For Adam though in Paradise hee could not bee innocent yet was a good man out of Paradise his sinne and fall now made him circumspect and since hee saw that his act had bereaued them of that image of God which he once had for them hee could not but labour by all holy indeuours to repayre it in them That so his care might make a mends for his trespasse How plaine is it that euen good breeding cannot alter destiny That which is crooked can none make straight who would thinke that brethren and but two brethren should not loue each other Dispersed loue growes weake and fewnesse of obiects vseth to vnite affections If but two brothers bee left aliue of many they thinke that the loue of all the rest should suruiue in them and now the beames of their affection are so much the hoter because they reflect mutually in a right line vppon each other yet behold here are but two brothers in a world and one is the butcher of the other Who can wonder at dissentions amongst thousands of brethren when he sees so deadly opposition betwixt two the first roots of brotherhood who can hope to liue plausibly and securely amongst so many Cains when hee sees one Cain the death of one Abel The same diuell that set enmity betwixt man and god sets enmity betwixt man and man and yet God said I will put enmity betweene thy seed and her seed our hatred of the serpent and his seed is from God Their hatred of the holy seed is from the serpent Behold here at once in one person the seed of the woman and of the serpent Cains naturall parts are of the woman his vitious qualities of the serpent The woman gaue him to bee a brother the serpent to be a manslayer all vncharitablenesse all quarrels are of one author we cannot entertaine wrath and not giue place to the Diuell Certainely so deadly an act must needs bee deepely grounded What then was the occasion of this capitall malice Abels sacrifice is accepted what was this to Cain Cains is reiected what could Abel remedy this Oh enuie the corrasiue of all ill minds and the root of all desperate actions the same cause that moued Satan to tempt the first man to destroy himselfe and his posterity the same moues the second man to destroy the third It should haue beene Cains ioy to see his brother accepted It should haue bene his sorrow to see that himselfe had deserued a reiection his brothers example should haue excited and directed him Could Abel haue stayed Gods fire from descending Or shold he if he could reiect Gods acceptation and displease his maker to content a brother Was Cain euer the farther from a blessing because his brother obtained mercy How proud and foolish is malice which growes thus mad for no other cause but because God or Abel is not lesse good It hath beene an olde and happy danger to be holy Indifferent actions must bee carefull to auoide offence But I care not what diuell or what Cain bee angry that I doe good or receiue good There was neuer any nature without enuy Euery man is born a Cain hating that goodnes in another which hee neglected in himselfe There was neuer enuie that was not bloody for if it eat not anothers hart it will eat our owne but vnlesse it be restrained it will surely feed it selfe with the blood of others oft times in act alwaies in affection And that God which in good accepts the will for the deed condemns the will for the deed in euill If there be an euill heart there will bee an euill eye and if both these there will be an euill hand How earely did Martyrdome come into the world The first man that died died for religion who dare measure Gods loue by outward euents when hee sees wicked Cain standing ouer bleeding Abel whose sacrifice was first accepted and now himselfe is sacrificed Death was denounced to man as a curse yet behold it first lights vppon a Saint how soone was it altered by the mercy of that iust hand which inflicted it If death had beene euill and life good Cain had beene slaine and Abel had suruiued now that it begins with him that God loues O death where is thy sting Abel sayes nothing his blood cries Euery drop of innocent blood hath a tongue and is not onely vocall but importunate what a noise then did the blood of my Sauiour make in heauen who was himselfe the shepheard and the sacrifice The man that was offered and the God to whome it was offered The spirit that herd both saies it spake better things then the blood of Abel Abels blood called for reuenge his for mercy Abels pleaded his owne innocency his the satisfaction for all the beleeuing world Abels procured Cains punishment his freed all repentant souls from punishment better things indeed then the blood of Abel Better and therfore that which Abels blood said was good It is good that God should bee auenged of sinners Execution of iustice vpon offenders is no lesse good then rewards of goodnes No sooner doth Abels blood speake vnto God then God speaks to Cain There is no wicked man to whom God speakes not if not to his eare yet to his heart what speech was this Not an accusation but an inquiry yet such an enquiry as would infer an accusation God loues to haue a sinner accuse himselfe and therefore hath he set his deputy in the brest of man neither doth God loue this more then nature abhors it Cain answers stubbornly The very name of Abel wounds him no lesse then his hand had wounded Abel Consciences that are without remorse are not without horror wickednes makes men desperate the murderer is angry with God as of late for accepting his brothers oblation so now for listening to his blood And now he dares answer God with a question Am I my brothers keeper where he shold haue said am not I my brothers murderer Behold he scorneth to keep whom he feared not to kill Good duties are base and troublesome to wicked minds whiles euen violences of euill are pleasant Yet this miscreant which neither had grace to auoid his sinne nor to confesse it now that he is conuinced of sinne and cursed for it how he howleth how he exclaimeth Hee that cares not for the act of his sinne shall care for the smart of his punishment The damned are weary of their torments but in vaine How great a madnesse is it to complaine too late He that would not keepe his brother is cast out from the protection of God he that feared not to kill his brother feares now that whosoeuer meets him will kill him The troubled conscience proiecteth fearefull things and sin makes euen cruell men cowardly God saw it was too much fauour for him to dye he therfore wils that which Cain wils Cain would liue It is yeelded him but for a curse how oft doth God heare sinners in anger Hee shall
