shake Or the waves or the boats which they throw out of the ship See on chap. 26.10 Of the cry of thy Pilots At their Conclamatum est but why did they then steer no better Here we see all covet all loose Ver. 29. And all that handle the â—ar That have escaped to land with their lives Ver. 30. To be heard against thee Or for thee or over thee ver 31. Rev. 18. 11 15 16. Ver. 31. And they shall make Maerebunt induti saccis inducto calvitio If this had been for sin as it is offensivum Dei aversivum à Deo then it had been right Ver. 32. What City An elegant Mimesis Like the destroyed Quae obmutuit like her that lost her voyce and life together Ver. 33. When thy wares Good things are fairest on the back-side the worth of them is best known by the want of them Our eye seeth not things but at a distance Ver. 34. In the depths of the waters i. e. In the overflowing of the wars ver 26. Ver. 35. They shall be troubled in their countenance i. e. Appaled and dispirited Ver. 36. The Merchants shall hisse at thee Either as astonied at thee A Lapide or rather as deriding thee like as he who seeth another fall into the dirt first pittieth him and then jeareth him See the like Jer. 19.8 49.17 Thou shalt be a terrour Because God hath hanged thee up in gibbets as it were Or thou wast a terrour once but now a scorn And never shalt be any more See on chap. 26.14 CHAP. XXVIII Ver. 1. THe Word of the Lord See on chap. 18.1 Ver. 2. Say unto the Prince of Tyre Princes must be told their own as well as others It was partly by flattery that this Prince was so high-flown His glory wealth and wit also had so blown him up that he forgat himself to be a man Tabael Josephus out of Berosus calleth him Diodâ—rus Siculus Ithâ—baal others Ethbaal A most proud and presumptuous person he was and a type of the devil who is the King of all the children of pride Job 41.34 Here he holdeth himself to be wiser then Daniel ver 3. yea to be the sum and perfection of all wisdom ver 12. to excell the high-Priest in all his ornaments Os humerosque Deo similis ver 13. yea to be above Adam ib. above the Cherubims ver 14. lastly to be God himself and to sit in his feat ver 2. O Lucifer out-devild And yet as there were many Marii in one Caesar so by nature there are many Ethbaals in the best of us for as in water face answereth to face so doth the heart of a man to a man Prov. 27.19 Julius Caesar suffered Altars and Temples to be dedicated unto him as to a god and what wonder when as his flatterers told him that the freckles in his face were like the stars in the firmament Sueton. Valladerius told Pope Paul the fifth and he beleeved it that he was a god that he lived familiarly with the Godhead that he heard predestination it self whispering to him that he had a place to sit in council with the Divine Trinity c. Prodigious blasphemy Is not this that man of sin that Merum scelus spoken of by Paul 2 Thes 2.4 see more of this there Was it not he that made Dandalus the Venetian Embassadour roul under his table and as a dog eat crusts there and that suffered the Sicilian Embassadours to use these words unto him Domine Deus papa miserere nostrum O Lord God the Pope have mercy upon us And again O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world grant us thy peace In the midst of the seas Where none can come at me Yes Nebuchadnezzar could and did though after thirteen years siege as Josephus writeth a hard tug and hot service he had of it but yet he did the deed as did afterwards also Alexander the great who never held any thing unfeisible Ver. 3. Behold thou art wiser then Daniel That oracular man who was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as one saith of Homer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most wise and knowing man alive His name was now up at Babylon and Ezekiel his Contemporary commendeth him So doth the Baptist Christ and Peter Paul 2 Ep. 3. though there had been a breach between them Gal. 2.14 there was no envy But such another Braggard as this in the text was Richardus de Sancto Victore a Monk of Paris who said that himself was a better Divine then any Prophet or Apostle of them all Paraei hist sac medul Moral 17. But How much better saith Gregory is humble ignorance then proud knowledge Ver. 4. With thy wisdom thou hast gotten thee riches Which yet is not every wise mans happinesse Aelian observeth that the wisest and best of the Grecians were very poor as Socrates Aristides Phecion Ephialtes Epaminondas Pelâ—pidas Var. hist lib. 2. Eumolpus Lamachus and others Fortuna fere favet fatuis nescio quomodo bona mentis soror est paupertas saith he in Petronius Piety goeth oft yoked with poverty Ver. 5. Thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches Like as the higher the flood riseth the higher also doth the boat that floateth thereon A small blast will blow up a bubble so will a few paltry poundâ—s puffe up a carnal heart By thy great wisdom Here God did nothing And such for all the world saith Oecolampadius are our free-will men with their ego feci this I did Such Feci's are no better then faeces saith Luther that is dregs and drosse Ver. 6. Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God Thou thinkest thy wisdome to be Divine and thy self the only one The Tyrians were famous for their great wisdom Zach. 9.2 and they are said to be the inventers of many arts yet should they not have overweened themselves in this sort which because they did let them hear their doom Ver. 7. Behold therefore I will bring strangers upon thee Who shall not at all regard thy great wisdom but grasp after thy wealth and suck thy blood for it Neither will they favour thee the more because thou art a King but slay thee the rather and say Hunc ipsum quaerimus This is the right bird as that souldier said who slew the most valiant King of Sweden at the battle of Lutzen Ver. 8. They shall bring thee down to the pit There shall lye the greatnesse of the god of Tyre And thou shalt dye the deaths Death will make no difference betwixt a Prince and a pesant a Lord and a lozel The mortal sithe is master of the royal scepter Ver. 9. Wilt thou say before him that slayeth thee I am a god That will prove a poor plea and thou wilt soon be confuted as afterwards great Alexander confuted his flatterers when being wounded in fight he shewed them his blood Ver. 10. Thou shalt dye the death of the uncircumcised
of Sacrifices Prov. 7.14 And hereunto Saint James seems to allude Chap. 5.5 Vers 2. A wise servant shall have rule over a Son c. God hath a very gracious respect unto faithful servants and hath promised them the reward of inheritance Col. 4.24 which properly belongs to Sons This falls out sometimes here as to Joseph Joshuah those subjects that married Salomons Daughters 1 King 4.10 14. but infallibly hereafter when they shall come from East and West to sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdome of Heaven and to enter into their Masters joy but the children of the Kingdome shall bee cast out Mat. 8.11 12. Vers 3. The fining-pot is for silver c. God also hath his fire in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem Isa 31.9 his conflatories and his crucibles wherein hee will refine his as silver is refined and try them as gold is tried Zech. 13.9 Not as if hee knew them not till hee had tried them for hee made them and therefore cannot but know them As Artificers know the several parts and properties of their works Sed tentat ut sciat id est ut scire nos faciat saith Augustin Hee therefore tries us that hee may make us know what is in us what drosse what pure metal and that all may see that wee are such as for a need can glorifie him in the very fires Isa 84.15 that the trial of our faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth though tried in the fire may bee found to praise and honour and glory 1 Pet. 1.7 Vers 4. A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips It is an ill sign of a vicious nature to bee apt to beleeve scandalous reports of godly men If men loved not lyes they would not listen to them Some are of opinion that Solomon having said God tryeth the hearts doth in this and the two next following verses instance some particular sins so accounted by God which yet passe amongst men for no sins or peccadilloes at the utmost seeing no man seems to receive wrong by them such as these are to listen to lying lips to mock the poor to rejoyce at another mans calamity and the like Loe they that do thus though to themselves and others they may seem to have done nothing amisse yet God that tries the hearts will call them to account for these malicious miscarriages Vers 5. Hee that mocketh the poor c. See the Note on Chap. 14.31 And hee that is glad at calamities shall not bee unpunished Hee is sick of the Devils disease 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Job was not tainted with Chap. 31. as the Edomites Ammonites Philistims and other of Sions enemies Lam. 1. were How bitterly did the Jews insult over our Saviour when they had nailed him to the Crosse And in like sort they served many of the Martyrs worrying them when they were down as Dogs do other Creatures and shooting sharp arrows at them when they had set them up for marks of their malice and mischief Herein they deal like barbarously with the Saints as the Turks did with one John de Chabes a Frenchman Turk Hist fol. 756. at the taking of Tripolis in Barbary They cut off his hands and nose and then when they had put him quick into the ground to the waste they for their pleasure shot at him with their arrows and afterwards cut his throat Mr. John Deuly Martyr being set in the fire with the burning flame about him sang a Psalm Then cruel Doctor Story commanded one of the tormentours to hurl a faggot at him whereupon being hurt therewith upon the face Act. Mon. fol. 