of Ierusalem knew very well that in the first yeare of Darius of the seede of the Medes as also of Cyrus king of Persia these seuentie yeares were expired Whereupon he turneth hymselfe vnto the Lord with fasting and in sackcloth and ashes making his confession and praying O Lord God which art great and fearefull and keepest couenant and mercy toward all them whiche loue thee and toward them whiche keepe thy commandementes but wee haue sinned and haue committed iniquitie and haue done wickedly yea we haue rebelled and haue departed from thy preceptes and from thy iudgementes For we would not obey thy seruaunts the prophetes which speake in thy name to our kinges to our princes to our fathers and to all the people of the land O Lord righteousnesse belongeth vnto thee to vs open shame as appeareth this day vnto euery man of Iuda and to the inhabitantes of Ierusalem yea vnto all Israel both neere and farre off through all the countries whither thou hast driuen them because of their offences that they haue committed agaynst thee O Lord vnto vs appertaineth open shame to our kinges to our princes and to our fathers because we haue sinned agaynst thee Yet compassion and forgiueuesse is in the Lord our God albeit we haue rebelled agaynst him For we haue not obeyed the voyce of the Lord our God to walke in his lawes which he had layd before vs by the ministerie of his seruantes the prophetes Yea all Israel haue transgressed thy law and are turned backe and haue not heard thy voyce therefore the curse is powred vppon vs and the othe which is written in the lawe of Moses the seruant of God because we haue sinned agaynst hym and hee hath confirmed his wordes which he spake agaynst vs agaynst our iudges that iudged vs by bringing on vs a great plague for vnder the whole heauen hath not bene the like as hath bene brought vpon Ierusalem All this plague is come vpon vs as it is written in the lawe of Moses yet made wee not our prayer before the Lord our God that we might turne from our iniquities and vnderstand thy trueth therefore hath the Lord made readie the plague and brought it vpon vs. For the Lord our God is righteous in all his workes which he doth for we would not heare his voyce And now O Lord our God that hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mightie hand and hast gotten thee renowne as appeareth this day wee haue sinned we haue done wickedly yet O Lord according to all thy righteousnesse I beseeche thee let thine anger and thy wrath be turned away from thy citie Hierusalem thine holy mountaine for because of our sinnes and for the iniquities of our fathers Ierusalem and thy people are a reproche to all that are about vs. Now therefore O Lord our God heare the prayer of thy seruant and his supplications and cause thy face to shine vpon thy sanctuary that lyeth wast for the Lords sake O my God incline thine care and heare open thine eies and behold our desolations and the citie wherupon thy name is called for we doe not present our supplications before thee for our owne righteousnes but for thy great tender mercies O Lord heare O Lord forgiue O Lord consider and doe it deferre not for thine owne sake O my God for thy name is called vpon thy citie and vpon thy people So here you see a prayer framed vpon a sounde grounde and squared by that iust rule of Moses and according to the forme of that by Salomon with full assurance beeing done according to that rule that the Lord would shewe himselfe a righteous iudge and therefore whiles hee was speaking and praying and confessing his own sinnes and the sinnes of his people Israel and presenting his supplications before the Lord his God for the holy mountaine of his God euen while he was thus praying which was about the time of the euening oblation came the Angel Gabriel vnto him to giue knowledge and vnderstanding of their deliuerance and not onely how that at the very beginning of his supplications the commaundement came forth to returne them from Babylon but also that from that very houre the former seuentie yeares were to be multiplied by seuen and then should Christ the king the most holy be killed and not for himselfe but to confirme the couenant of olde made for the many of all nations that would imbrace the same By the bloud of which couenant they should be freed from confusion and redeemed not onely from the bondage of the outward but also of the spirituall Egypt and Babell and which bloud beeing shed for the remission of sinnes and for a reconciliation of all their iniquities should cause all sacrifice and oblation to cease So that here this welbeloued prophet who alwayes abode constant in the true worship of his God notwithstanding the rage of the enimie was shewed the summe and effect of all Moses and was also heard in that which he required for the Lord euer in wrath remembring mercy doth also at this time remember his mercie and promise of old made vnto their fathers and so bringeth them to the holy hill of Sion agayne euen to that freshe springing mountaine from whence suche gratious streames of doctrine continually issued as were sufficient if rightly vsed to coole the intollerable heate of all the soules that euer were or shalbe in y e world thither I say were these Iewes