dreams he had not bin solde if he had not bene sold hee had not bin exalted So Iosephs state had not deserued enuie if his dreams had not caused him to be enuied Full little did Ioseph thinke when he went to seek his brethren that this was the last time hee should see his Fathers house Full little did his brethren think when they solde him naked to the Ismaelites to haue once seene him in the throne of Aegypt Gods decree runnes on and while wee either think not of it or oppose it is performed In an honest and obedient simplicity Ioseph comes to inquire of his brethrens health and now may not returne to carry newes of his owne misery whiles hee thinks of their welfare they are plotting his destruction Come let vs slay him Who would haue expected this cruelty in them which should bee the Fathers of Gods Church It was thought a fauour that Reubens intreaty obtained for him that hee might be cast into the pit aliue to die there He lookt for brethren and behold murtherers Euery mans tongue euery mans fist was bent against him Each one striues who shall lay the first hand vppon that changeable cote which was died with their Fathers loue and their enuie And now they haue stript him naked and haling him by both armes as it were cast him aliue into his graue So in pretence of forbearance they resolue to torment him with a lingring death the sauagest robbers could not haue beene more mercilesse for now besides what in them lyes they kill their Father in their brother Nature if it once degenerate grows more monstrous and extreme then a disposition borne to cruelty All this while Ioseph wanted neither words nor teares but like a passionate suppliant bowing his bare knees to them whom hee dreamed should bow to him intreates and perswades by the deer name of their brotherhood by their profession of one common God for their fathers sake for their owne souls sake not to sin against his bloud But enuy hath shut out mercy and makes them not only forget themselues to be brethren but men What stranger can thinke of poore innocent Ioseph crying naked in that desolate and drye pit only sauing that he moystened it with teares and not be moued Yet his hard-harted brethren sit them down carelesly with the noyse of his lamentation in their eares to eat bread not once thinking by their owne hunger what it was for Ioseph to be affamisht to death Whatsoeuer they thought God neuer meant that Ioseph should perish in that pit and therfore he sends very Ismaelites to raunsome him from his brethren the seed of him that persecuted his brother Isaac shal now redeem Ioseph from his brethrens persecution When they came to fetch him out of the pit hee now hoped for a speedy dispatch That since they seemed not to haue so much mercy as to prolong his life they would not continue so much cruelty as to prolong his death And now when he hath comforted himselfe with hope of the fauour of dying behold death exchanged for bondage how much is seruitude to an ingenuous nature worse then death For this is common to all that to none but the miserable Iudah meant this well but God better Reuben saued him from the sword Iudah from affamishing God will euer raise vp some secret fauourers to his own amongst those that are most malicious How well was this fauor bestowed If Ioseph had died for hunger in the pit both Iacob and Iudah and al his brethren had died for hunger in Canaan Little did the Ismaelitish merchants know what a tresure they bought carryed and sold more pretious then al their balmes and mirrhes Little did they thinke that they had in their hands the Lord of Egypt the Iewell of the worlde Why should wee contemne any mans meannesse when we know not his destiny One sinne is commonly vsed for the vail of another Iosephs coat is sent home dipped in blood that whiles they should hide their owne cruelty they might afflict their Father no lesse then their brother They haue deuised this really to punish their olde father for his loue with so grieuous a monument of his sorrow Hee that is mourned for in Canaan as dead prospers in Egypt vnder Potiphar and of a slaue is made a ruler Thus God meant to prepare him for a greater charge he must first rule Potiphars house then Pharaohs kingdome his owne seruice is his least good for his very presence procures a common blessing A whole family shall fare the better for one Ioseph Vertue is not lookt vpon alike with al eyes his fellows praise him his maister trusts him his mistresse affects him too much All the spight of his brethren was not so great a crosse to him as the inordinate affection of his mistresse Temptations on the right hand are now more perilous and hard to resist by how much they are more plausible and glorious But the heart that is bent vppon God knows how to walke steddily and indifferently betwixt the pleasures of sinne and feares of euill He saw this pleasure would aduance him Hee knew what it was to be a minion of one of the greatest Ladies in Egypt yet resolues to contemne it A good heart will rather lye in the dust then rise by wickednesse How shall I doe this and sinne against God He knew that all the honours of Egypt could not buy off the guilt of one sinne and therefore abhors not onely her bed but her company Hee that will bee safe from the acts of euill must wisely auoide the occasions as sin ends euer in shame when it is committed so it makes vs past shame that wee may commit it The impudent strumpet dare not onely solicit but importune but in a sort force the modesty of her good seruant She laies hold on his garment her hand seconds her tongue Good Ioseph found it now time to flee when such an enemy pursued him how much had hee rather leaue his cloke then his vertue And to suffer his mistresse to spoile him of his liuery rather then hee should blemish her honor or his maisters in her or God in either of them This second time is Ioseph stript of his garment before in the violence of enuie now of lust before of necessity now of choice Before to deceiue his father now his maister for behold the pledge of his fidelity which hee left in those wicked hands is made an euidence against him of that which he refused to doe therfore did hee leaue his cloake because he would not doe that of which he is accused and condemned because he left it what safety is there against great aduersaries when euen arguments of innocence are vsed to conuince of euill Lust yeelded vnto is a pleasant madnesse but is a desperate madnesse when it is opposed No hatred burnes so furiously as that which arises from the quenched coles of loue Malice is witty to deuise accusations of others out of
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
