because of the misery and mischief which they bring Of all the three the Sword is the â—orest as appears by Davids choice 2 Sam. 24. 14. besides the Plague and Famine are the usual attendants of War where the Sword goes before there Famine and Pestilence usually attend Their Infants shall bee dashed in peeces 11 Obs. Little Infants are great sinners 1 That great Sin and Rebellion of Adam is impâ—ted to them for sin what hee did they did wee were all in the loyns of that one man Rom. 5. 12. 2 They have not onely original sin imputed but imparted also they have inherent original sin which is radically seminally fundamentally all sin The youngest childe carries an old man of sin within him Wee are no sooner born into the world but wee have a world of sin about us 3 The sad diseases pangs and dismal deaths which seize on Infants are strong proofs of this point their very dying speaks them sinners The wages of sin bee it original or actual is death Rom. 6. 23. Original sin which is the greatest sin in the world cleaves to their natures and makes them odious and abominable in Gods sight so that they are by nature children of wrath and obnoxious to all his judgements VVee are all daninati antequam nati and so might justly have been sent from the VVomb to the Tomb c. 12 Obs. Wicked parents bring judgements on their posterity Their poor little ones fare the worse for them Hos. 9. 12 13. Though they bring up children yet I will bereave them of them and they shall bring forth children to the murderer who is Gods executioner and so become Paricides rather than Parents Thus the old world was drowned and their children with them And the Sodomites were burnt and their children with them Achan was not onely stoned himself but his sons and daughters yea and his cattel perished with him The accusers of Daniel were slain by the Lions both they and their children Dan. 6. 24. The Iews that rejected and crucified Christ brought a curse not onely upon themselves but also upon their children Matth. 27. 25. His blood bee on â—s and on our children which hath lain on them above sixteen hundred years It is just with God to cut off the wicked and their seed as wee kill the VVolf vvith her VVhelps and the Fox vvith her Cubs though the young Toad hath not actually poysoned any yet because it hath a posonous nature in it vvee destroy it So doth God by the children of the vvicked Gen. 19. 25. Numb 16. 32 33. I Sam. 15. 3. Isa. 13. 16. Ier. 44. 7. Hos. 10. 14. When men rebel against God and reject his wayes hee vvill send against them a barbarous and cruel Nation that shall not regard the persons of the old nor have compassion on the young Deut. 28. 50. and 32. 25. Ezâ—k 9 6. Q. Are not Infants called Innocents Psal. 106. 38. Ier. 19. 4. how then can it stand with the justice of God thus severely to punish them Answ. They are not called so because they have no sin but I In respect of those cruel men who without any cause shed the blood of those little ones who had deserved no such thing at their hands So the Assyrians here were guilty of great inhumanity in killing those Infants and God in his due time did retaliate it to them Nahum 3. 10. 2 Though they may bee called Innocent in respect of any actual sin yet they are not so in respect of original sin which seminally and radically is every sin The guilt of that sin cleaves to their natures and makes them obnoxious to all tortures here and eternal torments hereafter 3 The sins of the Parents may bee also a moving cause and may provoke the Lord to smite the Parents with their children Exod. 20. 5. The Lord threatens to visit the sins of Idolatrous Parents upon their children because either they already walk in their fathers sins or else in time they would do so or it may bee worse which God onely knows 3 God hath a sovereign right and power over all his creatures hee is the Potter and wee are his clay hee may do with his own what hee pleaseth hee may make us or mar us raise us or ruine us and none may say unto him What doest thou Hee that giveth life may take it away how and when hee pleaseth his will is the rule of Justice yea Justice it self wee must therefore adore Gods Judgements when wee cannot comprehend them and know that though they may bee secret yet they are alwayes just 4 Children are parts of their Parents part of their Family and part of their substance and God may justly punish the sinful parent in his childe as wel as in his cattel and estate because they do not onely belong to him but also are a part of him 5 Sin committed by a particular man that is a member of a Politick body doth after a sort belong to the whole body Thus Achans sin though not known to the people yet made them all guilty till hee was put to death Iosh. 7. 