would distinguish themselves from Brownists Are they not all or most of them borrowed out of Mr. H. Jacobs books who was but of yesterday The Antinomians usually call upon their hearers to mark it may be they shall hear some new truth that they never heard before when the thing is either false or if true no more then ordinarily is taught by others Vers 18. And hast forgotten God that formed thee Or that brought thee forth Here God is compared to a mother as in the former clause to a father So Jam. 1.18 Of his own will begat he us ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He brought us forth and did the office of a mother to us which doth notably set forth his love and the work of his grace Vers 19. Of his sons and of his daughters Titular at least wherefore their sin was the greater What Thou ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã my son Brutus This cut Caesar to the heart Vers 20. I will see what their end shall be This is spoken after the manner of men as likewise that vers 27. In whom is no faith i. e. fidelity as Matth. 23.23 there 's no trusting them or taking their words Vers 21. And I will move them to jealousie Thus God delights to retaliate and proportion jealousie to jealousie provocation to provocation So frowardness to frowardness Psal 18.26 contrariety to contrariety Levit. 28.18 21 c. With a foolish nation With the conversion of the Gentiles Rom. 10.19 which the good Jews could not easily yeeld to at first Act. 11.2 3. And the rest could never endure to hear of it See 1 Thess 2.15 16. At this day they solemnly curse the Christians thrice a day in their Synagogues with a Maledic Domine Nazarais They have a saying in their Tulmud Optimus qui inter gentes est dignus cui caput conteretur tanquam serpenti The best among the Gentiles is worthy to have his head broke as the Serpent had Yea they think they may kill any Idolaters Therefore Tacitus saith of them There was misericordia in promptu apud suos sed contra omnes alios hostile odium mercy enough toward their own but against all others they bare a deadly hatred Vers 22. For a fire See the Note on Chap. 10.4 Vers 23. I will spend mine arrowes Which yet cannot be all spent up as he feared of his Jupiter Si quoties peccent homines c. Vers 24. Burnt with hunger Which makes mens visages blacker then a coal Lam. 4.8 with burning heat i. e. With the burning carbuncle or plague-sore See Habaâ 3.5 Vers 25. And terrour within Warring times are terrible times By the civil dissentions here in King Iohn's time all the Kingdom became like a general shambles or place of infernal terrours and tortures War saith One is a misery which all words how wide soever want compass to express It is saith Another the slaughter-house of mankind and the hell of this present world See the Note on Gen. 14 2. Vers 27. Were it not that I feared See vers 20. Lest their adversaries This is that likely that moves the Lord hitherto to spare England God hath dealt with us not according to his ordinary rule but according to his prerogative England if it may be so spoke with reverence is a paradox to the Bible Pererius the Jesuite commenting upon Gen. 15.16 If any marvel saith He why England continueth to flourish notwithstanding the cruel persecution just execution he should have said of Catholikes there I answer Because their sin is not yet full Sed veniet tandem iniquitatis complementum c. We hope better though we deserve the worst that can be But somewhat God will do for his own great Name and lest the enemy exalt himself Psal 140.8 and say Our hand is high the Lord hath not done this Vers 28. For they are a nation See the Note on Chap. 4.6 It was Chrysippus that offered that strict and tetrical division to the world Aut mentem aut restim comparandum Vers 29. Oh that this people were wise Sapiens est cui res sapiunt prout sunt saith Bernard That they would consider their latter end This is a high point of heavenly wisdome Moses himself desires to learn it Psal 90.12 David also would fain be taught it Psal 39.4 Solomon sets a Better upon it Eccles 7.2 Ierusalems filthiness was in her skirts because she remembred not her latter end therefore also she came down wonderfully Lam. 1.9 The kite by the turning of his tail directs and winds about all his body Consideratio finiâ tanquam caudae ad vitam optimè regendam confert Mr. Ward 's Sermons saith Berchorius I meet with a story of one that gave a prodigal a ring with a deaths-head with this condition that she should one hour daily for seven dayes together look and think upon it which bred a strange alteration in his life like that of Thesposius in Plutarch or that more remarkable of Waldus the rich Merchant of Lions c. Vers 30. How should one chase a thousand i.e. Howshould one of the enemies chase a thousand Israelites who had a promise of better things Levit. 26.8 but that having first sold themselves for nought Isai 52.3 they were now sold by God who would own them no longer Psal 31.7 8. Vers 31. For their Rock is not as our Rock We may well say who is a God like unto thee Mic. 7.18 Contemno minutulos istos deos modo jovem Jehovam mihi propitiumc habeam I care not for those dunghill-Deities so I may havâ the true God to favour me Even our enemies Exod. 14.25 Num. 23.8 12. 1 Sam. 4.8 Vers 32. For their vine is of the vine Vitis non vinifera sed venenifera The vine is the wicked nature the grapes are the evill works So Isai 59.5 They hatch cockatrice egges and weave the spiders web vanity or villany is their whole trade he that eateth of their egges dyeth c. Look how the bird that sitteth on the serpents egges by breaking and hatching them brings forth a perilous brood to her own destruction so do those that are yet in the state of Nature being the heires of Original and the fathers of Actual sins which when they are finished bring forth death Jam. 1.15 Vers 33. Their wine i. e. Their works yea their best works prove pernitious to them not their own table only but Gods Table becomes a snare to the unprepared communicant he sucks there the poyson of aspes c. Iob 20 16. he eats his bane and drinks his poyson as Henry 7. Emperour was poysoned in the Sacramental bread by a Monk Pope Victor 2. by his Sub-deacon in his challice and one of our Bishops of York by poison put into the wine at the Eucharist Vers 34. Is not this laid up in store To wit for just punishment though for a while I forbear them The wicked man is like a thief which having stollen a horse rides
of the Law by being made a curse for them on the Cross God yeelds himself overcome by this reencounter but yet toucheth their thigh takes away their life Howbeit this hindereth not the Sun of life eternal to arise upon them as they pass over Peââel Vers 32. Therefore the children c. This custom Josephus saith continued till his time A ceremony indifferent in it self and good by institution in remembrance of that famous conquest might become evil by abuse if it turned into superstition CHAP. XXXIII Vers 1. He divided the children CArnal fear oft expectorates a mans wisdom and leaves him shiftless But Jacob after he had prayed and prevailed was not so moped as not to know what to do in that great danger he masters his fears and makes use of two the likeliest means 1. The marshalling of his wives and children in best manner for the saving of the last at least 2. The marching before them himself and doing lowe obeysance So Esther when she had prayed resolved to venture to the King whatever came of it And our Saviour though before fearful yet after he had prayed in the garden goes forth and meets his enemies in the face asking them Whom seek ye Great is the power of prayer to steel the heart against whatsoever amazements Vers 2. He put the handmaids c. Of children and friends some may be better beloved then others And whereas all cannot be saved or succoured the dearest may be chiefly cared for Vers 3. And he passed over before them As a good Captain and Shepherd ready to be sacrificed for the safety of his charge So the Captain of our salvation the Arch-shepherd Christ So should the under-shepherds the captains as Ministers are called Heb. 12.5 fight in the front and bear the brunt of the battel not loving their lives unto the death so they may finish their course with joy de scuto magis quà m de vita solliciti as Epaminondas The diamond in the Priests brest-plate shewed what should be their hardness and hardiness for the peoples welfare Vers 4. And kissed him The word kissed hath a prick over every letter in the Original to note say the Hebrew Doctors that this was a false and hypocritical kiss a Judas-kiss ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã saith Philo Amor non semper est in osculo But our Interpreters are agreed that this kiss was a signe Qui probabilâus loqâuntur aiuns co ipsoâoâari animi Esauici cââverâionem Am. that his heart was changed from his former hatred and that those extraordinary pricks do denote the wonder of Gods work therein which is further confirmed in that they both wept which could not easily be counterfeit though they were in Ishmael that notable hypocrite Jer. 41.6 and in the Emperour Andronicus who when he had injuriously caused many of the Nobility to be put to death pretended himself sorry for them Turk hist fol. 50. and that with tears plentifully running down his aged cheeks as if he had been the most sorrowful man alive Ibid. fol. 175. So the Egyptian Crocodile having killed some living beast lieth upon the dead body and washeth the head thereof with her warm tears which she afterward devoureth with the dead body We judge more charitably of Esau here And yet we cannot be of their minde that here-hence conclude his true conversion and salvation We must take heed we neither make Censures whip nor Charities cloke too long we may offend in both and incur the curse Isai 5.20 Joh. Manl. loc com 496. as well by calling evil good as good evil Latomus of Lovain wrote that there was no other a faith in Abraham then in Cicero Another wrote a long Defence and Commendation of Cicero and makes him a very good Christian and true penitentiary Ibid. 483. because he saith somewhere Reprehendo peccata mea quòd Pompeio confisus ejusque partes secutus fuerim I believe neither of them Vers 5. The children which God hath graciously given Sept. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã For children are Gods gifts as David taught Solomon Psal 127. It is well observed that good Jacob before a bad man speaks religiously God of his grace c. and Esau as bad as he was makes no jest of it There is no surer signe of a profane heart then to jeer at good expressions then which nothing now adays is more familiar Carnal spirits cannot hear savoury words but they turn them off with a scorn as Pilate did our Saviour speaking of the truth with that scornful profane question What 's truth Shall these scoffers be counted Christians Could any that heard Elijah mocking the service and servants of Baal believe that Baal was god in his esteem Shall not Esau rise up in judgement against such profane persons And shall not Jacob disclaim all such profligate professors for having any relation to him that dare not speak religiously for fear of some Esau in company that are ashamed to seem what they are with Zedekiah lest they that are fallen to the Chaldeans should mock them Vers 7. After came Joseph neer c. Jussus accedere Joseph saith Junius for he was but a little one of six yeers old therefore he did nothing but as his mother bade him and because he went before her he is first named Vers 8. What meanest thou by all this drove c. He met it but had not yet accepted of it either that he might take occasion at their meeting more mannerly to refuse the Present or that he might shew his brotherly affection frankly and freely not purchased or procured by any gift or Present Piscator Vtrunque liberale civile est oblata munera modestè recusare praesertim si grandia sint eadem ab instante humaniter acceptare Vers 9. I have enough my brother Here 's no mention of God God is not in all the wicked mans thoughts he contents himself with a natural use of the creature as bruit beasts do the godly taketh all as from God and findeth no such sweetness as in tasting how good the Lord is in the creature Tam Dei meminisse opus est quà m respirare saith One But prophane Esaus will neither have God in their heads Psal 10.4 nor hearts Psal 14.1 nor ways Tit. 1.16 nor words Psal 12.4 They stand in a posture of distance nay of defiance to God Vers 10. As though I had seen the face of God I cannot but see God and his goodness in thy so unexpected kindness The Lord hath done great things for me whereof I am glad and think my Present well bestowed Vers 11. I have enough Heb. I have all Esau had much but Iacob had all because he had the God of all Habet omnia qui habet habentem omnia saith Augustine Esau's enough in the Original is not the same with Iacob's ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã There are two manner of enoughs Godliness onely hath contentedness 1 Tim. 6.6 Vers 12. Let
have reason to be mad and that there is some sense in sinning whenas indeed our onely wisdom is to keep God's Laws Deut. 4.6 All which are founded upon so good reason that had God never made them yet it had been best for us to have practised them Vers 14. That Were a reproach unto us And yet the world reproached them with nothing more then with their Circumcision as it is to be seen in Horace Juvenal Tacitus Appion scoffs at it and is answered by Iosephus But as he were a fool that would be moâkt out of his inheritance so he much more that would be moâked out of his Religion Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor saith David because the Lord is hâârefuge because he runs to God by prayer But to shew how little he regarded their reproaches he falls presently a praying O that the salvation of Israel c. Psal 14.6 7. So Nazareth was a reproach cast upon Christ and he glories in it Acts 22.8 I am Jesus of Nazareth Whom thou persecutest He saith not I am the Son of God heir of all things King of the Church c. but I am Jesus of Nazareth If this be to be vile said David I Will be yet more vile Vers 15. That every male of you be circumcised Lo herein was their deceit How often is Religion pretended made a stale and stalking-horse to worldly and wicked aims and respects A horrible profanation as when Naâoth was put to death at a fast Henry the seventh Emperour poisoned in the Sacramental bread by a Monk He pretends to worship Christ intends to worry him c. From such stand off saith S. Paul or 1 Tim. 6.5 Rom. 16 17 18 if ye come neer them set a mark upon them Foenum habet in cornu Vers 16. Then will we give our daughters Whether Jacob were present at this whole conference it is not certain It is probable that he was not For surely he would either have disswaded them from thus doing or if he had consented he would have said something more to the Shechemites for their better assurance It is a Maxime in Machiavel Fidem tamdiu servandam esse quamdiu expediat But Jacob had not known this depth of the devil his sons better could skill of it They seem to be somewhat akin to those Thracians of whom it was anciently said Eos foedera nescire that they knew no covenants or the Turks at this day whose Covenants grounded upon the Law of Nations be they with never so strong capitulations concluded Turk hist or solemnity of oath confirmed have with them no longer force then standeth with their own profit serving indeed but as snares to entangle other Princes in There is no faith say they to be kept with dogs that is Ibid. 755. with Christians And this perhaps they have learned of those pseudo Christians the Papists who dealt so perfidiously with them at the great Battel of Varna Where Amurath the Great Turk seeing the great slaughter of his men against the oath given him by King Ladislaus dispensed with by the Pope's Legat and beholding the picture of the Crucifix in the displayed Ensignes of the voluntary Christians he pluckt the Writing out of his bosom wherein the late League was comprised and holding it up in his hand with his eyes cast up to heaven said Behold thou crucified Christ this is the League thy Christians in thy Name made with me Ibid. 297. which they have without cause violated Now if thou be a God as they say thou art and as we dream revenge the wrong now done to thy Name and me and shew thy power upon thy perjurious people who in their deeds deny thee their God And it fell out accordingly For God hates foul and faithless dealing Zech. 5.4 Rom. 1.31 Heu miser etsi quis primò perjuriacelat Sera tamen tacitis paena venit pedibus Tibull Perjurii poena divina exitium humana dedecus This was one of the Laws of the twelve Tables in Rome Vers 17. But if ye will not hearken How often have men found treason in trust and murther under shew of marriage as 1 Sam. 18.17 25. Dan. 11.17 and in the Massacre of Paris Vers 18. And their words See the force of love and hope of profit Vers 19. And the young man deferred not c. Heb. Neque distulit puer The lad deferred not He is called a lad or a childe that is a fool because he was carried not by right reason but blinde affection walking in the ways of his heart and sight of his eyes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Eccles 11.9 And vers 10. the word used to signifie youth signifieth darkness to note that youth is the dark age hot and headlong indeliberate and slippery such as had need to cleanse their ways by cleaving to the Word saith David Psal 119.9 where the word for cleansing properly signifies the cleansing of glass which as it is slick and slippery so though it be very clean yet it will gather filth even in the sun beams and of it self which noteth the great corruption of this age Vers 20. And Hamor and Shechem c. These great men easily perswaded and prevailed with the people to have what they would Great need have we to pray for good Governours When Crispus believed who was the chief Ruler of the Synagogue many Corinthians believed also Acts 18.8 Paul was loath to lose the Deputy because his conversion would draw on many others As on the contrary Jeroboam caused Israel to sin and generally as the Kings were good or evil so were the people in which as in a beast the whole body follows the head Vers 21. These men are peaceable c. Nothing more ordinary with Polititians then to cover private ends and respects with pretence of publike good As Jeroboam told the people it was too much trouble for them to go up to Jerusalem to worship they should take a shorter cut to Dan and Bethel So Jehu in all his reformations had a hawks eye to a kingdom his main end was to settle the Crown upon his own head The Turkish Janizaries Parei Hist profan Medul 1176. desirous to be rid of their Sultan Osman pretended and perswaded the people that he was Jaour that is an Infidel and that he endeavoured to betray the Turkish Empire to Christian dogs May 18. 1622. Vers 23. Shall not their cattel c. Profit perswades mightily with the multitude They all look to their own way Isai 56.11 every one for his gain from his quarter Who Will shew us any good is Vox populi And who begs not attention or inoculates not his faithful endeavour into his friends Creed and Belief with a tale of utile Vers 24. And every male was circumcised Many have lost their blood and suffered so much trouble for their lusts as had it been for Religion they had been
them and for the certainty of signification Homer and Virgil have the like As for those Christians that eate their God let my soul be with the Philosophers rather then with them saith Aveâroes the learned Arabian When it was objected to Niââlas Shetterden Martyr by Archdeacon Harps-feild that the words of Christ when he said hoc est corpus meum did change the substance without any other interpretation or Spirituall meaning he answered Then belike when Christ said this cup is my blood the substance of the cup was changed into his blood without any other meaning Act. Mon. fol. 1515. and so the cup was changed and not the wine Harpsfield hereupon was forced to confess that Christs Testament was broken and his institution changed from that he left it but he said they had power so to do Vers 13. Yet within three dayes Joseph foresaw the time of the Butlers deliverance he knew not the time of his own In good hope he was that now he should have been delivered upon the restauration of the Butler and his intercession for him but he was fain to stay two years longer till the time that Gods Word came Psal 105.19 the Word of the Lord tryed him by trying as in a fire his faith and patience in afflictions Vers 14. But think on me c. Liberty is sweet and should be sought by all lawful means 1 Cor. 7.21 The Jews censure Joseph for requesting this favour of the Butler and say he was therefore two years longer imprisoned But this is a hard saying Possible it is that Joseph might trust too much to this man and be over-hasty to set God this time and no other and so might be justly crossed of his expectation It is hard and happy so to use the means as not to trust to them and so to wait Gods good leisure as not to limit the holy One of Israel We trust a skillfull workman to go his own way to work and to take his own time Shall we not do as much for God He oft goes a way by himself and gives a blessing to those times and means whereof we despair Vers 15. For indeed I was stollen away Joseph inveighs not against his brethren that he may clear himself but hideth their infamy ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Sophoel with the mantle of charity which is large enough to cover a multitude of sins It is a fault to speak of other mens faults unless it be in an ordinance Infamy soon spreads Out of the land of the Hebrews So he by faith calls the land of Canaan which yet was detained from them till the sins of the Amorites were become full But Gods promises are good free-hold Jacob disposeth of this land on his death-bed though least master of it And here also I have done nothing c. We may not betray our innocency by a base silence Dan. â 22 Act. 24.12 13. but make seasonable apology as did Daniel Paul Justin Martyr Tertullian and other the primitive Apologists Francis King of France to excuse his cruelty exercised upon his Protestant Subjects to the German Princes whose friendship he sought after set forth a declaration to this purpose That he punished only Anabaptists that preferred their private revelations before the Word of God Scultet Aânâl P. 454. and set at nought all civil government Which brand set upon the true Religion and all the Professors thereof Calvin not enduring though he were then a young Divine of five and twenty years of age yot he compiled and set forth that admirable work of his called The Institution of Christian Religion In commendation whereof One writes boldly Praeter Apostolieas post Christi tempora chartas Paul Melissââ Huic peperere libro saecula nulla parem Vers 16. When the chief Baker saw So when hypocrites hear good to be spoken in the Word to Gods children they also listen and fasten upon the comforts as pertaining to them Matth. 13. they receive the word with joy they laugh as men use to do in some merry dream they catch at the sweet-meats as children and conclude with Haman that they are the men whom the King means to honour But when they must practise duty or bear the cross they depart sad and Christ may keep his heaven to himself if it be to be had on no other conditions Vers 17. And the birds did eat them He seeth not that he did any thing but suffereth only He heareth therefore an unpleasing interpretation saith Pareus Vers 18. And Joseph answered c. It is probable he used some preface to this sad destiny he reads him Vtinamtale somnium non vidisses Dan. 4.19 as Philo brings him in saying I would thou hadst not dreamt such a dream or as Daniel prefaced to Nebuchadnezzar My Lord the dream be to them that hate thee and the interpretation to thine enemies If Ministers Gods Interpreters must be mannerly in the form yet in the matter of their message they must be resolute Not only toothless but bitter truths must be told however they be taken If I yet please men c. Gal. 1.10 Vers 19. And shall hang thee on a tree c. This was cold comfort to the Baker so shall the last judgment be to the ungodly when the Saints as the Butler shall lift up their heads with joy But what a sweet providence of God was this that the Butler should first relate his dream and receive his interpretation as good as he could wish Had the Baker begun the Butler would have been disheartned and hindered perhaps from declaring his dream And then where had Joseph's hopes been of deliverance by the Butler How could he have had that opportunity of setting forth his innocency Piscator and requesting the Butlers favour and good word to Pharaoh for his freedom See how all things work together for good to them that love God The birds shall eat thy flesh Those that were hanged among the Jews were taken down Deut. 21.23 Not so among the Gentiles Effossos oculos vâret atrâ gutture corvus Catull. Lib. 1. de cruce c. 6. Deut. 21.22 A sore judgment of God threatned in a special manner against those that despise parents Prov. 30.17 and fulfilled in Absolom Abslon Marte furens pensilis arbore obit Greâser the Jesuite to shew his wit calls that tree a cross and makes it a manifest figure of the cross of Christ Sed ô mirum delirum figurativae crucis fabrum Our Lord indeed dyed upon the cross and that with a curse But that Absolom should in that behalf be a type of him is a new Jesuitical invention Some say that in honour of Christ crucified Constantine the Great abolished that kind of death throughout the Empire Vers 20. Which was Pharaohs birth-day An ancient and commendable custome to keep banquets on birth-dayes in honour of God our Sospitator for his mercy in our creation education preservation c.
tot priorum hominum donariis intervertendis Sculter Annal. pag. 332. saith the Annalist and came all to fearful ends Two of them fell out and challenging the field One killed the other and was hang'd for it A third drowned himself in a Well The fourth from great riches fell to extreme beggery and was hunger-starved The last one Doctor Alan being Archbishop of Dublin was there cruelly murthered by his enemies Now if Divine Justice so severely and exemplarily pursued and punished these that converted those abused goods of the Church to better uses without question though they looked not at that but at the satisfying of their own greedy lusts What will be the end of such Sacrilegious persons as enrich themselves with that which should be their Ministers maintenance Sacrum sacrove commendatum qui clepserit rapseritque Ex duod tab Neand. Chron. parricida esto said the Romane law It is not only sacriledg but parricide to rob the Church Vers 25. Let us find grace That is do us the favour to intercede for us to Pharaoh that we may be his perpetual farmers and hold of him It seems that Pharaoh was no proper name but common to the Kings of Egypt as Caesar to the Emperours of Rome a title of honour as His Majesty amongst us Otherwise these poor people had been over-bold with his name Vers 27. Grew and multiplyed exceedingly Here that promise Chap. 46.3 began to be accomplished God dyes not in any mans debt Vers 28. Iacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years So long he had nourished Ioseph and so long Ioseph nourished him paying his ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to the utmost penny These were the sweetest dayes that ever Iacob saw God reserved his best to the last Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for be his beginning and his middle never so troublesome the end of that man is peace Psal 37.47 A Goshen he shall have either here or in heaven Vers 29. Bury me not I pray thee in Egypt This he requested partly to testifie his faith concerning the promised land heaven and the resurrection partly to confirm his family in the same faith and that they might not be glewed to the pleasures of Egypt but wait for their return to Canaan And partly also to declare his love to his ancestours together with the felicity he took in the communion of Saints Vers 30. Bury me in their burying-place That he might keep possession at least by his dead body of the promised land There they would be buried not pompously but reverently that they might rise again with Christ Some of the Fathers think that these Patriarches were those that rose corporally with him Matth. 27.57 Vers 31. And Israel bowed himself In way of thankfulness to God framing himself to the lowliest gesture he was able rearing himself up upon his pillow leaning also upon his third leg his staffe Heb. 11.21 In effoeta senecta fides non effoeta CHAP. XLVIII Vers 1. Behold thy father is sick ANd yet 't was Iacob have I loved So Behold he whom thou lovest is sick Joh. 11.3 Si amatur quomodò infirmatur saith a Father Very well may we say The best before they come to the very gates of death pass oft thorough a very strait long heavy lane of sickness and this in mercy that they may learn more of God and depart with more ease out of the world Such as must have a member cut off willingly yeeld to have it bound though it be painful because when it is mortified and deaded with strait binding they shall the better endure the cutting of it off So here when the body is weakned and wasted with much sickness that it cannot so bustle we dye more easily Happy is he saith a Reverend Writer that after due preparation D. Hall Contemp is passed thorow the gates of death ere he be aware happy is he that by the holy use of long sickness is taught to see the gates of death afar off and addresseth for a resolute passage The one dyes like Henoch and Eliah the other like Iacob and Elisha both blessedly Vers 2. And Israel strengthened himself Ipse aspectus viri boni delectat saith Seneca sure it is that the sight of a dear friend reviveth the sick One man for comfort and counsel may be an Angel to another nay as God himself Such was Nathan to David B. Ridley to King Edward the sixth and that poor Priest to Edward the third who when all the Kings friends and favourites forsook him in his last agony leaving his chamber quite empty called upon him to remember his Saviour Dan. hist of Engl. 255. and to ask mercy for his sins This none before him would do every one putting him still in hope of life though they knew death was upon him But now stirred up by the voyce of this Priest he shew'd all signs of contrition and at his last breath expresses the name of Jesu Vers 3. God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz The truly thankful keep calenders and catalogues of Gods gracious dealings with them and delight to their last to recount and reckon them up not in the lump only and by whole-sale as it were but by particular enumeration upon every good occasion setting them forth one by one ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as here and Ciphering them up as Davids word is Psal 9.1 we should be like civet-boxes which still retain the scent when the civit is taken out of them See Psal 145 1 2. Exod. 18.8 Vers 5. As Reuben and Simeon they shall be mine God hath in like part 2 Cor. 6.18 adopted us for his dear children saying I will be a father unto them and they shall be my sons and my daughters saith the Lord Almighty This S. Iohn calls a royalty or prerogative Joh. 1.12 such as he elsewhere stands amazed at 1 Ioh. 3.1 And well he may for all Gods children are first-born and so higher then all the Kings of the Earth Psal 89.27 They in the fulnesse of their sufficiency are in straits Job 20.22 Whereas the Saints in the fulness of their straits are in an All-sufficiency Vers 6. After the name of their brethren That is of Ephraim and Manasseh as if they were not their brethren but their sons Thus Iacob transfers the birth-right from Reuben to Ioseph 1 Chro. 5.1 2. Vers 7. And I buried her there He could not carry her to the cave of Machpelah and he would not bury her at Bethlehem among Infidels This he tells Ioseph to teach him and the rest not to set up their rest any where but in the land of Canaan Vers 8. Who are these Here Jacob seeing Ioseph's two sons and now first understanding who they were breaks off his speech to Ioseph till the two last verses of the chapter and falls a blessing his sons Titus 3.1 teaching us to be ready to every good word and work laying hold of every hint
cannot put words and how oft doth he chuse the weak to confound the wise _____ And she said unto Balaam The Angel some think did speak in the Asse as the Devil had done to Eve in the garden Vers 29. I would there were a sword Pity but a mad-man should have a sword how much fitter for him were that rod that Solomon speaks of Prov. 26.3 Vrs 32. Because thy way is perverse Thou art resolved to curse howsoever and not to lose so fair a preferment which he must needs buy at a dear rate that payes his honesty for it Better a great deal lye in the dust then rise by such ill principles I shall shut up with that excellent prayer of Zuinglius Deum Opt. Max. precor ut vias nostras dirigat ac sicubi simus Bileami in morem veritati pertinaciter oblucâatâri aâgelum suum opponat Zuing. epist lib. tertio qui machae ãâã suoe minis ãâã asinum insciâamât audaciam dico nostram sic ad maâcriam assligat ut fraclum pedem hoc est impurum illicitumque carnis sensum auferamus ne ultra blasphememus nomen Domini Dei nostri CHAP. XXIII Vers 1. BVild me here seven altars Here in Baals high-places Chap. 22.41 A sinfull mixture such as was that of those Mongrels 2 King 17.28 29. and their naturall Nephews the Samaritans Ioh. 4. Ambodexters in their religion which being grosser at first was afterward refined by Manasseh a Iew-Priest such another as Balaam that in Alexanders time made a defection to them and brought many Iewes with him Of Constantinus Copronymus it is said how truly I know not that he was neither Iew Heathen nor Christian sed colluviem quandam impietatis but a hodg-podg of wickedness And of Redwald King of the East-Saxons the first that was baptized Camden reports that he had in the same Church one Altar for Christian Religion and another for sacrificing to devills And a loafe of the same leaven was that resolute Rufus that painted God on the one side of his shield and the devill on the other with this desperate inscription In âtrumque paratus Ready for either catch as catch may Vers 2. And Balak did Ready to conform to any religion so he might obtain his purposes So did Henry the fourth of France but it was his ruine whiles he sought the love of all parties aequè malo ac bono reconciliabilis as one saith of him he lost all Whiles he stood to the true religion he was Bonus Orbi as one wittily anagrammatized his name Borbonius but when he fell from it Orbus boni And surely he was not like to stand long to the truth who at his best had told Beza Pelagose non ita commissurus esset quin quando liberct pedem referre posset that he would launch no further into the sea then he might be sure to return safe to the haven some countenance he would shew to religion but yet so as he would be sure to save himself God abhors these luke-warme Neuter-passives that are inter coelum terramque penduli that halt between two that commit Idolatry between the porch and the altar with those five and twenty miscreants Ezek. 8.16 Vers 4. I have prepared seven Altars He boasts of his devotions and so thinks to demerit Gods favour So those hypocrites in Esay Chap. 58.3 Non sic deos coluimus ut ille nos vinceret we have not so served the gods as that the enemy should have the better of us said the Emperour Antoninus the Philosopher Vers 5. And the Lord put a word in Balaams mouth The words thus put into his mouth do but pass from him they are not polluted by him because they are not his as the Trunk through which a man speaks is not more eloquent for the speech uttered through it Balaam did not eate Gods word as Ieremy did Chap. 15.16 nor believe what he had spoken as David and after him Saint Paul did Psal 116.10 2 Cor. 4.13 No more did Plato Seneca and other Heathens in their divine sentences Vers 7. And he took up his parable Or pithy and powerfull speech uttered in numerous and sententious tearms and taken among the Heathen for prophecyes or oracles poëmata pro vaticiniis c. Poets were taken for Prophets Tit. 1.2 and Poems for prophecyes Hence their ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã wherein opening a book of Homer Hesiod c. they took upon them by the first verse they lighted upon to divine Tragedians also for their pârables or Master-sentences were highly esteemed of old insomuch as after the discomfit of the Athenians in Sicily they were releeved who could repeat somewhat of Euripides Out of Aram Aram Naharim or Mesopotamia so called because it is scituate betwixt those two rivers of paradise Tigris and Euphrates This was Abrahams country where whiles he was it it he served strange gods Iosh 24.2 Vers 8. How shall I curse He had a good minde to it but did not because he durst not God stood over him with a whip as it were the Angell with a sword in his hand could not be forgotten by him Virtus nolentium nulla est Vers 9. From the top of the rocks I see him And have no power to hurt him She heard me without daunting I departed not without terrour Camb. Elis when I opened the conspiracy against her life howbeit cloathed with the best art I could said Parry the traytour concerning Queen Elizabeth Achilles was said to be Styge armatus but Israel was deo armatus and therefore extra jaâtum Lo the people shall dwell alone That they might have no medling with the heathen God would not have them lye neer the sea-coasts for the Philistims lay between them and the sea leât they should by commerce wax prouder as Tyrus did Ezek 27.28 and learn forrein fashions See Esther 3.8 Hence Iudaeâ though part of the continent is called an Island Isai 20.6 Vers 10. Let me dye the death But he was so far from living the life of the righteous that he gave pestilent counsell against the lives of Gods Israel and though here in a fit of companction Chap. 31.8 he seem a friend yet he was afterward slain by the sword of Israel whose happiness he admireth and desires to share in Bern. Carnales non curant quaerere quem tamen desiderant invenire cupieuses consequi sed non et sequi Carnall men care not to seek that which they would gladly finde c. some faint desires and short-winded wishes may be sometimes found in them but the mischief is they would break Gods chain sunder happiness from holiness salvation from sanctisication the end from the meanes they would dance with the devill all day and then sup with Christ at night live all their lives-long in Dalilah's lap and then go to Abrahams bosome when they dye The Papists have a saying that a man would desire to live in Italy a place of great pleasure but to
of peace So the Romans by their heralds sent to those that opposed or wronged them caduceuâ hastam a proffer of peace first For if we Princes said our Henry the seventh should take every occasion that 's offered the world should never be quiet but wearied with continuall wars Cuncta prius tentanda c. truncatur et artus ut liceat reliquis securum vivere membris Vers 30. Had hardened his Spirit Deus quem destruit dementat God makes fooles of those whom he intends to destroy Vers 37. Onely unto the land This kindness these Ammonites in after-ages very evill requited Am. 1.13 Ier. 49.1 dealing by them as that monster Michael Balbus dealt by the Emperour Leo Armenius whom he slew the same night that this Prince had pardoned and released him CHAP. III. Vers 1. THen we turned â How pleasant must the continuation of this holy history needs be to every good heart out of the mouth of Mosus Methinks I see the peoples ears linked to his tongue with golden chains as the Heathens fable of their Hercules And surely if King Alphousus and some others of whom the Physitians despaired did recover health beyond all expectation Joh. Bodin de utilitat histor ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã only by reading Livy Curtius Aventinus c. What may we think may be done by these Wholsome words these healing histories if rightly regarded Vers 2. Fear him not Though of a formidable stature vers 11. The Lion is not so fierce as he is painted saith the Spanish proverb God will crack the hairy scalp of his enemies Psal 68. Vers 6. The men women and children The Hebrew word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã here rendred Men written with tsere signifieth Dead men Psal 39.5 Surely every man in his best estate or when best underlaid is altogether vanity Selah Vers 11. Remained Sc. in Bashan The Jews fable that he escaped in the flood by riding astride on the Ark. and he seems to have been of the remnant of those Rephaims whom Chedorlaomer and his company smote in Ashteroth Gen. 14.5 with Iosh 13.12 Is it not in Rabbah Kept for a monument of so mighty and massie a man Vers 13. Land of Giants Such as are said to be in another land in another life For he knoweth not that the Giants are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell Prov. 29.18 Vers 16. Vnto the river Jabbok Famous for Jacob's wrestling with God neer unto it Gen. 32.22 Vers 21. So shall the Lord God hath and therefore God will is a strong Medium of hope if not a demonstration of Scripture-Logick Vers 26. Speak no more Christians must be sober in prayer 1 Pet. 4.7 CHAP. IV. Vers 1. THe statutes and the judgments By statutes we may understand the moral law by Judgments the judicial which was fitted to the Iews Like as Solon being asked whether he had given the best laws to the Athenians answered The best that they could suffer As for the ceremonial law it is called Statutes that were not good Mr. Weemse because they commanded neither vertue nor vice in themselves as One gives the reason Vers 2. Ye shall not add The Iews have added their Deuteroseis the Turks their Alfurta the Papists ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Our wise men teach traditions Sec 1 Cor. 1.20 their unwritten verities which they equalize at least to the holy Scriptures and so argue them of insufficiency and imperfection Vers 3. Destroyed them Hanging them up in gibbets as it were before your eyes to warn you Vers 4. Are alive Your innocency prevailed for your safety as it usually doth in a common defection Vers 6. For this is your wisdome Omnis sapientia hominis in hoc uno est saith Lactantius ut Deum cognoscat colat Lactan. Inst lib. 3. cap. 30. hoc nostrum dogma haec sententia est To know and do the Will of God this is the whole of mans wisdom The heart of the wise man is at his right hand Eccles 10.2 as teaching it to put things in practice and to prove by experience what that good and holy and acceptable will of God is Rom. 12.2 A wise and understanding people The Spaniards are said to seem wise and are fools the French to seem fools and are wise the Portugals neither to be wise nor so much as to seem so the Italians both to seem wise and to be so But may not that of the Prophet be fitly applyed to them all Behold they have rejected the Word of the Lord and what wisdom is in them Jer. 8.9 Vers 7. Who hath God so nigh unto them Yea this was it that made them so great a nation who otherwise were but Methemispar few in number This made Moses so passionately cry one Happy are thou O Israel who is like unto thee O people saved by the Lord c. Deut. 33.29 Vers 8. So righteous See the Note on Chap. 1. vers 1. Vers 9 Onely take heed Cavebis autem si pavebis Lest thou forget Eaten bread is soon forgotten Teach them thy sons A special help against forgetfulness yea this is the best art of memory Of all things God cannot abide to be forgotten Vers 10. Specially the day An high favour and most honourably mentioned Neh. 9.13 Vers 12. Ye saw no similitude Numa the Romane Law-giver would not permit any image whether painted or carved to be placed in their Temples eò quòd nefas duceret praestantiora deterioribus adsimulare because he held it unlawful to set forth a better thing by a worse c. Hence it was that the Romane Temples had no pictures in them for 170 years after the building of that city Irenaeus reproves the hereticks called Gnostici for that they carried about the Image of Christ made in Pilates time after his own proportion for to whom will ye liken God or what likeness will ye compare unto him Esai 40.18 Vers 14. Statutes and Judgments See vers 1. Vers 15. Take ye therefore good heed These many cautions note our proneness to this evil above others this appeareth somewhat in children so delighted with pictures and in that idolomania of these Iews of the Eastern Churches and of the Synagogue of Rome Vers 16. The likeness of male or female As the blinde Ethnicks did Servius concluding their petitions with that general Dii Deaeque omnes Vers 17. The likeness of any beast Which was a piece of the Egyptian madness Israel by being there had learned to set up one calf Jeroboam two Vers 18. The likenesse of any fish As was Dagon the God of the Philistims whence he had his name Vers 19. All the host of heaven Called the Queen of heaven Ier. 7. _____ should be driven Or drawn by the enticement of the Devil who is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã saith Synesius a great Image-monger or by the seduction of others or of thine own evil heart for Nemo sibi de
safety as a wonder but feared what would follow upon such an interview if continued And indeed it is still the work of the law to scare men and to drive them to seek for a Mediatour Vers 27. We will hear it and do it This is well said if as well done Many can think of nothing but working themselves to life spinning a thread of their own to climb up to heaven by But that will never be CHAP. VI. Vers 1. NOw these are the Commandements Moses having repeated the Decalogue begins here to explain it and first the first of the ten in this present Chapter that first Commandement being such Primo praecâpto reliquerum omnium ob ervantia praecipitur Luth. as that therein the keeping of all the other nine is enjoyned as Luther rightly observeth Vers 2. That thou mightest fear the Lord Fear God and keep his Commandements Eccles 12.13 fear the Lord and depart from evill Prov. 16.6 this is the beginning Prov. 1.7 and end of all Eccles 12.13 This is the whole of man or as some read it Hoc est enim totus Homo ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This is the whole man ib. It is a problem in Aristotle why men are credited more then any other creatures The answer is man alone reverenceth God Deum siquis parum metuit valdè contemnit hujus qui non memor at beneficentiam auget injuriam Fulgentius Not to fear God is to slight him as not to praise him is to wrong him saith an Ancient Vers 3. That it may be well with thee Respect may be had to the recompence of reward ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã We may make it our scope our ayme 2 Cor. 4.18 though not our highest ayme Moses cast an eye when he was on his journey Heb. 11.26 he stole a look from glory and got fresh incouragement Vers 4. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Lord our God is one Lord One in Three and Three in One. Here are three words answering the three persons And the middle word Our God deciphering fitly the second who assumed our nature as Galatinus well observeth Others take notice that the last letter of this first word Hear is extraordinarily great in the Hebrew as calling for utmost heed and attention And so is the last letter in the word rendred One See the Note on Exod. 34.14 This last letter Daleth which usually stands for four signifieth say the Hebrews that this one God shall be worshipped in the four corners of the earth Vers 5. And thou shalt love See the Note on Mat. 22.37 This shewes the impossibility of keeping the law perfectly Ità ut frustrà sint sophistae c. The true Christian counts all that he can do for God but a little of that much he owes him and that he could gladly beteem him But what a wretched Monk was that that dyed with these words in his mouth Redde mihi aeternam vitam quam debes Lord pay me heaven for thou owest it Vers 6. Shall be in thy hears A bible men should get stamped in their heads and another in their hearts as David had Psal 119.11 Knowledg that swims in the head only and sinks not down into the heart does no more good then rain in the middle region doth or then the Unicorns horn in the Unicornes head Vers 7. And thou shalt teach them diligently Heb. Thou shalt whet or sharpen them as one would sharpen a stake Shaâan acuerâ Sâanah repetere affineâ sunt when he drives it into the ground Or as one would set an edge upon a knife by oft going over the whetstone A learned Hebrician observes a neer affinity between the word here used and another word that signifies to repeat and inculcate the same thing Innuit studium et diligentiam qua pueris praecepta dei inculcari debent saith Vatablus Children should be taught the principles that they understand not First that they might have occasion much to think of the things that are so much and commonly urged Secondly that if any extremity should come they might have certain seeds of comfort and direction to guide and support them 3. That their condemnation might be more just if having these so much in their mouthes they should not get something of them into their hearts Vers 8. And thou shalt binde them See the Note on Mat. 23.5 Vers 9. And on thy gates In a foolish imitation whereof the English Iesuites beyond sea have written on their Church and Colledge-doores in great golden letters Jesu Jesu converte Angliam Fiat Fiat Habent et vespae favos Vers 11. When thou shalt have eaten and be full Saturity oft breeds security fulness forgetfulness The best when full fed are apt to wax wanton and will be dipping their fingers sometimes in the devills sauce Platina ipsis opibus lascivire caepit Ecclesia The Moon never suffers eclipse but at the full and that by the earths interposition The young mulets when they have suckt turn up their heeles and kick at the damme Vers 12. Lest thou forget the Lord Should we with the sed hawk forget our master Or being full with Gods benefits like the Moon be then most removed from the Sun from whom she hath all her light See Prov. 30.8 9. Vers 13. And shalt sweare by his name An oath rightly taken is a peece of our holy service to God and may well be reckoned amongst our prayers and other pious performances Vers 14. Thou shalt not go See the Note on Exod. 34.14 Vers 15. A jealous God amongst you Let the gods of the heathens be good-fellowes our God will endure no corrivals He is both a jealous God and is ever amongst us so that our faults our furta's cannot be hid from his eyes Now he that dares sin though he know God looks on is more impudent in sinning then was Absolom when he spred a tent upon the top of the house and went in to his fathers concubines in the sight of all Israel and of the Sun Vers 15. Ye shall not tempt the Lord By prescribing to God and limiting the holy one of Israel as these men did at Massah Psal 78.41 See the Notes on Mat. 4.7 and on Act. 5.9 and on Exod. 17.2 Vers 17. You shall diligently keep So Psal 119.4 Howbeit the most that David could do towards it was to wish well to it vers 5. Vers 20. What mean the testimonies Here we have a briefe Catechisme which is a course and practice of singular profit Luther scorned not to profess himself Discipulum Catechismi and the Iesuites by the example of our Churches do Catechise their novices CHAP. VII Vers 1. ANd hath cast out many nations God did all Psal 78.55 He cast out the heathen before them and divided them an inheritance by line c. Hence Josephus calls the Common-wealth of Israel ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Sic Polydor. Virgil Regnum Angliae Regnum Dei. Vers 2. Nor shew
Egypt also it is reported that it is so fruitful a Country ut cunctos mortales pascere deos ipsos excipere hospitio salvâ re posse gloriaretur It was anciently called publicum orbis horreum the worlds great barn as some forraign Writers have termed our Country the Court of Queen Ceres the granary of the Western world the Fortunate Island the Paradise of Pleasure and garden of God The worst is that as Aristotle was wont to tax his Athenians that whereas they were famous for two things Laert. l. 5. c. 1. the best land and the best laws frumentis uterentur legibus nequaquà m they abused their plenty and lived lawlesly so it may be said of us that we live in Gods good land but not by Gods good laws Vers 10. Then thou shalt blesse rarae fumant foelicibus arae Solomon's wealth did him more hurt then ever his wisdom did him good But that should not have been Solomons Altar was four times as big as Moses his Exod. 27.1 to teach us that as our peace and prosperity is more then others so should our service in a due proportion Vers 11. Beware that thou forget not the Lord By casting his words behind thee Psal 50.17 and not considering the operation of his hands Isai 5.12 fulness breeds this forgetfulness laden bodies leaden minds Vers 12. And hast built goodly houses Haec suât quae nos invitos faciunt mori These are the things that make us loth to die said Charles 5. Emperour to the Duke of Venice who had shewed him the stateliness of his Palace and Princely furniture Vers 13. When thy silver and thy geld Which what is it else but white and red mould the guts and garbage of the earth wonder it is surely that treading upon it we should so much esteem it Well if siâver and gold be our happiness then it is in the earth and so which is strange nearer hell which the Scripture placeth in the deep then heaven which all know to be aloft and so nearer the Devil then God Vers 14. Then thy heart be lifted up The Devil will easily blow up this blab in the rich mans heart whose usual diseases are earthly-mindedness and high-mindedness Prosperity makes men proud secure impatient Ier. 22.21 In rest they contract much rust Vers 15. Who led thee thorow c. Good turns aggravate unkindnesses and our offences are increased by our obligations Vers 16. Who fed thee God will give his people Tertull. de patient pluviam âscatilem petram aquatilem Psal 78.20 24. he will set the flint abroach and rain corn from heaven rather then they shall pine and perish Vers 17. My power As that great dragon of Egypt lying at ease in the swoln waters of his Nilus saith Ezek. 29.2 Habac. 1.16 My river is mine own I have made it for my self Vers 19. ye shall surely perish Idolatry is a land-desolating sin Judg. 5.8 CHAP. IX Vers 1. HEar O Israel It was all their business at present to hear and yet he excites them so to do by an Oyez as it were He knew their dulness and the din that corruption maketh in the best hearts how soon sated men are with divine discourses and how little heed they give to the most wholsome exhortations Let a child be never so busie about his lesson if but a bird flie by he must needs look where he lights so c. Vers 2. The children of Anak Hence seems to come the Greek word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for a King for these great men were lookt upon as so many little Kings See the Note on Gen. 6 4. Vers 3. As a consuming fire The force whereof is violent and irresistible Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God Wo unto us who shall deliver us c said those crest-faln Philistims at the sight of the Ark 1 Sam. 4.8 So The sinners in Zion are afraid fearfulnesse hath surprized the hypocrites Who among us say they shall dwell with this devouring fire meaning God who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings Esay 33.14 Vers 4. For my righteousnesse We are all apt to weave a web of righteousness of our own to spin a threed of our own to climbe up to heaven by to set a price upon our selves above the market to think great thoughts of our selves and to seek great things for our selves Coelum gratis non accipiam saith One Merit-monger I will not have heaven for nothing and Redde mihi aeternam vitam quam debes saith Another Give me heaven for thou owest it me How blasphemous is that direction of the Papists to dying men Conjunge Domine obsequium meum cum omnibus quae Christus passus est pro me Joyn Lord my righteousness with Christs righteousness How much better was it with those ancient Papists here in England to whom upon their death-beds the ordinary instruction appointed to be given was that they should look to come to glory not by their own merits but alone by the vertue and merit of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ D. Vshier serm on Eph. 4.13 that they should place their whole confidence in his death only and in no other thing c. Those Justiciaries that seek to be saved by their works Luther fitly calls the devils Martys they suffer much and take much pains to go to hell and by their much boasting haec ego feci haec ego feci they become no better then Faecès saith he wittily It is a good observation of a reverend Divine Mr. Cotton on Cantic p. 217. that the Church in the Canticles is no where described by the beauty of her hands or fingers Christ concealeth the mention of her hands that is of her works 1. Because he had rather his Church should abound in good works in silence then boast of them especially when they are wanting as Rome doth 2. Because it is he alone that worketh all our works for us Isai 26.12 Hos 14.8 Vers 6. Vnderstand therefore We are wondrous apt to wind our selves into the fooles-paradice of a sublime dotage upon our own worth and righteousness otherwise what need so many words here to one and the same purpose The Scripture doth not use to kill flies with beetles to cleave straws with wedges of iron to spend many words where's no need Vers 7. Ye have been rebellious against the Lord Nothing is so hard as to be humbled for man is a proud cross creature that would be something at home whatever he is abroad and comes not down without a great deal of difficulty Hence it is that Moses so sets it on here and with one knock after another drives this naile home to the head that he might cripple their iron sinewes bring their stiffe necks to the yoke of Gods obedience and make them know that he was Iehovah when he had wrought with them for his Name sake not according to their wicked wayes nor according to
