of iron and clay and brake them to peeces then was the iron the clay the brasse the siluer and the gold broken all together that no place was found for them and the stone that smote them became a great mountaine and filled the whole earth Dan. 2. Daniel sawe some great beasts come vp from the sea the first a Lyon the second a Beare the third a Leopard the fourth vnlike the former with teeth of iron and tenne hornes Dan. 7. These great beasts which are foure are foure Kings which shall take the kingdome of the Saints of the most high In the thirteenth of the Reuelation Iohn sawe a beast rise out of the sea hauing seauen heads and tenne hornes mouthed like a Lyon bodied like a Leopard footed like a Beare and the Dragon gaue him his power And Daniel beheld till the thrones were set vp and the Ancient of daies did sit whose garment was white as snowe and the haire of his head like the pure wooll his throne was like the fiery flame and his wheeles as burning fire a fiery streame issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministred vnto him and tenne thousand thousands stood before him the iudgement was set and the bookes opened the beasts were slaine and their bodies cast into the burning fire and behold one like the Son of man came in the clowdes of heauen and came to the Ancient of daies and he gaue him dominion and honour and a kingdome that all people nations and languages should serue him his kingdome shall neuer be destroyed so as Reuel 20. Iohn sawe a great white throne and one that sate on it from whose face flied both the earth and the heauen and he sawe the dead both great and small stand before God and the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which was the booke of life and the dead were iudged of those thinges which were written in the bookes according to their workes and whosoeuer was not found written in the booke of life was cast into the lake of fire Dan. 3. Nebucadnetzar erecteth an Image and commaundeth to worshippe it Sidrach Mishach and Abednego refused This sheweth that wicked lawes cannot compell godly men to doe that which God forbiddeth for the faithfull are alwaies assured that God wil defend them this is the meaning of this place and will not feare him that can throwe the body into the fire but stand in awe of him that can throwe both body and soule into eternall fire so in Apoc. 1◠As many as would not worship the image of the beast were killed 3409. Ioachin three moneths HE was eight yeares old when he beganne to raigne and hee ruled three monthes and ten dayes in Ierusalem and did euill in the sigh of the Lord. And when the yeare was out King Nebucadnetzar sent and brought him to Babel with the pretious vessels of the house of the Lord. He beganne his raigne at eight yeares and raigned ten yeares when his father was aliue and after his fathers death which was the eighteenth yeare of his age he raigned alone three monthes and ten dayes So he was brought prisoner to Babel and Zedechias his brother but in truth his Vncle was made King in his steede so he continued in prison all the daies of Nebucadnetzar that is seauen and thirtie yeares after Nebucadnetzar had carried him captiue vnto the first yeare of euill Merodach King of Babel who succeeded Nebuchadnetzar This was foretold him by the Prophet Ieremie cap. 22. Thou that dwellest in Lebanon and makest thy nest in the Cedars how beautifull shalt thou be when sorrowes come vppon thee as the sorowes of a womā in trauaile as I liue saith the Lord though Coniah that is Ioachin or Ieconias the sonne of Iehoiachim King of Iuda were as the signet of my right hand yet would I plucke thee thence and I will giue thee into the hand of them that seeke thy life and into the land of them whose face thou fearest euen into the hand of Nebucadnetzar King of Babel and into the hand of the Chaldeans and I will cause them to carry thee away thy mother that bare thee into another countrie where ye were not borne and there shall yee die but to the land whereunto they desire to returne they shall not returne thither But after the death of Nebucadnetzar euill Merodach his sonne did lift vp the head of Ioachin or Ieconias King of Iudah out of the prison and spake kindely to him and set his throne aboue the throne of the Kings that were with him in Babel changed his prison garments and he did continually eate meate before him all the daies of his life and his portion was a continuall portion giuen him by the King euery day a certaine all the daies of his life 3410. Zedechias Eleauen yeares HIs name was first Mattamah but Nebucadnetzar changed his name to Zedechiah Hee was one and twentie yeares olde when he beganne to raigne And he did euill in the sight of the Lord according to all that Iehoiakim had done Therefore the wrath of the Lord was against Ierusalem and Iudah vntill he cast