ordinary course of generation first liue the life of vegetation then of sense of reason afterwards That instant wherein the heauen and the earth were created in their rude matter there was neither day nor light but presently thou madest both light day Whiles wee haue this example of thine how vainely do wee hope to bee perfect at once It is well for vs if through many degrees wee can rise to our consummation But alas what was the very heuen it selfe without light how confused how formelesse like to a goodly body without a soule like a soule without thee Thou art light and in thee is no darkenesse Oh how incomprehensibly glorious is the light that is in thee since one glimpse of this created light gaue so liuely a glory to al thy workemanship This euen the bruite creatures can behold That not the very Angels That shines foorth onely to the other supreme world of immortality this to the basest part of thy creation There is one cause of our darkenesse on earth and of the vtter darkenesse in hell the restraint of thy light Shine thou O God into the vast corners of my soule and in thy light I shall see light But whence O God was that first light The sunne was not made till the fourth day light the first If man had then beene he might haue seene all lightsome but whence it had come he could not haue seene As in some great pond we see the bancks full wee see not the springs whence that water ariseth Thou that madest the Sunne madest the light without the Sunne before the Sunne that so light might depend vpon thee and not vpon thy Creature Thy power will not be limited to meanes It was easie to thee to make an heauen without a Sunne light without an heauen day without a Sunne time without a day It is good reason thou shouldest bee the Lord of thine owne workes All meanes serue thee why doe wee weake wretches distrust thee in the want of those meanes which thou canst either command or forbeare How plainly wouldst thou teach vs that wee creatures neede not one another so long as wee haue thee One day we shall haue light againe without the Sunne Thou shalt be our Sunne thy presence shall be our light Light is sowne for the righteous This Sunne and light is but for the world below it selfe thine only for aboue Thou giuest this light to the Sunne which the Sunne giues to the world That light which thou shalt once giue vs shall make vs shine like the Sunne in glory Now this light which for three daies was thus dispersed thorow the whole heauens it pleased thee at last to gather and vnite into one body of the Sunne The whole heauen was our Sunne before the Sunne was created but now one starre must be the Treasury of light to the heauen and earth How thou louest the vnion and reduction of all things of one kind to their owne head and center So the waters must by thy command be gathered into one place the sea so the vpper waters must be seuered by these aery limits from the lower so heauy substances hasten downeward aud light mount vp so the generall light of the first daies must bee called into the compasse of one sunne so thou wilt once gather thine elect from all coasts of heauen to the participation of one glory Why doe wee abide our thoughts and affections scattered from thee from thy Saints from thine Annointed Oh let this light which thou hast now spread abroad in the hearts of all thine once meet in thee Wee are as thy heauens in this their first imperfection be thou our Sunne into which our light may be gathered Yet this light was by thee interchanged with darknes which thou mightst as easily haue commanded to bee perpetuall The continuance euen of the best things cloieth and wearieth there is nothing but thy selfe wherein there is not satiety So pleasing is the vicissitude of things that the intercourse euen of those occurrents which in their owne nature are lesse worthy giues more contentment then the vnaltered estate of better The day dies into night and rises into the morning againe that we might not expect any stability heere below but in perpetuall successionâ— It is alwaies daie with thee aboue the night sauoreth onely of mortalitie Why are we not heere spiritually as wee shall be heereafter Since thou hast made vs children of the light and of the day teach vs to walk euer in the light of thy presence not in the darknesse of error and vnbeleefe Now in this thine inlightned frame how fitly how wisely are all the parts disposed that the method of the creation might answer the matter the forme both Behold all purity aboue below the dregges and lees of all The higher I goe the more perfection each element superiour to other not more in place then dignity that by these staires of ascending perfection our thoughts might climbe vnto the top of all glory and might know thine empyreal heauen no lesse glorious aboue the visible than those aboue the earth Oh how miserable is the place of our pilgrimage in respect of our home Let my soule tread a while in the steps of thine owne proceedings and so thinke as thou wroughtest When wee would describe a man wee begin not at the feete but the head The head of thy Creation is the heauen how high how spatious how glorious It is a wonder that we can looke vp to so admirable an height and that the very eye is not tyred in the way If this ascending line could bee drawne right forwards some that haue calculated curiously haue found it 500. yeares iourney vnto the starrie heauen I doe not examine their arte O Lord I wonder rather at thine which hast drawne so large a line about this little point of earth For in the plainest rules of art and experience the compasse must needs be six times as much as halfe the height Wee thinke one Iland great but the earth vnmeasurably If wee were in that heauen with these eies the whole earth were it equally inlightned would seeme as little to vs as now the least starre in the firmament seemes to vs vpon earth And indeed how few stars are so little as it And yet how many void and ample spaces are there besides all the starres The hugenesse of this thy worke O God is little inferiour for admiraon to the maiesty of it But oh what a glorious heauen is this which thou hast spred ouer our heads With how pretious a vault hast thou walled in this our inferior world What worlds of light hast thou set aboue vs Those things which wee see are wondrous but those which wee beleeue and see not are yet more Thou dost but set out these vnto view to shew vs what there is within How proportionable are thy works to thy selfe Kings erect not cotages but set foorth their magnificence in sumptuous buildings so hast thou done O
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