the people of God agayne brought And from whence Euen from a most filthy pit that without any such water which deliuerance was so great and myraculous as that from this time forward they were not to say any more the Lord liueth that brought the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt but the Lord liueth that brought them out of the land of the North and from all the landes where he had scattered them yea it was so strange and so farre beyond their expectation as that when it came to passe they were euen like vnto men that dreamed or as men amased at so sodayn a decree and their mouthes were then filled with laughter and their toonges with ioy yea they confessed that the Lord had done great and woonderfull thinges for them But full soone doe they forget it for notwithstanding all this his great mercy and iudgementes shewed vnto them yet still they rebelled agaynst hym prophaning his holy Sabbaothes agayne and making them dayes of marchandice and also ioyned themselues with strang women of y â— land contrary to the law yea they greatly neglected the worke of his holy temple and citie saying The time is not yet come that y â— Lordes house should be built but they thought it was high time to build for themselues that so they might be setled againe in their sieled houses though the Lordes house lay wast Wherfore he was
it Being altogether disobedient to receiue doctrine though he taught them rising vp yeerely and instructed them continually yet would they not heare neyther would they remember what he had done vnto Shilo but stil prouoked hym vnto the like anger with the workes of their handes for they became such rebellious traytors that the Lordes ministers the prophetes knewe not vnto whome they should speake and admonish because the word of the Lord was vnto them as a reproch and they had no delight at all therein neyther would they take any heede thereto nor to his lawes but cast them off and rather inclined to the statutes of Omry and kept all the maner of the house of Ahab And therefore because they cast off the law of the Lord of hostes and contemned the word of the holy one of Israel his wrath was so kindled agaynst them that as a flame of fire deuoureth the stubble and as the chaffe is consumed of y e flame euen so became their roote as a rottennesse so that theyr land shooke them cleane off for in the dayes of Iehoiakim Iehoakin Zedekias the wrath of the Lord was so kindled that he stirred vp the spirite of the Caldeans that bitter and furious nation against them and gaue them into the hands of Nebuchadnezar king of Babel who carryed them into the land of Shinar euen to the place where the Hebrew toonge at the first was confounded by the foolish building of the seuentie families so likewise at this time almost vtterly lost and the Lord caused them to remaine there as dead bones for the space of seuentie yeeres vntil their owne land had payd her sabbothes according as y e Lord long before by Moses had told theÌ„ For sayth he If ye wil not obey me but walke stubbornly agaynst me and despise mine ordinances and abhorre my lawes then will I walke stubbornly agaynst you and I will scatter you amongst the heathen and will draw out a sword after you and your land shalbe wast your cities desolate then shall the land inioy her sabbothes as long as it lyeth voyd and ye shall be in your enimies land that so your land may rest inioy her sabbothes euen all the dayes that it lyeth voyd it shall rest because it did not rest in your sabbothes when ye dwelt vpon it and euen so it came to passe for hauing neglected their sabbothes of euery seuenth yeare they were carried vnto their enemies land vntill theyr owne land had her fil of her sabbothes for al the daies that she lay desolate she kept sabboth to fulfill seuentie yeares according as the prophet Ieremy did likewise tell them who for the space of fortie yeares laboured amongest them before he could make them beeleue that so it should be but yet in y â— end they found it most true for the Lord of hostes bent hys bowe as an vtter enimie agaynst them and his right hand was stretched out as an open aduersary so that he powred out his fierce wrath like fire and consumed all his pallaces and destroyed his strong holds and made her aduersaries the chiefe and her enimies to prosper agaynst her euen agaynst Ierusalem the perfection of bewtie did he cause the Chaldeans to prosper who brake downe the walles thereof and burnt the house of the Lord and the kings house and all the great houses in Ierusalem burnt they with fire and the holy vessels and all the instruments of the house of the Lord by these prophane were carryed to Babell So that notwithstanding the kinges of the earth and all the inhabitantes of the worlde would not haue beleeued as the prophet sayth that euer the aduersarie and the enemie should haue entered into the gates of Ierusalem yet now did they enter euen into the very sanctuary and made a noyse in the house of the Lord as in the day of solemnitie and stretched out their handes vppon all her pleasant thinges and thus was this famous citie made solitarie that was ful of people yea she that was great amongst the nations became now as a widdow and shee that was as a princes