God as well as the man but now consider them as to their sex or as to their relations of man and wife so man is her superiour and in regard of that authority that the man hath over the woman the man is said to be the image of God and the woman the glory of her husband and well may she be called the glory of man for it was a far greater honour for man to have dominion over one of his own kind then over all the beasts Quest. 15. verse 27. 'T is said both man and woman were created the sixth day male and female created he them and yet after the six days were over it is said The Lord caused a deep sleep Gen. 2.21 22. to fall upon Adam and he slept and of one of his ribs he made a woman These Scriptures are easily reconciled In the first chapter the Spirit of God tells Resp us what God did the sixth day viz. he created the man and woman male and female In the second chapter he tels us Gods manner of doing it Quest. 16. verse 28. 'T is said God blessed them and said Be fruitful and multiply and yet our Saviour saies Luke 23. 29. Behold the days are coming when they shall say Blessed are the barren c. and so in another place Woe to them that are with child in those dayes Mat. 24.19 To have children to be fruitful in its self considered is a mercie and to be preferred Resp before barrennesse but yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in some respect barrennesse is to be preferred before it As when enemies are approaching and a place is like to be destroyed with the sword women with childe are not able to flie and shift for themselves and therefore Woe to women with childe in those dayes And 't is better to have no children then to see them butchered and massacred before our eyes And this shewes the singular difference between spiritual mercies and temporal spiritual mercies are alwayes desirable and never out of season Quest 17. verse 29. Whether the eating of flesh or fish was allowed by God to our forefathers before the flood for after the flood we finde this liberty was given Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you but in this Gen 9.3 chapter when God speaks of the provision made for man he only speaks of Trees and Herbs and Vegetables I humbly conceive the Affirmative enclined Resp thereunto by these reasons 1. God did not forbid them eating of flesh therfore left them to their liberty 2. What use could there be made of fish and many other creatures if they had not been allowed for meat 3. They offered up Sacrifices of their cattel Abel brought of the firstlings of his Gen. 4.4 flock Now it was a thing received and taken for granted among the Jews that they might eat of their Sacrifices 4. They wore the skins of beasts and therefore it is likely they ate also the flesh Unto Adam also and unto his wife did the Gen. 3.21 Lord God make coats of skins But after the flood God expressely permitted the eating of flesh and therefore he Object did not permit it before Negativa non probant By the same reason Resp 1 it would follow that because the Rainbowe was not mentioned before the flood the Rainbowe was not before the flood which we have no cause to beleeve for Positâ causâ ponitur effectus Now the Rainbowe is caused by the Sun shining upon a watery cloud It is true it was not the token of Gods Covenant till after the flood but it was before God did not after the flood give man a right to that which he had not before the flood but only reinvested him with those possessions and priviledges which he had been cast out of by reason of his sinne Notes on the second Chapter Quest 1. verse 1 2. HOw is it said that God ended his work the seventh day when God is totus actus and besides John 5. 17 our Saviour saith My Father worketh hitherto and I work Cessavit ab actu creationis non ab actu Resp 1 Moses doth not say simply he rested from all his work but from all his work which he had made viz. from the works of creation and therefore that of our Saviour my Father worketh hitherto and I work must be understood of the works of providence But the souls of all the men and women Object in the world from the beginning have been created to this very day God rested from the creation of species Resp or kinds not from the creation of individuals But the earth afterwards brought forth Object briars and thorns therefore new kinds were created Gen. 3.17 18. I know no inconvenience will follow Resp if we affirme that briars and thornes were created the first six dayes it is true they should not in the least have been prejudicial either to man or to the fruits of the earth if man had not sinned and therefore it is likely if man had continued in his primitive state of integrity briars and thornes should have growen in their place and the fruits of the earth in their place this blending and mixing of briars and thornes amongst the fruits of the earth is the product of the sin of man But there are several things in the world Object the creation whereof we read not the first six dayes as wine milk c. Some things were created in their perfection Resp some things in their principles though wine was not created the grape was though milk was not created the brest was Quest 2. verse 3. Whether God did from the first creation appoint that the seventh day should be kept as an holy Sabbath or whether this be spoken by way of Prolepsis or Anticipation viz. because God rested from his work upon the seventh day therefore he did afterwards at the time of the giving of the Law ordaine that every seventh day of the week should be kept holy as a Sabbath of rest unto the Lord. The Sabbath was appointed from the Resp creation 't is true It cannot be denied but that it is an usuall thing in Scripture to set down things in way of Prolepsis or Anticipation as they call it to set down things aforehand in the History which happened many years afterward but there is no such Prolepsis here as if the meaning should be that he did this two thousand five hundred years after the creation It is observable that throughout the whole Scripture we shall not finde one Prolepsis but that the History is evidently and apparently false unlesse we do acknowledge a Prolepsis and Anticipation to be in the History the necessity of establishing the truth of the History only can establish the truth of a Prolepsis in the History but in this place alledged can any say that the story is apparently false unlesse we imagine the Sabbath to be first sanctified on mount Sinai But Gods sanctifying the Sabbath
dayes for Divine service how improbable is it that Cain and Abel should concurre at the same time in bringing their offerings unto the Lord and if not at the same time how could Cain discerne that Abels offering was respected and accepted of God when his was Gen. 4.3 not and besides it is said In processe of time it came to passe that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. In the processe of time or at the end of days as it is in the margin of your Bibles and as the original will bear it viz. on the Sabbath-day when there is an end of the dayes of the week and they begin again I might adde that it is not improbable but that Noah and his family kept the Sabbath in the Ark for it is said that he stayed Gen. 8. 10 12. other seven dayes and sent forth the Dove out of the Ark and verse 12. He stayed other seven dayes and sent forth the Dove why did Noah this on the seventh day It was likely that then Noah and his family were at prayer and engaged in the worship and service of God and at such times it is good to make experiments of Gods fatherly care of us and providence over us Quest. 3. verse 4. In the first Chapter it is said that God made the heavens and the earth in six dayes and in this verse it is said These are the generations of the heaven and the earth in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens From this place some would gather that Resp 1 all the world was made in one day and that Moses doth divide the creation into six dayes propter captum that it might be the better understood Others conceive that Moses relates to that first matter or substance of which all things were created now this was made in one day Others think with whom I close that Moses doth not speak strictly here but indefinitely in the day the Lord made the earth that is to say in the time the Lord made the earth so it is taken in other places of Scripture To day if you will hear Psal 95.7 his voice c. Quest. 4. verse 5. How God could be said to create every plant of the field before it was in the earth Either the meaning is that they were Resp 1 created potentialiter in the first masse and so created before they were in the earth Or else the meaning is this God created every plant of the field before it was in the earth viz. there was not a plant in the earth before God created it Quest 5. verse 7. It is said God formed man of the dust of the earth How can man be said to be made of dust or earth when he is made of the four elements earth fire aire water Moses saies God formed man of the dust Resp 1 of the earth but not only of the dust of the earth Moses loquitur de terra ut de causa partiali non totali Moses speaks of the dust but as part of that matter of which man was made But he expresses the one and therefore Object by consequence denies the other This is just as if a man by calling one his Resp fathers sonne should deny him to be his mothers Quest 6. verse 7. Why doth the Lord speak distinctly in this verse concerning mans body and soul We shall finde God speaks of other creatures in the bulk body and soul together Let the waters bring forth abandantly the moving creature that hath life and so verse Gen. 1. 20 24 24. Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kinde c. To note the spirituality and immateriality Resp 1 of the soul the soul of man non educitur ex potentiâ materiae as the Learned phrase it but the body was made of one kind of substance and the soul of another for Consider 1. The condition and nature of its object speaks this truth Seneca could say Hoc habet argumentum anima suae divinitatis quòd illam divina delectant This argument of its spirituality hath the soul of man in its own essence that it is delighted with things divine and spiritual If the soul were material we could not reach to the knowledge of any thing but that which is material and we might as well see Angels with our eyes as understand them with our mindes We say Receptio fit per modum recipientis you cannot fill a chest with vertue 2. It s independence on the body it is able of it self to performe its own actions without the help and concurrence of the outward man It seeth when the eys beshut and sometimes seeth not when the eyes be open It travelleth while the body resteth resteth when the body travelleth Rev. 1. 