as the holy obedience of the faithfull Now God that was before annoyed with the ill sauor of sinne smels a sweet sauor of rest Behold heere a new and second rest First God rested from making the world now hee rests from destroying it Euen while we cease not to offend hee ceases from a publique reuenge His worde was enough yet withall hee giues a signe which may speake the trueth of his promise to the very eies of men thus he doth still in his blessed Sacraments which are as reall words to the soule The raine-bow is the pledge of our safety which euen naturally signifies the ende of a showre all the signes of Gods institution are proper and fignificant But who would looke after all this to haue found righteous Noah the Father of the new world lying drunken in his tent Who could thinke that wine should ouerthrow him that was preserued from the waters That hee who could not bee tainted with the sinfull examples of the former world should begin the example of a new sinne of his owne What are wee men if wee bee but our selues While God vpholds vs no temptation can moue vs when he leaues vs no temptation is too weake to ouerthrow vs What liuing man had euer so noble proofes of the mercy of the iustice of God Mercy vpon himselfe iustice vpon others What man had so gratious approbation from his maker behold hee of whom in an vncleane world God said Thee onely haue I found righteous proues now vncleane when the world was purged The preacher of righteousnesse vnto the former age the King Priest and Prophet of the world renued is the first that renues the sins of that world which he had reprooued and which he saw condemned for sinne Gods best children haue no fence for sinnes of infirmitie Which of the Saints haue not once done that wherof they are ashamed God that lets vs fall knows how to make as good vse of the sins of his holy ones as of their obedience If wee had not such patterns who could choose but despaire at the sight of his sinnes Yet we find Noah drunken but once one act can no more make a good heart vnrighteous then a trade of sinne can stand with regeneration but when I looke to the effect of this sin I can not but blush and wonder Lo this sinne is worse then sinne Other sinnes moue shame but hide it this displayes it to the world Adam had no sooner sinned but he saw and abhord his owne nakednes seeking to hide it euen with bushes Noah had no sooner sinned but hee discouers his nakednesse hath not so much rule oâ— himself as to be ashamed one houres drunkennes bewraies that which more then 600. years sobriety had modestly concealed he that giues himself to wine is not his owne what shall we thinke of this vice which robs a man of himselfe and layes a beast in his roome Noahs nakednes is seene in wine it is no vnusuall quality in this excesse to disclose secrets drunkennes doth both make imperfections shew those wee haue to others eyes so would God haue it that we might be double asham'd both of those weaknesses which we discouer of that weakenes which mooued vs to discouer Noah is vncouered but in the midst of his owne tent It had beene sinfull though no man had seene it vnknowne sins haue their guilt and shame and are iustly attended with knowne punishments Vngratious Cham saw it and laughed his Fathers shame should haue been his the deformity of those parts from which hee had his beeing should haue begotten in him a secret horror and deiection how many gracelesse men make sport at the causes of their humiliation Twise had Noah giuen him life yet neither the name of a Father and preseruer nor age nor vertue could shield him from the contempt of his owne I see that euen Gods Arke may nourish monsters some filthy toades may lie vnder the stones of the Temple God preserues some men in iudgement better had it beene for Cham to haue perished in the waters then to liue vnto his Fathers curse Not content to be a witnesse of this filthy sight he goes on to bee a proclaimer of it Sinne doth ill in the eye but worse in the tongue As all sin is a work of darkenes so it should bee buried in darkenesse The report of sin is oft-times as ill as the commission for it can neuer bee blazoned without vncharitablenesse seldome without infection Oh the vnnaturall and more then Chammish impiety of those sons which reioyce to publish the nakednesse of their spirituall parents euen to their enemies Yet it was well for Noah that Cham could tell it to none but his owne and those gracious and dutifull sonnes Our shame is the lesse if none know our faults but our friends Behold how loue couereth sinnes these good sonnes are so farre from going forward to see their fathers shame that they goe backeward to hide it The cloake is laide on both their shoulders they both go back with quall paces and dare not so much as looke backe lest they should vnwillingly see the cause of their shame and will rather aduenture to stumble at their fathers body then to see his nakednesse How did it greeue them to thinke that they which had so oft come to their holy father with reuerence must now in reuerence turn their backes vpon him and that they must now cloath him in pitty which had so often clothed them in loue And which addes more to their duty they couered him and saide nothing This modest sorrow is their praise and our example The sins of those wee loue and honor we must heare of with indignation fearfully and vnwillingly beleeue acknowledge with griefe and shame hide with honest excuses and bury in silence How equal a regard is this both of piety and disobedience because C ham sinned against his Father therfore he shall be plagued in his children Iapheth is dutifull to his Father and finds it in his posterity Because C ham was an ill sonne to his Father therefore his sonnes shall be seruans to his brethren because Iapheth set his shoulder to Sems to beare the cloake of shame therfore shall Iapheth dwel in the tents of Sem partaking with him in blessing as in duty When we doe but what wee ought yet God is thankefull to vs and rewards that which wee should sin if we did not who could euer yet shew mee a man rebelliously vndutifull to his parents that hath prospered in himselfe and his seed Babel HOW soone are men and sins multiplied within one hundred yeeres the world is as full of both as if there had beene no deluge Though men could not but see the fearefull monuments of the ruine of their Ancestors yet how quickly had they forgotten a floud Good Noah liued to see the world both populous and wicked again And doubtles oft-times repented to haue beene the preseruer of some whom hee saw to