abominated Hos 9.4 yea accursed Deut. 28.47 None might come to the court of Persia in mourning weeds Esth 4.2 For any unclean use Or common profane use Common and unclean is one and the same in sundry languages to teach us that it is hard to deal in common businesses and not defile our selves and that those that come to holy things with common affections and carriages profane them Nor given ought thereof for the dead To bury them or buy provision for the funerall feast Ier. 16.7 Ezek. 24.7 Hos 9.4 Ye have done according c. It is a witty expression of Luther By mens boasting of what they have done sayes he Haec ego feci haec ego feci they become nothing else but Faeces dregs But so did not these See the note on vers 13. Vers 17. Thou hast avouched This we do when with highest estimation most vigorous affections and utmost indeavours we bestow our selves upon God giving up our names and hearts to the profession of truth And this our chusing God for our God Psal 73 25. is a sign he first chose us 1 Ioh. 4.19 Mary answers not Rabboni till Christ said Mary to her It is he that brings us into the bonds of the Covenant Ezek. 20.37 He first cryes out who is on my side Who and then gives us to answer as Esay 44.6 One sayes I am the Lords another calls himself by the name of Jacob another subscribes c. Vers 19. And to make thee high Assyria is the work of Gods hand but Israel is his inheritance Isa 19.25 43.3 CHAP. XXVII Vers 2. ANd plaister them with plaister That they might have it in white and black Vers 4. In mount Ebal Where the curse was denounced vers 13. to signifie that those that sought salvation in the law must needs be left under the curse The law is a yoke of bondage as Hierom calls it and they who look for righteousness from thence are like oxen who toyle and draw and when they have done their labour are fatted for slaughter Vers 5. Thou shalt build an altar For burnt offerings c. Vers 6.7 God teacheth them thereby that righteousness impossible to the law was to be sought in Christ figured by that altar and those sacrifices Thus the morall law drove the Iewes to the ceremoniall which was their Gospell as it doth now drive us to Christ who is indeed the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth Rom. 10.4 Vers 8. All the words of this law very plainly Therefore it could not be all Deuteronomy much less all Moses books as some have thought for what stones could suffiee for such a work Unless they could write as close but how then could it be very plainly as he did who set forth the whole history of our Saviours passion very lively In canicular colloq both things and acts and persons on the nailes of his own hands as Maiolus reporteth Vers 15. Cursed be he c. The blessings are not mentioned by Moses that we might learn to look for them by the Messiah only Act. 3.26 Vers 16. That setteth light That vilipendeth undervalueth not only that curseth as Exod. 21.17 Vers 24. That smiteth Either with violent hand or virulent tongue Ier. 28.18 Vers 26. Cursed Aut faciendum an t patiendum Men must either have the direction of the law or the correction CHAP. XXVIII Vers 1. IF thou shalt hearken diligently Heb. If hearkening thou shalt hearken If when Gods speaks once thou shalt hear it twice as David did Psal 62.11 by a blessed rebound of meditation and practice Will set thee on high Thou shalt ride upon the high places of the earth Isai 58.14 There thou shalt have thy commoration but in heaven thy conversation Philip. 3.20 being an high and holy people Deut. 26.19 high in worth and humble in heart ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Nazian as one saith of Athanasius Vers 2. And overtake thee Unexpectedly befall thee Surely goodness and mercy shall follow thee Psal 23.6 as the evening Sun-beames follow the passenger as the rock-water followed the Israelites in the wilderness and overtook them at their stations 1 Cor. 10.4 O continue or draw out to the length thy loving kindness unto them that know thee Psal 36.11 There will be a continued Series a connexion between them to all such Vers 3. Blessed shalt thou be What blessedness is See the Note on Mat. 5.3 Vers 4. The fruit of thy body Which is thy chief possession Dulcis acerbitas amarissima voluptas Tertull. but without my blessing will be bitter sweets Blessed is the man that hath his quiver full of such as are as the arrowes of a strong man Psal 128 4. the knottiness of whose nature is refined and reformed and made smooth by grace Arrowes be not arrowes by growth but by art what can better preserve Iacob from confusion or his face from waxing pale then when he shall see his children the work of Gods hands framed and fitted by the word in regeneration and the duties of new obedience This will make him to sanctifie God even to sanctifie the Holy One and with singular incouragement from the God of Israel Isai 29.22 23. Vers 7. The Lord shall cause thine enemies Mr. Fox observes that in King Edward the sixth's time the English put to flight their enemies in Muscleborough field the self-same day and hour wherein the reformation enjoyned by Parliament Act. Monâ was put in execution at London by burning of Idolatrous images Such a dependance hath our success upon our obedience And flee before thee seven wayes In the fore-mentioned fight many so strained themselves in their race that they fell down breathless and dead whereby they seemed in running from their deaths to run through it 2000 lying all day as dead got away in the night The Irish were so galled or scared with the English ordnance Life of Edw. 6 by Sr. Io. H. that they had neither good hearts to go forward nor good liking to stand still nor good assurance to run away saith the Historian Vers 8. The Lord shall command the blessing Now if he send his Mandamus who shall withstand it Vers 10. And they shall be afraid of thee Naturall conscience cannot but do homage to the image of God stamped upon the natures and works of the godly When they see in them that which is above the ordinary nature of men or their expectation they are afraid of the Name of God whereby they are called their very hearts ake and quake within them as is to be seen in Nebuchadnezzar Darius Herod Dioclesian who was so amazed at the singular piety and invincible patience of the primitive Christians that he laid down the Empire in a humour Bucholcer quod christi nomen se deleturum uti cupiverat desperasset because that when he sought to root out religion he saw he could do no good on 't Vers 12. And
written most wickedly and basely against marriage Three things we have here out of Moses to say for it against whatsoever opposite viz. Gods 1. Dixit 2. Duxit 3. Benedixit Gen. 1.28 God the Father ordained it God the Son honoured it with his first miracle God the Holy Ghost did the like by overshadowing the betrothed Virgin Papists and others that disgrace it appear herein more like Devils then Divines if S. Paul may be judge 1 Tim. 4.2 or Ignatius who saith Habet inbabitatorem Draconem Apostaâaâ Ignat. Epist ad Philad If any call marriage a defilement he hath the Devil dwelling in him and speaking by him Verse 23. This is now bone of my bone c. This sentence saith Tertullian and after him Beda is the first Prophesie that was ever uttered in the world And it is uttered in a way of admiration which they that are taken with do commonly use a concise kinde of speech especially if overjoyed as Adam here was upon the first sight of the woman whom he no sooner saw but knew and thereupon cryed out as wondring at Gods goodness to himself This now is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh Luther the night before he dyed was reasonably well and sate with his friends at table The matter of their discourse was whether they should know one another in heaven or no Luther held it affirmatively and this was one reason he gave Melch. Adam Adam as soon as he saw Eve knew what she was not by discourse but by divine revelation so shall we in the life to come All the Saints shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob having communion with them not only as godly men but as Abraham Isaac Jacob. And if with them why not with others S. Chrysostome saith we shal point them out and say Lo yonder is Peter ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and that 's Paul there are the Prophets Apostles c. She shall be called Woman Or Manness of Man as Ishah of Ish He gave her her name from his own by taking away one numerall letter that stands for ten and adding another that stands for five to note her infirmity and duty of submitting to her husband whose very naming of her notes her subjection Vers 24. Therefore shall a man leave c. Whether these are the words of God Adam or Moses it is uncertain and not much material The husband is bound more to love his wife then his parents in regard of domestical communion Paraus ad locum adhââsion and cohabitation not in regard of honor obedience and recompence And they two shall be one flesh Two in one flesh not three or four as the Patriarks of old through ignorance or inobservance of that plain prohibition Levit. 18.18 It is possible they might mistake the word sister for one so by blood which was spoken of a sister by nation as those clauses to vex her and during her life do evince Vers 25. They were both naked and not ashamed Neither needed they Sin and shame as Papists say hops and heresie came in together Cloaths are the ensignes of our sin and covers of our shame To be proud of them is as great folly as for a begar to be proud of his rags or a thief of his halter As the prisoner looking on his irons thinketh on his theft so we looking on our garments should think on our sins CHAP. III. Verse 1. Now the Serpent was more subtil c. ANd so a more fit instrument of that old Serpent the Devil ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Theodotion Cui Paulus â Cor. 11.3 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã oppoâit quam mundus vocat Sillmess sheepishness Revel 12.9 Authoramentuâ majoris infidelitatis Terâul Isai 55.3 Plin. l. 8. c. 25. that deceiveth all the world Good natural parts abused prove rather as press-money to impiety as he phraseth it and their wisdom Culpae suasoria as Ambrose speaketh Wit unsanctified is a fit tool for the devil to work withal Neither is there a likelier Anvil in all the shop of Hell whereon to forge mischief then one that is learned and leud ingeniosê nequam Wittily wicked And he said That is the Devil in the Serpent as the Angel in Balaams Ass Satan istius primae fabulae Poetafuit serpens histrio By the ear he brought death into the world And God to cross him brings life in by the same door For it is Hear and your souls shall live The Dragon bites the Elephants ear and thence sucks his blood Because he knows that to be the onely place which he cannot reach with his trunk to defend So here that great red Dragon delt with miserable mankinde setting first upon the woman as the weaker vessel where the hedg is lowest there the beast leaps over and so climbing by Adams rib to his heart as by a ladder as I said before out of Saint Gregory Yea hath God said In the Chaldee Is it true that God hath said Vide simile Ruth 2.21 in Hebraeo 1 Sam. 14.30 A concise expression implying That this was not the first of their discourse Something had been said before It is not safe parling with the Devil Satan etsi semel videatur verax millies est mendax semper fallax Halter him up therefore ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and stop his mouth soon as our Saviour did Or do as the French say in their Proverb When the Spaniard comes to parley of peace then double bolt the door The Hollanders are said to make no conditions with the Spaniard but such as are made at Sea and sealed with great Ordnance Spec. bel sacr Greenbam c. He shoots with Satan in his own bowe that thinks by parling with him to put him off Hath God said Ye shall not eat Here he began his assault upon our first-parents here upon Christ Matth. 4.3 with 3.17 and here he doth still upon us Endeavoring to elevate the truth and certainty of Gods Word and to weaken our Faith in his precepts promises and menaces And here if he take us out of our trenches if he can but wring this sword of the Spirit out of our hands he may do what he will with us Get but the Heretickes said that subtil Sophiâter out of the paper-walls of the Scriptures Bristow his Motives into the open field of Fathers and Councils and ye shall soon do well enough with them Vers 3. Neither shall ye touch it This is of the womans own addition and of a good intention doubtlesse For afterwards when she had drunk in more of the Serpents deadly poyson Hausis virus peritura periturâs paritura Bern. from gazing upon the fruit she fell to gaping after it from touching to tasting He that would not feed on sins meat must beware of the broth keep thee far from an evill matter saith Moses Exod. 23.7 A good man dare not come near the train though he be far off the
blow He dare not venture on the occasion lest his tinder should take fire Circa serpent is antrum poâituâ non eris diâ illasus Isidor It is ill playing upon the hole of the Aspe or coming too near Hell-mouth For by so doing you may beseem to drop in Watch therefore and pray too that ye enter not into temptation saith our blessed Saviour and mark his reason The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak q. d. Though the Spirit purpose otherwise the flesh will faulter and be foyled Witness the woman here with her left ye die She held the precept in the utmost extent of it But that which she failed in was That she minced the matter and opposed not the commination to the temptation And see how the Devil works upon her weakness as he watcheth for our haltings and where to have us on the lip Vers 4. Ye shall not surely die He saith not Dying ye shall not dye or Surely ye shall not die This had been too plain a contradiction to that word of God that had threatned assured death But Ye shall not die in dying That is It is not certain ye shall die And this latter is more nice and ambiguous She seems to doubt of the certainty of what God had said He plainly and yet clearly impugnes it Whereas had Gods Word abidden in her she had overcome that wicked one 1 John 2.14 The word is compared to mustard seed which being mixt with vinegar is they say a soveraign medicine against Serpents Vers 5. For God doth know c. Picherellus in Cosmopaea Id quod cuns Deum non lateat sibi cavet It is remarkable that the devil here chargeth God with envy which is his own proper disease For ever since he himself fell from Heaven he cannot abide that any should come there but of pure spight hindereth them all that may be Here he envyed that God should be served by man and that man should be gifted and graced by God So that he paints out and points out himself in saying That God envyed man the gift of Wisdom There is nothing more usual with the wicked then to muse as they use and to suppose that evil to be in others that they âinde to be in themselves Die in Calig Act. Mon. fol. 1441. Caligula that impure beast would not beleeve there was any chast person upon earth And I dare say said Bonner to Hawks the Martyr that Cranmer would recant if he might have his living So judging others by himself For Papists apply themselves said our Protomartyr Mr. Rogers to the present state yea if the state should change ten times in the yeer they would ever be ready at hand to change with it and so follow the cry and rather utterly forsake God and be of no Religion then that they would forgo lust or Living for God or Religion Then your eyes shall be opened There is an opening of the eyes of the minde to contemplation and joy There is also an opening of the eyes of the body to confusion and shame ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 2 Cor. 1 King 22.15 Cioesus Halyn pâââââs maânam diâpââdâs âpum vim Herod He promiseth them the former but intends the latter and so cheats them as he doth thousands now adays by the cogging of a Dye as Saint Paul hath it giving them an apple in exchange for paradise Thus of old he couzened Aâab and Croesus with promises of victory which when it fell out otherwise he had a hole to creep out and save his credit by an equivocation Thus of latter time be gulled Pope Silvester the second assuring him that he shouâd never dye till he came to say Mass in Jerusalem He resolving never to come there made no reckoninâ but to live a long time But it fâll out somewhat otherwise For as he was saying Mass in a certain Church in Rome called Jerusalem fearing nothing âuncâius in Câronol Intelligit âe a diabolo amphibolâ vocis circumventum auimadvertit sibi moriendum esse pensumque Sataâae reddendum c. the Devill claymed his due and had it For he was there and then taken with a strong feaver and lying on his death bed he sent for all his Cardinais and declaring before them what a wretched bargain he had made with the devill selling his soul for the Popedome and deceivedâby him with promise of long ââlfe he bitterly bewayled his own folly and advised them to beware by his example And was not Leoline the second Prince of North-Wales as finely cheated For consulting with a Witch he was told that it was his destiny to ride through London with a crown on his head Hereupon he growing burdensome to the English borders was in a battle overthrown His head fixt upon a stake and adorned with a paper-crown was by a horseman triumphantly carried through London Heylins Geog. p. 493. and so the prophesie was fulfilled Anno Dom. 1282. And ye shall be as Gods The Serpents Grammar first taught saith Damianus Deum pluralitèr declinare eritis sicut Dii This the woman understood of the Trinity as appears vers 22. but the Devill might mean it of the Angels so our Chaldee Paraphrast translates it which had sinned and now had wofull experience of the good which they had lost and the evill wherein they lay Verse 6. And when the woman saw At this Cinque-port the devill entred How many thousand souls have dyed of the wound of the eye Ovid. and cryed out as Eve might here ut vidi ut perii If we do not let in sin at the window of the eye or the door of the ear it cannot enter into our hearts Vitiis nobis in animum per oculos est via saith Quintilian Wherefore if thine eye offend thee pull it out In Barbary 't is death for any man to see one of the Xoriffes concubines and for them too if when they see a man though but through a casement they doe not suddenly screek out Quintil. declam She took of the fruit thereof Whatever it were whether an apple as Bernard Heyl. Geog. p. 196. Pârrexit Pomum surripuit paradisum Bern. and others gather out of Cant. 2.3 or a fig as Theodorot or a pomegranate as Mahomet in his Alchoran or a peach malum persicum or Pomum Paradisi as the Syrians call a kinde of fruit common amongst them God created us of nothing and we offended him for a matter of nothing All the legions of the reprobate devills saith one entred into one beast and Yates his Medell by the Pitho and Suada of that viperous tongue crept into the bosome of ââve as it were by all the Topick places in Logick figures in Rhetorick and other engines of guile and deceit till they had brought her into a fools paradise with the loss of the earthly and hazard of the heavenly And gave it also to her husband It is probable saith the same
killing him nor as the Angel did Balaam with a drawn sword in his hand to destroy him Neither did he rush upon him as David ran upon Goliah and cut off his head But with a soft and slow pace ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gressu grallatorio Isai 28.21 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ad vesperam dici as if he had no minde to it he comes walking toward them to do this his work his strange work of sentencing sinners and that in the cool of the day too or towards the evening as Saint Ambrose hath it after the Septuagint Whereas to shew mercy behold he comes leaping upon the Mountains skipping upon the Hills Lo this is the voyce and the pace of my beloved Cant. 2.8 God was but six days in making the whole world yet seven days in destroying one city Jericho as Chrysostom long since observed He scourgeth not his people Isai 42.14 till there be no remedy 2 Chron. 36.16 He forbears us though he cry like a travelling woman to be delivered of his judgments And Adam and his wife hid themselves Their covering of figleaves then was too short for here they run with their aprons into the thicket to hide from God A poor shift God wot but such as is still too much in use If I have covered my transgressions as Adam Job 31.33 or after the maner of men saith Job then let this and this evil befal me The bad heart runs from God and would run from its own terrors as the wounded Deer from the deadly Arrow that sticks in his side Facti sunt à corde suo fugitivi Tertul. but refusing ordinary tryal it is in danger to be prest to death inevitably We have no better refuge then to run from God to God Blood-letting is a cure of bleeding a Burn of a burn To close and get in avoyds the blow c. Vers 9. Where art thou Not as if God knew not for he searcheth Jerusalem with lights Jam. 1.17 yea himself is the father of lights the great eye of the world to whom the Sun it self is but a snuff Zach. 3.9 2 Chron. 16 9. Heb. 4.13 exp He hath seven eyes upon one stone yea his eyes run to and fro through the earth and all things are naked and open Naked for the outside and open for the inside before the eyes of him with whom we have to deal Simple men hide God from themselves and then think they have hid themselves from God like the Struthiocamelus they thrust their heads into a hole Plin. when hunted and then think none seeth them But he searcheth so one may do yet not finde and knoweth Psal 139.1 He seeth so one may do yet not observe and pondereth Prov. 5.21 Though men hide their sins as close as Rachel did her idols or Rahab the spyes Though they dig deep to hide their counsels God can and will detect them Prov. 15.11 with a wo to boot Isai 29.15 For hell and destruction are before him how then can Saul think to be hid behinde the stuff or Adam behinde the bush At the voyce of the Lord he must appear will he nill he to give account of his fear of his flight This he doth but untowardly in the words following Vers 10. I heard thy voyce So he had done before his fall and feared not Are not my words good to the upright Micah 2.7 Excellently Saint Austin Adversarius est nobis quamdiú sumus ipsi nobis Quamdiú tu tibi inimicus es inimitum habebis Sermonem Dei Yea but I was naked and therefore hid my self This also was non-causa pro causa There was another pad in the straw which he studiously conceals viz. The conscience of his sin Hic verò non factum suum Excusando seipsum accusat Gregor Prov. 19.3 sed Dei factum in semetipso reprehendit saith Rupertus He blames not himself but God for making him naked and so verifies that of Solomon The foolishness of man perverteth his way and then to mend the matter his heart fretteth against the Lord. O silly simple Vers 11. Who told thee His own conscience awakened and cited by Gods voyce Joh. 4. told him as the woman of Samaria said of our Saviour all that ever he did Before and in the acting of sin we will hear nothing but afterwards Conscience will send forth a shrill and sharp voyce that shall be heard all the soul over such as was that of Reuben to his brethren Did not I warn you saying Sin not against the childe c. The Books of our Consciences are now sealed up and the woful contents are not read by the Law They remain as Letters written with the juyce of Oringes or Onions which are onely to be made legible by the fire of Gods wrath Then shall the wicked run away but all in vain with those words in their mouthes Isai 33.14 Who amongst us shall dwell with this devouring fire Who shall abide by these everlasting burnings Then shall they tire the Mountains with their hideous out-cryes Fall upon us hide us crush us in pieces grinde us to powder But how can that be when the Mountains melt and the Rocks rent asunder at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the God of Jacob Vers 12. The woman whom thou gavest Here he rejects the fault upon the woman and thorow her upon God who gave her to be with him or before him or such another as himself with reference to that Lenegdo Chap. 2.20 or a help meet for him This she might have been to him had he been that he ought to her a manly guide in the way to Heaven He should have rebuked her as Job did his wicked wife for transgressing Gods Law and tempting him to the like Then had her sin been personal rested upon her self and gone no further had not he hearkned to her voyce But he not onely not did thus but insteed of agnizing his fault seeks to transfer it upon God That sith he could not be like unto God in the divinity which he aymed at he might make God like unto himself in iniquity which was to fill up the measure of his sin that wrath might have come upon him to the utmost but that Gods mercy was then and is still over all his own good and our bad works Vers 13. And the woman said The Serpent Thus the Flesh never wants excuses Nature need not be taught to tell her own tale Sin and shifting came into the world together never yet any came to Hell but had some pretence for coming thither It is a very course Wool that will take no Dye Sin and Satan are alike in this they cannot abide to appear in their own colour Men wrap themselves in excuses as they do their hands to defend them from pricks This is still the vile poyson of our hearts that they will needs be naught and yet will not yield but that
necessity of sinning so that he cannot but doe wickedly with both hands earnestly which though it be no excuse Mic. 7.3 but an aggravation rather of his actuall sin that he doth it out of the pravity of his nature yet I will not take advantages to deal with him after his deserts for then there would be no end of making worlds and unmaking them againe I will not curse I will not smite any more Esa 9.13 Where note That Gods smiting his creature is a fruit of sin and a peece of the curse And unless men returne to him that smiteth them all that they suffer here is but a typicall hell Here the leaves onely fall upon them the trees will fall upon them hereafter Vers 27. While the earth remaineth Heb. All the dayes of the earth The earth then though Solomon in some sense say it endureth for ever hath its set and certaine number of dayes appointed it by God For the earth also and the works therein shall be burnt up 2 Pet. 2.10 And this the Heathen had heard of and hammered at as Lucretius who disputes the matter out of naturall causes So doth Tully de nat Deorum lib. 1 2. And Ovid. Metamorph. 1. Esse quoque in fatis meminit c. There he hath also a large relation of the generall flood in Deucalions dayes so he calleth Noah Lucian hath the like in his book de Dea Syriae And Plutarch speaketh of the sending forth of the Dove Dialog de industr animal and of her return unto Deucalion into the Ark. But we have a more sure word of Prophesie Cold and heat and summer and winter c. Lopez de Gomarâ saith that the Kings of Mexico when they are consecrated Lopez de Gom. use to take their oath after this manner I swear that the Sun during my life shall bold on his course and keep his wonted glory and brightnesse and that the clouds shall send down rain the rivers shall run and the earth bring forth all manner of fruit c. But can any of the vanities of the Heathen give rain c CHAP. IX Vers 1. Be fruitfull and multiply HEre God reneweth the world by the same word wherewith he had created it and being reconciled to mankinde he blesseth them in like manner as before the Fall Sin once pardoned is as if it never had been committed Christ tells his returning Shulamite that she was as amiable in every point as she had been before her relapse Cant 7.1 Chap. 4.1 her haire teeth temples all as faire and well featured as ever Vers 2. And the feare of you c. Timor quo à bestiis timeamini terror quo bestias terreatis Piscat This is a peece of Gods Image yet remaining in man that every nature of wild beasts birds Jam. 3.7 Monoceros interimi potest capi nan potest Solin creeping things and things in the sea is tamed and hath been tamed of the nature of man Vers 3. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you God of his goodness grants here to mankinde after the flood the use of flesh and wine that the new and much-weakned world might have new and more strengthning nourishment For it is not to be doubted but that by the deluge a great decay was wrought both in the earth with its fruits and also in mans nature Divers wales and scarres as it were of Gods wrath and malediction did abide and appear in the earth Sundry maladies also and infirmities befell mans body not felt before the flood God therefore in great mercy provides penu quoddam pharmacopolium mundo senescenti new food and physick for the languishing world Every moving thing that liveth c. Onely as the green herb have I given you all things That is as you may use them as freely as you used to do herbes so you must use them soberly and without curiosity taking such things as are at hand and eating to live not living to eat as the rich glutton that fared deliciously every day Ingluvies Horat. tempestas barathrumque macelli Vers 4. But flesh with the life thereof the blood Blood was forbidden First as not so wholsome food Secondly lest by being flesht in blood they should become bloody minded Thirdly blood the organ of life is holy to God the authour of life who was also to be pacified by the blood of his Son and therefore they should not pollute or prophane it by devouring thereof Vers 5. Your blood of your lives will I require i. e. I will punish it either by the Magistrate or if he faile to do his office by mine own immediate hand as he did in David Flac. Illyric Charles the ninth of France Richard the third of England Felix Count of Waterburg and others that either were above Law or escaped the lash of it See for this The Thunderbolt of Gods judgements lib. 2. cap. 4 5 16. Richard the third Daniels Chro. continued by Trussel used the instruments of his bloody plots as men do their candles burn the first out to a snuffeâ and then having lighted another tread that under foot Vers 6. Who so sheddeth mans blood Some are of opinion that before the flood the punishment of murther and other capitall crimes was onely excommunication and exclusion from the Church and their fathers family And that now first God made murther to be a matter of death The first-born had power at first over their own families to bless curse cast out dis-inherit yea and punish with death Gen. 38.24 even in case of adultery Godw. Heb. Antiq. as some will have it thus among the people of God But what a madness was that in the Egyptians to make no conscience of murther that they might enjoy their lust And what a blindness to make less account of murther then adultry Gen. 12.13 The Preachers Travels by Jo Cartwright I have seen saith the Preacher in his travels the King of Persia many times to alight from his horse onely to do justice to a poor body He punisheth theft and man-slaughter so severely Les ombres des defuncts sciurs de Villemor de Fontaâues pag. 46. that in an age a man shall not hear either of the one or of the other A severity fit for France where within ten years six thousand Gentlemen have been slain saith he as it appears by the Kings pardons Vers 9. And I behold I establish my Covenant with you This Covenant God had made with them before the flood but here he renews it for their further confirmation for he knows our infirmities and therefore seals againe This Covenant is said to be made with an oath Isa 54.9 yet we finde no such thing here expressed because Gods bare word is as sure as an oath So God is said to have sworn to Abraham that which he said to him onely Exod. 32.13 with Gen. 12.7 Vers 10. And with every living creature
c. Note this against Anabaptists who exclude Infants for that they want the use of reason And yet that was but a foolish reason of the Canonist that Infants are therefore to be baptised Sphinx Philos pag. 229. because the Disciples brought to our Saviour not the Asse onely but the Foal also Vers 12. This is the tâken of the Covenant c. See here the antiquity of confirming mens faith by outward signs as by the two trees in Paradise and here the Word and Sacrament go together And as God in Noah made a Covenant with his posterity also and confirmed it with a sign so doth he in Christ with the Church and ratified it with the Sacraments besides witnesses we have three in heaven and three in earth c. Vers 13. I doe set my bow in the cloud c. There it was before but not till now as a token of the Covenant as still it is applyed for a sign of grace from God to his Church Rev. 4.3 and 10.1 Ezek. 1.28 It is planted in the clouds as if man were shooting at God and not God at man This bow with both ends downward and back to heaven must needs be an emblem of mercy for he that shooteth holdeth the back of the bow from him Of Gods bow we read Ambros but not of his arrows saith Ambrose on this text Psal 7.12 13. He hath bent his bow and made it ready saith David but if he ordain his arrows it is not but against the perseââtours If he shoot at his servants it is as Jonathan shot at his friend David to warn them not to wound them They are arrows of the Lords deliverance 2 King 13.17 19. Psal 32.7 which therefore he multiplyes that they may compass him about with songs of deliverance If he bend his bow like an enemy Lam. â 4 yet in wrath he remembreth mercy Vers 14. The bow shall be seen in the cloud In this heaven-bow there are many wonders First the beautifull shape and various colours In which respect Plato thinks the Poets feign Iris or the Rainbow to be the daughter of Thanmas or admiration The waterish colours therein signifie say some the former overthrow of the world by water The fiery colours the future judgement of the world by fire The green that present grace of freedome from both by vertue of Gods Covenant whereof this bow is a sign Next the Rainbow hath in it two contrary significations viz. of rain and fair-weather of this in the evening of that in the morning saith Scaliger Adde hereunto that whereas naturally it is a sign of rain and is therefore feigned by the Poets to be the messenger of Junâ and called imbrifera or showry yet it is turned by God into a sure sign of dry weather and of restraint of waters Let us learn to look upon it not onely in the naturall causes as it is an effect of the Sun in a thick cloud but as a Sacramentall sign of the Covenant of Grace Esa 54.9 10. a monument of Gods both Justice in drowning the world and Mercy in conserving it from the like calamity The Jews have an odd conceit That the name Jehovah is written on the Rainbow And therefore as oft as it appeareth unto them they go forth of doors Maimoây hide their eyes confess their sins that deserved a second deluge and celebrate Gods goodness in sparing the wicked world and remembring his Covenant Set aside their superstition and their practice invites our imitation Bern. Tam Dei meminisse opui est quam respirare Vers 15 16. I will remember That is I will make you to know and remember by this visible Monitor Segniùs irritant animum demissa per aures Quam quae sunt oculis commissa fidelibus The Rainbow is a double Sacrament answering both to Baptism and the Lords Supper and declares by its colours saith One how Christ came by water and blood 1 John 5.6 Vers 17. This is the token of the Covenant This is often repeated that it may be the better observed and we full assured Deut. 6.7 Exacues ea iâ est accuratè commodissimè inculcabis Buxtorf Lexic as Pharaohs dream was for this cause doubled God goes over the same thing often with us as the knif doth the Whetstone which is the Scripture-allusion He well knows how slow of heart we are and how dull of hearing and therefore whets and beats things of high concernment upon us that we may once apprehend and embrace them Revel 10.1 Revel 10.1 exp Christ is said to have a Rainbow on his head to shew that he is faithful and constant in his promises and that tempests shall blow over Let us see Gods love in his corrections as by a Rainbow we see the beautiful image of the Suns light in the midst of a dark and waterish cloud Vers 20. And Noah began to be an husbandman Veteres si quem virum bonum colonum appellassent amplissime laudasse existimabant Cic. Nunquam vilior erat annona Romae referente Pliuio quà m cum terram colerent iidem qui Remp. regerent quasi gauderet terra laureato vomere scilicet Aratore triumphali See 2 Chron. 26.10 And he planted a vineyard Hence Berosus and the Poets call him Janus Oenotrius Janus of the Hebrew iajin vinum and Oenotrius of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã whence our English word Wine Vers 21. And was drunk For his own shame but our learning Instruunt nos patres tum docentes tum labentes Augustin The best have their blemishes and a black-part as that cloud had that conducted Israel out of Egypt Heb. 12.1 which while the Egyptians followed they fell into the Sea And was uncovered within his tent Operta recludit One hours drunkenness bewrayes that which more then six hundred yeers sobriety had modestly concealed Well might Solomon say Wine is a mocker For it mocked Noah with a witness and exposed him to the mockage of his own bosom-bird Vers 22. And Ham the father of Canaan saw The Hebrews say That Canaan first saw it and then shewed it to Ham his father who looks upon it with delight Vt vultures ad malè olentia feruntur saith Basil As carrion-kites are carried after stinking carcases And told his two brethren without Sic impii hodiè ex Ecclesiae tragoediis comoedias componunt How glad are the wicked if they can but get any hint to lay hold on whereby to blaspheme Jere. 20.10 and blaze abroad the Saints infirmities Report say they and wee 'l report yea rather then want matter against Gods people they 'll suck it out of their own fingers ends But if such a thing as this fall out that Noah be drunk though but once in an age the banks of blasphemy will soon be broken down and the whole race of Religious persons must rue for it among these Canaanites some also will be found to excuse them
meerly for a name Pharos a watch-tower in Egypt being one of the seven was built by Ptolomie Philadelph all of white marble the chief Architect was Sostratus of Gnidos who engraved on the work this inscription Sostratus of Gnidos son of Dexiphanes to the Gods protectours for the safeguard of Saylors Heyliâs Geog. 750. This Inscription he covered with plaister and thereon engraved the name and title of the King the founder that that soon wasted and washed away his own that was written in marble might be eternized to posterity This Tower saith Wickam is a known story B. God wines Catalogue And Phidias the famous carver so cunningly enchased his own countenance into Minerva's sheild at Athens That it could not be defaced but the sheild it self must be disfigured Heyl. Geog. pag. 140. The Hague in Holland hath two thousand housholds in it The inhabitants will not wall it as desiring to have it counted rather the principle Village of Europe then a lesser City And Sextus Marius being once offended with his Neighbor invited him to be his guest for two days together The first of those two days he pulled down his Neighbors Farm-house the next he set it up again far bigger Dio in Tiberio and better then before And all this for a name that his Neighbors might see and say What good or hurt he could do them at his pleasure Vers 5. And the Lord came down Non motu locali sed actu judiciali To see the City c. that so his sentence grounded not upon hear-say or uncertain information might be above all cavillation or exception A fair president for Judges Caiaphas first sentenced our Saviour and then asked the Assessors what they thought of it The chief captain first commanded Paul to be scourged and then examined Acts 22. This was proposterous God though he knew all before yet is said to come down to see Let his actions be our instructions No man must be rashly pronounced a Leper And the Judges must make diligent inquisition Deut. 19.18 as flints they must carry fire but not easily express it Potiphar was too hasty with Joseph and David with Mephibosheth Aeneas Sylvius tells us of some places Aene. Sylvius Europ cap. 20. where theeves taken but upon suspition are presently trussed up and three days after they sit in judgment upon the party executed If they finde him guilty they let him hang till he fall As if not they take down the body and bury it honorably at the publike charge This is not God-like nor a point of wisdom for Nervus est sapientiae non temerè credere Which the children of men builded Nimrod chiefly with his fellow Chamites But that some of Shems and Japhâts posterity had a hand in it is more then probable by their common punishment the confusion of tongues Heber and his had nothing to do with them and therefore retained the Hebrew tongue called thenceforth the Jews Language Isai 36.11 Until they were carried captive to Babylon where grew a mixture amongst them of Hebrew and Chaldee Whence came up the Syriââk tongue common in our Saviours time as appears by many Syriack words in the Gospels Vers 6. Behold the people is one c. This benefit they abused to their pride and ambition which they should have used to the help of humane society and common intercourse They built and God bare with them for a time that he might make fools of them in the end And this he doth daily Vers 7. Go to let us go down Go to say they Go to saith he Let us build to Heaven say they Let us go down and see it saith he Let us make us a name say they Let us confound their Language that they may not so much as know their own names saith he Lest we be scattered say they Let us scatter them abroad the world saith he Thus God words it with them and confutes their folly from point to point Thus he sets himself in battle-ray against the proud ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Jam. 4.7 as Saint James hath it and overthrows them in plain field He delt more severely with David for numbring the people then for the matter of Vriah He turned Nebuchadnezzar a grazing among beasts for pruning and priding himself upon this Babel Is not this great Babel that I have built Why no Nimrod built it and Ninus and Semiramis Nebuchadnezzar onely beautified it or at utmost inlarged it But pride detracts from God and man and is therefore justly hated and scorned of both And there confound their Language When men began once ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they were compelled by God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Bring me quoth one a trowel quickly quick One brings him up a hammer hew this brick Another bids Dubartas and then they cleave a tree Make fast this rope and then they let it flee One calls for plank another morter lacks They bring the first a stone the last an ax Neither is there any better understanding and agreement among the Babel-builders at this day Babylon enim altera nempe propinquior atque recentior adhuc stat citò itidem casura si essetis viri said Petrarch long since witness their many sects and deadly dissensions among themselves De rem utriusque fort dial 118. of which read the Peace of Rome Rhemes against Rome and divers other English Treatises to the same purpose Bellarmine teacheth That the bread in the Sacrament is not turned into Christs body productivè but adductivè And this saith he Cade of the Church 247. is the opinion of the Church of Rome This Suarez denyes and saith It is not the Churches opinion Thus these great master-builders are confounded in their Language and understand not their own Mother The greatest Clarks amongst them cannot yet determine how the Saints know our hearts and prayers Whether by hearing or seeing or presence every where or by Gods relating or revealing mens prayers and needs unto them Mââtons Appeal lib. 2. cap. 12. sect 5. All which ways some of them hold as possible or probable and others deny and confute them as untrue Vers 8. So the Lord scattered them abroad Which was the evil they âeared and by this enterprize sought to prevent But there is neither counsel power nor policy against the Lord. The fear of the wiâked shall come upon him Prov. 10.24 As it befel those wretched Jews Iohn 11.48 The Romans shall come c. and come they did accordingly Pilate for fear of losing his Office delivered up Christ and was by Caius kickt off the bench Vers 9. The Lord did there confound the Language A sore cross and hinderance of interchange of commodities between Nation and Nation This great labor also hath God laid hereby upon the sons of men that a great part of our best time is spent about the shell in learning of Language before we can come at the kernel of true wisdom
grievous misery Hos 7.16 Vers 19. Why saidst thou she is my sister He might have answered because I was afraid His fear it was that put him upon this exploit So it did David when he changed his behaviour and Peter when he denied his Master c. Men should rather dye then lye Firmus Episc Togastensis Nec prodam nec mentiar said that good Bishop in St. Augustine And that was a brave woman in St. Hierome that being on the rack resolved and answered the tormentour Non ideo negare volo ne peream sed ideo mentiri nolo ne peccem The Chamaeleon saith Pliny is the most fearfull of all creatures and doth therefore turn into all colours to save it self So will timorous persons See Zeph. 3.13 Let us fortifie our hearts against this cowardly passion Vers 20. And Pharaoh commanded Thus God comes as it were out of an Engine ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and helps his people at a pinch Abraham had brought himself into the briars and could finde no way out Many a heavy heart he had no doubt for his dear wife who suffered by his default and she again for him God upon their repentance provides graciously for them both She is kept undefiled he greatly enriched for her sake and now they are both secured and dismissed with the Kings safe conduct Oh who would not serve such a God as turns our errours and evill counsells to our great good as the Athenians dreamt their goddesse Minerva did for them CHAP. XIII Vers 1. And Abram went up out of Egypt THere must be likewise daily ascensions in our hearts out of the Egypt of this world to the heavenly Canaan where Christ our altar is The Church is compared to pillars of smoke ascending Cant. 3.6 Black she is as smoke in regard of infirmities yet hath a principle to carry her upwards Who is this that ascends out of this Egypt below with pillars of smoke elationibus fumi that is with her affections thoughts desires upward heavenward Our Edward the first had a mighty desire to go to the holy land Act. Mon. and because he was hindred he gave his son a charge upon his death-bed to carry his heart thither and prepared 32000. pound to that purpose The children of faithfull Abram though their bodies be on earth yet they take much pains and are at great charge to get up their hearts to heaven Matth. 14.28 Cant 7 4. Hence they are called Eagles for their high-soaring and are said to have noses like the tower of Lebanon for their singular sagacity in resenting and smelling after Christ the true all quickning carcasse Vers 2. And Abraham was very rich All rich men therefore are not rejected of God though it be hard for such to hit on heaven Poor Lazarus âlyes in the bosome of rich Abraham there Riches neither further nor hinder in themselves but as they are used As a cypher by it self is nothing but a figure being set before it it encreaseth the summe Wealth if well used is an ornament an incouragement to duty and an instrument of much good All the danger lyes in loving these things Have them we may and use them too as a traveller doth his staffe to help him the sooner to his journeys end but when we passe away our hearts to them they become a mischief and as the word here rendred rich signifies in the originall a burden Let not therefore the bramble be King let not earthly things bear rule over thy affections fire will rise out of them that will consume thy Cedars Judg 9.15 emasculate all the powers of thy soul as they did Solomons whose wealth did him more hurt then his wisdome good How many have we now adayes that when poor could pray read c who grown rich resemble the Moon which grown full gets furthest oft from the Sun never suffers eclipse but then and that by earths interposition Socrates divitiâs comparabat tunicis talaribus Quis generum meum ad gladium alligavit Cic. Dio in Augusto Herodot Let rich men therefore take heed how they handle their thorns let them gird up the loyns of their mindes lest their long garments hinder them in the way to heaven Let them see to it that they be not tyed to their abundance as little Lentulus was said to have been to his long sword that they be not held prisoners in those golden fetters as the Kings of Armenia was by Anthony and so sent by him for a present to Cleopatra lest at length they send their Mammon of unrighteousness as Craesus did his fetters for a present to the Devill who had deluded him with false hopes of victory Vers 3. And he went on his journeys Many a weary step and rested not till he came to his old altar at Bethel Lo here a patern of great piety and singular zeal in Father Abram Egypt with all her plenty and pleasure had not stoln away his heart so as not to hold his own in the promised Land Neither had he so laden himself with thick clay but that he went from strength to strength as those good souls did Psal 84.7 he took long strides perexit per profectiones suas as it is here He went journey after journey till he appeared before God at his altar there to sanctifie that good he had got in Egypt and to give God thanks for it yea to consecrate all to him the bestower of it Oh let us shew our selves children of Abraham indeed by walking in these steps of our father Abraham Rom. 4.12 Otherwise our outward profession and priviledges will profit us no more then it did Dives in hell Luk. 16. that he could call Abraham Father Vers 4. Vnto the place of the altar c. There he had found God to his comfort and there he looks now to finde him so again It will be some help to us for the strengthning of our faith in prayer to holâ our selves to the same place to have a set Orââory Vers 5. And Lot also which went with Abram So he lost not all by leaving friends and means to go with Abram They that fide with the Saints shall thrive with the Saints God had promised to bless Abram and he did it for it is the blessing of God that maketh rich God had promised again to bless them that blessed Abram or wished well to him and did him any favour or furtherance ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã pecudes posteà synecdochicoÌs opes significant Let Lot speak now whether this were not made good to him in those flocks and herds of his that is in all kinde of riches and tents that is servants dwelling in tents Jer. 49.29 1 Chron. 4.41 Vers 6. And the land was not able to bear them This was sowre sawce to their sweet meat lest they should surfet of their abundance All earthly comfortâ are dissweetned with crosses and there are pins in all the worlds
Samuel thought it had been God that called to him and not Eli he would not have slept but fallen on his face before the Lord as Abram here who was no novice but knew well that though God loves to be acquainted with men in the walks of their obedience yet he takes state upon him in his Ordinances and will be trembled at in his word and judgements Vers 4. As for me Ego ecce An abrupt speech to shew what haste God made to comfort and confirm Abram now fallen at his feet Thou shalt be a father of many nations The Israelites Ismaelites Edomites Keturites c. besides all Beleevers Gal. 3.28 29. Vers 5. Neither shall thy name any more c. This is reckoned for an high favour by those holy Levites Neh. 9.7 The Jews say that for honours sake God inserted one of the letters of his own incommunicable name Jehovah into the name of Abram now Abraham Sure it is that by stiling himselfe the God of Abraham he doth him more honour then if he had ingraven the word Abraham upon the firmament or in the clouds in letters of gold Vers 6. I will make thee exceeding fruitfull Heb. Foecundabo te valdè valdè And as oft as thou thinkest upon thy new name thou shalt remember my promise and rest assured of my performance See how God of his grace condescends unto us and accommodates us Vers 7. For an ever lasting Covenant Circumcision the outward sign of it was temporary and changeable into baptisme but the Covenant of grace thereby then and by baptisme now sealed up unto us is eternall being stablished and ratified by the death of the Testatour by the blood of the Arch-shepherd Heb. 13.20 Here it must be considered that there is a twofold Covenant 1. Single such as God makes with children when baptized viz. If ye will repent believe and walk with me ye shall be saved Now if they break the condition God is freed D. Preston of Gods Attrib he is not bound any further 2. Double such as God ââkes with his elect onely and that is to perform both parts sc If you will beleeve repent obey ye shall be saved And further I will give you a new heart so that you shall repent beleeve c. and be saved Thus God undertakes for both parts and so it becomes an everlasting Covenant such as hath the sure or unfailable mercies of David And here those that are thus in Double-Covenant with God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã are fitly compared to them that are gone in at a Church-door some are further in then others but yet all are in So though the weak in faith be not so forward yet they may be in though not so far in And to thy seed after thee See the Note on the next Verse Vers 8. All the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession And yet now for their inexpiable guilt in putting to death the Lord of life they are utterly dispossessed of that pleasant land In Jerusalem it self there are not to be found a hundred housholds of Jews Adriââ the Emperour drove them utterly out of Jewry Breerewood and commanded them by proclamation not so much as to look toward it from any Tower or high-mountain Yea long before this the Lord for their wickedness counted them but usurpers Funceiuâ and called them sojourners in that land Ezek. 20.38 and 11.15 If men forfeit their priviledges God may at his pleasure take the forfeiture and dis-priviledge them as he did Saul and Judas who by transgression fell from his office that he might go to his own place Act. 1.25 I will be their God This is a singular comfort for all beleeving parents Their greatest care is for their poor little ones what they shall do another day why cast them upon God their God as well as thine for is not he in Covenant with them too It would be a great stay of minde if God should say to us for our children as David said to Mephibosheth or to Barzillai for his son Chimham Chimham shall go with me and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee and whatsoever thou shalt require of me that I will do for thee Behold God saith all this and more to us 2 Sam. 19.38 when he saith I will be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee I remember a sweet passage of Mr. Saunders the Martyr in a Letter to his wise Act. Mon. 1364. Though we do shortly depart hence and leave our poor Infant to our seeming at all adventures yet shall he have our gracious God to be his God For so hath he said and he cannot lye I will be thy God and of thy seed Yea if you leave him in the Wilderness destiâuâe of all helps being called of God to do his will either to die for the confession of Christ or any work of obedience that God which heard the cry of the little poor Infant of Hagar and did succor it will do the like to the children of you or any other fearing him and trusting in him Vers 9. Thou shalt keep my Covenant This is the stipulation on Abrahams part by receiving the Sacrament of Circumcision to avouch God to be his God Deut. 26.17 Now to the making the Lord to be our God it is required that with highest estimations most vigorous affections and utmost endeavors we bestow our selves upon him Thus if we chuse God for our God Psal 73.25 We shall be assured that he hath chosen and avouched us for his people 1 John 4.19 Vers 10. Every man-childe amongst you Infants were circumcised to signifie that we had better be flayed and have our skin quite stripped off then to have it as a skin-bottle hanging in the smoke of filthy desires and blown full of unclean motions with the breath of Satan That wretched Renegado that betrayed the Rhodes was well served For his promised wife and portion were presented but the Turk told him that he would not have a Christian to be his son in law Spec. bol sac p. 157. but he must be a Mussle-man that is a beleeving Turk within and without And therefore he caused his baptized skin as he called it to be fleyed off and him to be cast in a bed strawed with Salt that he might get a new skin and so he should be his son-in-law But the wicked wretch ended his life with shame and torment Vers 11. It shall be a token of the Covenant It seals up nothing then to those that are not in Covenant Circumcision to such is but as a seal to a blank Unregenerate Israel was to God as Ethiopia Amos 9.7 Circumcision of it self avails nothing if the heart be uncircumcised The Apostle distinguisheth of Circumcision Colos 2.11 and tells us that the true Circumcision is made without hands and is that of the heart in the Spirit and not in the Letter ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Rom.