10. When John saw his glorious revelation he is said to be in the spirit when Paul had his revelations and saw things unutterable he knew not whether he were in the body or out of the body for beleevers to know that there are laid up for the Saints such joyes which eye hath not seene nor eare heard what is this but to leave sense behinde us and out-run our bodies 3. Time that wears out all corporeal things addes perfection to the souls and understandings of men old men who have the weakest bodies have the most lively and vigorous souls yea we may observe that men who have the most admirable soul-accomplishments have usually the weakest bodies and are not of the longest lives 'T is a remarkable passage that of Saint John to Gaius I wish saith he that thy body prospered even as thy soul prospers Here is a clear text against the Atheists of these dayes that question whether there be a soul or not the truth is a man cannot doubt of it without it as a man cannot prove Logick to be unnecessary but by Logick as a man cannot say he is dumb without speaking Quest 7. verse 7. In what sense these words are to be understood He breathed into his face the breath of life for the Manichees from hence held that the soul was part of Gods Essence as the breath is part of a mans substance It is true in mans breath there is part of Resp his substance but these words are not spoken of God properly but metaphorically if Moses should have said Jehovah by the power of his Spirit without making use of any elementary matter breathed into man a vital soul An horrid blasphemy to think the Essence of God should be subject to change ignorance sinne c. as the soul is Quest. 8. verse 7. Why is God said to breath into his nostrils or face the breath of life rather then into any other part of the body Because the operations of the soul discover themselves in no part of the body Resp 1 more then in the face hence a living man is usually pictured smiling or reading c. And besides the face and head
sense of it The Lord speaketh those words Ironically Resp as before Quest 14. verse 15. It is said God put the man into the garden of Eden to dresse it and yet afterwards it is pronounced as a curse In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eate thy bread Gen. 3.16 Man should have laboured if he had continued Resp in his first estate but those irksome concomitants of labour paine sweat wearisomeness spending of the strength and spirits are the product of sinne Quest 15. verse 16 17. Here the Lord gives a Law to man Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eate but of the tree of the knowledge of good ond evil thou shalt not eate and yet the Apostle saies The Law is not made for the 1 Tim. 1.9 righteous The Law is not made to the righteous Resp 1 person so as he should be under the vindicative or punishing part of it he continuing in his righteousnesse and in this sense it may be applied to man in innocency man in innocency might be under the directive part of the Law though not under the vindicative part of it The Apostle speaks of Gospel-times when man was in another state his meaning is the law is not made to the beleever so as he should abide under the cursing condemning power of it the godly are under the desert of the curse of the Law but not the actual curse and condemnation thereof nor doth it follow as a Reverend Author very well observes that there is no Law because it doth not curse It is a good rule in Divinity A remotione actûs secundi in subjecto impediti non valet argumentum ad remotionem actûs primi From the removal of an act or operation the argument doth not hold to the removing of the thing it self As it doth not follow The fire did not burne the three Worthies therefore there was no fire God did hinder the act And if that could be in natural agents which work naturally how much rather in moral such as the Law is of condemnation which works according to the appointment of God Quest 16. verse 16 17. Why would God give man a positive 〈…〉 â—esides that natural Law that was 〈…〉 his heart 〈…〉 thereby Gods dominion and powâ—◠〈◊〉 man might be the more acknowâ—â—â—ged man might have submitted to the â—oral Law of God not so much in order â—o the command as because it was suitable to that principle which was within him for the Moral Law at first was written in mans heart Even as the Heathens do abstaine from many sinnes not because forbidden by God but as dissonant to their natural reason therefore God gives him a positive Law Ut nulla alia causa esset obedientiae nisi obedientia So that the forbidding to eat was not from any sinne in the action but from the will of the Law-giver As if a man forbid another to touch such an herb because it is poison this herb is contrary to a mans health whether it be forbidden or not and therefore he may abstaine from it not because of the command but because it is contrary to his health but to forbid the eating of something that is wholsome to the body and delightful to the taste here indeed is a triall of obedience Quest 17. verse 16 17. Whether sensitive creatures be capable of being under the obligation of a Law Neg. Inter bruta silent Leges for Resp 1. There can be no satisfaction to justice in inflicting an evil upon them no satisfaction to be had from such things as are not apprehensive of punishment Seneca Quà m stultum est his irasci quae iram nostram nec meruerunt nec sentiunt 2. A punishment inflicted upon them hath no power to mend brutes or to give an example to others amongst them 3. Nec turpe nec honestum among them no duty nor obedience to be expected from them no praise nor dispraise due to them no punishment nor reward to be distributed among them Levit. 20. 15. I a man lie with a beast Object he shall surely be put to death and ye shall slay the beast The meaning of that place is not this Resp that the beast was guilty of a crime or had violated a Law and therefore was to be condemned and put to death but it was in order to the happinesse and welfare of man bestia cum homine concumbens was to be stoned 1. Because it was the occasion of so foul a fact and so fatall punishment unto man 2. That the sight and presence of the object might not repeat so prodigious a crime in the thoughts of men Exo. 21. 28. If an Oxe gore a man or a Object woman that they dye then the Oxe shall be stoned This was ad poenam exigendam à domino Resp the putting of that to death was a punishment to the owner for not looking to it better Quest 18. verse 17. It is said In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye what is meant by death in that place Spirituall temporal eternal death 1. Spiritual death this is comprehended Resp in the very nature of sinne spiritual death is nothing else but a separation of God from the soule now the nearer the correspondence is between the soule and sinne the further the distance is between the soul and God 2. Temporal death for so the Spirit of God expounds his meaning afterwards In the Gen. 3.19 sweat of thy browes shalt thou eat thy bread dusl thou art and to dust shalt thou returne 3. Eternall death this is cleared by the Apostle Paul when he saies The wages of sinne is death and that he principally Rom 6.23 intends eternall death in that place is clear by the life to which it is opposed The gift of God is eternall life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Quest 19. verse 17. Whether Adam was created mortal or Whether Adam was mortall before his eating of the forbidden fruit Neg. As appears by the threat pronounced Resp against him In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death 'T is said of God Who onely hath immortality Object 1 Tim. 6.16 A thing may be said to be immortall severall Resp wayes 1. Simply and independently immortall omni modo in every respect and so is that Scripture to be understood Who onely hath immortality 2. Immortal secundùm substantiam in regard of its substance there are some beings that are segregated from matter and corporeity and are not è potentiâ Materiae Educti as the Learned phrase it as Angels and rationall soules now these though they are not immortall simply and independently yet they are so as I may phrase it substantially 3. Immortal by the power and mercy of God or immortal by the power and justice of God the power and justice of God given immortality to the bodies of the damned in hel and the power and goodnes of God gives immortality to the bodies of the Saints in
David I will give him her said Saul that she may be a snare to him snares are tied fast 1 Sam. 18. 2â— with a false lovers knot motions of a wife either to good or evil are very taking on an husbands heart To enhance the sinfulnesse of Eves sin if the Serpent had tempted Adam and Adam Eve more might have been said by her by way of excuse As Adam said The woman thou gavest me she gave me of the tree and I did eat so might Eve have said The man thou gavest me to be my head my governour gave me c. Quest 8. verse 3. Whether the woman sinned in saying neither shall ye touch it Some conceive she did say they Resp 1 1. She endeavours to cast a reproach upon the wayes of God as if they were too severe and strict as if a woman were forbidden by her husband to go out of the house and she being angry therewith when questioned about it should say that her husband would not suffer her to stirre out of her chamber 2. She adds to the command of God God saies Ye shall not eat and she saies Ye shall not touch Others conceive she did not sin and that she did only explaine the precept that God had given them then the meaning is this thou shalt not eat of the fruit yea thou shalt not take the fruit into thy hand with a purpose to eat thereof the least motion and tendency to sin is sinfull Nemo repentè fit turpissimus As for that which is spoken on the other side it doth not as I conceive presse much upon the reason and understanding of a man For the first it is but said not proved and for the second to explaine a precept is not to adde thereunto Quest 9. vers 3. Whether Eve spake doubtingly concerning the threatening and the fulfilling thereof when she said Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it lest ye die Resp It is the Opinion of those vry Learned that from this pharase it cannot clearly be demonstrated that Eve doubted concerning the threatening for 1. The Septuagint turne the words absolutely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. The Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pen doth not alwaies note dubitation as I the Lord do keep it I will water it every moment lest any hurt it I will keep it night and day where there is Isa 27. 