of the sonne of man and of his Saincts and drinke their bloud you haue no life in you Here is an addition to the letter which maketh much for the Romanistes that teache men to call vpon Saincts that are dead to pray vnto thē which we can not do without a fayth and a beléefe in them as it is written Howe shal they cal on him in whō they haue not beléeued But faith beléefe is proper only vnto almighty God and is the meane wherby we do eate the fleshe drinke the bloud of our sauiour Christ As he teacheth vs in these words I am the bread of life he that cōmeth to me shal not hunger and he that beleeueth in me shall neuer thirst The reason is this whosoeuer eateth my fleshe and drinketh my bloud hath eternall life and I will raise him vp at the last day For my fleshe is meate in déede my bloud is drinke in déede Héere our sauiour techeth vs that he is bread he is meat drinke vnto vs we must come vnto him we muste eate him we muste drink him we shal not hūger nor thyrst for euer And this is the meane wherby we do eat his flesh drink his bloud to put away our hūger our thyrst euē to beleue in him For he saith He that beléeueth in me shal neuer thyrst Therfore if the aduersaries of the Gospel might be permitted to add vnto the letter saying thus Except ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man of his Saincts and so foorth they might easily proue that it is lawfull for vs to put our trust in saincts to beléeue in them as in sauiours consequently that it is good necessary to pray vnto thē But our sauiour without any additiō saith Except ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man drink his bloud ye haue no life in you This is the true letter which if we kéepe in this place in al other places of the scripture without any alteratiō it serueth so for the confirmation of the truth that the aduersaries can haue no aduantage agaynst it But if we take the letter only without the true feare meaning therof the cōmodity that cōmeth therby auayleth vs nothing for that is to take the vessel without wine whiche dothe vs no good Therefore in this respecte also it may be truely sayde The letter rather killeth than giueth life Moreouer for the better vnderstanding of the Apostles wordes it is to be noted that the true letter is diuersly vnderstanded in the scripture First the playn sense of the scripture without any morall or mysterie is called that letter of the which it hath bin sufficiētly spoken before Secondly that true vnderstāding of the scriptures literally morally allegorically as it cōteineth all necessarie knowledge without the spirite of God whiche causeth vs to bring foorth fruites according to the same may be called a letter that killeth They that are destitute of the spirite of God without the which no man can liue although he haue al knowledge are like the high way side or the stony groūde or the briers and brambles in the which and among the which the good séede can not prosper and bring foorth fruit This knowledge without the spirite of God is a letter that encreaseth the damnation of men rather than profiteth them For our Sauiour sayth that seruant that knew his masters will and prepared not him selfe neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes Of this damnable letter it maye séeme that the Apostle speaketh where he sayth Shal not vncircuncision which is by nature if it kéepe the lawe iudge thée whiche by the letter and circumcision art a transgressour of the law For he is not a Iewe whiche is one outward neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Iewe which is one within and the circumcision is of the heart in the spirite not in the letter whose praise is not of mē but of god Thirdly not only al knowledge without good works but also external works that are done in hypocriste as comming to the church to heare the word of God without a desire to be reformed thereby may be called a letter that killeth When men come to beare what the Preacher can do and not to learne what they them selues ought to do when men pray with their lippes and not with their hearts or do any good worke for vayne glory or to get them a name among men so foorth this is a letter that profiteth not Of this letter the Apostle séemeth to speake where he sayth Nowe are we deliuered from the law béeing dead vnto it wherin we were holden that we shuld serue in newnesse of spirite not in the oldnesse of the letter Finally the law cōsidered by it selfe without Christ is called a letter that killeth As where the Apostle sayth God hath made vs able ministers of the new testament not of the letter but of the spirite for the letter killeth but the spirite giueth life Where the Apostle writeth these words he disputeth agaynst false Christians that receyued Christ but not aright for they ioyned the law with Christ as a necessary part of our saluatiō they would not acknowledge Christ of him selfe to be a sufficient sauiour they ioyned the lawe with Christ as felow in office with him in working our saluation making him to be but halfe a sauiour alleaging for their purpose the glorious promulgation of the lawe as that it was giuen with thunder and lightening with the sound of a trumpet with fire and great smoke Also when Moses came from the mounte with the two