sent home so they would faint by the way What was it that he took not knowledg of I know thy works and thy labor in doing them Revel 2.2 That he will command his children c. A good houshââder whatsoever he gets abroad he brings home to his family Prov. 10.21 as Bees bring all their hony to the hive The lips of the righteous feed many those under his own roof especially Welfare Popery for that Old folks will tell us that when in those days they had holy bread given them at Church they would bear a part thereof to those that did abide at home The way to get more it to communicate that we have according to that Hâbenri dabitur No man hath received ought from God for private use Neither is any one born for himself much less new-born He that kid his talent was soon shred of it Vers 20. Because their sin is very grieâoââ Or very heavy such as the very ground groans under The Aââle-trâe of the âarth is ready to break under it Sin is a burden to God Aâââ 12. It was so to Christ he fell to the ground when he was in his agony It was so to the Angels who sunk into Idâll under in It was so to Kore and his company the earth could not bear them It was so to the Sodomites ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã James 1.23 they were so clogged with this excrement of naughtiness as Saint James calleth it that God came from Heaven to give their land a vomit Vers 21. I will go down now and see c. The Sodomites sined as freely and securely as if God knew nothing Now therefore he is come to know that is to give them to know that he knew all as well as if he had been in their bosoms Vers 22. Abraham stood yet before the Lord And without such to stand and pray the world could not stand they bear up the pillars of it Oh the price with God and profit to men of praying persons God will yield something to such when most of all enraged Matth 24.20 or resolved Lot was saved for Abrahams sake when all the rest perished Vers 23. And Abraham drew neer A priviledg proper to âuch as have a true heart full assurance of Faith and a good conscience Heb. 10.22 The hypocrite shall not come before him Job 13.16 He must stand without as a vagrant at the gate that knows not whether the master is providing for him an alms or a cudgel But the upright comes into the âarlor yea dwells in Gods presence Psal 140.13 In the light of his countenance Wilt thou also destroy the righteous Single suites speed not we must back them with sound Arguments and Reason the case with God concerning his judgments Jere. 12.1 Vers 24. Peradventure there be fifty righteous Charity presumes the best hopes the best The Disciples could not imagine that Judas was so very a Traytor each one suspects himself sooner then him And when our Saviour said What thou doest do quickly they thought he had meant of making provision or giving something to the poor Vers 25. Shall not the Judg c. He fills his mouth with Arguments Let us also This will encrease Faith and Fervency Vers 26. If I finde fifty righteous The Saints are the Salt of the earth that keep the rest from rotting and putrefying Vers 27. Which ãâã but dust and ashes Gâaphar veephar ãâã cinis None so humble as they that have nearest communion with God The Angels that stand before him cover theââ ãâã with two wings as with a double scarie Isaiah Chapâââ 6. verse 2. Vers 29. Alsted And he spake unto him yet again Cùm in colloquium descendimus cum Deo replicemus licet duplicemus triplicemus quadruplicemus The bolder we make the better welcome Vers 30. I will not do it c. If God so yielded to Abraham interceding for wicked Sodom will he not hear us for his laboring Church Joaâ never pleased David better then when he sued to him for Absolâm What shall we think of God in like case How angry is he with those that help forward the anger Zach. 1.15 How ready to answer those that speak to him for his Church with good words and comfortable words Zach. 1.13 Yea should there be no praying Christians amongst us as there are many thousands yet there is hope if any of another Kingdom make intercession for us as Abraham here did for Sodom to the which he was a stranger Vers 32. Peradventure ten shall be found there Lo all that slavery and misery they had sustained hath not yet made ten good men in those five bad Cities Till God strike the stroke and work upon the heart afflictions Gods hammers do but beat upon cold Iron The wicked are no whit better by them but much the worse as water becomes more cold after a heat and naughty boyes more stubborn and stupid after a whipping Vers 33. And the Lord went his way Abraham hucked with the Lord so long till he had brought him down from fifty to ten And mark that he left begging are God left bating Let us finde praying hearts and he will finde a pittying heart CHAP. XIX Verse 1. Lot sate in the gate NOt as a Judg as the Hebrews will have it nor as a Merchant much less as a Noveller but as a good housholder looking for his herds and as a good house-keeper looking for guests Vers 2. Nay but we will abide in the street They would have done so Luke 24. but for Lots importunity So our Saviour would have gone further but that the two Disciples constrained him to stay This was no simulation or if so yet it was onely exploratory without deceit or hypocrisie And if Solomon sinned not in making beleeve he would do that which was unlawful to be done 1 King 3.24 It can be no sin to do the like in things indifferent Vers 4. Both old and young Nulla aetas erat culpae immunis ideò nec exitii Ambros Sin spreds as leaven and is as catching as the plague like the Jerusalem Artichoke plant it where you will it over runs the ground and chokes the heart Vers 5. That we may know them O faces hatcht with impudency They shroud not their sin in a mantle of secrecy but hang out these sowre Grapes to the Sun to ripen Vers 6. Lot went out So he exposed himself to save his strangers hoping to save them from that abominable violence The right of strangers is so holy that there was scarce ever any nation so barbarous that would violate the same When Steven Gardiner had in his power the Renowned Clark Peter Martyr then teaching at Oxford he would not keep him to punish him but when he should go his way as it is reported gave him wherewith to bear his charges But these Sodomites had not so much humanity left in them They had put off the man and were become dogs and worse
them when he came to execution he confessed that he would many times have repented of that foul sin but could not Joh. Manlii lec com p. 322. so fast was he held in the devills bonds and that now he was willing to dye and accept of the chastisement of his iniquity Howbeit Ibid. 487. it is an opinion held and maintained by the Anabaptists that Adultery is not to be punished by men because the Scripture saith Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge Others would prove the same from those words of our Saviour Joh. 8.11 to the woman taken in adultery Neither do I condemne thee But they may as well say That inheritances are not to be divided betwixt brethren because Christ would not divide them when required thereto Luke 12.14 Vers 4. But Abimelech had not come near her Being hindred by sickness vers 17. Well might St. Ambrose call siekness Morbos virtutum officinas vocat Ambros Nuper me amici cujusdam languor admonuit opimos esse not dum inâirmi sumââ Plin. Epist 26. l. 7. Manl. loc com p. 667. The shop of vertues When men are fastened to their beds and their bones made to rattle in their skin lust will be laid asleep and little leisure left for luxury This made King Alured pray God to send him alwayes some sickness whereby his body might be tamed and he the better disposed affectioned to God-ward If it be painfull to the vine to bleed 't is worse to wither Better be pruned to grow then cut up to burn Otho tertius Imperator dictus miraculum mundi amoribus periit How much happier he that sang Periissem nisi Periissem Lord wilt thou slay also a righteous Nation For he knew that whole Nations had smarted for the sins of their Rulers this sin of Adultery especially as we read of Shechem Troy c. How wore the Greeks plagued for the rape of Chrysis and the Lacedemonian Common wealth utterly overturned by Epaminendas in the battle of Leuctra for a rape committed upon the two daughters of Scedasus by a couple of Spartan Gentlemen traveling to Delphos This might make Abimelech afraid lest for his fault wrath should fall upon his people also Vers 5. Said he not unto me She is my sister c. Here Abraham and Sarah Rom. 4. 1 Pet. 3. though both famous he for his faith and she for not being afraid with any amazement 1 Pet. 3.6 yet here they shew some trepidation Sense saith One fights sore against faith when it is upon its own dunghill I mean in a sensible danger Natures retraction of it self from a visible fear M. Vines his Fast-Sermon Elias fulminator ad Jezabalis minas trepidat may cause the pulse of a Christian that beats truly and strongly in the main point the state of the soul to intermit and faulter at such a time In the integrity of my heart Great is the boldness of a clear conscience be it but in some one particular as here in Abimelech a man that was magis extra vitia quà m cum virtutibus as Tacitus saith of Galba rather not evill then good one whose nature was not changed Tac. l. 1. c. 12. but chained up onely Civill men are but Wolves chained up tame Devils Swine in a fair meadow and yet these are the worlds honest men and as high a price set upon them as was once upon a cab of Doves-dung in the famine of Samaria But these Abimelechs these Catoes these civill Justiciaries they want sincerity in the first Table and integrity in the Second for they stand not upon the inward corruptions nor lesser breaches of the Law Abimelech for all his confidence here was to blame for his wandring rash lust And Cato that mirror of morality was a griping Usurer prostituted his wife and slew himself Hist lib. 2 And yet Paterculus will tell you that he was Homo virtuti simillimus per omnia virtute Diis quà m hominibus propior c. Vers 6. Yea I know that thou didst this c. God takes his excuse and yet chastiseth him to teach us saith Calvin Non prorsus vacare culpâ qui humane modo puri sunt He can finde flawes in that for which we may look for thanks This makes Nehemiah crave pardon of his zealous reformations and David cryâs out Enter not into judgement c. Sordet in conspectâ judicis quod fulget in conspectu operantis saith Gregory Ye are they that justifie your selves before men saith Christ to the Pharisees but God knoweth your hearts for that which is highly esteemed amongst men is abomination in the sight of God Luke 16.15 A thing which I see in the night may shine and that shining proceed from nothing but rottenness But be not deceived or if ye be yet God is not mocked Sacco soluto apparuit argentum Ambroâ When he comes to turn the bottome of the bag upwards as the Steward did Benjamins all our secret thefts will out all our collusions come to light His Law is a Law of fire Deut. 33.2 His tribunall of fire Ezek. 1.27 His pleading with sinners in flames of fire Esa 60.15 16. The triall of our works shall be by fire and God before whom is a consuming fire Heb. 12.29 Happy are they that are here purged by that Spirit of judgement and burning Esa 4.4 These shall stand in judgement yea dwell with everlasting burnings Esa 33.14 For I also with held thee Either by sickness as aforesaid or by a spirit of restraint a gift that God gives to men yea to the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell amongst them Psal 68.18 in his Religion and worshippers which else the wicked would never suffer Thus God chained up Laban and made Saul to melt over David c. Now many take this poor counter that is I am not as some others are so bad as the worst and set it down for a thousand pound Our Saviour indeed is said to have looked upon the young Pharisee and to have loved him Mark 10.21 because he saw him to be a tame man free from foule crimes and fit to live in a Commonwealth But no otherwise then as we love pictures which are pretty things to look on and that 's all they are good for A better nature if rested in is but a beautifull abomination a smooth way to hell And yet say what we can this kinde of men grow crooked and aged with good opinions of themselves and can seldome or never be set straight again They will trust in Moses Job 5.45 and when they have sick fits and qualms of conscience lick themselves whole by their repentance and so rest in it Which made Austin say that Repentance damneth more then sin They seek not to be saved by the righteousness of faith neither see they any necessity of growing from faith to faith No they are set they are as good as ever they mean to be they that
which he became his own deaths-man Appian scoffed at Circumcision Josephââ and had an Ulcer at the same time and in the same place Surely God is the avenger of all such he calls it blasphemy in the second Table and shews his wrath from Heaven against it as that which proceeds from the very superfluity of malice as here in Ismael and tends to murther The Hebrew word here used signifies that he not onely mocked Isaac but also made others to mock him Vers 10. Cast out this bond-woman Who had been likely either an Author or Abbettor of her sons sin in ambitiously seeking the inheritance Out they must therefore together as all Hypocrites one day must be cast out of Gods Kingdom Heaven is an undefiled inheritance no dirty dog ever trampled on that Golden pavement There is no passing è coeno in coelum Heaven would be no Heaven to the unregenerate Beetles love dunghils better then oyntments and Swine love mud better then a garden Paris ut vivat Horat epist 2. regnetque beatus Cogi posse negat Vers 11. And the thing was very grievous c. See there 's grief sometimes betwixt the best couples as abovesaid Chap. 16.5 But why was it so grievous to cast out Ismael when in the next Chapter it seems no such grief to him to slay Isaac Surely for that here he hears onely his wives voyce there he well understood it to be the will of God Baldassar in epist ad Oecolamp Veniat veniat verbum Domini submittemââ illi sexcenta si nobis essent colla said that Reverend Dutchman When Abraham came to know is was Gods will as well as Sarahs he soon yielded Vers 12. In all that Sarah hath said unto thee c. The wife then is to be harkned to when she speaks reason Sampsons mother had more faith then her husband And Priscilla is sometimes set before Aquila Pauls hearers at Philippi were onely women at first Acts 16.13 And Saint Peter tells Christian wives that they may win their husbands to Christ 1 Pet. 3.1 by their chaste conversation coupled with fear The Scripture is said to say what Sarah here saith Gal. 4.30 Vers 13. Because he is thy seed So bountiful a master is God so liberal a Lord that he blesseth his servants in their seed too We count it a great favor if an earthly lord give an old servant a countrey cottage with some small annuity for life but Gods love extends beyond life as Davids love to Jonathan preserves Mephibâsheth from the Gallows yea promoteth him to a princely allowance Act Mââ âol 1481. and respect at court Your children shall finde and feel it double and treble said that Martyr whatsoever you do or suffer for the Lords sake V. 14. And Abraham rose up early He was not disobedient to the heavenly vision but set upon the execution of Gods will with expedition Voluntas Dei necessitas rei A godly man sayes Amen to Gods Amen go it never so much against the hair with him He puts his Fiat his Placet to Gods and saith as Acts 21.14 The will of the Lord be done which was Vox verè Christianorum as One saith Vers 15. And the water was spent in the bottle All creature-comforts will fade and fail us as the brook Cherith dryed up whiles the Prophet was drinking of it as those pools about Jerusalem that might be dryed up with the tramplings of horse and horsemen 2 King 19.24 But they that drink of Christs water shall never thirst For it shall be in them as the widows oyl or Aarons oyntment a well springing up to eternal life Joh. 4.14 She cast the childe c. Whom till then she had led in her hand faint and ready to dye for thirst who erst lived at the full in his fathers house but could not be contented God loves to let us see the worth of his favors by the want of them Carendo pâtiùs quà m fruendâ To chasten mens insolency with indigency as he did the prodigal in the Gospel Vers 16. Let me not see the death of the childe This Babington saith an Interpreter was but poor love Give me a friend that will not leave in the instant of death Gen. 46.4 She lift up her voyce and wept As Hinds by calving so we by weeping cast out our sorrows Job 39.3 Expletur lathrymis egeriturque dolor Vers 17. And God heard the voyce of the lad Weeping hath a voyce Psal 6.8 And as Musick upon the Waters sounds farther and more harmoniously then upon the Land so Prayers joyn'd with Tears These if they proceed from Faith are showres quenching the devils cannon-shot a second Baptism of the soul wherein it is rinsed anew nay perfectly cured As the tears of Vines cure the Leprosie as the lame were healed in the troubled waters Whether Hagars and Ismaels tears were for sin Lachrymas angustiae exprimit crux Lachrymas poenitentiae peccatum or for the present pressure onely I have not to say But God is so pitiful that he hears and helps our affliction as he had done Hagars once afore Gen. 16.11 And as our Saviour raised the young man of Nains though none sought to him meerly because he was the onely son of his mother a widow the stay of her life and staff of her old age See a sweet place 2 King 14.26 27. Vers 18. For I will make him a great nation A Nation by himself as he had promised to Abraham This had not come to pass had not she missed of her way to Egypt and wandred in this wilderness God by his providence ordereth our disorders to his own glory Gregor Divinum consilium dum devitatur impletur Humana sapienâia dum reluctatur comprehenditur Vers 19. God opened her eyes c. The well was there before but she saw it not till her eye were opened So till God irradiate both the Organ and the Object we neither see nor suck those brests of consolation Isai 66.11 We turn the back and not the palm of the hand to the staffe of the promises Vers 20 And God was with the lad c. The fountain of Hagar saith a Divine lying between Bared and Kadesh-barnea was afterward called the well of the living God and seemeth myââically to represent Baptism the laver of regeneration For the Church like Hagar with her son Ismael travelling through the wilderness of this world is pressed with a multitude of sins and miseries c. Wherefore they joyning together in Prayer crave to be refreshed with the water of life For Hagar signifieth a Pilgrim Itinerar script fol. 95. Ishmael a man whom the Lord heareth who travelling together with her Mother the Church in this World fighteth against the enemies thereof and shooteth the Arrows of Faith against all infernal and cruel beasts and lusts Thus he Vers 21. And his mother took him a wife Adeò est juris non gentium sed
he had before forgot his break-fust he turned not into a victualing-house but went to the Temple and taught the people and confuted the Elders all that day long till the evening Matth. 21.18 c. with Mark 11.13 c. Job 23.12 Job esteemed Gods word more then his necessary food not onely more then his dainties or supersâuities Vers 35. And the Lord hath blessed my master Ministers Christs Paranymphs must likewise wo for Christ by setting forth his great wealth and not speak one word for Christ and two for themselves as those did Phil. 1.15 John Baptist was no such spokesman Joh. 3.29 It is the speciall office of the Ministery to lay Christ open to hold up the Tapistry and let men see him as he is set forth Heb. 1.2 3. that they may be sick of love for otherwise Christ is like to have but a cold suit of it Vers 39. Peradventure the woman will not Here he leaveth out in his discretion Abrahams charge vers 6. For that would but have offended and irritated Part of the truth may be concealed sometimes as Jer. 38.27 Quid quod ubi per quos quoties cur quomodo quando Quilibet haec animo reputet medicamina dando Vers 44. The woman whom the Lord hath appointed God is the Match-maker and Marriages are made in Heaven as very Heathens have yeelded The Governour of Eski-chisar hearing Othomans relation of a fair Lady with whom he was in love seemed greatly to like of his choice Turk Hist fol. 136. saying that she was by the Divine Providence for so the Turks religiously use to speak appointed onely for him to have Vers 47. And I put the ear ring upon her face So did Christ put upon his Spouse his own comeliness which was as a jewell on her forehead an ear-ring in her ear and a beautifull Crown upon her head Ezek. 16.12 14. whence she is called Callah of the perfection of her beauty and bravery Vxor splender radiis mariti A maxime in the Civill Law Jer. 2.32 And Hephzibah Isa 62.4 of his delight in her since he hath purified her as Esther sanctified her Ephes 5.26 and so beautified her that now he rejoyceth over her as a bridegroom doth over his bride Esa 62.5 Yea he resteth in his love and will seek no further he joyeth over her with singing as wel-apaid of his choyce Zeph. 3.17 Vers 53. And gave them to Rebeccah he gave also Note that the custome was then Heyl. Geog. to give gifts to the bride and her friends Now it is otherwise Yet in Hungary their women have no portion they say but a new coat at their wedding Mor is est apud Thraces saith Solinus ut nupturae non parentum arbitratu transeant ad maritos sed quae prae caeteris specie valent subhastari volunt Solin cap. 14. licântiâ taxationis admissâ non moribus nubunt sed praemiis Vers 54. And they did eat and drink It is lawfull to be honestly merry after business dispatcht Vers 55. Let the Damosell abide with us Men promise in haste perform by leisure Vers 56. Hinder me not Say we so to Satan solliciting us to stay a while in our old courses and companies Vers 57. And enquire at her mouth Eve was not dragg'd but brought by God to her husband There must be a mutual consent or it is not of God Vers 59. And her nurse Deborah who was a great stay to Jacobs family and her loss much lamented Gen. 35.8 Vers 60. Be thou the mother of thousands Votum nuptiale Hebraeis solenne We wish them joy we assure them sorrow and that in the flesh where they look for most felicity Vers 61. They rode upon the Camels A tiresome and tedious journey it was but for a good husband Suffer we with and for Christ that we may be glorified together when the marriage shall be consummated Heaven will pay for all What though thou ride on a trotting Camell it is to be married He that rides to becrowned will not think much of a rainy day Vers 63. To meditate in the field Or to pray there he had his Oratory there he used to pray secretly but now more earnestly upon so important an occasion with deep meditation or soliloquy Domitiau about the beginning of his Empire Sueton. usually sequestred himself from company an hour every day but did nothing the while but catch flyes and kill them with a pen-knife Gods people can better employ their solitariness and do never want company as having God and themselves to talk with And these secret meals are those that make the soul fat It was a witty and divine speech of Bernard that Christ the souls Spouse is bashfull neither willingly commeth to his Bride in the presence of a multitude Vers 65. She lighted off the Camell To meet him with the more reverence and submission for which cause also she veyled her self Here that of the Poet hold not Fastus inest pulchris sequiturque superbia formam Ovid. Vers 66. And the servant told Isaac Ministers also must give account of their Stewardship Happy he that can present his people as a chaste Virgin to Christ with Paul 2 Cor. 11.2 that can say with the Prophet Here am I and the children that thou hast given me And with that Arch-Prophet I have glorified thee on the earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do Joh. 17.4 Reverend Mr. Stork was wont to protest Abrab deceas by M. Gatâk that it was more comfort to him to win one of his own charge then twenty others Vers 67. Isaac brought her into his mothers tent There to rest till the marriage-rites were performed till he had got her good-will till their affections were knit and in some sort settled till they had plighted their mutuall troth sought God for a blessing and performed such solemnities as the time required Youth rides in post to be married but in the end findes the Inne of repentance to be lodged in And took Rebeccah Not as Shechem took Dinah or Amnon Tamar to desloure her but as Boaz took Ruth and David Abigail to make her his wife by lawfull wedlock And he loved her Not onely as his Country-woman or his kinswoman or a good woman c. but as his woman with a conjugall love And he had reason For 1. She was his wife the proper object of his love 2. A wife of Gods providing a mate meet for him none in all the world so meet 3. She was love-worthy because fair courteous vertuous And as meat pleaseth us better in a clean dish so doth vertue in comely persons saith Hugo 4. She forgat her fathers house and forsook all her friends for him c. And Isaac was comforted If God takes away one comfort he will give another Chear up therefore CHAP. XXV Vers 1. Then again Abraham c. AFfter Sarahs death though Calvin thinks otherwise His body dry and
Gen. 27. Conveniunt rebus nomina saepè suis And Isaac was threescore yeers old He lived twice threescore yeers after this being an hundred and eighty when he died Gen. 35.28 five yeers longer he lived then his father Abraham Gen. 27.5 being bison for the last fourty Gen. 27. Vers 27. And the boys grew Nature Art Grace all proceed from less perfect to more perfect Grow in grace saith Peter grow unto a perfect man saith Paul even unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ saith Paul Eph. 4.13 And Esau was a cunning hunter Like Nimrod and Ishmael whom he chose to imitate rather then Abraham and those holy Patriarchs that had lived before him A plain man Sept. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã without welt or gard guile or gall Gregory hereby notes the diverse dispositions of worldly and godly men Vers 28. And Isaac loved Esau c. Here as likewise in Manoah's wife more grace appears in the woman then in the man whose blinde and misplaced love for carnal ends commends and illustrates the divine adoption Vers 29. And Jacob sod pottage Pottage of lentiles which was a kinde of pulse much like to Vetches or small Pease so frugal and sparing was the diet of those precious Patriarchs to the shame of our Luxury Seneca ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Quicquid avium volitat quicquid piscium natat quicquid ferarum discurrit nostris sepelitur ventribus We devour the wealth of earth air and sea Esau came from the field and he was faint Labor est etiam ipsa voluptas Of carnal pleasures a man may break his neck sooner then his fast Nor is it want of variety in them but inward weakness or the curse of unsatisfyingness that lies upon them The creature is now as the husk without the grain the shell without the kernel full of nothing but emptiness and so may faint us but not fill us Vers 30. Feed me I pray thee with that red red He doubleth it Geminatio indicat vehementiam appetitus Pareus and could not for haste and hunger tell what to call it to shew his greediness And saith Feed me or let me swallow at once as Camels are fed by casting gobbets into their mouth He thought he should never have enough Our proverb is As hungry as a hunter but this hunter hath no ho with him and is therefore branded for a profane sensualist Edom. The word used for a glutton Jer. 15.19 Deut. 21.20 is used for a vile person or a losel Jer. 15.19 Vers 31. Sell me this day thy birth-right Which he knew by the instruction of his mother to be his by Gods appointment and therefore takes this opportunity to get it A well-chosen season is the greatest advantage of any action Vers 32. What profit shall this birth-right c. Pluris faciâ pulticulam bonam quam titulum inanem Sensualists look onely at the present pleasure and sell their souls for it Earthly things are present and pleasant therefore we so cleave to them striving like the toad who shall fall asleep with most earth in his paws Vers 33. Swear to me With fickle men make all firm and fast Quo teneam vultus mutantem Protea nodo Horat. And he sold his birth right to Jacob And with it heaven also as the Jerusalemy Paraphrast addeth whereof the birth-right was a type and pledge So his sin was in unthankfulness for such a dignity in limiting it to this life in selling it so light cheap but especially in his profane parting with a spiritual blessing for a temporal Such a foolish bargain makes every impenitent person in the sale of his soul for a thing of nought which Christ who onely went to the price of a soul saith is more worth then a world Let there be no fornicator as every worlding is Jam. 4.4 or profane person amongst us as Esau Heb. 12.16 And that there may not let not men take pleasure in pleasure spend too much time in it shoot their affections over-far into it It is no wisdom to go as far as we may It was not simply a sin in Esau to go a hunting but yet the more he used it the more profane he grew by it and came at length to contemn his birth-right Adrian the Emperour was a great hunter brake his leg in hunting called a city that he built in Mysia by the name of Adrians huntings Dio in vita Adeò venandi rabie percââus ut 7 continuis anâis nec urbis nec ruris tecto fit u us but how little care he took for his poor soul that Animula vagula blandula of his abundantly testifieth The maddest hunter that ever I read of was Mithridates who was so set upon it that he came not into any house either of city or country for seven yeers together To lawful delights and recreations God allows men to stoop for their bodies sake as the eagle to the prey or as Gideons souldiers to soop their handful not to swill their belly-full An honest mans heart is where his calling is such a one when he is elsewhere is like a fish in the air whereunto if it leap for recreation or necessity yet it soon returns to his own clement Vers 23. He did eat and drink and rose up c. Hac congerie Piscator impoenitentia Esaui describitur Away he went without shewing the least remorse or regret for what he had done Lysimachus soon repented him for parting with his Crown O dii quam brevis voluptatis gratia ex rege me feci servum for a draught of cold water in his extreme thirst Wine is a prohibited ware among Turks which makes some drink with scruple others with danger The baser sort when taken drunk are often bastinadoed on the bare feet And I have seen some saith mine Author after a fit of drunkenness Blounts voyage pag. 105. lie a whole night crying and praying to Mahomet for intercession that I could not sleep neer them so strong is conscience even where the foundation is but imaginary to the shame of many profligate professors cauterized Christians XXVI Vers 1. Besides the first famine NEw sins bring new plagues Flagitium flagellum ut acus filum Where iniquity breaks fast calamity will be sure to dine to sup where it dines and to lodge where it sups If the Canaânites had amended by the former famine this later had been prevented for God afflicts not willingly nor grieves the children of men Lam. 3.35 Polybius wonders why Man should be held the wisest of creatures when to him he seemeth the foolishest For other things saith he where they have smarted once will beware for the future The Fox will not rashly return to the snare the Wolf to the pitfal the dog to the cudgel c. Solus homo ab avo ad aevum peccut ferè in iisdem in iisdem plectitur Onely Man is neither weary of sinning nor wary of
sowes to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting Onely it is required that he be not weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not We must not look to sowe and reap all in a day as he saith of the Hyperborean-people far north Heresbach de re rustica that they sowe shortly after the sun-rising and reap before the sun-set because the whole half yeer is one continual day with them We must wait with the husbandman for the precious fruit of the earth and have long patience for it until we receive the former and later rain James 5.7 And be diligent in the mean while that when Christ comes we may be found of him in peace 2 Pet. 3.14 Heaven will pay for all our pains and patience He which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly and he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully even blessing upon blessing ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 2 Cor. 9.6 Psal 126.6 as the word there signifies be shall doubtless come again with joy bringing his sheaves with him Vers 13. And the man waxed great Because the Lord blessed him vers 12. for it is his blessing that maketh rich He sowed and feared God and the Lord blessed him Godliness hath the promises of both lives 1 Tim. 4.8 Now the promises are the unsearchable riches of Christ Eph. 3.6 9. who is the heir of all Heb 1.2 and hath made godly men his co-heirs Rom. 8.17 entailing upon them riches and honour delight and pleasure Prov. 3.16 17. 8.18 Deut. 28. Psal 112.2 3. life and length of days the blessings of both hands Godly men in Scripture are read to have been richer then any as Abraham Isaac David c. so they might be now likely if they would be as godly Bonus Deus Constantinum Magnum Aug. de civ Dei l. 5. c. 25. tantis terrenis implevit muneribus quanta opt are nullus auderet saith Augustine If God deny gain to godliness it is that it may be admired for it self as having an autarky a self-sufficiency ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1 Tim. 6.6 he makes up in the true treasure and a grain of grace is worth all the gold of Ophiâ a remnant of faith better then all gay clothing Achans wedge of gold served for no better purpose then to cleave asunder his soul from his body and the Babylonish garment but for a shrowd Prov. 31.12 But contented godliness like Solomons good wife doth a man good and not evil all his days for it brings his minde and his means together and makes him rest well assured of a sufficiency though he miss of a superfluity Vers 14. And the Philistims envied him Envie is the constant companion of prosperity as David felt and complained Succoth and Penuel contemn Gideon out of envie of his victory Josephs brethren cannot abide him because more favoured of his father Corah maligneth Moses Saul David the Pharisees our Saviour Dio in vita Caligulae their malice wilfully crossing their consciences Caligula sacrificed to Neptune and Envie ne sibi ut ipse dicebat invideretur He thought other men sick belike of his disease as the devil accused God of envie to our first parents for certainly there was not a more envious person living Sueton. cap. 3 4. Lucano quòd arte poetica clarus erat vetitum suit ne carmen saceret Dio in Nerone Seneca Dio in vita Tiberii Sueton. c. 53. Am. Marcell lib. 30. cap. 29. then he witness his throwing down the statues of all famous men and defacing their titles forbidding any new to be set up without his leave and liking So that Tyger Tiberius laid hold with his spiteful teeth on all the excellent spirits of his time He put a Poet to death for making an excellent Tragedy and banished a certain Architect for building a curious Porch at Rome which he could not chuse but admire and reward with money Nero envied all men that were any whit gracious with the people Valentinian hated all that were well apparelled or well learned or wealthy or noble Fortibus etiam detrahere solebat ut solus videretur bonis artibus eminere saith Ammianus Germanicus had not any more deadly enemies then his own ornaments Tacitus and his adversaries as here Isaac's had nothing to complain of him more then his greatness So true is that of Salust Salust in Catil Difficillimum inter mortales est gloriâ invidiam vincere Hercules had not more ado with Hydra then a good man shall have with this beast Envied he shall be of his neighbour for his labour and right work Eccles 4.4 This is also vanity and vexation of spirit Vers 15. The Philistims had stopped them They deprived themselves of the benefit of those Wells so that Isaac might not water at them Aug. in Psal 139. Envie doth nothing with reason It is vitium diabolicum saith Augustine The devil of pure spite hinders men from heaven he rageth and rangeth roaring up and down seeking whom to devour and not caring to be double-damn'd himself so that others may not be saved We should be so far from envying at the happiness of others that we should rejoyce in it This were to be as the Angels of God and the contrary is to be like the devils of hell as Saul was who because he could not see Davids heart fed upon his own Envie devours it self as the worm doth the nut out of which it grows Vers 16. Go from us for thou art c. Isaaco ob benedictionem Dei Ostracismus indicitur It was well they had nothing worse against him Of Isaac it may be more truely said then of Mithridates Virtute eximius aliquando fortunâ Paterculus semper animo maximus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Dio lib. 41. as Dio saith of Pompey Vers 17. And Isaac departed thence was compelled to do so though not long before the king of the country had charged all his people on pain of death not to disquiet him Antipho ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã So neer neighbours are Prosperity and Adversity Friends are very changeable creatures saith Plato Friends ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Plato ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Trussels contin of Dan. Chronicle there 's no friend saith Socrates no fast friend Faithful friends quoth the Duke of Buckingham to Bishop Morton in Richard the third's time are in this age all for the most part gone in pilgrimage and their return is uncertain Sejanus his friends shewed themselves as did likewise Hamans most passionate against him saying that if Cesar had clemency he ought to reserve it for men not use it toward monsters Carnal friends were never true to any that trusted to them whereas trust in God at length will triumph as we see in this Patriarch Vers 18. Isaac digged again the wells c. Both for more certainty to finde water a scarce commodity in those hot
become his gracious Lord c. through From such a Lord said Luther good Lord deliver me Vers 27. Wherefore come ye to me Here was his magnanimity and his modesty both in expostulating the wrongs they had done unto him He could not but be sensible of their discourtesies though he dissembled them A sheep feels the bite of a dog as well as a swine though she make no such noise Isaac having now a fit opportunity Job 6. gives them the telling of it and how forcible are right words There is a real confutation of injuries and we should consult whether in such a case it be best to deal with the wrong-doers at all by words Gods way is by works and he must get an Isaac-like temperance and prudence that thinks himself able to convince them by reason and to set them down Vers 28. Let there be now an oath See here saith Chrysostom how great the power of vertue is Quanta virtutis potentia quantum mansuetudinis robur c. Chrysost Hom. quinta Prov. 16.7 and the might of meekness For they that lately drove him out from amongst them now come to him in courtesie though a forlorn forraigner and not onely give him satisfaction but seek his friendship Thus When a mans ways please the Lord he maketh his enemies to be at peace with him Vers 29. Thou art now the blessed of the Lord This they had observed and therefore did him this honour So the King of Babylon sent Ambassadours and a Present to Hezekiah because he had heard of the miracle of the Suns going back for him Now because the Sun which was their god had honoured him so much the King of Babylon would honour him too Abulens in 2 Reg. 20. as Abulensis hath well observed Vers 30. And he made them a feast Not to mischief them thereat as Absalom did Amnon as Alexander did Philotas as the Great Turk doth the Bashaws whom he intends to strangle Turk hist but to shew there was no rancour or purpose of revenge Vers 31. And they rose up betime c. The proverb is De sero convivium de mane consilium It was the Persians barbarous manner in the midst of their cups to advise of their weightiest affairs as Pererius here noteth Ardua negotia praesertim in quibus juramentum intervenit jejuno stomacho suscipi peragique debent saith Piscator Weighty businesses are best dispatched fasting Vers 32. We have found water As crosses so mercies seldom come single but by troops as she said when her son Gad was born A company cometh Vers 33. Je Beershebah to this day So it was before Gen. 21.31 but the name was almost worn out the Well being stopped up Isaac therefore new names it and so preserves it for a monument of Gods mercy to his father and to himself Vers 34. And Esau was fourty yeers old In an apish imitation of his father who married not till that age keeping under his body and bringing it into subjection as Paul being inured by good education to hard labour prayer and pious meditation 1 Cor. 9. But Esau did not so a pleasure-monger he was a profane person and as the Hebrews say a filthy whore-master So much also the Apostle seems to intimate when he sets them together and saith Let there be no fornicator or profane person as Esau Heb. 12.16 He took to wife Not consulting his parents or craving their consent This was abdicationis praeludium Deus quem destruit dementat Vers 35. Which were a grief because idolatresses Rev. 2.2 and untractable because given up by God Hos 4.17 Rom. 1.28 XXVII Vers 1. Isaac was old and his eyes diâ OLd-age is of it self a disease and the sink of all diseases This Solomon sweetly sets forth Eccles 12. by a continued allegory Vbi quot lumina imò flumina orationis exserit saith One. In general he calls it The evil day Eccles 12.2 3. c. expounded the yeers that have no pleasure in them In particular the Senses all fail the hands tremble the legs buckle the teeth cannot do their office as being either lost or loosened the silver cord that is the marrow of their backs is consumed the golden ewre that is the brain-pan broke the pitcher at the well that is the veins at the liver the wheel at the cistern that is the head which draws the power of life from the heart all these worn weak and wanting to their office So that sleep faileth desire faileth * Sept. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quum âppetitum Veuerem irritat neither spring nor summer signified by the almond-tree and grashopper shall affect with pleasure the daughters of musick shall be brought lowe as they were in old Barzillai the sun moon and stars are darkened for any delight they take in their sweet shine yea the clouds return after rain a continual succession of miseries like April-weather as one shower is unburthened another is brewed and the skie is still over-cast with clouds Lo such is old age and is this a fit Present for God wilt thou give him the dregs the bottom the very last sands thy dotage Mal. 1.8 which thy self and friends are weary of Offer it now to thy prince will he be pleased with thee The Circassians a kinde of mongrel-Christians as they baptize not their children till the eighth yeer so they enter not into the Church the Gentlemen especially till the sixtieth yeer Brerewoods Enquires 135. but hear Divine Service standing without the Temple that is to say till through age they grow unable to continue their rapines and robberies to which sin that Nation is exceedingly addicted so dividing their time betwixt sin and devotion dedicating their youth to rapine and their old-age to repentance But God will not be so put off He is a great King and stands upon his seniority Mal. 1.14 In the Levitical Law there were three sorts of first-fruits 1. Of the ears of corn offered about the Passeover 2. Of the loaves offered about Pentecost 3. About the end of the yeer in Autumn Now of the two first God had a part but not of the last to teach us that he will accept of the services of our youth or middle-age but for old-age vix aut ne vix quidem Besides Abraham in the Old Testament and Nicodemus in the New I know not whether we read of any old man ever brought home to God Vers 2. I am old I know not the day of my death No more doth any though never so young There be as many young sculls as old in Golgotha But young men we say may die old men must die To the old Death is projanuis to the young in insidiis Senex quasi seminex Old men have pedcm in cymba Charontis one foot in the grave already Our decrepit age both expects death and sollicites it it goes groveling as groaning for the grave Ter. in Adelph Vel quod
neither of them apt to turn inwards Vers 36. Is he not rightly named Jacob He cavils and quarrels at his brothers guile at his fathers store Hast thou but one blessing c. but not a word we hear of his own profaneness How apt are men to mistake the cause of their sufferings and to blame any thing sooner then their own untowardness Vers 38. Esau lift up his voice and wept Yet found no place for repentance Heb. 12.17 that is he could not by his tears prevail with his father to reverse the blessing See the fruit of Gods holy fear Moses his rod was not so famous for being turned into a Serpent for even the Magicians did as much as for devouring the Magicians rod So the true fear of God is most eminent and effectual when set in emulation or opposition to other fears or carnal aims and affections Vers 39. Answered and said unto him Dixit non benedixit quia pâtiùs fuit praedictio futurae conditionis quà m benedictio saith Pareus And whereas we read Behold thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven Castalio renders it thus Tua quidem sedes a terrae pinguitudine a supero coeli rore aberit For Mishmanne saith he signifieth ab pinguitudine sive sine pinguitudine as it doth also Psal 109.24 Sic dicimus Ab re ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã compositè Amens abesse ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã My flesh faileth from fatness that is for lack of fatness or Without fatness So the sence he sets upon this Text is Thou shalt dwell far from the fatness of the earth in a barren country c. For Isaac could not give Esau what he had given Jacob afore and this was that that Esau so grieved at and threatned his brother for Or if he could what cause had Esau so to take on why should it trouble me that another partakes of the sun-light with me when I have never the less c. Object But the Apostle saith Heb. 11.20 Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau Sol. It was a blessing no doubt that Edom should shake off Israels yoke as it follows vers 40. and fell out 2 Kings 8.20 Vers 40. When thou shalt have the dominion Cùm planxeris saith Junius when thou hast for some time undergone hard troublesom and lamentable servitude the grief whereof thou dost greatly groan under as in Davids time who cast his shoe over them Psal 60.8 The Sodomites those worst of men 2 Sam. 8.14 were the first that we finde in Scripture brought in bondage to others Gen. 14.4 When the Danes and other forraigners domineer'd in this Kingdom was it not a lamentable time were not mens dearest lives sold as cheap as sparrows were among the Jews five for two farthings Did we but live a while in Turkie Persia yea or but in France saith One a dram of that liberty we yet enjoy would be as precious as a drop of cold water would have been to the rich man in hell when he was so grievously tormented with those slames Take we heed lest for the abuse of this sweet mercy God send not in the Midianites to thresh out our corn the Assyrians to drink up our milk to make a spoil of our cattel Jer. 49.32 and to cause us to eat the bread of our souls in the peril of our lives as our fathers did in Queen Maries days Vers 41. And Esau hated Jacob c. Because God said Jacob have I loved And as all hatred is bloody he resolves to be his death The righteous is abomination to the wicked saith Solomon Prov. 29.27 Moab was irked because of Israel or did fret and vex at them Num. 22.3 4. who yet passed by them in peace But the old serpent had set his limbs in them transfused his venom into them hence that deadly hatred that is and will be betwixt the godly and the wicked Pliny speaks of the Scorpion that there is not one minute wherein he doth not put forth the sting So doth that serpentine seed acted by Satan The Panther so hates man that he flies upon the very picture of a man and tears it to pieces So doth Satan and his imps upon the image of God in whomsoever they finde it Psal 35.19 Scito quia ab ascensore suo daemone perurgetur Bern. They Satanically hate me saith David of his enemies And seest thou thy persecutor full of rage saith Bernard know thou that he is spurr'd on by the devil that rides him that acts and agitates him Eph. 2.2 And Esau said in his heart Effutiverat etiam minaces voces he had also bolted out some suspicious speeches as our Gunpowder-traitors did whereby he was prevented The days of mourning for my father No matter for his mother Levit. 19.3 yet God saith Ye shall fear every man his mother and his father The mother is first mentioned because usually most slighted Vindicabâ me afferendo Patri luctum caede fratris Luth. Luther thinks he threatneth his father also in these words as if he should say I will be avenged by being the death of my brother though it be to the breaking of my fathers heart A bloody speech of a vindictive spirit whom nothing would satisfie but to be a double parricide I will slay my brother But threatned men live long for even Isaac who died soonest lived above fourty yeers beyond this Psal 31.15 My times are in thy hand saith David Vers 42. And these words of Esau c. For he could not hold as Absalom did who intending to murther Amnon spake neither good nor evil to him These still revenges are most dangerous as a dog that barks not That Esau vented himself in words was a great mercy of God to Jacob. He thought nothing good man but followed his calling not knowing his danger But his provident mother hearkened it out and took course to prevent it So doth the sweet fatherly providence of God take care and course for the safety of his servants when they are either ignorant or secure Masses were said in Rome for the good success of the Powder-plot but no prayers in England for our deliverance and yet we were delivered A seven-fold Psalmody they had framed here which secretly passed from hand to hand with tunes set to be sung for the chearing up of their wicked hearts with an expectation as they called it of their day of Jubilee The matter consisteth of railing upon King Edward Queen Elizabeth and King James Spec. bell sacri of petition imprecation prophecie and praise This Psalter is hard to be had for they are taken up by the Papists as other books be that discover their shame But Mendoza that lyer conveniunt rebus nomina saepè suis sounded the Triumph before the Victory That blinde Letter of theirs brought all to light by the meer mercy of the Father of lights who was pleased to put a divine sentence into the
mouth of the King Sorex suo perit indicio Hunc tibi pugionem mittit Senatus dixit ille detexit facinus fatuus non imple vit So here See the like 1 Sam. 19.2 Acts 9.24 23.16 And she sent and called Jacob Why did she not call both her sons together and make them friends by causing the younger to resigne up his blessing to the elder Because she preferred heaven before earth and eternity before any the worlds amity or felicity whatsoever The devil would fain compound with us when he cannot conquer us as Pharaoh would let some go not all or if all yet not far Religiosum oport et esse sed non religentem He cannot abide this strictne's c. But we must be resolute for God and heaven It 's better flee with Jacob yea die a thousand deaths then with the loss of Gods blessing to accord with Esau Vers 43. Flee thou to Laban Flee then we may when in danger of life so it be with the wings of a dove not with the pinnions of a dragon God must be trusted not tempted Means must be neither trusted nor neglected Vers 44. Tarry with him a few days Heb. unos dies Sed facti sunt viginti anni She reckoned upon a few days but it proved to be twenty whole yeers and she never saw Jacob again as the Hebrew Doctors gather Thus Man purposeth God disposeth Some think she sent Deborah her nurse to fetch him home who died in the return Gen. 35.8 Vers 45. And he forget c. Whiles wrongs are remembred they are not remitted He forgives not that forgets not When an inconsiderate fellow had stricken Cato in the Bath Sen. de ira lib. 1. and afterwards cried him mercy he replied I remember not that thou didst strike me Our Henry the sixth is said to have been of that happie memory that he never forgat any thing but injuries Esau was none such He was of that sort whom they call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã soon angry but not soon pleased His anger was like coles of juniper Psal 120.4 which burn extremely last long a whole twelve-moneth about as some write and though they seem extinct revive again Flamma redardescit quae modò nulla fuit Ovid. Vers 46. I am weary of my life c. A wise woman saith an Interpreter not willing to grieve her husband she conceals from him Esau's malicious hatred of Jacob and pretends another cause of sending him away to take him a fit wife Let women learn not to exasperate their husbands with quick words or froward deeds but study their quiet Livia wife to Augustus being asked how she could so absolutely rule her husband Dâo in Aug. answered By not prying into his actions and dissembling his affections c. XXVIII Vers 1. Isaac called Jacob and blessed him HE doth not rate him or rail at him Anger must have an end The Prodigals father met him and kist him when one would have thought he should rather have kickt him kill'd him Pro peccato magno Terent. paululum supplicii satis est patri Vers 2. Arise go to Padan-aram Jacob was no sooner blest but banisht so our Saviour was no sooner out of the water of Baptism and had heard This is my beloved Son c. but he was presently in the fire of temptation and heard If thou be the Son c. When Hezekiah had set all in good order 2 Chron. 31. then up came Sennacherib with an army Chap. 32.1 God will put his people to it and often after sweetest feelings Vers 3. And God Almighty bless thee Here Isaac stablisheth the blessing to Jacob lest haply he should think that the blessing so got would be of no force to him God passeth by the evil of our actions and blesseth the good Vers 4. And give thee the blessing of Abraham Here he is made heir of the blessing as are also all true Christians 1 Pet. 3.9 Caesar when he was sad said to himself Cogita te esse Caesarem so think thou art an heir of heaven and be sad if thou canst Vers 5. Isaac sent away Jacob with his staff onely Gen. 32.10 and to serve for a wife Hos 12.12 It was otherwise when a wife was provided for Isaac But Jacob went as privately as he could probably that his brother Esau might not know of his journey and wait him a shrewd turn by the way Hos 12.12 he sled into Syria Theodoret saith it was that the divine providence might be the better declared toward him no better attended or accommodated Vers 6. When Esau saw ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. But he was ever too late and therefore that he did was to little purpose An over-late sight is good neither in piety nor policy They will finde it so that are semper victuri and never can finde time to begin Seneca till they are shut out of heaven for their trifling How many have we known taken away in their offers and essays before they had prepared their hearts to cleave to God! Vers 7. And was gone to Padan-aram Which was distant from Beer-sheba almost five hundred miles This was the father of the brood of travellers and his affliction is our instruction Rom. 14.4 1 Cor. 10.11 Vers 8. pleased not his father Whether himself or they pleased God or not was no part of his care God is not in all the wicked mans thoughts That he strives for is to be well esteemed of by others to have the good will and good word of his neighbours and friends such especially as he hopes for benefit by Thus Julian counterfeited zeal till he had got the Empire afterwards of Julian he became Idolian as Nazianzen saith he was commonly called because he set open again the Idols temples which had been shut up by Constantine and restored them to the Heathens Vers 9. Then went Esau unto Ishmael Stulta haec fuit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã hypocrisis saith Pareus rightly Apes will be imitating men Spiders have their webs and Wasps their honey-combs Hypocrites will needs do something that they may seem to be some-body but for want of an inward principle they do nothing well they amend one errour with another as Esau here and as Herod prevents perjury by murther Thus while they shun the sands they rush upon the rocks Incidit in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdim and while they keep off the shallows they fall into the whirl-pool Sed nemo it a perplexus tenetur inter du vitia quin exitus pateat absque tertio saith an Ancient Vers 10. And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba A long journey but nothing so long as Christ took from heaven to earth to serve for a wife his Church who yet is more coy then Rachel and can hardly be spoken withal though he stand clapping and calling Open to me my sister my spouse Stupenda dignatio saith One a wonderful condescending Vers 11. And
all these things why and how he came so poorly to him when as Abrahams servant coming upon a like errand came far better attended and appointed which was the thing that Laban likely looked after when he ran out to meet Jacob. Vers 14. Surely thou art my bone c. Good words cost nothing and the veriest carls are commonly freer of them then of real courtesies Pertinax the Emperour was sirnamed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quòd blandus esset magis quà m benignus But that of Nero was abominable who the very day before he killed his mother ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Dio in Ner. most lovingly embraced her kissed her eyes and hands and accompanying her when she departed used these sweet words All happiness attend you my good mother for in you I live and by you I raign As a potsheard covered with silver-dross so are burning lips and a wicked heart Prov. 26.23 Vers 15. Shouldst thou therefore serve me He pretends loveand equity to his covetous aims and reaches Candid he would needs seem according to his name and considerate Laban est candidus But as Blackmoors have their teeth onely white so is Labans kindness from the teeth outward He was as a whited wall or painted sepulchre or an Egyptian temple fair and specious without but within some cat rat or calf there idolized and adored Hypocrites whatever they pretend have a hawks eye to praise or profit they must be gainers by their piety or humanity which must be another Dianae to bring gain to the crafts-master The Eagle when she soareth highest hath an eye ever to the prey Vers 17. Leah was tender-eyed Purblinde or squint as One interprets it Turk hist fol. 483. Now a froward look and squint eyes saith the Historian are the certain notes of a nature to be suspected The Jerusalemy Targum tells us that her eyes were tender with weeping and praying Mary Magdalene is famous for her tears and Christ was never so neer her as when she could not see him for weeping Heidfeld After which she spent as some report thirty yeers in Gallia Narbonensi in weeping for her sins But Rachel was beautiful c. Plate calls beauty the principality of nature Aristorle a greater commendation then all Epistles See the Notes on Chap. 24 16. Vers 18. I will serve thee seven yeers He had nothing to endow her with he would therefore earn her with his hard labour which as it shews Labans churlishness to suffer it and his baseness to make a prize and a prey of his two daughters so it sets forth Jacob's meekness poverty patience and hard condition here mentioned many yeers after by the Prophet Hosea Chap. 12.12 He was a man of many sorrows and from him therefore the Church hath her denomination neither were the faithful ever since called Abrahamites but Israelites Vers 19. It is better that I give her to thee Indeed he sold her to him for seven yeers service This was Laban or Nabal chuse you which Their names were not more like then their conditions Labans daughters and Nabals wife were also alike handled by their unkinde parents He hath sold us said they and hath also quite devoured our money Gen. 31.15 And He hath married me might Abigail have said to the money and not to the man and though he named me his joy yet he hath caused me much sorrow How many a childe is so cast away by the covetous parents It was better with Labans two daughters but no thanks to their father Nox longa quibus mentitur amica diesque longa videtur opuâ debentibus piger annuâ pupillis Vers 20. And they seemed unto him but a few days And yet lovers hours are full of eternity But love facilitated the service and made the time seem short Should any thing seem hard or heavie to us so we may have heaven at length The affliction is but light and momentany the glory massie and for all eternity Hold out Faith and Patience Love is a passion and seen most in suffering much water cannot quench it Nay like fire Cant. 8.7 it devours all delays and difficulties spending and exhaling it self as it were in continual wishes to be at home to be with Christ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Phil. 1.23 which is far far the better Oh let the eternal weight of the Crown weigh down with us the light and momentany weight of the Cross Vers 21. Give me my wife for my days c. Jacob had served out his time and now demands his due David also is said to have served the will of God for his own age and John Baptist Acts 13.35 to have fulfilled his course in the same Chapter Vers 25. Moses also was faithful in all Gods house as a servant Yet these could not call for heaven as their wages because they were as the best are at their best but unprofitable servants and did not in any measure Luke 17.10 what their duty was to do We have not a bit of bread of our own earning and are therefore taught to pray Give us this day our daily bread we get our living by begging Our best plea is Domine non sum dignus nihilominùs tamen sum indigens Lord I am not worthy but I am needy as Pomeran said Then will God of his free grace supply all our necessities and afterwards receive us to glory He will bring us into the Bride-chamber of heaven and there will he give us his loves He will let out himself into us to our infinite delight Of all natural delights that of Marriage is the most because there is the greatest communication of one creature to another and according to the degrees of communication are the degrees of delight Think the same in the mystical Marriage Vers 22. And made a feast Never more seasonable surely then at the recovery of the lost rib The Wedding-day is called The day of the rejoycing of a mans heart Cant. 3.11 Our Saviour graced such a feast with his presence and first miracle Ho supplied them with wine to glad their hearts not with a little for healths sake onely but with a great quantity for sober delight and honest affluence It is noted as an absurd thing in Samson's wife that she wept all the days of the feast A feast then there was at Samson's wedding and of seven days continuance Judg. 14.10 11 And so there was at Jacob's as may be gathered out of vers 27. Fulfil her week saith Laban to wit of banquet or Bride-ale as we call it Onely that of Chrysostom comes here in fitly De nuptiis Jacobi legimus de choreis tripudiis non legimus Of Jacobs Wedding-feast we read but of dancing and dalliance of tracing and tripping on the toe we read not In maxima libertate minima licentia saith Salvian Merry we may be at such a time but in the Lord Deut. 12.7 eat and drink we may but