11. 6 Yet these temporal Judgements may bee mingled with spiritual mercies as wee see in Ierobâ—ams childe who was taken away in mercy because there was some goodness found in him I King 14. 12 13. especially the Infants of Gods people that are in Covenant with their Parents there is great grounds of hope that they have changed their temporal life for an eternal and are freed from many sins sorrows and tentations which men that live to riper years are exposed to yea if they should bee cast away for their original sin yet their damnation will bee lighter than if they had lived longer It had been good for reprobates if they had not been born or that they had dyed as soon as they had been born for then they would not have had so many sins to answer for Quest. But hath not God said The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father Deut. 24. â—6 and 2 King 14. 16. Ezek. 18. 20. it seems then to bee cruelty to kill the children for the Parents sins especially such as are unborn and have not deserved such evils Answ. 1 It is true in respect of the Assyrians it was cruelty and horrid barbarousness in them to kill poor harmless little ones and God threatens to visit such sins upon the heads of such sinners 2 It is not cruelty in God for children are children of wrath as well as their Parents as all have sinned so hee may punish all without injustice Besides hee permits and orders the cruelty of wicked adversaries to his own glory and his peoples good As for that Deut. 24. 16. It speaks of Gods restraining of Magistrates who may not punish the children for the fathers offences True it is God findes cause enough in children themselves to punish them but when they imitate their wicked parents this hastens and
with the Prophets to intermingle comforts with their threatnings to keep Gods people from despaire So Hos. 1. and 2. and 11. Amos 9. 8 to 15. Before he had threatned destruction to the wicked now he comforts the Penitent In the words we have 1. The deep distress that Gods people were in they were in the hand of the grave and in the jaws of death i. e. they were as 't were dead and buried in captivity The word Sheol signifies both the grave and hell 1. 'T is taken for the grave so Gen. 37. 35. â—rov 30. 16. 2. For hell Metaphorical i. e. some deep distress Psal. 86. 13. 3. For the local hell Prov. 15. 11. Wee may take in all these for Christ hath Redeemed us from them all and triumphed over them on the Cross Colos. 2. 14. 2. Here is a Promise of their Redemption from this their misery I will ransom them from the power of the grave What is that why exegetically 't is added I will redeem them from death i. e. I will bring my Elect out of their captivity where they lay for dead as 't were and this deliverance shall bee to them a pledge of their Resurrection to eternal life 3. Here is the manner how this shall bee done set forth by a Prosopopeical Apostrophe to death and the grave whom he brings in as some living enemy and therefore calls to him saying O death I will bee thy death O grave I will bee thy destruction q. d. O death thou seemest to be mighty and powerful but I will disarm thee of it all I will not only bite thee but destroy thee 't is not morsus as the Vulgar but exitium an utter destruction of these enemies of our salvation 4. Here is the certainty of this deliverance drawn from the constancy of God in keeping his Promise and from the immutability of his decree Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes q. d. I will never repent of the mercy which I have promised them but my goodness to them shall be firm and unalterable This sense suits best with the Original and with the context wherein God promiseth a choice mercy to his people The Vulgar and the seventy render it consolation is hid from mine eyes 't is true the word in the Original signifies consolation as well as repentance but to render it as a threatning here as if God should say I am fully determined to destroy my people for consolation is hid from mine eyes This is very improper here for it confounds the context and the scope of the Verse which is to comfort and not to disquiet Gods people In it the Prophet the better to strengthen the faith of Gods people doth highly extol Gods Almighty power for when wee are in straights wee are very apt to question that Num. 11. 13 21 22 23. Psal. 78. 