finde it out Nothing but destruction wil content the malicious I knowe not whether Balaam were more famous or Balac more confident If the King had not beene perswaded of the strength of his charme hee had not sent so farre and payd so deare for it now hee trusts more to his inchauntment then to the forces of Moab and Midian and as if heauen and earth vvere in the power of a charmers tongue hee saith Hee that thou blessest is blessed and hee whom thou cursest is cursed Magick through the permission of God is powerfull for whatsoeuer the Diuell can doe the Magician may doe but it is madnes to thinke eyther of them omnipotent If eyther the curses of men or the indeuours of the powers of darknesse should bee effectuall all would be Hell No Balac So short is the power of thy Balaam that neither thou nor thy Prophet himselfe can auoide that curse which thou would'st haue brought vpon Israel Had Balaam been a true Prophet of God this bold assurance had been but iust Both those ancient Seers and the Prophets of the Gospell haue the ratification of God in heauen to their sentences on earth Why haue we less care of the blessings and lesse feare of the curses and censures of Gods ministers Who would not rather haue Elishaes guard then both the Kings of Israel and Assyria Hee himselfe as hee hadde the Angelicall chariots and horsemen about him so was hee the chariots and horsemen of Israel Why should our faith bee lesse strong then superstition Or why should GODs agents haue lesse vertue then Satans I should wonder to heare God speake with a false Prophet if I did not knowe it hath beene no rare thing with him as with men to bestowe wordes euen where he will not bestowe fauour Pharaoh Abimelech Nebuchadnezzar receiue visions from GOD neither can I think this strange when I heare GOD speaking to Satan in a question no lesse familiar then this of Balaam Whence comst thou Satan Not the sound of the voice of GOD but the matter which hee speakes argues loue He may speake to an enemy hee speakes peace to none but his owne It is a vaine brag GOD hath spoken to mee So may he do to reprobates or Diuels but what said he Did he say to my soule I am thy saluation Hath he indented with me that he will be my God I shall be his I cannot heare this voyce and not liue God heard all the consultation and message of these Moabites These messengers could not haue mooued their foote or their tongue but in him and yet he which asked Adam where he was asks Balaam What men are these I haue euer seene that God loues to take occasion of proceeding with vs from our selues rather then from his owne immediate prescience Hence it is that we lay open our wants and confesse our sins to him that knowes both better then our owne harts Because he wil deale with vs from our owne mouthes The preuention of GOD forbids both his iourney and his curse And what if he had beene suffred to goe and curse What corne had this winde shaken when God meant to blesse them How many Bulls haue bellowed out execrations against this Church of God What are we the worse Yea I doubt if wee had beene so much blessed had not those Balaamitish curses been spent vpon vs. Hee that knowes what waste winde the causeless curses of wicked men are yet will not haue Balaam curse Israel because hee will not allow Balac so much incouragement in his opposition as the conceit of this helpe Or perhaps if Balac thought this Sorcerer a true Prophet God would not haue his name so much as in the opinion of the heathen scandalized in vsurping it to a purpose which he meant not should succeed The hand of God is in the restraint of many euills vvhich we neuer knew to be towards vs. The Israelites sate still in their Tents they little thought what mischiefe was brewing against them without euer making them of counsel God crosses the designes of their enemies He that keepeth Israel is both a sure and a secret friend The reward of the diuination had easily commaunded the iourney and curse of the couetous Prophet if GOD had not stayed him How oft are wicked men curbed by a diuine hand euen in those sinnes which their heart stands to It is no thanke to lewd men that their wickednesse is not prosperous VVhence is it that the vvorld is not ouer-runne vvith euill but from this that men cannot bee so ill as they would The first entertainment of this message vvould make a stranger thinke Balaam wise and honest Hee will not giue a suddaine answere but craues leasure to consult with GOD and promises to returne the answere hee shall receiue Who would not say This man is free from rashnesse from partialitie Dissimulation is crafty able to deceiue thousands The words are good when hee comes to action the fraude bewrayes it selfe For both hee insinuates his own forwardnes and casts the blame of the prohibition vpon God which is worse deliuers but halfe his answere he saies indeed GOD refuses to giue me leaue to goe He saies not as it was Hee charges mee not to curse them for they are blessed So did Balaam deny as one that wisht