not onely determined not any thing extremely against them or violated their graves but also intreating them gently sent them away not so much as once forbidding them to publish openly the doctrine that they professed Vers 26. As captives taken with the sword No such matter but that the old churl must have somewhat to say for Jacob had their good-wills to go with him and besides they were now his more then Labans Jacob had them in Marriage and not in bondage he carried them not as his captives but companions Vers 27. That I might have sent thee away with mirth A likely matter but 't is the hypocrites best now to say the best He durst do no other for God had over-awed him Isai 58 5. and put his hook into his nostrils Hypocrites are likened to bull-rushes which are green and smoothe and he is curious to a miracle that can finde a knot in them but within is nothing but an useless and spongie pith Compared they are also to vipers that are painted Matth. 3.7 as it were without but poisonful within they have their teeth also buried in their gums saith Pliny so that one would think him to be harmless beasts and that they could not bite So hypocrites seem most innocent Who would have thought otherwise of Laban that had not known him considering his contestation here with Jacob his protestation afterwards of deep and dear love to his daughters and lastly his attestation and taking God to witness for their good usage and his heap of stones to witness together with his heap of words to small purpose calling it first Jegar-sahadutha as a witness betwixt man and man and then Mizpeh as a watch-tower or witness betwixt God and Man Who could take Laban for less now then a loving father yea and an honest man But as the Historian saith of another so may we of him Palà m compositus pudor intùs summa adipiscendi libido Tacit. de Sejano 1 Thess 2.5 Pers All this was but blanched hypocrisie and coloured covetousness as Saint Paul calls it Astutam vapido servat sub pecctore vulpem Vers 28. Thou hast done foolishly And yet he had done no more then God bade him do Wretched men dare reprehend that which they do not comprehend But if a wise man speak evil of thee or to thee endure him if a fool pardon him Shake off reproaches and hard censures as Paul did the viper yea in a holy scorn laugh at them as the wilde ass doth at the horse and his rider Diotrephes prates against us saith Saint John 3 Epist 10. In the Greek it is trifles against us with malicious words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Although his words were malicious and he a great man yet all was but trifles to a clear conscience Vers 29. It is in the power of my hand It was he might have said till God forbade him though indeed it never was as our Saviour told Pilate upon a like bravado Joh. 19.10 11. further then given him from above To God belong the issues of death whatever tyrants dream they can do Rideo dicebat Caligula Consulibus quòd uno nutu meo jugulare vos possim uxori tam bona cervix simul ac jussero demetur And Caesar told Metellus that he could as easily take away his life as bid it be done But what saith our Saviour Matth. 10.28 Fear not them that kill the body to wit by divine permission He saith not them that can kill the body have power to do it at their own pleasure for that 's a royalty belongs to God onely But the God of your fathers spake unto me c. Hypocrites forbear sin as dogs do their meat not because they hate the carrion but fear the cudgel These are as wicked in their fearful abstaining from sin as in their furious committing of it Lupus venit ad ovile Aug. de verb. Apost serm 21 quaerit invadere jugulare devorare Vigilant pastores latrant canes Lupus venit fremens redit tremens lupus est tamen fremens tremens saith Augustine Vers 30. Why hast thou stollen my gods Goodly gods that could not save themselves from the thief See Jer. 10.5 11 15. But Iacob a just man is here made a thief of The best must look to be blasted as deceivers and yet true 2 Cor. 6.8 Wicked mens throats are open sepulchres 2 Cor. 6.8 wherein the good names of Gods innocent ones too oft lie buried their breath as fire shall devour you Isai 33.11 saith the Prophet Ioseph suffered as a dishonest person Elisha as a troubler of the State Ieremiah as a traitor Luther as the trumpet of rebellion Tuba rebellionis Nay in one of his Epistles to Spalatinus Prorsùs Satan est Lutherus saith he sed Christus vivit regnat Amen He addes his Amen to it so little was he moved at it He had learned and so must we to pass thorow good and evil report 2 Cor. 6.8 with Paul Epiphanius saith somewhere that the Jews give out that Saint Paul turned Christian for spite because he could not obtain the high-priests daughter in Marriage We are made the filth of the world ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the sweepings of all things saith Saint Paul of himself and his companions who yet were the very glory of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 8.23 Phagius reports a story of an Egyptian who said The Christians were a company of most filthy lecherous people And for the keeping of the Sabbath he saith they had a disease upon them and were therefore fain to rest the seventh day Vers 31. Because I was afraid Note the Patriarch's simplicity and veracity without cunning or colouring Truth is like our first parents most beautiful when naked It was sin covered them and so this for the most part Vers 32. Let him not live This was a rash sentence Hastie speech may work much wo. How sorry would Jacob have been if Laban had found the images under Rachel and taken him at his word What a snare befel Jephtah by his rash speaking â It is a Proverb among the Arabians Scal. Prov. Arab Cent. 1. Prov. 75. James 3.2 8. Cave ne feriat lingua tua collum tuum He is a perfect man that offends not in word saith Saint James for the tongue is an unruly evil Sooner may a man teach a Camel to dance upon a rope then bridle his tongue from evil-speaking Pareus reckons up five vertues of the tongue Veracitas Constantia doeilitas taciturnitas urbanitas Pareus in Jac. 3.5 Perald tom 1. pag. 264. that perfect a man but Peraldus recounts four and twenty several vices of it that if not restrained will work his ruth and ruine It should seem by that of our Saviour Matth 12.37 that a mans most and worst sins are his words And Saint Paul making the anatomy of a natural man stands more upon the organ of speaking then on all
the other members Rom. 3. Let therefore thy words be few true and ponderous An open mouth is a Purgatory to the master Carry a pair of balances betwixt thy lips Cassiod lib 10. Ep. 4. Nescit poenitenda loqui qui proferenda priùs suo tradidit examini saith Cassiodore Jacob might have learned of the Heathen Romanes to speak warily in passing sentence on or giving testimony of another Romani semper Videri in sententiis in testimoniis Arbitrari dicebant saith Cicero Vers 32. And Laban Went into Jacobs tent Hypocrites are suspicious of others better then themselves and impudently inquisitive Curiosi ad cognoscendam vitam alienam desidiosi ad corrigendam suam as S. Augustine hath it Those that are most inquisitive about other mens manners are most careless of their own Vers 34. Put them in the camels furniture and sat upon them Presumptuous sinners deal as homely with the dear mercies of Almighty God pleading and pretending them to their wicked courses and so kicking against his bowels which are therefore fast closed against them Vers 35. For the custom of women is upon me A subtil but sinful excuse to shift a shame Womens wits we say are best at ãâã pinch but they must take heed they be not as C. Curio the Romane Velleius ingeniose nequam wittily wicked Wit will not bear out sin Vers 36. And Jacob was wroth and chode An angry expostulation but not without some errour in the heat of altercation Be angry and sin not is saith One the easiest charge under the hardest condition that can be It is difficult to kindle and keep quick the fire of zeal which is the best kinde of anger without all smoke of sin Vers 37. Set it here before my brethren See the confidence of a clear conscience Happie is be that can be acquitted by himself in private in publike by others in both by God Lucrum in arca saepè facit damnum in conscientia But all such as conceive with guile by that time they have reckoned their moneths a right though they grow never so big shall bring forth nothing but winde and vanity Yea they that sowe the winde shall reap the whirlwinde Let that thou hast be well gotten and thou needst not care whom thou lookst in the face thou shalt not be ashamed to speak with thine enemies in the gate Vers 38. The rams of thy fleck I have not eaten A lively picture of a careful Pastor He fats not himself but feeds the flock he seeks not theirs 2 Cor. 11. neither fleece nor flesh but them and their welfare He takes not to him the instruments of a foolish shepherd Zech. 11.15 that is forcipes mulctram that he may carry away lac lanaââ but feeds the flock of God and takes care of the cure 1 Pet. 5.2 as Peter bids not for filthy lucre but of a ready minde c. About the yeer of Christ 1260 the People and Clergie of England the Popes Ass as it was called opposed themselves to the Legat's exactions And when Rustandus the Legat alleadged that all Churches were the Popes Leonard a learned man of those times Jac. Revius de vitis Pontif. pag. 178. answered Tuitione non fruitione defensione non dissipatione Vers 39. Of my hand didst thou require it Which was against all right and reason Exod. 22.10 13. but that weighed little with this covetous cormorant God smites his fists at such dishonest gain as Balak did at Balaam in token of extreme indignation Ezek. 22.13 And lest Laban or any like should object that these were but great words The Lord would not do it They would deal well enough with the Lord for that matter he addes in the neââ verse Can thine heart endure or can thine hands be strong in the day that I shall deal with thee I the Lord have spoken it and I will do it vers 14. Vers 40. Thus was I in the day c. Non-residents do none of all this those Idol and idle shepherds they cry out as he Viâg Pan curet oves oviúmque magistros ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Odyss ⥠being herein not onely worse then this good shepherd in the text but also then Vlysses his swinehord in Homer who would not lie from his charge Vers 41. I served thee fourteen yeers c. If all this to be son-in-law to Laban what should not we do or suffer gladly to be the sons of God Vers 42. The Fear of Isaac God the proper object of fear whence he is absolutely called the Fear Psal 76.12 Bring presents to Fear that is to him to whom all dread is due The Chaâdee Paraphrast rendeth Teraphim verse 32 of this Chapter Labans fear It was an atheisticall speech of Statius Primus in orbe deos fecit Timor But it was a true saying of Varro Qui primi deorum simulachra induxeruââ errârem auxerunt metum dempserunt Vaâ as Calvin cites his words They that first brought in Images of the gods increased mens errour but took away their fear Vers 43. These daughters are my daughters c. All this is a flaunt or rather a flattery Now he seeks to curry favour where he could not exercise cruelty smoothing over the matter as if he meant them no hurt when he was meerly bridled and could not do them that hurt that he desired This is still the guise of hypocrites and false brethren they would be taken for friends and seek to build up themselves upon better mens ruines as here Laban would render Jacob suspicious to his daughters as one that would hereafter deal hardly with them if not bound by him in a covenant to his good abearance toward them Vers 44. Now therefore come thou c. A fool is full of words saith Solemon Which odious custom of his is expressed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in his vain tautologies A man cannot tell what shall be and what shall be after him who can tell Eccles 10.14 Laban likewise talks a great deal here and is up with the more and down with the less as they say A Covenant he will have a pillar he will have and a heap he will have and that heap shall be a witness and that pillar a witness and God a witness and a judge too Qui nou quid sed quantum dicat ponderare comââvit Hicâon in Apol. ad Domnion c. there 's no end of his discourse as if ' Domnio-like he cared not so much what as how much he spake The basest things are ever most plentiful History and experience tells us that some kinde of mouse breedeth an hundred and twenty young ones in one nest whereas the Lion and Elephant bears but one at once So the least worth yeelds the most words Vers 53. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father The Chaldee Paraphrast sometimes useth the word Fear or Terrour for God for the reason above-given vers 42. Hence Jacob coming from Syria
us take our journey The Hebrews note that Esau speaks in few Iacob more fully because it is the guise of proud stately persons to speak briefly and hardly to bring forth half their words The poor speaketh supplications saith Solomon Prov. 18.23 but the rich answer roughly Vers 13. If men should over-drive A pattern of a good Pastor ever to have an eye to the weak ones and so to regard all in his flock as he over-drive not any Zech. 4.10 Rom. 14.1 Who hath despised the day of small things Weak ones are to be received but not to doubtful disputations Novices are not to be put upon the austerities of Religion Matth. 9.15 Christ preached as they were able to hear Mark 4.33 Peter was specially charged to look to the lambs Ioh. 21.15 Christ bears them in his bosom and gently leads those that are with young Isai 40.11 Vers 14. Vntil I come to my lord to Seir Which yet he never meant say some it was but an officious lye saith Tostatus Others think that he did go to Seir though it be not recorded It is like he purposed to go but was otherwise warned by God as the wisemen were Matth. 2. or necessarily hindered as Saint Paul was in many of his intended journeys Vers 15. Let me finde grace That is Condescend unto me and leave none Vers 16. On his way unto Seir Whither God had sent him aforehand to plant out of Jacobs way He was grown rich desired liberty and saw that his wives were offensive to the old couple therefore he removed his dwelling to mount Seir and left better room for Jacob who perhaps had intelligence thereof from his mother by Deborah and so was the rather willing to return Vers 17. built him an house and made boothes So did his posterity at their going out of Egypt Exod. 12.37 and for a perpetual memorial thereof Tuguria a tegeâdo dicta were appointed to keep a yeerly feast of boothes or tabernacles Lev. 23.34 made of green boughs of trees in praise of God who had now vouchsafed them better houses And here one would wonder M. Th. Goodw. saith a Divine that all along during the raign of David and Solomon who gave a pattern of and built the Temple and all those succeeding reformers there should something be omitted about this feast of tabernacles till their return from Babylon Yet so it was Neb. 8.16 17. This feast was kept as 't is thought by Solomon 2 Chron. 7.8 and by these same Jews Ezra 3.4 yet not in this manner Neh. 8.14 Now they had learned by sad experience to keep it aright in dwelling in boothes by having been lately strangers out of their own land to signifie which and profess themselves strangers as this Syrian ready to perish Deut. 26.5 their father was now at Succoth was the intent of that feast and that rite of it dwelling in boothes This is intimated vers 17. They did read also out of the law c. vers 19. which till then they had not done Vers 18. Came to Shalem Or came safe and sound to Shechem as the Chaldee interprets it Vers 19. Sic pecunia a pecude For an hundred pieces of money Heb. lambs as we call Angels Jacobusses because stampt with the image of a lamb So Josh 24.32 Job 42.11 Vers 20. And he erected there aâ altar 1. As a memorial of the promises and a symbol of Gods presence 2. As an external profession of his piety 3. That he might set up God in his family and season all his worldly affairs with a rellish of Religion CHAP. XXXIV Vers 1. Went out to see the daughters of the land VVHo went abroad at this time with timbrels to play say the Hebrews kept a solemn feast saith Iosephus Hence Dinah's desire to see them But what saith S. Bernard Si tu otiosè spectas otiosè non spectaris tu curiosè spectas sed curiosiùs spectarâs Dinah's wanton gadding and gazing on others gave occasion to the adulterer to look and lust after her See the fruit of her needless jetting abroad to see fashions and novelties The name of a virgin in the Original tongues ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a house ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to hide ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to shadow ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to lay up ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a virgin and the apple of the eye Mars viâet banc visamquâ cupit potiturque cupita Ovid. Jer. 9.6 Bond. in Horat. is derived from the house hiding shadow lockt treasure apple of the eye to teach them to refrain ill company and idle gadding Young women are taught to be keepers at home Tit. 2.2 As when they come abroad among men they must be if not vailed as at Venice yet clothed and in their right mindes as that Demoniack Luk. 8.35 And this not onely in winter that they take no cold but in the summer that others take no heat from them which may rather burn them then warm them as Shechem here did Vers 2. saw her he took her and lay with her Vt vidit periit By those windows of the eyes and ears sin and death often enter thorow them the devil throws balls of wild-fire into the soul and sets all into a combustion Visus colloquium contactus osculum concubitus do too oft one succeed another See to the Cinque-ports if ye would keep out the enemy Shut up the five windows if ye would have the house the heart full of light saith the Arabian proverb Joseph's mistress cast her eyes upon him but when she laid hands on him she was the more inflamed and set agog as it were The viewing touching or familiar talking with a woman either without necessary occasion or then Time well spent by M. Ezek. Culverwel â pag. 53. without prayer for holy affection is dangerous saith a grave Divine Thou maist not look intently upon what thou maist not love Democritus the Philosopher pulled out his eyes that he might not look upon forbidden beauties This was no part of his wisdom But it shall be ours by mortification to pluck the wanton eye out of old Adam and to set it sober into the new man to get that oculum irretortum that well-ordered eye that Job had Chap. 31.1 that Joseph had that Gregory Nazianzen had who could ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã tutor his eyes that Charles the fifth Emperour of Germany had who would shut the casements Saepé clausit âenestram âe inspiceret formosiores soeminas c. Parci hist profan p. 908. when at any time he saw fair women afar off or heard that such were to pass by his window It is not safe to pry into the beauty of a fair woman Circe may inchant us the Cockatrice slay us with her sight Let her not take thee with her eye-brows saith Solomon as
ãâã ãâã ãâã of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to consume For this sin killeth the silly one Job 5.2 if it kill no other Envie and murder go coupled Rom. 1. Gal. 5. An hectick it is to it self however the same that rust is to iron blasting to corn or a moth to the cloth it breeds in It drinketh the most part of its own venom gnaws on its own heart is consumed in its own fire as Nadab and Abihâ were and like the snake in the fable licks off its own tongue as envying teeth to the file in the forge Serram aâimae Socrates called it The Saw of the soul David compares it to fire in billets of Juniper which burns vehemently and continues they say more years then one Simul peccat plectitur expedita justitia saith Petrarch Other sins have some pleasure this hath none but torment It is a very hell-above-ground and paves a way to the unpardonable sin as in Saul and the Pharisees Vers 13. And he said unto him Here am I. Children obey your parents quorum divina est dignitas saith Chrysostom Our parents are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã saith Another and Philo for this maketh the fifth Commandement a part of the first table for this is right Ephes 6.1 Blind Nature saw it to be so ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Aristot Rhetor For it is not fit saith the Philosopher to cross the gods a mans own father and his Tutor or Teacher Vers 14. Well with thy brethren and well with the flocks His first care is for the welfare of his children Many a Laban is more sollicitous of his flock then of his family Macrob. It was better being Herods swine then his son said Augustus Hawks and Hounds are better tended and tutoured in some great houses then children Or if they be taught manners and handsome behaviour that 's all that 's cared for But piety must be principally planted where Gods blessing upon posterity is expected the promise whereof is therefore specially annexed to the second Commandment Vers 15. What seekest thou This was not the Angel Gabriel as the Hebrews will have it but some courteous passenger that thus offereth himself to wandring Joseph and sets him in his way again At Athens Dion Lambin in Corn. Nep. there were publike curses appointed against such as shewed not those their errour that were out of the way See the like Deut. 27.18 Brethren saith St. James Jam. 5.19 20. if any of you do erre from the truth and one convert him Let him know that he saves a soul from death yea he pulls him out of the fire of hell saith St. Jude for they that erre from Gods Commandments Jude 23. Ex igne geheânali Pareus are cursed Psal 11.21 Vers 16. I seek my brethren He staid not at Shâch em whither his father sent him but missing of them there he seeks further till he found them This is true obedience whether to God or man when we look not so much to the letter of the law as to the mind of the Law-maker Apices juris non sunt jus Vers 17. He found them in Dothan That is in defection So found our Saviour his lost sheep in utter defection both of doctrine and manners some four or fewer that looked for the consolation of Israel Vers 18. They conspired against him So did the husbandmen against Christ Luk. 20.14 This is tâe heir say they c. The word is by one rendred They craftily conspired The Greek hath it malignantly craft and cruelty go usually together in the Churches adversaries The Devil lends them his seven heads to plot and his ten horns to push poor Joseph that dreads no danger Vers 19. Behold this dreamer This Captain-dreamer or this Architect of dreams A lewd scoffe and withal a cruel calumny Envy so it may gall or kill cares not how true or false it be that it alledgeth it usually aggravates the matter beyond truth to do mischief as here Their hearts were so big-swollen with spite and spleen ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that they could not call him by his name but this dreamer So the Pharisees called our Saviour this fellow And the Jews sought him at the feast Joh. 7.11 and said Where is He they could not find in their hearts to say Where is Jesus as Saul asked not for David but for the son of Jesse by way of contempt Christ tells his Disciples that men shall in hatred of them cast out their names for evil Sic apud Latinos dicebautur capitis dimiâutiouem pati qui ex albo a censoribus expungebantâr for his sake Luk. 6.22 Their persons should be proscribed and their names expunged as unworthy to breathe on the common aâr That like as we give names to new-born-babes so when we cannot afford to mention a mans name it shews we wish him out of the world Nomine Christianorum deleto qui Remp. exercebant So those bloody tyrants of the primitive times sounded the triumph before-hand and engraved the victory they never got upon Pillars of Marble Vbicunque invenitur nomen Calvini deleatur saith the Index expurgatorius After Stephen Brune the Martyrs death his adversaries commanded it to be cryed Act. Mon. fol. 820. that none should make any more mention of him under pain of heresie So in Queen Maries dayes one Tooly hanged for fellony for defying the Pope was after his death suspended and excommunicated and strict charge given that no man should eat or drink with him or if any met him by the way he should not bid him good morrow Ibidem 1439. or call him by his name It was not for nothing surely that our Saviour in token of hearty reconciliation requires men to salute their enemies and to call them friendly by their names Matth. 5.47 Vers 20. And we will say So they consult to cover their murder with a lie One sin admitted makes way for another He that hath fallen down one round of Hells ladder knowes not where he shall stop till he break his neck at the bottome Vers 21. And he delivered him out of their bands Josephus relates his Arguments whereby he prevailed with them As 1. That God would surely see them 2. Their father would extreamly grieve at it 3. That Ioseph was but a child and their brother 4. That they would bring upon themselves the guilt of innocent blood c. It was happy they hearkned to him God would have it so And he will ever have one Reuben or another to deliver his It is not in vain for some one to stand for God and his people against many adversaries When the Pharisees had destined our Saviour to death Ioh. 7. Nicodemus though he had none in the Counsel to second him spoke in his behalf ver 51. and for that time frustrated their bloody intention See the like Ier. 26.24 Vers 22. Shed no blood Every drop of it hath a tongue to cry for
vengeance Well might K. James say that if God did leave him to kill a man he would think God did not love him David Gods darling falling into that crimson sin carried the bruise of that fall with him to his grave Woe to those Italians Sands his Relation of West Relig. Sect. 13. that blaspheme oftner then swear and murther more then revile or slander Vers 23. They stript Joseph out of his coat For 1. It was an eye-sore to them 2. Therewith they would colour their cruelty And this whiles they were doing Ioseph used many intreaties for himself but they would not hear him Gen. 42.21 Reuben also pleaded hard for the child but all to no purpose Gen. 42.22 their tender mercies were cruelties Vers 24. They cast him into a pit Where they meant he should pine and perish with hunger which is a more cruel death Druso adcò alimenta subducta ut tomentum a culcitra tentaverit mandere Tacit. then to dye by the sword Lam. 4.5 Thus dyed Drusus by the command of Tiberius meat being denyed him he had eaten the stuffings of his bed I have heard of a certain Bishop saith Melancthon who having cast ten men into a dungeon for their religion sake kept them there so long without all manner of meat that they devoured one another Joh. Manl. loc com 124. Vers 25. And they sate down to eat To weep for their wickedness they should have sate down rather But the Devill had drawn a hard hoof over their hearts that either they felt no remorse of what they had done for present or else they sought to ease themselves of it by eating and merry-making They drank wine in bowles but no man was sorry for the affliction of Joseph Nay perhaps Amos 6.8 they had so tyred themselves with making away their brother that they were even spent again and stood in need of some refreshing The good providence of God was in it howsoever that they should there sit down till the Merchants came by from Gilead which was a Mart for Merchants Ier. 8.22 22.6 All things co-operate for good to them that love God Rom. 8.28 Vers 26. What profit is it c. Cui bono said that old Judge in Rome Cic. orat pro C. Rabir. This is a song that most men will listen to As the Jassians in Strabo delighted with the musick of an excellent Harper ran all away when once they heard the Market-bell ring save a deaf old man that could take little delight in the Harpers ditties But it were to be wisht that whenever we are tempted to sin we would ask our selves this question What profit is it c. Vers 27. For he is our brother and our flesh This consideration should be as the Angels call to Abraham to stay our hand from striking another 1. That he is our brother in respect of God for have we not all one father hath not one God created us Mal. 3.10 Next that he is our flesh in regard of our first parents Act. 17.26 Esay 58.7 Vers 28. For twenty peeces of silver A goodly price not all out the price of a slave Exod. 21.32 Here they sold the just one for silver Pirke R. Eliez ch 38. and the poor for a pair of shooes Amos 2.6 The Hebrews tell us that of these twenty shekels every of the ten brethren had two to buy shooes for their feet And they brought Ioseph into Egypt Little knowing what a price they had in their hand even the Jewel of the world and him that should one day be Lord of Egypt The Saints for their worth are called Princes in all lands Many righteous are many Kings Compare Matth. 13.17 with Luk. 10.24 Psal 45. Kings in righteousness though somewhat obscure ones as Melchizedek Heb. 7. They are called the world Joh. 3.16 every creature Mark 16.16 all things Col. 1.20 Gods portion Deut. 32.9 the dearly beloved of his soul Jer. 12.7 a royal Diadem in the hand of Iehovah Esay 62.3 This the cock on the dunghill the Midianitish muck-worms take no notice of They could see no comliness in Christ though the fairest of ten thousand nothing more then a despicable man Joh. 6. How can this man give us his flesh to eat God had hid him in whom all the treasures of worth and wisdom were hid under the Carpenters son Colos 2. This pearl was covered with a shell-fish so are all Gods precious people for most part abjects in the worlds eye their glory is within their life is hid they are great heirs but as yet in their non-age Kings but in a strange country heads destinated to the diadem but this the world knows not 1 Ioh. 3.1 Let it suffice us that God and all that can spiritually discern know it and so shall others as Ioseph's brethren did him in his bravery For when Christ our life shall appear we shall appear with him in glory Vers 30. The child is not and I c In an old Manuscript I met with these words thus pathetically rendred Heu quid agam periit puer ille puer puer ille Reuben was the eldest and therefore thought he should be most blamed Besides he had not forgot how highly his father had been lately offended with him for his detestable incest Vers 32. Know now whether it be thy sons coat One Philip Bishop of Beau-vieu in France in the time of our Richard the first being a martial man and much annoying our borders was by King Richard in a skirmish happily taken and put in prison The Bishop hereupon complained to the Pope who wrote in the behalf of his son as an Ecclesiasticall person c. The King sent to the Pope the armour he was taken in with these words engraven thereon Know whether this be thy sons coat or not Heyl. Geog. pag. 108. Which the Pope viewing sware it was rather the coat of a son of Mars then a son of the Church and so bad the King use his pleasure Vers 33. It is my sons coat c. The Lord may well say as much of hypocrites Their outward from of godliness is the garb of my sons and daughters but some evil spirit hath devoured them who use it only in hypocrisie They are fair professors but foul sinners And when the filthy sinner goes damâed to hell what shall become of the zealous professor As the Churl said to the Bishop of Cullen praying in the Church like a Bishop but as he was a Duke going guarded like a tyrant Whither thinkest thou the Bishop shall go when the Duke shall be damned Vers 34. Mourned for his son many dayes Puerilitas est periculorum pelagus Few live to be old for one evil beast or another that devours them As for one apple that hangs till it falls many are endgel'd down or gathered off the tree We should learn to bury children and friends whiles yet alive by acting their death to our selves aforehand
her not for the revenge she took was private and she should have sought a godly seed by lawful Wedlock and not by abominable Incest Discontent is the mother of much mischief as it was in Judas Haman c. Vers 15. He thought her to be a harlot Because she sate in an open place first In bivio saith Junius where there is liberty of looking every way the guise and garb of harlots Prov. 7.12 and 9.14 Ezek. 16.24 25. Next she sate covered Whores were not altogether so shameless then as now they shun not to be seen with bold and bare faces brests and wrists Such a sight may soon enflame a Judah Hos 2.2 Let her take away her fornication from her face and her adultery from between her brests laid out and painted or patched nay occasion a Job to break his covenant Job 31.1 The Ivie-bush sheweth there is wine within which though no evil follow upon it yet the party shall be damned saith Hierome because she offered poison to others though none would drink it See Isai 3.16 Because she had covered her face Some read Because she had coloured or painted her face But that he knew her not by her voice one would wonder Surely he was so set upon the satisfying of his lust that he minded nothing else Lust is blinde and if the blinde lead the blinde c. Vers 16. Let me come in unto thee This is recorded 1. To cut the comb of those âââd Jews that glory so much of their pedigree and name of Juâah How could they say We be not born of fornication Joh. 8.41 2. To minde us that there is no Church to be found on earth without blot and blemish 3. That we may consider and admire the utter abasement of our Lord Christ who would be born not onely of holy but of impure parentage And this to shew 1. That he borrowed no grace or glory from his progenitors and as he needed not to be ennobled so neither was he disparaged by them 2. That by his purity and passion all our sins are expiated and done away like as the sun cleareth whatsoever filth is found in the air or on the earth Three women onely are mentioned in his Genealogie Rahab the harlot Matth. 1. Bathsheba the adulteress and this incestuous Tamar to shew his readiness to receive the most notorious offenders that come unto him with bleeding and believing hearts 1 Tim. 1.15 Vers 17. 1 Tim. 6.9 Wilt thou give me The love of money breeds noisome lusts Harlots are sordida poscinummia as Plautus hath it Vers 18. And he gave it her and came in unto her He gave her whatsoever she desired as the manner of such men is and although he committed incest ignorantly yet not through ignorance but through heat of lust which is bruitish and boistrous burning as an oven whence the Greeks have named it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ardere Plato appetitum assimilat equo qui fit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and Plato compares it to a head-strong horse Vers 20. By the hand of his friend His broker Fie upon such Adullamites Such cole-carriers as this saith One be good to scowre an hot oven withal Such another was Jonadab to Amnon How much better that Heathen that answered Amicus tibi sum sed usque ad aras Vers 21. Where is the harlot The holy whore as the Hebrew word importeth such as committed that filthiness under a pretence of holiness Such among the Heathens were the lewd worshippers of Priapus this is thought to be Baal-peor and Venus at Cyprus where the maids in honour of their goddess prostituted their chastity to all that would once a yeer So in their Lupercals and Bacchanals at Rome in quibus discurrebatur ad publicos concubitus for like reason Of such unclean persons even by Gods house we read 2 Kings 23.8 and of such as sacrificed with harlots Hos 4.14 who brought their hire for a vow called therefore the price of a salt bitch Deut. 23.17 18. Vah propûdium There was no harlot in this place Few places can say so Sanè hercle bomo voluptati obsequens Fuit dum vixit Terent Heyl. Geog. pag. 96. Every house in Egypt had a dead corpse in it ãâã too many houses here have such as living in pleasure are dead while they live 1 Tim. 5.6 Of this sort was that Arlet a Skinners daughter in Normandy whose nimblenefs in her dance made Duke Robert enamoured c. On her he begat our William the Conqueror In spite to whom and disgrace to his mother the English called all whores Harlets But who can read without detestation that in Rome a Jewess may not be admitted into the stews Espencae de Continentia lib. 3. cap. 4. unless she will be first baptized as Espencaeus an honest Papist complaineth Vers 23. Lest we be shamed His care was more to shun shame then sin How much better that Heathen Sâtis nobis persuasum esse debet Nihil tamen avarè nibil injustè nibil libidinosè nibil incontinenter esse faciendum Tull. Offic. Siscirem homines ignoraturos Deos ignoscitures tamen propter peccati turpitudinem peccare âon vellem Sen. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Auson c. This we should be fully perswaded of saith he that although we could conceal the matter from all both gods and men yet we should do nothing covetously nothing unjustly nothing against chastity or common honesty Though I were sure saith another Philosopher that all men would be ignorant of what evil I do and that all the gods would forgive it me yet for the filthiness that is ân sin I would not commit it Plato condemneth the Poets for saying that it were no matter though mon did commit sin so they could hide it Si non castè sultem cautè How much better the Christian Poet Turpe quid acturus te sine testeâ time Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight though none else saw thee saith God to David 2 Sam. 12.9 And David in his sorrowful confession saith as much to God upon the matter Psal 51.4 Against thee thee onely have I sinned viz. in respect of the secrecy of my sin therefore it is added And done this evil in thy sight Behold I sent this kid c. He comforts himself Quasi dieat Ego steti promissis hoc mihi sufficit in the loss of his pledge that yet he had been as good as his word but not a word we hear of sorrow for his sin which if he can but keep secret he rests secure This is a piece of natural atheism and it is general Vers 24. Bring her forth and let her be burnt He was willing to be rid of her Dio. lib. 57. Verba Judae de vivicomburio Thamarae non sunt Judicis sed Accusatoris Alsted for fear of losing his son Shelah and therefore passeth a precipitate and savage sentence to
But this had been to kill a fly as one said upon a mans forehead with a great beetle Some think they attempted the chastity of Pharaoh's daughters Such a thing as this made Augustus so angry against Ovid. But most likely it was for some conspiracy such as was that of Bigthan and Teresh Esth 4. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Thucyd. The present government is for most part alwayes grievous to some discontented great Ones especially who know not when they are well but are ready to drive a good Prince out of the world and then would dig him up again if they could as the swain said of Dionisius Dionisium refodio But what said Alphonsus that renowned King to this in a speech to the Popes Embassadour He professed that he did not so much wonder at his Courtiers ingratitude to him who had raised sundry of them from mean to great estates as at his own to God whom by every sin we seek to depose nay to murther for Peccatum est Deicidium Rom. 1.30 with 1 Joh. 3.15 Vers 2. And Pharaoh was wroth c. That had been enough to have broke their hearts as a frown from Augustus did Cornelius Gallus and another from Queen Elizabeth Camd. Elizab. fol. 406. did Lord Chancellour Hatton Vt mala nulla feram nisi nudam Caesaris iram Nuda parùm nobis Caesaris ira mali est saith Ovid. And again Omne trahit secum Caesaris ira malum Vers 3. And he put them in ward c. See the slippery estate of Courtiers to day in favour to morrow in disgrace as Haman Sejanus whom the same Senatours conducted to the prison who had accompanied him to the Senate They which sacrificed unto him as to their god which kneeled down to adore him now scoffed at him seeing him drag'd from the Temple to the goale from supream honour Tacit. to extream ignominy His greatest friends were most passionate against him c. they would not once look at him as men look not after Sun-dials longer then the Sun shines upon them The place where Joseph was bound Here was a wheel within a wheel Ezek. 1. a sweet providence that these obnoxious Officers should be sent to Joseph's prison Vers 4. And the Captain of the guard c. This was Potiphar probably who by this time saw his own error and Joseph's innocency yet kept him still in prison perhaps to save his wives honesty Truth is the daughter of Time it will not alwayes lye hid ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ab ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Caseus in Ethic. Splendet cum obscuratur vincit cum opprimitur Hinc ut pacis templum in media urbc extruxerunt olim Romani ita Veritatis statuam in suis urbibus olim coluerunt Aegyptii Vers 5. And they dreamed c. Of dreams natural and supernatural see the Notes on Chap. 20. vers 3. Vers 6. And behold they were sad Or angry and yet knew not how to help themselves But carnal men disgest their passions as horses do their choler by chewing on the bit Pope Boniface being clapt up prisoner by Cardinal Columnus tore his own flesh with his own teeth Revius and dyed raving Bajazet the great Turk could not be pacified in three dayes after he was taken by Tamberlane Turk hist fol. 220. but as a desperate man still sought after death and called for it Vivere noluit morinesciit as it is said of that Bishop of Salisbury Roger Bishop of Salisbury prisoner in King Steven's dayes Vers 7. And he asked Pharaoh's officers c. Vincula qui sonsit didicit succurrere vinctis Josephs tender heart soon earned toward them upon the sight of their sadness and unasked he offers himself to them as our Saviour did to the widow of Naim and to those two doubting Disciples Luk. 24.17 S. Cyprians compassion is remarkable Cum singulis pectus meum copulo maeroris funeris pondera luctuosa participo cum plangentibus plango cum deflentibus defleo c. I weep with those that weep and am like-affected as if like-afflicted Vers 8. And there is no Interpreter The superstitious Egyptians did curiously observe their dreams and commonly repaired to the sooth-sayers for an interpretation Gen. 41.8 Joseph calleth these Idolaters from their superstitious vanities to the living God as Esay did those of his time Chap. 8.19 20. and Daniel those of his Chap. 2.28 5.18 He had consulted with God by prayer and with the Scripture which revealed sufficient direction to him Ezek. 31.1 to 12. and so soon dispatched the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzars dream Dan. 4.10 So Joseph here he suffered troubles as an evil doer even unto bonds 2 Tim. 2.9 but the Word of God is not bound Vers 9. Behold a vine was before me God of his infinite grace and wisdome gives men such signs as excellently answer and agree to the thing thereby signified Those two Sacraments of the New Testament for instance which the Greek Fathers in the Apostles sense Heb. 9.24 call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signs and symbols of better things signified and sealed up thereby to the Believer The Lord saith Venerable Beza knowing well the vanity of our natures prone to idolatry hath appointed us two Sacraments only and those consisting also of most simple signs and rites For signs he gave us water bread and wine The rites are no more then to sprinkle eat drink Nempe nemiscri mortales in istorum mysteriorum usu in rebus terrâstrthus haereant obstupâscant Bez. Confess things of most common use and a very little of these too that men may not too much dote on the elements or external acts in the Sacrament but be wholly raised up to the mystery and by faith mount up to Christ thereby set forth and exhibited and fetching him down as it were that we may feed on him Hence the outward sign is no further used then may serve to mind us of the inward grace The Minister also stirrs up the people to look higher then to what they see with Sursùm corda Sacerdos parat fratrum mentes dicendo Sursum cerda Cyprian Lift up your hearts A thing in use among the Primitive Christians Vers 12. The three branches are three days That is they signifie three days So Chap. 41.26 The seven kine are seven years So this is my body that is this signifyeth my body saith Zuinglius after Augustine and Ambrose Or Hun. de Sacram cap. 14. Hâm ââad 3. Victimas quibus soe era sancieba tur ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã i.e. soe âera voâât Vngil sallere dextram dixiâââ i.e. fidem jusjurandum quod datis dextris concipitur this is the sign and figure of my body saith Calvin after Augustine and Tertullian whatsoever Bellarmine and Hunnius prate to the contrary It is an ordinary Metonimy whereby the name of a thing signified is given to the sign for the analogy that is betwixt
authority of the Scripture as Pareus here noteth Vers 11. If it must be so now c. Perplexity is blind and untractable Let the mind but settle and it will soon yeeld to a reasonable motion if seasonable especially as this of Iudah was for besides the weightiness of his words necessity now spake for him that most powerfull Oratour Ex carmine vel melodia vel modulatione vel dentque Psalme Esay 65.8 _____ Take of the best fruits De laudatissimis rebus saith Junius Of the verse or melody saith the Original that is of the most praise-worthy fruits such as deserve to be commended in verse and sung of to the praise of God the Giver A little balme and a little honey Great men regard not the worth of the gift but the will of the giver If I had had more ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Aelian I would have given more said that Greek to Augustus and it was accepted The poor Persian that met Artaxerxes with a handfull of water out of the river Cyrus went away well rewarded So did the gardener that presented the Duke of Burgundy with a rape-root which when the master of his house observed he presented his Lord with a brave palfrey looking for like liberality but was disappointed Vers 12. And take double-money Invaluerat enim fames vers 1. ideoque annonae pretium auctum erat saith Junius It went hard with the inhabitants of Samaria when an asses head was worth four pounds Peradventure it was an over-sight Which called for restitution we must buy and sell by that standard Mat. 7.12 Whatever ye would that men should do unto you do you the same to them Now no man would be cozened Woe be to him that cryes Qui nescit dissimulare nescit vivere caveat emptor He that cannot lye cannot live c. 1 Thess 4.8 God is the avenger of all such Vers 14. And God Almighty give you mercy Heb. give you bowells the seat of mercy Here God not only grants Jacob's prayer but fulfills his counsel gives him the very particular he prayes for ver 30. Joseph's bowels yerned upon Benjamin If I be bereaved I am bereaved This is like that of Esther committing her self and her attempt to God Esth 4.16 If I perish I perish and like that of those Saints in the Acts The Will of the Lord be done which is saith One Vox verè Christianorum Iacob prayes for Benjamins safety but will be content his own will be crossed so that Gods Will may be accomplished This is the right way of praying this is to draw near with à true heart Heb. 10.22 Hypocrites seek God only out of self-love which is as little pleasing to him as if a woman should strive to content to her husband not out of love to him but to another Vers 16. Slay and make ready Heb. slay a slaughter of beasts as at feasts is usual Sen. Quaere nunc cur subitò moriamur saith Seneca quia mortibus vivimus What wonder we dye suddenly that live by the death of others Shall dine with me at noon After serlous business dispatcht in the morning Aristotle disposed of the morning in studying Philosophy Of the afternoon in Eloquence or whatever else he made his recreation Vers 18. And the men were afraid Where no fear was but that an ill conscience haunted them Levit. 26.36 and so the sound of a shaken leaf put them into a fright As every body hath its shadow so hath every sin its fear and fear torment 1 Ioh. 4.18 Vers 20. O sir we came indeed c. We must not lye wretchlesly under suspition of dishonesty but carefully clear our selves as there is opportunity Vers 23. Peace be to you fear not The feeble-minded must be comforted 1 Thess 5.14 not crushed or cashiered as the wounded Deer is by the whole heard David in the spirit of Prophecy pronounceth a bitter curse upon those that persecuted him whom God hath smitten Psal 69 26. and talked to the grief of those whom he had wounded Ioseph's Steward had learned better things of his master Vers 25. And they made ready the Present For a mans gist makes roomth for him and bringeth him before great men Prov. 18.16 So it doth also before God who looks for a Prsent Psal 72.10 and loves to hear from us Praise waiteth for thee Psal 65.1 O God in Sion and unto thee shall the vow be performed Vers 29. God be gracious unto thee my son Governours should temper clemency with severity so as to be at once loved feared Mercy is the brightest star in the sphere of Majesty Q. Elizabeth next to the bible took special delight in Seneca's tract de Clementia Vers 30. And Joseph made haste c. He hid his affection as a wise and valiant man till he had once more beaten vehemently upon their guilty consciences and so brought them to a more sound and serious sight of their sin that they might repent and make sure work for their souls Vers 31. Set on bread Which the Latines call Panis of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã either because all covet it or because whatever else the chear be Isidor l. 20. men alwayes set on bread Vers 32. Because the Egyptians might not eat c. Such was their pride and superstition Such was the hatred between the Jews and Samaritans as is little at this day between Papists and Protestants If a Protestant give thanks at his meat though this chaseth not a Catholick from his dinner which were to his loss yet he must forbear to say Amen to it As on the other side some Romane Catholicks will not say grace though it be at their own table when a Protestant is present Sand's his Relation of West Relig. Sect. 32. thinking it better to leave God unserved then that a Protestant joyn in serving him They hold us no better then dogs worse then Turks or Jews damned Hereticks cursed caytiffes unworthy to live on Gods ground fit for nothing but fire and fagot Certain it is that whosoever in this new faith and service hath ended this life is in hell most certainly saith Bristow in his 36. Motive It cannot be that a Lutheran so dying can escape the damnation of hell saith Coster the Jesuite If I lye let me be damned with Lucifer Coster resp ad Enchirid. Osiand propos 8. Are not Gods Hebrews an utter abomination now to these Romish Egyptians Vers 33. And they sate before him c. He marshalled them in their right rank and degree and this amazed them He made them an absolute feast such as Varro describes with these conditions Si belli conveniant homines si temporis sit habita ratio In veter fragm so locus sit non ingratus si non negligens apparatus This feast is of that sort in use among the Romanes that were called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Val. Max. lib. 2. cap. 1. to which
were invited none but kinsfolks to continue love and seek reconciliation where had been any breach Vers 34. And he took and sent messes So did Cyrus in Xenophon to such as he favoured But Benjamins messe c. Love will creep where it cannot go and good blood will never belie it self Ambrose makes it a type and token of S. Pauls excellent parts and gifts above the rest of the Apostles c. CHAP. XLIV Vers 1. And he commanded the Steward PEccata extrinsecus radere non intrinsecus eradicare fictio est saith Bernard Humiliation for sin must be sound and soaking or else it is to no purpose Hypocrites hang down their heads as a bulrush Esay 58.5 whiles some storm of trouble is upon them but in a fair sun-shine-day they lift up their heads as upright as ever Something they do about sin but nothing against it As artificial juglers seem to wound but do not or as Players seem to thrust themselves through their bodies but the sword passeth only through their clot hes This Joseph well knew and therefore that his brethren might make sure-work and have their hearts leavened and sowred as Davids was Psal 73.21 with the greatness of godly sorrowââ that they might mourn as men do in the death of their dearest friends Zach. 10.12 that their sorrow might be according to God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 2 Cor. 7.10 deep and daily like that sorrow 2 Sam. 13.36 that waters of Marah might slow from their eyes and their hearts fall asunder in their bosomes like drops of water he puts them to one more grievous fright and agony before he makes himself known unto them And this was an high point of heavenly wisdom in him For had he presently entertained and embraced them as his brethren they would sooner have gloried of their wickedness then repented of it Neither would a little repentance serve for a sin so ingrained and such a long time layn in Their hearts were wofully hardened by the deceitfulness of sin their consciences festered and had it been fit for him to scarfe their bones before they were set and lap up their sores before they were searcht Repent ye saith S. Peter to those that had crucified Christ and were now pricked in their hearts Act. 2.37 38. He saith not Be of good cheer your sins are forgiven now that you feel some remorse for them but stay a while upon the work of repentance and be thorough in it leave not circumcising your hearts till you finde them as sore as the Shechemites felt their bodies the third day And this the Apostle said to such as already felt the nailes wherewith they had crucified Christ sticking fast in their own hearts and piercing them with horrour Take we heed of laying cordials upon full and foul stomacks the feeble minded only are to be comforted such as are in danger to be swallowed up with grief But some mens staines are so inveterate that they will hardly be got out till the cloth be almost rub'd to pieces Vers 2. He did according to the word Servus est nomen officii ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A servant is not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã one that moveth absolutely of himself saith Aristotle but the masters instrument and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã wholly his Such was this servant of Ioseph and such should we all be to God Vers 4. Wherefore have ye rewarded evill for good This blind Nature saw to be the summe of all sins Ingratum dixeris omnia dixeris Some vices are such as Nature smiles upon though frown'd at by divine justice not so this Hercules is much condemned by the heathens for killing his schoolmaster Linus Alexander for doing the like by his friend Clitus Nero by his tutour Seneca Muleasses King of Tunes is cryed out on Turk hist fol. 642. for torturing to death the Manifet and Mesnar by whose meanes especially he had aspired to the kingdome Philip King of Macedony caused a souldier of his that had offered unkindness to one that had kindly entertained him to be branded in the forehead with these two words Hospes ingratus Manl. loc com Unthankfulness is a monster in nature a solecisme in manners a paradox in Divinity a parching winde to dry up the fountain of further favour Benjamines five-fold-mess was no small aggravation to the theft here laid to his charge Vers 5. And whereby indeed he divineth Iunius reads it thus Et nonne ipse experimento certò didicenit per illum quales sitis q. d. Hath he not by this fact of yours found out your fraud and false dealing whereby ye have hitherto sought to delude him Is it not plain ye are spyes and naughty-packs The Ierusalemy Targum seemeth to tax Iesoph here fona sooth-sayer or at least a seeker to such which God forbad Deut. 18.10 Calvin also thinks he did grievously offend in pretending to be such an one and did impiously profane the gift of the Spirit in professing himself a Magician But pace tanti viri this is too heavy a censure and a forcing of the text faith Iunius All that Ioseph did was to sift his brethren and to try their affection to Benjamin And if he took upon him to be a Diviner he did it not seriously but made use of that conceit the vulgar had of him like as Saint Paul made use of that superstitious custome among the Corinthians 1 Cor. 15.29 Sealig Not. of baptizing over the dead to prove the resurrection Vers 7. God forbid that thy servants should do Rapine and robbery was ever condemned amongst very heathens and severely punished Tamerlane in his expedition against Bajazet took such order with his souldiers that none were injured insomuch that if a souldier had but taken an apple or other thing of like value from any man he dyed for it One of his souldiers having taken a little milk Turk hist fol. 313. from a country-woman and she thereof complaining he ript up his stâmâck where when he found the milk he contented the woman and sent her away who had otherwise dyed for her false accusation Vers 9. With whomsoever it be found c. Innocency is bold but withalli had need to be wise for fear of further inconvenience See notes on Chap. 31.32 Vers 12. And he searched and began at the eldest The better to avoid suspition for he knew well enough where to find the cup. So Ionadab Amnons carnall friend but spirituall enemy could tell David that not all the Kings sons as the report ran but Amnon only was slain by Absolon The devill also when he hath conveyed his cups into our sack his goods into our houses as the Russians use to deal by their enemies Heyl. Geog. pag. 243. and then accuse them of theft his in jections into our hearts if we fancy them never so little will accuse us to God and claim both them and us too for his own And the cup was found in Benjamins
sack Sacco soluto appârâit argentum saith Ambrose When God comes to turn the bottome of the bag upward all will out Sin not therefore in hope of secrecy on the fair day at the last day all packs shall be opened Vers 13. Then they rent their clothes In token of the renting of their hearts for their sins which now had found them out and they their sins for misery is the best art of memory being like to that helve Elisha cast into the waters which fetcht up the iron in the bottome Conscience is like a looking-glass which while it lyeth all covered with dust sheweth not a man his naturall visage but when it is wiped then it makes the least blemish appear Never till now could we hear these men confess Now what shall we say unto my Lord what shall we speak saith Iudah the Confessour so his name signifieth Or how shall we cleer our selves God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants Not this that they were now charged with for why should they be false to their own innocency but their cruelty to Ioseph and other like foul offences for the which God in his just judgment had now brought them to condigne punishment How could Ioseph hold when he heard all this and not cry out as Paul did in a like case to his disconsolate Corinthians Though I made you sorry with a letter with a cup I do not repent though I did repent for I perceive that this same epistle cup hath made you sorry though it were but for a season Now I rejoyce not that ye were made sorry but that ye sorrowed to repentance For ye were made sorry after a godly manner that ye might receive dammage by us in nothing For behold this self-same thing that ye forrowed after a godly sort what carefulness it hath wrought in you yea what apology yea what indignation yea what fear ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Satisfaction saith the old Interpreter It may be he meant a new life to make amends thereby to the Congregation offended saith Bradford Serm. of Repent 14. Dan. hist fol. 51. yea what vehement desire yea what zeal yea what revenge in all things ye have approved your selves to be clear in this matter Vers 14. They fell before him on the ground Humble submission they knew if any thing would make their peace and procure their pardon Sic ventos vincit dùm se submittit arundo It is no hoysing up sail in a storm no standing before a Lion c. William the Conquerour often pardoned rebels and received them into favour as he held submission satisfactory for the greatest offences and sought not to defeat them but their enterprizes Vers 15. What deed is this that ye have done As Joseph here so Christ sometimes personates an adversary when he intends most love _____ Wot ye not that such a man as I c. If that be true that some conceive of Joseph that he here and ver 5. made himself a sooth-sayer he was certainly too blame The lip of excellenoy becometh not a fool saith Solomon but much less doth lying beseem a worthy man That is It is naught when wicked men will be using gracious words to seem religious But it is far worse when good men will use the fashion of the wicked that they may seem impious Vers 16. What shall we say c. An ingenuous and penitent confession joyned with self-loathing and self-judging teaching us how to confess to God Sit simplex humilis confessio pura fidelis Atque frequens nuda discreta et lubens verecunda Integra secreta lachrymabilis accelerata Fortis accusans se punire parata These sixteen conditions were composed in these verses by the Schoolmen And such a Confession is the spunge that wipes away all the blots and blurs of our lives 1 Ioh. 1.7 Never any confessed his sin in this sort to God but went away with his pardon Wot ye what quoth King Henry the eighth to the Duke of Suffolk concerning Stephen Gardiner when he had confessed his Popery for which he should have been the morrow after sent to the Tower he hath confessed himself as guilty in this matter as his man and hath with much sorrow and pensiveness Act. Mon. fol. 1175. sued for my pardon And you know what my nature and custome hath been in such matters evermore to pardon them that will not dissemble but confess their fault How much more will God Vers 17. But the man in whose hand c. This was the white that Joseph shot at in all this interdealing with them to try the truth of their love to Benjamin and whether they would stick to him in his utmost perill God hath like ends in afflicting his children Ezek. 21.21 The King of Babylon stood at the parting way at the head of the two wayes to use divination So doth God he knows that the best divining of men is at the parting-way there every dog will shew to what master he belongs God shoots at his servants for triall as men shoot bullets against armour of proof not to hurt it but to praise it Vers 18. For ihou art even as Pharaoh This he saith the better to insinuate for great men love to hear of their honour and are tickled with their great titles P. Jovius Paulus Jovius writing of Pompey Colomia Bishop of Reatino saith that when the said Bishop by the means of many great personages was reconciled again and brought into favour with the Pope whom he had formerly offended and that when they signified so much unto him in a short letter in whose superscription Bishop of Reatino by chance was left out he receiving the letter threw it away and bad the messenger go seek some other Pompeio to whom the letter was directed Vers 30. Seeing that his life is bound up God loved his Son Jesus infinitely more then Iacob did Benjamin he exalts his love far above that of any earthly parent which is but a spark of his slame a drop of his Ocean And yet he freely parted with him to certain and shameful death for our sakes God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son c. This is a Sic without a Sicut there is nothing in nature whereby to resemble it Vers 32. For thy servant became surety So did Christ for us and therefore he must acquit us of all our sins ere he could go to his father Loe herein lyes the strength of that reason Joh. 16.10 He shall convince the world of righteousnesse because I go to the Father Vers 34. For how shall I go up c. Here love ascends as fit it should Iudah a man wise and well-spoken prefers his fathers life before his own liberty He could not live to see the death of his aged father B. Fulgos lib. 5. A certain Citizen of Toledo being condemned to dye his son ceased not with prayers and tears to intreat that