amongest the prouinces was nowe made tributary and the Lord caused her feastes and sabbothes to be forgotten yea he vtterly forsooke his altar and abhorred his sanctuarie so that the waies of Sion as it were lamented because no man came to her solemne feastes but in stead thereof the enimies that passed by clapped their handes at her hissing and wagging their heades at the daughter of Ierusalem saying Is this the citie that men call the perfection of bewtie and the ioy of the whole earth yea all her enimies opened their mouthes against her in y e day of her destruction saying Let vs deuoure her for certainly this is the day that we looked for we haue found it seene it therefore downe with her say the sonnes of Edom and rase her walles yea rase theâ—… euen to the very foundation thereof And thus most despitefully did all her enemies helpe forward her affliction and reioyce ouer her in this her visitation and those that were the tayle are nowe become the head and aduance themselues as Lordes ouer them but from the daughter of Sion is all bewtie departed and her princes are now become as heartes that finde no pasture yea all the noble princes of Sion which were comparable to fine gold are now esteemed but as earthen pitchers and all those that were brought vp in skarlet are nowe driuen to imbrace the doong and those that fed most delicately perish now in the streetes yea the toonge of the suckling childe cleaueth to the roofe of his mouth for thirst and the yong children aske bread but no man breaketh it vnto them but rather the hands of the pitifull women are vpon their owne children to seeth â—…em to be their meate euen vpon the fruite of their owne boâ—… children of a span long So that here we may say againe 〈◊〉 behold both the louing kindnesse and the seueritie of the Lord his louing kindnesse towardes the house of Israel and Iuda so long as they delighted to heare hys voyce and were willing to obey hys commandementes and hys seueritie so soone as they reiected the same according as by all hys prophetes he had tolde them euen so came the curse vpon them as it is written in the law of Moses The iudgementes of God vppon the Iewes after their returne from Babell vnto our sauiour Christ his birth and also of their vtter reiection within seuentie yeares after for not receiuing hym THe prophet Daniel being carried into Babylon in the third yeare of Iehoiakim king of Iuda and continuing there vnto the first yeare of Cyrus king of Persia and vnderstanding also by the scriptures the number of yeares whereof the Lord had spoken vnto the prophet Ieremie how that he would accomplishe seuentie yeares in the desolation
if you will knowe agayne what this preaching was it was no more but euen this Blessed be the Lord God of Sem. And tenne ages after that an other In thy seede O Abraham shall all the nations of the earth be blessed Now out of all doubt two meruellous short Sermons as possible can be heard and yet so full of vertue and grace that whosoeuer wroung out the iuice therof and applied it to his sores found euerlasting lyfe thereby but he that trode them vnder foote a biting Serpent whose sting was vnto eternall death and destruction The iudgements of God vpon the Israelits in the time of their being in the wildernes and also vpon their successors vnto the time of Samuel and Saule THus you see then the louing kindnes of the Lord towards the Israelites the seede of Abraham the seede of Sem in that he deliuered them from the Iron furnace the lande of Egypt the house of bondage according to his promise made vnto Abram which was That they should be straungers in a lande that was not theris where they should be afflicted and euill intreated for the space of foure hundreth yeeres But in the ende he woulde iudge that nation and bring them againe to the lande of Canaan in the fourth generation euen so it came to passe For all the host of Israell came out of the lande of Egypt by the blood of a Lambe figuring the seede that was promised to Abraham euen the selfe same day foure hundreth and thirtie yeeres before by whose bloud they were deliuered from that spirituall Pharaoh the Diuell Yet notwithstanding all this this grudging Israell the sonnes of Iacob the seede of Abraham who had seene the meruellous workes of God in the land of Egypt and his wonders in the fielde of Zoan and howe he had brought them thence as vpon the winges of an Eagle and howe he went before them by day in a pyller of a cloude to leade them the way and by night in a pyller of fire to giue them light and how he came downe vpon mount Sina and spake vnto them from heauen and gaue vnto them right iudgements and true lawes ordinaunces and good commaundements and declared vnto them his holy Sabothes and commaunded them precepts ordinances and lawes by the hand of Moses his seruaunt and how he gaue them bread from heauen for their hunger and brought foorth water for them out of the rocke for their thirst and how he rayned flesh vpon them as dust and fethered foule as the sande of the Sea and how he suffered them to lacke nothing for theyr clothes waxed not olde and their feete swelled not And all this hee did to teach them that man liueth not by bread onely but by euerie worde that