sword it had escaped the fire but now this visitation had not made ten good men in those fiue cities How fit was this heape for the fire which was all chaffe Onely Lot vexed his righteous soul with the sight of their vncleannesse He vexed his owne soule for who bad him stay there yet because he was vexed he is deliuered He escapeth their iudgment for whose sinnes hee escaped Though hee would be a guest of Sodome yet because hee would not entertaine their sinnes hee becomes an host to the Angels Euen the good Angels are the executioners of Gods iudgement There cannot bee a better or more noble act then to do iustice vpon obstinate malefactors Who can be ashamed of that which did not mis-beseem the very Angels of God Where should the Angels lodge but with Lot the houses of holy men are full of these heauenly spirits when they know not they pitch their tents in ours and visit vs when wee see not and when we feele not protect vs It is the honour of Gods Saints to be attended by Angels The filthy Sodomites now flocke together stirred vp with the fury of Enuie and lust and dare require to doe that in troups which to act single had beene too abhominable to imagine vnnaturall Continuance and society in euill makes wicked men outragious and impudent It is not enough for Lot to be the witnesse but hee must bee the baud also Bring forth these men that wee may know them Beholde euen the Sodomites speake modestly though their acts and intents bee villanous What a shame it is for those which professe impurity of heart to speake filthily The good man craues and pleades the lawes of hospitality and when hee sees headstrong purposes of mischiefe chooses rather to be an ill father then an ill host His intention was good but his offer was faulty If through his allowance the Sodomites had defiled his daughters it had beene his sinne If through violence they had defiled his guests it had beene onely theirs There can be no warrant for vs to sinne lest others should sinne It is for God to preuent sinnes with iudgement it is not for men to preuent a greater sinne with a lesse the best minds when they are troubled yeeld inconsiderate motions as water that is violently stirred sends vp bubbles God meant better to Lot then to suffer his weake offer to bee accepted Those which are bent vpon villanie are more exasperated by disswasion as some strong streames when they are resisted by flood-gates swell ouer the bankes Many a one is hardened by the good word of God and in steed of receiuing the counsell rages at the messenger When men are growne to that passe that they are no whit better by afflictions and woorse with admonitions God finds it time to strike Now Lots guests begin to shew themselues Angels and first deliuer Lot in Sodome then from Sodom First strike them with blindnesse whom they will after consume with fire How little did the Sodomites thinke that vengeance was so neere them while they went groping in the streets and cursing those whom they could not finde Lot with the Angels is in secure light and sees them miserable and foresees them burning It is the vse of God to blind and besot those whom he means to destroy The light which they shall see shall be fiery which shall be the beginning of an euerlasting darknesse and a fire vnquenchable Now they haue done sinning and God begins to iudge Wickednesse hath but a time the punishment of wickednes is beyond all time The residue of the night was both short and dangerous Yet good Lot though sought for by the Sodomites and newly puld into his house by the Angels goes forth of his house to seek his sons in law No good man would bee saued alone faith makes vs charitable with neglect of all perill Hee warnes them like a Prophet and aduises them like a Father but both in vaine he seemes to them as if he mocked and they doe more then seeme to mocke him again Why should to morrow differ from other daies Who euer saw it raine fire Or whence should that brimstone come Or if such showers must fall how shall nothing burne but this valley So to carnall men preaching is foolishnesse deuotion idlenes the Prophets mad men Paul a babler These mens incredulity is as woorthy of the fire as the others vncleannesse Hee that beleeues not is condemned alreadie The messengers of God do not onely hasten Lot but pull him by a gratious violence out of that impure citie They thirsted at once after vengeance vpon Sodom and Lots safetie they knew God could not strike Sodome till Lot were gone out and that Lot could not be safe within those wals We are all naturally in Sodome if God did not hale vs out whiles we linger wee should bee condemned with the world If God meet with a very good field hee puls vp the weeds and lets the corne grow if indifferent hee lets the corne and weeds grow together if very ill hee gathers the few eares of corne and burns the weeds Oh the large bounty of God which reacheth not to vs onelie but to ours God saues Lot for Abrahams sake and Zoar for Lots sake If Sodome had not beene too wicked it had escaped Were it not for Gods deere children that are intermixed with the world it could not stand The wicked owe their liues vnto these few good whom they hate and persecute Now at once the Sunne rises vpon Zoar and fire falls down vpon Sodome Abraham stands vpon the hill and sees the cities burning It is faire weather with Gods children when it is foulest with the wicked Those which burned with the fire of lust are now consumed with the fire of vengeance They sinned against nature and now against the course of nature fire descends from Heauen and consumes them Lot may not so much as looke at the flame whether for the stay of his passage or the horror of the sight or triall of his faith or feare of commiseration Small precepts from God are of importance obedience is as well tried and disobedience as wel punished in little as in much His wife doth but turne back her head whether in curiosity or vnbeleefe or loue and compassion of the place shee is turned into a monument of disobedience what doth it auaile her not to bee turned into ashes in Sodom when she is turned into a piller of salt in the playne He that saued a whole citie cannot saue his own wife God cannot abide smal sinnes in those whom he hath obliged If we displease him God can as well meet with vs out of Sodome Lot now come into Zoar maruels at the stay of her whom hee might not before looke backe to call soon after returning to seeke her beholds this change with wonder and griefe He finds salt in steede of flesh a piller in steed of a wife he finds Sodome consumed and her standing and