to bee sent for againe Perhaps a peremptory refusall had hindered his further solicitation Concealement of some truths is somtimes as faulty as a deniall True fidelitie is not niggardly in her relations Where wickednes meets with power it thinks to commaund all the world and takes great scorne of any repulse So little is Balac discouraged with one refusal that hee sends so much the stronger message Mo Princes and more honourable Oh that we could be so importunate for our good as wicked men are for the compassing of their own designes A deniall doth but whet the desires of vehement sutors Why are wee faint in spirituall things when we are not denyed but delayed Those which are themselues transported with vanity and ambition thinke that no heart hath power to resist these offers Balacs Princes thought they had strook it dead when they had once mentioned promotion to great honour Selfe-loue makes them think they cannot be slaues whiles others may be free that all the world would be gladde to runne on madding after their bait Nature thinks it impossible to contemne honour and vvealth and because too many soules are thus taken cannot belieue that any would escape But let carnall harts knowe there are those that can spitte the world in the face and say Thy gold and siluer perish with thee and that in comparison of a good cōscience can tread vnder foot his best profers like shadowes as they are that can do as Balaam said How near truth and falshood can lodge together Heere was pietie in the lips and couetousnes in the hart Who can any more regard good words that heares Balaam speak so like
lesse is the danger of seducement The errour of the mighty is armed with authority and in a sort commaunds assent whether in good or euill greatnes hath euer a traine to followe it at the heeles Forty dayes they spent in this search and this cowardly vnbeleefe in the search shall cost them forty yeeres delay of the fruition Who can abide to see the rulers of Israel so basely timorous They commend the Land the fruit commends it selfe and yet they plead difficulty Wee be not able to goe vp Their shoulders are laden with the grapes and yet their hearts are ouerlaid with vnbeliefe It is an vnwoorthy thing to plead hardnes of atchieuing where the benefit will more then requite the indeuour Our Land of Promise is aboue we knowe the fruit therof is sweet and glorious the passage difficult The giantly sonnes of Anak the powers of darknesse stand in our way If wee sit downe and complaine we shall once knowe that without shall be the fearefull See the idle pleas of distrust We are not able They are stronger Could not God inable them was he not stronger then their giants Had he not promised to displace the Canaanites to settle them in their stead How much more easie is it for vs to spy their weaknes then for them to espy the strength of their aduersaries When wee measure our spirituall successe by our owne power we are vanquished before we fight Hee that would ouercome must neither look vpon his owne arme nor the arme of his enemy but the mouth and hand of him that hath promised and can performe Who are we flesh and blood with our breath in our nostrills that we should fight with Principalities powers spirituall wickednesses in heauenly places The match is too vnequall wee are not like grashoppers to these giants when we compare our selues with them how can we but despaire when wee compare them with God how can we be discouraged Hee that hath brought vs into this fielde hath promised vs victory GOD knew their strength ere hee offered to commit vs. Well might they haue thought Were not the Amalekites stronger then we were not they armed we naked Did not the only hand of Moses by lifting vp beat them downe were not the Egyptians no lesse our maisters Did not Death come running after vs in their chariots Did wee not leaue these buryed in the sea the other vnburied in the Wildernesse Whence had the Anakims their strength but from him that bids vs goe vp against them Why haue the bodies of our forefathers taken possession of their Hebron but for vs But now their feare hath not left them so much reason as to compare their aduersaries with others but onely with themselues Doubtlesse these giants were mighty but their feare hath stretched them out some cubits beyond their stature Distrust makes our dangers greater and our helps lesse then they are and forecasts euer woorse then shall be and if euills be possible it makes them certaine Amongst those twelue messengers whom our second Moses sent through the Land of Promise there was but one Iudas But amongst those twelue which the former Moses addressed through the same Land there is but one Caleb and yet those were chosen out of the meanest these out of the heads of Israel As there is no societie free from some corruption so it is hard if in a community of men there be not some faithfulnesse We shall wrong GOD if we feare least good causes shall bee quite forsaken He knowes how to serue himselfe of the best if