them out of his sight And Zedechias rebelled against the King of Babell and in the ninth yeare of Zedechias raigne the tenth month and which day of the month Nebucadnetzar King of Babel came he and all his host against Ierusalem and pitched against it and they built forts against it round about So the citie was besieged vnto the eleauenth yeare of King Zedechias and the ninth month the famine was so great in the citie that there was no bread for the people of the land So that the fourth of Ieremies Lamentations was trulie performed that mothers did eate their owne children So the citie was broken vp and the King Zedechias fledde but the armie of the Caldees pursued after him and tooke him in the deserts of Iericho and all his host was scattered from him Then they tooke the King and carried him vp to the King of Babel to Riblah where they gaue iudgment vpon him and they slue the sonnes of Zadechias before his eyes and put out the eyes of Zedechias and bound him in chaines and carried him to Babel Heere is performed the wordes of Ieremie the Prophet chap. 24. I will giue Zedechias the King of Iudah and his Princes and the rest of Ierusalem for a terrible plague to all the kingdomes of the earth and for a reproch and for a prouerb for a common talke for a curse in all places where I shall cast them and I will send the sword the famine and the pestilence among them till they be consumed out of the land that I gaue to them and their Fathers And Ier. 5. For the house of Israel and the house of Iudah haue grieuouslie transgressed against me saith the Lord they haue denied the Lord and said It is not he neither shall the plague come vpon vs neither shall wee see sword nor famine
sayd to the children of Israel I set here before you life and death eate of the one and liue and eate of the other and die eternally Yet could not be content with this glorious estate but did eate of the forbidden fruit by the perswasion of a woman which God framed out of Adams ribbe and ioyned to him to be an helpe for him Before they had continued in Paradise one day as it is written Psal 49. Adam being in honour continueth not a night but is like to the beasts that perish which woman was deceiued by the subtiltie of a Serpent that is of the Deuill speaking in a Serpent which beast was fittest to possesse to the deceiuing of her because he excelled all other beasts in the field in wit For if an Asse had sayd so much to her as did the Serpent it is very likely shee would haue examined the cause further but he hauing once bin an Angel of light but not keping his first originall being throwne downe from heauen continuing his knowledge though he lost his vertue was not to seeke either for matter or oportunitie enuying their states to bring his murtherous purpose to passe for so is he called the Serpent the old Deuill or Satan who was a Murtherer from the beginning but knowing the prohibition commeth to the woman saying Yea hath God sayd Yee shall not eate of euery tree in the garden to whome the woman answereth saying We may eate freely of the fruite of the Trees in the garden but as for the Tree in the middest of the garden God hath sayd yee shall not eate of it nor touch it least happily you die Out of which speeches the Serpent beeing a ramping and a roaring Lyon going about seeking how hee might deuoure her quickly sucketh aduantage finding her to haue digressed from the words of the commaundement adding thereto a tricke of his owne head saith to the woman Ye shall not die at all but you shal be as Gods knowing good and euill In that he saith gods he meaneth not the true God for whatsoeuer hee speaketh is to be taken in the worst meaning that can be made of it but he meaneth you shal be in the state of damnation as Deuils which are called Princes Gods of the world And likely enough that he touched the fruit because that shee added to the Commaundement the worde touche Now the woman beholding the fruit that it was good to eate pleasant to the eyes a Tree to be desired to get knowledge She tooke of the fruit did eate gaue also to her husband and he did eat These 3. properties aboue are expounded in Iohn Wantonnes of the eies Lust of the flesh The pride of life By reason of which sinne Adam and Eue seeing their owne nakednes sowed figge-tree leaues together and hidde themselues from the presence of God among the Trees of the garden their soules beeing then in the state of Damnation with a light shining in darknes but their darknes not comprehending the same shewing thereby the weaknes of their nature and of their posteritie God but a little leauing them to their selues that when they had sinned they had rather hide themselues in darkenesse and seek to stockes and trees that haue no help in them than to God that made them But Dauid afterwards being clothed with the spirit of wisedome vnderstanding