the better shew it desires to make and contrarily the better colour is put vpon any vice the more odious it is for as euery simulation ads to an euill so the best ads most euil themselues had taken the daughters and sisters of vncircumcised men Yea Iacob himselfe did so why might not an vncircumcised man obtaine their sister Or if there be a difference of giuing and taking it had bin wel if it had not bin only pretended It had bene an happy rauishment of Dinah that should haue drawn a whole country into the bosom of the church but here was a sacrament intended not to the good of the soul but to murder of the body It was an hard task for Hamor and Sechem not only to put the knife to their owne foreskins but to perswade a multitude to so painful a condition The Sonnes of Iacob dissemble with them they with the people Shall not their flockes and substance be ours Common profit is pretended whereas onely Sechems pleasure is meant No motiue is so powerfull to the vulgar sort as the name of commodity The hope of this makes them prodigall of their skin and blood Not the loue to the Sacrament not the loue to Sechem sinister respects draw more to the profession of religion then conscience if it were not for the loaues and fishes the traine of Christ would bee lesse But the Sacraments of God mis-receiued neuer prosper in the end These men are content to smart so they may gaine And now that euery man lies sore of his owne wound Simeon and Leui rush in armed wound all the males to death Cursed be their wrath for it was fierce and their rage for it was cruell indeed filthinesse should not haue beene wrought in Israel but murder should not haue bin wrought by Israell if they had beene fit iudges which were but bloodie executioners how farre doth the punishment exceed the fault To punish aboue the offence is no lesse vniustice then to offend one offendeth and all feele the reuenge yea all though innocent suffer that reuenge which he that offended deserued not Sechem sinned but Dinah tempted him Shee that was so light as to wander abroad alone onely to gaze I feare was not ouer difficult to yeeld And if hauing wrought her shame heee had driuen her home with disgrace to her fathers tent such tyrannous lust had iustly called for blood but now hee craues and offers and would pay deere for but leaue to giue satisfaction To execute rigour vpon a submisse offender is more mercilesse then iust Or if the punishment had beene both iust and proportionable from another yet from them which had vowed peace and affinity it was shamefully vniust To disappoint the trust of another and to neglect our own promise and fidelity for priuate purposes addes faithlesnesse vnto our cruelty That they were impotent it was through their circumcision what impiety was this insteed of honouring an holy signe to take an aduantage by it what shrieking was there now in the streets of the citie of the Hiuites And how did the beguiled Sichemites when they saw the swords of the two brethren die cursing that Sacrament in their hearts which had betraied them Euen their curses were the sinnes of Simeon and Leui whose fact though it were abhorred by their father yet it was seconded by their brethren Their spoile makes good the others slaughter Who would haue looked to haue found this outrage in the familie of Iacob How did that good Patriarke when he saw Dinah come home blubbered and wringing her hands Simeon and Leui sprinkled with blood wish that Leah had bene barren as long as Rachel Good parents haue greefe enough though they sustaine no blame for their childrens sins What great euils arise from small beginnings The idle Curiosity of Dinah hath bred all this mischiefe Rauishment sollowes vpon her wandring vpon her rauishment murder vpon the murder spoyle It is holy and safe to be iealous of the first occasions of euill either done or suffered Judah and Thamar I Find not many of Iacobs sonnes more faulty then Iudah who yet is singled out from all the rest to be the royal progenitor of Christ and to be honoured with the dignity of the birthright that Gods election might not bee of merit but of grace Else howsoeuer hee might haue sped alone Thamar had neuer bene ioyned with him in this line Euen Iudah marries a Canaanite it is no maruel though his seed prosper not And yet that good children may not bee too much discouraged with their vnlawfull propagation the fathers of the promised seede are raised from an ineestuous bed Iudah was very yong scarce from vnder the rod of his Father yet he takes no other counsell for his marriage but from his owne eyes which were like his sister Dinahs rouing and wanton what better issue could be expected from such beginnings Those proud Iews that glory so much of their pedigree and name from this Patriarch may now choose whether they will haue their mother a Canaanite or an harlot Euen in these things oft-times the birth follows the belly His eldest son Er is too wicked to liue God strikes him dead ere hee can leaue any issue not abiding any sience to grow out of so bad a stocke Notorious sinners God reserues to his owne vengeance Hee doth not inflict sensible iudgements vpon all his enemies least the wicked should thinke there were no punishment abiding for them elswhere Hee doth inflict such iudgements vpon some least hee should seeme carelesse of euill It were as easie for him to strike all dead as one but he had rather all should bee warned by one and would haue his enemies find him mercifull as his children iust His brother Onan sees the iudgement and yet follows his sins Euery little thing discourages vs from good Nothing can alter the heart that is set vpon euill Er was not worthy of any loue but though hee were a miscreant yet he was a brother Seed should haue beene raised to him Onan iustly leeses his life with his seed which hee would rather spill then lend to a wicked brother Some duties wee owe to humanity more to neernes of bloud Ill deseruings of others can be no excuse for our iniustice for our vncharitablenesse That which Thamar required Moses afterward as from God commaunded the succession of brothers into the barren bedde Some lawes God spake to his Church long ere hee wrote them while the author is certainly knowne the voice and the finger of God are worthie of equall respect Iudah hath lost two sonnes and now doth but promise the third whom he sinnes in not giuing It is the weakenesse of nature rather to hazard a sinne then a daunger And to neglect our owne duety for wrongfull suspicion of others though hee had lost his sonne in giuing him yet hee should haue giuen him A faithfull mans promise is his debt which no feare of damage can dispeuse with But