19. To an eye of sense Gods people lying in captiviy were as dead men and past all hope of recovery I but saith the Prophet though ye were dead yet God can raise you again for hee 's Lord of death and hell and hath a sovereign power over them all though death conquers all yet hee conquers death though it be mighty yet God is Almighty and there 's nothing too hard for him he will be the death of death and if none will redeem you thence yet he will Quest. The Question is of what Redemption and deliverance doth the Prophet here speak whether of a corporal or spiritual Redemption Ans. Of both 1. Literally the Lord promiseth to free his Elect and penitent people from the grave of their captivity Banisht men are counted as dead men especially in a civil sense and the place of their banishment is as the grave Now many of the remainders of Israel after the destruction of their Kingdom joyned themselves to the Jews and with them came out of Babylon Though for their Idolatry and ingratitude hee threatned perpetual banishment to them yet for the comfort of his people that then were and after should arise hee promiseth a Redemption for them Hos. 1. 10. which was fulfilled about two hundred years after that Samaria was taken when Cyrus proclaimed liberty to the Jews to go build the Temple Ezra 1. 2. Typically it alludes to our Spiritual and eternal Redemption by Christ and our conquest over death and hell by him By Adams sin death came upon all men Rom. 512. but Christ by his Resurrection hath freed us from the power of death and hath led it captive which formerly led us captive Ps. 68. 18. Eph. 4. 8. This is the Redemption saith Zanchy which is principally and properly here meant for though the people of Iudah after seventy years captivity in Babylon did return again out of it yet the people of Israel after that Samaria was taken never returned again to their own land for it was laid waste and inhabited by strangers 'T is usual with the Prophets to use such Metabases sudden digressions and passings from their history to Christ who was their scope delight and love so that every hint and shadow in the Old Testament brought him to their remembrance and then from Christ they fell to the continuance of their history again Thus 't is here and so Esay prophecying of Câ—rus who should deliver Israel out of Bâ—bylon in the same Chapter prophesieth of Christ the Redeemer of his Church Esay 45. So Ezekiel having enveyed against Idle and Idol Shepherds presently turns his speech to Christ who is the true Shepherd of his people Ezek. 34. 2 16. so Zach. 9. 9. and 13. â— 7. In this Verse the Prophet brings in death and the grave as it were two tyrannical enemies to whom he speaks in the Name of the Lord Christ as the Apostle expounds it 1 Cor. 15. 55. as a Conquerour saying O death I will be thy death Or as the Apostle from the Septuagint though in this Text the Apostle in some things varies from the present Septuagint and so do the allegations in the New Testament which shews the folly of those who do equalize it with the Original Hebrew O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The first Adam brought death into the world but the second Adam hath abolish'd it There is some difficulty in the words and therefore I shall open them particularly and break every clod that I may finde out the golden Oar. In these words we have a glorious triumph over death and a notable Enconâ—ium of the Resurrection of the dead Piscator and others read the words Interrogatively thus O death where are thy plagues O grave where is thy destruction 'T is an insulting and triumphing Interrogation q. d. They are no where to be found for Christ hath removed them and taken them out of the way of his people so that now there is no hurt in death This various reading comes from the ambiguous signification of the word Ehi which is rendred truly ero I
will be others render it ubi where So the Septuagint render it by 〈◊〉 ubi and the Apostle following the Septuagint speaking to Greeks and that in Greece alledgeth a Greek text as being most familiar and best known to them The Apostle gives the sense and meaning but not the words which is frequent in Scripture the Pen-men being intent on the matter were not curious in the words but did adde and alter what might explain and clear them yet the Prophet and the Apostle are easily reconciled thus O death I will be thy Plagues i. e. I will pull out thy Pestilent sting O grave I will be thy destruction i. e. I will get the victory over thee q. d. I the Lord Christ for to him the Apostle applies this text will redeem them from death by paying a valuable price for their Redemption this none could do but I yea I will bee the death of death I will bee its plagues and destruction it shall never prevail against my people for I will restore them to life again 1 Cor. 15. 