acknowledgeth the power of God to ouer-reach the compasse of mans vaine imagination when he sayth Whether shall I flye from thy presence If I take the winges of the morning and flye to the vttermost part of the world thou art there If I climbe vp to heauen thou art there If I goe downe to hell thou art there also For God who made the eye shall not hee see all the dwellers vppon earth who hath weighed all men in a ballance numbring the dayes and verie haires of their heads diuiding to euerie one their double portion according to the fore-purpose of his election being a righteous Iudge sparing not the person of Adam though hee were a King and the stateliest King that euer should bee but calleth him to account in the coole of the same day wherein he was created and fell punisheth him though not according to the desert of his transgression like a merciful Iudge that would saue and as a Father that pitieth his owne childe knowing whereof he was made and that he was but dust sayth to Adam What hast thou done and leauing him to consider of his sinne goeth to the woman with like tendernesse saying What hast thou done as if he should haue sayd Oh daughter haue I made the heauens and the host thereof that is Angels Sunne Moone and Starres c. to be thy seruants and the earth and all that therein is to be obedient at thy call breathing into thy nostrils life wherby thou becamest a liuing soule in the image of God that is in righteousnesse and true holynesse to be a temple and a Tabernacle for the holy of the holyest to dwell in and hast thou defiled the same with fond lusts regarding the wordes of the Serpent the Father of lyes not respecting my power and my seueritie that as I made thy body and soule that I could destroy the same whereby thou hast purchased the execution of my law established at thy creation to thee and thy husband what hast thou done But God hauing examined the matters and finding them both guiltie and the malice of the Serpent to bee the cause of their guiltinesse neuer stayeth iudgement nor vouchsafeth once to reason the matters with him but presently curseth him and punisheth Adam and the woman and curseth for their sakes the earth plants and whole course of nature and made them of obedient seruants rebellious enemies to Adam and his posteritie And because Adam was not deceiued but the woman became into the transgression he maketh her will subiect to the desire of her husband encreasing her sorrowes and her conceptions Thus he chastiseth them but giueth them not ouer but pronounceth to the woman a short but a pithy sentence That the seede of the woman should breake the head of the Serpent That is to say I will cause one to be borne of the womans seede which shall subdue the Deuill and the Deuill shall doe his endeauour to trip vp his heeles by tempting him In this beginneth a controuersie against the Iewes of later times who hold opinion that the Messias or Christ whome wee vphold to be the mediator between Gods iustice and mans sinne shall be some great Emperor that shall deliuer them from bodily oppression howbeit they cannot deny but that by the death which God threatneth to Adam for his transgression Rabbi Moses vnderstandeth a spirituall death that is to wit the death of the soule wounded with sinne and forsaken of her life which is God and that by the venome of the Serpent he meaneth sinne it selfe which shall cease saith he vnder the Messias And the Thargum of Ierusalem sayth
enioying the benefit of the whole world and if these things must be the end of vs now after our corruption what is more vnhappy than man what is more vncapable of happines than man A body subiect to infinite diseases weake fraile fraught with miseries within wrapped in them without alwayes vncertaine of life euermore sure of death whom a worme an herbe a graine of dust may kill who if hee looked for no other happinesse than this were much better to be a plant than a man And what man is he that feeleth not a law in himselfe that goes about to bridle him which feeleth not a guiltie and accusing conscience in the midst of his pleasure or whose greatest delights leaue him not a sting of repentance behind them And what happinesse can that be whereof we bee ashamed Now then seeing that we haue a double life the one in this world the other in another the one dying the other immortall the first which is here tending to the second as the worse to the better our seeking must not bee for such an end or such a felicitie as dieth with vs but for such a one as maketh vs happie quickneth vs and refresheth vs eternally which surely is not to be found in mortall things Where is this happinesse then to be found In wisedome in religion and in knowledge which are not attained vnto by reason but by faith For beliefe mounteth higher than our vnderstanding And a certaine Arabian proceeded