3. not implied the least doubt whether the Lord would keep it or not And truly I conceive hitherto Eve cannot be blamed Quest. 10. verse 5. The Serpent sayes to the woman Ye shall be as gods which words imply that Ambition was a main ingredient in the sin of our first parents now the question is how the desire of being like unto God could be a sin when God created man in his own likenesse For the answer of this question we must Resp consider that God hath two kind of Attributes his Communicable and his Incommunicable Wicked men strive to be like him in his incommunicable attributes as worship honour and glory and to be loved and feared above all in self-dependance c. Good men strive to be like him in his communicable attributes holiness mercy love patience The image of God after which man was created did certainly consist in the participation of those attributes which are communicable Good bad strive to be like God the one will be like God in power and glory sicut altissimus the other in holinesse and righteousnesse sicut sanctissimus Quest 11. verse 6. Whether the woman sinned before the eating of the forbidden fruit Aff And that appears by ver 6. And Resp when the woman saw the Tree was good for food and a tree to be desired to make one wise she saw the tree before but now she saw it to be good for food which clearly shewes her judgement to be tainted How many thousand soules have died of the wound of the eye Quest 12. verse 6. What was the first sin Some conceive as the Popish Writers Resp 1 that pride was the first sin certainly it was a poysonous ingredient in the transgression of our first parents Others as Protestant Writers that unbeliefe was the first sin by unbeliefe they understand a defection or a putting off from the command of God Reasons given by us for our judgement herein are such as these 1. The sacred History favours us in it first the Devil solicites the woman to doubt of the truth of Gods Word Ye shall not surely dye and then to pride for God doth knâ—w that in the day you eat thereof your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil 2. It is impossible for the soul to rise up against that command which at present it peremptorily and resolvedly purposes to observe pride and obedience â— diametro pugnant therefore pride could not in order of Time be before disobedience to the command 3. Faith is the grace by which first of all we are united unto God and so probably unbeliefe the first sin by which we departed from God Rom. 5. 19. The first sin of man is called disobedience For as by one mans disobedience Object many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous now if the first sin were unbeliefe neither truly nor properly did the Apostle call it disobedience Verè et propriè Truly and properly Resp 1 ought not to be confounded many things are not said properly which notwithstanding may be said truly Unbeliefe is comprehended under disobedience certainly a slacking of the bent of the spirits of our first parents to that which is good a departure from the Word of Gods Command as to the inward man may be called without impropriety of speech disobedience We say the end is first in intention and Object last in execution we think of the end before we resolve upon the means therefore it first came into Adams thoughts to be like unto God and afterwards he resolved upon a departure from the command as the means tending thereunto We are to distinguish between election Resp and seduction between a choice that is made by a man from the dictate of his own spirit and a choice made from the perswasion of another indeed in election we first think of the end before we resolve upon the means but in seduction or choice upon perswasion we first set upon the means without consideration of the end as a man may first be perswaded to take a convenient delightful walk and afterwards may be told whither it will bring him as Isaac was perswaded by his father to go along with him did readily assent though he did not know what his fathers ends might be in perswading him thereunto as Isaac had high thoughts of his father and what he said so Eve of the Serpent But you will say According to this account Object in cogitancy or inconfiderateness was the first sin Incogitancy is a part of unbeliefe viz. a
delivered by a man is called the voice of God Samuel also said unto Saul The Lord sent me to anoint 1 Sa. 15.1 thee to be King over his people now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. The Learned conceive that the voice of God in this place is not to be taken for a sound or a noyse but for an articulate voice but now whether this voice was formed in the aire As at the time of the Baptisme and transfiguration of our Saviour or whether it was formed in some body God at that time assuming the visible shape of a man is not very cleare yet the latter seems to be probable 1. He deals with man by way of judiciall processe as a man first he calls him to an account for the crime he had committed and then pronounces sentence against him 2. Ye read of the Lord God walking in the garden which seems as it were to point toward this opinion Quest. 21. verse 8. 'T is said They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden and yet it is said in Jeremiah that the Lord filleth heaven and earth Jer. 23.24 The Divine essence fills heaven and Resp earth and yet that visible forme whereby God manifests his presence may be circumscribed to a place and so it was in this Case Quest 22. verse 8. It is said they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord and yet the Psalmist Ps 139.7 8. sayes Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence c. 'T is true we cannot hide our selves from Gods presence yet we may from that visible Resp forme that God appears in for the present and possibly this may be the meaning in this place c. In vaine doth the sinner endeavour to run away from God and the terrours of Conscience This is just as if the wounded Deere should go about to run from the deadly Arrow that sticks in his side this is like the fish which swimmeth to the length of the Line with the Hooke in its mouth The best way to run from God is to run to God viz. from his wrath to his mercy To close and get in avoids the blow when a storme arises the Mariner puts forth to sea Quest 23. verse 9. God calls man Adam where art thou and yet in Jeremiah Mine eyes are upon all their wayes neither is there iniquity hid Jer. 16.17 from mine eyes Non interogat ut ipse sciat sed ut hominem Resp 1 scire et agnoscere faciat God doth not propound this question to Adam that he might know but that man might know that he did know Non est vox ignorantis sed ad judicium citantis It is not the voice of one that desired to be informed but of a Judge calling man to an account for the transgression of the Command Quest 24. verse 9. Why doth not God call Eve by her name as well as Adam they having both sinned Some say to note it concernes the husband Resp to take heed not onely of what is done by himselfe but also by his wife or family he may be called to an account for it Quest 25. vers 10. It is said I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid did not Adam feare God before Yes but he feared him before with a Resp sonne-like filial feare now with a base unworthy servile feare He feared him before because of his goodnesse now he fears him because of his vengeance so when the image of God is repaired The people of God have not a slavish wiredrawen and compelled affection towards God but their affections freely melt and drop towards God as the honey drops out of the Comb feare and love must be mixed and tempered together indeed they do not well asunder as if a man would make the most perfect beautifull colour he would temper the purest white and the fairest red together such is that for which the spouse giveth her beloved the Commendation that he was candidus et rubicundus white and ruddy feare without love would set us in the forlorne hope and precipitate us into despaire and love without fear would make us wanton and secure therefore there is not onely magnitude but pulchritude in God he is not onely great to cause us to feare him but he is good to cause us to love him Quest 26. verse 12. The man said The woman whom thou gavest to be with me she gave me of the Tree and I did eat And yet the Apostle saith 1 Tim. 2. 14. That Adam was not deceived but the woman The Apostle may speake of the manner Resp 1 of the seduction of our first parents Adam was not deceived viz. by the Serpent but the woman The Serpent deceived Eve but Eve could not in propriety of speech be said to deceive Adam for that person may be said properly to deceive who perswades to something false and injurious animo fallendi with an intention to wrong another and in this sense the Serpent may be said to deceive Eve But Eve had no thoughts of over-reaching her husband therefore Adam was not deceived but the woman Quest 27. vâ—rse 14. Why the Serpent was not examined by God as well as the man or woman The examination of the man and woman Resp was in order to their repentance and so by Consequence in order to their salvation but God would shew no mercy to the Serpent Quest 28. verse 14. Upon whom this curse was pronounced upon the Serpent or Satan or Satan and the Serpent Some would have it onely spoken of the Resp 1 brute Serpent and the Jews are very zealous in the maintaining of this assertion But if this were a truth then it would follow that the brute creature that Satan made use of should be punished but Satan himselfe who was the principall actor in tempting our first parents to sinne should escape unpunished Some would have it onely spoken of the spirituall Serpent the Devill because the brute was onely passive and abused by the Devil for the calling on of his sinfull designes But neither can this be for if this curse had not beene pronounced upon a true Serpent why should this Serpent be reckoned amongst the beasts of the field And why doth not Moses make mention of Satan in this whole Chapter Some would divide the controversie applying the first part of the curse in the 14. verse to the brute Serpent and the latter in the 15. verse to the Devil the spiritual Serpent But neither can this be for 1. The subject the Spirit of God speakes of is not changed but the same in the 14. and 15. verses ver 14. The Lord said to the Serpent Thou art cursed above all cattel And verse 15. I will put enmity between thee and the woman c 2. It is cleare that the words in the 15. ver without any straining are applicable to the brute Serpent viz.