for God and more to loue his Sacraments then our owne flesh Isaac sacrificed BVt all these are but easie tasks of faith all ages haue stood amazed at the next Not knowing whether they should more wonder at Gods command or Abrahams obedience many yeeres had that good Patriarch waited for his Isaac now at last hee hath ioyfully receiued him and that with this gratious acclamation In Isaac shall thy seed bee called and all nations blessed Behold the son of his age the son of his loue the son of his expectation hee that might not indure a mocke from his brother must now indure the knife of his Father Take thine onely sonne Isaac whome thou louest and get thee to the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering Neuer any gold was tried in so hot a fire Who but Abraham would not haue expostulated with God What Doth the God of mercies now beginne to delight in blood Is it possible that murder should become pietie Or if thou wilt needes take pleasure in an humane sacrifice is there none but Isaac fit for thine Altar none but Abraham to offer him Shall these hands destroy the fruit of mine owne loines Can I not be faithfull vnlesse I be vnnaturall Or if I must needes be the monster of all parents will not Ismael yet bee accepted O God where is thy mercie where is thy iustice Hast thou giuen me but one only sonne and must I now slay him Why did I wait so long for him Why didst thou giue him me Why didst thou promise mee a blessing in him What will the heathen say when they shall heare of this infamous massacre How can thy name and my profession escape a perpetuall blasphemie With what face shall I looke vpon my wife Sarah whose sonne I haue murdered How shall shee intertaine the executioner of Isaac Or who will beleeue that I did this from thee How shall not all the world spit at his holy cruelty and say there goes the man that cut the throat of his owne son Yet if hee were an vngratious or rebellious child his deserts might giue some colour to this violence but to lay hands on so deare so dutifull so hopefull a sonne is vncapable of all pretences But grant that thou which art the God of nature maist either alter or neglect it what shall I say to the truth of thy promises Can thy iustice admit contradictions can thy decrees be changeable canst thou promise disappoint Can these two stand together Isaac shall liue to bee the father of nations and Isaac shall now dye by the hand of his Father when Isaac is once gone where is my seed where is my blessing O God if thy commands and purposes be capable of alteration alter this bloody sentence and let thy first word stand These would haue beene the thoughts of a weake heart But God knew that he spake to an Abraham and Abraham knew that he had to doe with a God Faith had taught him not to argue but obey In an holy wilfulnesse hee either forgets nature or despises her hee is sure that what God commands is good that what he promises is infallible and therefore is carelesse of the means and trusts to the end In matters of God whosoeuer consults with flesh and blood shall neuer offer vp his Isaac to God there needs no counsellor when we know God is the commander here is neither grudging nor deliberating nor delaying His faith would not suffer him so much as to be sorry for that hee must do Sarah her selfe may not know of Gods charge and her husbands purpose lest her affection should haue ouercome her faith lest her weakenesse now grown importunat should haue said Disobey God any die That which he must do he will do he that hath learned not to regarde the life of his son had lerned not to regard the sorrow of his wise It is too much tendernesse to respect the censures and constructions of others when we haue a direct word from God The good Patriarch rises early and addresses himselfe to his sad iourney And now must he trauell three whole daies to do this execution and stil must Isaac be in his eye whom all this while hee seemes to see bleeding vppon the pile of wood which he carries there is nothing so miserable as to dwell vnder the expectation of a great euill That misery which must be is mitigated with speed and aggrauated with delay All this while if Abraham had repented him hee had leisure to returne There is no small triall euen in the very time of tryall now when they are come within sight of the chosen mountaine the seruants are dismissed what a deuotion is this that will abide no witnesses hee will not suffer two of his owne vassals to see him do that which soon after al the world must know he hath done yet is not Abraham afraid of that piety which the beholders could not see without horror without resistance which no eare could heare of without abhomination What stranger could haue indured to see the father carry the knife and fire instruments of that death which he had rather suffer then inflict The son securely carrying that burden which must carry him But if Abrahams hart could haue knowne how to relent that question of his deere innocent and religious son had melted