proceedeth from him Yet notwithstanding I say all these his great benefites bestowed vpon them full soone did they forget his noble actes and the woonderfull workes that he had shewed them and styll they rebelled agaynst him yea full often did they prouoke him in the wyldernesse and greeue him in the Desart they made a Calfe in Horeb and woorshyped the molten Image and thus they turned their glorie into the similitude of a Calfe that eateth Haye Wherefore his wrath was so greatly kindled agaynst them that the fyre burnt vp the wicked yea they prouoked hym so greeuously in misbeleeuyng styll his worde that he swore in his wrath that onely two of sixe hundreth thousande shoulde enter into his rest which by the tyme that fourtie yeeres was expired in the Wildernes their chyldren whom they had sayd shoulde be a pray for the enimie they I say sawe the performaunce of this othe For they saw this wicked company consumed and their Carkeises ouerthrowen in the Wildernesse So that not one of the sixe hundreth thousande was left saue Caleb the sonne of Iephunneh and Ioshua the sonne of Nun. Here then might you pause a lytle and consider with your selfe of the ingratitude of man and how that yf the Lord shoulde deale with vs according to our desertes we shoulde be sure to fynde that we shoulde deserue no better then here you see because as the Apostle sayth these men are euen as very stampes of our owne natures But because I would not haue you to tarry in this Booke I wyl proceede to the rest that when you haue heard all you may consider the drynes of your owne soule and so get you with all speede to the fountayne it selfe wherein you may drinke yf you wyll euen your fyll of those waters of lyfe the which sprang out of the Rocke that here folowed them and also learne to auoyde that vnholsome pit of mistrust the which became vnto them their onely poyson Agayne then when as now it had pleased the Lord to bryng in the younger sort as all vnder twentie by Ioshua or Iesus euen into the borders of his Sanctuarie and to the holy Mountayne which his right hand had purchased that so he myght perfourme his promyse made vnto their fathers and had cast out the Heathen before them and geuen them their possessions and lykewyse had fylled them with all good thinges in great abundance although not of theyr owne desertes Iwis but through his great goodnes Yet notwithstanding they also became disobedient and rebelled agaynst the Lord and cast his heauenly Lawes behinde their backes yea they tempted and prouoked him and kept not his testimonies but turned backe and dealt falsly lyke vnto their fathers yea they turned euen lyke vnto a deceitfull Bowe So that he gaue them vnto the handes of most cruell oppessours that greatly vexed them as vnto the Aramites Moabites Canaanites Midianites Ammonites and the Philistimes Yea they prouoked him to anger in such sort with their high places and moued him to wrath with their grauen Images that in the ende he greatly abhorred Israel euen so farre as that in the dayes of Ely he forsooke the habitation of Shilo euen the Tabernacle where he dwelled amongst them and so he deliuered his power the Arke so called into captiuitie and his beautie into the enimies handes Yea he gaue vp his people to the sworde and was marueylous angrie with his owne inheritaunce For sixe tymes now since they came into the Land had the Lorde suffered them to be most cruelly oppressed by the a forenamed So that here we may say agayne O beholde both the louing kindnes and the seueritie of the Lord. His louing kindnes towardes Israel whyle they tooke good heede vnto the couenaunt that he the Lorde their God made with them and his seueritie when so euer they began to tempt Christ in not obeying his voyce according as the Lord had tolde them Now yf you wyll know in what sort Christe was preached vnto them that they were thus destroyed for not obeying his voyce The answere is euen in as
if he spared not the Iewes which were the naturall branches but hath cut them off euen from theyr natural roote from whence they should haue had theyr life and y ◠through theyr vnbeliefe which vnbeliefe befell them through the hardnesse of theyr owne heartes and the hardnesse of theyr heartes through the contempt of the word of God much more then will he not spare vs if we harden our heartes agaynst the delight we should take therein because that we by nature are but as a wilde Oliue tree and are but graft vppon theyr stocke and therefore let vs take heede in what case wee stand for feare least we also fal by the like example of disobedience and so bring the wrath of God vpon vs as the former haue done vpon thē For you must not be ignorant of this one thing in anie wise that is that the Lord will be slacke concerning his threatnings as some men count slackenesse but that he is patient toward vs and would haue no man to perishe but woulde that all men shoulde come to repentance because he is a mercifull God and full of compassion And to assure men that he is so he hath giuē his most holy word vnto them whereby they may perceiue that hee greatly loueth them because therby he offereth eternall life vnto them so that if they will imbrace that they may finde eternall life but if not they