so farre as to say that the root whereby the felicitie to come is contained vnto is faith and what is this faith in God but a belieuing that our eternall happinesse liueth in him And what is the belieuing but a hoping for it And what is hope but the desiring of it And what is the desire of it but the hauing of it And what is the continuers beliefe of it here but a bewraying that here we cannot enioy it And if we haue not faith what haue wee but ignorance And if wee haue faith what haue wee but a desire and longing considering that the greater our faith is the more we despise the base things of this world And the greater our desire is the more we hate our selues and the more earnestly do we loue God And to be short what is blessednesse afore appointed but we would see it The way vnto felicitie but we would enioy it Looke then what proportion is betweene that which is present and that which is to come such proportion is there betwixt the hope we haue here and the perfection of that good which we hope to attaine vnto It followeth then seeing the world was made for man man for the soule the soule for the mind the mind for God that all our doings can haue no end to rest vpon here but onely in the life to come which is the beholding true knowing of God For who is he that would depart with any peece of his owne liking in this life but in hope of better things And what were it for him to loose his life if there were not a life more happie after this The taking vp of that godly man Henoch out of this life was to no other end but to set him in another life void of all euill And when we read the turmoiles of Noah the ouerwhartings of Abraham the persecution of Isaack the banishment and wayfaring of Iacob the distresses of Ioseph Moses and the residue of the fathers they all shewe vnto vs that they surely looked for a better life after this and that there is a iudgement to come For had they looked for no other comfort after this life the flesh would haue perswaded them to haue held thēselues in quiet here Noah among his friends Abrahā among the Chaldees Moses in Pharaohs Court Salomon in his pleasures c. But they knew that their shoot-anker was to liue immortally vnited vnto God Hermes in his Poemander saith that God made man like vnto himselfe and he linked him to him as his sonne for he was beautifull and made after his owne image and gaue him all his workes to vse at his pleasure and therefore he exhorteth him to forsake his bodie to manure his soule and to consider the originall roote from whence it sprang which is not earthly but heauenly Discharge thy selfe saith he of this body which thou bearest about thee for it is but a cloake of ignorance a foundation of infection a place of corruption a liuing death a sensible carion a portable graue and a houshold theefe it flattereth thee because it hateth thee it hateth thee because it enuieth thee as long as that liueth it bereaueth thee of life and thou hast not a greater enemy than that Now to what end were it for him to forsake this light this dwelling place this life if it were not for a better in an other world therfore Chalcidius saith I go home again into mine own coūtry where my better forefathers kinsfolks be And a wise man of the Chaldeys exhorteth men with speed to returne vnto their heauenly father to seeke Paradise as the peculiar dwelling place of the soule This is confirmed in the Gospel when Christ promiseth the theefe that day he should be with him in Paradise And of Epicharin we haue this saying If thou beest a good man in thy heart death can doe thee no harme for thy soule shall liue happily in heauen And Plato willed his soule to returne home to her kinred and to her first originall that is saith he to the wise and immortall godhead the fountaine of all goodnesse as called home from banishment into our owne natiue countrey Seneca speaking of the Lady Martiares sonne being dead saith he is now euerlasting and in the best state bereft of this earthly baggage which was none of his and set free to himselfe for these bones these sinewes this coat of skinne this face and these seruiceable hands are but fetters and prisons of the soule By them the soule is ouerwhelmed beaten downe and chased away It hath not a greater battell than with that masse of flesh for feare of being torne in pieces it laboureth to returne from whence it came where it hath ready for it an happie and euerlasting rest We read of the Thracians that they sorrowed at the birth of their children and reioyced at the death of them because they thought that which we call death not to be a death but rather a very happie birth Therefore Herodotus calleth these people the neuer dying Getes and the Greekes the neuer dying Thracians For they were of opinion that at their departure out of this world they went to Zamolxis or Gabeleize that is to him that gaue them health saluation or welfare Herocles saith that the wicked would not haue their soules to be immortall to the intent they might not be punished for their faultes but yet that they preuent the sentence of their Iudge by condemning themselues vnto death aforehand But