1530. that hee bled again hee left his singing and clapt both his hands upon his face Truly said Doctor Story to him that hurled the fagot Thou hast marred a good old song This Story being after the coming in of Queen Elizabeth questioned in Parliament for many foul crimes and particularly for persecuting and burning the Martyrs hee denied not but that hee was once at the burning of an Herewigge for so hee termed it at Uxbridge Ibid. 1918. where hee cast a faggot at his face as hee was singing of Psalms and set a winnebush of thorns under his feet a little to prick him c. This wretch was afterwards hanged drawn and quartered and so this Proverb was fulfilled of him Anno. 1571. Hee that is glad at calamities shall not bee unpunished Vers 6. Childrens children are the Crown of old men That is if they bee not children that cause shame as vers 2. and that disgrace their Ancestors stain their blood If they obey their Parents counsel and follow their good example for otherwise they prove not Crowns but corrosives to their aged Sires as did Esau Absolom Andronicus and others And the glory of children are their Parents If those children so well descended do not degenerate as Jonathan the son of Gershom the son of Manasseh or rather of Moses as the Hebrews read it with a Nun suspensum Judg. 18.31 and as Elies Samuels and some of Davids sons did Heroum filii noxae Manasseh had a good Father but hee degenerated into his Grandfather Ahaz as if there had been no intervention of a Hezekiah So wee have seen the kernel of a well-fruited-plant degenerate into that crab or willow that gave the original to his stock But what an honour was it to Jacob that hee could swear by the fear of his Father Isaac To David that hee could in a real and heavenly complement say to his Maker Truly Lord I am thy servant â—â—am thy servant the son of thy handmaid Psal 116.16 To Timothy that the same Faith that was in him had dwelt first in his Mother Lois and his Grandmother Eunice 2 Tim. 1.15 To the children of the Elect Lady c. To Mark that hee was Barnabas his sisters son To Alexander and Rufus men mentioned onely Euseb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark 15.21 but famously known in the Church to bee the sons of Simon of Cyrene To the sons of Constaintine the Great to come of such a Father whom they did wholly put on saith Eusebius and exactly resemble To bee descended of those glorious Martyrs and Confessors that suffered here in Queen Maries daies Vers 7. Excellent speech becometh not a fool A Nabal a sapless worthless fellow in whom all worth is withered and decayed qui nullas habet dicendi vires as Cicero hath it that can say no good except it bee by rote or at least by book what should hee do discoursing of high points God likes not fair words from a foul mouth Christ silenced the Devil Odi homineâ— ignava â— pâ—râ—â— philosopha sententia when hee confessed him to bee the Son of the most high God The leapers lips should bee covered according to the Law The Lacedemonians when a bad man had uttered a good speech in their Council-house liking the speech but not the speaker
very grievous Mat. 9.36 And what good heart can but bleed to think of those once flourishing Churches of Asia and Africa now over-spread partly with Mahumetanisme and partly with Heathenisme and that by the most miserable occasion might befall namely famine of the Word of God through lack of Ministers What a world of Sects Superstitions and other horrible abuses got into the Church of Rome when Prophesie was suppressed and reading the holy Scriptures inhibited And what a slaughter of souls ensued thereupon Mat. Paris Hist Letters were framed by some as sent from Hell to the Popish Clergy Anno 1072. wherein the Devil and his Angels give them many thanks for such a number of souls sent them down daily by their neglect of Preaching as had never been before Hence it was that in this Kingdom at the first Reformation for want of Ministers Readers were sent Whence one of the Martyrs wished that every able Minister might have ten Congregations committed to his charge till further Provision could be made For of preaching it may be said as once David did of Goliah's sword There is none to that for Conversion of souls as where that is wanting people goe tumbling to hell thick and three-fold But he that keepeth the Law happy is he Though to want the Word preached and sincerely handled rightly divided for as every sound is not Musick so every Pulpit-discourse is not a Sermon be a great unhappiness a ready road to utter ruine yet is not the bare hearing of it that that renders a man blessed unless he hide it in his heart with David and lift up his hands too to the practise of it Psal 119.48 The words of the Law are verba vivenda non legenda as one said words to be lived and not read only Let not your lives be Antinomians no more than your opinions saith another That is a monstrous opinion