tables his face did so shine that the people were not able to behold the brightnes therof Vnto this the Apostle answereth that the glory of the Gospel darkneth the glory of the law For the law was giuen but for a tyme but the glory of the Gospell continueth vnto the ende Also as the brightnesse of Moses face was glorious so the vayle wherwith he was couered was a tokē of imperfectiō a type of infidelity in the people But through the grace of God offred by the Gospel we are made perfect are changed into the image of his glory and are able as it were in a glasse to behold the same with open face And the more to deface the law béeing compared with Christ he calleth it the ministery of cōdēnation a letter that killeth For through our default it killeth after a sort in that it layeth our iniquities before vs letteth vs sée in our selues the image of death through sinne wherby as much as lieth in it it casteth vs down into the dānable pit of desperation there leaueth vs sore wounded without al hope of life But the spirit that is to say the gospell by meanes wherof the spirit of God worketh in
¶ Abdias the Prophet Interpreted by T.B. fellovv of Magdalene College in Oxforde Seene and allowed according to the order appoynted Jmprinted at London by Henry Binneman for George Bishop 1574. To the right Honorable my singular good Lorde the Earle of Huntingdon President of the Queenes Maiesties Counsell established in the North partes c. Encrease of grace and peace in Christ and continuance in the same vnto the ende RIght Honorable I confesse that for lack of skil in diuinitie of knovvledge in other faculties I am vnfit to present any thing in vvriting vnto your Lordship vvherein diuine eloquence ought to be shevved seeing your honor hath been practised these many yeres as I may say in continuall hearing and reading of the best learned both of this Realme and other Realmes vvhereby you are able to iudge and to correct that vvhich is either vnaptly or vntruely sayde of any man concerning the knowledge of God and his true worship Notvvithstanding considering my dutie tovvards your honor and also your accustomed gentlenesse in accepting aswel the good wil of them which according to their habilitie offer but a mite as also the great lerning of those Diuines vvhich in their sermons writings do much excel the most parte of those Pastors that are not vnprofitable instructors of the vnlearned I am so bold as to offer vnto your Lordship this short expositiō of the Prophet Abdias which not long since I haue vttred priuatly to the cōmoditie I hope of a few nowe if your Lordship will voutsafe to be the patron of so smal so rude an interpretation of this peece of Scripture I mind to publishe it to the benefite of many if perhaps it may do them any good into vvhose hāds it shal come In it I haue vsed the iudgement of diuers learned men whose words I haue translated out of Latin into Englishe and haue disposed thē in this Treatise as I haue thought good Therfore the doctrine therin conteined vvhich is sound is other mēs the maner of hādling it vvhiche is rude is mine That which is lacking in the maner of handling is recōpenced in the truthe of the doctrine As the doctrine is true so it maketh the words of the Prophet plain vnto the simple ignorāt people and also it helpeth not a little to the vnderstanding of the other Prophets and of diuers places of the Scripture therein recited and giueth some good instructions perteyning to fayth and good vvorks Therefore although it be but a small and shorte Treatise it maye serue by the vvorking of the holy Ghost bothe to the encrease of diuine knovvledge and also of a godly life in as manye as shall take paynes too reade it My duetie tovvardes your Lordship moued me to dedicate it to your honor that as through the helpe of your boūtifulnesse many ignorant people are much instructed in diuers places in the word of God by the preaching of the Gospel so by your Lordships succor towards the publishing of this little booke many may somthing augment their knowledge in the holy scriptures by reading the interpretatiō of this Prophet How so euer it shall please God to vvorke my minde is to bestovv that little talent that God hath giuen me to the setting foorth of hys glory and to the profit of his Church not neglecting your Lordships honor Muche encrease vvhereof God graunt you in this vvorlde and in the vvorlde to come euerlasting blessednesse through Christe our Lorde Your seruant and dayly orator T. B. The .xxi of August 1574. The prophesie of Abdias translated out of the Hebrue into Englishe THE vision of Obadiah This hath the Lorde Iehoua sayde agaynst Edom we haue heard a voyce from Iehoua that an Embassadour is sent among the Nations saying vp and let vs arise agaynst hir vnto battell 2 Beholde I haue made thee of small power and of little reputation among the Nations thou art greatly despised 3 The pride of thy heart hath deceyued thee which dwellest in the caues of a rocke hauing an highe place for his habitation saying in his heart who shall bring me downe to the grounde 4 Although thou mount like an Eagle yea although thou make thy nest among the starres from thence will I bring thee downe this is a sure saying of Iehoua 5 If theeues shoulde