It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heele you know the Serpent being a creature going upon his belly is obnoxious to be tread upon and to have his head bruised but being not able to reach mans head it is said of the Serpent that it should bruife mans heels Some conceive that the curse was pronounced both upon the brute Serpent and the spirituall Serpent and this I hold to be the Truth the Devil when he beguiled man came not as a naked spirit but in the shape and figure of a Serpent and therefore that his punishment might be suitable and answerable to his offence he was to receive his doome likewise under the figure of a serpent Quest 28. verse 14. Whether Satan was not under the curse of God before this was pronounced Affir but Resp 1. After he had tempted man to sin his curse was augmented 2. In this verse God declares the curse pronounced upon the Serpent to be irrepealable Upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the dayes of thy life We may observe that there is a great difference between the sentence prenounced upon the man and woman and the sentence pronounced upon the Serpent 1. You have a curse pronounced upon the Serpent but none upon the person of man or woman 2. The punishment inflicted upon them is temporall but the punishment inflicted upon the Serpent is eternall which is noted unto us by that expression All the dayes of thy life viz. as long as Satan hath a being Quest 29. verse 14 How it could be just with God to punish the brute Serpent being an unreasonable creature knowing neither good nor evil and had no will to sin but spake meerly as it was acted and possessed by Satan Why should we question the justice of Resp 1 God here more then in Adams Censure vers 17. where the whole earth was cursed for Adams sake what had the earth done or how was it guilty of Adams transgression And afterwards we read And behold I even I do bring a flood of waters on the Earth to destroy all flesh Gen 6.17 How were the beasts the creeping things the fowles of the Aire partakers of mans wickednesse God cursed the Serpent as well as Satan because Satan made use of the Serpent as his instrument to tempt our first parents to sin against God God was so displeased with sinne that he would curse not only the principall cause of it but the instrumentall also so in other cases God doth not onely punish the offender but the instrument made use of in the committing of the offence As if a man defil'd himself with a beast if a man lye with a Lev. 20.15 beast he shall surely be put to death and ye shall slay the beast We may see this in a Case where there is no dispute when a man hath committed murder his body suffers now what is the body but an instrument the soule makes use of The hand cannot move otherwise then as it is acted by the soul yet this would not be a plea in humane Courts Oh see the vilenesse of our hearts we can reason against God when in the very same case we dare not reason against man Quest. 30. verse 14. Whether the Serpent went upon his belly before the curse Some conceive that it did but that Resp 1 this was made ignominious and cursed to him after the fal of man and they illustrate this two manner of wayes 1. Nakednesse was naturall to man at first and yet afterwards he was ashamed of it and it became his punishment 2. Briars and thornes were created before mans fall but afterwards became a curse But to both these instances we may give this answer 1. That nakednesse simply considered was not the cause of mans shame but nuditas turpis Adamus videns faedos et inordinatos membrorum motus pudefactus est 2. For briars and thornes consider them in puris naturalibus in their pure naturalls and so they did not become a curse but as after the fall they grew out of their proper places and were blended and mixed with the fruits of the earth for the punishment of man c. Therefore others conceive that the Serpent did not go on his breast till the curse but had a body erected as man hath and they render these reasons amongst others 1. We know the more excellent and sublime the nature of a creature is the more it raiseth it self upwards the more ignoble and base the more it falls down-ward this we see in the Elements the fire the most excellent operative of the four raiseth it self above the rest the earth the most unactive and basest of all the lowest 2. As there is this difference amongst elements so among living creatures the basest is the most creeping as wormes c. whilest the noble Lyon advanceth his head and breast so farre as the frame of his body is capable so man being of all creatures most excellent is therefore of all others most advanced in body Os homini sublime dedit coelúmque tueri Jussit The Serpent therefore being of a sublime nature insomuch that the Scripture sayes it was more subtile then any beast of the field the frame and shape of his body was suitable thereunto Quest 31. verse 14. In what sense we must understand this phrase Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life when we find that Serpents feed upon herbes and devour other creatures also These two phrases Upon thy belly shalt Resp thou go and dust shalt thou eat ought to be joyned together in the opening of this Scripture the one ought to be considered as the cause and the other as the effect So that eating dust in this place is not so to be understood as if the Serpent should live and feed onely upon dust but that the Serpent going upon his belly should be forced to eat dust viz. take in dust into his mouth whether he will or not the Learned phrase it thus Haec verba non referuntur ad alimentum sed ad incommodum et velut coactam terrae in os receptionem Against this Exposition some object Object and say that we have a promise concerning the happy and peaceable condition of the Church in the latter dayes and amongst other things it is said The dust shall be the Serpents meat The Wolfe and Is 65.25 the Lambe shall feed together and the Lyon shall eat straw like the bullock and dust shall be the Serpents meat These words are not to be understood literally Resp but allegorically as the very expressions in the text clearly intimate and when it is said The dust shall be the Serpents meat the meaning is no more but this that in those dayes man shall not need to feare hurt from any creature the Serpent it selfe shall be confined to his dust and shall not be able to prejudice man in the least Quest 32. verse 14. Seeing this sentence was
pronounced both upon the brute Serpent and the spirituall Serpent the question may be how this phrase Upon thy belly shalt thou go dust shalt thou eat can be accommodated unto Satan Per analogiam in a spirituall sense we Resp shall finde that the Scripture makes use of such expressions as these are to note unto us the lowest and most ignominious debasement when God threatens heavy judgements against Jerusalem mark how he phrases it Thou shalt be brought down and shalt speak out of the ground thy Isa 24.4 speech shall be low out of the dust and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust The Spirit of God seemes to allude to the carriage of a poore captive taken in warre and lying prostrate at the feet of the Conquerour hardly daring so much as to whisper out of the dust You may finde also expressions something like to these Esay 49.23 Lam. 3.29 Mic. 7.17 So then these expressions signifie the debasement of Satan from his primitive excellency A wonderful stoop indeed this was when that which was advanced as high as heaven was made to fall down as low as hell It is the observation of a learned Author that as food is made use of for the repairing and preservation of nature so the goodnesse or badnesse thereof doth make the temper of the body better or worse hence according to the degrees of excellency in the creatures their food is finer or courser Plants suck moisture from the earth beasts live upon plants man of beasts fowle and fish so that this expression Dust shalt thou eat notes unto us the lownesse and basenesse of the Serpent Quest 33. Verse 15. What is meant by the woman in this verse It seemes to be that woman with whom Resp the Serpent had treated viz. Eve as if God had said Seeing thou hast by a treaty with the woman tempted her to sinne I will put enmity between thee and the woman Now the woman is mentioned and not the man not because God had not put enmity between the man and the Serpent as well as the woman and the Serpent but because Eve was immediately seduced by the Serpent the man by the perswasion of his wife Quest. 34. Verse 15. Whether we may not with the Church of Rome expound the woman of the Virgin Mary Neg. And amongst others this reason Resp may be rendred The enmity the Spirit of God speaks of in this verse was immediately to follow the curse now the Virgin Mary was not borne many hundreds of years afterward But God speaks in the future tence Object I will put enmity between thee and the woman c. God speaks in the future tence when Resp 1 he pronounces that other part of the curse upon the Serpent Vers 14. Upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat now this curse immediately followed upon the sentence and why not the other God speakes in the future tence to note the duration and continuance of this curse Quest 35. Verse 15. What is meant by the Serpents seed This cannot be expounded but in a Resp spiritual sense for daemones propriè semen non habent nec gignunt sibi similes therefore we are to understand by the Serpents seed the reprobate wicked world They which imitate God and obey him are called his seed or his children in the Scripture as Be ye followers of God as dear children so they that imitate the Eph. 5.1 devil and obey him are called his seed or his children as Ye are of your father Joh. 8. 44 the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do He that committeth sinne is of the devil 1 Joh 3. 