inusitatissimis raâ—â—ssimisque majora sunt August l. 5. de Civ Dei cap 12. One of the Ancients discoursing upon that miracle in the Gospell The multiplying the loaves observeth that in naturall things there are very great wonders though we lightly passe them by They were astonished to see the loaves multiplying while they were eating To see bread grow upon the Table or between their Teeth made all wonder but there is as great a miracle wrought every yeare and no man takes notice of it That is when Corne cast into the ground multiplies thirty sixty a hundred-fold It is saith he a greater miracle for corne to multiply in the earth then for loaves to multiply on the Table And he makes a like Conclusion in his Booke of the City of God Whatsoever is wonderfull in the world is not so great a wonder as the world Yet men rarely wonder at the making of the world the Earth the Heavens the Sea the Aire every creature in them exceed in wonders the things we wonder at Ordinary works of Nature are marvellous First because they proceed from a divine power 2. Because man is posed to give a reason of most of them Canst thou tell how the bones grow in her that is with child saith the Preacher The bringing of an Infant alive from the Wombe is a wonder as well as the raising of a man from the dead And the budding of a Tree as well as the budding of Aarons Rod †Per multa sunt quae admirari nonsolemus propterea quod vulgo quotidieque fiunt Renova in solita commovetur animus The usualnesse of the one and the rarenesse of the other is though not the only yet the greatest difference And as the ordinary workes of Creation in making so of Providence in governing the world are full of wonders though they passe unobserved Such Eliphaz takes notice of in the words following The disappointing of craftie oppressors and the deliverance of the poore When God shall destroy Babylon the Song prepared is Great and wonderfull are thy works and Exod. 15. 11. from whence that is taken Who is like unto thee O God! Who is like unto thee glorious in holinesse fearefull in praises doing wonders The wonder was a deliverance the wonderfull deliverance of his people from Egypt and through the red Sea Works of judgement are often called works of wonder Deut 28. 59. I will make thy plagues wonderfull and Isa 28. 21. The Lord shall rise up as in Meunt Perazim he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon that he may doe his worke his strange worke and bring to passe his act bis strange act What act was this An act of judgement upon his and his peoples enemies as is clear 2 Sa. 5. 20. and Josh 10. 12. where we may reade what God did in Mount Perazim and in the valley of Gibeon strange works indeed And these works of God are called marvellous not onely when God is in them alone and acts without the intervention of the creature but when he act with the creature above the strength of a creature so that little of the creature appeares in the act this also is a marvell What God doth more by a man then man can doe whether in strength or wisdome ordinarily assisted so much of a wonder shewes it selfe in what man doth And therefore no man is ordinarily to attempt any thing beyond his strength for that is to tempt God and call him to worke a miracle at least a wonder for us Lord saith David Psal 131. 1. Mine heart is not Non mae exâ—uli ad ea quae maeas vires aut ingenium suâ—eraret Eleganter Thâ—odoretus Meipsum meâ—â—ebaâ— quae me excedunt non aggrossus sum haughty nor mine eyes loftie neither doe I exercise my selfe in great matters or in things too high for me The word is in things too wonderfull for me that is I doe not ordinarily put my selfe upon things which are extraordinary or beyond my strength and parts I measure-my undertakings and my abilities together and would keepe them even I doe not put God upon doing wonders every day therefore I set my selfe to those things which are according to the line of man If God call us to it we may expect a miracle but we must not call God to worke miracles for us or with us I doe not exercise my selfe in matters too high for me Miracles or marvels are not every dayes exercise We ought rather to be above our worke or any of our designes then below them but we must be sure they are not above us It is the safest and holiest way for man in all his actions to be upon a levell We cannot but displease God and hurt our selves by clambering It is but sometimes that rhe Lord will work wonders to releeve our necessities and help our faith but he will never unlesse in wrath work wonders to please our humors or comply with our ambition Hence observe First When we see marvels done we must acknowledgc the hand of God Marvels are proper unto God Psal 75. 1. In that thy Name is neere thy wonderous works declare Wonderous works are an argument that God is neere When wonders are among us we may know who is among us and if so then this is a time wherein God is seene among us We may well apply that of the Psalmist to our selves Marvellous things hath the Lord done in our sight in Ireland and in the Fields of England Psal 78. 