it into compassion My father behold the fire and the wood but where is the sacrifice I know not whether that word My Father did not strike Abraham as deep as the knife of Abraham could strike his son yet doth he not so much as thinke O miserable man that may not at once bee a sonne to such a God and a father to such a sonne Still he persists and conceales and where he meant not prophesies My sonne God shall prouide a lamb for the burnt offering The heauy tidings was loath to come foorth It was a death to Abraham to say what he must doe Hee knows his owne faith to act this he knows not Isaacs to indure it But now when Isaac hath helped to build the Altar whereon he must be consumed hee heares not without astonishment the strange command of God the finall will of his Father My sonne thou art the lambe which God hath prouided for this burnt offering If my blood would haue excused thee how many thousand times had I rather to giue thee my own life then take thine Alas I am full of daies and now of long liued not but in thee Thou mightest haue preserued the life of thy father and haue comforted his death but the God of vs both hath chosen thee Hee that gaue thee vnto mee miraculously bids me by an vnusuall meanes to returne thee vnto him I neede not tell thee that I sacrifice all my worldly ioyes yea and my selfe in thee but God must bee obeyed neither art thou too deere for him that calls thee come on my son restore the life that God hath giuen thee by mee
hand was in that in this none but his owne The deerest of Gods saints haue beene sometimes transported with naturall affections He saw himselfe preferred to Ismael though the elder hee saw his father wilfully forgetting nature at Gods commaund in binding him for sacrifice He saw Esau lewdly matched with Heathens and yet hee will remember nothing but Esau is my first borne But how gracious is God that when we would will not let vs sinne And so orders our actions that we do not what we will but what we ought That God which had ordained the Lordship to the yonger will also contriue for him the blessing what he will haue effected shall not want meanes the mother shall rather defeate the son and beguile the Father then the Father shall beguile the chosen son of his blessing what was Iacob to Rebecca more then Esau or what mother doth not more affect the elder But now God inclines the loue of the mother to the yonger against the custom of nature because the father loues the elder against the promise The affections of the parents are diuided that the promise might bee fulfilled Rebeccaes craft shall answer Isaacs partiality Isaac wold vniustly turne Esau into Iacob Rebecca doth as cunningly turne Iacob into Esau her desire was good her meanes were vnlawfull God doth oft times effect his iust will by our weakenesses yet neither therby iustifying our infirmities nor blemishing his own actions Heere was nothing but countersaiting a fained person a fained name fained venison a fained answer yet behold a true blessing but to the man not to the means Those were so vnsound that Iacob himself doth more fear their curse then hope for their successe Isaac was now both simple and olde yet if he had perceiued the fraud Iacob had beene more sure of a curse then he could be sure that he should not be perceiued those which are plaine harted in themselues are the bitterest enemies to deceipt in others Rebecca presuming vpon the Oracle of God and her husbands simplicity dare bee his surety for the danger his counseller for the carriage of the busines his cook for the diet yea dresses both the meate and the man and now puts words into his mouth the dish into his hand the garments vpon his backe the goates haire vpon the open parts of his body and sends him in thus furnished for the blessing Standing no doubt at the dore to see how well her lesson was learned how well her deuise succeeded And if olde Isaac should by any of his senses haue discerned the guile she had soone stept in and vndertaken the blame and vrged him with that known will of God concerning Iacobs dominion and Esaus seruitude which either age or affection had made him forget And now she wishes shee could borrow Esaus tongue as well as his garments that shee might securely deceiue all the senses of him which had suffered himselfe more dangerously deceiued with his affection But this is past her remedy her son must name himself Esau with the voice of Iacob It is hard if our tongue doe not bewray what we are in spight of our habit This was enough to worke Isaac to a suspition to an inquiry not to an incredulity He that is good of himselfe will hardly beleeue euill of another And will rather distrust his owne senses then the fidelity of those he trusted All the senses are set to examine none sticketh at the iudgement but the eare To deceiue that Iacob must second his dissimulation with three lyes at one breath I am Esau as thou badst me my venison one sin intertained fetcheth in another and if it be forced to lodge alone either departeth or dyeth I loue Iacobs blessing but I hate his lye I would not doe that wilfully which Iacob did weakely vppon condition of a blessing Hee that pardoned his infirmity would curse my obstinatenesse Good Isaac sets his hands to trie whether his eares informed him aright he feeles the hands of him whose voice hee suspected that honest heart could not thinke that the skin might more easily be counterfaited then the lungs A small satisfaction contents those whom guiltines hath not made scrupulous Isaac beleeues and blesses the yoonger son in the garments of the elder If our heauenly Father smell vpon our backes the sauor of our elder brothers robes wee cannot depart from him vnblessed No sooner is Iacob gone away ful of the ioy of his blessing then Esau comes in full