curse pronounced against it Judg. 5.23 the very name and memorial of it is utterly extinct and blotted out as also what befell the barren Fig-tree when once cursed by Christ it withered away suddenly Mat. 21.19 20. both root and branch though naturally the Fig-tree is the most juyceful of any tree and beareth the brunt of winter-blasts Scuke Ver. 22. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine Iteratò taxat hoc vitium eò quod invaluerat The Prophet inveigheth against this vice a second time because it was grown so common Drunkards also are a sottish kind of creatures and had therefore more then need to be double dealt with like as Physicians use to give double quantities to such as have Palsies or Epilepsies so to awaken their dull drowsy senses Many of these sots take it for a great glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athen. Vopisc in Bonoso that they are mighty to drink wine as did Darius King of Persia who caused it to be written upon his tomb I was a great hunter I could also drink much wine and bear it bravely This was as one well saith to glory in his shame it being rather the commendation of a tun then of a man for a beast will scarce abide it to be able to take in and contain much liquour When Bonosus the drunken Roman had hangd himself it went for a byword Amphoram pendere non hominem that a tun or tankard hung there and not a man And when one was commended to King Alphonsus for a great drinker and able to bear it he answered that that was a good praise in a sponge Gentiles ipsi risere tales athletas but not in a Prince This if Alexander the Great and Tiberius the Emperour those great drinkers and incouragers of others to that vice had well remembred they would not have been so infamous as they are and will be to all posterity Aristoph in Ranis Civilis est irrisio non carens sale Oecolamp And men of strength or valour but to do what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Comedian hath it to drink and do worse onely a goodly prize surely a fair commendation fortes esse strenuos non contra hostes sed ad exhauriendos calices gigantes esse non ad bellandum sed ad potandum to be carpet-knights not of Mars but of Bacchus and fitter for a canopy then a camp To mingle Or to pour in whether into their own wide gullets or into the cup to make others drunk for preventing whereof Minos King of Creet made a Law that men should not drink one to another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to drunkenness So did Lycurgus at Lacedemon And our King Edgar made an Ordinance for putting pins in cups that none should quaffe whole ones or cause others to do so Ver. 23. Which justify the wicked for reward q. d. Woe to such also for even they both are abomination to the Lord Prov. 17.15 See the Note there See also chap. 1.23 Ver. 24. Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble For all the crimes afore mentioned and for that to all the former they add this that they have cast away the Law of the Lord and despised his word As the fire Heb the tongue of fire that is the top of the flame which resembleth a tongue that is also thin broad long and of a fiery colour setting on fire the course of nature and is it self set on fire of hell Jam. 3.6 Devoureth the stubble and the flame consumeth the chaff Sin doth as naturally draw and suck judgments to it as the loadstone doth iron as dry stubble and light chaff doth fire suddenly and with no ado shall sinners be consumed when God once taketh them to do exorientur exurentur So their root shall be rottenness in allusion to the vine ver 1. which brought forth rotten grapes ver 4. And their blossom shall go up as dust shall vanish and come to nothing as it needs must where the root is putrified Of wild vines Pliny saith Ostentant fructum potius quam porrigunt Lib. 16. cap. 27. they rather make a shew of fruit then yeeld any And there are some vines saith Varro whose fruit ever rotteth before it hath time to ripen Var. ap Cas D on He meaneth they shall vanish in their greatest flourish of seeming felicity Ver. 25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled For contempt of the Law 1 Thes 2.16 but especially of the Gospel wrath came upon that wretched people of the Jews to the utmost or untill the end as some read it They are to this day a people of Gods wrath and curse and become a wofull example of that Rule Atrocia delicta puniuntur atrocibus poenis Hainous sins bring heavy punishments This desolation of theirs as Daniel prophesieth chap. 9. shall continue to the end And he hath stretcht forth his hand against them His mighty hand as St. James hath it wherewith he oft leaveth bloody wailes on the backs of the best when they provoke but crusheth the wicked in pieces and crumbleth them to crattle And hath smitten them Revenge is the next effect of anger And the hills did tremble i. e. The highest among them or literally Ar. Montan. Hype bole the senseless hills seemed sensible of so great displeasure And their carcasses were torn in the middest of the streets What havock there was made of men at the last destruction of Jerusalem Josephus Egesippus Orosius and Eusebius fully tell us What with the extremity