12. Mervails are rare things things seldome done or seene We have things amongst us which were never done or seene before in our Nation A Parliament which cannot be legally dissolved but by its own Vote An Assembly where neither Diocesan Bishops nor Deane as such can Vote The three Kingdomes of England Scotland and Ireland entred into a solemn Covenant approved by the Assemblies and authorized by the Parliaments of two Kingdomes May we not conclude of these in the language of the Prophet Who hath heard such a thing who hath seen such things Isay 66. 8 Surely we may say as Moses to Israel Deut. 4. 34. Hath God assayed to goe and take him a Nation from the middest of another Nation by temptation by signes and by wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by a stretched out arme and by great terrors according to all that the Lord our God doth for us in England before our eyes To take a Nation out of the midst of a Nation is our case If England finding as now it doth her children strugling in her wombe should goe enquire of the Lord as Rebecca did Gen. 25. 22. why is it thus The Lord may answere as he did to her Two Nations are in thy wombe and two manner of people shall be separated frem thee A Nation fearing God and a Nation blaspheming God a Nation seeking Reformation and a Nation opposing Reformation Secondly If God work mervailes and we believe him not
tremble The Naturalists observe that though many creatures are swifter of foot then the Lion yet when he roareth they fall downe and he overtakes them with his astonishing voyce so tyrannicall men with their roaring words their loud threatnings often affright and daunt the poor 7. They resemble Lions in the sowrenesse and sternenesse of their countenance and cloudinesse of their browes Much of mans heart is seene in his face frownes are as blowes hence we call it brow-beating The love of God is expressed by the pleasantnesse of his face and the light of his countenance So also is the love of man and we may see what the intent of another is in his very lookes Many are in this respect Lion-like men they have as Aristotle saith of the naturall Lion clouds and stormes hanging about their eye-browes It was a threatning against the Jewes in case of disobedience that God would send against them a Nation of a fierce countenance which should not regard the person of the old c. Deut. 28. 50. Lastly they are like Lions in regard of their greedinesse after prey They have set their eyes bowing downe to the earth like as a Lyon that is greedy of his prey Psal 17. 11 12. Thus you see both who are here meant by Lions and likewise how the resemblance or picture of a wicked man may be taken from a Lion Now when it is said that the teeth of the Lions are broken that the old Lions perish and the young Lions are scattered abroad By all these expressions of scattering perishing and being broken to peeces the Holy Ghost shewes us the utter full and finall consumption of wicked men they are not only touched troubled and roused up out of their dens but these Lions old and young are scattered and consumed They perish There is an opinion currant among the Jewish writers that this verse is to be understood as a description of the means or instruments by which God destroyes wicked men and not as we of wicked men themselves whom God will destroy Junius agrees with this interpretation of the Jewes translating the two verses in this sence By the blast of God they perish and by the breath of his nostrils they are consumed by the roariag of the Lion and by the voyce of the fierce Lion and by the teeth of young Lions they are consumed As if when wicked men so he giveth the glosse are not destroyed immediately by the breath and by the blast of God then God stirres up the creatures against them and will destroy them by Lions We know it was a speciall judgement threatned in the Law against the disobedient Levit. 26. 22. that God would send evill beasts among them The Prophet numbers this among Gods sore judgements Sword famine pestilence and evill beasts are put together In the history of the Kings we have a famous 2 King 17. â—â— record how the Lord sent Lions who slew some of those Idolaters whom the King of Bahylon had transplanted into the Cities of Samaria But I rather conceive the former exposition of the words to be the truth and most sutable to the context and there is this reason to be given because it agrees best with the purpose of Eliphaz whose worke was so to describe the destruction of wicked men in generall that he might particularly intimate the destruction fallen upon Job and his family with the reason of it Job was a great man in his time he was among men as the Lion among beasts a chiefe His friends thought him a