nothing out of his way to go thither and seek God A whet is no let a bait by the way no hinderance the oyling of the wheel furthers the journey As it is Tithe and be rich so Pray and be prosperous But say it should be some prejudice Is it not wisdom 2 Chron. 25.9 to make Gods service costly to us Cannot he make us amends give us much more then the hundred talents Is any thing lost by his service Prayer furthers thrift The night of Popery will shame many of us who in their superstitious zeal had this proverb Masse and meat hindereth no mans thrift The very Heathen offered sacrifices when they took journeys as Festus witnesseth Fest lib. 14. Vers 2. Here am I. Josephus tells us he said who is there He seems never seriously to have read the Bible Lib. 1. Antiq. but only in transcursu quasi aliud agens Quod vere ad bistoâiam Vet. Test cam suse et magis ex vulgi intellectu in Josepho inveniunt Barcl paraen Is not that then a proper excuse for the Church of Rome her sacriledg in robbing the vulgar of the holy Scriptures that she allows them to read Josephus where they may find the history of the old Testament more plainly and plentifully set forth then in the Bible But Barclay that made this apology was of the minde belike of Walter Mapes sometimes Arch-Deacon of Oxford who relating the gross simony of the Pope for confirming the election of Reginald bastard son to Iocelin Bishop of Sarum into the Sea of Bathe concludes his narration thus D. Sanderson Sit tamen domina materque nostra Roma baculus in aqua fractus et absit credere quae vidimus Howbeit far be it from us to believe our own eyes Vers 3. Fear not to go down to Egypt Cause of fear he might see sufficient But God would have him not to look downward on the rushing and roaring streams of miseries that ran so swiftly under him and his posterity but stedfastly fasten on his power and providence who was his God and the God of his father He loves to perfect his strength in our weakness as Eliab would have the sacrifice covered with water that Gods power might the more appear in the fire from heaven Vers 4. I will go down with thee That was as good security as could be Pârge contra tempestatem forti animo Caesarem fers fortunam Caesaris For if Caesar could say to the fearful Ferry-man in a terrible storm Be of good chear thou carriest Caesar and therefore canst not miscarry how much more may he presume to be safe that hath God in his company A child in the dark fears nothing whiles he hath his father by the hand And I will also surely bring thee up again So saith God to his dying people when they are to enter into the grave He will surely bring them back from the jawes of death to the joyes of eternal life Yea by rotting he will refine their frail bodies as the Goldsmith melts a picture of gold or bruised peece of plate that 's out of fashion to make it up better And Ioseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes An ancient and an honourable custome in use among the Romanes also as Pliny tells us The eyes are commonly open lift up to heaven when men are adying unless they be such as that Pope was who breathing out his last Joh. 24. Sic Benedic 9. Alexander 6. Leo 10. Bell. de arte moriendi lib. 2. cap. 10. said Now I shall know whether the soul be immortal or not Or that desperate Advocate in the Court of Rome mentioned by Bellarmine who dying used these words Ego propero ad inferos neque est ut aliquid pro me agat Deus But Iacob had hope in his death and Ioseph had the honour of closing up those eyes that shall shortly see God again in the flesh Iob 19.26 Vers 5. And Iacob rose up from Beersheba The word rose up is Emphatical and imports that his heart was lightened and his joynts oyled and nimbled as it were with the heavenly vision As when he had seen God at Bethel he lift up his feet and went on his way lustily Gen. 28.1 so here as fast as his old legs would carry him Act. Mon. as Father Latimer said to Ridley when they were going to the stake And as it is recorded of good old Rawlins White Martyr that whereas before he was wont to go stooping or rather crooked through infirmity of age having a sad countenance Act. Mon. fol. 1415. and very feeble complexion and withal very soft in speech and gesture now he went and stretched up himself not only bolt upright as he went to the stake but also bare withall a most pleasant and comfortable countenance not without great courage and audacity both in speech and behaviour In like sort Iacob here having sought God and received a gracious promise of his presence and protection rose up merrily from Beersheba and doubts not to follow God whithersoever he shall leade him Vers 6. And they took their cattle and their goods Though Pharaoh sent to them they should not yet not willing to be much chargeable they brought that they had It is a happiness so to live with others as not to be much beholden but rather helpfull then burthensome He that receives a courtesie we say sells his liberty And the borrower is servant to the lender Saint Paul glories in this to the liberall Corinthians that when he was present with them he was chargeable to no man ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I dunnied no man I was no mans trencher-fly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã torpedâ piscis cujus ea est natura ut prepius accedentes seque tangentes obstupefaciat Hine ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã obstupeâ cum alicujus incommode Pasâr Heil Geogâ pag. 291. Turk hist fol. 477.950 He was not of those that served not the Lord Iesus Christ but their own bellies Rom. 16. The Duke of Bavaria's house is so pestered with Friers and Iesuites that notwithstanding the greatness of his revenue he is very poor as spending all his estate upon these Popish Parasites Such among the Turks are the Dervislars and Imailers that under pretence of religion live like body-licâ upon other mens sweat and labours Vers 7. His daughters and his sons daughters That is by a Synechdoche integri his neece Serah and his daughter Dinah who came down with the rest into Egypt and therefore was not Iobs wife as the Iewes would perswade us Vers 12. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron Hezron and Hamul not yet born are reckoned in stead of Er and Onaâ who were dead before the descent into Egypt See Funccius his Chronolog Comment A. M. 2273. Vers 26. Which came out of his loynes Heb. è femore ejus A modest description of generation by the instrumentall and materiall cause thereof
And because it is said that so many souls came out of Iacobs body Augustine moves the question here whether souls also are not begotten as well as bodies Annon igitur animae propageâtur extraduce Argumenta post tridâum demum solve Melancthon Chemnitius And when the learned Father demurred and would not presently determine the point a rash young man one Vincentius Victor as Chemnitius relates it boldly censured the Fathers unresolvedness and vaunted that he would undertake to prove by demonstration that souls are created de novo by God For which peremptory rashness the Father returned the young men a sober reprehension But souls are doubtless here put for persons which the Latines call Capita Vers 27. Threescore and ten Saint Steven reckons 75. Act. 7.14 And so the Greek translateth here which Steven seemeth to follow as doth likewise Saint Luke for Cainân Chap 3. 36. That translation being then received and they not willing to alter it The Iewes say that these seventy souls were as much as all the seventy nations of the world And Moses tells them that whereas their fathers went down into Egypt with seventy souls now Iehovah had made them as the stars of Heaven for multitude Deut. 10.22 Vers 28. And he sent Iudah before him A good man guides his affaires with discretion Psal 112.5 Colos 2.5 doth all things decently and in order It was great joy to the Apostle to behold the Colossians order c. Vers 29. Presented himself unto him Joseph a Prince was no whit ashamed of the poor old shepherd his father afore so many his compeeres and other Courtiers that accompanied him and abhominated such kinde of persons Colonell Edmonds is much commended for his ingenuous reply to a countryman of his newly come to him into the low-countries out of Scotland This fellow desiring entertainment of him told him My Lord his father and such Knights and Gentlemen his cousins and kinsmen Peacham's compleat Gentlem. pag. 5. were in good health Quoth Colonell Edmonds gentlemen to his friends by believe not one word he sayes my father is but a poor baker whom this knave would make a Lord to curry favour with me and make you believe I am a great man born See the notes on Chap. 32. Vers 10. And he fell on his neck and wept c. For exceeding joy what then shall be the meeting of Saints in Heaven Christ shall say come ye blessed of my father As if he should say where have ye been all this while my dear brethren It was a part of his joy when he was on earth that we should be where he is to behold his glory Ioh. 17.24 And this he now prayes not but Father I will that they be with me âugieâdum ad âlââissrmam pâtriam ibi pater ibi omnia Aug. de civit Dci l. 9. c. 16. as that which he had merited for them And now what joy there will be to see them and suaviate them for whose sake he shed his most pretious blood through which they may safely saile into the bosome of the Father Surely if Plotinus the Philosopher could say let us make haste to our heavenly country there 's our Father there are all our friends how much more triumphantly may Christians say so If Cicero could say O praeclarum diem cum ad illud animorum concilium caetumque pro ficiscar ad Catonem meum c. Cic. de sen ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Heb. 12.23 O praeclarum diem cum ad illum animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar c. O what a brave day will that be when I shall go to that councell and company of happy souls to my Cato and other Romane worthies dead before me How much more may Christians exult to think of that glorious night-less day as Nazianzen cals it when they shall be admitted into the congregation house of the first born as the Apostle calls Heaven and joyfully welcommed by Abraham David Paul c. Who shall be no less glad of their then of their own happiness Who can conceive the comfort of Jacob and Joseph Or of those two cousins Mary and Elizabeth at their first meeting But for the joyes of Heaven it is as impossible to comprehend them as to compass Heaven it self with a span or contain the ocean in a nut-shell They are such saith Augustine ut quic quid homo dixerit quasi gutta de mari quasi scincilla de foco Aug. de triplâci habitu c. 4. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Luk. 1.44 If the presence of Christ though but in the womb made Iohn to spring and dance a galliard as the word imports what shall it do when we come to Heaven Sermo non valet exprimere experimento opus est saith Chrysostom It 's fitter to be believed then possible to be discoursed saith Prosper Nec Christus nec coelum patitur hyperbolen saith another The Apostle after he had spoken of Glorification breaks forth by way of admiration into these words what shall we say to these things Rom. 8.31 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 2 Cor. 4. these word-less words as he elsewhere phraseth it and ever uttereth himself in a transcendent expression as 2 Cor. 4.17 Where he calleth it a weight of glory such as if the body were not by the power of God upheld it were not able to bear Iacob could hardly hear the news of Ioseph and live but when once he saw him Now let me dye saith he c. Vers 30. Now let me dye What would this good old man have said had he sâen Christ in the flesh Optavit se videre potuisse Romam in flore Paulum in ore Christum in corpore Luk. 2.29 30. which was one of Augustines three with âs how merrily would he have sung out his soul as Simem did who had long looked for the consolation of Israel and having now laid in his heart what he lapt in his armes cryes Nunc dimittas domine I fear no sin I dread no death as one englisheth it I have lived enough I have my life I have long'd enough I have my love I have seen enough I have my light I have served enough I have my Saint I have sorrow'd enough I have my joy Sweet babe let this song serve for a lullaby to thee and a funerall for me O sleep in my armes and let me sleep in thy peace Because thou art yet alive If this were so great a matter to Iacob what should it be to us that Christ was dead and is alive yea that he ever lives Act. 7.56 to make request for us and that he stands at the right hand of his father when any Steven of his is stoned as ready prest to interpose betwixt them and any hurt that may thereby come unto them If Seneca could say to his Polybius Fas tibi non est salvo Caesare de fortuna tua queri how much less cause have we to complain so
time about cap and surpliss They could never agree till they met in prison and then misery bred unity then they could heartily bewaile their former dissentions about matters of no more moment Epist 36. ad Reg. Elizabeth Peter Martyr commends it to the care of Queen Elizabeth that Church-governours indeavour not to carry the Gospell into England upon the cart of needless ceremonies By his advice among others in King Edward the sixths dayâs some people contending for one image some for another the King took down all those Balâams-blocks And the very self-same day and hour wherein the reformation enjoyned by Parliment was pat in execution at London by burning of idolatrous images the English put to slight their enemies Act. Mon. ãâã in Muscleborough field is Mr. Fox hath well observed We had Images and other like popâsh paltrement pressing in upon us again and amain not long since till God stirred up the spirit of our religious Nehemi ths to step between and stop the torrent whom therefore God I doubt not will crown with conquest over all their and his Churches enemies Vers 20. And he set Ephraim before God many times sets the yonger before the elder makes the last to be first and the first last to shew the freedom of his grace and that he seeth not as man seeth 1 Sam. 16 7. The maids were first purified and perfumed before Ahashuerosh chose one But Christ first loves and then parifies his Church Eph. 5.25 26. and loves because he loves Deut. 7.7 8. And hath mercy on whom he will have mercy Rom. 9.18 Vers 21. Behold I dye This was a speech of faith uttered without the least fear consternation or dismayment As it was no more betwixt God and Moses but goe up and dye so betwixt God and Iacob but behold I dye Death he knew to him should neither be totall but of the body only nor perpetuall of the body but for a season only See both these set forth by the Apostle Rom. 8.10 11. Vers 22. I have given thee one portion Ioseph had the double portion as Iudah the dignity from Reuben who had forfeited both by his incest And here it appeareth that the right of the first-born to a double portion was in force and in use before that law Deut. 21.17 as was also the Sabbath circumcision and the raising up seed to a deceased brother With my sword and with my bow That is with the warlike weapons of my sons Simeon and Levi whose victory he ascribeth to himself not as it was wickedly got by his sons for so he disavows and detests it Chap. 49. but as by a miracle from heaven the Canaanites were held in from revenging that slaughter and made to fear his force and valour The Chaldee Paraphrast expounds it metaphorically I took it with my sword and my bow hoc est oratione deprecatione mea saith He by my prayer and supplication Prayers indeed are bombardae instrumenta bellic a Christianorum saith Luther a Christians best Arms and Ammunition The Jesuites pretend and protest that they have no other weapons or wayes to work but preces lachrymas Whereas it is too well known that they are the greatest Incendiaries and boutefeau's of Christendome and their faction a most agile sharp sword whose blade is sheathed at pleasure in the bowels of every Common-wealth but the handle reacheth to Rome and Spain CHAP. XLIX Vers 1. Gather your selves together THis is Jacobs swan-like song his last bequeath Sic ubi fata vâcant uâis abjectus in herbis Ad vada Maeandri conciuit albus olor Ovid. Epist his farewell to the world and it is a most heavenly one The wine of Gods Spirit is usually strongest and best at last in the hearts of his people his Motions quickest when natural motions are slowest most sensible when the body begins to be senseless most lively when holy men are adying Look how the Sun shines most amiably toward the descent and Rivers the nearer they draw to the sea the sooner they are met by the tide so is it with the Saints when nigh to death when grace is changing into glory they deliver themselves usually to the standers by most sweetly So besides Jacob did Moses Joshuah Paul and He in whose one example is a globe of precepts Our Lord Jesus Christ in that last heavenly Sermon and Prayer of his Ioh. 14.15.16.17 Whereunto let me add that faithful Martyr John Diazius who was cruelly butchered by his own brother Alphonsus Diazius and that meerly for his religion See the Notes on Chap. 4. ver 8. I remember saith Senarclaeus his friend and bed-fellow who wrote the history of his death when he and I were at Newburg the very night before he was murthered he prayed before he went to bed more ardently then ordinary and for a longer time together After which he spent a good part of the night in discoursing of the great works of God and exhorting me to the practice of true piety Ego verò illius oratione sic incoudebar ut cum eum âissââ entem audirem âpiritus ancti verba me audire exâstimarem Ibid. Quest Answ And truly I felt my self so inflamed and quickned by his words that when I heard him discoursing methoughts I heard the Spirit of God speaking unto me This and much more Senarclaeus writes to Bucer who at that time had employed Diazâus to over-look the right printing of a book of his that was then in the Press That I may tell you that which shall befall you But how knew Moses this last speech of Jacob being born so long after Partly by Revelation and partly also by Tradition For the words of dying men are living Oracles and their last speeches are long remembred And the accomplishment of all these Prophecies in their due time as the following Scriptures shew adds much to the authority of Moses's writings and confirms them to be faithful and true as He saith Joh. 21.24 Vers 2. Hear ye sons of Jcaob and hearken Draw up the ears of your souls to the ears of your bodies that one sound may pierce both at once Let him âhat hath an ear to hear hear not only with that outward gristle that grows upon his head but with his utmost intention of mind attention of body and retention of memory and of pracâcâ also He that hears the Word of God must hear as if he did for so he doth hear for life and death he must as Jacob bids his sons hear and hearken Vers 3. Virgil. My might and beginning of my strength Nate meae vires The word here used signifieth the straining of the body forcibly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to effect a thing much desired such as was that of S. Paul Phil. 3.13 and that of Eliah 1 King 18.42 when he prayed and prayed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Jam. 5.17 as St. Iames hath it that is with utmost intention of affection
utter his words of grace in the land of Nepthtali Mat. 4.13 And this is the Reason that as of the children by Leahs side Iudah obtained the first place among those that were sealed Revel 7. because Christ sprang of him so of those on Rachels side Nephtali is first named because there he dwelt at Capernaum where he had hired a house and preached ut ubique superemineat Christi praerogativa saith a learned Interpreter Medes in Apocalyps Compare with this text Deut. 3â 23 and then observe that good words do ingratiate with God and men Vers 22. Joseph is a fruitfull bough Of the vine saith the Chaldee Paraphrast Uno anno septies fructus sufficit Vnde pomum decerpseris alterum fine mora protuberat Solin But it may be Iacob meant it of the Egyptian fig-tree whereof Solinus reporteth that it beareth fruit seven times in the year pull one fig and another presently puts forth saith he Vers 23. The archers have sorely grieved him These were his barbarous brethren that sold him his adulterous mistress that harlot-like hunted for his precious life his injurious Master that without any desert of his imprisoned him the tumulcuating Egyptians that pined with hunger perhaps spake of stoning him as 1 Sam. 30.6 and the envious courtiers and inchanters that spake evill of him before Pharaoh to bring him out of favour as the Ierusalemy Targum addeth All these arrow-masters as the Hebrew here hath it set against Ioseph and shot at him as their but-mark willing to have abused him but that Gods grace providence and unchangeable decree called here Joseph's bow and strength vers 24. would not permit them as those cruel Turks did one Iohn de Chabas a Frenchman at the taking of Tripolis in Barbary Turk hist 756. They brought him into the town and when they had cut of his hands and nose put him quick into the ground up to the wast and there for their pleasure shot at him with their arrows and afterwards cut his throat Vers 24. But his bow abode in strength He gave not place to them by subjection Cal. 2.5 Prov. 24.10 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Phlt. no not for an hour If thou faint in adversity thy strength is small saith Solomon Ioseph did not but as it was said of old Rome Roma cladibus animosior and as of Mithridates he never wanted courage or counsell when he was at the worst so neither did Ioseph Virtus lecythos habet in malis The sound heart stands firme under greatest pressures 2 Cor. 1.9 12. Whereas if a bone be broak or but the skin rub'd up and raw the lightest load will be troublesome hang heavy weights upon rotten boughes they presently break But Iosephs were green and had sap By the hands of the mighty God of Jacob It was said of Achilles that he was Styge armatus but Joseph was Deo forti armatus and thence his safety He used his bow against his adversaries as David did his sling against Goliah He slung saith One Bucholcer perinde ac si fundae suae tunicis non lapillum sed Deum ipsum induisset ac implicuisset as if he had wrapt up God in his sling Vers 25. Who shall help thee God hath God shall is an ordinary way of arguing it is a demonstration of Scripture Logick as Psal 85.1 2 3 4. So 2 Cor. 1.10 Every former favour is a pledg of a future With the blessings of heaven above c. God shall hear the heaven the heaven shall hear the earth and the earth shall hear the corn wine and oyl the genealogy of all which is resolved into God Hos 2.21 22. with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb Yet rather then Ephraim shall bring forth children to the murtherer the Prophet prayes God to give them as a blessing as some think a miscarrying womb Matth. 24.19 and dry breasts Hos 9.13 14. And our Saviour saith Woe be to such as are with child and give suck in those dayes of war and trouble Vers 26. Above the blessings of my progenitors Chiefly because Jacob pointed them out the particular tribe whereof and the very time wherein Shiloh should come This mystery was made known to the Church not all at once but by degrees Adam was told the seed of the woman should break c. but whether Jew or Gentile he heard not a word Abraham the Hebrew long after was certified that In his seed all nations should be blessed but of what tribe Christ should come till now the world never heard After this David was made to know that Christ should be a male but that he should be born of a Virgin was not known till Esay's time Thus God crumbles his mercies to mankind and we have his blessings by retail saith One to maintain trading and communion betwixt him and us So the cloud empties not it self at a sudden burst but dissolves upon the earth drop after drop unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills Spiritual blessings in heavenly things whereof those temporals afore promised Eph. 1.3 were but types and pledges Whence David doubts not to argue from temporals to spirituals Psal 23.5 6. God in the Churches infancy fed them and led them along Sunt qui autumant hanc prophâtiam Paulo applicari debore Bez. Annot. ad Act. 83. by earthly to heavenly blessings speaking unto them as they could hear Vers 27. Benjamin shall ravin as a Woolf There are that think that this ought to be applyed to S. ' Paul the Benjamite who while he was Saul not content to consent to S. Stephen's death though it be all one to hold the sack and to fill it to do evil and to consent unto it Act. 8.1 3. he made havock of the Church like a ravening Woolf entring into houses also and haling men and women to prison Yea Act. 9.1 he lyes breathing out threatnings and slaughter panting and windless as a tired Woolf and having recovered himself is marching toward Damascus for more prey But met by the chief shepherd of a Woolf he is made a Lamb Esay 11.6 not once opening his mouth unless it were to crave direction What wilt thou have me to do ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Philip. 3.14 2 Cor. 5.13 with Act. 26.11 Sand's his survey of West Relig. Lord After which time he never persecuted the Saints so fast as now he pursues and presses hard toward the high prize and as mad every whit he is thought to be for Christ as ever he was against him The papists some of them have censured him for a hot-headed person and said that there was no great reckoning to be made of his assertions Is this blasphemy in the first or second table say you Porphyry the Philosopher could say that it was pity such a man as Paul was cast away upon our religion And the Monarch of Morocco told the English Embassadour in King John's time that he had lately read
saie Non loquendum de Deo sine lumine God will bee sanctified of all that draw nigh unto him Levit. 10.2 Put off thy shoos Of sensualitie and other sins Quid pedes saith Erasmus nisi affectus Quid pedes calceamentorum onere liberi nisi animus nullis terrenis cupiditatibus oneratus Affections are the feet of the soul keep them unclogg'd Vers 6. Hid his face So did the Seraphims with a double scarf as it were Esa 6.2 Let a man but see God and his plumes will soon fall For hee was afraid Yea hee trembled and durst not behold Act. 7.32 This was his first meeting with God When better acquainted hee grew more bold Vers 7. For I know their sorrows That 's a sweet support to a sinking soul that God know's all and bears a part Mat. 6. Your heavenlie Father know's c. That 's enough Vers 8. I am com down Hamanitus dictum ut Gen. 11.7 and 18.21 See the notes there Milk and honie plentie and dainties all things both for necessitie and delight Vers 9. The oppressions wherewith Wee are oft more beholden to our enemies insolencie then to anie innocencie of our own Deut. 32.27 Vers 10. That thou mai'st bring forth Which though as unlikely to bee don as to remove a rock with his shoulder yet setting upon it in God's strength hee effecteth it Tantiem velis Deus tibi praeoccurret Chrysost Howbeit let a man do what hee can naturally and God will meet him graciously There is no truth in such an assertion Vers 11. Who am I Worth is modest The proud man asketh Who am I not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Cyri Majoris sepulcro inscriptum refert Arrianus Worth with modestie is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã nothing is so amiable Vers 12. This shall bee a token unto thee So hee had a double sign for his suller and further confirmation that of the burning bush for the present this of serving God at Horeb for the future Vers 13. Bâde What is his name God is above all name all notion When Manoah enquired after his name 'T is wonderful said hee Victorinus that is I am called as I am called but such is thy weakness that it surpasseth thy conception Afri vocant Deum ignotum Amon id est Heus tu quis es Vers 14. Plutarch de Isid Osiride I am that I am Heb. I will bee that I will bee The Septuagint render it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I am that Hee that is Agreeably hereunto Plato calleth God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This name of God is fully opened Rev. 16.5 It import's two of God's incommunicable Attributes 1. his Eternitie when hee saith I will bee 2. His Immutabilitie when hee saith That I will bee As Pilat said what I have written I have written I wil not alter it But how far out was Paulus Burgensis in denying Ehich to bee anie of God's names Whether Aph-hu 2 King 2.14 bee one Weems is far more questionable Vers 15. Vnto all generations The Jews to countenance their conceit of the ineffabilitie of the name Jehovah did corrupt this text and for This is my name Legnolam for ever they read Gâlatinus This is my name Legnalam to bee concealed Vers 16. The God of Abraham c. His friends with whom hee had all things common This was a greater honor don to these Patriarches then if God had written their names in the visible heavens to bee read of all men Vers 17. I have said I will bring you up And now I am com to do it This is som part of the import of I am that I am the same yesterday Heb. 13.8 to daie and forever Ero qui eram I will bee the same to you in my performances that I was to your fathers in my promises A Land flowing with milk Sumen totius orbis as One calleth it where the hard rocks did sweat out oil and honie Deut. 32.13 See vers 8. Vers 18. Hath met with us Of his own accord and without our seeking Nolentem praevenit Deus ut velit Aug. Enchir. cap. 32. volentem subsequitur nè frustrà velit I am found of those that sought mee not Isa 65.1 Vers 19. Will not let you go A sturdie Rebel hee was but God tamed him and took him down by those ten plagues comprised in these four verses Fit cruor ex undis conspurcant omnia ranae Dat pulvis cimices postea musca venit Dein pestis pòst vlcera grando locusta tenebrae Tandem prototocos ultima plaga necat Vers 20. And after that hee will let you go When hee dare hold you no longer when I have sufficiently tam'd him and taught him as Gideon taught the men of Succoth with thorns and briars of the wilderness Judg. 8.16 Vers 21. I will give this people favor It is God that fashioneth men's spirits and speaketh oft-times for them in the hearts of their greatest enemies Vers 22. Yee shall spoil the Aegyptians By a special dispensation which none could grant but the Law-maker So Ezek. 39.10 These Jewels did afterwards becom a snare to the Israëliâes in the matter of the golden Calf CHAP. III. Vers i. They will not believ mee THey had formerly refused him and thrust him away Exod. 2.14 Act. 7.27 And so they might again if hee had not somwhat to shew for his extraordinarie calling Quaeque repulsa gravis Hor. In the year 434 the Jews of Creet were shamefully seduced by a Pseudo Moses who promised to divide the sea for them to bring them back to their own Countrie Funccius in Comm. Chron. Those that will not receiv the love of the truth are justly given up to the efficacie of error 2 Thess 2.10.11 Vers 3. And it became a serpent So doth the word to those that cast away the care of it it sting's them with unquestionable conviction and horror With this rod Moses should guide the Israëlites sting the Egyptians Isai 14.29 Jer. 8.17 And Moses fled from before it First flie from sin as from a serpent saith one But if thou hast taken this serpent into thy hand rest not till like Moses serpent it bee turned into a rod again to scourge thy soul Bee either innocent or penitent Vers 4. Take it by the tail which was dreadful to bee don becaus of the antipathie and likely danger but faith fortifie's the heart against the fear of the creature and carrie's a man thorough the difficultie of dutie Vers 5. That they may believ Miracles are sufficient testimonies of an extraordinarie calling from God provided that they bee true Miracles not such as Deut. 13 to confirm a calling that is agreeable to God's holy word as here Vers 6. Put now thine hand Here was sign upon sign as Chap. 3 12. So low stoop's the most high to our meanness And doth hee not the same favor for us by the often
administration of the Lords Supper Doth hee not seal again and again c Was leprous as snow Let us but laie our hand upon our hearts thrust them into our bosoms to rifle there and wee shall bee sure to take them out leprous all of a tetter Vers 7. As his other flesh To shew him that God by small means could bring about great matters and that in a moment See Isai 66.7 8. Which yet was ill applied by Card. Pool to this revolting nation in Q. Maries daies Vers 8. The voice of the first sign God's signes have a voice and words Psal 105.27 They speak not onely to our eies but ears as those manie prodigies did before the last desolation of Jerusalem as that terrible tempest at Rome Anno. 1516. The same year that Luther began to stir that so struck the Church where Pope Leo was creäting his Cardinals Balcus Centur 8. that it removed the Childe Jesus out of the lap of his Mother and the Keies out of St. Peter's hand So the two Suns seen in London at the comming in of King Phillip ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Feb. 15.1553 The new star in Cassiopeia Anno 1572. The prodigious Comet Anno. 1618 c. Vers 9. Shall becom blood In the year 874 at Brixia in Italie Funce Chronol it rained blood for three daies and three nights Anno. 1505. There appeared in Germanie upon the garments of men and women Act. and Mon. fol. 769. divers prints and tokens of the nails of the spunge of the spear of the Lords coat and of bloodie crosses Maximilian the Emperor had and shewed the same to Francis Mirandula who thereupon wrote his Staurestichon and therein thus Non ignota cano Caesar monstravit ipsi Vidimus innumeros prompsit Germania testes Ibid. 1853. In the third yeer of Q. Marie William Pikes beeing at libertie after imprisonment and going into his garden took with him a Bible where sitting and reading there soddainly fell down upon his Book four drops of fresh blood and hee knew not from whence it came Whereat hee beeing sore astonished and wiping out one of the drops with his finger called his wife and said in the virtue of God wife what meaneth this Will the Lord have four sacrifices I see well enough the Lord will have blood his will bee don and give mee grace to abide the trial c. Vers 10. I am not eloquent Heb. A man of words a master of speech as Paul was Act. 14.12 Hee had not that first second and third of an Orator Elocution or Pronunciation ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And yet God made chois of him rather then of eloquent Aaron to praie Exod. 17. Not gifts but graces prevail in praier Slow of speech Of a letsom deliverie word-bound Vers 11. Who hath made man's mouth There is no mouth into which God cannot put fit words Balaam's Ass was enabled by God to convince his Master Whereas by a man never so full and fluent hee cannot bring forth his conceptions without the obstetrication of God's assistance Prov. 16.1 Vers 12. I will bee with thy mouth See the Note on Matth. 10.19 Vers 13. By the hand of him whom thou wilt Or shouldest send By that excellent Speaker the Messiah cujus dicere est facere Thus when God had answered all Mose's objections hee forwardly denie's to go notwithstanding and bid's him send by his son as one that was better fitted for the service That which made Moses so unwilling was whatever hee pretended the fear of his life which rub when God had once removed hee went on end vers 19 20. Vers 14. And the anger of the Lord And no wonder Patientia laesa fit furor Where God commandeth there to ask a reason is presumption but to oppose reason is a kind of Rebellion I know that hee can speak well The gift of utterance is an high favor a piece of a Christian's riches 1 Cor. 1.5 See the Note there Aaron as Tully saith of Aristotle had aureum flumen orationis a golden gift of speech Ver. 15. Will teach you See the note on ver 11.12 Ver. 16. And hee shal bee thy spokesman God hath made mee ill-favored in this world and without grace in the sight of men said Tindal to Frith speechless and rude Act. and Moâum p. 988. dull and slow-witted your part shal be to supplie that which lacketh in mee remembring that as lowliness of heart shall make you high with God even so meekness of words shall make you sink into the hearts of men In stead of God To dictate unto him my minde and counsel Such a God to every Christian is his sanctified Conscience Ver. 17. Wherewith thou shalt do signs God of his free-will joining his operation thereunto as likewise hee doth to the outward signs in the two Sacraments and hence their energie which els would bee none Ver. 18. Whether they bee yet alive which if they bee though in a low condition both they and I shall see caus to bee thankful Lam. 3.39 Eccles 9.4 Ver. 19. For all the men are dead Here the Lord laie's his finger upon the sore This was that pad in the straw the thing that made Moses hang off as hee did however hee pretended the people's incredulitie his own inabilitie and this and that neither did hee altogether dissemble but self-love need 's not bee taught to tell her tale Ver. 20. Vpon an Ass This may argue his povertie as Zach. 9. ver 9. Especially if hee had but one Ass for the whole Familie Ver. 21. But I will harden his heart with a judiciarie penal hardness And thus God is in this book eight times said to have hardned Pharaoh's heart thrice it is said that hee hardened his own heart and five times his heart is said to have been hardned viz. by the devil through the just judgment of God Ver. 22. Even my first-born And so higher then the Kings of the earth Psal 89.27 Ver. 23. Let my Songo God commanding Pharaoh to let go his people and yet hardning his heart that hee would not let them go is not contrarie to himself For by so commanding him hee requireth his obedience and by so hardning him hee punisheth his disobedience Ver. 24. And sought to kill him to do justice upon him according to Gen. 17.14 and as upon one that was an unmeet man to take care of the Church having no better ordered his own hous 1 Tim. 3.5 God passeth not by the sins of his best children without a sensible check if scandalous especially and committed against conscience Hee hath much ado to forbear killing us in such cases Hee is even readie to have a blow at us and crie's like a travelling woman who bite's in her pain while shee can to bee delivered of his judgments Isa 42.14 Ver. 25. Surely a bloodie husband A peevish wife whose frowardness is either tollenda or toleranda cured or carried patiently nè conjugium fiat
conjurgium Shee was not so hot but Moses was as meek Ver. 26. A bloodie husband thou art This peal shee ring 's oft in his ears and so taught him patience Conjugium humanae divina Academia vitae Certain it is that wee are a bloodie spous to Christ the Church is Acheldama a field of blood Ver. 27. And the Lord said unto Aaron To this religious Familie rather then to anie other God appeareth which mercie is remembred 1 Sam. 2.27 Met him in the mount of God His wife either had left him or was sent back by him to her father God suppli'es that comfort by the coming of Aaron Ver. 28. And Moses told Aaron So clouds when full powr down and the spouts run and the eavs shed and the presses overflow Aromatical trees sweat out their precious oils and as Amber-greece is nothing so sweet in it self as when compounded with other things so good men are great gainers by communicating themselvs to each other Ver. 31. They bowed their heads An ordinarie gesture among the Jews then as at this day the reverence they shew is in standing up Spec. Europ and the gesture of adoration in the bowing forward of their bodies for kneeling they use none neither stir they their bonnets in their Synagogues to anie man but remain still covered CHAP. V. Ver. 1. That they may hold a Feast CHap. 4.23 That they may serv mee Let us keep the feast 1 Cor. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 5.8 which is the same with Let us serv God acceptably Heb. 12.28 It is a Feast and better for a good soul to convers with God Psal 63.5 Isa 25.6 Ver. 2. Who is the Lord God's attributes either shew what hee is or who hee is To the question of Moses what hee is God gave a short answer I am To this second by Pharaoh Who hee is God made a large replie till Pharaoh was compelled to answer himself The Lord is righteous Ver. 3. Three daies journie viz. to mount Horeb. They made it three months journie e're they came there Exod. 13.17 18. God lead's his people oft not the nearest but the safest waie to their journies end Ver. 4. Let the people from their works Moses talk's of sacrifice Pharaoh of work Anie thing seem's due work to a carnal minde saving God's service nothing superfluous but religious duties Aug. de Civit. Dei Seneca saith the Jewes cast away a seventh part of their time upon a weekly Sabbath To what end is this loss said Judas Ver. 5. The people of the Land are manie nihil agendo malè agere discent Iphicrates never suffered his souldiers to bee out of emploiment ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Polym stratag lib. 3. but if out of militarie services hee set them to dig or lop trees or carrie burdens c. to keep them from mutining or wors doing Ver. 6. And Pharaoh commanded Hee raged the more for the message of dismission so wholesom admonitions make ill men wors Corruptions encreas and biggen by the Law Rom. 7. ver 8. Ver. 7. Yee shall no more give the people straw Speculum tyrannidis semper augescentis atque invalescentis The matter mend's with us Acts and Mon. said those Martyrs in prison as sowr Ale doth in Summer Ver. 8. For they bee idle I heard a great man once say saith Luther Necesse est otiosos esse homines qui ista negotia Religionis curant They must needs bee idle fellows that are so much taken up about the business of religion See the Note on vers 4. Vers 9. And not regard vain words Vain lying words So this profane Prince calleth and counteth the word of God What 's Truth saith Pilat scoffingly Vers 10. I will not give you straw Cold comfort things commonly go backward with the Saints before they com forward as the corn groweth downward ere it grow upward Hold out faith and patience deliverance is at next dore by Cùm duplicantur lateres venit Moyses When things are at worst they 'le mend Vers 11. Yet not ought Such hard service put 's Satan his slaves to and yet they rejoice in their bondage Vers 12. So the people were scattered So are most people now-a daies busied about trash and trifles neglecting the one thing necessarie In the inthronization of the Pope before hee put 's on his criple Crown a wad of straw is set on fire before him and one appointed to saie Sic transit gloria mundi the glorie of this world is but a blaze of straw or stubble soon extinct They that highly esâeâm it rejoice in a thing of nought feed upon ashes c. Amos 7.8 9. with 13. Vers 13. And the task-masters Who were Egyptians as the officers under them were Israëlites and beaten vers 14. Vers 14. Were beaten It is the miserie of those that are trusted with autoritie that their inferiors faults are beaten upon their backs Vers 15. Came and crie'd unto Pharaoh They did not rail upon him to his face as the Janizaries did in an uproar upon Bajazet the second their Prince saying that they would by and by teach him as a drunkard Turk hist fol. 444. a beast and a rascal to use his great place and calling with more sobrietie and discretion Neither did they go behinde his back and call him as Sanders did Q. Elisabeth his natural Sovereign Lupam Anglicanam the English wolfe or as Rhiston calleth her leaenam omnes Athalias Maachas Rivetti Jesuita vapulans page 263. Jezabeles Herodiades c. superantem a lioness wors then anie Athaliah Maacha Jezabel A foul-mouthed Jesuite made this fals Anagram of her Elisabeth Jezabel T is omitted Fuller's holy State fol. 317. the presage of the gallowes whereon this Anagrammatist was afterwards justly executed Aretine by a longer custom of libelous and contumelious speaking against Princes had got such a habit that at last hee came to diminish and disesteem God himself Vers 16. But the fault is in thine own people Fffugiunt corvi vexat censura columbas As a man is friended so is his matter ended And where the hedg is low a man may lightly make large leaps Or as the French man saith Qui son chien vult tuer la rage luy met sus Hee that hath a minde to kill a dog give 's out that hee is mad It was fault enough in God's Israël that they would not bee miserable Vers 17. Yee are idle See the Note on vers 4 and 8. Vers 18. Yet shall yee deliver the tale of bricks Or bee miserably beaten if but one bee missing The Spaniards besides other intolerable burdens and bondages that they laie upon the poor Indians suppose they shew the wretches great favor when they do not Sir Fran. Drake World encompas pag. 53. for their pleasure whip them with cords and daie by daie drop their naked bodies with burning bacon Regiment without Righteousness turn's into tyrannie Vers 19. In an evil case For
their evil courses Ezek. 23.8 20.5 7 8. Ios 24.14 It is written as a heavie curs of God Levit. 26.17 If yee still trespass against mee I will set Princes over you that shall hate you Mischeivous odious Princes odious to God malignant to the people Vers 20. And they met Moses How readie are wee to mistake the grounds of our afflictions and to cast them upon fals causes 1 King 17.18 The Sareptan told the Prophet that hee had killed her son Vers 21. The Lord look upon you Thus wee have seen dogs in a chafe bark at their best friends Vers 22. And Moses returned unto the Lord Hee turned aside as it were to speak with a friend and to disburthen himself into God's bosom This is the Saints privilege See the Note on Matâh 11.25 Vers 23. Neither hast thou delivered Here Moses himself was too short-spirited Hee considered not belike that God's promises do manie times bear a long date neither is it fit to set him a time or to awaken him whom our soul loveth untill hee pleas Do but wait saith the Lord. Habac. 2.3 You shall bee delivered you shall bee delivered you shall bee delivered you shall you shall So much that text in effect soundeth and assureth CHAP VI. Vers 1. Then the Lord said unto Moses PArdoning the faults of his praier God grant's him a gracious answer so hee dealt with David Psal 31.22 For I said in my hast I am cut off from before thine eies Nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplication when I cried unto thee Vers 2. Scalig. de Subtiât I am Jehovah ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Scaliger's word that do Peress Gregorie's word that have beeing of my self give beeing to all things elf and in special to my promises to perform with my hand whât I have spoken with my mouth 1 King 8.15 onely God exspect's that men put his promises in suit by their prayers as here and burthen him with them as that Martyr said Vers 3. By the name of God Almightie See the Note on Gen. 17.1 The sens is this saith Cameron Quantum illis sufficiebat tantum indulsit Camer de Eccles non indulsit quod erat summum Hee gave them enough but not the main But by my name Jehovah That is by the import of this his name the full performance of his promises God was known to the Patriarchs by this name Jehovah quoad esse Dei but not quoad esse rei Vers 4. To give them the land of Canaan And a better thing with it the Kingdom of Heaven Heb. 11.10.16 Vers 5. I have heard the groanings Hee heareth the young ravens that crie unto him but by implication onely Psal 147.9 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and with a hoars voice unfit to move pitie whence also they have their name in the Hebrew how much more his own covenanters Vers 6. And I will bring you out A great deliverance but nothing to that which Christ hath wrought for us from the tyrannie of sin and terror of hell Vers 7. And I will bee to you a God This is the top of anie man's happineâs to have God for his God What can such a man want Psalm 23.1 As hee in Plutarch said of the Egyptians that though they had no musick nor vines amongst them Plut. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã yet they had Gods Vers 8. And I will bring you See vers 4. Vers 9. But they hearkned not The ear which taste's words as the mouth doth meat was so filled with choller that they could relish no comfort It is ill sowing in a storm giving physick in a feaver-fit The easiest medicines or waters are troublesom to sore cies So here Quicquid recipitur recipitur ad modum recipientis Vers 11. Go in speak unto Pharaoh Whether hee will hear or whether hee will forbear Ezek. 2.5 Speak when God bid's us though it may seem to little purpose Wee have lost manie a wors labor The man of God must bee patient tolerant to all yea to those that oppose proving if at anie time God will give them repentance 2 Tim. 2.25 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Vers 12. Of uncircumcised lips Or of an heavie speech word bound Thick-lipped A thin lip is a sign of eloquence Job 12.20 Pitho sits in such lips Vers 13. And the Lord spake unto Moses Notwithstanding his former tergiversation and the peoples peevishness Mens wickedness cannot interrupt the cours of God's goodness Vers 14. These bee the heads This is a digression to shew the descent of Moses and Aaron Digressions in divine discourses are not alwaies and absolutely unlawful God's Spirit somtimes draws aside the doctrine to satisfie som soul which the Preacher know's not and sparingly used it quickeneth attention Vers 15. The son of a Canaanitess whom it was not lawful for him to marrie but hee was a head long and head-strong bold and fierce fellow Gen. 34.25 and 49.7 bound by Joseph Gen. 42.24 As one that had been most forward to sell him to the Midianitish Merchants Simeon also is left out in Moses his blessing Deut. 33. Vers 16. Of the sons of Levi Upon this family hee insist's and therefore hasten's to it Speak ever to the purpose Vers 20. Jochebed his father's sister See Chap. 2.1 Vers 21. Thuc. hist âib 124. Korah That ringleader of Rebels Num. 16.1 Vers 23. Elishaba Or Elisabeth a prince's sister Num. 2.3 Our English Elisabeth was by a French Dutchess said to bee the most glorious and most happie woman that ever swayed Scepter Vers 30. Of uncircumcised See the Note on vers 12. CHAP. VII Ver. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses IN answer to his last exception which yet hee had answered before chap. 4. ver 16. God bear 's with our infirmities A God to Pharaoh Armed with mine autoritie a Vice-God Shall bee thy Prophet i. e. Thy spokesman and interpreter Vers 2. Thou shalt speak Gods word must bee spoken however it bee taken Vers 3. And I will harden See the Note on chap. 4.21 The Dutch have a proverb Quem Deus excaecaturus est huic primum oculos claudit When God will blinde a man hee first closeth up his eies Vers 4. And Pharaoh shall not hearken This judgment God layeth upon manie of our hearers at this daie of whom after much paines taking wee may well complain as the herdsman did in the Poet. Heu mihi quà m pingui macer est mibi ââurus in aruo Vers 5. And the Egyptians shall know To their cost when the Lord's hand that is lifted up in threatning shal fall down in punishing Lord saith the Prophet when thy hand is lifted up they will not see but they shall see c. Isai 26.11 God will unseal their heavie eies with scorching plagues and rous them with horror enough Vers 6. Did as the Lord commanded them Mallem obediâe quà m miracula facere faith Luther Their obedience yielded them more comfort
over-joyed with the plain dealings of his friends and counsellors as of Mecoenas Ver. 25. And Moses chose Not without the peoples consent Deut. 1.13 14. Ver. 27. Into his own land An honest man's heart is where his calling is such a one when hee is abroad is like a fish in the air whereinto if it leap for recreation or necessitie yet it soon return's to his own element CHAP. XIX Ver. 1. Into the wilderness of Sinai A Place where were manie bushes and briars Here they received âhe Law which like briars and brambles pricketh and pierceth the consciences of evil livers And this sell out 430. years after the Promise made to Abraham not to disanul the Promise Gal. 3.17 but to advance it and that guilt beeing discovered and everie mouth stopped Rom. 3.19 wee might acknowledg the riches of free Grace and Mercie Ver. 2. For they were departed See the Note on Chap. 18.5 Ver. 3. And Moses went up See the note on Chap. 3.6 Ver. 4. On Eagles wings The Eagle beat 's her young ones out of their sluggish nest that they may learn to flie there was somwhat to do to bring Israël out of Egypt Munster in Schol. in Deut. 32.11 ex R. Solomon The Eagle carrie's her young upon her wings and not between her talons as other birds do openly safely speedily So did God his Israël beeing choice and charie of them all the waie securing them also from their enemies who could do them as little hurt as anie can do the Eagle's young which cannot bee shot but through the bodie of the old one Som by Eagles here understand Moses and Aaron who are so called saie they propter acumen intelligentiae altitudinem vitae for the sharpness of their understanding and the loftiness of their lives See the Note on Deut. 32.11 Ver. 5. If yee will obeie my voice indeed As I am good to you indeed and not in pretens or profession onely Nathanaël was an Israëlite indeed John 1.47 And Caleb fulfilled after God or fully followed him so did not Solomon 1 King 11.6 Ver. 6. A kingdom of Priests A holie state such as shall bee all satiated with fatness Jer 31.14 See the Notes on 1 Pet. 2.9 Rev. 1.6 Ver. 7. Laid before their faces Or plainly proposed the minde of God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã so did Paul Acts 17.3 So must Ministers Ver. 8. All that the Lord hath spoken Sed quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor biaâu How easily over-ween wee our own abilities Pollicitis dives quilibet esse potest Words are good cheap Ver. 9. And believ thee Without suspicion of an imposture such as was that of Mahomet Ver. 10. Sanctifie them to daie and to morrow Men must com before God with the best preparation they can get Hee will bee sanctified in all them that draw nigh unto him This the blinde Heathens saw and therefore said Plutarch ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã worship not God by the by but with all possible preparation Hence they had their coena pura before their solemn sacrifices Bucholcer Numa nihil rerum sacrarum cives voluit neglectim agere Hinc solenne illud Hoc agite The Ministers likewise in the Primitive Church prepared the people's mindes by saying Sursum corda Lift up your hearts Cyprian de Oratione Chrysost Basil and the Deacons used to call upon the people in these words Oremus attendamus Let us praie let us attend Ver. 11. Against the third daie That is three daies hence on the daie of Pentecost Ver. 12. That yee go not up into the Mount God love's at once familiaritie and fear saith a learned Divine familiaritie with him in our conversation D. Hall and fear of him in his commands Hee love's to bee acquainted with men in the walks of their obedience yet hee take 's state upon him in his ordinances and will bee trembled at in his Word and Judgments Ver. 13. They shall com up to the Mount i. e. To the bottom of the Mount to the foot thereof Vers 17. See the Note on Heb. 12.20 Ver. 14. And washed their clothes In token of washing their hearts and cleansing themselvs from all filthiness of flesh and spirit The Gentiles also washed Plaut in Alul. Act. 3. scen 6. Tertul. cap. 11. de Orat. that they might go to sacrifice and the Primitive Christians before Praier Ver. 15. Bee readie against the third daie If the word of a Command exspected such readiness what shall the word of Promiss c. Com not at your wives For the Legal uncleanness that was in it Lev. 15.18 1 Sam. 21.4 figuring the filth of original sin Ver. 16. There were thunders and lightnings The Law was delivered in this terrible manner partly to procure reverence to the Doctrine of it and partly to set forth the Nature and Office of it which is to terrifie and thunder-strike offenders Ver. 17. To meet with God Who came with ten thousands of his Saints as Moses that climbed up that hill Deut. 33.2 and alone saw it saie's And if hee thus gave the Law how shall hee require it at the last daie Ver. 18. The Lord descended upon it in fire This fire wherein the Law was given is still in it and will never out Deut. 33.2 Ver. 19. Moses spake Yet not without horror Heb. 12.21 Ver. 20. And Moses went up As a Mediator between God and his people Gal. 3.19 with Acts 7.38 A Mediator Moses was not of Redemption as Christ that Mediator of the new Covenant and suretie of a better Testament Heb. 7.22 and 9.15 but of receiving the Law and delivering it to the people for which end here hee went up Ver. 21. And manie of them perish As the men of Bethshemesh did for prying into the Ark. 1 Sam. 6.19 Arcana Dei sunt Arca Dei Calvin God's secrets are his Ark. Eorum quae scire nec datur nec fas est docta est ignorantia scientiae appetentia insaniae species Not to know what is not fit to know is a learned ignorance to desire to know in that case is a kinde of madness Hee that curiously searcheth into God's Majestie shall bee oppressed of his glorie Ver. 22. And let the Priests The first-born of the familie which before the Levitical Law had the Priest-hood Sanctifie themselvs With a singular care above that of the rest of the people Much is required of Ministers Ver. 23. The people cannot com up i. e. Siquid ego aut capio aut sapio they cannot that which I know not teach thou mee Ver. 24. Away get thee down Abundans cautela non nocet It is fit that men should know and keep their distance Thou and Aaron with thee These onely who were types of Christ's Princely and Priestly office might com up unto the Lord. CHAP. XX. Ver. 1. God spake all c. ALL the Ten are of divine autoritie Papists disanulling the second that yet they may
enemy Vers 4. A man of every tribe These were men of renowne Vers 16. To do worthily in Ephrata is the way to be famous in Bethlebem Ruth 4.11 It is said of a great States-man in Queen Elizabeths dayes Camdens Elisab that he was in the number of those few that both lived and dyed with glory Vers 16. Princes of the tribes Thesâ were those officers over them in Egypt saith an Hebrew Dectour that had been beaten for them Exad 5.14 Now they are raised to great preferment Sic per augusta ad angustum per spinas ad rosas per motum ad quietem per crucemâad caelum contendimus Vers 17. Which are expressed by their names And they are all excellent good names and very significant hereby is testified to posterity that they forgat not the Name of their God when they were in the iron furnace but could say as Psal 44.17 All this is come upon us yet have we not forgotten thee Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons c. Vers 19. So he numbred them See the note on Exod. 30.12 At every generall muster they paid poll-money See ib. vers 16. Such a taxation was first granted in this kingdome to Edward the third Danicls hist but in the next raign proved of ill consequence the exactours receiving from the people no less summes of curses then of coyn whereupon also followed the first and greatest popular insurrection that ever was seen in this kingdome Vers 47. Were not numbred Because by speciall priviledg enempted from secular and military employments that they may wholly devote themselves to the service of the Sanctuary Peter in like sort must put up his sword and Timothy not intangle himself with the affaires of this life that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a souldier of another nature 2 Tim. 2.4 But Timotheâs Herulus that warlike Bishop of Alexandria Theophilus Alexandriae Episcopus primus inter Christiani nominis episcopos arma tractavit Socrat. Anno Dom. 467 was a gallant fellow in his generation And some of Peters pretended successours were viri biliosi et bellicosi cast the keyes into Tiber and took up Saints Pauls sword and the Imperiall habit So have divers of their dear sons done as Philip Bishop of Beau-viââ in France who being taken in battell by Richard the first in a skirmish had his armour he was taken in sent to the Pope with these words engraven thereon Vide utruâ filii tui tunica sit vel non See whether this be thy sons coat or not Vers 53. Shall pitch round about As the living creatures the Ministers are between the 24 elders the congregation of the faithfull and the throne Rev. 4. CHAP. II. Vers 1. ANd the Lord spake He being the Lord of these Hoasts of Israel Exod. 12.41 gives order for the marshalling of them in such good array and allcomely equipage as made them as a city that is compact together both beautifull as the Moon and terrible as an army with banners Psal 122.3 Cant. 6.10 This Balaam beheld with admiration Num. 24.5 6. Vers 2. Far off about the Tabernacle About it The Emperours tent is among his Souldiers Xerxes pitched his tent not only among but above his souldiers that he might look on them when in fight for their encouragement So the Lord who as he is round about his people Psal 125.2 so they are round about the Lord Psal 76.12 A people neer unto him Psal 148.14 Yet not so neer but they must know and keep their just distance as here they pitched far off about the Tabernacle a mile off as is gathered from Iosh 3.4 God though he loves to be acquainted with men in the walks of their obedience yet he takes State upon him in his ordinances and will be trembled at in our addresses to his Majesty Vers 3. And on the East-side Judah encamped foremost It was fit the Lion should leade the way Better an army of Harts with a Lion to lead them on c. This order in their march shewed the principality that should continue in this tribe till Shiloh came Judah herein also was a type of Christ who is the Captain of the Lords Hoasts Iosh 5.14 and of our salvation Heb. 2.10 and goeth before his heavenly armies Rev. 12.7 Vers 10. And on the South-side The order proceedâth from East to South and so to the West and North according to the course of the Sun and climates of the world saith one I may add according to the course and progress of the Gospell which went out of Iudea lying East into Greece which lyeth South And from thence passed to the Western parts the Latine Church and so to us of the North. And because Vespera nunc venit nobiscum Christe maneto Extingui lucem nec patiare tuam CHAP. III. OF Aaron and Moses Of Aaron by nature of Moses by education and instruction See 1 Cor. 4.15 Gal. 4.19 with the Notes there So the Jesuites call themselves Padres and require of their Novices blinde obedience which is more then ever Moses did Vers 3. Which were anointed And so should have walked as became Gods anointed leaving a sweet smell behind them every where but they went out in a stench they fell as if they had not been anoynted with oyle 2 Sam. 1 21. Vers 4. And Nadab and Abihu Such a cross had David in his two eldest Amnon and Absalon See the Notes on Levit. 10.1 2. Vers 9. They are wholly given unto him Heb. they are given they are given So the Ministers of the Gospell are called gifts Eph. 4.8 11. honouraries such as Christ bestowed upon his Church at the day of his Coronation and solemne inauguration into his throne at his wonderfull Ascention Vers 10. And the stranger Though a Levite yet if not of Aarons seed Num. 18.3 Heb. 5.4 Let this be thought upon by our over-bold intruders into the work of the Ministery Vers 13. Because all the first-born So they were from the beginning but here is noted a continuance of this ordinance when it is said that he sanctified the first-born to himself what time he smote every first-born in Egypt Now the first born are said to be Gods by a singular right Exod. 13.2 and so they were types 1. Of Christ Rom. 8.29 to whom therefore we must give the honour of his first-birth-right all our sheaves must veyle and bow to his sheafe 2. Of Christians those first-born whose names are written in Heaven Heb. 12.23 who are dear to God as his first born Exod. 4.22 and so higher then the Kings of the earth Psal 89.27 for they are Kings and Priests unto God Rev. 1.6 to serve him day and night in his temple Rev. 7.15 CHAP. IIII. Vers 2. OF the sons of Kohath Kohath was not Levies first born but Gershom and yet he hath the preheminence and chiefe charge as of the Arke Table Candlestick Altars c. Num. 3.31 Vers 3.