come Thus you see how the Redemption by Christ was taught by Moses The two resemblances of heauen and earth are a glasse for vs to behold Gods glory in The heauens are the heauens of God and the earth a beeing for man In which there be Creatures cleane and vncleane the cleane to represent the godlie the vncleane the wicked of conuersation And this rule was generall from the creation and figured in Paradise by the tree of Life and the tree of knowledge of good and euill And as trees and all other Creatures differ one from another so doe the manners of men And God made Beasts Fish and Fowle to expresse the affections of mens mindes and gaue libertie to Beast Fish and Fowle to eate vp one another but to man he gaue a iustice among themselues and taught them a ciuile life by eating of cleane Beasts and forbiddeth grosse behauiours in forbidding to eate vncleane Beasts as Hogs and Dogges and Conies and Hare and Daw and such like to shew that wee should not bee like Hogs to wallowe in the mire of our vncleane conuersation nor like to the Dogge to returne to our former impieties but bee clothed with repentance which is newnesse of life nor like to Conies whose nature is to vndermine but to deale faithfully with our neighbours that so our conuersation may appeare before men as wee may glorifie our Father which is in heauen nor like the Dawe or Crowe which peereth with his eyes for wee ought not to bee curious in looking to other mens faults but striue to mend our owne as our Sauiour Christ teacheth in the Gospell Matth. 7. Thou that spiest a moat in thy brothers eye first pull out the beame out of thine owne and so of all the rest of vncleane Beasts Fishes and Fowles something in life is taught to be eschewed which to handle particularly were too long For the lawfulnesse and vnlawfulnesse of eating them now there is no doubt for they were onely appointed by Moses Lawe to distinguish the Iew and the Gentile but Christ hauing broken downe the wall of seperation wee are nowe freelie to vse any onely the equitie of the iustice of the same lawe remaineth still For the Lawe of God is eternall The cleane were such as chewed the cud and parted the hoofe as Oxe Sheepe Goat and Hart and such like to teach vs that wee ought alwaies to bee meditating of the wormanship of heauen and earth and the Redemption by the sonne of God painefull in our vocation as Oxen meek as sheep hardie as Goats vnder the crosse of Christ and swift to good and slow to euill that our bodies might be a cleane Tabernacle holy and vndefiled fit for the Holy of holiest to enter into So should wee be clothed with Aarons white garment of perfect iustice and in our bosome reteine the precious Iewell of Vrim and Thūmim that is Light of the knowledge of Christ and perfection of vertue to embrace the same Thus we see that the Law and all the ceremonies thereof the Tabernacle and all appurtenances thereof Aarons office and his attire are all to be applied to the Redemption by Christ Wee are further to obserue in the story of Moses that Moses on the mountaine sawe the summe of all saluation The knowledge of this is of speciall consequence in diuinitie For if Moses left out any point of Religion then his doctrine is a maimed doctrine and not sufficient to eternall life There be some teachers now a dayes like to the Church of Laodicea who though shee was poore yet thought and esteemed her selfe rich Euen so these men for knowledge in expounding of Scriptures when as they seuer the new Testament from the old and doe not make the one a light vnto the other For this is the onely difference betweene Moses and the newe Testament That the newe Testament is an exposition or comment vpon Moses Saint Peter teacheth this plainely 2. Pet. 1.19 Wee haue the sure worde of the Prophets to the which giue heede as vnto Light shining in darkenesse till the day appeareth and that the morning starre shineth in your hearts Christ himselfe approoueth this Doctrine when hee giueth his hearers a commaundement Iohn 5. That they should search the Scriptures to wit Moses and the Prophets because they testifie of me sayth Christ and in them you hope to haue eternall life Saint Paul in the Acts Chap. 26. layeth downe a rule how to try the truth of his doctrine For saith he I taught nothing but Moses and the Prophets that Christ should die and rising from the dead should giue life vnto the world The truth of this rule will be manifested by the particulars in this sort The Pope forbiddeth meats where is this in Moses Indeed the ceremonie of Moses made a distinction