8. Quest 36. Verse 15. What is meant by the seed of the woman First and principally Jesus Christ Resp 1 It implieth all the Elect viz. all Eves seed that should not become the seed of the Serpent By the seed of the woman can be Object meant onely Christ who was so the seed of the woman that he was not of the man 'T is true Christ was born of a Virgin Resp and was so the seed of the woman that he was not of the man but yet that by the seed of the woman Christ singularly and individually should be meant by the Spirit of God in this place is not sufficiently demonstrated by this phrase and the reason is this because such persons as have been conceived and born in an ordinary way have been called the seed of the woman or that which amounts thereunto so Adam knew his wife again Gen. 4.25 and she bare a sonne and called his name Seth for God faith she hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel whom Cain slew there you have Eve calling Seth her seed so the wicked Jews are Isa 57.3 called the sonnes of the forceresse Quest 37. Verse 15. How is this particle it to be expounded It shall bruise thy head Some and those very learned though Resp 1 they expound the seed of the woman collectively and take it for Christ and his Church this particle notwithstanding say they referres unto Christ singularly and individually considered Their reasons are three Say they the Septuagint renders it Arg. 1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and though the Greek word which is used for seed be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet the pronoune relative is of the masculine gender 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now if it had been to be taken collectively as the seed of the woman before it would have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But we must consider that both in Latine Resp and Greek Authours pronouns many times agree rather cum re then cum voce and so it is in this case by the seed of the woman though we do not say is meant Christ onely yet we say Christ principally and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 clearly relates to Christ now that in Latine and Greek Authors pronouns do not only convenire cum verbo but sometimes cum re appears Terence hath such a phrase as this Ubi est scelus qui me perdidit And as for the Greek frequent instances we may finde in the New Testament Mat. 28.19 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luk. 8. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so in Luke where the noune 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is of the masculine gender and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the neuter It is opposed to one individual Serpent Arg. 2 it shall bruise thy head The seed of the Serpent is implied Resp 1 there though not expressed for as the Serpent not alone but with his seed shall bruise the heele of the seed of the woman so Christ the seed of the woman not individually considered but with his seed shall break the Serpents head For the further clearing of this the seed of the woman may be said to bruise the Serpents head two manner of wayes 1. As the Lord Jesus spoiled principalities and powers and blotted out the handwriting of
wroth He will make a strange combustion in his soul who at the landing of every Cock-boat upon every triviall occasion sets the Beacons on fire He that will be angry for every thing will be angry for nothing c. The Apostle gives us an exhortation Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the doy of redemption But Eph. 4. 30. what course must we take that we may not grieve the Spirit This followes in the next verse Let all bitternesse and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking vers 31. be put away from you with all malice The Spirit of God cannot endure an unquiet habitation It is observable how many times in the Scriptures the Spirit of God appeales to the reasons and understandings of men as here why art thou wroth and why is thy countenance fallen Nothing more irrationall then irreligion when a man is intemperate unjust passionate he acts not onely against Scripture but against principles of reason and ingenuity If God had not commanded us to be sober just temperate in our affections it is for our interest so to be the commands of God like Benjamins sack have money in the mouth of them in the keeping the Commandements there is exceeing great reward wicked men are mad in a Scripture-sure-sense The Prodigall came to himselfe when he came to his Father 2. Another reason why God might propound this question to Cain might be this to note unto us that when wicked men are not accepted they are apt to cast the blame upon God why art thou wroth Thou seemest to be angry with thy brother whose sacrifice is accepted but indeed thou art angry with God who accepted the sacrifice Thou strikest at the Head and because thou canst not reach that thou woundest the Heele Proud daring sinners to lay the blame on God It is foolish to cast our sins altogether on Satan but it is blasphemous to cast them upon God Sin is a bastard-brood it is conceived and brought forth by man and yet if you lay it at his doore he will not father it It is the observation of a Learned Author man naturally hateth God and since he cannot rase out the sense of a Deity out of his soul he would destroy the dread and reverence of it 'T is a saying of Plutarch Malo de me dici nullum esse Plutarchum quà m malum esse Plutarchum Man cannot deny God therefore he debase him which is worse 'T is better not to be hen to be wicked 3. A third Reason may be ro teach us that God will call the wicked to an account for every evil work 1. For their sinnes of Omission I was an hungry will Christ say and you gave me no meat c. Such a time you had an Mat. 25.43 opportunity in the hands to get wisdom but you neglected it you had power and opportunity to appear for God and his glorious Gospel but you had no heart to it 2. For sinnes of commission Rejoyce Oh young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth and walk in the wayes of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement For al these things these trifles these tricks of youth as the world accounts them Item for thy Oaths Item for thy Lyes Item for thy Cozening Item for thy drunkennesse Item for thy Hypocrisy for all these things God will bring thee to judgement As the Apostle saith We are the children of God but it doth not yet appeare what we shall be viz. there is more glory in heaven then the people of God are able to conceive so wicked men are now the children of wrath but it doth not appeare what they shall be viz. there shall be greater torment in Hell then the wicked are able to conceive And God shall bring thee to judgement viz. unexpectedly and for ought thou knowest speedily Death doth not alwayes knock at the doore but nany times breaks in and takes persons away in the prime of their age Oh that the Gallants of this age would think of this Scripture a Wicked youngster is like a thief that having stollen a gelding rideth away bravely mounted till such time as being overtaken with Hue and Cry is soon afterward sentenced and put to death Quest 12. verse 7. Why is it said If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted and not if thou doest that which is good Because a man may do that which is Resp materially good and yet may not do well Cain did that which was good when he brought an offering to the Lord but he did not do well We use to say Ex quolibet defectu malum A work that is good as to the matter of it may by reason of a defect in the principle or end become starke naught therefore Luther used to say Of all workes take heed of your good workes Sordet in conspectu Judicis quod fulget in conspectu operantis That which is fair to men is abomination to God God rejected the swan for sacrifice some say because under a white feather it hath a black skinne Quest 13. verse 7. What is the meaning of that phrase sin lyeth at the doore By sinne in this place is meant the punishment of sinne and not sin it selfe and Resp the very phrase will give us light for the interpretation of it after this manner If thou doest not well sinne lyeth at the doore now sin when it is committed doth notly at the doore but is gotten into the House Then the meaning is this If thou doest not well sin lyeth at the doore though this punishment seeme to sleep for a while yet it lyes at the doore and it will not be long there before it be roused and then like a great Mastiffe it will be ready to pull out the throat of thy soul Let us remember if we do not well sinne lyeth at the doore the sinner shall not escape unpunished God is righteous by no meanes will cleare the guilty c. The Devil alwayes covers his hooke with a bait He never comes bluntly and rudely to a man and biddeth him simply transgresse Gods Commandments but alwayes useth some device or other to make his sinne please him when the Devil fished for Adam he baited his hook with hope of preferment that he should be as God To catch David he baiteth his Hook with pleasure to catch Achan Gehazi he baiteth his hook with profit but when the fish hath swallowed the hook had she not better have been without the bait The Devil promiseth pleasure but God knows it is deare bought there is never a dramme of sinne but it bringeth a pound of sorrow Quest 14. vers 8. What is the meaning of this phrase and Cain talked with Abel his brother Most Expositors carry it that he talked Resp with him in a brotherly manner dissembling his