come vnto thee or robbers by night howe miserably shouldest thou be hādled yet would they not steale onely so muche as should be sufficient for them if grape gatherers should come vnto thee would they not leaue some small ones 6 O how are the goodes of Esau soughte vp and his treasures spoyled 7 All the men that were confederate with thee haue driuen thee to the borders the mē that were at peace with thee haue deceyued thee they haue preuayled agaynst thee they that haue had mayntenance by thee shall laye a snare in thy waye to catche thee he shall not perceyue it 8 Shall not I at that day sayth the Lord cut off from Edom the wise men and vnderstanding from the mount of Esau 9 Ye moreouer the corage of thy mightie captaynes O Teman shall bee abated bicause euery man shall be cut off from the mount of Esau by slaughter 10 For the cruell spoyling of thy brother Iacob thou shalt be put to shame yea thou shalt perishe for euer 11 At what tyme thou stoodest a loofe off at what tyme strangers caried away his substance and aliants entred into his gates and cast lots vpon Ierusalem then thou wast euen as one of them 12 But thou shouldest not haue beholden the day of thy brother the day in the which he was caried into exile neyther shouldest thou haue laughed at the inhabitants of Iehuda in the day of their destruction neyther shouldest thou haue triumphed ouer them in the day of their affliction 13 Thou shouldest not haue entred into the gates of my people in the day of their destruction neyther shouldest thou then haue beholden his miserie in the day of his destruction neyther shouldest thou haue layde handes vpon his substance in the day of his destruction 14 Neither shouldest thou haue stande in the crosse wayes to slay those that otherwise had escaped neyther shouldest thou then haue taken prisoners those that remayned of them in the day of affliction 15 For the day of Iehoua is at hand vpon all Nations euen as thou hast done it shall be done vnto thee thy mischeeuous dealing shall returne vpon thy owne pate 16 For euen as you haue drunke vpō mine holy hil so al nations shal drinke continually yea they shall drinke and swalow vp they shal be as though they had not beene at all 17 But vpō mount Sion there shal be saluation and it shal be holy and the house of Iacob shall receyue their possessions 18 And the house of Iacob shal be a fyre the house of Ioseph a flame the house of Esau as stubble and they shall kindle among them and consume
these things to the benefite commoditie of his children and is readie alwayes to deliuer them in time of miserie and calamitie Concerning this matter it is long to recite the examples of Gods goodnesse towards Abraham Isaac and Iacob towards Ioseph Moses Iosua Dauid Ezechias Esdras the Apostle Paule and many other As in all ages so especially in our remembrance since the man of sinne began to be reuealed and the Gospell published the prouidence of almightie God in sauing hys people hathe béene manifestly shewed as is to bée séene in the Ecclesiasticall histories of Germanie of Fraunce of Englande and Scotlande and diuers other Nations If there were nothing lefte in wryting héereof in all the worlde yet euery man by the consideration of Gods workes bothe in him selfe and in other menne maye vnderstande sufficiently howe God careth for his people in deliueryng them from their enimies whiche is the seconde note for oure instruction gathered oute of these former woordes of the Prophete In the first part of the chapter Nowe followeth the seconde part Behold I haue made thee of small power and of little reputation among the Nations thou art greatly despised Héere God speaketh vnto the posteritie of Esau after this sorte Thou countrey of Edom thou thinkest thy selfe so sure that thou canst not be ouerthrowne thou persuadest thy selfe that thou art loued of thy neighbours and feared of thy enimies and therefore that there is no likelyhoode that thou shouldest be ouercome of any nation But this loue and this feare is but a rotten staffe or weake réede which easily will be broken For I the maker of heauen and earth and ruler of all the worlde haue made thée of small power and of little reputation among the nations that are rounde about thée they do vtterly contemne thée and despise thée I haue made thée of small power sayth God by his Prophete he speaketh in the time past of the time to come signifying thereby that it shall as certenly come to passe as though it were alredie fulfilled Worldly Princes thinke their state sure when they are loued of their neighbours and feared of their enimies But the Edomites sayth God haue no such assurance of their state For where loue is there is reputation but they shall be of small reputation therfore they shall not be loued and where feare is there is no contempt but they shall be despised therfore they shal not be feared Notwithstanding they persuaded them selues of safetie and did triumphe ouer other nations in their hearts deceyuing theÌ„ selues with a false persuasion Therfore the Prophet addeth The pride of thy heart hath deceyued thee which dwellest in the caues of a rocke hauing an high place for his habitation saying in his heart VVho shall bring me downe to the grounde Ieremie addeth vnto this and