of some Swenckfeldians that a man was never truly mortified till he had put out all sense of sin or care of duty Wendeliâ—â—s if his conscience troubled him about such things that was his imperfection hee was not mortified enough Some of our Antinomians are not farre from this Their predecessours in Germany held that the Law and works only belong to the Court of Rome that good works are perniciosa ad salutem Bucholcer hurtful and hindersome to salvation that that saying of Peter Make your calling and election sure by good works was dictum inutile an unprofitable saying and Peter did not understand Christian liberty that so soon as a man begins to think how hee should live godlily and modestly Vita Dev. Georg. he wandreth from the Gospel David George was so farre from accounting Adulteries Fornications Incests c. for being any sins that hee did recommend them to his most perfect Schollars as acts of grace and mortification This fellow was sure somewhat a kin to those Carpocratian Hereticks in Saint Johns days who taught that men must sin and doe the will of all the Devils Epiphan otherwise they could not enter into heaven Vers 19. A servant will not be corrected by words Some Servants will not but must have blows If words will doe they must bee chidden with good words and not reviled Christians must be no brawlers but gentle shewing all meeknesse to all men Tit. 3.2 And Masters must doe the same things forbearing threatning knowing that their Master also is in Heaven neither is there respect of persons with him Sidon Epist Ephes 6.9 Severitas nec sit tetra nec tetrica saith Sidonius But because some Mastigiae are of so servile a disposition that they must be beaten to their work like those Phrygians Qui non nisi flagris castigantur that will doe nothing longer than scourged to it or the Russian Women Heyl. Geog. that love that Husband best that beats them most and think themselves else not regarded unless two or three times a day well-favouredly swadled therefore let him that knows his Masters will and yet out of stoutness sullenness or laziness will not doe it be beaten with many stripes let him bee buffeted for his faults 1 Pet. 2.20 and made serviceable in all things not gain-saying not purloyning Tit. 2.9 10. Vers 20. Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words Or Matters that weighs not his words before he utters them but over-soon shoots his fools-bolt let it light where it will hit or misse it matters not that had rather bee reckoned temerarious than timorous and is with child till delivered of an abortive birth that rashly rusheth on the weightiest businesses and holds it losse of time to take counsel this hasty head-long man as hee never wants woe so because he is no lesse head-strong than head-long wise in his own conceit than witlesse in every mans else there is more hope of a Natural than of him and sooner he will be wrought upon Scaliger tells us the nature of some kind of Amber is such oâ—al Exercit. 140. Num. 12. that it will draw to it self all kind of stalks of any Herb except Basilisk an Herb called Capitalis because it maketh men heady filling their brains with black exhalations Thus those Hastings who by the fumes of their corrupt wills are grown head-strong and withall are conceited as cha 26.12 will not be drawn by that which draws others that are of lower parts and capacities it being easier to deal with twenty mens reasons than with one mans will Good therefore is the counsel of St. James Be swift to hear slow to speak c. and of the Preacher Eccles 5.2 Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God in Prayer Vows and especially in preaching It was a wise speech of Aristides who being required of the Emperor to speak to something propounded ex tempore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answered propound to day and I will answer to morrow for we are not of those that spit or vomit things but of those that doe them carefully and accurately Demosthenes in like manner when it was objected unto him that he came premeditated to plead answered that he if it might be possible would plead Non tantum scripta sed etiam sculpta not things written only but even engraven And when Eccius told Melancthon that it was little for his praise that he was so long ere he answered his adversaries arguments he would take three dayes sometimes to think on it hee replied Nos non quaerimus gloriam sed veritatem we seek not victory but verity Vers 21. He that delicately bringeth up his servant A master that would be as he ought both loved and feared by his servants must see to two things 1 The well-chusing and 2 The well-using of them This Salomon himself that thus adviseth here was not so well advised of for he saw that Jereboam who gave occasion as it is conceived of uttering this Proverb was