cruell Lion too and so he is told to his face afterward by one of them that he like a greedy Lion had taken away the pledge and the garment from the poore This Eliphaz would hint at least to Job and that God had found him out in his Lion-like qualities that he being a Magistrate and a man in authority having dealt hardly and cruelly with others now the Lord had measured to him the same measure he had given others He the Lion and she the fierce Lion or Lionesse his wife they the young Lions his children were all broken and either perished or perishing So much for the cleering of the words I shall now adde some observations from them First Wicked men how powerfull how strong soever shall fall before the wrath and indignation of God The day of the Lord shall be against every one that is high and that is lifted up God desires in a speciall manner to be dealing with these for they in the pride of their spirits think themselves a match for God though indeed their strength be but weaknesse and their wisdome foolishnesse yet in their own conceits they are stronger and wiser then God himselfe Hence like Pharaoh they send defiance to Heaven and say Who is the Lord Exod. 5. 1. When God sees the hearts of men swolne to this height of insolent madnesse he delights to shew himselfe and graple with them that the pride of man may be abased and every one that is exalted may be laid low that he only may be exalted and his Name set up in that day David was much troubled at that murther of Abner yet he could not take vengeance presently upon the fierce Lion that had suckt his blood Why his power did not reach it ye sonnes of Zerviah saith he are too hard for me 2 Sam. 23. 3. But there are no sonnes of Zerviah too hard for God no Lions so strong but he can teare them with infinitely more ease then a Lion can the tender kid This should comfort us when we see great and potent enemies rising up against the Church what are these before the great Lion the Lion of the Tribe of Judah If the Lord doe but roare if the Lion of the Tribe of Judah come against these Lions they will run like a heard of fearfull deare The Kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chiefe Captaines and the mighty men are described trembling at the presence of Christ when he appeared but as a Lambe Rev. 6. 15 16. They cry to the mountaines and the rockes to fall upon them and to hide them from his face If when Christ appeares like an angry Lambe the greatest in the world fall before him what then will these doe when Christ shall appeare as a roaring Lion Secondly observe how gradually the Holy Ghost expresses the destruction of wicked tyrants All is not done at once First the roaring of the Lion doth perish then their voice then their teeth are pulled out next their prey is taken away lastly their whelps are scattered Note hence That usually God destroyes wicked men by degrees Here are five steps or degrees of Gods justice against these Lions First He stops the roaring of the Lions they shall not be able to make such a dreadfull noise as heretofore their roaring may be stopt when their voice is not though they can speake yet they shall not yell In the second
sound to our english water that some think it a derivative from it By the Rain we are to understand not the showres only which fall from Heaven but all those blessings and benefits for the support of our naurall life which are the fruits of raine He sendeth raine as it were on his errand to bring or carry the blessings of plenty and to drop fatnes on the earth He giveth rain to the earth and then the earth giveth her encrease The Rabbins have a saying that raine is the husband of the earth because those showers foecundate the earth and make that great mother of plenty Imber maritus terrae fruitfull in bringing forth all things usefull and comfortable for the life of man He giveth raine upon the face of the earth so the letter of the Originall that is upon the earth as the face of Heaven and the face of the sea so the face of the earth is an Hebraisme for the earth it selfe It is sayed in the latter clause of the verse that he sendeth waters upon the fields We must distinguish these waters from the raine taking them for rivers and streams of water as the Psalmist speaks He causeth the rivers to runne among the hils and the Prophet Habaccuk Thou cleavest the earth with the rivers The word is of the Dual number it the Hebrew and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Forma duali significantur aquae duplices superiores in coelo ut nubes inferiores in terra ut mare fonâ—es flumina by some applied to those two sorts of waters or to the waters above and to the waters that are beneath So the waters are distinguished Psal 104. v. 3. we reade of the upper waters Who layeth the beames of his chambers in the waters who maketh the clouds his chariot and of the inferior or lower waters Gen. 1. 