Cain and that God is said to speak to Cain because Adam had it by instinct from God But this consideration hath not strength enough in it to beat us off from the received opinion for what wickednesses are there imaginable but we should commit with greedinesse if God should give us up to the wickedinesse of our own spirits Well then learn How the commission of one sin leads us as it were by the hand to the commission of another There is in wicked courses a praecipitium when a man is at the top of an hill it is at his choice whether he will thence throw himself down or not but once let him head-long himself there is no stay till he come to the bottome It is an easier matter to keep our selves from entring into desperate courses then when once we have given our selves the reines to make a stop Nemo repente fit turpissimus As no man on the sudden becometh most excellent in vertue so no man on a sudden becomes desperate in evil There is such a combination of sinne as in the links of a chaine if a man draw one link all the rest will follow so malice follows after anger murther after hatred Adultery after drunkennesse If a man cast a stone into the water there ariseth presently a circle in the place presently after that another and so another till at last all the water be full of circles In like manner if a man commit one sinne another will follow upon it and after that another unlesse the grace of God prevent till he be out of measure sinfull Take heed therefore of the beginnings of sinne take Babylons brats and dash them against the stones We may learn that private spiritednesse is not a thing well pleasing to God we are commanded to shew our love and compassion to a beast Exod. 23. 5. If thou see the Asse of him that hateth thee lying under his burden and wouldest forbeare to help him thou shalt surely help with him and more should we shew compassion and love to our brother Am I my brothers keeper Take heed of that profane speech Christians ow a mutual serviceablenesse one unto another God makes no Patentees nor will he endure any Monopolies Christians must drive an open and free trade The excellency of other creatures is in their communication of themselves the Sun raying out his warme and cherishing beames the Fountain bubling out his purling streams the Earth yielding forth sovereign herbs and plants Christians are then in their excellency when they are communicative and useful I have read that the Art of Medicine was perfected thus As any one met with an herb and discovered the vertue of it by any accident he would post it up in some publick place and if any were sick or diseased he was laid in some beaten passage that every one might communicate the best receipt and say they the Physicians skill was perfected by a collection of those posted experiments and receipts of all things take heed of the napkin wrap not up your Talents As every one hath received the gift even 1 Pet. 4. 10. so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God Quest. 17. vers 10. What is meant by this phrase The voice of thy brothers blood crieth unto me from the ground This is to be understood figuratively a Resp Metaphor taken from Courts of Justice Thy brothers blood crieth that is as if God should have said I know what thou hast done as clearly as if I had called thee to the barre of justice and the whole matter of fact had been heard and determined before me and upon the whole I should be called upon for justice By the way by what hath been said some light may be given for the understanding of that Scripture I saw under the Altar the soules of them that were slaine for the Word of God and for Rev. 6 9 10. the Testimony which they held and they cryed with a loud voice saying How long Oh Lord holy and true doest thou not judge and avenge our blood Which must not so be understood as if the soules of the blessed Saints should earnestly desire vengeance on them that shed their blood which is hardly competible with an heavenly State but may be expounded in the same manner as the words in this ver The voice of thy brothers blood crieth unto me viz. The Lord hath the blood that hath been shed for his Names sake fresh in his thoughts and will as certainly be revenged on them that shed it as if every drop of their blood were a tongue and continually crying in his eares for justice c. Well then Learn to avoid crying sins crying is applied to severall sins in the Scripture 1. To blood so in this vers Thy brothers blood cryeth 2. To the wickednesse of Sodome Gen 18. 10. The Lord God said Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sinne is very grievous c. 3. The oppression of Gods servants Exo. 2. 24. God heard their groaning c. 4. The oppression of the widowes and fatherlesse Exo. 22.23 Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherlesse child if thou afflict them in any wise and they cry at all unto me I will surely heare their cry 5. The oppression of the Labourer Jam. 5.4 Behold the hire of your labourers which have reaped downe your field which is of you kept back by frand crieth And let us blesse God for Jesus Christ the Apostle doth ascribe a cry to the blood of Christ as Moses here to the blood of Abel And to Jesus the Mediatour of the new covenant and to the blood Hâ—b 12. 24. of sprinkling that speaketh better things then that of Abel In that speech of the Apostle there is an allusion made to the blood of Abel and to the cry thereof and he illustrates the cry of Christs blood for us by the cry of the blood of Abel against Cain yet see the dissimilitude as a reverend Author hath it thus 1. Abel was a Saint The blood of a wicked man if innocently shed cries if Abel had murdered Cain Cains blood would have cryed and called upon God for justice against Abel but Abels blood cryes according to the worth of the person Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints Now if the blood of a Saint cry so how much more the blood of the King of Saints 2. Abels blood cryes from the ground but Christs blood is carried up to heaven The cry of the blood of a Saint may come up to heaven yet the blood it self doth not come up thither 3. Adde to this the intercession of Christ himselfe Christ by his own prayers seconds the cry of his blood the blood of a man doth cry though the man be dead but Christ ever liveth to make intercession for his people Quest. 18. vers 11 12. Why did the Lord pronounce against Cain
onely earthly punishments as ver 11 12 Because wicked men are not so greatly Resp feared with the punishments of the life to come as carefull to avoid calamities for the present and indeed herein man becomes like the beasts that perish which are carried with an hurry to things present and sensible Quest 19. vers 13. Whether that saying of Cain be well translated My punishment is greater then I can beare Some say it should be rendred my sin Resp is greater then can be forgiven but the context seemes to favour our translation for in the following words he speakes not of his sinne but of his punishment vers 14. Behold thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth and from thy face c. here sinne is taken for the punishment of sin as in severall other places of Scripture The greatnesse of Cains punishment will appeare if you compare it with Adams 1. God did not curse Adam but the earth was cursed for Adams sake but God sayes to Cain vers 11. And now thou art cursed from the earth 2. That which is included in Adams curse viz. That though he should labour and sweat yet he should have bread for it In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread is denyed to Cain for saith the Lord vers 12. When thou tillest the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength 3. Though Adam was expelled out of Paradise yet there was a commodious place assigned him by God where he and his family might reside and till the earth but the Lord saies of Cain that he should be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth ver 12. Oh have a care of blood What hast thou Gen. 4.7 done the voice of thy brothers blood crieth to mefrom the ground God will give a tongue to the earth speechlesse creatures shall speake rather then blood shall be concealed It is an excellent observation of a learned Author upon that text of Scripture When he maketh inquisition for blood he remembreth them Saith he doth not the Psal 7.12 Lord make inquisition for all sin Or is there any sin that God doth not enquire after Surely no but when it is said God makes inquisition for blood it argues the greatnesse of that sinne We finde not the like expression about any other particular sin in all the whole book of God Though God makes inquisition for all sin yet as if he would let all other sinnes past unsought and uniquired after it is said onely of this sinne that he makes inquisition for it Quest. 20. vers 14. Cain sayes From thy face I shall be hid and yet the Psalmist saith Psal 139.7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence God is present every where in regard of Resp his essence and therefore the Psalmist saith Whither shall I flee from thy presence We may run from God as our friend but we cannot escape him as an enemy A man pursued in an Island when he runnes from one end to the other runs from sea to sea if you should flee from one end of the earth unto the other you would run from God unto God The meaning then of this phrase I shall be hid from thy face is this I shall be deprived of communion with God in his Ordinances Though Cain was a wicked man yet he was taught by his parents that there was no way of enjoying God in this world but in and by his Ordinances And he speakes this not from a principle of love to God or his Ordinances but upon the account of education Learne from hence The condition of a person excommunicated is very sad Christ tells us we cannot serve God and Mammon and therefore when we are cast outof Gods service we are said to be delivered into the hands of Satan Hymeneus and Alexander excommunicated persons are 1 Tim. 1. 20. said to be delivered up unto Satan Learne also If the casting out of the Church a particular member though it be in order to cure and repentance be so dreadfull what a black day would that be when the Ordinances of Jesus Christ should as it were be excommunicated and cast out of the Church of Christ Quest 21. vers 14. Cain saith It shall come to passe that every one that findeth me shall slay me The question is who those were whom Cain feared that if they met him they would slay him Some think that Cain speakes this Resp 1 meerely upon the account of terrours of conscience for say they there were none but his Father and Mother living and was it likely they would be his executioners and yet Cain imagines multitudes to meet him and slay him Every one that findeth me shall slay me Prov. 28.1 The wicked fleeth when no man pursueth onely his owne guilt pursues him and makes him flee But this opinion hath not the savour of truth in it for Cain doth not onely suppose a considerable number of persons to live at that time in the world but God himselfe as appeares by what the Lord said unto Cain vers 15. Whosoever slayeth Cain vengeance shall be taken on him seven fold Some are of opinion that this is to be expounded of the beasts every one that findeth me shall slay me that is say they I shall be torne in pieces by every beast I meet But this cannot be the meaning of the words as appeares by that which followes for it is said The Lord set a mark upon Cain lest any finding him should kill him which cannot with any shew of reason be applied to the beasts Others hold that Cain in these words had respect to those that should afterwards be borne But neither can this be for what needed there a present law for those who as yet were not in being Another sort are of opinion that these words are to be applied to the Daughters of Adam and Eve for that Adam had Daughters at that time is more then probable from that which followes for it is said Cain had a wife which must needs be his sister and that she was come to yeares appeares because it is said ver 17. that Cain knew his wife From the whole I conceive we may more then probably conclude that Adam and Eve at the time when Cain spake these words had many Sonnes and Daughters although the Spirit of God doth not make mention of them the History mainly referring to Cain and Abel And to me it seemes very unlikely that Adam and Eve should have no more children after Cain and Abel till they came to yeares of discretion when at the beginning we finde God did make especiall provision for the encrease of the world as appeares by Gods sparing Cains life and his dispensation of his marriage with his sister However we may take notice of the terrours of Cains conscience for those that were in the world were either his parents brethren sisters or neere kindred