whereupon was this slacknesse Iudah feared that some vnhappinesse in the bed of Thamar was the cause of his sons miscarriage whereas it was their fault that Thamar was both a widow and childlesse Those that are but the patients of euill are many times burdened with suspitions and therefore are ill thought of because they fare ill Afflictions would not be so heauy if they did not lay vs open vnto vncharitable conceipts What difference God puts betwixt sinnes of wilfulnesse and infirmity The sonnes pollution is punished with present death the fathers incest is pardoned and in a sort prospereth Now Thamar seeks by subtlety that which she could not haue by award of iustice the neglect of due retributions driues men to indirect courses neither know I whether they sinne more in righting themselues wrongfully or the other in not righting them Shee therefore takes vpon her the habit of an harlot that shee might performe the act If shee had not wished to seeme an whoore she had not worn that attire nor chosen that place immodesty of outward fashion or gesture bewraies euill desires the heart that means well will neuer wish to seeme ill for commonly we affect to shew better then we are Many harlots wil put on the semblances of chastity of modesty neuer the contrary It is no trusting those which do not wish to appeare good Iudah esteems her by her habit and now the sight of an harlot hath stird vp in him a thought of lust Satan finds well that a fit obiect is halfe a victory Who would not bee ashamed to see a son of Iacob thus transported with filthy affections At the first sight is hee inflamed neither yet did hee see the face of her whom hee lusted after it was enough motiue to him that shee was a woman neither could the presence of his neighbour the Adullamite compose those wicked thoughts or hinder his vnchaste acts That sinne must needs bee impudent which can abide a witnesse yea so hath his lust besotted him that he cannot discerne the voice of Thamar that he cannot foresee the danger of his shame in parting with such pledges There is no passion which doth not for the time bereaue a man of himselfe Thamar had learned not to trust him without a pawne He had promised his son to her as a daughter and failed now hee promised a kid to her as an harlot performeth it whether his pledge constrained him or the power of his word I inquire not Many men are faithfull in all things saue those which are the greatest and dearest If his credit had beene as much indangered in the former promise hee had kept it Now hath Thamar requited him Shee expected long the inioying of his promised son and he performed not but heere he performes the promise of the kid and she staies not to expect it Iudah is sory that hee cannot pay the hire of his lust and now feareth lest he shall be beaten with his owne staffe least his signet shall be vsed to confirme and seal his reproch resoluing not to know them and wishing they were vnknowne of others Shame is the easiest wages of sin and the surest which euer begins first in our selues Nature is not more forward to commit sinne then willing to hide it I heare as yet of no remorse in Iudah but feare of shame Three moneths hath his sinne slept and now when hee is securest it awakes and baites him Newes is brought him that Thamar begins to swell with her conception and now he swels with rage and cals her foorth to the flame like a rigorous iudge without so much as staying for the time of her deliuerance that his cruelty in this iustice should bee no lesse ill then the vniustice of occasioning it If Iuda had not forgotten his sinne his pitty had beene more then his hatred to this of his daughters How easie is it to detest those sinnes in others which we flatter in our selues Thamar doth not deny the sinne nor refuse punishment but cals for that partner in her punishment which was her partner in the sinne the staffe the signet the handkerchiefe accuse and conuince Iuda and now hee blushes at his owne sentence much more at his act and cryes out she is more righteous then I God will find a time to bring his children vpon their knees and to wring from them penitent confessions And rather then hee will not haue them soundly ashamed hee will make them the trumpets of their owne reproch Yet doth hee not offer himselfe to the flame with her but rather excuses her by himselfe This relenting in his owne case shamed his former zeale Euen in the best men nature is partial to it selfe It is good so to sentence others frailties that yet wee remember our owne whether those that haue beene or may bee with what shame yea with what horror must Iudah needs look vp-vpon the great belly of Thamar and on her two sons the monuments of his filthinesse How must it needs wound his soule to hear them call him both Father and Grandfather to call her mother and sister If this had not cost him many a sigh he had no more escaped his Fathers curse then Reuben did I see the difference not of sins but of men Remission goes not by the measure of the sinne but the quality of the sinner yea rather the mercy of the forgiuer Blessed is the man not that sins not but to whom the Lord imputes not his sinne Joseph I Maruell not that Ioseph had the double portion of Iacobs land who had more then two parts of his sorrowes None of his sons did so truely inherit his afflictions none of them was either so miserable or so great suffering is the way to glory I see in him not a cleerer type of Christ then of euery Christian because wee are deere to our Father and complain of sins therefore are we hated of our carnall brethren If Ioseph had not medled with his brothers faults yet hee had beene enuied for his Fathers affection but now malice is met with enuie There is nothing more thankelesse or dangerous then to stand in the way of a resolute sinner That which doth correct and oblige the penitent makes the wilfull minde furious and reuengefull All the spight of his brethren cannot make Ioseph cast off the liuery of his fathers loue what neede we care for the censures of men 〈◊〉 if our hearts can tell vs that we are in fauour with God But what ment yoong Ioseph to adde vnto his owne enuie by reporting his dreames The concealement of our hopes or abilities hath not more modesty then safety Hee that was enuied for his deerenesse and hated for his intelligence was both enuied and hated for his dreams Surely God meant to make the relation of these dreames a meanes to effect that which these dreames imported Wee men worke by likely meanes God by contraries The main quarrel was Behold this dreamer commeth Had it not bene for his
