the restorer or comforter was the Tenth from Adam And as in Noahs dayes hee being the Tenth from Adam Gods Iustice ouer all flesh was extended so in Abram he being the Tenth from Noah Gods mercie to all the world is pronounced When Terah is 130 yeares old he begat So old was Adam when he begat Seth a foundation of Religion Iacob a bringer of Religion into Egypt is 130 yeares old when he standeth before Pharaoh Iehoiada the high sacrificer saueth Ioas the Kings Sonne from the malice of Athalia which had destroyed all the rest of the Kings seede and dieth being 130 yeares old While he liued Ioas kept Religion and worshipped the God of his Father After his death he fell away and suffered incense to be offered in the groues to whome Zacharias the Sonne of Barachias sayd Is this the reward of all my Fathers paines that assoone as my Father is dead you forsake the true God and worship the Gods of the Nations For which cause Ioas caused him to be slaine between the Altar and the Temple So that as death is contrarie to life and as at the birth of Seth and Abraham the graces of God were manifested to the world so at Iehoiadahs death the Tribe of Iuda lost all Religion It is a question howe Terah being an Idolatrer could name Abram Hie Father for so doth the word signifie He might guesse like a worldly man that his Sonne Abram should be likely to be rich and mightie and so should haue many vnder him Howsoeuer it was this is certaine that God directed the tongue of this Idolatrer to set forth and preach his glorie though his life had no shew of vertue Here is another question to be discussed of the age of Terah when he begat Abram Of Terah his age when he begat Abram SOme will haue Abram to be borne at Terahs Seuentieth yeare because in Gen. 11. it is sayd Terah liued Seuentie yeares and begat Abram Nachor and Haran Whereupon they gather that Abraham was the first borne because hee is put in the first place and that hee was borne in that yeare of Terah to wit the Seuentie But they marke not that Terahs Sonnes are
that married one of Iuda The story whereof hath beene mentioned before in the storie of Ismael the Egyptian The Iewes call themselues Hebrewes to keepe the storie of Heber in remembrance Concerning Moses education God so prouideth that hee is brought vp for the sonne of Pharaohs daughter He is instructed in all the learning of the Egyptians which was the Mathematicks and other humane arts The ouerflowing of Nilus compelled them to be skilfull in Astronomie His Arithmeticke and Geometrie is apparant in the Tabernacle and things therein appointed For though God gaue him instructions yet it could not be that hee should performe them without taking great delight in the proportions themselues which could not bee without great skill in the arte In the candlesticke the Iewes reckon fortie two peeces sixe seuens so you haue in this proportion the remembrance of the Creation and of the Sabbath and of those holy men who were speciall Seuens Basile in his Treatise vppon the Creation affirmeth that there was one to wit Moses the seuenth from Abraham vppon whom after a sort the Iewes should depend God giueth likewise to the heathen the knowledge of these things that thereby looking to the Creation they may admire his eternall wisedome and worship him as Creator And Moses himselfe so layeth them downe that a heathen by his skill in these arts may vnderstand the reason of them The summe of all is God saueth the world by Christ and vseth all humane knowledge as a seruant to teach the Redemption by Christ So Saint Paul speaketh in the acts that all his doctrine was nothing but Moses and the Prophets and their 's nothing but Christ In that sence likewise the Greeke tongue perteineth to Christ Moses knew that hee should bee a deliuerer and therefore seeing an Egyptian misvsing an Israelite hee killeth him Afterwards hee seeth two Hebrewes striuing together and hee commeth to them and telleth them they are brethren why then should they bee at variance They vpbraide him with the slaughter of the Egyptian Hee thought they would haue knowne him their deliuerer But hearing that this was knowne hee fleeth into the land of Madian Of this Saint Paul speaketh in the Epistle to Hebrewes cap. 11. By faith Moses refused to bee called the sonne of Pharaohs daughter and chose rather to suffer affliction with his brethren than to enioy the pleasures of sinne which last but for a season Thus Moses at fortie yeeres old sheweth himselfe a true Christian Hee marrieth Zephora Marie shee despiseth her because shee was of Chush but indeed she was of Abraham by Keturah for Madian one of her sonnes ouerrunneth Chush and so inioyeth the blessing by being of Abraham that Cham should be a seruant of seruants to Sems posteritie Therefore Zephora not inferiour to Marie Maries sinne for despising her was very great yea though it were of ignorance But if shee knew her generation and then through malice contemned her her sinne was so much the greater But whether shee vsed her ill of malice or ignorance wee cannot tell this wee may be sure of her sinne was haynous in the sight of God therefore shee was a leaper Moses ordeined of God to feed Israel was now a shepheard and kept the sheepe of his father in lawe Iethro Duke of Madian where Christ appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush of thornes who afterwardes in the dayes of his flesh hauing fulfilled Moses and conquered Satan is crowned whith a crowne of thornes euen with the