suddenly extinguished Scripturall grounds are these The creation of Adam and Eve God's breathing into their face the breath of life is a Argu. 1 good probable argument at least If it be objected that this proves nothing because it was necessary that the soules of Adam and Eve should be by creation when there was nothing pre-existent whereby they might be naturally propagated Answer may be made that if any thing material had necessarily been required to the being of the soul of a man as to the souls of brutes then as the soules of other creatures were concreated in and with the matter of which they were made in the like manner in all reason should God have dealt with the soules of men but we finde it otherwise after the body was made and the matter prepared then the soul is infused The soul of Jesus Christ was created Arg. 2 and he was in all things like unto us sin onely excepted If it be objected that this was extraordinary that Christ might not be tainted with sin We may answer Non magis difficile erat Spiritui sancto semen Josephi quám virginis ab omni vitio purgare c. I suppose Christ was borne after an extraordinary way rather upon the account of the malediction that was pronounced against our first parents in case of eating the forbidden fruit that in the day they did eat thereof they should die the death Then upon the account of generation Ecclesiastes 12.7 Then shall the dust returne Argu. 3 to the earth whence it was and the spirit shall returne unto God who gave it where you have the essentiall parts of man his body and his soul compared one with another The body that was compacted of dust and it returnes to the dust from whence it was the soul created by God and that returnes to God that gave it When the Spirit of God speakes of the body he makes mention of the materiall cause but when of the soul onely of the efficient and the word gave it is empâ—haticall and spoken by way of eminency for God gave the body as well as the soule Heb. 11.9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we Argu. 4 gave them reverence shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits It appeares by the Antithesis the Spirit of God makes between fathers of flesh and Father of spirits that we receive our body from our parents but our soul from God he is the Father of spirits Now marke how the Apostle argues If to those from whom we receive our worser part we give reverence haw much rather should we be in subjection to the Father of spirits It is worthy our consideration that God by a peculiar title is called the Father of spirits and herein he is opposed to the fathers of the flesh Now if the soul be by traduction those that are the fathers of the flesh would also be the fathers of the spirits neither would God by this title be distinguished from others The Objections made against this assertion are such as these Gen. 2. 2. On the seventh day God ended his worke which he had made and he rested on Obje 1 the seventh day from all his work which he had made This Scripture must be understood of the workes of creation therefore the soules of men and women are not now created God after the sixth day ceased from the Resp creation of new species not from the creation of new individuals Now the rationall soules that are now created by God non specie sed numero differunt differ not in kinde but in number from the soule of Adam which was at first created Though God ceased from the work of creation in regard of species yet not in regard of individuals Gen. 46.26 All the soules that came with Obje 2 Jacob into Egypt which came out of his loynes besides Jacobs sons wives all the soules were threescore and six soules coming out of Jacobs loines is the same with this that the soul of man is by generation The soul here is put by a synecdoche for Resp the totum compositum for the whole man Now though the soul may not be said to be generated yet the totum compositum or the man may as hereafter shall be demonstrated If the soul of man be not produced by generation then man is in a worse condition Obje 3 then a plant or a brute which can and do beget soules suitable to their kinde viz. animam vegetativam sensitivam Man is in a better condition then a brute even in regard of generation because by Resp that very act Nobilissima forma unitur cum materia That which is urged advances the condition of man and not lowers or debases it we may observe the lesse use God makes of second causes in the carrying on of any work the more excellent that work is viz. Adam and Eve exceeded their posterity in soul and bodily perfections the body of Christ that was formed in an extraordinary way by the Spirit of God was of a finer make and a more excellent composure then the body of any man or woman in the world and this may be the reason which made his torments on the cross exquisitely painfull It is true we read of some that were rolled in barrells stuck with nayles and of others whose flesh was plucked off with hot iron pinchers and of others that have been broyled on a Gridiron their deaths might be more harsh and severe in themselves considered then the death of Christ and yet Christ might suffer as much or more bodily paine then they According to the rules of Philosophy we say That the nature and quality and measure of paines must be taken not so much from the force or violence of the agent as from the condition and temper of the patient the fire hath not the same operation upon Gold as it hath upon Lead The lead suffers a great deale more from the fire then the gold If a man should deale blowes with an even hand on a sound body and on a sickly crazy body their pain would be unequal though the blowes were equall now to our purpose without question the body of Christ was soft and tender Aristotle hath this rule Quò complexio nobilior mensque dexterior eò mollior ac tenerior solet esie caro The more noble the complexion and the more dextrous the mind the more soft and tender the body The body of Christ was of a most excellent temperament Quae fiunt per miraculum excellentiora sunt quám quae fiunt per naturam Those things that are done by miracle are more excellent then those things that are done by naturall causes viz. the wine that Christ made at a marriage in Cana of Galilee and the body of Christ If God creates the soul of all those that are Object begotten then he concurres with whoremongers and adulterers in the act of generation Nam fornicariis
religion on those who succeeded Let the consideration of the frailty of our bodies teach us to consult for the good of our immortall soules We may observe many times it so falles out that our rational life is best when our vegetative is worst and we begin to grow in wisdome when we cease to grow in strength As it is with the rationall life so it should be with the spirituall when the life of the flesh is ready to dye the spiritual life should have so much the more spirit and vigour Quest 8. V. 24. It is said in this verse that Enoch was not for God tooke him now the question here may be whether Enoch was translated in soule and body or whether in soule only c Some thinke that Enoch was translated Resp in soule only and not in body and they say he died in the translation so as his soule only was taken up to heaven and his body slept in the earth I shall propound their arguments and give you the answers rendered thereunto No mortall body unglorified can enter Argu. 1 into heaven But there is no mention of his glorification Ergo. It is a slender kinde of arguing to say that Resp 1 a thing is not scriptural because it is not expressely mentioned in the Scripture The glorification of his body is plainly implied though not expressed for it is said he was translated that he should not see death Heb. 11.5 Now if his body saw not death it was made immortall which is a speciall part of glorification If the bodies of Enoch and Elias were translated Argu. 2 into heaven then it will follow that some ascended into heaven before Christ ascended thither But this seemes not to be allowed for heaven to us as Paradise to Adam was shut up till Christ opened it by hsme rits We readily grant that the opening of Resp 1 heaven the celestiall Paradise is to be ascribed to the merits of Christ We confidently deny that heaven was then only opened when Christ actually suffered or ascended up into heaven and we cannot but peremptorily assert that the force and efficacy of the merits of Christ extended to Old Testament-Saints long before Christs coming in the flesh for the Lord Jesus was a Lambe slain from the foundation of the world Christ the same yesterday to day and for ever and our Fathers under Old Testament-dispensations ate the same spiritual meat and drank the same spiritual drink as we do under the Gospel viz. the body of Christ crucified and his blood shed for the remission of sinnes and these things though they were future to hope yet they were present to faith which is the Substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seene From Joh. 3.13 And no man hath ascended Arg. 3 up to heaven but he that came downe from heaven even the Son of man which is in heaven By which words say some is signified that no man bodily ascended into heaven untill the time of Christs ascension This place is to be expounded Metaphorically Resp No man hath ascended into heaven so as to know the secrets of the Almighty and to lie in the bosome of the Father but onely Christ and indeed the context gives great light to this Exposition for the Lord Jesus would by this convince Nicodemus that he was more able to teach him heavenly mysteries then all the Doctors among the Jewes as you may perceive by vers 11. and 12. Verily I say unto thee We speak that we do know and â—estifie that we have seenâ— c. And besides Prov. 30. 