neuer absent from his but sometimes he makes their senses witnesses of his presence In smal matters may be great wonders That a bush should burne is no maruell but that it shold not consume in burning is iustly miraculous God chooseth not euer great subiects wherein to exercise his power It is enough that his power is great in the smallest When I looke vpon this burning bush with Moses me thinks I can neuer see a woorthier and more liuely Embleme of the Church That in Egypt was the furnace yet wasted not Since then how oft hath it bene flaming neuer consumed The same power that enlightens it preserues it and to none but his enemies is he a consuming fire Moses was a great Philosopher but small skill would haue serued to know the nature of fire and of the bush that fire meeting with combustible matter could not but coÌ„sume If it had beene some solid woood it would haue yeelded later to the flame but bushes are of so quick dispatch that the ioy of the wicked is compared to a fire of thorns Hee noted it a while saw it continued began to wonder It was some maruel how it should come there but how it should continue without supply yea without diminution of matter was truely admirable Doubtlesse hee went oft about it and viewed it on all sides and now when his eye and mind could meete with no likely causes so farre off resolues I will go see it His curiosity ledde him neerer and what could hee see but a bush and a flame which hee saw at first vnsatisfied It is good to come to the place of Gods presence howsoeuer God may perhaps speake to thy heart though thou come but for nouelty Euen those which haue come vpon curiosity haue beene oft taken Absence is without hope If Moses had not come hee had not beene called out of the bush To see a fire not consuming the bush was much but to heere a speaking fire this was more and to heare his own name out of the mouth of the fire it was most of all God makes way for his greatest messages by astonishment and admiration as on the contrary carelesnes carries vs to a more proficiency vnder the best means of God If our hearts were more awfull Gods messages would bee more effectuall to vs. In that appearance God meant to cal Moses to come yet when he is come inhibits him Come not hither We must come to God wee must not come too neere him when wee meditate of the great mysteries of his word wee come to him wee come too neere him when we search into his counsels The Sunne and the fire say of themselues Come not too neere how much more the light which none can attaine vnto We haue all our limits set vs The Gentiles might come into some outer courts not into the inmost The Iewes might come into the inner Court not into the Temple the Priests and Leuites into the Temple not into the Holy of Holies Moses to the hill not to the bush The waues of the sea had not more need of bounds than mans presumption Moses must not come close to the bush at all and where he may stand he may not stand with his shooes on There is no vnholinesse in clothes God prepared them for man at first and that of skins lest any exception should be taken at the hides of dead beasts This rite was significant What are the shooes but worldly and carnall affections If these be not cast off when wee come to the holy place wee make our selues vnholy how much lesse shold we dare to come with resolutions of sinne This is not onely to come with shooes on but with shooes bemired with wicked filthinesse the touch whereof profanes the pauement of God and makes our presence odious Moses was the sonne of Amram Amram of Kohath Kohath of Leui Leui of Iacob Iacob of Isaac Isaac of Abraham God puts together both ends of his pedigree I am the God of thy father and of Abraham Isaac Iacob If he had said only I am thy God it had beene Moses his duty to attend awfully but now that hee saies I am the God of thy Father and of Abraham c. He challenges reuerence by prescription Any thing that was our Ancestors pleases vs their houses their vessels their cote-armour How much more their God How carefull should parents be to make holy choises Euery precedent of theirs are so many monuments and motiues to their posteritie What an happinesse it is to bee borne of good parents hence God claimes an interest in vs and wee in him for their sake As many a man smarteth for his fathers sinne so the goodnesse of others is crowned in a thousand generations Neither doth God say I was the God of Abraham Isaac Iacob but I am The Patriarkes still liue after so many thousand yeeres of dissolution No length of time can separate the soules of the iust from their maker As for their bodie there is still a reall relation betwixt the dust of it and the soule and if the being of this part be more defectiue the being of the other is more liuely and doth more than recompence the wants of that earthly halfe God could not describe himselfe by a more sweet name than this I am the God of thy father and of Abraham c. yet Moses hides his face for feare If hee had said I am the glorious God that made heauen and earth that dwell in light inaccessible whom the Angels cannot behold or I am God the auenger iust and terrible a consuming fire to mine enemies heere had beene iust cause of terrour But â—hy was Moses so frighted with a familiar compellation God is no lesse awfull to his owne in his very mercies Great is thy mercie that thou maist be feared for to them no lesse maiestie shines in the fauours of God than in his iudgements and iustice The wicked heart neuer feares God but thundring or shaking the earth or raining fire from heauen but the good can dread him in his very sun-shine his louing deliuerances and blessings affect them with awfulnes Moses was the true sonne of Iacob who when hee saw nothing but visions of loue and mercy could say How dreadfull is this place I see Moses now at the bush hiding his face at so milde â— representation heereafter we shall see him in this very mount betwixt heauen and earth in thunder lightning smoke earth-quakes speaking mouth to mouth with God bare faced and fearelesse God was then more terrible but Moses was lesse strange This was his first meeting with God further acquaintance makes him familiar and familiarity makes him bold Frequence of conuersation giues vs freedome of accesse to God and makes vs poure out our hearts to him as fully and as fearelesly as to our friends In the meane time now at first he made not so much haste to see but hee made as much to hide his eies Twice did Moses