of the hope of the blessing And now he cannot repent him to haue solde that in his hunger for pottage which in his pleasure he shal buy againe with venison The hopes of the wicked faile them when they are at highest whereas Gods children find those comforts in extremity which they durst not expect Now hee comes in blowing and sweating for his reward and finds nothing but a repulse Leud men when they think they haue earned of God and come proudly to challenge fauour receiue no answere but who art thou Both the Father and the Sonne wonder at each other the one with feare the other with griefe Isaac trembled and Esau wept the one vpon conscience the other vpon enuye Isaacs hart now told him that he should not haue purposed the blessing where he did and that it was due to him vnto whom it was giuen and not purposed hence he durst not reuerse that which hee had done with Gods will besides his own For now he saw that he had done vnwilling iustice God will finde both time and meanes to reclaim his owne to preuent their sins to manifest and reforme their errors who would haue looked for tears from Esau Or who dare trust tears when he sees them fal from so gracelesse eyes It was a good word Blesse mee also my father Euery miscreant can wish himselfe well No man would be miserable if it were enough to desire happinesse Why did he not rather weep to his brother for the pottage then to Isaac for a blessing If hee had not then solde hee had not needed now to begge It is iust with God to deny vs those fauours which wee were carelesse in keeping and which wee vnder valewed in inioying Esaus eares find no place for Isaacs repentance Except it were that he hath done that by wile which hee should haue done vpon duty No motiue can cause a good heart to repent that he hath done wel how happy a thing it is to know the seasons of grace and not to neglect them how desperate to haue known neglected them these teares were both late and false the teares of rage of enuy of carnall desire worldly sorrow causeth death yet whiles Esau howles out thus for a blessing I hear him cry out of his fathers store Hast thou but one blessing my father of his brothers subtlety was hee not rightly called Iacob I do not hear him blame his owne deserts He did not see while his Father was deceiued and his brother crafty that
before they beheld with scorne In vain doth he flie whom God pursues There is no way to flie from his iudgements but to flie to his mercy by repenting The faith of the righteous cannot bee so much derided as their successe is magnified How securely doth Noah ride out this vprore of heauen earth and waters He heares the powring downe of the raine aboue his head the shrieking of men and roaring and bellowing of beasts on both sides him the raging and threats of the waues vnder him hee saw the miserable shifts of the distressed vnbeleeuers and in the meane time sits quietly in his drye Cabin neither feeling nor fearing euill he knew that he which owed the waters would steere him that hee who shut him in would preserue him How happy a thing is faith What a quiet safety what an heauenly peace doth it worke in the soule in the midst of all the inundations of euill Now when God had fetcht againe all the life which he had giuen to his vnworthy creatures and reduced the world vnto his first forme wherein waters were ouer the face of the earth it was time for a renouation of al things to succeed this destruction To haue continued this deluge long had beene to punish Noah that was righteous After fourty daies therefore the heauens cleare vp after 150. the waters sink downe How soone is God weary of punishing which is neuer weary of blessing yet may not the Arke rest suddenly If we did not stay som-while vnder Gods hand we should not know how sweete his mercy is and how great our thankfulnesse should bee The Arke though it was Noahs sort against the waters yet it was his prison he was safe in it but pent vp hee that gaue him life by it now thinks time to giue him liberty out of it God doth not reueale all things to his best seruants beholde hee that tolde Noah 120. yeares before what day he should go into the Arke yet foretels him not now in the Arke what day the Arke should rest vpon the hils and hee should goe forth Noah therfore sends out his intelligencers the Rauen and the Doue whose wings in that vaporous ayre might easily descry further then his sight The Rauen of quicke sent of grosse â—eede of tough constitution no foule was so fit for discouery the likeliest things alwaies succeed not Hee neither will venter farre into that solitary world for feare of want nor yet come into the Arke for loue of liberty but houers about in vncertainties How many carnall minds flye out of the Arke of Gods Church and imbrace the present world rather choosing to feed vpon the vnsauory carcasses of sinfull pleasures then to be restrained within the straite lists of Christian obedience The Doue is sent forth a foule both swift and simple She like a true citizen of the Arke returnes and brings faithfull notice of the continuance of the waters by her restlesse and empty returne by her Oliue leafe of the abatement how woorthy are those messengers to be welcome which with innocence in their liues bring glad tidings of peace and saluation in their mouthes Noah reioyces and beleeues yet still hee waites seuen daies more It is not good to deuoure the fauours of God too greedily but so take them in that wee may digest them oh strong faith of Noah that was not weary with this delay some man would haue so longed for the open ayre after so long closenes that vpon the first notice of safety hee would haue vncouered and voyded the Ark Noah stayes seuen daies ere hee will open and well neere two moneths ere hee will forsake the Arke and not then