4. Ascending up into heaven is made all one with the knowing of holy things From Heb. 6.20 Where Christ is called Arg. 4 the forerunner And Christ saith John 14. I go to prepare a place for you Therefore before Christs death and ascension a place was not prepared Christ might be called a forerunner Resp 1 in respect of those who died after his ascension Christ might be called the forerunner of his Saints under the Old Testament in regard of the effiâ—acy of his merits That a place was prepared for Old Testament-Saints by Christ but with respect to his future sufferings and merits and therefore though a place might be said to be prepared for Enoch and Elias yet it was necessary Christ should die and Christ should ascend From Col. 1.15 where Christ is called Arg. 5 the first-borne of every creature and verse 18. in all things to have the preeminence and Rom. 8.29 he is called the first-born among many brethren The primogeniture of Christ doth not Resp consist in this that no man either in regard of body or soul or both ascended into heaven before Christs coming in the flesh but in this that no man hath nor shall ever come thither but by the vertue and efficacy of his merits As Christ is called the first-fruits of them that sleep not because none arose 1 Cor. 15. â—0 before Jesus Christ but because he alone arose by his owne power and is the cause of the resurrection of all those that have or shall arise unto glory sâ— here Christ alone ascended into heaven by his owne power and is the cause of the ascension of his people unto glory To whom be glory for ever Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS Directions FOR The right understanding Of the SCRIPTURES 1. Rule THere are tropes or figurative expressions which are made use of by the Spirit of God in the Scriptures which if not warâ—ly observed will occasion a misunderstanding of the text The Scriptures are adorned with various kinds of Elegancies and Rhetoricall expressions demulcere animos legentis Amongst many others I shall instance in two 1. The figure called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a figure whereby one thing is signified by two severall Noune substantives As The Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Sion and upon her assemblies a cloud aâ—d smoke by day viz. a smoaky cloud Isa 4. 5 So I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance but he that cometh after me is Mat. 3.11 mightier then I whose shoes I am not worthy to beare he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire viz. with the holy Ghost as with fire Sad consequences may follow upon the literall Interpretation of this Scripture I have read that the Abyseni tooke this text literally and when they baptized their children they poured water upon them and then marked them with an hot iron 2. The figure called Ironia whereby we speak one thing and meane another but signifie our meaning either by our gesture or manner of speaking this manner of speech though it be often abused unto sinne as in deriding and scorning our brethren yet is in it selfe lawfull if rightly used and of this we have example in the Scriptures Such a speech was that of Michaiah to wicked Ahab Go up and prosper If this figure were not 1 King 22. 15 observed we might question the
except they did abide in the ship they could not be saved If I say to a Reprobate If thou beleeve thou shalt be saved this Proposition is true though that the Reprobate shall either beleeve or be saved is false 33. Rule To say this or that opinion is untrue because it doth in â—erminis contradict some place of Scripture will not hold For instance To say that Christ is not equall with the Father is expressely contrary to that Scripture He thought it no robbery to be equal with God yet agreeable enough to that of Christ himselfe My Father is greater then â— To say God cannot repent is in terminis to contradict some places of Scripture To say God can repent is in terminis to contradict other places of Scripture yet neither of these are unsound because in terminis onely to contradict the Scripture is not to contradict indeed the Scripture but when we contradict the meaning of the Scripture then and not till then we are justly said to contradict the Scripture For instance To deny Gods delight in the destruction of sinners is to contradict in terminis that place of Scripture I will laugh at your calamity and to say God doth delight in the Prov. â— 26 destruction of sinners doth in terminis contradict another place of Scripture As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked And yet never a whit Ezek. 33.1 the more contradiction found in the Scripture for all this As for example it is both true that the Father is greater then the Son as touching the Sonnes manhood and the Son equall to the Father as touching the Sonnes God-head So of repentance it cannot be attributed unto God as it signifies a change of minde or counsell but it may be attributed unto God as it signifies change of sentence according to that Axiome Deus mutat sententiam nunquam consilium So as touching Gods pleasure or delight in the death of a sinner as it is the destruction of a creature he delights not in it but as it is the just punishment of a sinfull creature he delights therein God delights in the execution of justice as appeares in Jeremiah But let him that glorieth glory in Jer. 9.24 this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindnesse judgement and righteousnesse on the earth for in these things I delight saith the Lord God delights in the exercise of judgement and righteousnesse as well as in the exercise of loving kindness In like manner we say that two Propositions may contradict each other in terminis and yet may agree well enough as to the sense and meaning of them For instance These two Propositions 1. Adam might not have sinned 2. It could not be but that Adam would sinne are both true That Adam might not have sinned is true of Adam in the sense of division considered as in himself It could not be but that Adam would sinne is true of Adam in the sense of composition being considered as subordinate to the decrees of God 24. Rule Pray unto God for the illumination of the Spirit Luther used to say Bene or are est bene studuisse he will study well that can pray well It is a singular comfort and priviledge to every godly man to see with his owne eyes It is a great comfort to a blinde man to meet with a faithful guide whom he may trust to lead him in his way but it comes nothing neer to the content which a man that hath eyes takes when with them he sees the way on which he walks 35. Rule Labour for true holinesse The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him Saint Iohn tels us That the anoyâ—ting 1 Joh. 2.27 which the people of God have received and have abiding in them shall teach them all things God will not reveal his will to those that will do their own So Paul Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind Rom. 12.2 that ye â—ay prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God 36. Rule Get an humble heart With the lowly is wisdome God will break Prov. 11.2 his minde to the broaken in heart Who am I saith Moses and yet who â—itter then he to go unto Pharaoh He that refused to be called Pharaohs daughters sonne was afterwards called to be Pharaohs God See faith the Lord to Moses I have made thee a God to Exod. 7.1 Pharaoh How shall that Christian be satisfied Quest who notwithstanding the heedful observing of these or such like Rules is in the dark as to many texts in the book of God These things may be said for the satisfaction Resp of such a Christian 1. That it is not necessary that a Christian should understand every Text in the Scriptures if he understands so much as is absolutely necessary to his salvation he is a good Scholar in Christs schoole 2. As often as thou meetest with any thing that is above the reach of thy capacity be humbled in the sense of thine owne weaknesse Thou art so farre carnal as thou doest not perceive the things of God which are spiritually to be discerned 3. Pray unto that God who hath the Key of David that he would open thy understanding that thou mayest rightly conceive of the great mysteries of Religion Christ hath told us if we knock he will open unto us he hath commanded us to knock that we may not be slothful he hath promised to open that we may not be distrustfull 4. The complete knowledge of Divine Mysteries is reserved for our heavenly state whilest we are in this world we know but in part Yea Irenaeus addes saith he In glory to all eternity the Saints shall be learning something of God that so God to eternity may be a Teacher and the Saint a learner There is such another like expression that the Schools make use of when they speak of our state in glory they say The Angels and glorified Saints are full vessels and yet are alwayes a filling FINIS Books Printed and are now to be sold by Nathanael Wâ—bb and William Grantham at the black Bear in St. Pauls Church-yard neer the little North-door of Pauls Church MAster Isaac Ambrose Prima Media Vltima first middle and last things in three Treatises of Regeneration Sanctification with Meditations on Life Death Hell and Judgement in 4. Mr. Nathanael Hardy severall Sermons Preached upon Solemne occasions collected into one Volume in 4. History Sorvey'd in a briefe Epitomy or a Nursery for gentry comprised in an intermixt discourse upon Historicall and Poeâ—icall Relations in 4. Dr. Stoughton's 13 Sermons being an Introduction to the Body of Divinity in 4. Dr. John Preston The Golden Scepter with the Churches Marriage and the Churâ—hes Carriage in three Treatises in 4. Mr. Walter Cradock Gospell-Liberty in the extension and limitation of it in 4. Mr. Thomas Parker The Visions and Prophecies of