justness of their cause their obedience to God c. This Hereticks can never make good Well they may pretend that they suffer for righteousness sake and stile themselves as the Swenck feldians did The confessours of the glory of Christ Well they may cry out as that Heretick Dioscorus did in the Council of Chalcedon I am cast out with the Fathers I defend the doctrine of the Fathers I transgress them not in any point Well they may seem to bee ambitious of wearing a Tiburn-tippeâ— as Campian and cry out with Gentilis the Antitrinitarian Se pro gloria Altissimi Dei pati that hee suffered death for the glory of the most High God Hee that hateth dissembleth with his lips saith Solomon of such subtle Foxes and layeth up deceit within him When hee speaketh fair beleeve him not for there are seven abominations in his heart Prov. 26.24 25. Hereticks are notably cunning and no less cruel as the Arians and Donaetists were of old the Papists Matth. 8. Socinians and others of the same bran at this day These Foxes have holes they cunningly creep or shoot themselves into houses by their pithanology and counterfeit humility they lead captive silly women and by them 2 Tim. 3.6 their husbands they take them prisoners as the word signifies and then make prize of them 2 Pet. 2.3 they bring them into bondage and devour them as St. Paul saith of those deceitful workers the Foxes of his time 2 Cor. 11.13 20. they fraudulently foist in false doctrines 2 Pet. 2.1 Heresies of perdition and so corrupt the Vineyard as the Master of the Vineyard complains Jer. 12.10 shipwrack the Faith 1 Tim. 1.19 subvert whole houses Tit. 1.11 and are therefore to bee taken or clubd down as Pests and common mischiefs to mankind to the younger sort especially those tender Grapes which they chiefly covet and catch at And here in hunting of these cruel crafties that counsel would bee taken that Saul gave the Ziphites concerning an innocent man that deserved it not Go I pray you prepare yee and know 1 Sam. 23.22 23 and see his place where his haunt is and who hath seen him there for it is told mee that hee dealeth very subtilly See therefore and take knowledge of all the lurking places where hee hideth himself c. Vers 16. My Beloved is mine and I am his Hitherto the Church hath related Christs words to her self and others Now shee shuts up the whole discourse with praise of Christ here and prayer to him vers 17. In praising him shee preacheth her own blessedness in that spiritual Union that mystical marriage that is betwixt them My Beloved is mine c. q. d. I am sure hee is mine and I can boldly speak it Many lay claim to him which have no share in him they deeply affirm of him but have no manner of right to him their faith is but fancy their confidence presumption they are like that mad-man of Athens that claimed every rich ship that came to shore when as hee had no part in any or Haman who hearing that the King would honour a man concluded but falsely that himself was the man Like Idolatrous Micah they conceit that God will bless them for the Levites sake Judg. 17.13 which was no such matter And like Sisera they dream of a Kingdome when as Jaels nail is nearer their Temples than a Crown The condition of such self-soothers and self-seekers is nothing different from his that dreaming upon a steep place of some great happiness befallen him starts suddenly for joy and falling down with the start breaks his neck at the bottom The true beleever is upon a far better ground his faith is unfeigned his hope is unfailable Hee knows whom hee hath trusted hee knows and beleeves the love that God hath to him 1 John 4.16 hee hath gotten a full gripe of Christ and is sure that neither death nor life c. shall separate him from Christ Hee hath comprehended him or rather is comprehended of him Phil. 3.12 Christ hath laid hold on him by his Spirit and hee hath laid hold on Christ by Faith the property whereof is to put on close to Christ and Christ to him yea to unite us to Christ so that hee that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 as truly one as those members are one body which have the same soul or as man and wife are one flesh as they two are one matrimonial flesh so Christ and his people are one mystical Christ 1 Cor. 12.12 Well therefore may the Church here glorifie Christ and glory in her own happiness by him saying My Beloved is mine and I am sure of it and cannot bee deceived for I am his all that I am is his I have made a total resignation of my whole self unto him and have put him in full possession of all I am crucified with Christ Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in mee Gal. 2.20 Christ is All-sufficient to mee and I am altogether his His is as a Covenant of mercy mine of obedience Wherein I do as it were by Indenture with highest estimations most vigorous affections and utmost indeavours bestow my self upon him and I accept of whole Christ in all his offices and efficacies Hee feedeth among the Lillies Before shee was to seek and goes to Christ to