To do the work The work of the Ministery is not an idle mans occupation but a labouring even to lassitude compared therefore to harvest-work and to that of cleaving wood digging in mine-pits rowing with oares c. All the comfort is that God that helped the Levites to bear the Arke of the Covenant 1 Chron 15.26 will not be wanting to his weak but willing servants that labour in the word and doctrine 1 Tim. 5.17 Vers 5. And when the Camp setteth forward Which was not till the cloud was taken up from off the Tabernacle by the Lord. Num. 10.11 12 who went before them Semper memento illud Pythagoricum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Let God lead us and we cannot miscarry Boetius Vers 8. And cover the same It is well observed that only the Ark representing Christ and the Table with shew-bread representing the Church had three coverings all the other holy things had but two for a covert from storm and from rain Thus Esay 4.5 6. upon all the glory shall be a defence Vers 13. The ashes from the Altaâ The fire from Heaven was also carefully kept alive Lev. 6.12 though nothing be here said of it Vers 15. Lest they dye As Vzzah did 1 Chron. 13.10 The burden of the sons of Kohath Who as they had the honos so the onus See vers 1. Fructus honos oneris fructus honoris onus Vers 16. And to the office of Eleazâr Called therefore Prince of the Princes of the Levites Num. 3.32 Vers 18. Cut ye not off i.e. Cause them not by your default to be cut off Heed must be taken that we neither give offence carelesly nor take offence causelesly Vers 20. But they shall not go in to see The men of ' Bethshemâsh paid for their peeping 1 Sam. 6.9 Search not into Gods secrets hìc oportet non rimari Dent. 29.29 Remember that saying of Xenocrates the Philosopher Nihil interesse pedesue quisquam Plutarch de curiosit an oculos in aliena domo ponat It is as great unmannerliness to pry into another mans house as to press into it Vers 30. From thirty yeares The Greek hath it from 25 yeares for then they began to be learners and probationers and at 30 they set upon the service See Num. 8.24 In their old age they had leave to retire Vers 32. By name ye shall reckon That all might be ready and forth comming when the Sanctuary was set up again Christ knoweth and calleth all his by name Joh. 10.3 not the meanest of them is missing Ioh. 17.12 Vers 44. Trhee thousand and two hundred By this diversity of number among the Levites families God sheweth his wisedome saith an Interpreter in fitting men for the work whereunto he hath appointed them whether it requireth multitude or gifts For to one is given by the Spirit the Word of wisdome to another the word of knowledg by the same Spirit c. dividing to every man severally as he will 1 Cor. 12.8 12. It is reported that in Luthers house was found written Res et verba Philippus res sine verbis Lutherus verba sine re Erasmus Melancthon hath both matter and words Luther hath matter but wants words Erasmus hath words but wants matter Every one hath his own share all are not alike gifted Vers 48. Eight thousand c. What a poor few were these to the other tribes Gods portion is ever the least CHAP. V. Vers 2. PVt out of the Camp To shew that sin unrepented of throws us out of the communion of Faith and Saints shuts us out of the congregation of God in earth and heaven No fellowship place or reward with them See Rev. 21.27 with the note there Vers 3. Without the Camp shall ye put them Evill doers are to be suspended excommunicated 1 Cor. 5.13 which text sheweth plainly the truth of this ceremony Vers 6. Any sin that men do commit For what man is he that liveth and sinneth not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I am a man a sinner saith Peter Luk. 5.8 not more a man then a sinner Our lives are fuller of sin then the firmament of stars or the furnace of sparks we can as little cease to sin as the hart to pant pulse to beate c. The devill when he speaks lies speaks of his own Ioh. 8.44 so when we do evill we work of our own we walk as men 1 Cor. 3.3 Sins are here called humane fins as the Greek hath it Vers 7. Then they shall confess their sin So they were bound to do all their sins Prov. 28.13 Job 33.27 28. Confessio peccati est medicina peccati saith Nazanzen A sin acknowledged is halfeamended _____ And he shall recompence his trespass Restitution must be made of goods unjustly detained or else you shall cough in hell said Mr. Latimer Our King Henry the seventh in his last will and testament after the disposition of his soul and body Speeds hist sol 995. he Devised and willed restitution should be made of all such moneys as had unjustly been levyed by his officers So did Selymus the great Turk give order at his death Turk hist 767. for the restoring and recompencing of the great treasure he had taken from the Persian merchants Vers 8. Vnto the Lord even to the Priest The Priest is the Lords receiver So Heb. 7.6 7 8 9. Tithes are due to the Ministers of Christ that lives because due to him Sacârdos est vicaââus et quasi haeres Dââ and they are in his stead 2 Cor. 5.20 Vers 9. And every offering So liberally doth the Lord provide for his Priests See the Note on Levit. 27.30 And is not the right of lively-hood as equall and due to the Ministers of the Gospell whose Ministery is far more glorious 2 Cor. 3.8 9. even greater then that of Iohn Baptist Mat. 11.11 Vers 12. If a mans wife goe aside Adalterum vel ad alterius torum vnde dicitur adulterium If as a wanton she want one when she hath her own But what wittals are the Lituanians who give way to their wives to have their stallions if Maginus belye them not and call such connubii adjutores prizing them far above all their acquaintances Vers 13. And it be hid from the eyes As Prov. 30.20 Such a privy whore was Livia the wife of Augustus Caesar who though otherwise very observant of her husband yet lived in adultery with Eudemus her Physitian qui specie artis frequens secretis saith Tacitus who under a shew of curing her Pliny corrupted her So do the Iesuites many dames at this day being as one saith of them Connâbisanctifugae clammeretricitegae The Friers are said to send men whose wives are barren in pilgrimage to Saint Ioyce the patroness of fruitfulness and meane while to lye with their wives Vers 14. And the spirit of jealousy come upon him In the bathes at upper Baden in Helvetia cernunt viri vxores tractari cernunt
cum alienis loqui et quidem solam cum solo saith Munster and yet are not jealous But the Italians are so jealous that how many husbands so many jaylours And the Turks as far exceed the Italians herein Blunts voyage into Levant as the Italians do us Therefore their women go muffled all but the eyes nor are they suffered to go to Church or so much as look out at their own windows In Barbary 't is death for any âan to see one of the Xeriffes concubines and for them too if when they see a man though but through a casement they do not suddenly screek out Vers 15. Barly-meal Barly not wheat She hath done the act of a beast and her oblation is the meat of a beast as Sal. Jarchi here noteth Vers 16. Set her before the Lord Whose the judgment was that if guilty she might be scared from submitting her self to this triall sith God knows all our thefts Vers 17. Holy-water i.e. Water taken out of the holy laver Annal. ad annum 44. no warrant for popish lustrall water and sprinkling of Sepulchres for the ground whereof Cardinall Baronius fairly referrs us to Iuvenals sixth Satyre Vers 18. Vncover the Womans head Because she stood now upon her justification and thereupon laid aside for present this sign of subjection to the man 1 Cor. 11.7 _____ The offering of memoriall Brought by her husband vers 15. who was now sick of one of those three diseases that they say are hardly cured jealousy frenzy and heresie Vers 21. Thy thigh to rot and belly to swell God takes notice of the offending member as he did in those blasphemers who gnawed their tongues Revâl 9. Absoloms hair Jeroboams hand the adulterers loyns Prov. 5.11 Zimri and Cozli thrust through the belly Num. 25.8 Charles the 2. King of Navarr Ioane Queen of Naples c. Suffered as they sinned Vers 22. Amen Amen Twice to shew the fervency of her zeal the innocency of her cause the uprightness of her conscience and the pârity of her heart Vers 23. Shall write these curses in a book To shew that the word written should cause the water thus to work according to the cleanness or uncleanness of the party See 2 Cor. 2.16 with the note there CHAP. VI. Vers 1. ANd the Lord spake Est Venus in vinis therefore after the law for the privy harlot here is a law given for abstinence from wine and strong drink which some have called lac Veneris Rev. 17.4 The whore commâth forth with a cup as with a fit instrument Vers 2. To vow a vow A voluntary vow a religious promise made in prayer hence ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a prayer To separate themselves unto the Lord As mirrours of singular sobriety and sanctimony Lam. 4.7 especially required in such as are separated unto the Gospell of God Rom. 1.1 and as types of Christ that great Votary true Nazarite holy harmless undefiled and seperate from sins Heb. 7.26 that holy thing Mat. 1.20 that holy of holies or most holy Dan. 9.24 Vers 3. He shall separate himself from wine Lest he should drink and forget the law Prov 31.5 which he was to study diligently but loaden bellies make leaden wits intemperance takes away the heart Hos 4.11 overchargeth it Luk. 21.34 Moist grapes or dryed Dryed as raisins currants or grapes of Corinth whence they come and are called Vers 4. From the kernels even to the husk Nothing that that might occasion or tempt him to break his vow All shadows and shewes of evill must be shunned quicquid fuerit male coloratum as Bernard hath it whatsoever looks but ill-favoured 1 Thess 5.22 Iude 23. He that would not eate the meat must not meddle with the broth He that would not toll the bell must not tuggle with the rope He that would shun the blow must keep aloof from the train Vers 5. There shall no rasor In opposition to Heathens Votaries who nourished their hayr to offer to their gods The popish Priests also cut and shave their hayr that they may still look neate and effeminate which God allowed not in his Nazarites Amos 2.11 Vers 6. At no dead body Christ was never defiled by any person dead in sin nor by any dead work no more must we Vers 7. He shall not make himself unclean In all changes he must be unchangeable so was Christ so must we Vers 9. And if any man dye A figure of the involuntary and unavoidable infirmity of the Saints which must be bewailed as direct fruits of the flesh and for which there is through Christ a pardon of course Vers 12. And he shall consecrate He shall begin the world a new so must we after some foul fall especially repent and do thy first works Revel 2.5 as the Shulamite did Cant. 5.2 c. Vers 14. And he shall offer his offering Though he had fulfilled his vow in the best manner yet he must come with his sin-offering c. leading him to Christ for pardon of failings in the manner and with his thank-offering for what he had been enabled to do before he could be released of his Nazarite-ship Vers 18. And put it in the fire To teach us that the Lord so loveth his children that he esteemeth the least hair of their head as a precious gift Vers 19. The sodden shoulder i.e. The left shoulder for the right was due unto him raw Lev. 7.32 This taught the Nazarite speciall thankfulness dignity requires duty Vers 20. The Nazarite may drink wine The Popish Votaries will needs fetch colour and approbation for their superstitious vowes from this order of Nazarites But the abolishing of this ordinance is declared Act. 21.25 and they are so far from the abstinence of Nazarites that they eate of the best and drink of the sweetest the most generous wine in Lovain and Paris is known by the name of vinum theologicum the Divines those Sârbonists do so whiffe it off Vers 21. Besides that that his hand i.e. Beside his voluntary devotion according to his ability This he may do but that he must do be he poor or rich Vers 23. Ye shall bless the children of Israel Praying for them with hands first stretched out to Heaven Levit. 9.22 and then laid upon the people so putting the blessing of God upon them So Christ did upon his Apostles which was his last action upon earth Luk. 24.50 And so must all Pastours do that would do good on it pray down a blessing on their people Vers 24. The Lord bless thee Here some observe the mystery of the holy Trinity See it explained 2 Cor. 13.14 CHAP. VII Veas 2. The Princes of Israel offered So they did at the making of the Tabernacle and at the building of the Temple Exod. 35.27 1 Chron. 29.6 7 8. which was but to give God of his own as David acknowledgeth with all thankfulness Vers 14. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Of thine own we offer unto thee said
of holy things as in Popery at this day Vers 17. And when the cloud This visible sign they had of Gods presence for their motion or station by night or by day through all their pilgrimage In all thy wayes acknowledge God and he shall direct thy pathes Prov. 3.6 When thou sittest in darkness the Lord shall give thee light Mic. 7.8 Vers 19. Kept the charge of the Lord Or his watch viz. to be ready at any hour to remove so must we alwaies watch and be in readiness as not knowing whether at Even or at midnight or cock-crowing or in the dawning Christ will come Mar. 13.35 Vers 23. At the Commandement of the Lord This signified that the Saints are to rest or go on at the voyce of Christ Joh. 10.3 4. and that whatsoever they do in word or deed to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Colos 3.17 to seek and finde all their perfection and defence in him alone CHAP. X. Vers 2. TWo trumpets of silver Signifying the voyce of the Law and Gospel in the mouthes of Gods Ministers Esai 58.1 Ad ravim usque vocem intendit nec vinci se à strepitu ullo passuâ est Melch. Adam 114. who must lift up the voyce like a trumpet with fervour zeal and courage 1. To gather the people and assemble the Elders Ioel 2.16 2. To put them upon their marchings and motions towards the heavenly Canaan and here to blow an alarm sic clames ut Stentora vincere possis as that famous Farellus did when the Fryers to drown his voyce in the Pulpit rang their greatest Bells but he out-noysed them 3. To get them upon their battlements and there-hence to blow an alarm likewise upon the approach of spiritual enemies Suetonius eâ libertate scripfit Imperatorum vitas qua ipsi vixerunt taking the same liberty to cry down sin that men take to commit it and to descry the Devils stratagems that are so destructive to mens souls They must cast away the inverse trumpets of Furius Fulvius which sounded a retreat when they should have sounded an alarm they must faithfully shew Gods people their transgressions and the house of Iacob their sins Esay 58.1 yea all their transgressions in all their sins Levit. 16.21 Lastly as the Priests were to sound the silver trumpets at their solemn feasts for a monument of spiritual gladness before the Lord Psal 81.4 so must Ministers of the Gospel publish the glad tydings of the Gospel Speak to the heart of Ierusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished her sin is pardoned Esay 40.2 make the people hear the joyful sound that they may walk in the sense of Gods presence and in the light of his countenance yea rejoyce in his Name all the day-long Psal 89.15 16. Vers 7. But when the congregation Cenalis Bishop of Auranches was hard driven when to prove the church of Rome a true church he makes no mention at all of Ministers or ordinances but alledgeth that the Catholikes had bells to assemble them together whereas the Lutherans met by the clap of harquebuzes and pistolets And so he goes on to triumph in a long Antithesis The bells saith he do sound the harquebuzes crack The bells give a sweet and melodious tune but the harquebuzes a foul and terrible noise Bells open heaven the other hell Act. and Mon. fol. 838. Bells chase away clouds and thunder the other gender clouds and counterfeit thunder c. O the profound arguments of these doting Doctours But you shall not sound an alarm Or a broken sound but a continued equall sound as fittest for their quiet assembling to the service of God and hearing of the law The sound of Gods word must not be broken or quavering Pompall Tertullian calleth it but downright and simple Non oratorum filii sumus sed piscatorum Nazianz. ad Libanium nec verborum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã sed Spiritus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. 1 Cor. 2.1 4. Vers 8. Shall blow with the trumpets A trumpeter as one observeth winds his trumpet with his mouth and holds it up with his hand so should a Minister both preach and practise vivere concionibus concionari moribus Vers 9. Ye shall be remembred before the Lord Who will arise as it were awakened by this sound of the trumpet See 2 Chron. 13.12 with Isa 51.9 That is by the prayer of faith such as were the prayers of the Ministers of Angrogne in France wherewith their enemies cryed out they were so bewitched that they could not fight It was the custome of these poor persecuted Protestants Act. Mon. fol. 883. so soon as they saw the enemy approach to cry all together for aid and succour to the Lord and when the combate was ended constantly to give him thanks for the good success he had sent them So at the siege of Mountabone the people of God using daily humiliation as their service would permit did sing a psalme after it immediately before their sallying forth with this practice the enemy comming acquainted ever upon the singing of the Psalme after which they expected a sally they would so quake and tremble saying they come they come as though the wrath of God had been breaking out upon them Vers 10. For a memoriall Or a sacred sign to minde and assure them that God will hear their suits and accept of their services thus performed with joy of faith Vers 12. Out of the wilderness of Sinai Where they had dwelt long enough Deut. 1.6 7 8. It being a place of bondage by reason of the law there given Gal 4.24 25. The law is a yoke of bondage as Jerome calls it and they who look for righteousness from thence are like oxen who toyl and draw and when they have done their labour are fatted for slaughter Vers 25. The rereward of all the Camp Called the gathering Host Iosh 6.9 Because to their charge was committed the care of gathering together the lame faint and feeble and to look that nothing was lost or left behinde And to this David seems to allude Psal 27.10 Confer Isai 58.8 52.12 Vers 29. And Moses said Or Moses had said viz. Exod 18.1 2. For the Lord hath spoken good And Gods promises he knew to be good sure-hold Seneca Vers 30. To mine own land Patriam quisque amat non quia pulchram sed quia suam Ovid. Nescio qua natale solum dulcedine cunctos duâ it et immemores non sinit esse sui Vers 31. Instead of eyes To descry unto us the commodities and discommodities of the country which is well known to thee Herein thou maiest be of singular use unto us though we have God going visibly before us Gaudentius Casaubon The Iewes had a kinde of officers at their feasts called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the eyes of the feast praefecti morum Vers 33. Three dayes journey Three dayes together without
resting this made them murmure Chap. 11.1 non quia dura sed quia molles patimur Sen. Went before them And as the Iewes conceive for the facilitating of their march the cloud levelled mountains raised vallies and laid all of a flat that is burnt up bushes smoothed rocks and made all plain c. Vers 35. Rise up Lord Commanders must pray as well as lead on their forces as did Charles the great and that late brave King of Sweden more addict to prayer then to fight CHAP. XI Vers 1. ANd when the people complained Or were as it were complainers they did inwardly and secretly repine and mutter at their three dayes march without intermission like those horses that disgest their choller by biting the bridle Consumed them that were in the uttermost parts There it seems the sin began amongst those that were faint and weary with travell as Deut. 25.18 Vers 2. And the people cryed to Moses That Lord Chancellour of Heaven as one calleth him that could rule with God and over-rule Of Moses it might be said as once of Luther Iste vir potuit apud deum quod voluit he might have whatsoever he would of God Vers 3. The name of the place Taberah So to perpetuate the memory of the peoples sin and Gods judgment Alterius perditio tua sit cautio Vers 4. And the mixâ multitude See the Note on Exod. 12.38 Observe the danger of ill company Fish retains their sweetness in the salt sea The river d ee in Merioneth-shire running through Pimble-meere remaines entire and mingles not her streames with the waters of the lake The rivers of Peru after they have run some miles into the sea retain their sweetness as writers report But to converse with the ungodly and not to learn their manners is marvellous rare and difficult A man may pass through Ethiopia unchanged but he cannot dwell there and not be discoloured Vers 5. We remember the fish They forgat their servitude Discontent is ever harping upon wants and enjoyes nothing no more then Haman did his honour or Alâab his kingdome when he longed for a sallet out of Naboths garden Vers 6. There is nothing at all besides The wheat of heaven was held a light meat because lightly come by Citò parta vilescunt How are many queasie stomacks even nauseated with the bread of life it makes not to their dainty palates 3 plain preaching is dis-rellished Vers 7. And the Manna See the Note on Exod. 16.14 31. There was therefore no such cause they should so loath it Was as Coriander seed Small but full of sweetness and nourishment Deut. 34.7 This might be some cause of Moses his undecayedness As the colour of Bdellium A kinde of transparent and precious gumme Vers 8. And the people went about Or went to and fro as men ought still to encrease knowledg Dan. 12.4 labouring for the meat that endureth to eternall life Joh. 6.27 God might have saved them this labour by rayning Manna into their mouthes but he would not for the tryall of their diligence and that they might not think that worth nothing that cost them nothing And ground it in mills So was Jesus Christ ground and pounded with passion baked and dryed up in the oven of his fathers displeasure before he became fit food and a Saviour to his Church As the taste of fresh oyle Or wafers baked with honey Exod. 16.31 The sweet promises of grace are sweeter then honey Psal 19.10 No fresh and sweet oyle can so cherish the face as they do the heart of a believer Vers 9. And when the dew fell As Manna fell in the dew so doth the Spirit descend in and by the word preached Gal. 3.2 In the night Figuring that hidden Manna laid up and prepared for the Saints Revel 2.17 Vers 10. Weep throughout their families Generally and openly they mutinied and murmured though so lately they had smarted at Taberah And this they did not once or twise but ten times over whereby it appeares that God chose this unthankfull people not for their merits sedex mera et mira misericordia he chose them for his love and loved them for his choyse Vers 11. Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant Antoninus the Emperour said often Imperium Oceanum esse malorum that to be a governour of others is to be plunged into an Ocean of miseries Pope Adrian caused to be engraven upon his own tomb Foelix si non imperitasset Melancthon said the three sorest labours of all were Docentis imperantis parturientis the labours of Ministers Magistrates and of travelling women Vers 12. As a nursing father beareth c. Lovingly mildly gently A Magistrate should carry himself as a Pater patriae Cambdens Elisab Queen Elizabeth would many times say That she could believe nothing of her people that parents would not believe of their children Vers 13. Whence should I have flesh Lust is unsatisfiable to go about it is to go about an endless piece of work it is to cast oyl into the fire to quench it Vers 14. It is too heavy for me Crowns have their cares seats are uneasie many a cumber attends honour Beatus ille qui procul negotiis Horat. Vers 15. And if thou deal thus with me Here the word Thou spoken to God is of the feminine gender At for Atta ex magna perturbatione saith a Rabbine Moses was so exceedingly moved with anger and grief these passions did so overcarry him that he could not complere vocem utter his whole speech as he that groaneth or gapeth in the beginning of his sentence cannot make up his breath to speak what he intended Vers 16. Gather unto me seventy men Here say some began the Sanhedrim that is the great Counsel of the Jews consisting of seventy Seniours and one President It continued till the time of Herod the Great who took it away and changed the form of it Vers 17. And I will take of the spirit i. e. I will bestow the same Spirit upon them as upon thee and this shall be nothing at all to thy loss or disadvantage Habet Hispania montem ex sale magnum de quo quantum demas tantum accrescit shall bear the burden of the people Who are in nothing more a burden then in this that with them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Thucyd. Praesens imperium semper grave they are ever grumbling at the present government though never so gentle Alleva jugum Ease the yoke that thy father put upon us 1 King 12.4 said they to Rehoboam forgetting the golden age they had lived in under his father Solomon Vers 18. Sanctifie your selves Ironicè dictum or sanctifie that is prepare your selves for the day of slaughter as Jer. 12.3 For you have wept in the ears Tears of what sort soever have a voyce in them Psal 39.12 as blood hath Gen. 4. For it was well with us in Egypt Such is the murmuring of those malecontents that
his good name can bear no jâsts And he was no fool that said negligere quid de se quisque dicat Cicero non solum arrogantis est sed et dissoluti He shall pass for a proud fool that makes no matter what men say of him God is most tender of his glory and we must take heed how we cast any slur upon it for we quarter armes as it were with God Vers 15. Kill all this people as one man As he can quickly do with a turn of his hand with a nod of his head Psal 80.16 with a breath of his nostrils Iob 4.9 he can as soon do it as bid it be done whether it be done against a nation or against a man only Iob 34.29 Vers 17. Let the power of my Lord be great In multiplying pardons Isai 55.8 in passing by the many and bony or mighty sins of this people Amos 5.12 Fortia peccata Heb. bony sins such sins as none else could or would pardon for who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth such iniquity c Mic. 7.18 Hebricians have observed that in the word jigdall here used in the originall text there is a great Iod which in numbering is ten to shew that if the people should murmure ten times more against God then they had done yet out of tender respect to his own great name which would otherwise be basely blasphemed he should pardon and spare them Vers 18. And by no meanes clearing the guilty This last letter in Gods dreadfull Name ought much to be marked God may pardon mens sins and yet lay it on upon the skin to humble themselves and to warne others Thou forgavest them though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions Psal 99.8 Vers 20. I have pardoned them viz. So as not utterly and at once to extirpe them I will be as a moth unto them and not as a devouring lyon Hos 5.12 14. Vers 21. But as truly as I live This is an oath as appeares by comparing herewith Psal 95.11 To blame therefore are they that use it so often All the earth shall be filled I will make me a great name abroad and even of those maid-servants the heathens which thou hast spoken of shall I be had in honour as he said in another case 2 Sam. 6.22 Vers 24. Veni Vidi Viti Because he had another Spirit Let us go up and possesse it saith he Chap. 13 30. As if it were no more then to go and see and conquer A free spirit is iâkindled with that which quencheth others as when a bowl runs down-hill Implevit post me every rub quickens it whereas if up-hill it would slug it And hath followed me fully Heb. hath fulfilled after me A Metaphor from a ship under sayl carried strongly with the winde as fearing neither rocks nor sands And his seed Personall goodness is profitable to posterity Who would not serve such a Lord Vers 25. Now the Amalekites There was but a mountain betwixt so they were hard by the promised land and yet could not enter because of unbelief Thou art not far from Gods Kingdome the greater is thine unhappiness that fallest from so high hopes By the way of the red sea Sith you have such a minde to it you shall have enough of it The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own wayes Prov. 14.14 Vers 28. So will I do to you God took them at their words so he may well do our desperate swearers sith the mercy they desire God to shew is to damne them Vers 29. Your carcasses shall fall Cadaver a cadendo ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Who knows whether God purpose not to weare out this generation that hath been defiled with the superstitions of the land we live in that we may not see the good that he will bring upon this Church Vers 34. My breach of promise i e. Ye shall finde to your cost what it is to charge me with breach of promise through unbelief Vers 39. Mourned greatly God gave them somewhat to cry for Vers 40. We have sinned Here was confession of sin without confusion of sin So was that of Saul 1 Sam. 15.30 Vers 45. And smote them To be out of Gods precincts is to be out of his protection CHAP. XXV Vers 2. VVHen ye be come into the land God who in the middest of judgment remembreth mercy and suffereth not his whole wrath to arise seales up his love again to these late revolters And although he led them in and out backward and forward in that terrible wilderness as if he had been treading a maze yet he here gives them new directions what to do when they that is their children came into the land of Canaan Yea he further tells them that he will smell a sweet savour of the herd and of the flock and is pleased to enlargeand explain some laws formerly delivered in token of is reconciliation to them So he renued his favour to his relapsed spouse now returning unto him Cant. 5.3 with Chap. 6.4 5 c. and to his disciples that had basely forsaken him by giving them a new commission to execute the ministeriall function Ioh. 20.21 Vers 4. Bring a meat-offering As an Appendix to the other sacrifices Vers 5. For a drink-offering These drink offerings of wine signified that the Saints must be most ready and chearfull to offer themselves up to God in Martyrdome as a drink-offering for the testimony of their faith and for the service and Ministery of the Church as Paul Phil. 2.17 2 Tim. 4.6 And many Martyrs who went as willingly to dye as to dine One of them called is his wedding-day and invited his friends thereunto Others filled with the Holy Ghost so rejoyced that they were misjudged by their adversaries to be drunk with wine Act. and Mon. fol. 1653. wherein is excess as Morgan falsely objected to Mr. Philpot in a conference Vers 20. Ye shall offer up a cake As an homage-penny as acknowledging God the chief Lord of all and as craving his leave to partake of his creatures Vers 22. And if ye have erred and not observed Not serving of God not sacrificing is a sin Mal. â 18 Eccles 9.2 Not robbing only but the not relieving of the poor was the rich mans ruine Luk. 16. Omission of diet breeds diseases so doth omission of duty and makes work for hell or for the Physitian of our souls Vers 24. By ignorance Or infirmity incogitancy inadvertency for such there is a pardon of course ready sealed by God in Christ else we might dye in our sins while the pardon is providing Vers 30. But the soul that doth ought presumptuously When the heart at any time deliberates saith a learned Divine and yet that word is not sufficient to express it D. Preston of Gods Alsuff but when the heart works according to its own proper inclination and then wilfully disobeyes the Lord in any commandement certainly then it casts God away
your selves from them stave them off ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as the word signifies 2 Thess 3.6 and we charge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to do so ut scias quà m aegrè divellimur saith One. Vers 26. Lest ye be consumed See vers 24. and the Note on Revel 18.4 Hamath fares the worse for lying so neer Damascus Zech. 9.2 St. John sprang out of the Bath where he found Cerinthus the heretick Vers 27. Came out and stood As out-facing Moses and scorning the judgment threatned Deus quem destruit dementat Hardened sinners make no more of Gods dreadful threatnings then Behemoth doth of iron weapons which he esteemeth as strawes Vers 28. Hereby ye shall know Thus he engageth the truth and honour of his office upon a miracle But now he that expects a miracle is himself a miracle saith Augustine Let Papists brag of their lying wonders 2 Thess 2.9 We dislike not altogether that observation of Gretser the Jesuite Tam sterilis deserta est Lutherana Calviniana secta ut diabolus ne dignetur quidem per eam aliquid fallacium umbratilium prodigiorum aggredi saltem frequenter palam So dull and dry is the Lutheran and Calvinian Sect that the devil daynes not to work any or not many miracles amongst them as he doth among the Catholikes Vers 29. The common death of all men Ne quisquam sua morâe defunctus est said Suetonius of Caesar's murtherers So may we say of our powder-plotters your sin will finde you out Vers 30. Quick unto the pit Not into hell as the Papists conclude from this text for how could their houses and goods go down to hell vers 32 and who would not hope that some of them were innocent some penitent The punishment they suffered in being buried alive was very miserable and so accounted by the Heathens who served their vestall virgins in this sort that had been defloured Vers 31. As he bad made an end of speaking Dictum factum So it is still Joh. 20.23 Vengeance is every whit as ready in Gods hands as in his Ministers mouthes 2 Cor. 10.6 Vers 32. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up So it did a great part of Antioch by a horrible earthquake Anno 527. for their horrible heresies and blasphemies there broached by the Bishops and defended by the people So lately Pleurs in Italy Vers 33. And they perished from among So the powder-plotters here and before them the Northern rebels That rebellion saith One like the bubbles which children blow up into the ayr was no sooner blown up then blown out and fell into the eyes of those which with blasts of ambition and superstition held it up Vers 34. Lest the earth swallow us up also Let the destruction of others be a terrour to us that we may wash our feet in the blood of the wicked Psal 52.6 But he that is swallowed up with earth as Kârah his ears stopped his heart stuffed with earth shall have earth enough when he dyes but of heaven little enough Vers 35. And there came out a fire By fire they sinned and by a fire they suffer Per quod quis peccat per idem punitur ipse Vers 37. For they are hallowed And therefore may not be turned to any other use Vers 38. These sinners against their own souls So are all such as spend the span of this transitory life after the wayes of their own hearts and thereby perish for ever Sin is the souls poyson yet how heartily do men feed upon it as Tartarians do upon dead horses as the maid in Pliny did upon Spiders as the Turkish gally-slaves do upon Opiuns an ounce whereof they will eat at once as if it were bread Vers 40. To be a memorial God cannot abide to be forgotten and they are worthily made examples that will not take them as that second Captain 2 King 1. Vers 41. But on the morrow That after conviction they should so soon again rebell and run away with the bit in their mouthes was prodigious contumacy Vers 42. And behold the cloud Deus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã God as out of an Engine appears for his distressed servants Vers 46. For there is wrath Moses is quick-sighted and spies it at first setting out By how much more faithful and familiar men are with God so much earlier do they discern his wrath Vers 47. The plague Which ran as a fire in a corn-field Vers 48. And he stood between A cleer type of Christ CHAP. XVII Vers 2. TAke of every one of them a râd Or staffe the ensign of their honour Num. 21.18 and of their civil authority Psal 110.2 Jer. 48.16 17. a sufficient witnesse against them that the Priesthood belonged not to them Vzziah smarted for invading it George Prince of Anhalt was a singular example Mâlâh Adam qui primus unus ex omni Principum Germanorum numerâ subdiââs suos ipse viva voce scriptis editis de via salutis erudiret who was the first and the only German Prince that both by preaching and writing taught his Subjects Vers 5. And I will make to cease But then he must do more then work miracles For such is the habitual hardness of mens hearts as neither Minister nor misery nor miracle nor mercy can possibly mollifie Nothing can do it but an extraordinary touch from the hand of heaven Vers 8. And bloomed blossomes 1. For a testimony of Aarons calling from God to the honour of the Priesthood 2. For a type of Christ the branch growing out of the stem of Jesse Esai 11.1 3. For a figure of the Ministery of the Gospel which although to profane persons it seem a dry barren and vanishing voyce yet it bloometh and flourisheth in the hearts of Gods Elect. And surely fruitfulness is the best argument of our election and that we are called of God For not only all the plants of his setting but the very boughes cut off from the body of them will flourish 4. For a lively representation of a glorious resurrection At the French massacre Aug. 25.1572 in the Church-yard of St. Innocent at Paris a certain bush suddenly bloomed about the middle time of that bloody day at an unusual time of the year The Papists boasted Epitome hist Gallicae p. 149. that God by that miracle shewed his good liking of that massacre they had made But the Protestants took it for a confirmation of their religion and a testimony of their innocency CHAP. XVIII Vers 1. SHall bear the iniquity i.e. the punishment of whatsoever iniquity is done in the Sanctuary Sin and punishment come under one name as being tyed together with chains of adamant where the one dines the other will sup where the one is in the saddle the other will be upon the crupper Nemo crimen gerit in pectore qui non idem Nemesin in tergo Sin doth as naturally draw and suck judgments to it
clean heart Without the Camp notes that the Gentiles were strangers from the Common-wealth of Israel c. These ashes kept for the Congregation shew the fulness of Christs merits for all his people when he saith it is to make a water of separation it notes that our sins separate betwixt us and our God But now in Christ Jesus we who sometimes were far off are made nigh by his blood Ephes 2.13 Vers 10. Shall wash his clothes To note that even the nearer a Christian comes to the merits of Christ the more he is affected with the sense of his own uncleanness yea he retains it till Bven that is till death Vers 11. He that toucheth To teach them to observe Gods cuâse in death and to avoid the society of sinful men Vers 17. And running water Signifying the ashes of Christs merit and the water of his Spirit See 1 Cor. 6.11 Ioh. 7.38 39. Vers 18. Shall take hyssop No benefit by Christ without mortification of sin CHAP. XX. Vers 1. I In the first moneth To wit of their fortieth year after they came out of Egypt For from this Chapter to the end of Deuteronomy are described the passages of the last year only of their journeying in the wilderness little being regarded of the thirty eight years since the Spies report And Miriam dyed there A good woman and of great use to the people in their travells Mic. 6.4 But once she raised a great storme against her brothers wife Chap. 12.1 about precedency probably as did likewise in this kingdome Anne Stanhop Dutchesse of Sommerset against Katherine Parre Life of Edw. 6. pag. 81. Camb. Elis fol. 356. Queen Dowager wife to her husbands brother the Lord Admirall in the dayes of King Edward the sixth This Anne dyed Anno Dom. 1587 being 99 yeares of age Miriam could be no less likely then 130 taking her to be the same that was set to watch what would become of Moses when he was laid out in an Ark of bulrushes Exod. 2.4 Ver 3. And the people chod Wanting both water and patience they broke the peace with their Superiours See the Note on Chap. 15. vers 15. Vers 4. And why have ye brought up See how this new generation doth patrissare this is but the old coccysmus of those ancient Malecontents Exod. 17.2 So much the worse in these because they made no better use of Gods dealing with their fathers Dan. 5.22 Vers 5. Neither is there any water to drink Thirst a most eager appetite eneagreth their affections and makes them thus hot with Moses Vers 8. Take the rod God puts up their rebellion and satisfies their thirst by a miracle Speak unto the rock He is not bidden now to smite it as once Exod. 17.6 which because he did unbidden God was deeply displeased as some are of opinion Vers 9. And Moses took the rod The same rod that once smote the river to destroy the Egyptians The same word is a savour of life to believers 2 Cor. 2.16 and of death to unbelievers Vers 10. Hear now ye rebels They could hardly hear for the belly hath no eares and their tongues scarce knew to utter any language but that of Sampson Give me water or I dye Jud. 15.18 But why did Mosos speak to them when he should have spoken to the rock only vers 8. This was ill but worse to speak so unadvisedly He struck at the rock and as ready almost to split against it he makes two arguments against it 1. Hear now ye rebels q.d. Will the Lord ever give water to such rebels 2. Shall we give you water out of the rock will that ever be done To fetch fire out of a flinty rock is far more likely but to distill water out of it how can that be done Loe Moses is staggered Bucolc and now at a stand Adeâ nihil est in nobis magnum quod non queat minui the strongest faith much assailed may flag and hang the wing The best carry their treasure but in earthen vessels which dashing against the rock of unbeliefe miseras rimas ducunt c. leake pittifully Vers 11. He smote the rock twice In a great heate and pang of passion Horat. qui non moderabitur irae Infectum velit esse dolor quod suaserit et mens Sometimes both grace and wit are asleep in the holiest and wariest breasts The best may be mis-carried by their passions to their cost And the water came out abundantly This cleaving of the hard rock was a work of Omnipotency Psal 78.15 The works of God are Luther in contrariis mediis This rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10.4 fitly compared to a rock 1. For despicable appearance Isai 53.2 3. 2. Next for exaltation and advancement 3. For firmness and stability Mat. 16.18 4. For scandall and offence to the wicked Rouâ 9.32 5. For weight and danger Mat. 21.44 And their beasts also The wicked in like sort comming to the Lords Supper do receive there panem Domini not panem Dominum Vers 12. Because ye believed me not Ye could not conceive and were not very willing that I should shew such favour to so undeserving a people so measuring my thoughts by your thoughts and my wayes by your wayes Isai 55.8 casting me into a dishonourable mould as it were and this publikely before all the people Therefore ye shall not bring So God was unto them a God that forgiveth and taketh vengeance of their practices as the Psalmist saith Psal 99.8 Repentance may come too late in regard of temporall chastisement as here it did Deut. 3.24 25. Vers 13. And he was sanctified in them By overcomming their evill with good striking the rock for them when he might justly have stricken them with utter destruction Mans badness interrupteth not the course of Gods goodness his unbelief maketh not the faith of God without effect Rom. 3.3 Vers 14. Thus saith thy brother A brother is born for adversity Prov. 17.17 and good blood will not bely it self But a brother offended is harder to be wonne then a strong city and their contentions are like the barrs of a castle Prov. 18.19 Vers 16. Sent an Angell This was Christ or as some would have it Moses like as Phineas is thought to be that Angell at Bochim âudg 2.1 Vers 17. We will not pass So should a Christian bespeak the world Let us pass through thy country we will neither touch nor tast of thy cates but go by the Kings high-way that good old way that God hath scored out unto us untill we arrive at the key of Canaan at the Kingdome of Heaven Vers 18. Thou shalt not pass As fearing what so great an army once got in might do they are not usually so easily removed It was therefore great injustice in Pope Iulius to excommunicate and depose John King of Navarre as an heretike and publike enemy to the See Apostolike because being himself a Peere of the Realm of France and having
a great part of his patrimony in that country he would not suffer the Spaniard the Popes Champion to leade an army through his country Guicciard lib. 2. against the French his Leige-Lord and deliver to him three of the strongest castles he had in his kingdome CHAP. XXI Vers 1. ANd took some of them prisoners ãâã sore affliction worse then any of those outward crosses that Iob suffered whose captivity therefore as that which comprehended all the rest God is said to have turned Chap. 42.10 Barbarossa the Turkish Generall returned from Tunes Turk hist fol. 750. towards Constantinople with such a multitude of poor Christian captives shut up so close under hatches among the excrements of nature that all the way as he went almost every hour some of them were cast dead over-board The late Duke D'Alva Grimst hist of Netherl Governour of Flanders roasted some of his prisoners to death starved others and that even after quarter saying though he promised to give them their lives he did not promise to finde them meat In our late troubles it was a like difficult thing to finde among our enemies a wicked man in their prisons or a godly man out of them where some were little better used then those that are taken by the American Canibals and are eaten up alive and by degrees to the unutterable aggravation of their horrour and torment Vers 2. And Israel vowed a vow This is the way to prevail with God as Iacob found it Gen. 28.36 Who is therefore called the father of vowes Concerning vowes See the Note on that text Gen. 28.20 Vers 3. Delivered up the Canaanites This King Arab heartened with his former success might as Guicciardine saith of Charles the eight of France Guicciard in his expedition against Naples come into the field like thunder and lightning but go out like a snuffe more then a man at first less then a woman at last Vers 4. Discouraged because of the way So are many in their voyage towards Heaven which is an afflicted way Mat. 7.14 strawed with crosses Act. 14.22 Indeed if men could go to heaven in a fether-bed or pass è coeno in coelum à deliciis ad delicias ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã feed on manchet tread on roses fly to heaven with pleasant wings none should be so forward as they But to goe through fire and through water Psal 66.12 to run with pâtience the race that is set before them Heb. 12.1 and through many tribulations to enter into Heaven this they like not Theotimus in Ambrose would rather lose his sight then his sin Vale lumen amicum said he when forbidden wine as naught for his eyes Beetles love dunghills better then oyntments and swine love mud better then a garden so do swinish Epicures prefer earth to heaven c. Vers 5. This light bread See the Note on Chap. 11.6 Vers 6. Fiery Serpents Heb. Seraphin from their burning heat whereby these ingratefull Israelites that causelesly cryed out of thirst had somewhat given them to cry for Their tongues so full of deadly poison and set on fire from hell are now parched and scorched with venemous heate and torments the likest hell of any other These serpents are here called Seraphims that old serpent the divell can transforme himself into an Angell of light Vers 7. Pray unto the Lord Prayer is the best lever at a dead lift Vers 8. Make thee a fiery serpent i.e. The similitude of such a one an unlikely meanes to effect such a cure Yea some write that it is deadly for those that are stung with a serpent to look upon brass Certain it is that this cure was not wrought by any thing in the nature of the brazen serpent but by the institution and ordination of God to be also a type of Christ a noble and notable figure of Christ lifted up on the cross Ioh. 3.16 or rather in his ordinances Gal. 3.1 They that looked upon their sores and not upon the sign dyed for it As those that looked on the sign though but with one eye though but with a squint eye or but with halfe an eye they were healed presently So they that fix their eyes upon their sins only and not upon their Saviour despaire and dye but those that look to Christ being faithfull in weakness though weak in faith are sure to be saved It is but look up and live Only look up as they did that were wounded weepingly wishly pittifully cravingly See and sigh look upon him whom you have pierced let your sins be as so many Hazaels to you and your hearts as so many Hadadrimmons Zech. 12.10 11. Vers 14. In the book of the warrs of the Lord This book here cited by Moses is now either lost or at least latent It was not any part of the Canon for God hath provided that not one hair of that sacred head is diminished but as the Chronicles of England or some famous Poem Vers 16 And I will give them water Now that they murmured not they might have any thing Psal 34.10 Onely we must be content to wait Gods time Is it fit to send for the Prince by a post or to want that particular mercy if God see it meet being content that God be glorified though we be not gratified Surely if God saw us thus studying his share more then our own we might have what we would and God even think himself beholding to us as one phraseth it Vers 17. Then Israel sang this song A sign of that Christian joy Isai 12.3 4. Vers 18. The Prince digged the well Called there-hence Beer-elim Plin. i.e. the Well of the mighty ones Isai 15.8 Nunquam vilior erat annona Romae quam cum terram colerent iidem qui remp regerent quasi ganderet terra laureato vomere scilicet et aratore triumphali With their staves Those Ensignes of their honour they made to be instruments of the common good See the Epist dedicat set before my Notes upon Iohn Vers 22. Let me pass See the Note on Chap. 20.17 Vers 23. And Sihon would not He durst not trust them Deut. 2.30 Men muse as they use God had also hardened his heart that he might come forth to fetch his own destruction Iudgment need not go to find wicked men out they run to meet their bane Vers 27. Wherefore they that speak in proverbs Or by-by-words by way of derision as Deut. 28.17 Habac. 2.6 ballad-makers Poetasters that penned popular songs such as this was Vers 30. We have shot at them Great swelling words of vanity uttered by the conquering Amorites How much better our Henry the fift who after his victory at Agincourt gave straight order Dan. hist pag. 101. that no ballad or song should be made or sung more then of thanksgiving to God for his happy victory and that nothing that might tend to ostentation or boasting of the valiant or cowardly act of any should be set
forth CHAP. XXII Vers 1. IN the Plaines of Moab Once of Moab then of the Amorites now of the Israelites Lands and Lordships often change masters adeò nihil certi est in rebus humanis c. In the greatness of the Turkish Empire is at this day swallowed up the name and Empire of the Saracens the most glorious Empire of the Greeks the renowned Kingdoms of Macedonia Peloponnesus Epirus Bulgaria Servia Bosnia Armenia Cyprus Syria Egypt Judaea Tunes Argeirs Media Turk hist Preface Mesopotamia with a great part of Hungary as also of the Persian Kingdom and besides all those famous Churches spoken of in Scripture so much in Christendom as far exceedeth that which is thereof at this day left yet no doubt Time shall triumph over this so great a Monarchy when it shall but then live by fame as others now do It laboureth with nothing more already then with the weightinesse of it self Vers 3. And Moab was distressed Or was irked fretted vexed And yet Moab was allied to Israel eased by them of a troublesome incroaching neighbour Sihon and assured by them that they would not meddle or molest them But being of a different religion they were carried with Satanical malice against Gods people and sought their ruine This is the guise of graceless and absurd men acted and agitated by the Devil Vers 4. Vnto the Elders of Midian Their neighbours and confederates These are called the Dukes of Sihon as having been subdued by his tyranny whereof Israel had now freed them and meant them no hurt Num. 31.8 with Josh 13.21 And Balac the son of Zippor A politick and potent Prince Mic. 6.5 not more valiant then vigilant ingeniose nequam wittily wicked Vers 5. Balaam the son of Beor The Devils Spel-man as one calls him a sooth-sayer or sorcerer called a Prophet 2 Pet. 2.16 as false-prophets are called Diviners Jer. 27.9 Vers 6. Peradventure I shall prevail Hence he is said to have warred against Israel Josh 24.9 He did not because he durst not Sed fieri dicitur quod tentatur aut intenditur saith Ribera on Amos 9.5 Vers 7. With the rewards of divination Which Jude calls Jude 11. 2 Pet. 2.15 the wages of wickednesse The Athenians complained that Philip by his gold had corrupted the Oracle of Apollo which now did ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Vers 8. As the Lord shall speak unto me Good words and wishes may be found in hells-mouth as wholsome sugar may be found in a poisoned cane and a stone of great vertue in the head of a toad The French have a berry which they name Vve de Spine The grape of a thorn Vers 9. And God came to Balaam So he came to Abimelech to Laban c. he never concredited his word to these as he did to the holy Prophets of whom it is said The Word of the Lord came to them Vers 13. For the Lord refuseth Like a mercenary and one that had a moneths-mind to the money he hides from them that part of the answer that might have kept them off from coming again to him viz. Thou shalt not curse the people for they are blessed Auri sacra fames c. Vers 15. And Balac sent yet again So unweariable are wicked men in pursuing and practising their evil designs This is check to our dulness for the good of our souls Oh how soon said and sated are we Felix trembles and yet at the same instant covets and expects a bribe from Paul who had some occasion to expect repentance of Felix Vers 17. For I will promote thee Thus Satan tempted our Saviour Matth. 4.8 9. and the Pope Luther offering him a Cardinalship to hold his tongue and proposing unto him the example of Aeneas Sylvius who casting away his opinions became Pope and of Bessarion of Nice who of a poor Calover of Trapezond Hist of Coun. of Trent 73. became a great renowned Cardinal and wanted not much of being Pope But Luther answered the messenger Contemptus est a me Romanus favor furor I care not for the Popes proffers of any preferment And when one counselled to try him with mony another more wise answered Hem Germana illa bestia non curat aurum That Dutch-beast cares not for gold But Balaam was not a man of Luthers make Vers 18. I cannot go beyond Intùs Nero foris Cato loquitur hic ut Piso vivit ut Gallonius Audi nemo melius specta nemo pejus A preacher as Quintillian saith of an Oratour should be Vir bonus dicendi peritus A well-spoken and well-deeded person Vers 19. Tarry also now this night c. Very loth he was to forgo so fat a morsel His mouth even watered his fingers itcht to be dealing with Balac He therefore detains the messenger and will try again what may be done for them Vers 20. Rise up and go God answers him according to the idols of his heart bids him go sith he was set upon 't but at his utmost peril lik as Solomon bids the young man follow the wayes of his own heart Eccles 11.9 but then followes that stinging But. Vers 21. And sadled his asse Which never runs fast enough after preferment till horse and man and all to the Devil Vers 22. And Gods anger Deus saepè dat iratus quod negat propitius _____ And his two servants were with him This false Prophet rides not without two men Gods Levite had one man Judg. 19.11 O let not Ministers of the Gospel be slaves to others servants to themselves Vers 23. And the asse saw the Angel Which Balaam saw not his eyes were put out with the dust of covetousness or dazeled at least with the glittering of the promised promotions Vers 24. But the Angel If an Angel stand in the way of a sorcerer's sin how much more ready are all those heavenly Spirits to stop the miscarriages of Gods dear children Surely as our good endeavours are oft hindered by Satan so are our evil by good Angels else were not our protection equal to our danger and we could neither stand nor rise Vers 27. She fell down under Balaam And so condemned her masters madness 2 Pet. 2.16 Polybius in his history saith Whereas Man is held the wisest of all sublunary creatures to me he seemeth the most foolish of all other For whereas other creatures when they have once smarted will come no more there as the Fox returns not rashly to the snare the Woolf to the pit-fal the dog to the cudgel the horse to the hole where he hath been stalked c. solus homo ab aevo ad aevum peccat ferè in iisdem Man only falls into the same offence and mischief from day to day and will not be warned till he be utterly ruined as it befell Balaam Vers 28. And the Lord opened the mouth of the asse Fear not therefore thine own inability and rudeness to reply in a good cause There is no mouth into which God