of famine what with the fury of the sword and what with sickness during the siege there perished about 600000 able men or as others say 1100000 besides 97000 carried captive Titus the Roman General seeing the infinite carcasses of the Jews cast out unburied without the walls of the City was much grieved Joseph and took God to witness that he was not the authour of that calamity but that the fault was altogether in those stubborn Jews that held out the City against him For all this his anger is not turned away With those froward ones God will shew himself froward Psal 18.26 and not give place to their pertinacy till they had enough of it It must be an humble submission that pacifieth Gods wrath Ver. 26. And he will lift up an ensign That is by his secret providence he shall bring on the enemies army The Roman forces are called Gods armies Mat. 22.7 and Titus confessed that he only lent God his hand to execute his wrath on that rebellious people the Jews And will hiss unto them Bring them together with little ado as Pilots hiss for their ship-boyes or shepheards whistle for their sheep to come about them From the end of the earth Rome was far remote from Jerusalem and in the Roman army were likely many French Spaniards Italians and perhaps Britons And behold they shall come with speed Sooner then those mockers imagined who said ver
so do many feed greedily on sins murthering morsels Ver. 15. Loe I have given thee Cows-dung This was some mitigation Something God will yield to his praying people when most bitterly bent against them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contabescerâ— foetidum fieri Ver. 16. Behold I will break the staff of bread Bread shall be very scarce and that which men have shall not nourish or satisfy them they shall have appetitum caninum See Isa 3.1 with the Note and take that good cousel Amos. 5 14 15. lest we know the worth of good by the want of it Ver. 17. And be astonied At their straits and disappointments And consume away for their iniquity Levit. 26.31 They shall pine away in their iniquity this is the last and worst of judgements there threatened after those other dismal ones CHAP. V. Ver. 1. ANd thou son of man See on chap. 2.1 Take thee a sharp knife This was the King of Babylon as Isa 7.20 The Turk is at this day such another Mahomet the first was in his time the death of 800000 men Selymus the second in revenge of the losse received at Lepanto Turk Hist 885. would have put to death all the Christians in his dominions Take the a barbers razor Not a deceitful razor as Psal 52.2 but one that will do the deed sharp and sure Pliny telleth us out of Varro Lib. 7. cap. 59. that the Romans had no barbers till 454 years after the City was built antè intensi fuere And cause it to passe upon thy head and upon thy beard As hairs are an ornament to the head and beard so are people to a City But as when they begin to be a burthen or trouble to either they are cut off and cast away so are people by Gods Judgements when by their sins they are offensive to him dealing as Dionysius did by his god Aesculapius from whom he presumed to pull his golden beard David felt himself shaved in his Embassadours so doth God in his servants whose very hairs are numbred Matth. 10.30 in his Ministers especially who by a specialty are called Gods men 1 Tim. 6.11 2 Tim. 3.17 with whom to meddle is more dangerous then to take a Lion by the beard or a bear by the hair Then take the ballances to weigh This sheweth that Gods Judgements are just to a hairs weight And capillus nous suam habet umbram saith Mimus And divide the hair Dii nos quasi pilas habent saith Plautus imo quasi pilos saith Another Ver. 2. Thou shalt burn with fire a third part i. e. with famine pestilence and other mischiefs during the siege of Jerusalem Pythagoras gave this precept among others Vnguium criniumque praesegmina ne contemnito But God findeth so little worth in wicked people that he regardeth them not but casteth them as excrements to the dunghil yea to hell Psal 9.17 And smite about it with a knife They shall be slain with that sharp knife or sword ver 1. after that the City is taken Thou shalt scatter in the wind Sundry of them shall fly for their lives but in running from death they shall but run to it Amos 9.1 2 3 4. 2.13 14 15 16. Ver. 3. Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number A remnant is still reserved that the Lord God may dwell among men Psal 68.18 See Jer. 44.28 2 King 25.12 Isa 1.9 6.10 Ver. 4. Then take of them again and cast them into the midst of the fire Thus evil shall hunt a wicked man to overthrow him Psal 140.11 See the Note there he shall not escape though he hath escaped his preservation is but a reservation to further mischief except he repent And burn them in the fire Such he meaneth as were combustible matter for there were a sort of precious ones amongst them who being brought by God through the fire were thereby refined as silver is refined and tryed as gold is tryed c. Zach. 13.9 See the Notes there Ver. 5. This is Jerusalem i. e. This head and beard so to be shaved ver 1. by the hair of the head some think the wise men of that City are figured out and by the hair of the