betweene Iew and Gentile in respect of election which distinction was to continue but a time but now in Christ Iesus neither is circumcision nor vncircumcision any thing and therefore all the Creatures of God are good so they be receiued with thankesgiuing Therefore by this rule the Pope is a false Prophet teaching a doctrine not in Moses This therefore is a sound rule to trie all doctrines Where are they taught in Moses So likewise if any Scisme be bred or breedeth in the Church we shall by this rule be able to establish our consciences if we examine it by Moses doctrine Now seeing the new Testament referres it selfe to Moses wee shall neuer be able truelie and sincerely to expound it but by being skilfull and readie in Moses Wee see Mathew makes mention of Abraham and proues Christ to come of him The vse of this will bee of no force to vs except wee search Moses for Abrahams storie and see there what glorious things are spoken of him Saint Paul likewise proouing iustification to bee by faith without the workes of the Lawe bringeth for an ineuitable argument the manner how Abraham was iustified This argument will hardlie bee made plaine and certaine vnto vs except we search Moses for Abrahams actions The same Apostle Heb. 11. commending the excellencie and certaintie of faith vseth no other proofe then a rehearsall of the actions and liues of particular men Who by faith subdued kingdomes stopped the mouthes of Lyons quenched the furie of fire despised the glory of this life and beleeued in the son of God c. By these reasons it is euident that the new Testament is then made plaine when it is referred to the old Now though the new Testament shewes that he is come and so the prophecie being fulfilled there may seeme to be small vse of the old yet we know that it is not ynough for vs to embrace a truth but this one thing is further required an Abilitie to proue the truth against all gainesayers that so wee may be able to render a reason of that hope that is in vs. This therefore is a sure ground that in Moses is the summe of all saluation
Nebuchadnetzar his Grandfather blasphemed God and polluted his vessels For hee made a great banquet and called therevnto his wiues and his Concubines his Lords and his Nobles and was drunke with the wine which hee dranke out of the vessels of the house of the Lord which Nebuchadnetzar had brought out from the Temple of Ierusalem and the same houre whilst he was boasting of himselfe in the pride of his greatnesse a peece of hand writeth on the wall where hee was banqueting Mene Mene Tekel Vpharsin At the sight whereof his countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the ioynts of his loynes were loosened and his knees smote one against the other and his Princes were astonied Wherefore he sent for all his Astrologians Caldeans and Soothsayers to tel him the interpretation of the words but they could not then the Queene mother to wit Nebuchadnetzars wife and Grandmother to Baltazar telleth the King that there was in his Kingdome a man in whom was the spirite of the holy Gods light and vnderstanding and wisedome was found in him whome Nebuchadnetzar made chiefe of the Enchaunters Astrologians Caldeans and Soothsayers because a more excellent spirite and knowledge and vnderstanding was found in him for hee did expound dreames and declare hard sentences and dissolued doubts euen Daniel whome the King named Belteshazter according to the name of Nebuchadnetzars God which hee did of purpose Daniel being young to make him forget his owne name and thereby his Religion if it could haue been for Daniels name indeed contained singuler assurance of Gods mercie towards him Daniel God is my Iudge Then Daniel was brought before the King and the King spake and sayd vnto Daniel Art thou that Daniel which art of the Children of the Captiuitie of Iudah whome my Father the King brought out of Iurie I haue heard of thee that the spirite of the holy Gods is in thee and that light and vnderstanding and excellent wisedome is found in thee Now wise men and Astrologians haue ben brought before me that they should read this writing shew me the interpretation but they could not which if thou canst doe it thou shalt bee clothed with purple and shalt haue a chaine of gold and bee the thirde ruler in my Kingdome Then Daniel answered before the King Keepe thy rewards to thy selfe and giue thy gifts to another Yet will I reade the writing vnto the King and shew him the interpretation By the way wee haue here to vnderstand how godly men cannot liue in a kingdome but God will make them known to be his seruants which they may knowe if they despise vnlawfull preferments trusting to the prouidence of God Abraham was of this Religion hee would not bee enriched by the King of Sodome And Moses had rather suffer affliction with the Children of God than to bee