sayth moreouer Thy feare and the pride of thy heart c. That is to say the feare wherwith other nations do feare thée or else the opinion that thou hast conceyued that other nations are afrayde of thée and the pride of thy heart hath deceyued thée The Edomites were lifted vp with pride they did aduaunce themselues aboue other nations thinking them selues inuincible wheras they were of small power and of little reputatioÌ„ therfore they were deceiued The cause why they were so proude as it séemeth by the text was the coÌ„modious situation of their couÌ„trey They did dwel on the mountaines rockes that were vnaccessible they had the higher grounde of their enimies no maÌ„ as they thought was able to make a forte agaynst them therfore they had the aduauntage of all that should come against theÌ„ This made them thinke with theÌ„selues that no natioÌ„ was able to ouercome them therfore the Prophet sayth He sayth in his heart who shal bring me down to the grounde Vnto this proud hert God answereth by his Prophet as foloweth Although thou mount vp like an Eagle yea althoughe thou make thy nest as high as the starres euen froÌ„ thence will I bring thee downe This is a sure saying of Iehoua Ieremie sayth If thou make thy nest as high as the Eagle from thence will I bring thée downe Vnto this our Prophete addeth more and sayth if thou make thy nest as highe 〈◊〉 the starres and so foorth that is to say Trust not to thy dwelling on high for if it were a thousand times higher than it is thou art not able to resist God whiche is aboue it and thée for he dwelleth in a mount higher thou art able to dwell â—o can throw downe his thunderbolts vpon thée and destroy thee so that thou shalte neuer recouer thy selfe agayne As it is written If Edom say we are impouerished but we wil returne and buylde our desolate places yet sayth the Lorde of Hostes they shal buyld but I wil destroy it and they shall be called the border of wickednesse and the people with whome the Lorde is angry for euer Thus shall the Edomites be ouerthrowne sayth God notwithstanding the situatioÌ„ of their couÌ„trey and the loue of their neighbours and feare of their enimies Therfore the stays wherby they persuaded theÌ„selues of safty is of no force to deliuer theÌ„ froÌ„ destructioÌ„ which the Prophet techeth in the secoÌ„d part of this chap. whose words serue for the coÌ„solatioÌ„ of al the faithful in that we lerne therby that no power of man is able to resiste God who fighteth for his people Moreouer al Princes and Nations may learne therby not to trust in any earthly mighte or strength nor in the ayde of other men that are their confederates For God is able to alter mens mindes and to make them despised that before were estéemed and feared Héere all nations may learne not to put too muche confidence in the situation of their countrey be it neuer so well fortified For God is able to bring downe to make weake by one meanes or other those that are of moste power and strength It is not the pollicie nor strength of man that ouercommeth in battell but God with a great or small companie of men yea of himself without the ministerie of man as pleaseth him As we are taught by the example of the people in Noes time vtterly destroyed with the floud for their disobedience and by the example of the Sodomites destroyed with fire and brimstone from heauen By hindering the buylding of Babell toure through the confusion of the tungs of men by the destruction of the great citie Ierusalem and by the victories that Moses had ouer Pharao that Iosua had ouer the Cananites that Gedeon and other Iudges that Ezechias and other godly Princes had ouer their enimies Therfore king Dauid notwithstanding his owne policie and multitude of men sayth I trust in the Lorde of whom shal I be afrayde And the Lorde is my fortresse my castle my towre in whome I trust my butkler my shielde and my saluation In like maner all Princes and Nations vsing such
hath giuen vs ouerthrowe the foure of Idolatrie and superstition which Antichrist hath buylded to deface the glorie of almightie God let vs deliuer Gods children out of the dangerous captiuitie thraldome of ignorance which bringeth destruction of body and soule to al that cōtinue therein So God by his Prophet threatneth the destruction of this Edom no lesse than of the other For as by comparison it may appeare the same cause of destructiō is in the one that was in the other also the power might aswell of the one as of the other is of late days by the wōderful working of almightie God maruelously diminished his glory defaced The Edomites were beloued of their neighbours feared of their enimies therefore great was their pride but they were brought to desolation by their own cōfederates Euē so it was with the bishop of Rome he was beloued of al princes in Christēdome they reuerenced him as a god also they feared him so that they durst not stir agaynst him For what Prince soeuer did not in all pointes submit him selfe vnto him at his plesure he excōmunicated him discharged his subiects of obedience in the end deposed him of his kingdome for besides the translating of the Empire frō one kingdome to an other besides the deposing of Hilderike king of France diuers other inferiour Princes he excōmunicated