beard are the strong men the razor of Gods severity maketh clean work leaveth no stub or stump behind it I have set it in the midst of the nations As the head heart and center of the earth See Psal 74.10 Ezek. 38.12 and God had peculiar ends it it that the Law might go forth out of Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem and that all Nations might flow unto it Isa 2.2 3. Talis est Roma Christianis Such now is Rome to Christians saith à Lapide bur lay a straw there say we or as the Glosse saith upon some decrees of Popes Haec non credo I believe it not See Rev. 17.5 Ver. 6. And she hath changed my judgements into wickednesse This was a foul change this was to do evil as she could Jer. 3.5 this was ingratitude of the worst sort such as Socrates called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 manifest in â—ustice Such a wretched change is complained of Jer. 2.11 Rom. 1.23 25. Jude 4. but nowhere in so high an expession as this as One observeth More then the Nations Because the Jews had better Laws but worse dispositions then they Ver. 7. Because ye multiplyed sc Your transgressions and superstitions or because ye have abounded with blessings and made me so ill a requital Some render it Quia tumultuastis ves plus quam vicinae gentes and indeed there were many murthers committed amongst them and many revolts from forrain Princes whom they had sworn to serve Neither have done according to the judgement of the nations But have out-sinned them qui deos suos quamvis viles multos non mutant who change not their gods as you have done Me Jer. 2.10.11 but follow the natural light of reason some of them at least do so Rom. 2.14 which you have debauched See 1 Cor. 5.1 Ezech. 16.46 47 48. Ver. 8. Behold I even I am against thee Whether thou wilt believe it or not Thou holdest it unlikely but shalt find it true and that I am very serious not saying these things in terrorem only Ecce me adversum te venientem so some render it Behold I am upon my march against thee and will punish thee surely severely suddenly And will execute Judgements For the non-execution of my Judgements in the former sense taken as ver 7. In the sight of the nations In whose sight thou hast so sinned and who will rejoyce at thy sufferings Ver. 9. And I will do in thee that which I have not done None shall suffer so much here or sink so deep in hell as a profane Jew a carnal Gospeller who is therefore worse then others because he ought to be better Oh the height and weight of those Judgements that shall be heaped upon such See Lam.
with earth as Core and his complices were that they cannot resent or savour the things of the Spirit but as vultures they hunt after cation carcases and as Tygers they are enraged with the sweet smell of the Churches spices Let my Beloved come and eat his pleasant fruits For who plants a Vineyard or Orchard and eats not of the fruit thereof 1 Cor. 9.7 The Garden is Christs the pretious graces of his Spirit and all acts of grace those pleasant fruits are all his Hee alone is the true proprietary for of him Rom. 11.36 and through him and to him are all things Of him as the efficient cause Through him as the administring cause and to him as the final cause Well therefore may it follow to whom bee glory for ever Christ counts the fruits that wee bear to bee ours because the judgement and resolution of will whereby we bear them is ours This he doth to encourage us But because the grace whereby wee judge will and work aright comes from Christ ascribe wee all to him as the Church doth in the former verse Gen. 43.11 Cedren ad an 32. Justin. and presenting him with the best fruits as they did Joseph say as David and after him Justinian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of thine own have wee given thee 1 Chron. 29.14 CHAP. V. Vers 1. I am come into my Garden SO ready is the Lord Christ to fulfill the desires of them that fear him Sometimes hee not onely grants their prayer Psal 145.19 but fulfills their counsel Confess l. 5. c. 1. Psal 20.4 fits his mercy ad cardinem desiderii as Austin hath it lets it be to his even as they will Or if he cross them in the very thing they crave they are sure of a better their prayers they shall have out either in money or moneys worth Christ though he be a God that hideth himself yet hee scorns to say unto the seed of Jacob Seek yee mee in vain Isaiah 45.15 19. that's enough for the Heathen Idols vers 16 18. Hee is not like Baal who pursuing his enemies could not hear his friends or as Diana that being present at Alexanders birth could not at the same time rescue her Ephesian Temple from the fire Non vacat exiguis c. Hee is not like Jupiter whom the Cretians painted without ears as not being at leisure to attend small matters and whom Lucian the Atheist feigneth to look down from heaven through certain crevisses or chincks at certain times at which time if Petitioners chance to pray unto him they may have audience otherwise not No no the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are always open to their prayers Psal 34.15 Flectitur iratus voce rogante Deus Basil compares prayer to a chayn the one end whereof is linked to Gods ear and the other to