bee resolved where hee fed Chap. 1.7 Now after more intimate communion with him shee is able to resolve herself and others where hee feeds his flock viz. among the Lillies that is in sweet and soft pastures Psal 23.2 in those Mountains of spices Cant. 8.14 those bounties of holiness the glorious Ordinances wherein Christ feeds his people and feasts them daily and daintily pleasantly and plentifully with the best of the best fat things full of marrow Wine on the Lees well refined Isa 25.6 to the gladding of their hearts and greatning of their Faith so that they grow up as the Lillies Hos 14.5 as the Calves of the stall as the willows by the water-courses Isa 44.4 And as Lillies are not more beautiful than fertile Una radice quinquagenos saepe emittente bulbos Plin. yea the dropping of the Lilly will cause and beget more Lillies so the Lilly-white Saints will bee working upon others and bringing them to Christ as Andrew did Peter and Philip Nathaniel John 1.41 45. True goodness is generative Charity is no churl c. Vers 17. Until the day break and the shadows flee away Until that day dawn that last and glorious day when Christ the Sun of Righteousness shall appear and chase away the shadows of sin and misery wherewith I am here benighted Umbra terrae noctem facit Isidor Etym. lib. 5. cap. 13. Turn about my Beloved And though thou leave mee for a time as thou art a God that hidest thy self Isa 45.15 yet never forsake mee but let thine heart bee ever upon mee and thine hand ready to help at
Let us therefore have Grace whereby we may serve Him with reverence and godly fear Heb. 12.28 Ver. 10. Pass through the land as a River i. e. Hastily Abi praeceps Indesinenter cito Jun. pack up and be gone with all speed be there never so many of you here at Tyre There is no more strength Heb. girdle that is Souldiery or shipping or Sea to encompass it Occolampadius sets this sence upon the words Non est ei cingulum reliquum There is not so much as a girdle or such like mean commodity left in Tyre she had been so plundered Ver. 11. He stretched out his hand That mighty hand of his 1 Pet. 5.6 wherewith he spanneth the Heavens chap. 48.13 brought the red Sea upon the Egyptians Exod. 14.26 and still shaketh the wicked out of the earth as by a canvase Job 38.13 He shook the Kingdoms Shook and shattered them viz. by Nebuchadnezzar the Kingdom of Tyre especially to the terrour of others Ezek. 26.15 The Lord That man of War Exod. 15.3 Mighty in battel Psalm 24.8 Hath given a Commandement Bidding his Forces Fall on Against the Merchant City Heb. against or concerning Canaan so he calleth Tyre the posterity of the old Cananites and a place of great Merchandise See Hos 12.7 Ver. 12. Thou shalt no more rejoyce Heb. exult revel O thou oppressed Or ravished damsel daughter of Zidon hactenus intacta vi hostili never till now subdued Arise pass Asyndeton q. d. Haste haste Over to Chittim To Cyprus Greece Italy There also shalt thou have no rest Succour or shelter Cains curse was upon them the visible vengeance of God followed them close at heels see Deut. 28.65 66. Ver. 13. Behold the land of the Chaldeans q. d. The Chaldees were once no such considerable people but lay hid under the grandeur of the Assyrian Monarchy which did set them up Howbeit in time the Assyrians at length were devoured by the Chaldees Niniveh by Babylon filia devoravit matrem as the Proverb is And why may not the like be done to Tyre Others make this to be the Prophets speech to the Chaldees Behold O land of the Chaldees This people of Tyre was not however they boast of their Antiquity till the Assyrians those Monarchs of the World founded it Vt esset statio Carinis to be a fit place for shipping or for Barbarians Calvin See 2 King 17.24 Down with it therefore bring it to vastity Ver. 14. Howl ye ships of Tarshish He concludeth this Prophecy of Tyres downfall as he began ver 1. The Inhabitants of Tarshish or Tarsus in Cilicia were great ship-Ship-masters they sent a Navy of an hundred ships to Xerxes when he went against Greece Ver. 15. Tyre shall be forgotten i. e. Laid aside by God as if not at all minded in her misery slighted also and unfrequented by men as a withered Harlot Seventy years So long as the Jews whom they jeered were held captives in Babylon According to the dayes of one King i. e. The duration of the Babylonish Monarchy under Nebuchadnezzar his son and his sons for Jer. 17.7 Shall Tyre sing as an harlot Vt meretrix i. e. Mercatrix Harlots faln into some foul disease are abandoned but recovering thereof they seek by singing and other allurements to regain their Paramours so should Tyre deal by her old customers being as was once said of Helena after her return from Troy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no changeling but as good as ever Ver. 16. Take an harp In bidding her do so he foretelleth that she shall do so sc ad ingenium suum redire fall to her