his tormenter Those loathsome creatures leaue their owne element to punish them which rebelliously detained Israell from their owne No bed no table can be free from them their dainty Ladies cannot keep them out of their bosomes neither can the Egyptians sooner open their mouthes than they are ready to creepe into their throats as if they would tell them that they came on purpose to reuenge the wrongs of their maker yet euen this wonder also is Satan allowed to imitate Who can maruell to see the best vertues counterfeited by wicked men when hee sees the diuell emulating the miraculous power of God The feates that Satan plaies may harden but cannot benefit Hee that hath leaue to bring frogs hath neither leaue nor power to take them away nor to take away the stench from them To bring them was but to adde to the iudgement to remooue them was an act of mercy God doth commonly vse Satan in executing of iudgement neuer in the workes of mercie to men Yet euen by thus much is Pharaoh hardned and the sorcerers growen insolent When the diuell and his agents are in the height of their pride GOD shames them in a trifle The rod is lift vp the very dust receiues life lice abound euery where and make no difference betwixt beggers and Princes Though Pharaoh and his Courtiers abhorred to see themselues louzie yet they hoped this miracle would be more easily imitable but now the greater possibilitie the greater foile How are the great wonder-mongers of Egypt abashed that they can neither make lice of their owne nor deliuer themselues from the lice that are made Those that could make serpents and frogs could not either make or kill lice to shew them that those frogs and serpents were not their owne workmanship Now Pharaoh must needs see how impotent a diuell hee serued that could not make that vermine which euery day rises voluntarily out of corruption Iannes and Iambres cannot now make those lice so much as by delusion which at another time they cannot chuse but produce vnknowing and which now they cannot auoid That spirit which is powerfull to execute the greatest things when hee is bidden is vnable to doe the least when he is restrained Now these corriuals of Moses can say This is the finger of God Yee foolish Inchanters was Gods finger in the lice not in the frogs not in the blood not in the serpent And why was it rather in the lesse than in the greater Because yee did imitate the other not these As if the same finger of God had not beene before in your imitation which was now in your restraint As if yee could haue failed in these if yee had not beene only permitted the other Whiles wicked mindes haue their full scope they neuer looke vp aboue themselues but when once God crosses them in their proceedings their want of successe teaches them to giue God his owne All these plagues perhaps had more horror than paine in them The frogges creepe vpon their clothes the lice vpon their skins but those stinging hornets which succeed them shall wound and kill The water was annoied with the first plague the earth with the second and third this fourth fils the aire and besides corruption brings smart And that they may see this winged armie comes out from an angrie God not either from nature or chance euen the very flies shall make a difference betwixt Egypt and Goshen He that gaue them their being sets them their stint They can no more sting an Israelite than fauour an Egyptian The very wings of flies are directed by a prouidence and doe acknowledge their limits Now Pharaoh findes how impossible it is for him to stand out with God since all his power cannot rescue him from lice and flies And now his heart begins to thaw a little Goe doe sacrifice to your God in this land or since that will not be accepted Go into the wildernesse but not far but how soone it knits againe Good thoughts make but a thorow-fare of carnall hearts they can neuer settle there yea his very misse-giuing hardens him the more that now neither the murren of his cattle nor the botches of his seruants can stirre him a whit Hee saw his cattle strucke dead with a sudden contagion he saw his sorcerers after their contestation with Gods messengers strucke with a scabbe in their very faces and yet his heart is not strucke Who would think it possible that any soule could bee secure in the midst of such varietie and frequence of iudgements These very plagues haue not more wonder in them than their successe hath To what an height of obduration will sinne leade a man and of all sinnes incredulity Amidst all these storms Pharaoh sleepeth till the voice of Gods mightie thunders and haile mixed with fire rouzed him vp a little Now as betwixt sleeping and waking hee starts vp and saies God is righteous I am wicked Moses pray for vs and presently laies downe his head againe God hath no sooner done thundring than hee hath done fearing All this while you neuer finde him carefull to preuent any one euill but desirous still to shift it off when he feeles it neuer holds constant to any good motion neuer praies for himselfe but carelesly willes Moses and Aaron to pray for him neuer yeelds God his whole demand but higgleth and dodgeth like some hard chapman that would get a release with the cheapest First they shall not go then goe and sacrifice but in Egypt next goe sacrifice in the wildernesse but not farre off after goe ye that are men then goe you and your children only at last goe all saue your sheepe and cattle Wheresoeuer meere nature is she is still improuident of future good sensible of present euill inconstant in good purposes vnable through vnacquaintance and vnwilling to speake for her selfe niggardly in her grants and vncheerfull The plague of the grashoppers startled him a little and the more through the importunitie of his seruants for when he considered the fish destroied with the first blow the cattle with the fifth the corne with the seuenth the fruit and leaues with this eighth and nothing now left him but a bare fruitlesse earth to liue vpon and that couered ouer with locusts necessitie droue him to relent for an aduantage Forgiue mee this once take from me this death only But as constrained repentance is euer short and vnsound the West winde together with the grashoppers blowes away his remorse and now is hee ready for another iudgement As the grashoppers tooke away the sight of the earth from him so now a grosse darknesse takes away the sight of heauen too other darknesses were but priuatiue this was reall and sensible The Egyptians thought this night long how could they chuse when it was six in one and so much the more for that no man could rise to talke with other but was necessarily confined to his owne thoughts One thinkes the fault in his owne eies