same kinde of plant wherein hee appeared when hee called Moses Cle. Alexandrius Philo a Iewe is verie vsuall in the comparison betweene a shepheard and a King And Homer maketh King Agammenon the shepheard of the people For as sheepe will followe headlong through the gappe which the first brake though it bee euen to their perishing so is the rage of the people strengthned by errour and blindnesse of their nature Thus you see the plainesse and sweetnesse for pleasure of these fortie yeares Moses after this is sent by God to Pharaoh with an Ambassage which hee confirmeth by diuers miracles whereof Pharaohs Enchaunters did some the like This is applyed of Saint Paul against the Antichristian Heretickes as Iannes and Iambres resisted Moses so they resisted the truth but their madnesse shall bee made manifest to all men as theirs was 2. Tim. 3. Pharaoh is plagued with Ten seuerall Plagues The First plague The waters are turned into blood for Seuen dayes that they might bee punished for the death of the children which Pharaoh caused to be drowned in the Riuer that they might knowe that wherein one sinneth therein hee shall be punished The Second plague Frogges are ouer all the Land of Egipt The Antichrists haue spirits like Frogges The Third plague The dust bringeth Lice This the Magitians of Pharaoh could not doe here their madnesse is made knowne They cry that Moses wrought by the finger of God That Christ vseth against the Egyptia call pharisees Mat. 12. If I by the finger of God cast out Diuels c. The Fourth plague Sundrie Swarmes of diuers Vermine plague the Egiptians So Ap. 9. the Antichristian Idolatrers are likened to Scorpions are plagued with stinges of Scorpions The Fifth plague The Egiptians Beasts die of the Plague So Ap. 16. the Romane beast both causeth plague and is plagued The Sixt Plague Byles are vpon the Egyptians men and beasts So Ap. 16. sore and grieuous byles are vppon those that beare the name of the beast and worship his Image The Seuenth Plague Hayle and fire falleth vpon man and beast and on the grasse in the field So Ap. 18. In the rising of the Antichrist is haile and fire mixed with blood and in Ap. 16. great haile falleth vpon man so that men blaspheme God for the stroke of the haile The Eight Plague Locusts are ouer all Egypt So Ap. 9. out of the smoke of Papistrie went forth Locusts ouer all the earth The Ninth plague The Egiptians were Three dayes in darkenesse So Ap. 16. the Kingdome of the Beast is made darke and they bite their tongues for sorrow and blaspheme the God of heauen but doe not repent them of their workes The Tenth plague The Fourteenth day of Nisan in euerie house of the Egiptians some one is slaine So Ap. 19. a greater slaughter and more generall so that all the fowles of the ayre are called to take the Carkasses By Faith they ordayned the Passeouer and the effusion of blood least he that destroyed the first borne should touch them Heb. 11. Christ our Passeouer is offered for vs therefore let vs keepe the Feast 1. Cor. 5. Now follovveth the deliuerance out of Egipt Moses bringeth Israel out of Egipt Exod. 12. FOure hundred and thirty yeres after the promise giuen to Abraham as Exod. 12. when the foure hundred and thirtie yeares were expired euen the selfe-same day departed all the host of the Lord out of the Land of Egipt This foure
hundred hath relation to the time that Ismael and Hagar were expelled Abrahams house for Ismaels flowting of Isaack Here is the performance of Gods promise to Abraham Gen. 15. Thy seede shall be in a strange Land foure hundred yeares but the people whome they shall be in bondage to will I iudge saith God Which was made plaine in the ten plagues of Egipt and in the ouerwhelming of Pharaoh and his Chariots in the red sea as Exod. 14. and Psal 78. Maruailous things did the lord in the sight of our Fathers in the land of Ham euen in the field of Zoan he diuided the Sea and let them go through he made the waters to stand on an heap and led forth his people like sheep and carried them in the wildernesse like a flocke And Psal 114. When Israel came out of Egipt and the house of Iacob from among the strange people Iudah was his Sanctuarie and Israel his Dominion The Sea sawe that and fledde Iordan was driuen back this was performed at the beginning of the Law The Mountaines skipped like Rams and the litle hils like yong sheep c. And Psal 105. Egipt was glad at their departure for they were affraid of them And Psa 106. He rebuked the Red Sea and it was dryed vp he led his people through the deepe as through a wildernesse As for those that troubled them the waters ouer-whelmed them and there was not one of them left Then the children of Israel beleeued his words and sange praise vnto him But within a while they forgat his workes and would not abide his counsell but lust came vpon them in the wildernesse and they tempted God in the desert And Psa 78. They forgat what he had wrought in Egipt and his wonders in the field of Zoan How he led them in the day with a cloud and all the night through with a pillar of fire Hee claue the hard Rockes in the wildernesse and gaue them drinke thereof hee brought waters out of the Stonie Rocke so that it gushed out like the Riuers But they prouoked the most highest in the wildernesse and tempted God in their harts saying Shall God prepare a table in the wildernesse He smote the stonie Rocke indeed and the streames flowed withall but can he giue bread also or prouide flesh for his people wherewith the