9. The Lord said let the waters under the earth be gathered into one place and both are put together ver 7. God made the firmament and divided the waters that were under the firmament from the waters that were above the firmament So that the waters above and the waters below may both here be understood It is added further He sendeth waters upon the fields The word we traslate fiolds signifies any place that is without 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nomen proprâ—è est sed juniâ—tur saepe adverbialiter pro fortis in universuÌ„ pro loco exteriori Merc. Deserta horrida loca mortali bu inaccessa doores as streets and high-wayes and because fields are without sub dio covered only with the canopie of the heavens therefore we translare he sendeth waters upon the fields And it takes in all sorts of fields whether till'd or untill'd though som conceive that here Eliphaz meanes those fields especially which are untilled unsowne or unmanured fields where men come not namely desarts and wildernesses as if he should say there is no place but God sends waters to it Hence the vulgar reade in stead of fields all places He moistens all places with waters Here first Forasmuch as an instance of Gods greatnesse power Irrigat aquis universa Vulg. and insearchable wisedom is given in the raine a naturall thing we may note That The common blessings of God are not dispensed without a speciall providence Nature workes not without the God of nature He doth great things and what He sendeth raine The whole course of nature moves as it is turned by the hand of God and directed by his connsell It is not in the frame of nature as in many artificiall frames which being once set up will stand or goe alone When the Artificer hath made a clock and put it in frame and hung on the weights let him goe whether he will the clock will goe and if there were roome for the weights to descend the clock continuing in frame would goe perpetually though no hand helped or toucht it But it is not so in the frame and workings of naturall things God hath set all creatures in a frame and curiously ordered them one within another but there is no motion of the least wheele much lesse of the whole fabrique without the speciall hand of God when raine comes God saith goe raine is his gift not the clouds the cloud receives a commission from God to distill and dissolve upon man The most full spongy clouds Cum plenae sunt nubes effundunt pluviam non tamen absque Dei jussis Drus distill no more then the rock did in the wildernesse till the Lord speaks to them As When he uttereth his voice there is a multitude of waters in the Heavens and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth Jer. 10. 13. So till he uttereth his voice not one single drop of all that multitude of waters fals from heaven nor will those vapours descend and returne againe to the earth except he bid them He giveth raine upon the earth Raine is the speciall gift of God Speciall not in that sense as grace is a speciall gift for raine is a common gift but speciall because it is that of which and about which God takes speciall notice as we reade Amos 4. 8. I caused it to raine saith God upon one place or upon one City and not upon another There is a speciall discriminating worke about the raine it raines by appointment not accident upon one place rather then another And Isa 5. 6. when God expresses displeasure against his vineyard he saith I will command the clouds that they shall raine upon it The clouds are as vast bottles full of raine but they cannot unstop themselves or let out one drop untill God himselfe commands them He melteth the clouds as it is in Job and then the raine falleth downe Thou O God didst send a plentifull raine whereby thou didst confirme thine inheritance when it was weary Psal 68. 9. How wearie or drie soever the Earth is unlesse God by a word broach those vessels of raine the very inheritance of God cannot have a draught no nor a drop to quench its thirst Therefore though raine be a common blessing in respect of all places and persons yet we ought to acknowledge a speciall hand in giving it And this checks that naturall Atheisme which reigns in their hearts who thinke that they are beholding only to the motion of the winds or change of the Moon for rain and hence in times of drought they looke most when the wind will turne or when the Moone will change To confute this the Prophet tels us by the way of question That as Idols cannot so neither can the Heavens give raine Jer. 14. 22. Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause raine Or can the Heavens give showres They cannot Indeed the holy Prophet Elias speakes such language as if he had carried the keyes of the clouds at his girdle or had been master of the raine 1 King 17. 1.