deposed seuen Emperours one after an other namely Henry the fourth Henry the fifth Frederik the first Philip Otho Frederike the seconde and Conradus his sonne Therfore great is the pride of his heart so that he exalteth him selfe aboue men and Angels he compareth him selfe with the sunne and the Emperour with the moone chalenging vnto him selfe so muche more excellencie than the Emperour as the sunne excelleth the moone Euen as the earth sayth he surmounteth the moone seuen times and the sunne surmounteth the earth eyght times whiche béeing multiplied by seuen maketh fifty sixe so be excelleth the Emperour fifty and sixe times Neither is he cōtnet with this superioritie ouer the Emperour but also he preferreth him selfe before the Angels in iurisdiction knowledge and reward This is the pride of his hart in the which Pope Alexander the thirde of that name trode vpon the necke of Frederike the Emperour saying this verse of the Psalme Thou shalt walk vpon the Liō and the Aspe the yong Lion and the dragon shalte thou treade vnder thy féete And Pope Adrian the fourth suffered the same Emperour to hold his styrup twise and gaue him a scoffe for his labour bicause he did holde the wrong stirup Also Pope Gregorie the seuēth suffred Henry the Emperour the fourth of that name to stande bare foote and bare legged at his gates with his wife and his childe thrée dayes thrée nightes in the middest of winter Such was the pride of his hart which had so deceyued him that he thought it vnpossible that he shoulde be ouerthrowen But as it appeareth this day the Bishop of Rome is of little reputatiō he is despised of many nations of whom in times past he was feared The moste part of his confederates haue forsaken him as the Polonians the Transsiluanians Hungarians many Princes of Germanie the Princes of Englande and Scotlande and many men in other countreys And it is not to be doubted but that shortly by the working of almightie God the words of this Prophet shall be fulfilled in him that is to say he shall be brought downe to the grounde he shal be spoyled of all his treasures vtterly forsaken of all his friends cut off from the earth vpō the soden with al his adherēts For the day of the Lord is at hād a day of tribulation anguish a day of gret sorow heauinesse a day as the Prophet Zophony termeth it of desolation destruction of obscuritie darknesse of cloudes blacknesse vnto al the enimies of Gods children The day I meane when our Sauiour shal come from heauen with his mightie Angels in flaming fire rendring vengeance vnto all those that knowe not God ◠that do not obey the Gospel of Iesus Christ who shall be punished with euerlasting perdition frō the presence of the Lord from the glory of his power But vpon mount Sion shal be saluation the children of God shall haue no cause to lament when the terrible day of the Lord shall come for that day shal be their deliuerance Then shall their enimies weepe and lament but they shall be glad and ful of ioy for their sakes all the wicked shal be consumed as stubble with the fire for God wil sende his Angels they shal gather all the nations of the worlde before him and shall separate the faythfull from the vnfaythful as the husband man separateth the wheat frō the tares they shal binde the tares togither cast them into the fire that neuer shal be quenched but the faithfull which are the wheat shall be gathered into Gods barne that is to say they shal be placed in his kingdome of euerlasting ioy peace and rest And then all principalities powers béeing subdued no mā shal be able to stir against God or agaynst his saincts which before were despised trode vnder foote most cruelly murthered but now deliuered out of all misery exalted into heauen and glorified So that in all poynts in all respects the Lorde shal rule he only shall be worshipped and glorified the kingdome shall be his To whom be all prayse honor and glory world without ende Amen THus endeth the exposition of the Prophet Abdias in the which the letter hath his place and his commendation that is the playne meaning of the wordes of the holy Scripture without any morall or allegoricall exposition whiche I call the letter is profitable to comfort to teache to improue to correct and to instructe in godlynesse whiche is rather to giue lyfe than to kil Therfore here a mā may aske this questiō How is it true that the Apostle sayth The letter killeth but the spirite giueth life for if the letter kil it is hurtfull if it be hurtful thē it is not profitable as is aforesaid Here for the better vnderstāding of the Apostle first it is to be noted that there is in one sentēce a christiā a true letter there is also in the same sentēce an heretical a false letter As for example I reioyce sayth the Apostle in my afflictions for you fulfil the rest of Christes afflictiōs in my flesh for his bodies sake which is the Church Here by Christes afflictions the Apostle vnderstādeth the afflictiō of Christians who are the body wherof Christ is the head The afflictiōs of the body are called Christes afflictiōs bicause whatsoeuer the body suffreth the head that is to say our fauiour Christ is partaker of the same sufferings as appeareth by his own words where he sayth Saule Saule why persecutest thou me and