former practices Make sweet melody c. The Tyrians were much addicted to musick Ezek. 26.13 28.13 Ver. 17. The Lord will visit Tyre Bad though she be he will graciously visit her both by suffering her to grow rich again as here and by converting some of them to the faith of Christ ver 18. See it fulfilled Act. 21.3 4 5. Euscbius also telleth of many made Martyrs there Ver. 11. It shall not be treasured Being once converted they shall leave heaping and hoarding wealth and find other use for it viz. to feed and cloath Gods Ministers and poor people freely and largely And for durable cloathing The Vulgar hath it Vestientur ad vetustatem CHAP. XXIV Ver. 1. BEhold the Lord emptieth It must needs be a matter of some rare and marvellous consequence that Behold the O-yes of the Holy Ghost is thus set before The Lord emptieth i. e. Will empty an Idiom proper to Gods Prophets who saw in the Spirit things to come as if they were even then done The earth Or the land sc of Jury by a woefull desolation Lege Luge Some hold it to be a Metaphor from ships over-laden which therefore must be disburdened so was the Land to be eased of her Inhabitants which she could hardly stand under And waste Making havock of persons and things of worth Turneth it upside-down Ferens agens sursum deorsum omnia turning all things topsy turvy as they say Ver. 2. And it shall be as with the people so with the Priest Or Prince Digninity and Wealth hindereth him not Doth he esteem nobility or riches or any thing that fortifieth strength Poverty or meanness findeth no favour with him In a common calamity all commonly share and fare alike Ver. 3. The Land shall be utterly emptyed See on ver 1. For the Lord hath spoken this word And his words are not in vain Doth he say and shall he not do it Numb 23.23 Ver. 4. The earth mourneth and fadeth away Luxit diffluxit waileth and saileth gallant Rhetorick in the original as this is a stately Chapter all along all the rowlings of Demosthenes are but dull stuffe to it The world languisheth As a sick man so enfeebled that he cannot stand high-lone Nempe contactu sceleratâ—rum hominum Pisc Ver. 5. The earth also is defiled Viz. With sin and therefore so decayed yea the very visible Heavens are defiled with mans sin and shall therefore be purged by the fire of the last day like as the vessels that held the sin-offering was to pass the fire Because they have transgressed the Laws Natural and moral those bounds and banks set to keep men within the compass of obedience but the unjust knoweth no shame Zeph. 3.5 is Lawless Awless Yokeless untameable untractable as the wild Ass-colt as the Horse and Mule c. Changed the Ordinances Or passed by the Ordinances sc By sins of omission as before by commission so Heb. 2.2 every transgression and disobedience i. e. every commission and omission Broken the everlasting Covenant Disannulled vacated the Covenant founded in Christ when coming unto his own his own received him not when the Pharisees and others by slighting holy offers and Ordinances of Grace rejected the counsel of God against themselves Luke 7.30 This last especially brought the curse ver 6. Some by Lawes here understand the judicial
it be considered whether they be not Spain Germany and France or whether this prefigured not saith One his triple crown And behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man In respect of his feined curtesy and profound policy To be sharpsighted is commendable but to be wittily wicked is to do the devil doubty service And a mouth speaking great thing Big swoln with blasphemies both against God and his Vicegerents upon earth Pope Boniface wrot to Philip the Fair King of France Volumus te scire te in temporali spirituali nobis subjacere We would you should know Sir that you are to subject your selves to us Alsted Chron. both in temporals and spirituals c. Accordingly he took upon him to overtop and command at pleasure all Christian Kings and Emperours The application that the malicious Jew-doctours blasphemously make of this little horn to our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of all execration Ver. 9. I beheld till the thrones were cast down All these tyrannous dominions overturned Some read it till the thrones were set up for till the last Judgement Antichrist is to continue ver 21 22 25 26. And the Ancient of dayes did sit i. e. God Almighty whom Thales also an Heathen Philosopher called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most Ancient of all that are The Poets say also that Saturn the father of their gods had his name from his fulnesse of years Gods Eternity and Wisdom is set forth by this his Title here Laert. in vlt. Thalet Saturnus est appellatus quòd saturetur annâ— Cic. de nat deor lib. 2. like as also is by his white garments his Majesty and Authority by his hair as pure wooll his Innocency and Integrity in Judgement by his throne like the fiery flame his just Anger and Severity against the man of sin especially by his wheels or the wheels thereof viz. of his Throne for Princes thrones used in those dayes to be set upon wheels as burning fire is set forth his Facility and Dexterity in executing his Judgements his Efficacy also sith all things are fiery Ver. 10. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him The last and great Judgement must needs be very dreadful when as beside that wicked men shall give account with all the world flaming about their ears the Law they shall be judged by is a fiery Law Deut 32.2 the tribunal of fire Ezek. 1.27 the Judge a consuming fire Heb. 12.29 His Attendants flaming Seraphims his pleading with sinners shall be in flames of fire 2 Thes 1.7 The trial of their works shall be by fire 1 Cor. 3.13 The place of punishment a lake of fire fed with tormenting temper and kindled by the breath of the Lord Isa 30 33. Well may the sinners in Zion be afraid and fearfulnesse surprize hypocrites well may they run away if they can at least tell whither with these words in their mouths Who among us shall dwell with this devouring fire who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings Isa 33.14 Thousand thousands ministred unto him There is an innumerable company of Angels Heb. 12.22 and when Christ cometh to judge the world he shall bring them all with him not one being left behind him in heaven Mat. 16.27 that he may have their assistance in the sentence and execution of Judgement 1 Cor. 6.2 3. Sedendo quiescendo animasit prudens Aristot Physic lib. 6. The Judgement was set and the books were opened Terms taken from judgements amongst men wherein inditements are read proofs are produced Laws also are considered The books that shall here be opened are Gods Records and Consciences Register quae scripta sunt non atrameâ—â—o sed flagitiorum inquinamento saith Ambrose which are written not with ink but with sins filth I beheld then because of the voice of the great words As Antichrist shall be judged for his blasphemies so shall all ungodly men for their hard speeches Jude 12. yea for their waste words Mat. 12. Cotton the Jesuite confesseth that the authority of the Pope is incomparably lesse then it was and that now the Christian Church is but a diminutive Ver. 11. I beheld even till the beast was slain Till the whole body of the monster and with it the Papal kingdom came to ruine This Bellarmine confesseth and lamenteth that ever since we began to call the Pope Antichrist the Church of Rome hath suffered losse And his body destroyed and given to the burning flame The Revelation which is an heavenly Commentary upon this Prophecy hath it thus The beast and the false Prophet were cast alive for more torment into a lake of fiâ—e burning with brimstone Chap. 19.20 Ver. 12. As concerning the rest of the beasts The four great Monarchies as was before noted had their times and their turns their rise and their ruine Yet their lives were prolonged for a season Such is the Lords lenity respiting his enemies for a time 1 Kings 21.29 The Persian and Turk are yet puissant Princes The successe that the Antichristian rout yet hath in some places maketh good that which was sometime said of dying Carthage Morientium nempe bestiarum violentiores esse morsus i. e. The bites of dying beasts are more violent then ordinary Ver. 13. I saw in the night visions c. Here comes in the fifth Monarchy properly so called the kingdom being wrested from the fourth tyrant Well might Hierom call Daniel Polyhistora the general Historian And behold one like the son of man So Christ shewed himself oft to the Fathers before his Incarnation for their confirmation in that Article which being the ground of his Passion was to be especially believed for the foundation of Christian faith Christs Godhead also another main Article is here not obscurely deciphered whilest he is said to be like the son of man therefore he is more then a mere man Again he came with the clouds confer Mat. 24.30 Then shall they see the son of man coming in the clouds as in his charet of State Adde hereunto his solemn glorious accesse unto the Father that Ancient of dayes that is the Eternal God as being his Coâ—qual of the same nature power glory c. with his Father and Coeternal unto him So the Lamb is said to approach to him that sat upon the Throne to receive the Book Rev. 5.7 Et qui assistebaâ—â— ei abtulerant eum sic Cyprian legit And they brought him near before him The Angels did as great mens Attendants are said to bring their Masters to the Court. Ver. 14. And there was given him dominion Christ hath a manyfold right to the kingdom it is his by Inheritance conquest donation c. This is comfortable to consider of forasmuch as he will not reign without his Members who all hold all in capite and have all already 1. In precio 2. In promisso 3. In primitiis That all people nations and languages c. Christs Kingdiom is