called the Sonne of Pharaohs Daughter Daniel before hee readeth the writing declareth to the King his wonderfull and impious ingratitude towards God considering his wonderfull worke toward his Grandfather and so sheweth that he doth not sinne of ignorance but of malice and therefore cannot be forgiuen Daniels speach is bold yet reuerent O King heare thou The most high God gaue vnto Nebuchadnetzar thy Father a Kingdome and maiestie and honour and glorie and for the maiestie that he gaue him all people Nations and languages trembled and feared before him He put to death whom he would and whome he would he smote he set vp whome hee would and whome hee would hee put downe but when his heart was puft vp and his minde hardned in pride hee was deposed from his kingly throne and they tooke his honour from him and hee was driuen from the Sons of men and his heart was made like the beasts and his dwelling was with the wilde Asses they fed him with grasse like Oxen and his body was weat with the deaw of heauen till he knew that the most high God bare rule ouer the kingdom of men that he appointeth ouer it whomsoeuer hee pleaseth And thou his Sonne O Belshatzer hast not humbled thy heart though thou knewest all these things But hast lift vp thy selfe against the Lord of heauen and they haue brought the vessels of his house before thee and thou and thy Princes thy wiues and thy Concubines haue drunke wine in them and thou hast praysed the Gods of siluer and gold of brasse yron wood and stone which neither see nor heare â—or vnderstand and the God in whose hand thy breath is and all thy wayes him hast thou not glorified ⧠Now this is the writing that he hath written This is the interpretation Mene Mene Mene. God hath numbred thy kingdome and hath finished it Tekel Tekel Thou art weighed in the ballance and art found too light Vpharsin Peres Thy Kingdome is diuided giuen to the Medes Persians The same night was Baltasar the King of the Caldees slaine and Darius of the Medes tooke the Kingdome Thus the head of gold is punned to dust and Babylon the Lion is cast into the fire by Christ the fierie Iudge And here endeth the glorie of the Babylonians Now the Seuenty yeres of captiuing the Iewes is accomplished and the plague ruine of Babylon foretold by the Prophets is now performed For Cyrus of Sem and Darius of Iaphet ioyne together to ouerthrow Baltasar of Chams house here Iaphet is perswaded to dwell with Sem and Canaan is made a seruant of seruants to them both according to Gen. 10. Now followeth to be handled the ouerthrow of Babel and the prophecies which concerne the same and by whome the destruction is prophecied A Greeuous vision was shewed vnto mee The transgressor against a transgressor and the destroyer against a destroyer Goe vp Elam besiege O Madat By Elam he meaneth the Persians by Madai the Meedes This prophesie was foretold a Hundred yeares before this time Esay 13. Behold I will stirre vp the Medes against them which shall not regard siluer nor be desirous of gold their children also shal be broken in peeces before their eyes their houses shall be spoyled and their wiues rauished Of Cyrus one Hundred yeares before hee was borne the Lord said Esay 44. Cyrus thou art my shepheard and he shall perfourme all my desire saying also to Ierusalem Thou shalt be built and to the Temple thy foundation shall be surely layd And Esay 45. Thus sayth the Lord vnto Cyrus his annointed whose right hand I haue holden to subdue Nations before him Therefore I will weaken the loynes of Kings and open the dores before him and the gates shall not bee shut This is verified when Baltazar being drunke at his banquet the watches of the Citie were left open that Cyrus and Darius came suddainly vpon them It is sayd further there I will goe before thee and make the crooked streight I will breake the brasen dores and brust the yron barres and I will giue thee the treasures of darknesse and
God requireth by the Law is spirituall as the reward which wee ought to looke for is spirituall You are also to note that there was seuen times seuen dayes after the eating of the Lambe before the giuing of the Law Whereby wee may know that God careth not for ciuilitie without the knowledge of Christ though the contrarie bee taught that it is ynough so wee bee ciuill in life though our mindes neuer thinke of the eating of the Lambe But if wee will liue godlie indeed all our care must bee to esteeme highlie of those rules which concerne the teaching of the Redemption By Christ For it is no commendation to liue ciuilly though a sinne to misse in conuersation And yet this honest behauiour amongst all men must not be neglected Where it is said Sanctifie your selues for to morrow is the Sabbath If it bee demaunded how the Iewes could vnderstand this it may thus be answered God so spake that a childe may vnderstand