mans tongue Sozomen saith of Apollonius that hee never asked any thing of God in all his life that hee obtained not And another saith of Luther Iste vir potuit apud Deum quod voluit That man could do what hee would with God it was but ask and have with him I have gathered my myrrhe with my spice i.e. I have highly accepted of thy graces and good works these are to bee gathered onely in Christs Garden Hedge-fruits and wilde-hearbs or rather weeds are every where almost to bee had Moral vertues may bee found in a Cato who was homo virtuti similimus a man as like vertue as may be saith Velleius And he addes but I am not bound to beleeve him Qui nunquam recte fecit ut facere videretur sed quia aliter facere non poterat vell lib. 2. that Cato never did well that hee might seem to do so but because hee could not do otherwise than well But why then might a man have asked the Historian did your so highly extolled Cato take up the trade of griping usury Why did he so shamefully prostitute his wife so cowardly kill himself Was it not because he lived in the wilde Worlds waste and grew not in the Churches garden hence his fruits were not genuine his moral vertues are but shining sinnes beautiful abominations a smoother way to hell Civil honest men are but Wolves chained up tame Devils Swine in a fair meadow c. Operam praestant natura fera est as the Civil Law saith of those mixt Beasts Elephants and Camels they do the work of tame Beasts yet have the nature of wilde ones They are cryed up for singularly honest as ever lived by such as are strangers to the power of Godliness and aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel like as in Samaria's famine a cab of Doves dung was sold at a great rate and an asses head at four pound But Christ and such as have the minde of Christ are otherwise minded they look upon an unregenerate man though sober just chaste liberal c. as a vile person Psal 15.4 and upon all their specious works as dead works when as contrarily they honour them that fear the Lord and set an high price as Christ here doth upon their good parts and practices Myrrhe and spices or aromatical fruits are but dark shadows and representations of them I have eaten mine hony-comb with mine hony As it were crust and crumb together not rejecting my peoples services for the infirmities I finde cleaving unto them but accepting what is good therein and bearing with the rest I take all well a worth and am as much delighted therewith as any man is in eating of hony whereof hee is so greedy that withall hee devours the comb too sometimes Mr. Dudley Fenner Christ feedeth saith an Expositour here upon all the fruits of his garden hee so much delighteth in it as hee eateth not onely the hony as it were the most excellent duties or works of the Church see Heb. 13.15 16 21. but also the hony-comb as it were the baser services and fruits of his Spirit of least account that hee receiveth of all sorts most sweetly mingled together both the common and daily fruits of godliness understood in milk and the more rare of greater price as solemn fasts and feasts signified by wine both which hee drinketh together that is accepteth of them all Eat O friends That is O you holy Angels saith the former Interpreter which as my Nobles accompany mee the King of Glory in Heaven and have some communion with me in the gifts I bestow on you Mr. Diodate also thinks the same But I rather encline to those that by Christs friends here understand those earthly Angels the Saints see John 15.14 Isa 41.8 Jam. 2.23 whom hee cheareth up and encourageth to fall to it lustily and by a sancta crapula as Luther calls an holy gluttony to lay on to feed hard and to fetch hearty draughts till they bee even drunk with loves as the Hebrew here hath it being ravished in the love of God where they are
gracious answer he that beleeveth maketh not haste Ver. 13. I have raised him up i. e. Cyrus Ezra 1.1 And I will direct all his wayes sc When he cometh against the Babylonians Lydians c. on mine errand But when moved by his ambition he invaded Scythia and cruelly wasted the Country God took no further charge of him as I may say He that is out of Gods precincts is out of his protection Ver. 14. Thus saith the Lord the labour of Egypt Here he turneth his speech to Cyrus promising him that he should be no loser by his generous carriage toward the poor people of God his captives whom he freely dismissed without ransom ver 13. Gods retributions are more than bountiful Agatharch lib. 5. cap. 20. vel proceri i. e. potentissimi agro mercib Trem. In Psal 37. Men of stature The Arabians are reported to have been goodly personable men by Agatharchides an ancient writer from whom Plutarch and Pliny borrowed much They shall come over unto thee Commodissime dicemus promissionem hanc referendam ad tempus revelati Evangelii This was fulfilled chiefly when the Gospel was preached and Nations thereby converted See Psal 45.5 and 149.6 8. The bonds of the holy Spirit are stronger than Adamant saith Ambrose Surely God is in thee Or with thee and hence thou O Cyrus so prevailest and prosperest Thus these conquered Kings shall supplicate and say to Cyrus And there is none else there