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cogitavit excogitavit denotat opus ingeniosum inventum artificium quia artificium fit pâ—r cogitationem not barely cogitation or thinking but excogitation or studied thinking not only a naturall thought but an artificiall thought or thoughts made up and formed after long debate of a businesse in our own breasts This is properly exprest by devising Those pooles of water in the 7 â—h Cant. ver 4. are called from this word The pooles in Heshbon some take Heshbon for a City Numb 21. 26. and so it notes the place where those pooles were Others translate it thus * Aisworth on the Cant. Pooles artificially made And we may observe much skill and curiosity used in making pooles or water-water-workes So Exod. 28. 8. the holy girdle which was made for the high-Priest is called a curious girdle it is from the same root because that girdle was made of cunning work and exquisite embroyderies So that this word notes the very spirits and quintessence of sinfull wit drawne out for the devising of evill In the 119. Psalm vers 29. David useth this word to shew the accuratenesse and holy curiosity which he used in surveighing his own life I thought on my wayes that is I studied my selfe and my works with greatest exactnesse to find out every error or failing or to frame my wayes to a haires bredth if it were possible according to rule which answers the Apostles phrase Ephes 5. of walking circumspectly or exactly Grace will vie it with sinfull craft for exactnesse that will make as curious workes or devices in holinesse as the other can in wickednesse Of the crafty Here the workmen are described as well as their work their works are devices and the workmen are crafty As the man is so is his imployment we are in working as we are in being Devices are the proper trade of crafty ones The Originall word sometimes imports holy wisedome and sometimes corrupt and sinfull wisdome We reade it in a good sense Prov. 1. 4. and Prov. 22. 3. The prudent man a man that hath holy craft and skill in him foresees the plague and hideth himselfe Againe Prov. 8. 12. I wisdome dwell with prudence and find out knowledge of witty inventions But usually the word is taken in an ill sense for subtill and sinfull craft for craftinesse and subtilty to doe mischiefe therefore the vulgar translates it He disappointeth the devices of the Malignants noting that it is not an honest craft but a malignant craft by which the counsells and devices of these men are contrived or acted Psal 83. 3. that word is used They have taken crafty counsell against thy people and consulted against thy hidden ones And Gen. 3. 1. Now the Serpent was more subtill than any beast of the field The word properly signifies to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nadus significat etiam involutum vasâ—um cujuâ— in animo plures sunt flexiones divertiâ—ula naked and by a metaphor to be subtle fly crafty nimble because men who as tumblers racers rope-dancers are to doe a thing nimbly and speedily subtilly and slily often stript themselves of all but will never cumber themselves with many cloathes We know that craft alwayes puts a cloake or veile upon actions and walks in a disguise yet because the crafty man is so nimble to turne and wind and vary himselfe a thousand wayes both for the plotting and acting of his designes therefore he is elegantly named from nakednesse Hence also in the Greek language * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exerâ—eo unde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Locus ubi nudi se exercebantur nanc sumitur pro ludo literatio ubi ingenia litteris dâ—scendis exercentur Nudi sâ—nt agilioâ—es mâ—â—us praepediti the word which signifies nimble acting or exercising the mind or body as also places and Schooles where those exercises were performed and taught is derived from nakednesse or from being naked And it is observeable that our first parents Adam and Eve before they sinned are called Gen. 2. 25. naked And the serpent in the very next verse being the first of the third chapter is called subtle by one and the same word Our first parents were naked outwardly innocency needed none and glory shall need no cloathing they were also in opposition to evill naked inwardly they were simple plaine-hearted without any cloake of malice or wickednesse But the serpents nakednesse notes only a fitnesse slynesse readinesse or activenesse to doe evill For he was double cloath'd with craft cloakt and hooded with subtilties to act mischiefe unseen The naked-crafty ones of the text are the seed of the serpent his children and therefore they beare their fathers name The Chaldee paraphrast tells us that the crafty ones here meant by Eliphaz were especially the Egyptians who when they would oppresse the people of God said Come on let us deale wisely with Intellâ—git cogitationes Egyptiorum qui sapiemes fâ—erâ—nt ad malefaciendum Isaeli â—ac them least they multiply Exod. 1. 