26 54 55. 'T is not I am or I have been but 't is Ehi I will bee thy destruction Now in Hebrew the Future Tense doth oft express both the Present Tense and the Preterperfect Tense it implies not only the time to come but also the time present and the time past q. d. I am I have been and shall bee for ever deaths destroyer Christ was Virtually the Lamb â—lain from the beginning of the world and so was deaths destroyer but actually he conquered death and the grave by lying dead in the grave and by his Almighty power raising himself thence again so that death hath now no more dominion over him and his Act. 2. 24. O death I will bee thy plagues not one or two but many plagues even so many as shall destroy thee Thou didst destroy my people but now I will destroy thee thou didst triumph over them but now I will triumph over thee and lead thee and all the enemies of my people in triumph at my Chariot wheeles Psal. 68. 18. Ephes. 4. 8. for under death and the grave is Synecdâ—chically comprehended the conquest of all the enemies of our salvation as sin death heâ—â— Satan banishment prisonment poverty sickness tribulation persecution famine sword c. over all these wee are more then conquerours even triumphers through Christ that loved us Rom. 8. 35 37. Hee names only death because death is the last enemy that shall bee destroyed 1 Cor. 15. 26. yet by an Argument a Majore ad minus from the greater to the less he comforts his people thus If I can deliver you from death and the grave then much more from banishment and captivity O grave I will bee thy destruction or I le bee thy rooting out and cutting off The same word is used Deut. 32. 24. Psal. 91. 6. I say 28. 2. q. d. Thou didst destroy my people but now I will destroy thee so that they may now sing triumphantly O death where is thy pestilent sting wherewith thou wast wont to torture and torment us 't is gone 't is destroyed by Christ who is thy death O death and thy utter destruction As a man that drinks a cup of poyson drinks that which will bee his ruine so the grave by swallowing and devouring Christ was conquered and killed by him Of old they did celebrate the Victories and Triumphs of Achilles Hercules Alexander Iulius Caesar and the rest of the great conquerours of the world but alas alâ— those dyed and were conquered by death Only Christ the King and Saviour of his Church and people by his death hath conquered sin Satan and death and hath made full satisfaction for us to the Law and Justice of God So that what the Prophet speaks here of the restauration of the Jews in particular the Apostle applies to the general Resurrection of the dead when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptioâ— and this mortality shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in Victory O death where is thy sting c. 1 Cor. 15. 54 55. Where the Apostle alledgeth two Texts and 't is usual with the Pen-men of the New Testament to alledge divers Texts out of the Old Testament and compose them into one in the New So doth Peter speaking against Iudas Act. 1. 20. 't is written in the book of the Psalms let his habitation be desolate and his Bishoprick let another take the former part is taken out of Psal. 69. 26. and the latter part out of Psal. 109. 7. So Mark 1. 2 3. the former part is taken out of Mal. 3. 1. the latter part from Esay 28. 16. So Christ himself Mat. 21. 13. alludes to Esay 56. 7. and Ier. 7. 11. So here the Apostle cites one text out of Esay 25. 8. he will swallow up death in Victory The other is Hos. 14. 13. The seventy render it thus devorabit mors praevalens Death devours all but this is contrary both to the sense of the Prophet and the Apostle who speak not of the prevailing power of death but of the power of Christ over death Death is swallowed up in Victory and that great devourer of all is by Christ devoured This promile is now fulfilled in the death of Christ who hath already destroyed the power of death for his people and shall bee compleatly fulfilled at the Resurrection of the dead when all corruption and mortality shall bee totally taken away and death shall bee swallowed up in Victory for ever In the sense of this mercy the Apostle breaks forth ravished as it were with the contemplation of this conquest over death into a triumphant song which all the Saints shall sing at the last day when they shall bee totally freed from the captivity of death and the grave then shall they insult over subdued death and say O death where is thy sting wherewith thou hadst wont to wound all creatures O grave where is thy victory by which thou hast hitherto kept the dead under by force which now thou must render again as not being able any longer to hold them under thy power Rev. 20. 