vnlesse God that commanded to enter had bidden him depart There is no action good without faith no faith without a word Happy is that man which in all things neglecting the counsels of flesh blood depends vpon the commission of his maker FINIS Contemplations THE SECOND BOOKE Noah Babel Abraham Isaac sacrificed Lot and Sodom Imprinted at London by Melch. Bradwood for Samuel Macham and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Bull-head-1612 TO THE RIGHT Honourable the LORD STANHOPE one of his Maiesties most Honourable priuy Counsell All grace and happinesse RIGHT Honourable I durst appeale to the iudgment of a carnall Reader let him not bee preiudicate that there is no history so pleasant as the sacred set aside the maiestie of the inditer none can compare with it for the Magnificence and Antiquity of the matter the sweetnesse of compiling the strange variety of memorable occurrences And if the delight bee such what shal the profit be esteemed of that which was written by God for the saluation of men I confesse no thoughts did euer more sweetly steale me and time away then those which I haue employed in this subiect and I hope none can equally benefit others for if the meere relation of these holy things bee profitable how much more when it is reduced to vse This second part of the world repaired I dedicate to your Lordship wherein you shall see Noah as weake in his Tent as strong in the Arke an vngratious son reserued from the Deluge to his Fathers curse modest piety rewarded with blessings the building of Babell begun in pride ending in confusion Abrahams faith feare obedience Isaac bound vpon the Altar vnder the hand of a Father that hath forgotten both nature and all his hopes Sodom burning with a double fire from hell and from heauen Lot rescued from that impure Citie yet after finding Sodom in his caue Euery one of these passages is not more full of wonder then of edification That spirit which hath penned all these things for our learning teach vs their right vse and sanctifye these my vnworthy meditations to the good of his Church To whose abundant grace I humbly commend your Lordship Your Lordships vnfainedly deuoted in all due obseruance Jos Hall THE SECOND BOOKE Noah NO sooner is NOAH come out of the Ark but hee builds an Altar not an house for himselfe but an Altar to the Lord Our faith will euer teach vs to preferre God to our selues delayed thankfulnesse is not woorthy of acceptation Of those few creatures that are least God must haue some they are all his yet his goodnesse will haue man know that it was he for whose sake they were preserued It was a priuiledge to those very bruit creatures that they were saued from the waters to be offered vp in fire vnto God what a fauour is it to men to bee reserued from common destructions to be sacrificed to their maker and redeemer Lo this little fire of Noah through the vertue of his faith purged the world and ascended vp into those heuens from which the waters fell and caused a glorious raine-bow to appeare therin for his security All the sins of the former world were not so vnsauory vnto God as this smoke was pleasant No perfume can bee so sweete
tried the same meanes and failed God would haue Laban know that hee put a difference betwixt Iacob and him that as for fourteene yeeres hee had multiplied Iacobs charge of cattell to Laban so now for the last sixe yeeres hee would multiply Labans flocke to Iacob and if Laban had the more yet the better were Iacobs Euen in these outward things Gods children haue many times sensible tastes of his fauours aboue the wicked I know not whether Laban were a worse vncle or father or master he can like well Iacobs seruice not his wealth As the wicked haue no peace with God so the godly haue no peace with men for if they prosper not they are despised if they prosper they are enuyed This vncle whom his seruice had made his Father must now vpon his wealth be fled from as an enemie and like an enemy pursues him If Laban had meant to haue taken a peaceable leaue hee had neuer spent seuen daies iourny in following his innocent sonne Iacob knew his churlishnes and therefore resolued rather to be vnmanerly then iniuried well might hee thinke that hee whose oppression changed his wages so often in his stay would also abridge his wages in the parting now therefore hee wisely prefers his owne estate to Labans loue It is not good to regard too much the vniust discontentment of wordly men and to purchase vnprofitable fauour with too great losse Behold Laban follows Iacob with one troup Esau meets him with another both with hostile intentions both go on till the vtmost point of their execution both are preuented ere the execution God makes fools of the enemies of his Church hee lets them proceed that they may bee frustrate and when they are gone to the vtmost reach of their tether he puls them backe to their stake with shame Lo now Laban leaues Iacob with a kisse Esau meets him with a kisse Of the one he hath an oath tears of the other peace with both Who shall need to feare man that is in league with God But what a wonder is this Iacob receiued not so much hurt from all his enemies as from his best friend Not one of his haires perished by Laban or Esau yet he lost a ioynt by the Angell and was sent halting to his graue He that knows our strength yet will wrestle with vs for our exercise and loues our violence and importunity Oh happy losse of Iacob hee lost a ioynt and won a blessing It is a fauour to halt from God yet this fauour is seconded with a greater He is blessed because hee would rather halt then leaue ere hee was blessed If hee had left sooner hee had not halted but he had not prospered That man shall goe away sound but miserable that loues a limme more then a blessing Surely if Iacob had