10. A crafty man is one who hath not alwayes more understanding then his neighbour but ever lesse conscience Yea how great soever his wit is his conscience is so little that it never stands in his light whatsoever he is doing He takes measure of his actions not by what he ought to doe but by what he would have done and yet he can seldome doe what he would for the Lord disappoints the devices of the crafty so that as it followes in the text Their hands cannot performe their enterprise To every businesse two things are required Invention and Action or the electing of Meanes and the pursuing of the End The former is Head-work the latter is Hand work The hands are the instruments of action as the head is the instrument of invention and consultation These crafty heads were at work before now their hands goe to it What they devise craftily they would act industriously but they cannot Their hands cannot performe their enterprise The word which we translate Enterprise signifies Being as also reason wisdome and vertue because wisdome vertue and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aâ—radiâ—e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Denotat essentiam rationem sapientiam viâ—tuiem semper permanentem alijs rebus in mundo transeuntibus Hinc significat omne quod cum inteplectu ratione fic hic specialiter proeo quod qula sibi statuit ut faciat quo fineeÌ„ optatum assequatur etiam in malum Mer. reason are as it were the being stability permanency of things And therefore as in the Hebrew this word signifying wisdome vertue is derived from a root which notes Being So the word signifying wickednesse and folly is derived from a root as some Criticks observe which notes onely a negative or a not Being of any thing because wickednesse is nothing or it is good for nothing Those things which want wisedome and reason are as if they were not and
the poore hath hope and iniquity stoppeth her mouth IN these foure verses Eliphaz proceeds in finishes the former argument by a further fuller clearing of the power and wisdome of God in catching and over-matching crafty ones in their wayes and counsels Having shewed before in the 12th verse that their devices are disappointed he sheweth now that they are intangled in their devices There we say they could not performe their enterprises and here we shall see them ruined in their enterprises It is a sore trouble to ungodly men when they cannot doe the mischiefe which they intend to others but is a farr sorer trouble when their counsels recoyle and when their own projects promote their own ruine when their own actions effect that which they had rather die then see done when that mischiefe falleth upon their own heads which they intended others That 's their calamity in this text He taketh the wise in their own craftines These wise men are no better then the crafty before mentioned for we see their wisdome is but craftinesse We had the Crafty in the former verse and here we have their craft or craftines The Apostle in 1 Cor. 3. 19. quotes this text of Eliphaz The wisdom of this world is foolishnes with God For it is written He taketh the wise in their own craftines The Greeke word there used hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi diâ—as ad quodlibet opus promptus qui dexteritate ingenij valet ad quodlibet agendum somewhat more in it then the Hebrew word opened at the 12 v. For it notes a fitness for all purposes a dexterity to serve any turn be it never so sinister or evill Such a man can be on any side and is for any purpose you will turne him to A godly man hath but one worke and he can doe but one worke that is one worke in kind Every worke he doth as a godly man hath a stampe of goodnesse or godliesse of holinesse or justice upon it But these crafty ones are for any worke for various works you may turn them loose to any service they are ready to do good for a need to serve their owne ends and they will not sticke at any evill for their owne ends Their byas is not within them but upon them and they can clap it to which side they please or may be most pleasing to or taking with others yet this Turn-coat Crastines shall not serve their turne For saith the text He taketh the wise in their own craftines The word which we translate He taketh is very significant It imports a taking by force or strength and it imports a taking by skill or stratagem God will have them both wayes If these cunning men worke by their wits He can take them The Lord hath more stratagems to take them then they have had to take others Or if they worke by power and by plaine strength he can take them The Lord hath more strength to take them then they have had to take others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Câ—piâ— apprehendit de â—oâ—o aut urbes expugnavit in opinatu violenta expugnatione The word is applied to the taking in of Cities or Forts places strengthned both by art and nature and to the taking of them which includes both sences either by siege or sudden surprisall Reade Numb 21. 