13 14. It is onely sin by which death hath power over us and it is the just rigor of the Law which inflicts death upon us for sin But thanks bee to God who hath given us the victory over sin which is the cause of death and over death which is inflicted for sin through Jesus Christ our Lord by whom wee obtain an immortal and incorruptible life Thus the Apostle hath faithfully given us the sense of the Prophet though not his very words The summe and substance of all is this Though Ephraim hath been an unwise Son and hath delayed his returning unto mee yet his impenitency and security shall not retard or disanul my faithfulness and truth unto my people I
but Christ by his death destroyed his Kingdome and became more glorious by dying like another Sampson hee slew more at his death than in his life So that now wee are more than Conquerers even Triumphers through Christ that loved us Hee hath triumphed over death and all the enemies of our salvation and wee in him our head triumph 2 Cor. 2. 14. Col. 2. 14 15. by lying in the grave hee hath sweetned our graves for us so that now wee may sleep in it as in a bed of down Isa. 57. 2. and our flesh may rest in hope of a glorious Resurrection Psal. 16. 9. Now if ever wee may sing that Triumphant song O death where is thy sting It is destroyed abolished gone This strong man armed is overcome by a stronger than hee It is not the pleasures of life nor the pains of death neither the height of prosperity nor the depth of adversity nothing now can separate us from Christ Iob 5. 20 21 22. Rom. 8. 35 c. Death may dissolve our corporal marriage but it is so far from abolishing that it perfects our spiritual marriage killed we may bee but conquered we can never be Christs victory is our victory and all his Conquests ours Quest. If Christ by his death hath destroyed death why then do the godly dye Answ. Christ did not dye to deliver us from sickness and death but to free us from the curse that is in these By his death hee hath pulled out the sting of death the death of the body still remains but the sting and that which is penal is taken away so that it cannot hurt us and therefore the Text doth not say I will free you from death sedâ—è manu mortis but from the destructive power of death so as it shall have no dominion over you to hurt you nor bee able to separate you from Christ. As the Apostle saith of sin it is in us but it doth not reign in us so dye wee must but death hath no dominion over beleevers as it hath over wicked men it gets the victory over them they dye and dye eternally but a beleevers death is neither Total Penal nor Perpetual 1 It is not Total it seizeth onely on the body the carcass the outside it goeth to its dust but the spirit returns to God that gave it Eccles. 12. 7. 2 It is not Penal but profitable in the grave wee put off our filth deformities defects infirmities and mortality it self It is our attiring house to fit us for immortality and glory 3 It is not perpetual it is but a sleeping till the general Resurrection Rom. 8. 10 11. our conquest over death is inchoate in fieri and partly fulfilled in this life but it shall bee consummate in facto and fully compleated at the Resurrection Then shall they awake and sing that dwell in the dust Isa. 26. 19. This upheld Iob in the midst of all his sorrows I know that my Redeemer lives my comfort is though I dye yet I have one to right mee that lives for ever Iob 19. 25. David comforts himself with this that God would redeem him from the power of the grave and from the hand of hell though riches cannot redeem the rich yet God would redeem him Psal. 49. 15. Object I must part with Wife Children Friends Pleasures Answ. All these losses will bee made up in a better kinde as you may see at large in Mr. Byfields Cure of the fear of death p. 745. it is in the end of his Marrow And B. Halls Balm of Gilead p. 141. Use. Fear not death with a slavish fear Christ dyed to free us from such a fear of death Heb. 2. 