not wrestled with God he had beene foyled with euills How many are the troubles of the righteous Not long after Rachel the comfort of his life dyeth And when but in her trauell and in his trauell to his Father when hee had now before digested in his thoughts the ioy and gratulation of his aged father for so welcome a burden His children the staffe of his age wound his soule to the death Reuben proues incestuous Iuda adulterous Dinah rauished Simeon and Leui murderous Er and Onan striken dead Ioseph lost Simeon imprisoned Beniamin the death of his mother the Fathers right hand indangered himselfe driuen by famin in his old age to dye amongst the Aegyptians a people that held it abhomination to eat with him If that Angel with whom he stroue and who therefore stroue for him had not deliuered his soule out of all aduersitie he had beene supplanted with euils and had bene so farre from gaining the name of Israel that he had lost the name of Iacob now what son of Israell can hope for good daies when hee heares his Fathers were so euill It is enough for vs if when we are dead we can rest with him in the land of promise If the Angell of the couenant once blesse vs no payne no sorrowes can make vs miserable Dinah I Find but one only daughter of Iacob who must needs therfore be a great dearling to her father and shee so miscarries that shee causes her fathers griefe to bee more then his loue As her mother Leah so shee hath a fault in her eyes which was Curiosity Shee will needs see and be seene and whiles shee doth vainely see shee is seene lustfully It is not enough for vs to looke to our own thoughts except wee beware of the prouocations of others If we once wander out of the lists that God hath set vs in our callings there is nothing but danger Her virginity had bene safe if she had kept home or if Sechem had forced her in her mothers tent this losse of her virginity had bene without her sinne now shee is not innocent that gaue the occasion Her eies were guilty of this temptation Only to see is an insufficient warrant to draw vs into places of spirituall hazard If Sechem had seene her busie at home his loue had bene free from outrage now the lightnes of her presence gaue incouragement to his inordinate desires Immodesty of behauiour makes way to lust and giues life vnto wicked hopes yet Sechem bewraies a good nature euen in filthinesse Hee loues Dinah after his sinne and will needs marry her whom hee hath defiled Commonly lust ends in loathing Ammon abhors Thamar as much after his act as before hee loued her and beats her out of doores whom he was sicke to bring in But Sechem wold not let Dinah fare the worse for his sin And now he goes about to intertain her with honest loue whom the rage of his lust had dishonestly abused Her deflowring shall be no preiudice to her since her shame shall redound to none but him and hee will hide her dishonour with the name of an husband What could he now doe but sue to his Father to hers to her selfe to her brethren intreating that with humble submission which he might haue obtained by violence Those actions which are ill begun can hardly be salued vp with late satisfactions whereas good entrances giue strength vnto the proceedings and successe to the end The young mans father doth not onely consent but solicit and is ready to purchase a daughter either with substance or paine The two olde men would haue ended the matter peaceably but youth commonly vndertakes rashly and performes with passion The sonnes of Iacob thinke of nothing but reuenge and which is worst of all begin their cruelty with craft and hide their craft with religion A smiling malice is most deadly and hatred doth most ranckle the heart when it is kept in and dissembled We cannot giue our sister to an vncircumcised man heere was God in the mouth and Satan in the hart The bloodiest of al proiects haue euer wont to bee coloured with religion because the woorse any thing is
infetters the rest returne with their corne with their mony paying nothing for their prouision but their labour that they might be as much troubled with the benificence of that strange Egyptian Lord as before with his imperious suspition Their wealth was now more irkesom to them then their need and they feare God means to punish them more in this superfluitie of money then in the want of victuals What is this that God hath done to vs It is a wise course to be iealous of our gaine and more to feare then desire abundance Old Iacob that was not vsed to simple and absolut contentments receiues the blessing of seasonable prouision together with the affliction of that heauy message the losse of one sonne and the danger of another And knowes not whether it be better for him to die with hunger or with griefe for the departure of that sonne of his right hand Hee driues off till the last Protraction is a kinde of ease in euils that must come At length as no plea is importunate as that of famine Beniamin must goe one euill must bee hazarded for the redresse of another what would it auaile him to see whom he loued miserable how iniurious were that affliction to keepe his sonne so long in his eye till they should see each other die for hunger The ten brothers returne into Egypt loaded with double mony in their sackes and a present in their hands the danger of mistaking is requited by honest minds with more then restitution It is not enough to find our own harts clear in suspicious actions except we satisfie others Now hath Ioseph what he would the sight and presence of his Beniamin whom he therefore borrowes of his Father for a time that he might returne him with a greater interest of ioy And now hee feasts them whom hee formerly threatned and turnes their feare into wonder all vnequall loue is not partiall all the brethren are intertained