32. Josh 6. 2 Deut. 2. 34. And so the sense may be that although these men think they have so intrenched fortified themselves by their wits policies and counsells as it were in a strong City or Castle that they seem impregnable and laugh at all opposite power Yet then God besieges batters and takes them presently he takes in and sleights their works with ease he levels to the ground their great thoughts even the high Tower of their imaginations That may be the force of the word He taketh them For as every naturall man labours to secure himselfe and his insts against the power of the word of God by carnal reasonings and pleadings for them All which the Apostles cals strong holds 2 Cor. 10. 4 5. The weapons of our warfare are not carnall but they are mighty thorough God to the casting downe of strong holds Now I say as naturall men secure themselves aâ— it were in strong-holds by their carnall reasonings so wicked Politicians thinke to secure themselves and fortifie their designes by plots and platformes of craftie counsell But as God in the ministery of his word casteth downe all the arguments which a man frames in his heart to protect his lusts So the Lord in the administrations of his providence throwes down all the fortifications which crafty men frame in their hearts to protect their law-lesse practises and takes them in Secondly The word may imply the taking binding of a man in bonds or in fetters He takes the wise in their own craftines that is he takes and binds them as with a chaine or he fetters them in their own craftinesse so the word is used Prov. 5 22. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himselfe and he shall be holden with the cords of his sinnes Thirdly The metaphor may be carried in an allusion to Hunters of wild beasts or to bird takers who set nets and gins traps or toyles to take them These wise crafty men are cunning hunters their trade and businesse is to set nets to catch and toyles to intangle they dig pits and lay snares for others to fall into So the Prophet describes them Jer. 5. 26. They lay waite as he that setteth snares they set a trap they catch men But at last God takes the wise in their owne craftinesse that is the pits they have digged and the snares they have layed and the nets they have set shall catch themselves Fourthly The word is applied in Scripture to a taking or a discovery by a lot So Josh 7. 15. The rule was thus given He that shall be taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt and vers 18. Achan was taken that is taken by a lot the lot discovered and catcht him Achan had hid the Babylonish garment and the wedge of gold safe enough as he thought and one would have thought that in such a multitude in such an huge host and throng of people he might have been hidden too but God sends a lot and takes out Achan from the middest of all the multitude he calls him out by name this is the man There may be a like meaning and use of the word in this place He taketh the wise in their own craftines that is men who think to shelter themselves amongst the multitude or to walke in the clouds of craft men who hide and shadow themselves from the eye of the world as if none should see who they are or what they doe even these God will take he will direct a divine lot one time or other to apprehend and lay hold on them he will discover Achans the troublers of his
Prayer Meditation and the whole course of holy obedience The life of man is a continued temptation and that 's a spiritual warfare a continual bickering with a world of enemies And though they without stand still yet a soul can scarce passe one hour but he shall have many fights and bouts with his own heart In this sence Is there not an appointed time of warfare or temptation to man upon earth Our life is a warfare in divers respects First it is a warfare because Christians do or ought to live under the greatest command of any in the world they ought to stand armed at a call A Souldier is under absolute command he must not dispute the Orders of his General but obey them The Centurian in the Gospel saith I have Souldiers under me and I say to one go and he goeth to another come and he cometh and to a third do this and he doth it which he speaks not as commending the special vertue and good disposition of his own Souldiers but as describing the duty of all Souldiers therefore Souldiary is well defined To be the obedience of a stout and valiant mind Militia est obedientia quadam fortis invicti animi arbitrio carentis suo out of his own dispose A Souldier moves upon direction so must a Christian he is in a warfaring condition he must have a charge or a word from his Commander for every step he treads or action he undertakes Secondly it is a warfare in regard of perpetuall motions and travels A Souldiers life is an unsetled life while he is in actuall service he hath no rest he is either marching or charging and when he comes