Lord was wroth so hee rained downe Manna from heauen So man did eate Angels food for hee sent them meat ynough At their desire he brought quailes and hee filled them with the bread of heauen hee rayned flesh vppon them as thicke as dust and feathered fowles as the sands of the sea he let it fall amonge their tents euen round about their habitation so they did eat and were filled for hee gaue them their owne desire they were not disappointed of their lust but while the meat was in their mouths the heauie wrath of God came vppon them and slue the wealthiest of them and smote downe the chosen men that were in Israel But for all this they sinned yet more Againe psal 106. They angred Moses in their Tents and Aaron the Saint of the Lord. So the earth swallowed vp Dathan and couered the congregation of Abiram and the fire was kindled in their companie the flame burnt vp the vngodly They made a Calfe in Horeb and worshipped the moulten Image Thus they turned the glorie of God into the similitude of a Calfe that eateth hay So he sayd he would haue destroyed them had not Moses his chosen stand before him in the gappe to turne away his wrathfull indignation yea they thought scorne of that pleasant Land and gaue no credence to his words but murmured in their Tents they ioyned themselues with Baal Peor and eat the offerings of the dead Thus still they prouoked God vnto anger with their inuentions and the plague was great amonge them But Phinees stoode vp and prayed and the plague ceased and that was counted to him for righteousnesse throughout all posterities for euer They angred him also at the waters of strife so that he punished Moses for their sakes because they prouoked his spirite so that he spake vnaduisedly with his lips Neuerthelesse he thought vpon his couenant and pitied them according to the multitude of his mercies as appeareth 2. Esdr 9 Thou camest downe vpon Sinay and spakest to them from heauen and gauest them right iudgements true Lawes good Commandements and Statutes and declaredst vnto them thy holy Sabbath and commaundedst them Precepts Ordinances and Lawes by the hand of Moses thy seruant and gauest them bread from heauen when they were hungry and broughtest forth water out of the Rocke for them when they were thirstie and promisedst them that they should goe in and take and possesse the Land but they were proude and became obstinate and heady but God forgaue them and was gracious and mercifull patient and of great goodnesse and forsook them not although they made a moulten Calfe and said These are our Gods that brought vs out of the Land of Egipt and did speake blasphemously yet hee forsooke them not in the wildernesse according to his great mercie Fortie yeares long made he prouision for them in the wildernesse so that they lacked nothing their clothes waxed not old and their feete swelled not In this Fortie yeares of their being in the wildernesse many things are to be vnderstood God chose these Forty that all the world might knowe of the Redemption by Christ It standeth of Foure Tens This time is made more famous by the Storie wherein a speciall thing is to be obserued that in all these Forty yeres you haue but three yeares storie and a halfe And thus it is cast One yeare is spent in the Tabernacle halfe a yeare after the Spies are sent to view the Land Vpon their Storie God sweares that they shall not enter into his rest From thence you haue no Storie till the two last yeares of the conquest of Ob and of Maries death This one would not thinke of if the bare Storie did not compell him For comparison with this three yeares and a halfe I will speake more hereafter You haue in the wildernesse the Lambe which represented Christ and Manna which Christ expounds in Ioh. 6. I am the true bread that came from heauen Your Fathers did eat Manna and are dead hee that eateth of this bread shall liue for euer The Rock signified Christ The lifting vp of the Serpent his death Balaam he prophecieth of Christ There shall come a Starre from Iacob and a Scepter shall rise from Israel Kittim and Assur shall afflict Heber but they also shall come to destruction at the last This prophecie begins in the sixt yeare of Ezechias THe time was in the Moneth Abib which Moneth containeth part of March and part of Aprill The Seuentie Interpreters call it Tanda the Moneth of greene blades for about this time of the yeare corne beginneth to shew it selfe aboue the ground Their yeare before
of iron and clay and brake them to peeces then was the iron the clay the brasse the siluer and the gold broken all together that no place was found for them and the stone that smote them became a great mountaine and filled the whole earth Dan. 2. Daniel sawe some great beasts come vp from the sea the first a Lyon the second a Beare the third a Leopard the fourth vnlike the former with teeth of iron and tenne hornes Dan. 7. These great beasts which are foure are foure Kings which shall take the kingdome of the Saints of the most high In the thirteenth of the Reuelation Iohn sawe a beast rise out of the sea hauing seauen heads and tenne hornes mouthed like a Lyon bodied like a Leopard footed like a Beare and the Dragon gaue him his power And Daniel beheld till the thrones were set vp and the Ancient of daies did sit whose garment was white as snowe and the haire of his head like the pure wooll his throne was like the fiery flame and his wheeles as burning fire a fiery streame issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministred vnto him and tenne thousand thousands stood before him the iudgement was set and the bookes opened the beasts were slaine and their bodies cast into the burning fire and behold one like the Son of man came in the clowdes of heauen and came to the Ancient of daies and he gaue him dominion and honour and a kingdome that all people nations and languages should serue him his kingdome shall neuer be destroyed so as Reuel 20. Iohn sawe a great white throne and one that sate on it from whose face flied both the earth and the heauen and he sawe the dead both great and small stand before God and the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which was the booke of life and the dead were iudged of those thinges which were written in the bookes according to their workes and whosoeuer was not found written in the booke of life was cast into the lake of fire Dan. 3. Nebucadnetzar erecteth an Image and commaundeth to worshippe it Sidrach Mishach and Abednego refused This sheweth that wicked lawes cannot compell godly men to doe that which God forbiddeth for the faithfull are alwaies assured that God wil defend them this is the meaning of this place and will not feare him that can throwe the body into the fire but stand in awe of him that can throwe both body and soule into eternall fire so in Apoc. 1◠As many as would not worship the image of the beast were killed 3409. Ioachin three moneths HE was eight yeares old when he beganne to raigne and hee ruled three monthes and ten dayes in Ierusalem and did euill in the sigh of the Lord. And when the yeare was out King Nebucadnetzar sent and brought him to Babel with the pretious vessels of the house of the Lord. He beganne his raigne at eight yeares and raigned ten yeares when his father was aliue and after his fathers death which was the eighteenth yeare of his age he raigned alone three monthes and ten dayes So he was brought prisoner to Babel and Zedechias his brother but in truth his Vncle was made King in his steede so he continued in prison all the daies of Nebucadnetzar that is seauen and thirtie yeares after Nebucadnetzar had carried him captiue vnto the first yeare of euill Merodach King of Babel who succeeded Nebuchadnetzar This was foretold him by the Prophet Ieremie cap. 22. Thou that dwellest in Lebanon and makest thy nest in the Cedars how beautifull shalt thou be when sorrowes come vppon thee as the sorowes of a womā in trauaile as I liue saith the Lord though Coniah that is Ioachin or Ieconias the sonne of Iehoiachim King of Iuda were as the signet of my right hand yet would I plucke thee thence and I will giue thee into the hand of them that seeke thy life and into the land of them whose face thou fearest euen into the hand of Nebucadnetzar King of Babel and into the hand of the Chaldeans and I will cause them to carry thee away thy mother that bare thee into another countrie where ye were not borne and there shall yee die but to the land whereunto they desire to returne they shall not returne thither But after the death of Nebucadnetzar euill Merodach his sonne did lift vp the head of Ioachin or Ieconias King of Iudah out of the prison and spake kindely to him and set his throne aboue the throne of the Kings that were with him in Babel changed his prison garments and he did continually eate meate before him all the daies of his life and his portion was a continuall portion giuen him by the King euery day a certaine all the daies of his life 3410. Zedechias Eleauen yeares HIs name was first Mattamah but Nebucadnetzar changed his name to Zedechiah Hee was one and twentie yeares olde when he beganne to raigne And he did euill in the sight of the Lord according to all that Iehoiakim had done Therefore the wrath of the Lord was against Ierusalem and Iudah vntill he cast them out of his sight And Zedechias rebelled against the King of Babell and in the ninth yeare of Zedechias raigne the tenth month and which day of the month Nebucadnetzar King of Babel came he and all his host against Ierusalem and pitched against it and they built forts against it round about So the citie was besieged vnto the eleauenth yeare of King Zedechias and the ninth month the famine was so great in the citie that there was no bread for the people of the land So that the fourth of Ieremies Lamentations was trulie performed that mothers did eate their owne children So the citie was broken vp and the King Zedechias fledde but the armie of the Caldees pursued after him and tooke him in the deserts of Iericho and all his host was scattered from him Then they tooke the King and carried him vp to the King of Babel to Riblah where they gaue iudgment vpon him and they slue the sonnes of Zadechias before his eyes and put out the eyes of Zedechias and bound him in chaines and carried him to Babel Heere is performed the wordes of Ieremie the Prophet chap. 24. I will giue Zedechias the King of Iudah and his Princes and the rest of Ierusalem for a terrible plague to all the kingdomes of the earth and for a reproch and for a prouerb for a common talke for a curse in all places where I shall cast them and I will send the sword the famine and the pestilence among them till they be consumed out of the land that I gaue to them and their Fathers And Ier. 5. For the house of Israel and the house of Iudah haue grieuouslie transgressed against me saith the Lord they haue denied the Lord and said It is not he neither shall the plague come vpon vs neither shall wee see sword nor famine