dye in Spain because there the Catholike religion as they call it is so sincerely professed And a heathen being asked whether he would rather be Socrates a painfull Philosopher or Croesus a wealthy king answered that for this life he would be Croesus but for the life to come Socrates Thus all men wish well to Heavens happiness but bad men finde no more comfort of it then a man doth of the Sun when it shines not in his own Horizon Balaam might here be compared to a stranger that travelling a far country seeth the state and magnificence of the court and is admitted into the presence-chamber which greatly doth affect him though himself have no part or interest in the King See the Note on Chap. 24.5 Vers 11. What hast thou done unto me Hereby it appeares that Balac in serving of God by building Altars and offering sacrifices did but serve himself upon God as Ephraim bore fruit to himself Hos 10.1 and did ye fast to me even to me Zech. 7.5 Vers 12. Must I not take heed to speak See how these hypocrites mock one with another Potest Augur Augurem videre Cic. de Divinat lib. 2. non ridere said Cato V. 13. From Whence thou maist see them And over-look them as they say witches do ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quasi ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Nescio quis teneros c. In Hebrew the same word signifies both an eye and a fountain to shew that from the eye as a fountain flows both both sin and misery Vers 16. Put a Word See the Note on vers 5. Vers 18. Rise up Balac The greatest potentate must reverently attend to the word of God Ehud though a fat unweldy man stood up to hear a message from God Iud. 3.20 Euseb Act. and Mon. So did Constantine the great and our Edward the sixth hear sermons standing and usually uncovered Vers 19. That he should repent When at any time God is said to repent it is Mutatio rei non dei effectus non affectus facti non consilii it is not a change of his will but of his work Vers 20. Behold I have c. A bad man may bless by command from God and he say Amen to it The precious stone Lyncurie may issue out of the body of the Lynx an unclean and spotted beast Vers 21. He hath not beheld iniquity Of this place of Scripture we may say as we did of another This verse had been easie had not Commentatours made it so knotty The sence I like best is that at this time when Balac hired Balaam there was no peecatum flagrans no foul sin of that people flaming in the eyes of God or stinking in his nostrils and therefore there could be no inchantment against them vers 23. Whence that devillish counsell of his to Balak to set fair women a fore them to entice them to adultery and Idolatry and so to put them under Gods displeasure But what strange inferences are those from this text that God sees no sin in his elect that the very being of their sins is abolished out of his sight that God is never displeased with his people though they fall into adultery or the like sin no not with a fatherly displeasure c. CHAP. XXIIII Vers 1. HE went not as at other times As being resolved to curse howsoever and without Gods leave yea al despito di Dio as that mouth of blasphemy Pope Juliâs the third Act. Mon. fol. 1417. once said in another case to take his own course whatever came of it He set his face As fully bent to doe it and nothing should hinder him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã So our Saviour Christ stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem Luk. 9.51 He steeled his forehead against all oppositions Vers 2. And the spirit of God came upon him A common spirit Mat. 7. a spirit of Prophecy have not we Prophesied in thy name said those cast-awayes In impiis quandoque sunt dona Dei sine Deo Psal 68.18 God gives gifts to men yea to the rebellious for the use of his Church A blind man may beare a torch in his hand whereby others may receive benefit though himself receive none so here Vers 3. VVhose eyes are open And therefore can speak it of a certainty for what is more sure then sight q.d. Israel shall be blessed and I will stand to it He is blessed yea and he shall be blessed Gen. 28.33 Vers 4. Falling into a trance As was usuall with the Prophets Gen. 15. Dan. 8.17 c. 2 Pet. 1.21 See the Note there they were carried out of and beyond themselves And still Amor Dei est ecstaticus neque juris Se sinit esse sui Vers 5. How goodly are thy tents It fareth with an hypocrite as with a surveyor of lands that taketh an exact compass of other mens grounds of which he shall never enjoy a foot See Chap. 23.10 Vers 6. As the trees of lign-aloes An odoriferous sweet-smelling tree growing in Arabia which is said to be a country so sweet that swine cannot live in it Vers 7. His seed shall be in many waters He shall sow in locis irriguis as men are bid to cast their bread their almes upon the Waters upon the poor as upon a well-watered soyl Eccles 11.1 such as is the land of Egypt watered by ãâã which makes the ground so fruitful that they do but throw in the seed and have four rich harvests in less theâ ãâ¦ã Bâunt's voyage into Leââât saith One that had been there He shall ãâ¦ã King of the Amalekites who was then ãâ¦ã of those parts and did haply think as ãâ¦ã that proud Prince of Tyre Ezek. 28. or as the great ãâã of ââtaia of whom it is reported that every day after health ãâã he causeth the trumpets to be sounded by that sign giving leave to other Princes of the earth to go to dinner Vers 8. God brought him forth out of Egypt This he tells Balac in answer to that complaint of his Chap. 22.5 Behold there is a people come out of Egypt q.d. Come they ãâ¦ã but not of themselves but by God who said Out of ãâã have I called my son Vers 9. He lay down as a Lion See the Note on Gen. 49.9 And cursed is he Here the sorcerer pronounceth a curse upon himself for he desired to curse Israel and therefore in Gods account he did it Qui quia non licuit non facit ille facit Ovid. Vers 10. And he smote his hands together So doth God at the covetous person such as Balaam was Ezek. 22.13 Behold I have smitten my hands at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made c. Vers 13. I cannot go beyond Here was coloured covetousnesse or a cloke of covetousness 1 Thess 2.5 See the Note there God lets out the tedder to wicked men for a time and then calls them back with shame enough to their task lets
the Lady Jane Gray whose excellent beauty adorn'd with all variety of vertues as a clear sky with stars as a Princely Diadem with jewels gave her the stile of Eruditionis pietatis modestiae delicium and Queen Elizabeth in whom besides her sex there was nothing woman-like or weak as if what Philosophy saith the souls of those noble creatures had followed the temperament of their bodies which consist of a frame of rarer rooms of a more exact composition then mans doth and if place be any priviledg we find theirs built in Paradise when mans was made out of it Besides in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female but all are one souls having no sexes and whosoever are Christs are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise Gal. 3.28 29. Vers 11. A statute of judgment A standing law a standard for all cases of like kinde in that policy at least for we cannot consent to Carolostadius who contended in foro jus ex Mose dicendum esse that all other national and municipal laws were to be abolished and that all courts were now to pass sentence according to Moses's laws Hic non intellexit vim naturam Christianae libertatis This man knew not the extent of Christian liberty saith Melancthon Vers 12. See the land It was somewhat to see but oh how fain would he have entred the Land and could not we shall have in heaven not only vision but fruition we have it already in Capite-tenure in Christ our head and husband who will not be long without us it being part of his heaven that we shall be where he is Ioh. 17.24 and enjoy God which is heaven it self whence in Scripture God is called Heaven I have sinned against heaven Malim praesente Deo esse in inferno quam abseute Deo in Coelo Luth. in Gen. 30. And I had rather be in Hell and have God present then in Heaven and God absent saith Luther Vers 13. Gathered to thy people To that great Panegyris the general Assembly and Church of the first-born in heaven Heb. 12.23 to that glorious Amphitheatre where the Saints shall see and say ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. as Chrysostome hath it Look yonder is Peter and that is Paul c. we shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob have communion with them not only as godly men but as Abraham Isaac and Jacob Vers 14. For ye rebelled Sin may rebel in the Saints but not raign neither is it they that rebel but sin that dwelleth in them dwelleth but not domineereth Vers 16. The God of the spirits of all flesh Thou Lord that knowest the hearts of all men Act. 1.24 See the Note there Artificers know well the nature and properties of their own work Deus intimior nobis intimo nostro CHAP. XXVIII Vers 2. MY offering He is owner of all and of his own we give him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã said that great Emperour And my bread Called their bread for their souls that is the bread for their natural sustenance common bread when not rightly offered So Ier. 7.21 God in scorn calls their sacrifice flesh ordinary flesh such as is sold in the shambles So at the Lords Supper impenitent communicants receive no more then the bare elements panem Domini Aug. but not panem Dominum In their due season Which for 38. years they had intermitted Get a settlement or Sabbath of spirit or else God shall be but ill if at all served Vers 3. This is the offering See the Note on Exod. 29.38 39. Vers 9. And on the Sabbath day Every day should be a Sabbath to the Saints in regard of ceasing to do evil learning to do well but on the seventh-day-Sabbath our devotion should be doubled ' Debet totus dies festivus a Christiano expendi in operibus sanctis said Robert Grosthead Bishop of Lincoln In decalog praecep 30. long since The whole Sabbath should be spent in Gods service Psal 92. titled a Psalm for the Sabbath mentions morning and evening performances vers 2. Variety of duties may very well take up the whole day with delight Besides God gives us fix whole dayes Now to sell by one measure and buy by another is the way to a curse Vers 11. And in the beginning of your moneths Thus they had their daily weekly monethly yearly addresses unto God that they might ever be in communion with him and conformity unto him by this continual intercourse On the new-Moons they rested Amos 8.5 feasted 1 Sam. 20.5 heard the Word c. 2 King 4.29 Vers 17 18 19 c. See the Notes on Exod. 12.18 and on Levit. 23.7 c. CHAP. XXIX Vers 1. ANd in the seventh moneth This Sabbath-moneth as it were had as many feasts in it as were celebrated in all the year besides So that as the Sabbath is the Queen of dayes so was this of moneths It is a day of blowing See the Note on Levit. 23.24 Vers 7. And ye shall have See Levit. 16.19 with the Notes Vers 12. And on the fifteenth See Levit. 23.34 35 c. with the Notes There the feasts were prescribed and here the sacrifices belonging to them are described Vers 17. And on the second day ye shall offer twelve c. In every of these seven-dayes-sacrifices one bullock is abated Hereby the Holy Ghost might teach them their duty to grow in grace and increase in sanctification that their sins decreasing the number of their sacrifices whereby atonement was made for their sins should also decrease daily Or it might signifie a diminishing and wearing away of the legal offerings c. as One well observeth Hac caeremoniâ significabat Deus gratiam suam de die in diem crescere it a nempe ut minuatur vetus homo novus augeatur c. saith Alsted till the very ruines of Satans castles be as most of our old Castles are almost brought to ruine Vers 18. After the manner That is in manner and form aforesaid The Manner is that that makes or marrs the action as a good suite may be marred in the making so a good duty there may be malum opus in bona materia Jehu's zeal was rewarded as an act of justice quoad substantiam operis and punished as an act of policy quoad modum agendi for the perverse end Yea David for failing in a ceremony only though with an honest heart suffered a breach instead of a blessing 1 Chron. 15.17 Idolaters also went on in their own manner Amos 8.14 as their idol-Priests prescribed The manner of Beersheba liveth that is the form of rites of the worshipping in Beersheba as the Chaldee paraphraseth CHAP. XXX Vers 1. ANd Moses spake unto the heads Because they were in place of judicature and had power either to bindâ men to their vowes or set them at liberty Vers 2. If a man vow a vow unto the Lord God is the proper object of a vow Psal 76.11 Papists vow
to saints Relation of West relig sect 4. both themselves as to Francis Austin Dominick c. and other things as pilgrimages oblations c. Our Lady as they call her of Loretto hath her Churches so stuffed with vowed presents and memories as they are fain to hang their cloysters and church-yards with them This is sacriledg yea it is idolatry To hind his soul with a bond Which none ought to do but such as 1. Are free or have the consent of their governours 2. Such as have knowledg and judgment to discerne of a vow or oath Eccles 5.3 5. 3. Are conscientious as Iacob Hannah c. Not such votaries as Herod Mat. 14.7 those Assassines Act. 23.14 those Idolaters Ier. 44.27 He shall not break his word If he do he will make a great breach in his conscience and crack his comfort exceedingly better not vow then not pay Eccles 5.4 It is a sin as bad or worse then perjury and God takes it heavily at mens hands Ier. 34.10 11. Vers 4. And her father shall hold his peace Qui tacet consentire videtur a rule in civill law silence is a kinde of consent Then all her vows shall stand Provided that she vow 1. Such things as are lawfull and warrantable by the word for to vow to doe evill is an utter abomination as Act. 23.14 Deut. 23.18 2. Such things as are possible and in her power either naturally or by the assistance of Gods grace promised to her Such is not the popish vowing of virginity sith omnes non capiant hoc all men cannot contain Their vowes of continency breed all manner of incontinency in their Clergy Vers 5. But if her father disallow her Those that vow Monasticall obedience renounce all duty to their parents and service to their country Parents are our ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as a heathen said our houshold gods as it were and have power to disannull or ratifie the vowes of their children but the âapists are true heires to the Pharisees who taught not to honour father or mother Mat. 15.6 and so do make the Commandement of God of none effect by their tradition Full well have they done it Mark 7.9 But what cannot they do The Pope saith Cardinall Bellarmine Lib. 4. de Pontif Rom. potest de injustitia facere justitiam ex nihilo aliquid ex virtute vitium he can make righteousness of unrighteousness Sleidan Com. something of nothing vice of vertue And it seems so indeed by his practice For when the Cardinals meet to chuse a Pope they make a vow whosoever is chosen he shall sweare to such articles as they make And Sleidan saith the Pope is no sooner chosen but he breaks them all and checks their insolencies as if they went about to limit his power to whom all power is given both in heaven and earth Vers 6. And if she had at all an husband Hannah's vow 1 Sam. 1.11 was made either by the consent of her husband or else by peculiar instinct from God Vers 13. To afflict her soul This is one instance of what she may vow She may curbe wanton flesh from the use of things lawfull in themselves but hurtfull to her and that by a vow as did the Rechabites Ier. 35.8 9.10 which the devill seeing will despaire for vows are as exorcismes to allay our rebellious spirits and as cords to hamper our treacherous hearts when they would slip the collar and detrect the yoak In short a man may lawfully vow a thing that is either a part of Gods worship as to fast once a moneth before the Sacrament to pray so many times a day c. or a furtherance thereof as to found a lecture build a colledge school almes-house give so much weekly to the poor c. CHAP. XXXI Vers 2. Avenge the children of Israel This is called the vengeance of Iehovah vers 3. The righteous Iudg will not fail to avenge our unrighteous vexations if we commit our selves to him in well-doing 1 Pet. 4.19 Vers 3. Arme some of your selves unto the war Lactantius being according to his name a mild and milken man abhorred bloodshed thought it not lawfull for a just man to be a warriour Instit lib. 6. cap. 20. whose justice was his warfare But this was his errour Patres legendi sunt cum venia God bids here Arme your selves c. Indeed it is utterly unlawfull for men wilfully to thrust themselves into unnecessary warrs and it is reported in the life of Saint Angustine that he would never pray for such But when God sounds the alarme as here Cursed is he that doth this work of the Lord negligently Cursed is he that keepeth back his sword from blood Ier. 48.10 Vers 5. Twelve thousand This was no great army but they were Deo armati with whom there is no restraint to save by many or by few 1 Sam. 14.6 How wondrously did God work by that handfull of Hussites in Bohemia when all Germany was up in armes against them by the Popes instigation And may it not be said of that small remnant that now fighteth the Lords battels in Ireland The Lord hath done great things for them whereof we are glad Have they not been helped with a little help indeed the more is our shame Dan. 11.34 that send them no more Vers 6. Them and Phinehas Not without Joshua the Generall though not here mentioned the mighty conquerour of all Israels enemies that rose up and resisted them famours is he for his faithfulness and fortitude in cognoscendis rebus bellicis perspicax in agendo solers noverat optimè insidias facere proelium committere victoria uti Dio in Domitiano c. as Dio saith of Decebalus king of the Daci in Domitians dayes i.e. Well-skilled in war-like businesses and diligent in dispatching them He knew well how to lay an ambush worst an enemy use a victory c. Vers 8. And Zur The father of Cozbi that noble harlot Dignitas in indigno est ornamentum in luto Sâdes prima et vita ima is but golden rubbish eminent infamy noble dishonour Balaam also the son of Beor See the Note on Chap. 24.25 O that God would cause the false ârophets and the unclean spirit for whom they act and by whom they are acted to pass out of our land according to his promise Zeph. 13.2 Vers 9. Took all the women The Iewes are a nation Blunt voyage to this day noted for effeminate and yet they hold that women are of a lower creation made for the propagation and pleasure of man Diruendi sunt etiam ipsi cinoni arum ãâã ne redeant said Zisca Lavat in Deuter and therefore they suffer them not to enter their Synagogues but appoint them a gallery without Vers 10. And they burnt all their ciâyes For the same reason perhaps that our Henry the eight demolished so many Monasteries saying Cârvorum nidos esse penitus disturbandos ne
the Lord See the Note on vers 8. Vers 22. We will send men before us Thus empty man will be wiser then God Iob 11.12 though Man be born like a wild asse-colt It was unbelief that prompted them to this practice for they could not enter because of unbelief Carnall policy serves the worldling as the Ostrich wings to make him outrun others upon earth but helps him never a whit towards Heaven Vers 23. Pleased we well Seeing you were set upon it and it would be no better Vers 25. And brought us word again Ioshua and Caleb did for the rest are not here reckoned of God counts of men by the goodness that is in them Vers 27. Because the Lord hated us A gross mistake Why should it then so greatly grieve us that our good intentions are so much misconstrued That is here complain'd of as an argument of Gods hatred that he intended for an instance of his love Deut. 4.37 7.8 In quo dilexistinos Mal. 1.2 wherein hast thou loved us said those Male-contents in Malachy that cast the helve after the hatchet as the proverb is and like children because they might not have what they would grew sullen and would have nothing Vers 31. As a man doth bear his son Charily and tenderly as his own bowels not hating them as they desperately belyed the Lord vers 27. For if a man finde his enemy will he let him go well away 1 Sam. 24.19 Will he accommodate him as God did these murmurers Never was any Prince served in such state as they were Vers 32. Ye did not believe Sic surdo plerunque fabulam there was none within to make answer Who hath believed our report c We cannot get men to credit us Vers 37. The Lord was angry with me The Saints afflictions proceed oft from love displeased from love offended Fury is not in God Isai 27. Vers 41. We have sinned we will go up Temporaries are set upon sin in the very confession therof Unless to the confession of sin we add confusion of sin we do nothing Prov. 28.13 Yet honour me before the people said Saul Give me a bribe said trembling Felix CHAP. II. Vers 1. THen we turned viz. When we had bought our wit and had paid for our learning by our late discomfiture Vers 3. Turn you North-ward Thus God word was their directour unto all places and in all actions In which respect these historics of holy Scripture excell all humane histories in the world as is well observed That which they tell us of their Dea vibilia guiding passengers c. is a meer fiction Vers 4. Which dwell in Seir To distinguish them from the Amalekites Esaus seed too but devoted to destruction And they shall be afraid of you Though worse afraid then hurt Hic rogo non furor est ne moriare mori We read of some Iewes that at the sack of Ierusalem killed themselves lest they should be taken by the enemy Vers 5. Because I have given mount Seir Thus the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance Deut. 32.8 And a man must needs have some right to his inheritance to his portion Psal 17.14 What Ananias had Act. 5. was his own whilest he had it as Peter tells him yet Satan had filled his heart It is therefore a rigour to say the wicked are usurpers of what they have and shall be called to account for it When the King gives a traitour his life he gives him meat and drink that may maintain his life That Duke D' Alva is worthily taxed for a tyrant that starved his prisoners even after quarter saying though he promised to give them their lives he did not promise to finde them meat Grimston hist of Netherlands Wicked men have both a civile title to that they have and a title before God who will call them to account indeed at last day not for possessing what they had but for abusing that possession Vers 6. Buy meat of them for money Money answereth all things saith Solomon Eccles 10.19 Money is the monarch of the world saith another and heares most mastery But that covetous Chaliph of Babylon taken by Haalon brother to Mango the great Cham of Tartary Turk hist fol. 113. and commanded to eat his fill of that great wealth that he had heaped up together found ere he dyed that one mouthfull of meat was more worth then a whole housefull of money Vers 7. For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee viz. With money to fetch thee in other commodities It is the blessing of God when all 's done that maketh rich without this men do but labour in the fire labour all night and take nothing trouble themselves to no purpose all their endeavours are but Arena sine calce sand without lime they will not hold together but like untempered morter fall asunder there being a curse upon unlawfull practices though men be never so industrious as you may see in Iehoâachiâ Ier. 22. Vers 9. Because I have given Ar The royall city set upon an hill Num. 21.15 28. God as liberall Lord gives not some small cottage or annuity for life to his elder servants great men use to do but bountifully provides for them and theirs to many generations Who would not serve thee then O King of nations Vers 10. Many and tall are the Anakims And if God cast out those Emims or terrible-ones before the Moabites will he not much more cast out these Anakims before the Israelites Nihil unquam ei negasse credendum est Hieronym quem ad vituli hortatur esum Vers 12. As Israel did unto the land This and some other parcels scattered here and there seem to have been added to Moses his words whether by Ioshua or Ezra or some other Prophet it much matters not after the conquest of the land of Canaan Vers 19. Because I have given it See the Note on vers 5. Vers 20. Zamzummims 1. Big and boisterous bearing down all before them presumptuous wicked ones they were and yet they called themselves Rephaims that is Phisitians or preservers such indeed rulers ought to be Isai 3.7 The Greeks therefore call a King ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ab ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã medela Cornel. a Lapid in Isai 3.7 because he is to be ligator vulnerum chirurgus Reip. medicus the common-wealths Surgeon and Physitian But such were not these Zamzummims more then in name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. As he said of his bow thy name is life but thy use is present death Vers 23. And the Avims which dwelt in Hazeroth These are ancient things as it is said in another case 1 Chron. 4.22 such as whereof there is no record but this extant in the world Well might that Egyptian Priest say to Solon that wise man of Greece You Greeks are very babyes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Diod. Sic. neither is there an ancient writer amongst you Vers 26. With words
suo palpet quisque sibi Satan est saith a Father _____ which the Lord thy God hath divided And shall we fight against God as Jehn did against Jehoram with his own servants nay with those things which he hath given us for common servants to us all Vers 20. But the Lord Deliverance commands obedience Servati sumus ut serviamus Vers 21. And sware that I should not So that you have a priviledg above me only beware how you provoke him as I did thorow unbelief Vers 22. But I must dye This was a sore affliction to this good man and is therefore so often mentioned Plut. Cato Major also dyed three years before the destruction of Carthage which he had so vehemently urged and would so gladly have out-lived Vers 24. For the Lord thy God And should therefore be served truly that there be no halting and totally that there be no halving Heb. 12.28 29. Vers 25. And shalt have remained long So that thou thinkest there is no removing thee thou art so rooted and rivetted Nicephorus Phocas having built a mighty wall heard from heaven Though thou build as high as heaven ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Sin is within all will be lost Vers 28. And there ye shall serve gods As ye have made a match with mischief so ye shall have enough of it Ephraim is joyned to Idols c. See Act. 7.42 Vers 29. But if from thence Sweet and soure make the best sauce Promises and menaces mixt soonest operate upon the heart The Sun of righteousness loves not to set in a cloud nor the God of consolation to leave his children comfortlesse Vers 30. Even in the latter dayes This is by some understood of the Messias his dayes which are the latter times of the world as Hos 3.5 1 Cor. 10.11 and they believe that here is pointed at the great and last conversion of the Jews Vers 32. For ask now of the dayes Historiae sunt fidae monitrices great good use is to be made of history this holy history especially whereof every word is pure pretious and profitable Vers 37. Therefore he chose He chose for his love and then loved for his choyce After Gods example deligas quem diligas Vers 39. Empedocles That the Lord he is God in heaven A Philosopher could say that God is a Circle whose Center is every where whose circumference is no where ubi est Deus quid dixi miser sed ubi non est Where is God or rather where is not God He is higher then heaven lower then hell broader then the sea longer then the earth Nusquam est ubique est quia nec abest ulli Bernard nec ullo capitur loco He is no where and yet every where far from no place and yet no contained in any place Vers 40. That thou mayst prolong thy dayes Hence some Lutherans have gathered that God hath not determined the set period of mans dayes Heming alii but that it is in mens power to lengthen or shorten them But this is against Job 7.1 14.14 Eccles 2.3 Isa 38.5 15. Stat sua cuique dies Our haires are numbred much more our dayes Vers 42. That the slayer See the Note on Numb 35.9 10 c. Vers 44. And this is the law That is this that followeth in the next chapter whereunto these verses serve for a preface CHAP. V. Vers 1. ANd keep and do them The difference between Divinity and other Sciences is that it is not enough to learn but we must keep and do it as lessons of Musick must be practised and a copy not read only but acted Man goeth forth to his work and to his labour untill the evening Psal 104.23 He must arise from the bed of sin and go forth out of himself as out of his house to his work and to his labour working out his salvation with fear and trembling until the evening till the Sun of his life be set Vers 2. God made a Covenant with us We also have the Covenant the seals Ministers c. But alass are not these blessings amongst us as the Ark was among the Philistims rather as prisoners then as priviledges rather in testimonium ruinam quà m salutem Vers 3. With our fathers i. e. With our fathers only Or if it be understood of all the foregoing Patriarches then it is to be expounded by Gal. 3.17 Vers 4. Face to face i. e. Openly and immediately by himself and not by a messenger or mediatour Prosper's conceit was that the Israelites were called Judaei because they received jus Dei Vers 5. I stood between the Lord Sc. after the decalogue delivered by God himself out of the fire For of that he might say as once Joseph did to his brethren Behold your eyes see that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you Gen. 45.12 And as Paul did to Philemon vers 19. I Paul c. so I the Lord have written it with mine hand I will require it Vers 6. I am the Lord c. See the Notes on Exod. 20. It is well observed by a Reverend Writer Mr. Ley his Pattern of Piety that the two tables of the Law are in their object answerable to the two natures of Christ For God is the object of the one man of the other And as they meet together in the person of Christ so must they be united in the affections of a Christian Vers 12. Keep the Sabbath-day In this repetition of the law some things are transposed and some words changed Happly to confute that superstitious opinion of the Iewes who were ready to dreame of miraculous mysteries in every letter Vers 15. And remember that thou It being a figure of our redemption by Christ and so a fit subject for Sabbath-meditations Vers 18. Neither shalt thou commit Or And thou shalt not commit c. and so in the following laws to teach us that the law is but one copulative as the Schooles speak Lex tota est unâ copulatioa For the sanction indeed it is disjunctive but for the injunction it is copulative The sanction is either do this or dye but the injunction is not either do this or that but do this and that too See Mat. 23.2.3 Ezek. 18.10 11 13. Iam. 2.10 Do every thing as well as any thing to leave one sin and not another is with Benhadad to recover of one disease and to dye of another Vers 22. These words the Lord spake If humane laws are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the invention of the gods as Demosthenes calls them how much rather this perfect law of God that needs no alteration or addition Vers 23. Even all the heads of your tribes These are called all Israel vers 1. as being their representatives Vers 25. Why should we dye But why should they fear to dye sith they had seen that day that God doth talk with man and he liveth It is answered that they looked upon their present
mercy unto them Their iniquity was now full Gen. 15.16 they filled the land with filthiness from corner to corner Ezra 9.11 they were ripe for the sickle ready for the vintage of Gods wrath which now came upon them to the utmost Vers 3. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them As neither with any other that were idolaters Ezra 9.1 2. Vers 4. For they will turn away thy son As the outlandish women did Solomon 1 King 11.2 4. What 's the reason the Pope will not dispence in Spain or Italy if a Papist marry a Protestant yet here they will but in hope to draw more to them The Tyrant Mezentius tyed the living bodies of his captives to the dead but the dead did not revive by the living Corpora corporibus jungebat mortua vivis Virgil. the living rather putrified by the dead Vers 5. And break down their images Cromwel did notable service here in Henry 8. time by discovering the knavery of Popish Priests and pulling down those mawmets and monuments of idolatry the Rood of grace the blood of Hales c. And in Edw. 6. his dayes the same day the Popish pictures were publikely burnt at Paul's Cross Act. Mon. the great victory was gotten by the English at Muscle-borough field in Scotland Vers 6. For thou art an holy people Viz. with a federal holiness which yet without an inherent holiness in the heart and life will profit a man no more then it did Dives in the flames that Abraham called him Son or Judas that Christ called him Friend An empty title yeelds but an empty comfort at last Vers 8. But because he loved you Loe he loved you because he loved you This may seem idem per idem a womans reason But it excellently shews the ground of Gods love to be wholly in himself Vers 9. The faithful God The God of Amen Psal 31.6 Amen the faithful and true Witnesse Rev. 3.14 that will not suffer his faithfulness to fail nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips Psal 89.33 all his precepts predictions promises menaces being the issue of a most faithful and righteous Will void of the least insincerity or falshood Thou spakest also with thy mouth and hast fulfilled it with thy hand as it is this day saith Solomon in his prayer 1 King 8.24 Neither could ever any day or age produce one instance to the contrary The promises are ancient Tit. 1.1 2. and yet they never failed nor the menaces Zeph. 3.5 Vers 10. He will not be slack slow he may be but sure he will be Val. Man supplicii tarditatem gravitate compensat The higher he holds his hand the heavier he will strike Aries quo altius erigitur hoc figit fortius Arcus quò retrahitur longius hoc jaculatur ulterius Aqua quae aegre calefit agrè denuò frigescit c. Vers 13. And he will love thee So he did before vers 8. but so he will continue to doe See a like expression 1. Joh. 5.13 These things write I unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God Vers 14. Thou shalt be blessed There is a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Godliness 1 Tim. 6.6 See the Note there Vers Martial 15. And the Lord Health is a sweet mercy Non est vivere sed valere vita A sickly life is a lifeless life A healthy body is the reward of piety Prov. 3.8 Vers 20. Send the hornet See the Note on Exod. 23.28 Vers 21. For the Lord thy God is amongst you And how many do you reckon him for as Antigonus said once to his souldiers when they feared their enemies as more in number Vers Aurum Tolosanum 25. Left thou be snared Lest it prove as the gold of Tholouse baneful to all that fingered it or the sepulchre of Semiramis which they that rifled expecting to finde treasure met with a deadly poison CHAP. VIII Vers 1. ALL the Commandements All is but a little word but of large extent There are magnalia legis minutula legis Look to both the greater and the lesser things of the law Matth. 23.23 Vers 2. To know what was i.e. To discover and make known to thy self and others When fire is put to green wood Tentatut sciat i. c. ut scire nos faciat Aug. there comes out abundance of watery stuffe that afore appeared not When the pond is empty the mud filth and toades come to light The snow-drift covers many a muckhill so doth prosperity many a rotten heart It is easie to wade in a warm bath and every bird can sing in a Sun-shine-day c. Hard weather tryes what health afflictions try what sap we have what solidity Withered leaves soon fall off in windy weather Rotten boughes quickly break with heavy weights c. Vers 3. And he humbled thee Humbled they were many of them but not humble low but not lowly Perdiderunt fructum afflictionum c. Aug. That he might make thee know We never know so well how good sweet and seasonable the Lord is as when under the cross Vexatio dat intellectum That man doth not live See the Note on Matth. 4.4 Vers 4. Thy rayment waxed not old It was not the worse for wearing but grew as their bodies did as some are of opinion They needed not to trouble themselves with those anxious thoughts of Heathens what they should eat drink or put on Never was Prince served and supplyed in such state as these Israelites were Vers 5. That as a man chasteneth his son This is reckoned here as an high favour So Job accounts it Chap. 7.17 18. and Paul describes it Heb. 12.7 8. and Jeremy prayes for it Jer. 10.24 Vers 6. Therefore thou shalt keep As good children are the better for beating and do gather under the wing of a frowning father Vers 7. That spring out of vallies Quantum miraculi sit in admiranda illa fontium perennitate nemo credo Philosophorum satis explicare hactenus potuit The perennity of springs is a just wonder and not far from a miracle Vers 8. A land of wheat and barley Sumen totius orbis Strabo basely slandereth this fat and fertile country as dry and barren but Rabshakeh 1 King 18.32 and Tacitus tell us otherwise The testimony here given of it is above all exception Vers 9. Thou shalt not lack any thing in it Of the Island Cyprus it is said that it sendeth forth great abundance of commodities to other Countries of whom it craveth ho help again It was anciently called Macaria Turk hist the Blessed Marcellinus to shew the fertilty of it saith that Cyprus aboundeth with such plenty of all things that without the help of any other forreign Countrey it is of it self able to build a tall ship from the keel to the top sail and so put it to Sea furnished of all things needful Of
the furnace Dan. 3.25 was a miracle so it is that men so favoured love not God Vers 2. And which have not seen Segniùs irritant animos demissa per aures Horat. Quam quae sunt oculis commissa fidelibus He speaks unto them as to eye-witnesses and those that have such evidence and self-experience are usually more affected then those that have things by hear-say only Mine eye affects my heart Lam 3.51 Vers 4. Hath destroyed them unto this day i. e. Hath so destroyed and dismaid them that to this day we hear no more of them As the Romanes so quailed and quelled King Aitalus that he made a law that none of his successours should make war with that State for ever Vers 5. And what he did unto you A Diary should be diligently kept of what God does for us Psal 102.18 for the help of our slippery memories and the firing up of our dull hearts to a contention in godliness Vers 9. And that ye may prolong See the Note on Chap. 4.40 Vers 10. And wateredst it with thy foot Fetching and carrying water called therefore the water of their feet as our life is called the life of our hands Esay 57.10 because maintained with the labour of our hands Vers 11. And drinketh water of the rain of heaven God crowning the year with his goodness and his pathes dropping fatness Psal â5 10 11 12. In the Hebrew it is thy chariot-wheel-tracks for the clouds are Gods chariots Psal 104.3 in which water is bound Job 26.8 How they are upheld and why they fall here and now we know not and wonder The Egyptians used in a prophane mockery to tell other nations that if God should forget to rain they might chance to starve for it they thought the rain was of God but not their river Nilus See Ezek. 29.3 9. Isai 19.5 6. Vers 12. Which the Lord thy God careth for Deus sic curat universa quasi singula sic singula quasi sola Aug. From the beginning of the year How easie were it for God to starve us all by denying us a harvest or two Vers 13. And it shall come to passe This passage of Scripture following the Jews read daily in their families as Maimonides reporteth Vers 14. That I will give you the rain Rain God gives to all by a providence Act. 14.17 Job 38.26 but to his Israel by vertue of a promise whereby the might live not as by bread only but as by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God Vers 16. That your heart be not deceived Having first deceived it self for the heart is deceitful above all things Jer. 17.9 c. and may say to many as the heart of Apollonius the Tyrant seemed to say to him who dreamed one night that he was fleaed by the Scythians and boyled in a Caldron and that his heart spake to him out of the kettle and said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Plut. It is I that have drawn thee to all this Those in hell cry so Vers 17. And he shut up the heaven The keys of heaven of the heart of the womb and of the grave God keeps and carries under his own girdle as we may say Vers 18. In your heart Yea upon your heart Esay 47.7 57.11 so as they may sink thereinto Luk. 9.44 as the best balm cast into water sinks to the bottom Vers 19. Teach them your children See the Note on Chap. 6.7 Vers 21. As the dayes of heaven i. e. As long as the world standeth Hence haply we may conceive hope of the repentance of the Jews and their re-establishment in this promised land Vers 26. A blessing and a curse With the way to either that if ye miscarry ye may have none to blame but your selves For oft it falls out that whereas the foolishness of man perverteth his way his heart fretteth against the Lord Prov. 19.3 Vers 29. Put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim That is pronounce it there See Josh 8.33 Hence the Samaritans built their Temple on this mount as a blessed place and there worshiped they knew not what Joh. 4.20 22. calling themselves Those that belong to the blessed Mount CHAP. XII Vers 1. THese are the Statutes Here Moses begins to comment upon the second Commandement of the law See the Note on Chap. 6.1 Vers 2. Ye shall vtterly destroy This clause of this law is judiciall peculiar onely to the Jewes saith a grave Interpreter as being cheifly intended to prevent their worshipping God in any other place then that one that he had appointed to which we in the dayes of the Gospell are not tied See Vers 5 6. It was a temporary Ordinance saith another and a part of Moses politie now abrogate Vers 3 And you shall hew downe As was here done notably in King Edward the sixths dayes notwithstanding the withstandings of the rude rabble Life of Edw. 6. by Sir Joh. Heyw. which more regarded commotioners then Commissioners and were more guided by rage then by right c. So that as one Master Body a Commissioner was pulling down images in Cornwall he was suddenly stabbed into the body by a Priest with a knife Vers 4. Ye shall not do so As wicked Ahaz did 2 Chron. 27.24 by the advice and help of Vriah that turn-coat 2 King 16. who had once passed for a faithful witness Isai 7.2 but afterwards proved a factour for the Devil Vers 5. And thither shalt thou come In token of an holy communion with God Vers 6 Heave-offerings of your hand For none might appear empty-handed before the Lord. Vers 7. And there ye shall eat before the Lord Loe this ye shall have of Gods hand as a recompence of all your charge and pains ye shall feast before him with joy This made those good souls go bodily on from strength to strength though they took many a weary step yet their comfort was that they should every one of them in Zion appear before the Lord Psal 84.7 This was the sweet-meats of that feast other dainty dishes there might be but this was the banquet Vers 9. For ye are not as yet come to the rest No more are any of us indeed till we come to that rest which remaineth for the people of God Heb. 4.3 8 9 10. The Ark was transportative till setled in Solomons temple so till we come to heaven are we in continual unrest Vers 10. So that ye dwell in safety Having peace both external and internl of country and of conscience Regionis Religionis Vers 12. And ye shall rejoyce No one duty is more pressed in both the Testaments then this of rejoycing in the Lord alwaies but specially in his immediate services And the contrary is complained of Mal. 2.13 and sorely threatned Deut. 28.47 Vers 14. But in the place This taught them unity and uniformity in divine worship as also that there was but one only way to obtain pardon of their sin
and acceptance of their services viz. by Jesus Christ of whom their Tabernacle and Temple was a type Vers 15. According to the blessing God allowes his not only a sufficiency but an honest affluency so they keep within the bounds of their ability Vers 16. Only ye shall not eat See the Note on Gen. 9.4 Vers 19. That thou forsake not the Levite But look to his livelihood sith Panormitarâ Ad tenuitatem beneficiorum necessariò sequitur ignorantia sacerdotum small allowances make either ignorant or negligent Ministers Vers 20. Thou mayst eat flesh Only it is noted as a fault to feed without fear Jude 12. And flesh-mongers are taxed by Solomon Nos etiam animas incarnavimus saith an Ancient complaining of the surquedry of his times Vers 22. Even as the roe-buck i. e. as common and prophane meats for these creatures were rejected for sacrifice Vers 25. Thou shalt not eat it Who can ever think any commandement of God to be light or little when this of not eating the blood is charged with so much strictness The Minutula of the law as well as the Magnalia must be carefully heeded and practised Vers 26. Go unto the place Far off though it be yet go thou must thither with thy sacrifices though at home thou mayst kill and eat for thine own repast and refreshing Vers 28. And with thy children after thee Whose comfort they that seek not Bern. Epist 111. are peremptores potiùs quam parentes rather parricides then parents Vers 32. Thou shalt not adde thereto To adde any thing to the Word of God saith Theodoret is bold madness but to open those things by the Word that in the Word are more darkly delivered is both lawful and laudable CHAP. XIII Vers 1. IF there arise among you a Prophet A publike Deceiver that shall boldly obtrude upon you his erroneous opinions for divine oracles seeking to drag disciples after him Act. 20.20 Such as of late times were Servetus Socinus Arminius Vorstius Pelargus the first Anabaptist Islelius Agricola the first Antinomian H. N. that is Henry Nicolai of Leiden the first Familist Howbeit Gerson tells us of a woman one Maria de Valentiana that had lately before his relation written a book with incredible subtilty concerning the prerogative and eminence of divine love to the which whatever soul had attained is according to her let loose from all the law of Gods Commandements Vers 2. And the sign or the wonder come to passe For so it may fall out by Divine permission for the patefaction and pudefaction of hypocrites Exod. 7.22 as when Jannes and Jambres turned water into blood or at least seemed to do so Vers 3. Thou shalt not hearken Hereticks have their pithanology their good words and fair speeches wherein they can vent a spittle of diseased opinions and whereby they deceive the hearts of the simple Rom. 16.18 It is not safe therefore to hear them or hold discourse with such lest they insinuate and infect us as the Montanists did Tertullian as the Valentinians did divers well-affected Christians as Acacius the heretick did Anastasius 2 Bishop of Rome Anno 497. who sought to rectifie him It is reported of Placilla the good Empress that when Theodosius Seniour desired to confer with Eunomius Sozomen l. 7. cap. 7. she disswaded her husband very earnestly lest being perverted by his speeches he might fall into heresie Keep thee far from an evil matter saith Solomon Mark those that make divisions and avoid them Rom. 16.18 saith Paul And again There are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers whose mouthes must be stopped c. Tit. 1.11 Vers 4. Ye shall walk after the Lord A special Antidote against Apostacy from the truth 2 Pet. 3.17 18. whereas those that have put away a good conscience do as concerning faith 1 Tim. 1.19 easily make shipwrack Vers 5. Shall be put to death This power is still in the Christian magistrate to inflict capital punishment on gross hereticks such as was Servetus at Geneva and Campian here who spider-like was swept down by the hand of justice and drew his last threed in the triangle of Tiburn Speeds hist of Engl. 1176. as the Historian wittily phraseth it Quid Imperatori cum Ecclesia was a question moved by the old Donatists Libertas prophetandi is much challenged by the Arminians and other Sectaries But if in matter of religion every man should think what he lists and utter what he thinks and defend what he utters and publish what he defends and gather disciples to what he publisheth this liberty or licentiousness rather would soon be the bane of any Church Vers 6. Thy friend which is as thine own soul Amicitia fit tantùm inter binos qui sunt veri bonos qui sunt pauci Entice thee secretly saying Christ found the Devil in Peter perswading him to spare himself Cassianus reports of a young man that had given himself up to a Christian life and his parents misliking that way wrote letters to him to disswade him which when he knew he would not once open them but threw them in the fire Mention is also made in Ecclesiastical history of one Phileas a Noble-man and constant Martyr who going to execution seemed as one deaf at the perswasions and blind at the tears of his dearest friends As the waters use to break themselves on a rock so was he inflexible Vers 9. Kill him i. e. Deliver him up to the Magistrate to be killed for he bears not the sword in vain like S. Paul in a glass-window or George on a sign-post Vers 10. To thrust thee away By force not of arms but of arguments Tertull. as the Valentinians qui priùs persuadebant quam docebant Thus Jeroboam is said to have driven Israel from following the Lord 2 King 17.21 Vers 12. If thou shalt hear say Rumours are not alwaies to be credited nor alwaies to be contemned Vers 13. Childron of Belial Renegadoes are the worst of men 1 Joh. 2.19 Rabshakeh is held such a one so Bertius Tilenus Staphylus c. CHAP. XIV Vers 1. YE are the children of the Lord Ye should therefore do nothing unworthy of such a Father Antigonus being invited to a place where a notable harlot was to be present asked counsel of Menedemus what he should do He bad him only remember Plut. that he was a Kings son and do accordingly ye shall not cut See the Note on Levit. 19.28 Vers 2. For thou art See the Note on Chap. 7.6 And the Lord hath chosen thee Hence all thy holiness The maids were first purified before Ahasuerosh chose one but here it is otherwise Ephes 5.25 26. Vers 3. Thou shalt not eat any abominable See the Notes on Levit. 11. This law taught them to abstain from communion with wicked men in whom are found the malignities and evil properties of all other creatures Act. 10.13 17 20 28. They feed hard on sin
the Devils excrement as the Tartarians eat the carrion carkases of horses camels asses cats dogs yea when they stink and are full of magots and hold them as dainty as we do venison Vers 5. The Hart and the roe-buck These were dainties fit for a King 1 King 4.23 Rice and mutton is the cheer wherewith the great Turk entertaineth forraign Ambassadours and that so plainly and sparingly dressed as if they would give check to our gourmandize and excess Vers 6. That parteth the hoof See the Note on Levit. 11.3 Vers 21. Thou shalt not seethe See the Note on Exod. 23.19 Vers 22. Thou shalt truly tithe He seems to mean that second tithe wherewith they were to feast before the Lord and not the tithe given to the Levites Num. 18.24 Vers 23. That thou mayst learn A man cannot converse with God but he shall learn something Semper a te doctior redeo said He to his friend Moses came from the Mount with his face shining Confer Eccles 81. Vers 29. That the Lord thy God c. Not getting but giving is the way to thrive in the world CHAP. XXV Vers 1. AT the end of every This Sabbatical year signified the year of grace the Kingdom of Christ wherein all Israelites indeed are discharged of their debts Matth. 6.12 See the Note there Vers 2. He shall not exact it For that seventh year at least because there was neither sowing nor reaping that year how then could the poor pay their debts We must all put on bowels of mercy forbearing one another and forgiving one another c. Col. 3.12 13. Vers 3. Of a forraigner To shew that none that are alienated from the life of God or a godly life have remission of sin by Christ He sanctifies all whom he justifies Compare Rom. 11.26 with Isai 59.20 Vers 4. Save when there shall be no poor Here as in sundry other places of the new Translation the margin is better then the text as giving a good reason of the former law To the end that there be no poor amongst you that is extream poor by your exactions Of a cruel creditour it is said Psal 10.9 that he lyeth in wait to catch the poor he doth catch the poor when he draws him into his net that is into bonds debts morgages as Chrysostome expounds it Vers 7. Thou shalt not harden thy heart But draw out thy soul to the hungry Esay 58. Many have iron-bowels and withered hands See my common-place of Almes Vers 8. Thou shalt surely lend him See the Note on Matth. 5.42 Vers 9. And he cry unto the Lord Who is the poor mans King as James the fifth of Scotland was tearmed for his charity Vers 10. Thine heart shall not be grieved See the Note on 2 Cor. 9.7 The Lord thy God shall blesse thee See Prov. 19.17 and Almes ubi supra Vers 11. For the poor See the Note on Matth. 26.11 Aged and impotent poor whose misery moves compassion without an Oratour called here our poor as well as our brethren Vers 12. In the seventh year Viz. Since he was sold unto thee Vers 16. Then thou shalt take an awle Vt si non horreret servitudinem horreret saltem ignominiam publicam If we can bear reproach for Christ it s an argument we mean to stick to him as this bored servant to his master CHAP. XVI Vers 1. ANd keep the Passeover Every man that seeth another striken and himself spared is still to keep a Passeover for himself Vers 3. Even the bread of affliction Or of poverty as who should say poor folks bread ill-leavened ill-prepared Vers 4. And theâe shall be See the Notes on Exod. 12. Vers 10. With a tribute of a free-will offering Over and besides the sacrifice appointed for the feast-day Numb 18.27 31. and the two loaves with their sacrifices commanded Levit. 23.17 20. so good-cheap is Gods service to us over what it was to them Vers 12. And thou shalt remember It is very good to look back and recognize our former worse condition Agathocles King of Sicily being a potters son would be served only in earthen vessels Willigis Archbishop of Ments a Wheel-wrights son hang'd wheels and the tools wherewith they were made round about his bed-chamber and had these words written upon the walls in very fair Characters Willigis Willigis recole unde veneris Remember whence thou camest Vers 13. Thou shalt observe See the Notes on Exod. 23.16 Vers 15. Thou shalt surely rejoyce See the Notes on Chap. 12.12 Vers 18. With just judgment Heb. with judgment of justice Vt fiat justitia ruat coelum Let heaven and earth be blended together rather then Magistrates be drawn to deal basely It is reported by a late traveller that in Zant over the place of judgment these two Latine verses are written on the wall in letters of gold Hic locus odit amat punit conservat honorat Nequitiam pacem crimina jura bonos Vers 19. Neither take a gift Rain is good and ground is good yet ex eorum conjunctione fit lutum by the mixture of those two is made dirt so giving is kind and taking is courteous yet the mixing of them makes the smooth pathes of justice foul and uneven Vers 20. That which is altogether just Heb. justice justice that is let pure justice without mud run down let all self-ish affections be strain'd out CHAP. XVII Vers 1. THou shalt not sacrifice See the Note on Levit. 22.20 Vers 2. That hath wrought wickednesse Idolatry is wickedness with a witness Such was the venome of the Israelitish Idolatry that the brazen Serpent stung worse then the fiery Oh that the Lord as he hath revealed that Wirked one so that he would at length consume him with the spirit of his mouth 2 Thess 2.8 and dung his Vineyard with the dead carcase of that wild boar of the forrest He can as easily blast an oak as trample a mushrome Fiat fiat Vers 4. And it be told thee See the Note on Chap 13.12 And enquired diligently Men must be swift to hear slow to speak that is to censure or pass sentence Amongst the Athenians an inditement of any crime was but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the evidence and conviction made it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the sentence ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Athanasius passâth for a sacrilegious person a prophane wretch a bloody persecutour a blasphemer of God c. and was so condemned before he was heard by fourscore Bishops in that Pseudosynodus Saâdicensis Sunt quidem in Ecclesia Catholica plurimi mali sed ex haereâicis nullus est bonus saith Bellarmine There be many bad men Papists but not one good to be found among Protestants Reas 8. pag. 41. The Catholikes follow the Bible saith Hill in his quartern of Reasons but the Protestants force the bible to follow them yea their condemnation is so expresly set down in their own Bibles saith another Popeling and is so cleer to