the fewest And could as easily be attended with a multitude if he did not seeke his owne glory in vnlikelihoods Ioshua was silent and wisely spared his tongue for a further aduantage Onely Caleb spake I doe not heare him say Who am I to striue with a multitude What can Ioshua and I doe against ten rulers It is better to sit stil then to rise fal But he resolues to swim against this streame and will either drawe friends to the truth or enemies vpon himselfe True Christian fortitude teaches vs not to regard the number or quality of the opponents but the equitie of the cause and cares not to stand alone challenge all commers and if it could be opposed by as many worlds as men it may be ouerborne but it cannot be daunted Whereas popularitie carryes weak minds and teaches them the safety of erring with a multitude Caleb saw the giantly Anakims and the walled citties as well as the rest and yet he saies Let vs go vp and possesse it As if it were no more but to go and see and conquer Faith is couragious and makes nothing of those dangers wherewith others are quayled It is very materiall with what eyes we looke vpon all obiects Feare doth not more multiply euills then faith diminisheth them which is therefore bold because either it sees not or contemnes that terrour which feare represents to the weake There is none so valiant as the beleeuer It had beene happy for Israel if Calebs counsell had beene as effectuall as good But how easily haue these rulers discouraged a faint-hearted people In stead of lifting vp their ensignes and marching towards Canaan They sit them down lift vp their voice and cry The roddes of their Egyptian task-maisters had neuer beene so fit for them as now for crying They had cause indeed to weep for the sinne of their infidelity but now they weep forfeare of those enemies they saw not I feare if there had beene ten Calebs to perswade and but two faint spies to discourage them those two cowards would haue preuailed against those tenne solicitors How much more now ten oppose but two incourage An easie Rhetorick drawes vs to the worse part yea it is hard not to runne downe the hill The faction of euill is so much stronger in our nature then that of Good that euery least motion preuailes for the one scarce any suite for the other Now is Moses in danger of losing all the cost and care that euer he bestowed vpon Israel His people are already gone backe to Egypt in their hearts and their bodies are returning Oh yee rebellious Hebrewes where shall GOD haue you at last Did euer Moses promise to bring you to a fruitfull Land without inhabitants To giue you a rich country without resistance Are not the graues of Canaan as good as those of Egypt What can ye but die at the hands of the Anakims Can yee hope for lesse from the Egyptians What madnes is this to wish to die for feare of death Is there lesse hope from your enemies that shall be when ye goe vnder strong and expert leaders then from the enemies that were when yee shall returne maisterlesse Can those cruell Egyptians so soone haue forgotten the blood of their fathers children brothers husbands which perished in pursuing you Had ye rather trust the mercy of knowne enemies then the promise of a faithfull GOD Which way will yee
and liue Their intelligence was not diuerse from the rest all had equally heard of the miraculous conduct and successe of Israel But their resolution was diuerse As Rahab saued her family in the midst of Iericho so these foure Citties preserued themselues in the midst of Canaan and both of them by belieuing vvhat GOD vvould doo The efficacie of GODs maruailous works is not in the acts themselues but in our apprehension some are ouer-come with those motiues which others haue contemned for weake Had these Gibeonites ioyned with the forces of all their neighbours they had perished in their common slaughter If they had not gone a way by themselues death had mette them It may haue more pleasure it cannot haue so much safety to follow the multitude If examples may lead vs the greatest part shuts out God vpon earth and is excluded from GOD elswhere Some fevv poore Hiuites yeeld to the Church of GOD and escape the condemnation of the world It is very like their neighbours flouted at this base submission of the Gibeonites out of their tearms of honor scorned to beg life of an enemy whiles they were out of the compasse of mercy but when the bodies of these proud Iebusites and Perizzites lay strawed vpon the earth and the Gibeonites suruiued whether was more woorthy of scorne and insultation If the Gibeonites had stayed till Israel had besieged their Citties their yieldance had beene fruitlesse now they make an early peace and are preserued There is no wisedome in staying till a iudgement come home to vs the onely way to auoid it is to meet it halfe way There is the same remedy of warre and of danger To prouoke an enemy in his own borders is the best stay of inuasion and to solicite God betimes in a manifest danger is the best antidote for death I