bountifully but Beniamin hath a fiue-fold portion By how much his welcome was greater by so much his pretended theft seemed more hainous for good turnes aggrauate vnkindnesses and our offences are increased with our obligations How easie is it to finde aduantages where there is a purpose to accuse Beniamins sacke makes him guilty of that whereof his heart was free Crimes seeme strange to the innocent well might they abiure this fact with the offer of bondage and death For they which carefully brought againe that which they might haue taken would neuer take that which was not giuen them But thus Ioseph would yet dally with his brethren and make Beniamin a theefe that he might make him a seruant and fright his brethren with the perill of that their charge that he might double their ioy and amazednesse in giuing them two brothers at once our happinesse is greater and sweeter when wee haue well feared and smarted with euills But now when Iudah seriously reported the danger of his old father and the sadnesse of his last complaint compassion and ioy will be concealed no longer but breake forth violently at his voice and eies Many passions doe not well abide witnesses because they are guilty to their owne weakenesse Ioseph sends foorth his seruants that he might freely weep He knew he could not say I am Ioseph without an vnbeleeuing vehemence Neuer any worde sounded so strangely as this in the eares of the Patriarkes Wonder doubt reuerence ioy feare hope guiltinesse stroke them at once It was time for Ioseph to say Feare not No maruell if they stood with palenesse and silence before him looking on him and on each other the more they considered they wondred and the more they beleeued the more they feared For those words I am Ioseph seemed to sound thus much to their guilty thoughts You are murtherers and I am a Prince in spight of you My power and this place giue me all opportunities of reuenge My glory is your shame my life your danger your sinne liues together with mee But now the teares and gratious words of Ioseph haue soone assured them of pardon and loue and haue bidden them turne their eies from their sinne against their brother to their happinesse in him and haue changed their doubts into hopes and ioyes causing them to looke vppon him without feare though not without shame His louing imbracements cleare their hearts of all iealousies and hasten to put new thoughts into them of fauour and of greatnes So that now forgetting what euill they did to their brother they are thinking of what good their brother may doe to them Actions salued vp with a free forgiuenesse are as not done and as a bone once broken is stronger after well setting so is loue after reconcilement But as wounds once healed leaue a scarre behind them so remitted iniuries leaue commonly in the actors a guilty remembrance which hindred these brethren from that freedom of ioy which else they had conceiued This was their fault not Iosephs who striues to giue them all security of his loue and will bee as bountifull as they were cruell They sent him naked to strangers he sends them in new and rich liueryes to their Father they tooke a small summe of money for him he giues them great treasures They sent his torne cote to his Father Hee sends variety of costly raiments to his Father by them They sold him to bee the load of camels Hee sends them home with chariots It must be a great fauor that can appease the conscience of a great iniury Now they returne home rich and ioyfull making themselues happy to thinke how glad they should make their father with this news That good old man would neuer haue hoped that Egypt could haue affoorded such prouision as this Ioseph is yet aliue This was not food but life to him The returne of Beniamin was comfortable but that his dead sonne was yet aliue after so many yeeres lamentation was tidings too happy to bee beleeued and was enough to endanger that life with excesse of ioy which the knowledge thereof doubled Ouer-excellent obiects are dangerous in their sudden apprehensions One graine of that ioy would haue safely cheared him whereof a full measure ouer-laies his heart with too much sweetnesse There is no earthly pleasure whereof wee may not surfet of the spirituall wee can neuer haue enough Yet his eies reuiue his minde which his eares had thus astonished When he saw the charets of his sonne hee beloeued Iosephs life and refreshed his owne He had too much before so that hee could not enioy it now he saith I haue enough Ioseph my sonne is yet aliue They told him of his honour he speakes of his life life is better than honour To haue heard that Ioseph liued a seruant would haue ioied him more than to heare that hee died honourably The greater blessing obscures the lesse Hee is not worthy of honour that is not thankfull for life Yet Iosephs life did not content Iacob without his presence I
will go downe and see him ere I dye The sight of the eye is better then to walke in desires Good things plesure vs not in their being but in our inioying The height of all earthly contentment appeared in the meeting of these two whom their mutuall losse had more endeared to each other The intermission of comforts hath this aduantage that it sweetens our delight more in the returne then was abated in the forbearance God doth oft-times hide away our Ioseph for a time that wee may bee more ioyous and thankfull in his recouery This was the sincerest pleasure that euer Iacob had which therefore God reserued for his age And if the meeting of earthly friends be so vnspeakeably comfortable how happy shall we bee in the sight of the glorious face of God our heauenly Father of that our blessed redeemer whom we sold to death by our sins and which now after that noble Triumph hath all power giuen him in heauen and