15. A religious prudential fear doth well fear it so as to arm your selves and prepare for it but not so as to bee dejected under it No wise man will fear a conquered enemy if you truly beleeve in Christ the Conquerour of death you need not fear death Think on Christ when you think on death and then you may in a holy sarcasm and contempt say O death where is thy sting Christ hath unstinged it and as it were disarmed it so that now wee may safely put it in our bosomes buz it may about our ears as a drone Bee but sting it cannot for Christ hath taken away the guilt of sin and hath made that which was sometimes a curse to become a blessing of a foe hee hath made it a friend of a poyson a medicine of a punishment an advantage Phil. 1. 21. of the gate of hell a passage to heaven It is now like the valley of Achor a door of hope that which was sometimes the King of Terrours is now become the King of Comforts as making way for the enjoyment of the highest comforts Wee part with a life of misery to enjoy a life of glory Wee use to say Change is no Robbery but such a change is our great advantage Hence it is that the Apostle summing up a Christians priviledges and riches sets down Death as part of it 1 Cor. 3. 22. not onely life but Death is yours hee that can truly say I am Christs subject and servant may as truly say Death will bee my preferment and high advancement So true is that of Solomon Eccles. 7. 1. The day of a mans death is better in many respects than the day of his birth Then and never till then shall wee rest from our labours Iob 3. 17. Rev. 14. 13. and bee perfectly freed from sin and all its concomitants Look not therefore on death with Philosophical eyes as if it were the end of all our comforts but look on it with Christian eyes as the year of Jubilee the day of our Coronation and consummation of the Marriage between Christ and our souls A natural man that looks upon death with an eye of sense sees nothing but horror and terror in it but a gracious soul that looks on it with an eye of faith seeth life in death light in darkness and comfort in discomfort though for a time hee must lye in the grave and death seems to have dominion over him yet hee as certainly sees a Resurrection as if hee were already in possession of it and therefore hee triumphs already in assurance of a total conquest through Christ death is already swallowed up by him in victory Isa. 25. 8. Christ was his life and therefore now death is his gain Hee lived holily and now hee dyes happily hee lived unto the Lord and therefore hee now dyes unto him Rom. 14. 7 8. 2 Cor. 5. 15. His care was to keep a good conscience and now hee hath the comfort of it 2 Cor. 1. 12. Let Atheists then and worldlings and wicked men fear death who know no better life but let the righteous who hath hope in his death Prov. 14. 32. imbrace it and bid it welcome as the Martyrs did who went as joyfully to their stakes as
others do to marriages Witness all those living speeches of dying Saints which will shortly be published by an able and industrious hand to the world Cyprian hearing the sentence of death pronounced against him said Lord I thank thee that now thou wilt free mee from the bonds of the body I shall not now lose my life but change it for a better Excellently Pomponius Algerius in an Epistle which hee writ to his friends from the delectable Hortyard of the Leonine prison Iuly 1â— 1555. I shall tell you said hee strâ—â—ge things I have found a honey comb in a Lions belly In a deep dungeon I have found pleasantness in a place of bitterness and the shadow of death I have found peace and hope of life In the belly of hell I have found comfort Where others weep there do I sing for joy and whâ—re â—thers fear there have I support The good hand of my God hath done all this for mee Hee that seemed sometime to bee far from mee is now most present with mee Hee that I had but some glympses of before now I see him face to face Hee hath turned my winter into a glorious Spring why should I fear any freeziâ—g cold who am thus inflamed with the love of God Let Malefactors fear this prison to mee it flows with honey See seven Consolations against Death in Caryl on Iob 18. 14. p. 96 97. and in my Comment on 2 Tim. 4. 6. Obs. 3. p. 370 c. Byfields Cure of the fear of Death p. 653. Perkins Art of Dying well Mr. Gatakers Sermon on Philip. 1. 23. part 2. p. 222. Hierons Sermon p. 653. Mr. Baxter Saints Rest p. 25. c. B. Halls Balm of Gilead p. 247. Drexelius Prodromus Aeternitatis p. 33. Vol. 1. folio Mr. Sam. Fishers Antidote against the fear of Death at the end of his Sermon on Psal. 39. 9. 9 Obs. Gods Decrees are infallible and uâ—changeable Repentance is hid from his eyes hee knows not what it means Hee is not as man that hee should lye or repent Nuâ—b 23. 