in his quarters his stay is but little he cannot build him a house he can but pitch him down a tent for a night or two he must away againe Mans life hath no stop we have here no abiding City we dwell in tents and tabernacles waifaring and warfaring out our dayes Thirdly a warfare because of continual watching It is the watch-word which Christ gave his followers I say unto you watch that 's the souldiers word and work too warring and watching goe together The Souldier stands Centinel fearing the enemies surprise A Christian should stand upon his guard and his watch at all hours is not that a warfare Fourthly a warfare because Christians ought to keep their rank and file that is the places and relations wherein God hath set them A Souldier commanded to stand such a ground must not stirre though he die for it and if he stirs by Martial law he shall die There is so much keeping of order in warre and Battels that whatsoever keeps order is said to fight or warre The Sarres are said to have fought against Sisera in their courses Judg. 5. 20. The Stars are embattaild or encampt in their sphears out of which they move not and are therefore often called the Militia or host of Heaven Fifthly a warfare because so full of hazzards troubles and labours or because so much hardship is to be endured A Souldier converses with dangers and dwels in the territories of death continually This caused Deborah to begin her Triumphant Song with praise to the Lord because the people offered themselves willingly Many are forc'd and press'd to the warrs and most who are not press'd by the Authority of others are press'd by their own hopes of gaine or desire of vain-glory and renown A true Voluntiere in warre is a rare man There is so much danger in it that there is seldome much of the will in it The whole life of man is full either of visible or invisible dangers he passes the pikes every day The Apostle reckons eight distinct perlis in one verse which met him which way soever he turned 2 Cor. 11. 26. He was in deaths often And though there are but few such Heroes as he yet 't is seldome but any of us are in deaths Especially while we remember the mighty spirituall enemies and oppositions which encompasse and beset us every day We wrastle not with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers c. And are therefore advised to take to us the whole armour of God never to stir without our sword Sixthly a warfare in regard of the issue victory and triumph or slavery and death is the issue of our lives Either we overcome and are more then conquerours that 's the Apostles language Rom. 8. or else we are conquered and more then captives that 's the Apostles sence too both in allusion They are taken captive by the Devill at his will To be led captive by the Devill is the lowest captivity lower then any captivity unto men In reference to 2. Tim. 2. 26. the spirituall part of our warfare there 's no comming off upon equall rermes We must be victors or slaves conquer or die Only this is the Saints assurance that as the Captaine of their salvation was made perfect by sufferings and conquer'd by dying so at the worst shall they spirituall death as sinners hath no power over them at all and when they die as men naturall or by men violently they shall receive fuller power Thus our life is a warfare upon earth But take the word as we translate for an appointed time Is there not an appointed time to man upon the earth And the reason why it beares that sence is grounded upon these two things 1. Because there is a speciall season of the yeare most fit and Non significat tempus simpliciter sed tempus certum ac constitutum ea analogia quod determinato anni tempore exerceri solet militia Militia ideo tempus determinatum dicitur quia non quae vis aetas bello apta est sed determinata certa sutable for warre 2 Sam. 11. 1. And it came to passe at the return of the yeare when Kings go forth to battell The time for war is such a known appointed season that the same word signifies warfare and any appointed season 2. Because men go out to war at a speciall time of their age There is an appointed setled time of mans life wherein he is fit to beare arms Every age is not fit for arms Old men and children are not fit for the field Hence we finde Numbers the first throughout that the muster of the children of Israel is thus made ver 3 20 22 c. From twenty yeares old and upward all that are able to goe forth to warre The Roman and Greek histories are distinct in this In some Common-wealths from Fifteen to Fifty in others from Twenty to Sixty and in ours the appointed time is between Sixteen Sixty so men are press'd and listed for war And because there is such an appointed or a set time of life in all States to goe out to war therefore that word is elegantly applied to signifie a set or an appointed time for any businesse Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth Vpon earth