commend their wisedom in seeking peace I doe not commend their falshood in the manner of seeking it who can looke for any better of Pagans But as the faith of Rahab is so rewarded that her lye is not punished so the fraude of these Gibeonites is not an equall match to their beliefe since the name of the Lord GOD of Israel brought them to this suit of peace Nothing is found fitter to deceiue Gods people then a counterfeit copy of age Heer are old sacks old bottles old shooes old garments old bread The Israelites that had worne one suit fortie yeeres seemed new-clad in comparison of them It is no new policie that satan would beguile vs with a vaine colour of antiquitie clothing falshood in ragges Errours are neuer the elder for their patching Corruption can doe the same that time vvould doe vvee may make age as well as suffer it These Gibeonites did teare their bottles and shooes and clothes and made them naught that they might seeme old so doe the false patrons of new errours If wee be caught with this Gibeonitish stratagem it is a signe wee haue not consulted with GOD. The sentence of death vvas gone out against all the inhabitants of Canaan These Hiuites acknowledge the truth and iudgements of GOD and yet seeke to escape by a league with Israel The generall denunciations of the vengeance of God enwrappe all sinners Yet may vvee not despayre of mercie If the secret counsell of the Almightie had not designed these men to life Ioshua could not haue beene deceiued vvith their league In the generalitie there is no hope Let vs come in the old ragges of our vilenesse to the true Ioshua make our truce with him we may liue yea wee shall liue Some of the Israelites suspect the fraude and notwithstanding all their old garments and prouisions can say It may be thou dwellest among vs. If Ioshua had continued this doubt the Gibeonites had torne their bottles in vaine In cases and persons vnknowne it is safe not to be too credulous Charitie it selfe will allow suspicion where wee haue seene no cause to trust If these Hiuites had not put on new faces with their old clothes they had surely changed countenaunce when they heard this argument of the Israelites It may â—e thou dwellest amongst vs how â—â—en can I make a league with thee They had perhaps hoped their â—â—bmission would not haue been â—â—fused where-soeuer they had â—â—welt but lest their neighbourâ—ood might be a preiudice they â—ome disguised and now heare â—â—at their nearnesse of abode was 〈◊〉 vnremoueable barre of peace 〈◊〉 was quarrell enough that they â—â—re Canaanites God had forâ—â—dden both the league and the 〈◊〉 of the natiue inhabitants Hee â—â—at calls himselfe the GOD of â—â—ace proclaimes himselfe the â—â—d of hostes and not to fight â—here he hath commaunded is to â—â—ak the peace with God whiles 〈◊〉 nourish it with men Contention with brethren is not moâ—â— hatefull to him then leagues wiâ—â— idolaters The condition that hâ— hath set to our peace is our possiâ—bilitie and our power That fall not within the possibility of ouâ— power which wee cannot doâ—â— lawfully What a smooth tale did theâ— Gibeonites tell for themselues 〈◊〉 the remoteness of their Country the motiues of their iourney 〈◊〉 consultation of their Elders thâ— ageing of their prouisions in thâ— way that it might seem not onâ—â—lie safe but deserued on the parts that they should bee aâ—â—mitted to a peace so far soughâ— purchased with so much toyâ—â— and importunitie Their clothâ— and their tongues agreed together and both disagree from the truth Deceit is euer lightlie wrapped vp in plausibilitie of vvords as faire faces oft times hide much vnchastitie But this guile spedde the better because it vvas cladde vvith much plainnesse For vvho vvould haue suspected that clouted shooes and ragged coates could haue couered so much subtiltie The case seemed so cleare that the Israelites thought it needlesse to consult vvith the mouth of the Lord. Their ovvne eyes and eares vvere called onelie to counsell and now their credulitie hath drawne them into inconuenience There is no way to conuince these Gibeonitish pretences of antiquitie but to haue recourse to the oracle of GOD. Had this been aduised with none of these false ragges had shamed the Church of God whether in our practise or iudgement this direction cannot faile vs whereas what we take vp on the words of men proues euer either light or false wares The facilitie of Israel had ledde them into a league to an oath for the safety of the Gibeonites and now within three dayes they finde both their neighborhood and deceit Those old shooes of theirs would easily hold to cary them back to their home The march of a great Army is easy yet within three dayes the Israelites were before their Cities Ioshua might now haue taken aduantage of their owne words to dissolue his league and haue said Yee are come from a farre Country these Citties are neare These are not therfore the people to whom we are ingaged by our promise and oath And if these Citties bee yours yet ye