19. 1 Sam. 15. 25. Hee is Jehovah hee changeth not Mal. 3. 6. His Covenant hee will not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips Psal. 89. 34 35. and 110. 4. Isa. 54. 9 10. if hee hath decreed to shew mercy to his people and to redeem them from the power of hell all the Devils in hell shall not bee able to hinder it It is not the counsel of men or Devils but the counsel of the Loâ—d that shall stand Psal. 33. 10. 11. If hee hath spoken it hee will do it yea and the contrary plots of wicked men shall help to effect it Rom. 9. 11. Acts 2. 23. Obj. Is not God said to repent Gen. 6. 6. Ier. 18. 8. Amos 7 3 6. Answ. It is spoken not properly but after the manner of men and according to our capacity because his work is changed though himself continueth unâ—hangeable for with him is no variableness nor so much as a shadow of changeing He is constant and faithful in performing all his promises to his people 1 Thess. 5. 24. All his wayes are mercy and truth to them that fear him and keep his Covenant They are mercy in promising and truth in performing not one thing shall fail of all the good things which God hath promised to his people Iosh. 23. 14. though they bee not presently fulfilled yet in Gods due time they shall bee accomplished for though God come not at our time yet hee never fails his own Deut. 32. 35. Hab. 2. 3. 10 Obs. Beleevers in this life may bee assured of their salâ—vation Repentance is hid from Gods eyes whom hee loves once hee loves for ever Not one of those that the Father hath given to Christ shall perish Matth. 18. 14. Ioh. 6. 39. The foundation of the Lord stands sure more sure than the Pillars of the earth or the Poles of heaven 2 Tim. 2. 19. The Decree of Election is there called a foundation 2 It is not every foundation but a firm and sure foundation 3 It is not a foundation of mans laying but it is the foundation of the Lord. 4 It is not a tottering but a standing foundation built on a rock sealed and confirmed by the Spirit counsel and special knowledge of God Hee knows who are his Hence the Covenant of the Lord made with his people is called An everlasting Covenant 2 Sam. 23. 5. Hos. 2. 19 20. And hee hath promised to plant his fear in their hearts that they shall never depart from him Jer. 32. 39. if they fall yet they shall not bee utterly cast down for the Lord upholds them with his hand Deut. 33. 3. Psal. 37. 24. Prov. 2. 7 8. Ioh. 10. 28. They stand not by their own strength but are kept and guarded by his Almighty power through faith unto salvation 1 Pet. 1. 5. Common gifts and graces may fade and fail but his gifts i. e. his peculiar essential gifts which appertain to salvation are without repentance Rom. 11. 29. But of this I have treated at large elsewhere VERSE 15. Though hee bee fruitful amongst his brethren â—n East-wind shall come the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness and his spring shall become dry and his fountain shall bee dryed up hee shall spoyl the treasure of all pleasant Vessels THe Prophet having comforted Gods people returns again to the denouncing of judgements against the wicked And because similitudes do make a deeper impression than plain speeches therefore hee useth similitudes Vers. 13. hee sets forth their distress by the pains of a woman in travel and in this 15. verse hee sets forth the spoil and havock that should bee made amongst them by Salmanser King of Assyria which hee illustrates by a double similitude But first hee prevents an Objection which Ephraim might make I am fruitful and abound with riches honours strength and therefore I fear no fall Answ. Admit it bee so though Ephraim bee fruitful amongst his brethren yet an East-wind shall blow upon him and make him wither c. On this Verse there are almost as various Interpretations as there bee Interpreters so that I may say of it as Maldonate said sometimes of another Text Nescio an hic locus facilior fuisset sinemo eum exposuisset This Text had been plainer if some had not medled with it 1 Some make the words a promise of great blessings to Ephraim after all his sorrows Yet hee shall bee fruitful amongst his brethren After the Assyrian had spoyled him of all his Treasure yet by the might of him that ransometh men from the grave they shall bee raised up But this is a forcing of the words contrary to their genuine sense and meaning 2 Others apply it to Christ and say Hee shall increase and multiply his Elect both in number and glory at the last day The very rehearsal of this is confutation sufficient 3 The Vulgar Latine