all the world Gagge of the new Gosp pref to Read that nothing more needs hereto then that they know to read and have their eyes in their heads at the opening of their Bible By the shooting of which bolt you may easily guess at the archer Vers 7. Thou shalt put the evil Both person and thing 1 Cor. 5.13 Vers 8. Too hard for thee in judgment i.e. For thee O Judge who art thereupon to consult with the Priests and by them to be informed of the true sense and meaning of Gods law For apices juris non sunt jus And the Rabbines have a saying Nulla est objectio in Lege quae non habet solutionem in latere Now the Priests lips should preserve knowledg and the Law should be sought at his mouth the high-Priest also in some cases was to enquire and answer after the judgment of Vrim before the Lord Num. 27.21 This the Pope cannot do and therefore cannot claim the final determination of all causes and controversies though his Parasites tell him Oraclis vocis mundi moderaris habenas Et meritò in terris diceris esse deus Vers 9. And unto the judg i.e. The councill of judges the Synedrion 2 Chron. 19.8 consisting partly of Priests and partly of civile Magistrates Amongst the Turks at this day their Iudges are ever Ecclesiasticall persons whereby both orders joyned Blounts voyage 89. give reputation one to another and maintenance for these places of judicature are the only preferment of the Priest-hood Vers 10. According to all that they inform thee viz. Agreeable to the sentence of the law vers 11. The Iews from this text foolishly seek footing for their traditions which they so much magnifie Mat. 15.1 2. Vers 14. And shalt say I will set a King A King then they might chuse so they did it orderly Zuinglius in ea fuit sententia regna omnia esse electiva nulla propriè successiva haereditaria In quo non negamus eum errasse in facto ut loquuntur Rivet Iesuita vap Psal 2.6 Vers 15. Whom the Lord shall chuse As he did Saul but especially David and his progeny types of Christ Vers 16. He shall not multiply horses Lest he be held as our Henry the third was Regni dilapidator the royall spend-thrift Vers 17. Silver and gold Lest his exactours receive from his subjects no less summs of curses then of coyne and lest he gather money the sinews of war but lose his peoples affection the joynts of peace as our King Iohn did Vers 18. He shall write him a copy The Iews say that if printing had been found out then yet was the King bound to write two copies of the law with his own hand one to keep in the treasurie and another to carry about him This Book of God was Davids delight Psal 119.70 Alphonsus King of Aragon is reported to have read over the Bible fourteen times with Lyra's notes upon it Charles the Wise of France not only caused the Bible to be translated into French as our King Alured translated the Psalter himself into his Saxon tongue but was also very studious in the holy Scripture And that peereless princesse Q. Elizabeth as she passed in triumphall state through the streetes of London after her Coronation when the Bible was presented to her at the little Conduit in Cheape-side Speeds hist she received the same with both her hands and kissing it laid it to her breasts saying that the same had ever been her chiefest delight and should be the rule whereby she meant to frame her government Vers 19. And it shall be with him As his Vade-mecum his Manuall his running library the man of his counsell Luther said he would not live in paradise without the Bible as with it Tom. 4. Oper. Latin p. 424. he could easily live in hell it self V. 20. That his heart be not lifted up That his good and his blood rise not together as that Kings of Tyre did Ezek. 28.2 and that Lucifer son of the morning Isai 14.12 13. See my common place of Arrogancy Of Caligula it is said that there never was a better servant or a worse Lord Vespasian is said to be the only man that became better by the Empire The most of the Emperours grew so insolent that they got nothing by their preferment nisi ut citius interficerentur but to be sooner slain CHAP. XVIII Vers 1. ANd his inheritance i.e. Whatsoever by the Law belonged to the Lord as decimae deo sacrae c. V. 4. Plin. hist The first fruit also Pliny lib. 18. tells us that among the Romans also no man might taste of his own corn wine or other fruits priusquam Sacerdotes primitias libassent till the Priests had offered the first-fruites and made their use of them Vers 6. With all the desire of his minde To do God better service A good heart holds the best he can do but a little of that much that he could gladly beteem the Lord and is still devising what to do more Psal 116.12 Vers 8. Besides that He shall not maintain himself of his own private stock but live of the Holy things of the Temple Vers 10. That maketh his son See the Note on Levit. 18.21 Vers 11. Or a Necromancer Bellarmine and other Papists play the Necromancers when they would prove a purgatory from the apparitions of spirits that tell of themselves or others there tormented Vers 13. Thou shalt be perfect See the Note on Mat. 5.48 Vers 14. Hath not suffered thee so to do He âhath shewed thee a more excellent way and kept thee from these devoratory evills as Tertullian calleth them so ordering the matter that that evill one toucheth them not with any deadly touch I Ioh. 5.18 For either he suffers not his to be tempted above strength 1 Cor. 10.13 Or else he with-holds the occasion when temptation hath prevailed to procure consent and purpose c. Vers 15. Like unto me Both in the participation of nature and of office a true man and a true Mediatour Similes they are but not pares Christ being worthy of more glory then Moses and why See Heb. 3.3 c. Heb. 7.22 9.15 Vers 18. And he shall speak unto them Christ is that palmoni hammedabbar Dan. 10. that excellent speaker that spake with authority and so as never man spake being mighty in word and deed See my true treas p. 1. Vers 22. Thou shalt not be afraid Though he spake great swelling words of vanity Camd. Elis fol. 403. 2 Pet. 2.18 milstones and thunderbolts as Hacket here did CHAP. XIX Vers 3. THou shalt prepare thee a way A direct plain faire high-way Such a way must Ministers prepare and pave for their people to Christ the true Asylum by giving them the knowledg of salvation by the remission of their sins Luk. 1 76 77. Vers 4. Whom he hated not in time past There is a passion of hatred This is a
proelium inibat vltimus conserto proelio excedebat he was first in the battell and last out And the same is storied of Albert Marquess of Brandenburg Buchole In congressibus prior pugnam iniit victor à proelio excessit vltimus Vers 10. Then proclaime peace unto it Heb. Shalt call unto it for peace This hath been the practice of most nations The Romans sent their caduceum et hastam the Herald was commanded Gel. lib. 16. cap. 4. to throw his weapons on the enemies ground with this speech Ego populusque Rom. hoâinibus Hermundulis bellum dico facioque I and the people of Rome bid battell to the Hermunduli Alexander the great when he besieged any city would send his Herald into it with a burning torch in his hand to proclaim that if any man would repair and submit himself unto him while that torch continued burning he should be safe otherwise Turk hist they should expect nothing but fire and sword Tamerlain when he came against any place first he hanged out a white flag of grace then a red and lastly a black flag to shew that now there was no hope of mercy for them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã God loves to give warning saith Herodotus a heathen And the Turks are of opinion âb 344. that God would not prosper them in their assaults except they first make to their enemies some offer of peace how unreasonable soever it forceth not So they did at the last fatall siege of Constantinople Vers 11. And open unto thee As Tournay in France did to our Henry the eight with ten thousand pound sterling for the Citizens redemption yet was it never till then counted so invincible that this sentence was engraven over one of the gates Iannes ton me a perdu ton pucellage Speeds hist of Engl. 1001. thou hast never lost thy maiden-head Vers 13. Thou shalt smite every male thereof Let them pay for their pervicacy So Caesar answered the Adviatici Si priusquâm aries murum attigisset se de dissent Caes 2. Gallic Connestab 6. that he would have spared their city if they had yielded before he had assaulted And so the Duke D' Alva much blamed Prosper Columnus for receiving a castle upon condition after he had beaten it with the cannon Howbeit in the L. Protectours expedition into Scotland in the raign of Edward the 6. one castle when they understood they were not able to hold out and that their obstinacy had excluded all hope of pardon they made petition that they might not presently be slain but have some time to recommend their souls to God and afterwards be hanged Life of Edw. 6. by Sr. Jo. Heywood This respite being first obtained their pardon did the more easily ensue Vers 17. The Hivites and the Iâbusites The Gergashites are not reckoned among the rest as neither are they Iâsh 9.1 happy because they accepted of conditions of peace Vers 19. Thou shalt not cut them down Fruit-trees might not be destroyed doth God take care for trees It was to teach us that if we bring forth fruit fit for Gods taste and rellish sanctifying God and Christ in our hearts we shall not be destroyed Oakes bring forth apples such as they are and acorns but not fit for meat CHAP. XXI Vers 1. IN the field Or elsewhere the field is instanced because in places more frequented murders are not so easily concealed or so commonly committed Vers 2. Then thy Elders Some of the Sanhedrin Vers 3. Shall take an heifer Signifying Christ who is the propitiation for his peoples sins 1 Joh. 2.2 Vers 4. Which is neither eared nor sown That is that afterwards should neither be tilled nor sown for horrour and hatred of the innocent blood there spilled So the mountains of Gilboah 2 âam 1 Vers 5. And by their word i. e. According to that exposition that they shall give of Gods Word and not by any absolute or arbitrary power of their own Vers 6. Shall wash their hands An old ceremony used in this case by the Gentiles also as the Scholiast upon Sophocles sheweth See the Note on Matth. 27.24 Vers 27. And they shall answer To the Priests examining them and in Gods name making inquisition for blood Vers 8. And the blood shall be forgiven The fault of not well watching and guarding the place where the murther was committed Our King Alfred was the first that divided this Kingdome into Shires He ordained also that his Subjects should be divided into tens or tithings every of which severally should give bond for the good abearing of each other By this course men were not only careful of their own actions but each had an eye to all the nine for which he stood bound as the nine had over him Insomuch that a poor girle might travel safely with a bag of gold in her hand and none durst meddle with her The ancientest of these men were called the Tithingmen Vers 11. And hast a desire unto her This was permitted them as divorce was ob duricordiam But that is a base passage in the Turks Alchoran that God did not give men such appetites to have them frustrate but enjoyed as made for the gust of man not for his torment wherein his Creatour delights not and therefore they hold it lawful for a man to marry as many wives as he is able to maintain Vers 12. And she shall shave her head In token that she must renounce her heathenism and lead a new and holy life And if she thus consented to marry she saved her life by it so do those their souls that consent to Christ casting away their transgressions and paring off their superfluities by the constant practice of mortification Vers 13. A full moneth Worldly sorrow like a land-flood is for the present impetuous and violent but time wears it out Not so godly sorrow Vers 14. Because thou hast humbled her This expression shews that God approved not of his fact which yet he tolerated Vers 15. And another hated i. e. Less loved as Gen. 29.31 See the Note there Vers 17. A double portion According to this phrase Elisha 2 King 2.9 doth not desire a greater measure of the spirit then rested upon his master but only to excel the other children of the Prophets by a right of primogeniture Vers 20. He is a glutton The same word is used for a vile person Jer. 15 19. And indeed belly-gods Philip. 3.19 are dungy-gods Hab. 2.18 with Ezek. 4.17 18. A scavenger whose office is to empty is to be preferred before him that liveth but to fill privies Vers 21. Shall hear and fear See the Note on Chap. 19.20 Vers 23. For he that is hanged See the Note on Gal. 3.13 CHAP. XXII Vers 1. THou shalt not see thy brothers No not thine enemies Exod. 23.4 for have we not all one father Mal. 2.10 See the Note on Matth. 5.44 Vers 5. The woman shall not wear Because it is against
both natural and civil honesty Neither shall a man put on That is say Stage-Players and those that plead for them a man shall not wear womens apparel ordinarily and daily so as women use to do But the word is Put on and so they do The same word is used of Davids putting on Sauls armour which yet he put off again presently So full saith One hereupon are our hearts of distinctions and shifts odia restringere ampliare favores to restrain hatreds as they call them that is the Commandements that make against them Vers 7. And that thou mayst prolong c. They were commanded to spare the damme because she represented the parents in bringing up of her young ones and if their dayes should be for that prolonged much more for this The Hebrews reckon this commandement for the least of all in Moses law and yet such a promise is annexed thereunto Vers 9. And the fruit of thy vineyard be defiled Heb. be sanctified per antiphrasin as Auri sacra fames and Anthony's fire is ignis sacer So a whore is called in Hebrew Kedesha of Kadash i. e. Holiness Deut. 23.17 by a contrary meaning as most unholy and unchaste Vers 10. Thou shalt not plough These laws were made to set forth how God abhorreth all mixtures in religion and how carefully men should keep their minds from being corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ 2 Cor. 11.3 Vers 12. Wherewith thou coverest thy self Ne in motu âliquid indecerum appareat Lust and malice are sharp-sighted 2 Sam. 11.2 2 Sam. 6.20 Vers 14. I found her not a maid Silvester Petra-sancta Jesuita calumniatur puellas plerunque corruptas nuptui dari in Reformato Evangelio Jesuita Vapulans pag. 146. Quod de Evangelio Romano ait Rivettus noster potiùs dici posset postquà m puellae dementarunt a vobis seducta sub vestibus cordulis nodosis spurcis vestris manibus fuerunt ligatae Papists falsly affirm that few maids amongst us come clear to marriage cujus contrarium verum est Vers 15. Then shall the father of the damosel Whose house hereby was dishonested and by whom his daughters honour was to be defended especially since childrens miscarriages reflect upon the parents and the daughters sin is the fathers shame Vers 16. And he hateth her Which is a monster in nature Ephes 5.28 29 Vers 17. These are the tokens Which in those countries seldome or never failed Vers 19. He hath brought up an evil name Which is a kind of murther Ezek. 22.9 God shall clear the innocency of his slandered servants Psal 37.6 Isai 54.17 As the eclipsed Moon by keeping her motion wades out of the shadow and recovers her splendour so shall it be with such Vers 20. And the tokens Nor any natural impediment can be proved as the Hebrews explain it Vers 22. With a woman married Adultery was punished with death because society and the purity of posterity could not otherwise continue amongst men Vers 24. Humbled his neighbours wife So called because betrothed quià nuptias facit consensus non concubitus as the Lawyers determine it Vers 25. And the man force her and lie with her It was a speech of Charles 5. Emperour If that impure fellow Farnesins who being the Popes General had forced many fair Ladies were here present I would kill him with mine own hand Nec vocem iracundiorem unquam ex Carolo auditam ferunt Parei hist prof medulla Never was he heard to speak so angerly The Lacedaemonian Common wealth was utterly ruined by a rape committed on the two daughters of Scedasus at Leuctra Vers 29. She shall be his wife Howbeit he must be humbled before the Lord for entring into his ordinance thorough the Devils portal CHAP. XXIII Vers 1. OR hath his privy member cut off As it is a barbarous custome at this day among the Turks to deprive divers Christian children of their privities supplying the uses of nature with a silver quill Turk hist This was first brought in amongst them by Selymus the second out of jealousie lest his Eunuches were not so chaste as they should have been in keeping their Ladies beds Such are usually effeminate and unfit to bear office _____ Shall not enter into the Congregation i. e. Shall not go in and out before the people as a publike Officer Sith such should be drained from the dregges and sifted from the brannes of the vulgar they should be eminent and eximious persons higher then the rest as Saul by head and shoulders Vers 2. A bastard shall not enter Utpote qui naâi sunt ex prostibulo plaâè iucerto patre sed certissima infamia 1 Sam. 20.30 Lest the reproach of his birth render him contemptible or lesse courageous lest some son of Belial set upon him as Saul did upon his son Jonathan and say Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman so of the base and beastly woman doe not I know that thou hast done this to the confusion of thy mothers nakednesse The mutinous Janizaries called their Emperour Bajazet the second drunkard beast rascal bastard Bengi that is Batchelour Turk hist or Scholler and told him moreover that they would teach him to use his great place and calling with more sobriety and discretion The English slighted and scorned their William the Conquerour because a bastard In spite also to whom and disgrace to his mother Arlet they called all whores Harlets The Jews at this day amongst other opprobrious words wherewith they spitefully load us they call all Christians Mamzer Goi that is Heathen bastards Our Saviour upon better grounds called them long since a bastardly brood Matth. 12.39 And their own Prophet Esay did the same thing long before Chap. 57. vers 3 4 and that for their prophane scoffing at the truth and the Professours thereof Yet who so forward as they to say We are not born of fornication no bastards Joh. 8.41 Vers 3. For ever i. e. This law is perpetual and indispensable so highly displeasing are many meer omissions of duty Omission of diet breeds diseases brings death so here Vers 4. Because they met you not As God takes notice of the least courtesie shewed to his people even to a cup of cold water to requite it so he doth of the least discourtesie even to a frown or a frump Gen. 4.6 See the Note there to revenge it _____ And because they bired c. See the Note on Num. 22.3 6. Vers 5. Nevertheless the Lord c. q.d. No thank to the wicked Moabites that Balaam blasted thee not as neither to Balaam whose tongue was meerly over-ruled by the Almighty and made to bless those whom he would gladly have cursed And thus still the Lord orders the worlds disorders turning dross into gold by a stupendious Alchymy and directing mens evill actions to a good end Hence it is that they fulfill though they intend no such thing but the satisfying of their own lusts Esay 10.5
good Eccles 9.18 Vers 23. And beareth not any grasse As they say no ground doth where the great Turk hath once set his foot such waste he makes and such desolation he leaves behinde him Like the overthrow of Sodome and Gomorrah See the Notes on Gen. 19.24 25. _____ Admah and Zeboim Which two Cities bordering on Sodome and Gomorrah were the worse and fared the worse for their neighbourhood as Hamath did for Damascus Zech. 9.2 God overthrew them and repented not Ier. 20.16 Vers 26. And whom he had not given unto them Or who had not given to them any portion For Can the vanities of the Gentiles give rain or can the heavens give showers Jer. 14.22 As Saul said 1 Sam. 22.7 Can the son of Jesse give you vineyards and olive-yards c so may God say to Apostates Can the world do for you as I can Vers 28. And cast them into another land Cast them with a violence with a vengeance in the Hebrew the word cast hath an extraordinary great letter sling them out 1 Sam. 25.29 as out of a sling Vers 29. The secret things belong This is one of those sixteen places which in the Hebrew are marked with a special note of regard Eorum quaescire nec datur nec fas est docta est ignorantia scientiae appetentia insaniae species saith Calvin out of Austine CHAP. XXX Vers 1. THe blessing and the curse When thou hast made trial of both and hast bought thy wit as feeling by woful experience what an evil and a bitter thing sin iâ and how easily thou mightest have redeemed thine own sorrowes by better obedience Vers 2. And shalt return to the Lord By sin we run away from God by repentance we return to him Vers 3. That then the Lord thy God Conversie Judaeorum magnisicè hic promittitur saith One Here 's a stately promise of the conversion of the Jews concerning which see the Notes on Rom. 11.25 c. Vers 4. If any of thine be driven The Jews have been for this 1600 years and upward a disjected and despised people hated and cast out by a common consent of all nations for their unexpiable guilt in murthering the Messiah which they now begin to be somewhat sensible of and will be so more and more See the Note on Chap. 28.28 Vers 6. And the Lord thy God See Chap. 10.16 Vers 7. Will put all these curses upon thine enemies God will recompence tribulation to them that have troubled you 2 Thess 1.6 he will spoyl the spoylers Esay 33.1 deliver the just out of trouble and the wicked shall come in his stead Prov. 11.8 Isa 65.13 14. It seemeth to the Churches enemies an incredible paradox and a news by far more admirable then acceptable that there should be such a transmutation of conditions on both sides to contraries but so it will be as sure as the coat is on their backs or the heart in their bodies See Lam. 4.21 Vers 9. And in the fruit of thy land for good God will provide that thou shalt not be the worse for thine outward abundance that fulness shall not breed forgetfulness It is as hard to bear prosperity as to drink much wine and not be giddy or as to drink strong waters and not weaken the brain thereby The parable of the Sun and Wind is well known Some of those in Queen Maries dayes who kept their garments close about them wore them afterwards more loosely when they came to prosperity and preferment It is a marvellous great mercy to have outward comforts and contentments for good Bonus Deus Constantinum Magnum tantis terrenis implevit muneribus De civ dei lib. 5. cap. 25. quanta optare nullus auderet saith Augustine God of his goodness heaped all good things upon Constantine Vers 11. For this commandement This word of faith Rom. 10.8 that teacheth the righteousness of faith vers 6. and speaketh on this wise the doctrine of salvation by faith that works by love this is cleerly enough revealed in both testaments so that none can reasonably plead ignorance and think to be excused by it Vers 12. Who shall go up for us to heaven And yet to know heavenly things is to ascend into heaven Prov. 30.4 Vers 13. Neither is it beyond the sea Beyong the sea it was to us till blessed Luthers books were brought hither together with Tindals translation and other good mens writings Some Papists jeare us and say that Turkies hops and heresy came into this kingdom in one bottom Howbeit long before this the Lady Anne wife to King Richard the second siller to Wenceslaus King of Bohemia by living here was made acquainted with the Gospell whence also many Bohemians comming hither convey'd Wickliffes books into Bohemia whereby a good foundation was laid for the ensuing reformation Anno 1417 by the help of another good Queen there called Sophia The writings also of Iohn Husse brought thence wrought much good in this kingdome a hundred years before Luthers time Vers 19. Therefore chuse life Which yet man of himself can as little do as a dead carcase can fly aloft It was therefore an unsound and unsavory speech of him that said quod vivamus dei munus est quod benè vivamus nostrum That we live it is of God but that we live well it is of our selves See the contrary Isai 26.12 Hos 14.8 Ioh. 15.5 CHAP. XXXI Vers 2. I am an hundred and twenty c. And so might well bespeak them as Augustus once did his army and pacified them thereby when they were in a mutiny Sueton. Audite senem juvenes quem jâvenem senes and erunt Vers 6. He will not fail thee Five times in holy Scriptures is this precious promise repeated and Heb. 13.5 made common to all believers with a very deep asseveration Vers 9. Vnto the Priests Gods library-keepers his depositaries _____ Vnto all the elders of Israel As to the Keepers of both Tables Vers 11. Thou shalt read this law Which was nevertheless read in their synagogues every Sabbath-day Act. 15. And by this reading at the feast of Tabernacles every seventh year the originall copy written by Moses Mr. Burton against Couzens they might perceive that those copyes that they had amongst them were right and authentick It was ill ordered in our english bibles of the new translation that between the Printers haste and Correctours over-sight such foul escapes have been lately committed as Iudas printed for Iesus in the great Bible Lightf Miscel The Turkish Alcoran is written and to be read in Arabick under pain of death not to mistake a letter which is as easily done in this tongue as in any Vers 17. And many evils and troubles As it befell Sampson and Saul when God was gone ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã all miseries came trooping and treading one in the heeles of another So Ezek. 9.10 11. God makes many removes and as he goes out some judgment comes
in upon the land Vers 19. Put it in their mouths That out of their own mouthes I may judg them things made up in meeter are better remembred Before the knowledg of letters and writing among the ancients it was a custome to sing their laws lest they might forget them used in the days of Aristotle by the Agathyrsi a people neer to the Scythians Vers 21. For I know their imagination As a man that knows what rootes he hath in his garden thought here be not a flower appeares yet he can say when the spring comes this and this will come up because he knows the garden and knows what roots are there So the Lord knows our thoughts afarr off because he knows the principles that are within and knows what they will do when occasion serves he is privy to that root that beareth gall and wormwood Chap. 29.18 Vers 26. In the side of the Ark That it might be heard and regarded as the very law of God though penned by Moses And indeed the Iewes at this day shew exceeding great respect to the law No man may touch it but with the right hand and without a kiss of reverence Schicard nor carry it behinde him but lay it next to his heart in his travell If it but fall to the ground they institute a fast for it Weemse c. The very Turks have so high an esteem of Moses that if they finde any peece of his writings be it but a torn paper lying on the ground Pareus prol in Genes they presently take it up and kiss it That it may be there for a witness Hence haply the Ark was called the Ark of the testimony the law might be called the doomes day book such a book there is in our common-law so called saith Mathew Paris because it spares no man Vers 29. To provoke him to anger Which is the greatest folly that can be for are we stronger then he can we imagine to make our party good with him Surely as Vlysses his companions told him when he would needs provoke Polydamus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã May not we much more say so to them that will needs provoke the Lord It is good for men to meddle with their matches and not contend with him that is mightier then they CHAP. XXXII V. 1. GIve eare O ye heavens q. d. Such is this peoples stupidity and obstinacy that I may as soon gain audience of these inanimate creatures as of them See Isai 1.2 Iosh 24.27 Ier. 22.29 We may cry till we are hoarse speake till we spit forth our lungs and to no more purpose then Bede did when he preached to an heape of stones Holy Melanchthon being himself newly converted thought it impossible for his hearers to withstand the evidence of the Gospell But after he had been a Preacher a while 't is said he complained that old Adam was too hard for young Melanchthon Vers 2. My doctrine Heb. My taking or winning doctrine according to that Provâ 1.30 He that winneth Heb. taketh souls as fowlers do birds is wise Shall drop as the rain Drop not dash and as the rain not as the storme or as the spout as they call it at sea Evangelizatum non maledictum missus es said Oecolampadius to Facellus an excellent but an over earnest Preacher And such a one say some was Mr. Perkins in his younger time able almost to make his hearers hearts fall down and their haires to stand upright The word Damne he would pronounce with such an emphasis as left a dolefull Eccho in his auditours eares a good while after True it is that Preachers should take the same liberty to cry down sins that men take to commit them Peccata tantâ severitate arguebat saith one of Chrysostom acsi ipse etiam per injuriam laesus esset But yet moderation must be used and instruction drop-meale distilled that it may soak and sink and so soften the heart that all grace may abound c. Such sweet drops were Mr. Bradford Mr. Dod. Dr. Sibbes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Vers 3. Ascribe ye greatness i.e. Tremble at his word and take it to heart See 1 Thess 2.13 Vers 4. He is the Rock A firme and everlasting refuge a rock of Ages Isai 26.4 One age passeth away and another and a third c. but the rock remaines The name of the Lord is a strong tower Prov. 18.10 munition of rocks Isai 33.16 Rocks so deep no pioner can undermine them so thick no Cannon can pierce them so high no ladder can scale them Vers 5. Their spot is not the spot Saints also have their spots but not ingraven not Leopards spots that are not in the skin only but the flesh and bones in the sinewes and the most inner parts and so cannot be cured by any art or washed away with any water It is of incogitancy that the Saints fall put them in minde and they mend all It is of passion and passions last not long They are preoccupated taken at unawares c. Gal. 6.1 They have ever God for their chief end and will not forgoe him upon any termes Only they erre in the way as thinking they may fulfill such a lust and keep God too but there is no way of wickedness found in them Though shaken yet they are rooted as trees and though they wag up and down yet they remove not as a ship at anchour Sin stings the wicked as the fiery serpents did the Israelites the sins of the saints are but like the viper on Pauls hand that hurt him not Sin makes wicked men the object of God hatred the Saints of his pity as we hate poison in a toade but we pity it in a man in the one it is their nature in the other their disease Vers 6. Do ye thus requite the Lord Good turns aggravate unkindnesses and our guilt is increased by our obligations Solomons idolatry was far worse then that of his wives he had been better bred and God had appeared to him twice It is the ingratitude that makes the godly mans sin so hainous which otherwise would be far less then other mens sith his temptations are stronger and his resistance greater Hebricians observe that in Halaihovah there is in the text one ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã greater then ordinary to shew that the wonder was the greater that they should so evill requite such a Lord. Father Redeemer Maker and Governour by being so corrupt perverse crooked foolish and unwise five opposed to live ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã being used for the number of five Vers 8. He set the bounds of the people Of the seventy nations reckoned Gen. 10. and the seventy souls of Israel Gen. 46.27 Deut. 10.22 The Iewes have a saying that those seventy souls were as much as all the seventy nations of the world as being the Lords portion for whom he espyed out the land of Canaan which is the glory of all lands Ezek. 20.6 Vers 9. For the
away well mounted till overtaken by hue and cry he is apprehended sentenced and executed Your sin will find you out as a blood-hound et patientia Dei erga impios quò diuturnior Hioron in Jerem. eò minacior Morae dispendium foenoris duplo pensatur the longer God forbeareth the heavier he punisheth Vers 35. To me belongeth vengeance and recompence The Hebrew word for vengeance ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies comfort also for God will be comforted in the execution of his wrath Ezek. 5.13 See the Note on Chap. 28.63 He shew such severity sometimes as if he had blotted that out of his title Exod. 34.6 and now took up that Emperours Motto Fiat justitia pereat mundus Their foot shall slide in due time They are set in slippery places Psal 73.18 they ever walk as upon a mine of gun powder ready to be blown up Nemo crimen gerit in Pectore qui non idem Nemesin in tergo Nemesis dicitur ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quòd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gods wrath is such as none can avert or avoid Vers 36. And repent himself for his servants Thus God mingleth and allayeth the rigour of his justice with the vigour of his mercy Vers 37. And he shall say i. e. He shall upbraid them with the inability of their idols to do for them Vers 39. I even I am he I is emphatical and exclusive Vers 41. If I whet my glittering sword God first whets before he smites and first takes hold on judgement before his judgments take hold on men Est piger ad poenas ad proemia velox See the like Psal 7.12 God was but six dayes in making the whole world yet was he seven dayes in destroying that one city of Iericho as Chrysostome observeth Fury is not in me Esay 27.4 As a bee stings not till provoked so God punisheth not till there be no other remedy 2 Chron. 36.16 Vers 43. Rejoyce O ye Nations Give God the glory of his just severity which is no less commendable in a Judge then seasonable clemency Vers 47. For it is not a vain thing Gods favour is no empty favour it is not like the Winter-Sun that casts a goodly countenance when it shines but gives little comfort and heat CHAP. XXXIII Vers 1. BEfore his death The words of dying men are living oracles they should therefore be pious and ponderous Vers 2. Went a fiery law for them This fire wherein the law was given and shall be required is still in it and will never out hence are those terrours which it slasheth in every conscience that hath felt remorse of sin Every mans heart is a Sinai and resembles to him both heaven and hell The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law Vers 3. Yea he loved the people With a general love with a common Philanthropie But the love of God in Christ is that we must all labour after such a love as doth better for a man then restore him to sight or raise him when bowed down Psal 146.8 Are in thy hand And so in a safe hand Ioh. 10.29 And they sate down at thy feet As attentive and tractable Disciples See Act. 22.3 Luk. 10.39 2 King 2.5 Knowest thou not that the Lord will take thy master from thy head A phrase taken from their manner of sitting at the feet of their Teachers Vers 4. Moses commanded us a law These are the words of those Saints above-mentioned expressing their good affection to the law and to Moses by whose mediation they received it Even the inheritance For perpetual use to us and our posterity Indeed the law lyes not upon the righteous ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1 Tim. 1.9 nor urgeth them as it doth upon the wicked To those the law is as chains and shackles to those as girdles and garters which gird up their loyns and expedite their course the better It confines them to live in that element where they would live as if one should be confined to paradise where he would be though there were no such law Vers 5. And he was King in Jesharuâ An herrick King raigning by vertue and justice only not by force and violence One that said not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This I can do but This is fit for me to do When the heads of the people and the tribes Here was a government made up of King Lords and Commons The best of governments doubtless so that the boam be kept right betwixt Soveraignty and subjection The contention now again flagrant in England between Prince and people about command and obedience ceased not till the Magna Charta first obtained of King John after of his son Henry 3. though observed truly of neither was in the maturity of a judicial Prince Edward the first freely ratified after fourscore years Vers 6. Let Reuben live and not dye Let him have a nail and a name in Gods house notwithstanding the hainousness of his sin and the severity of Iacobs sentence Gen. 49.4 See the Note there Vers 7. And this is the blessing Simeon is not mentioned but implyed in Iudah's blessing in the midst of whose inheritance lay his portion Josh 19.1 Besides that tribe was exceedingly defiled with fornication spiritual and corporal and by that means much decayed and diminished Numb 26.14 Hear Lord the voyce of Judah Putting thy promises Gen. 8.9 10 11. into suit by his prayers and pressing thee for a performance Vers 8. Let thy Thummim and thy Vrim Sincerity of life and soundness of doctrine See the Note on Exod. 28.30 There is great cause That Ministers of all men should be much pray'd for Vers 9. Who said unto his father In that heroical fact Ezod 32.26 29. Not to be wryed or biassed by respect to carnal friends is a high and hard point of self-denial Mark was Barnabas his sisters son hence he stood so stiffe for him against Paul his faithfull fellow-traveller Act. 15.37 Colos 4.10 Moses to please Zipporah displeased God and it went hard with him Exod. 4.24 Eli was too indulgent to his wicked sons and so perhaps was Samuel too 1 Sam. 8.1 3. Vers 10. They shall teach Jacob Apt and able to teach must all Ministers be as Paul Act. 20. Praedicationis officium suscipit quisquis ad sacerdotium accedit saith Gregory Hee 's no Minister that 's no teacher Aidanus the first Bishop of Durham Anno Dom. 636. neglected no duty of a good Pastour travelling up and down the country even on foot Godw. Catalog to preach the Gospell giving whatsoever he could get unto the poor and by the example of his own vertues instructing as well as by word and doctrine Amongst the Greeks Tragedians and Comedians were said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to labour in teaching the people What should Ministers then do They shall put incense before thee i.e. Pray for the people as well as preach to them So Act
underneath are the everlasting armes A Saint cannot fall so far as to fall beneath the supporting armes of God Cant. 2.6 his hand is reserved for a dead lift Vers 28. Israel then shall dwell c. See the Note on Num. 23.9 The fountain of Jacob Or as some read it The eye of Jacob. The same word signifies both an eye and a fountain He that with Mary Magdalen can make his eye a fountain to wash Christs feet in shall be sure to have that fountain of Christs blood opened to wash his soul in Zech. 13.1 Vers 29. Happy art thou O Israel Or Oh the happinesses of thee O Israel the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the heaped up happiness Who is like unto thee The Saints are the worlds Paragons yea such as the world is not worthy of Heb. 11. that is saith Chrysostome Take all the men of the world they are not worth one of the people of God though never so mean in regard of outwards Shall be found liers Shall feign to be friends for fear and shall yeeld a forced obedience See Psal 18.45 CHAP. XXXIV Vers 1. ANd Moses went up With as good a will to die as ever he did to dine for it was but as that Martyr said winking a little he was in heaven immediately Vers 2. Vnto the utmost sea The Mediterranean Vers 3. The City of palm-trees So called even by Heathen-Authours also Vers 4. I have caused thee to see it By an extraordinary power for in an ordinary way Moses could never have taken so large a prospect at once Faith puts a mans head into heaven and gives him a view of far better things neither vision only but fruition also which Moses had not Vers 5. So Moses the servant of the Lord dyed It was no more betwixt God and Moses but Go up and dye he changed indeed his place but not his company death was to him but the day-break of eternal brightnesse Vers 6. And he âuried him Either the Lord or Michael Jude 9. There lyes the body of Moses as in a chamber of rest or bed of down Isa 57.2 His very duâ being precious for Christ is not perfect without it Ephes 1 2â But no man knoweth of his sepulchre Though the Devil made much adoe about it Iude. 9. as desirous thereby to set up himself in the hearts of the living Vers 7. Nor his natural force abated Hierome reads it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã gena maxilla Nor his teeth loosed And the use of Manna might be some reason it being an exquisitely pure kind of food of an aereal and not very corruptible substance Vers 8. And the children of Israel wept And were ready to wish likely as the Romanes did of Augustus that either he had never been born or never dyed Vers 9. And Ioshua the son of Nun Sic uno avulso non deficit alter Aureus The Duke of Florence gave for his Ensign Pintus in Dan. 4. a great Tree with many spreading boughes one of them being cut off with this above-said Poesie As one is broke off another riseth up in the room Vers 10. And there arose not This testimony and indeed this whole Chapter is thought to have been added by Joshua or Eleazar being Divinely inspired for the compleating of the history famous throughout the world approved and expounded by all the holy Prophets and Apostles who out of this fountain or rather Occan of Divinity as Theodoret calleth Moses Theodoretus Mosem appellat ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã have watered their several gardens yea in pressing moral duties what do they else but explain the Pentetench What do they but unfold and draw out that Arras which was folded together before Soli Deo Gloria FINIS
countries and because the labour was the easier and his right the better sith they had once been his fathers Vers 19. A well of springing water Heb. living so called for their continual motion Life consisteth in action and the godly esteem of life by that stirring they finde in their souls O Lord saith Hezekiah by these things men live and in all these things is the life of my spirit And thus many a man lives more in a shorter then others in a longer time S. Jerome tells of One Hieron Epist ad Fri. qui in brevi vitae spacio tempora virtuâim multa replevit As Seneca of another qui non diu vixit sed diù fuit Non multum navigavit sed multum jactatus est Oh live live live saith a Reverend man quickly much long else you are but histed and kickt off this stage of the world as Phocas was by Heraclius Nay Abners fun by M. Harris many as Job 27.23 and v. 15. who were buried before half dead Vers 20. And the herd-men of Gerar Not content to have cast him out they pursued him with cruel hatred and by denying him water went about to destroy both him and his herds Crosses seldom come single Eccles 12.2 but in a croud James 1.2 The clouds return after the rain and cluster against a new storm See therefore that ye keep your cloke close about you Vers 21. And he called the name of it Sitnah Of Satan to hate deadly as the devil doth So the Preacher in his travels tells us of a place called The mouth of hell And we read of a Country called Terra del fuego Preach trav pag. 106. Heyl. Geog. 130. Savoy for the strait passages infested with thieves was once called Malvoy till a worthy adventurer cleared the coasts and then 't was called Salvoy or Savoy quasi salva via Ibid. 474. So King Alfred as he divided the kingdom into shires so the subjects in the several shires into Tens or Tythings every of which should give bond for the good abearing of each other The ancientest of the ten was called the Tything-man And the Kingdom was called Regnum Dei Polyd. Virg. and Albion quasi Olbion happie as Angli quasi Angeli for that then a poor girl might safely travel with a bag of gold in her hand and none durst meddle with her Vers 22. And he removed from thence c. See here a pattern of a patient and peaceable disposition not broken by the continual injuries and affronts of the Philistims that maligned and molested him Psal 120.7 I am peace saith David and I saith Isaac and I saith every son of peace every childe of wisdom How well might good Isaac take up that of David Psal 26.12 Psal 4.2 and say My feet stand in an even place now that he was at Rehoboth especially and God had made room for him The scales of his minde neither rose up toward the beam Barthol Westmer in Psal 26. through their own lightness nor were too much depressed with any load of sorrow but hanging equally and unmoved between both gave him liberty in all occurrences to enjoy himself Our mindes saith a Divine should be like to the Adamant Ambros Hexam 4. that no knife can cut the Salamander that no fire can burn the Rock which no waves can shake the Cypress-tree which no weather can alter the hill Olympus higher then storm or tempest winde or weather can reach unto or rather like mount Sion Psal 1â5 1 Philip. 4.11 Act. Mon. that cannot be removed but standeth fast for ever Thus Paul had learned how to abound and to be abased Bradford if the Queen would give him life he would thank her if banish him he would thank her if burn him he will thank her if condemn him to perpetual imprisonment he will thank her as he told one Creswel that offered to intercede for him Praeclara est aequabilitas in omni vita idem semper vulius eademque frons Aelian lib. 9. Solin cap. 8. ut de Socrate idemque de C. Laelio accepimus saith Tully in his books of Offices which book the old Lord Burleigh Peachams comp Gent. pag. 45. Lord high Treasurer to Queen Elisabeth would always carry about him to his dying day either in his bosom or pocket And what use he made of it take M. Camdens testimony Camd. Elis fol. 495. Burleigh Lord Treasurer was wont to say that he overcame envie more by patience then pertinacy His private estate he managed with that integrity that he never sued any man no man ever sued him He was in the number of those few that both lived and died with glory Vers 23. And he went up to the place of Gods worship Strabo writeth that the Metapontines Dedicasse in Delphis ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã when they were enriched by a good yeer of corn dedicated to Apollo a golden harvest Vers 24. Fear not for the continued opposition of the Philistims or what-ever other discouragement The best mindes when troubled for any long time yeeld inconsiderate motions and suffer some perturbation as water that is violenly stirred sends up bubbles They cannot be so much master over their passions as not otherwhiles to be disquieted for not the evenest weights but at their first putting into the balance somewhat sway both parts thereof not without some shew of inequality which after some little motion settle themselves in a meet poize Potissimùm verò fidei murus Bucholcer Chronol 320. tentationum ariete durius aliquantò pulsatus concussus facilè nutare ac ruinam minari incipit nisi divinitus sustentetur Vers 25. And called upon the Name of the Lord that had made room for him and now by his presence and promise comforted him Let the streams of Gods bounty lead us as the water-course doth either to the spring upward or downward to the main Ocean to the source and fountain whence they flow Let God taste of the fruit of his own planting Otherwise it is no better then the refreshing of him that standeth by a good fire and crieth Ah ah I am warm Isai 44.16 We are no better then bruit beasts if contenting our selves with a natural use of the creatures we rise not up to the Author if in stead of being temples of his praise we become graves of his benefits Isaac first built an altar and then digg'd a Well Vers 26. And Abimelech went to him Not of any great love but as 1. prickt in conscience 2. to provide for posterity It was a mercy to him howsoever that strangers and Heathens should do him this honour as it was to Luther that when the Pope had excommunicated him the Emperour proscribed him two Kings written against him c. the Elector of Saxony should nevertheless stick to him Manh. loc com and that the Great Turk should send him word not to be discouraged for he would
c. The better any one is the more inclined to weeping 1 Sam. 20. as David then Jonathan Nam faciles motus mens generosa capit Paulus non tam atramento quam lachrymis chartas inficiebat saith Lorinus And took from them Simeon and bound him He is thought to have been the chief doer in the sale of Joseph and is therefore singled out for punishment Judas Iscariot is said to come of his tribe Of a turbulent and restless spirit Joseph knew him to be and therefore detained him saith Musculus lest he should have hindered the motion of bringing down Renjamin Vers 25. Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks This was the revenge he took upon them for their many misusages So Joshua marched all night and fought all day for the Gibeonites that had deceived him So Elisha set bread and water before the Syrians that came to surprize him So S. Paul bids If thine enemy hunger feed him c. Injuries are more bravely overcome with benefits then recompenced with the pertinacy of a mutual hatred Speciâsius aliquanto injuriae beneficiis vincuntur quam muâni odii pertinacia pensantur Val. Max. lib. 4. c. 2. said a very Heathen Vers 27. To give his Asse provender in the Inne Their Innes then were not so well furnished as ours are but they were forced to carry their provender which was a trouble Vers 28. My money is restered Joseph had stollen this benefit upon them which they mis-interpret their own misgiving hearts telling them that Gods just hand was in it for their hurt Conscience being now awakened meets them at every turn till they were soundly humbled and had made their peace Better a sore then a seared conscience as better a tormentful strangury then a senseless lethargy Bee-masters tell us that those are the best hives that make the greatest noise Vers 29. And they came to Iacob Who had looked many a long look for them no doubt and was now glad to see their faces and full sacks But this joy lasted but a little while for no sooner had he heard them speak but he was thunderstruck as it were so little stability is there in any worldly felicity The Saints have all here their back-burdens of afflictions yet some have more then some as Iacob who was seldom without God not only gave him a draught of them but made him a dyet-drink Look how your refiners of sugar taking sugar out of the same chest some thereof they melt but once other again and again not that it hath more dross in it but because they would have it more refined So is it here Vers 35. And it came to passe as they emptied Calvin's note on this text is that Ioseph was herein overshot and ill-advised for that intending to succour his father by sending back his money he grieved and frighted him But this might be Iacob's fault more then Iosephs We many times mistake God himself through self-guiltiness as if he meant to kill us with kindness which is a great unthankfulness See my Love-tokens p. 32. Vers 36. Simeon is not That is As good he were not for ye have left him prisoner and unless ye return the sooner with Benjamin which I cannot yeeld to is like to be put to death as a Spie See here the pangs and passions of a parent and how love descends Vers 37. Slay my two sons A simple and sinfull offer Reuben was the eldest but not the wisest Age is no just measure of wisdome Howbeit of him we may learn in our parents fear no be hardy and hearty in our brethrens distress to be eager and earnest Vers 38. Ye shall bring down my gray haires c. To the state of the dead not to hell or Limbus Patrum Many of the Ancients erroneously held that mens souls were not judged till the last day nor rewarded or punished but reserved in some secret Receptacles Bell. de Purg. lib. 1. unto the general Judgment Bellarmine would hence prove Purgatory Luther also seems to approve of that figment of the Fathers For in his notes upon this text he will have Sheol here translated the grave to be an under-ground-receptacle of all souls where they rest and sleep till the coming of Christ But gray haires descend not further then the grave And Luther somewhere intreats his Readers that if they find any thing in his books that smelleth of the old cask they should consider he was not only a man but sometime had been a poor Monk c. CHAP. XLIII Vers 1. And the famine was sore in the Land IN the promised Land Drus in Adag Hold out faith and patience Os quod in sorte tua cecidit rodas Bear thy cross and be content Vers 2. Buy us a little food They had learned to live with a little which is a great skill nature is content with a little grace with less Paratum se esse cum jove de falicitate coutendere fi aquam haberet offam Aâlian Epicurus himself was wont to say if he might have but aquam offam a draught of water and a morsell of meate he could live happily Vers 3. Ye shall not see my face c. No acceptation without Benjamin that son of sorrow So neither with God without sound repentance This is the rainbow which if God seeth shining in our hearts he will never drown our souls Vers 6. And Israel said c. Here he begins to outwrestle his fears by resting upon God and is therefore called Israel Vers 7. Could we certainly know c. Inferences many times are made upon what we say or do such as we never thought of Aug. lib. 1. de Trint c. 3. ad sinem Arbitror nonnullos in quibusdam locis librorum meorum opinaturos me sensisse quod non sensi aut non sensisse quod sensi faith Augustine And it fell out accordingly For as Baronius witnesseth after Saint Austins death there arose up divers who out of his writings wrested and inconstructed Quiex ejus scriptis male perceptis complures invexerunt errores Annal. tom 6. ad Ann. 450. brought in many errours which they endeavoured to maintain by the name and authority of Saint Augustine And the like may be said of Luther Vers 8. Send the lad A large lad that was thirty year old and had ten children But he is so called because the yongest son of them and the fathers darling Vers 9. I will be surety for him Herein he was a type of Christ that came of him who is both our surety to God for the discharge of our debt and duty and Gods surety to us for the performance of his promises Heb. 7.22 Vers 10. For except we had lingered c. In the words of God there is not any hyperbole to be found In the words of men related by the Scripture if we meet with such kind of expressions as this and that Joh. 21.25 it nothing derogates from the
that God puts into our hands accounting it a mercy that we may have opportunity Vers 9. They are my sons whom God c. The Lord Christ in like sort presents us to his heavenly Father with Here am I and the children whom thou hast given me Whereunto the Father replyes as Iacob here Bring them now unto me and I will bless them Vers 11. I had not thought to see thy face God delights to out-bid the hopes of his people and to be better to them then their deserts then their desires yea then their faith Esay 64.2 3 12 14. As it is storied of a certain Fmperour that he delighted in no undertaking somuch as in those that his Counsellors and Captains held impossible And he seldom miscarried So God Exod. 15.11 Vers 12. from between his knees That is from between his fathers knees that he might place them right to receive the blessing presenting them again according to their age This he did for the best but God only wise had otherwise ordered it We many times think we do well when it proves much otherwise Lean not therefore to thine own understanding saith the Wise man Prov. 3.5 but make out to him that dwells with prudence Prov. 8.12 Vers 14. Guiding his hands wittingly Cognoscebat palpando manibus suis saith Iunius Intelligere fecit manus saith Parleus An emphaticall Metaphor As if he should say Iacob with his eyes could not distinguish them but his hands shall therefore Bartol lib. 1. de ver oblig do the office of his eyes Bartolus writes of Doctour Gabriel Nele that by the only motion of the lips without any utterance he understood all men perceived and read in every mans countenance what was their conceit But that is far more credible Hier. in Catalogo vitor illushium and no less admirable that Hicrome reports of Didymus of Alexandria that though he had been blind of a child little yet hew as excellently skilled in all the liberall arts and had written commentaries upon the Psalmes and Gospels being at this time saith he eighty three years of age Vers 15. God before whom my fathers walked This is the highest praise that can be given to ancestours this is the crown of all commendation to have walked with God as a man walketh with his friend This is better then a thousand escucheons The God which fed me all my life long As a shepherd tends and feeds his sheep Psal 23.1 80.1 Iacob looks beyond all second causes and sees at once at Bethel God on the top of the ladder Gen. 28. Vers 16. The Angell which redeemed me Christ the Angell of the Covenant the Mediatour of the new Testament the Redeemer the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world For we were not redeemed with silver and gold but with the blood of Christ as of a Lamb undefiled 1 Pet. 1.19 Paul by that freedome Act. 22.28 escaped whipping we by this the pain of eternall torment And let my name be named on them Lest any should think it to be some prejudice to them that they were born in Egypt and of an Egyptian mother he adopts them for his own Vers 17. And when Ioseph saw that c. So great a Prophet and diviner as Ioseph was in this was out in his judgment He seeth not that mans dignity is not by works or nature but grace and election Rom. 9.7 8 11 12. Vers 18. Not so my father c. Here are a couple of Holy Prophets differing in their judgments yet not about the substance of the blessing but the circumstance of it wonder not though such things still fall out it in the true Church and the Doctours be eft-soons divided in points less materiall and that touch not the foundation Luther interprets those words of Christ this is my body Synechdochiaelly Calvin Metonimically Hence the Jesuites straight cry out the Spirit of God dissents not from it self but these interpretations dissent one from another See the peace of Rome therefore they are not of the Spirit Now it were easie to stop their foul mouths by telling them of their own far worse differences But is it not a dolefull thing that we should with those birds agnoscere in nostris vulneribus nostras pennas Brother goe to law with brother and that before infidels This is the divels malice to sow tares c. Christ came to destroy his works yet never were so many possest as about that time Vers 19. And his father refused and said Here are father and son devided in matter of ceremony as Bishop Babington observeth This hath been an ancient quarrell from the very cradle of the Christian Church The Iewish converts stood hard for a mixture of Christ and Moses their rites they called the rudiments of the world Coloss 2.8 Because they held them as needfull as the four elements of the world or as the first letters of the book to school Gods people Soon after what a coyle was there among the Primitive Christians even unto blows and blood-sheed Queritur Aug. suo tempere Ecclesiam quam miserecordia dei esse liberam vosuit c. Pareus in Mat. 15.2 about the time of keeping Easter and other like trifles and niceties Saint Augustine complains that in his time the Church which the mercy of God would have to be at liberty was wofully opprest with many burthens and bondages this way so that the condition of the Iewes was in this respect more tolerable for that they were held under by legall injunctions and not by humane presumptions What would this Father have said to the following times under the rise and raign of Antichrist wherein the formality of Gods worship had utterly eaten up the reality of it as Pharaohs lean kine did the fatter and gotten out the very heart and life of it as the ivy dealeth by the oake it grows on Our Heroicall reformers Luther Zuinglins c. pruned and pared off these luxuriancies for the most part which caused Iohn Hunt a Roman Catholike in his humble Appeale to King Iames thus to blaspheme The God of the Protestants is the most uncivile D. Sheldons Maâk of the Beast op ded Scultet Annal. and ill-mannered God of all those who have born the name of gods upon the earth yea worse then Pan god of the clowns which can endure no ceremonies nor good manners at all But yet what a grievous stirr was there about these indifferents Alsted Chron. pag. 559. between Luther and Carolostadius at Wittenberg between the Doctours of Magdeburg and Leipswick Anno Dom. 1549. and between Calvin and his Auditours of Geneva about wafer-cakes at the communion insomuch as he was compelled to depart the city till he had yeelded they should be used though he never liked them Bâza in vita but could have wished it otherwise Who knows not what jarrs and heart-burnings were here between Ridley and Hooper two godly Bishops in King Edward the sixths