shall be sure to finde eternall death because they can not see without that in what sort to walke as to please the Lord therwith neyther can they without that see the loue wherewith the Lord loueth them that is without that they cānot see how that God so loued the world that he gaue hys onely begotten so◅ to suffer for their sinnes To the intent that if they would beleeue in hym they shoulde not perishe but haue eternall life Therfore al those that haue delighted in hys most holy word and layd hold on his promises therein contayned and by faith imbraced hys couenantes concerning Christ and thought vpon hys commaundementes to indeuour to doe them he hath neuer fayled to thousandes of generations For when as our first parents had brought vpō themselues swift damnation by reason of their owne disobedience yet neuertheles imbracing the holy worde of couenant wherein all grace consisted by fayth receiued life againe In this fayth Abell offered vnto God a greater sacrifice then Kaine by the which he obtained witnes that he was righeous God testifiyng of his gifts by the which faith also he being dead yet speaketh In this fayth was Enoch taken away that he should not see death being a figure of y e resurrection by the which fayth he was reported of to haue pleased God In this fayth Noe being warned of God of the thinges whiche were as yet not seene being moued with reurence prepared the Arke to the sauing of his houshold through the whiche Arke hee condemned the world and was made heyre of the righteousnesse which is by fayth In this fayth Abram when he was called obeyed God to goe into a place which afterwardes hee shoulde receiue for inheritance and he went out not knowing whether he went and in this faith he abode in the land of promise as in a strange country as one that dwelt in tentes with Isaak and ◅acob heyres with hym of the same promise and looked for a City hauing a foundation whose builder and maker is God In this fayth also Sara receiued strength to conceiue seede and was deliuered of a childe when she was past age because she iudged him faythful which had promised therfore sprang thereof one euen of one which was dead so many as the stars of the skye in multitude and as the sand of the sea shore which is innumerable In this fayth Abraham offered vp Isaak when he was tryed and he that had receiued the promise offered his onely begotten sonne to whome it was sayd in Isaak Shall thy seed be called for he considered that God was able to rayse hym vp euen from the dead from whence also after a sort he had receiued hym In this fayth Isaak blessed Iacob Esau concerning things to come In this fayth Iacob when he was a dying blessed both the sons of Ioseph In this faith Ioseph when he died made mention of the departing of the children of Israel out of y ◠land of Egypt In this fayth Moses whē he came to age refused to be called the sonne of Pharaohes daughter and chose rather to suffer aduersitie with the people of God then to inioy the pleasures of sinne for a season esteeming the rebukes of Christ greater riches then all the creasures of Egypt for he had respect vnto the recompence of the reward And in this fayth he forsooke Egypt and feared not the kings fiercenesse for he indured as he that saw him which is inuisible and in this fayth he ordayned the passeouer and the effusion of bloud least hee that destroyed the first borne should touch them In this fayth they passed through the red Sea as on drie land which when the Egyptians assayed to doe they were drowned In this fayth Ioshua or Iesus brought in the people of God into the land of promise and in this fayth he conquered one and thirtie kinges In this faith the walles of Iericho beyng compassed about seuen dayes fell downe In this fayth Rahab the harlot perished not with them which obeyed not when she had receiued the spyes peaceably In this fayth Gedeon Barac Samp◅on Iephte Dauid Samuel and all the prophetes subdued kindgdomes wrought righteousnesse obtained the promises and stopped the mouthes of Lyons In this fayth Shadrach Meshach and Abednego quenched the heate of fire And in this fayth Daniel refused the glory of Babell and Paras by the which faith he abode constant in the true worship of his God though amongest the Lyons hee should be cast In this fayth many that were weake in the dayes of Antiochus were made strong and waxed valiant in battell and turned to flight the armies of the allients In this fayth women receiued theyr dead raised to lyfe and others also were racked and would not be deliuered because they looked for a better resurrection In this fayth o◅hers haue bene tryed by mockinges and scourginges yea moreouer by bondes and imprisonmentes they were staned and hewen asunder and were tempted and slaine with the sword and wandered vp and downe in sheepes skinnes and in goat skinnes being destitute afflicted and tormented whom the world was not worthy of they wandered in wildernes mountaynes and dennes and caues of the earth And these all through fayth obtayned good report and receiued not the promise God prouiding a better thing for vs that they without vs should not be perfit Yet al these dyed in fayth and saw the promises a farre off and receiued them thankefully and