is no God Hence Mahometans seem to have taken that which out of their Alchoran they dayly proclaim in their Moschies or meeting-houses There is no god but God and Mahomet his Counsellour Thus those Kings but what saith the Prophet Hac approbatio est Prophetae Scultet Ver. 15. Verily thou art a God that hidest thy self As thou art invisible and dwellest in light inaccessible so in thy dispensations thou goest a way by thy self and thy judgements are unsearchable Thou hidest thy self and standest off a while sometimes from the help of thy poor people but wilt appear to them and for them in due time The Septuagint here translate Tues Deus nescitbamus Thou art God and we knew thee not And this the Fathers interpret concerning Christ and hence the Jews seem to have drawn that speech of theirs Christ when he cometh no man knoweth whence he is Ver. 16 That are makers of Idols The Word rendred Idols signifieth properly Tormina cruciatus paines and throws and straits Idolaters heap up sorrows to themselves and terrours of conscience See Psal 16.4 with the Note Ver. 17. But Israel with an evelasting salvation By Cyrus they were not so for not long after Antiochus afflicted them Herod gat the Scepter from them the Romans came and took away both them and their Nation But the Israel of God were and are still saved by Jesus with an everlasting salvation Ver. 18. He created it not in vain Therefore never think that he will forsake it or not take care of his Church therein for whose sake he made it at first and still upholdeth it by the word of his power 1 Cor. 3.22 23. Now if God created not the earth in vain much less the heavens wherein he hath shewed his greater skill Heb. 11.10 See the Note there but that his people might there inhabit for ever And here it is that they shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation Yea they shall not be ashamed or confounded world without end ver 17. Ver. 19. I have not spoken in secret As the Sibylls did out of their dens as the Idol-priests did out of their holes and under-ground vaults as hereticks and seducers who creep into corners and there vent their false wares as Vincentius Lirinensis long since observed Epiphanius fitly compareth them to Mouls who do all their mischief by working under ground But God as he delivered his Law openly on Mount Sina so his Gospel he commanded to be preached on the house-top and in Mount Zion Christ spoke openly to the world Joh. 18.20 Truth seeketh no corners I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ Rom. 1.16 But what was this word that was delivered so plainly and pespicuously Seek ye me And for your encouragement ye shall not do it in vain for I am a rewarder of all those that diligently seek me Heb. 11.6 Let Heathen deities disappoint and delude those that seek to them Jacobs God scorneth the motion he is better to his people then their prayers better then their hopes and when with Gehezi they ask but one talent he like Naaman forceth them to take two I the Lord speak righteousnesse I declare the things that are right Or even so doth not the Devil but things sinful and obscene as humane sacrifices promiscuous uncleannesses ut in nefariis Priapi Veneris sacris Contrariwise all the words of Gods mouth are in righteousnesse ther is nothing froward or perverse in them Prov. 8.8 Ver. 20. Ye that are escaped of the Nations That have escaped the sword of Cyrus and well proved how little your gods can do for you That set up the wood of their graven Image Qui levant lignum carrying them in pomp and procession upon their shoulders as Papists now do their pictures their breaden god especially and crying to it Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbaoth Ver. 21. Who hath declared this sc that the people of God should be set at lilerty by Cyrus Ver. 22. Look unto me and be ye saved Whiles the Moon looketh directly upon the Sun she is bright and beautiful but if she once turn aside and be left to her self she looseth all her glory and enjoyes but only a shadow of light which is her own so while men look to Christ the Sun of righteousnesse and toward the stars in his right-hand c. For I am God and none else This Judas Maccabeus acknowledged in his Ensigne wherein this Motto was written Mi Camoca Belohim Jehovah Godw. Heb. Antiqu. i. e. Who is like unto thee among the Gods O Lord from the capital letters of which Motto he took his name Maccabi Ver. 23. That unto me every knee I will be known and obeyed all the world over sc by Christians Of the Jews Hierom noteth quod mentis superbiam demonstrantes genu non flectunt that they bow not the knee in Gods service but only stand up at times Ver. 24. Surely shall one say This shall be the Christian Confession In the Lord have I righteousnesse c. righteousnesse i. e. Mercy to those that come over to him and strength to enable them to come as the Sea sendeth out waters to fetch us to it c. Ver. 25. Shall be justified by faith in Christ Rom. 5.1 And shall glory Having peace of Conscience they shall glory in tribulation Rom. 5.1 3. Note this against Meritmongers CHAP. XLVI Ver. 1. BEl is bowed down Jupiter Belus as Pliny calleth him Babels chief God is now become a prey to the