in earth Thus did Iacob reioyce when he was to go out of the land of promise to a forreine nation for Iosephs sake being glad that hee should loose his country for his sonne What shall our ioy bee who must out of this forraine land of our pilgrimage to the home of our glorious inheritance to dwell with none but our own in that better and more lightsome Goshen-free from all the incombrances of this Egypt and full of al the riches and delights of God The guilty conscience can neuer thinke it selfe safe So many yeares experience of Iosephs loue could not secure his brethren of remission those that know they haue deserued ill are wont to misinterpret fauours and think they cannot be beloued All that while his goodnes seemed but concealed and sleeping malice which they feared in their Fathers last sleepe would awake and bewray it selfe in reuenge Still therefore they plead the name of their Father though dead not daring to vse their owne Good meanings cannot be more wronged then with suspicion It grieues Ioseph to see their feare and to find they had not forgotten their owne sinne and to heare them so passionately craue that which they had Forgiue the trespasse of the seruants of thy Fathers God What a coniuration of pardon was this What wound could be either so deepe or so festered as this plaster could not cure They say not the sons of thy Father for they knew Iacob was dead and they had degenerated but the seruants of thy Fathers God How much stronger are the bonds of religion then of nature If Ioseph had beene rancorous this deprecation had charmed him but now it resolues him into teares They are not so ready to acknowledge their old offence as he to protest his loue and if he chide them for any thing it is for that they thought they needed to intreat since they might know it could not stand with the fellow seruant of their Fathers God to harbour maliciousnesse to purpose reuenge Am not I vnder God And fully to secure them he turnes their eyes from themselues to the decree of God from the action to the euent as one that would haue them thinke there was no cause to repent of that which proued so succesfull Euen late confession findes forgiuenesse Ioseph had long agoe seene their sorrow neuer but now heard their humble acknowledgment Mercy stayes not for outward solemnities How much more shall that infinite goodnes pardon our sinnes when he finds the truth of our repentance FINIS Contemplations THE FOVRTH BOOKE The affliction of Israel Or The Aegiptian bondage The birth and breeding of Moses Moses called The plagues of Aegypt Imprinted at London by Melch. Bradwood for Samuel Macham and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Bull-head-1612 TO THE RIGHT Honourable IAMES Lord Hay All grace and happinesse RIGHT Honourable All that I can say for my selfe is a desire of dooing good which if it were as feruent in richer hearts that Church which now we see comely would then be glorious this honest ambition hath carried me to neglect the feare of seeming prodigall of my little and while I see others talents resting in the earth hath drawne me to traffick with mine in publique I hope no aduenture that euer I made of this kind shall bee equally gainfull to this my present labour wherein I take Gods owne history for the ground and worke vpon it by what meditations my weakenesse can afford The diuinenes of this subiect shall make more then amends for the manifold defects of my discourse although also the blame of an imperfection is so much the more when it lighteth vpon so high a choice This part which I offer to your Lordship shall shew you Pharaoh impotently enuious and cruell the Israelites of friends become slaues punished onely for prospering Moses in the weeds in the court in the desert in the hill of visions a Courtier in Aegypt a shepheard in Midian an Ambassador from God a leader of Gods people and when you see the prodigious variety of the plagues of Aegypt you shall not know whether more to wonder at the miracles of Moses or Pharaohs obstinacy Finally you shall see the same waues made both a wall a gulfe in one boure the Aegyptians drowned where no Israelite was wetshod and if these passages yeeld not abundance of profitable thoughts impute it not without pardon to the pouerty of my weake conceit which yet may perhaps occasion better vnto others In all humble submission I commend them what they are to your Lordships fauourable acceptation and your selfe with them to the gratious blessing of our God Your Lordships in all dutifull obseruance at command IOS HALL THE FOVRTH BOOKE The affliction of Israell AEgypt was long an harbour to the Israelites now it proues a Iayle the posteritye of Iacob findes too late what it was for their forefathers to sel Ioseph a slaue into Egypt Those whom the Egyptians honoured before as Lords they now contemne as drudges One Pharaoh aduances whom another labors to depresse Not seldome the same man changes copies but if fauors out-liue one age they proue decrepit and hartlesse It is a rare thing to finde posterity heires of their fathers loue How should mens fauours bee but like themselues variable and inconstant there is no certainety but in the fauour of God in whom can bee no change whose loue is entayled vpon a thousand generations Yet if the Israelites had beene trecherous to Pharaoh if disobedient this great change of countenance had beene iust now the onely offence of Israel is that he prospereth That which should bee the motiue of their gratulation and friendship is the cause of their malice There is no more hatefull sight to a wicked man then the prosperity of the conscionable None but the spirit of that true harbinger of Christ can teach vs to say with contentment Hee must increase but I must decrease And what if Israel bee mightie and rich