it For Adam fell in Paradise the sixt day and sacrificed the seuenth which is as much as Moses speaketh heere This is the consent of the Hebrewes There is a Question Whether Ioseph in Egypt and the Iewes in Babylon did keepe the Sabbath For any thing that I can finde they did it not publiquelie Peraduenture Ioseph might doe it priuatlie in respect of his owne conscience but not otherwise And for the keeping of the Sabbathes by the Iewes in Babylon wee haue an expresse example to the contrarie There was a feast at Shusan which was on the Sabbath day which feast the Iewes likewise did solemnize immediately vppon that there was a decree to destroy the Iewes The Chaldee paraphrast expounds it to be for the contempt of the Sabbath Iob in his booke expounds this commaundement of honoring Father and Mother by shewing how contumeliously those did vse him whose Fathers he would not haue set with his dogges Saint Paul sheweth that this is the first commaundement that hath a promise annexed shewing thereby that we are to be dealt with like children by allurements to embrace common ciuilitie such is the peruersenesse of our nature Ieremy telleth the Iewes that if they will keep their Sabbaths they shall not goe into captiuitie He thereby meaneth that by the true keeping of the Sabbaths they must learne all religion For they must remember Adams fall and the restoring by Christ and then the instituting of the Sabbath Then must they come to Sem and Abraham and the promise and the offering vp of Isaack which was a figure of the Lambe slaine from the beginning of the world and so through the Stories of the Scripture The Law is vsually diuided into two Tables the First Second The Foure first Commaundements concerning God The sixe last concerning man The end of the Law is Christ which is excellently set downe in the Epistle to the Hebrewes which Epistle begins in this sort At sundrie times and in sundry manners God spake in the old time by the Prophets As to Adam The Seed of the woman shall break the head of the Serpent To Noah Blessed be the God of Sem. To AbrahaÌ„ In thy seed al Nations in the earth shall bee blessed c. And now last by his Sonne whome hee hath made heire of all things by whome hee made the world â— who being the brightnesse of his glorie and the Character of his substance sustaineth all thinges by whome the world was made farre aboue all Angels For in the beginning O Lord thou establishedst the heauens they will perish but thou doest remaine And the Angels they are but thy miâ—istring spirits for their sakes which shall be heires of saluation Now if euerie transgression and disobedience receiued a iust reward how shall we escape if wee neglect so great saluation It is easie to make triall hereof For the world was made in the beginning to obey man the Angels receiued damnation for despising this and in respect hereof Dauid sayth What is man that thou shouldest be mindfull of him thou hast made him a little inferiour to the Angels that thou mightest crowne him with glorie and honour And it was necessarie that Iesus should take vpon him the seede of Abraham and so be made inferiour to the Angels by suffering death that so hee might bring many Children to glorie and through death destroy him that had the power of death and by this victorie ouer the Deuill be crowned with glorie and honour and haue all things put in subiection vnder his feet And by these his sufferings hee was made like vnto his brethren that hee might be mercifull and a faithfull high Priest in things concerning God that hee might make reconciliation for the sinnes of the people Moses was a faithfull witnesse hereof and they that beleeued him not but disobeyed were plagued in the Wildernesse Therefore while it is called to day harden not your hearts least hee sweare They shall not enter into my rest This Doctrine was further made plaine by Aaron the Annointed of the Lord whose office was to offer for his owne sins and the sinnes of his brethren But his office ceased This ceasing was figured before in Melchisedech blessing Abraham when Leuie was yet in Abrahams loynes and therefore aboue Abraham for the lesser is blessed of the greater to whom Abraham gaue tythes therefore the Iewes must goe to a higher Religion than to the Lawe and Thy God contayneth more than ceremonies Wee shall see this cleare by the Tabernacle in the which wee are not to speake of the particular Ceremonies but of those cheefely which as referred to Christ In the Tabernacle there were two places the Holy the Holy of holiest The Holy was called the Sanctuarie of this world wherein were the Candlestickes Table of shew-bread c. The Holy of holyest did represent the state of heauen in which was the Arke of the Couenant of God In which Arke there was reserued as a memorie for all posterities a potte of Manna Aarons Rodde that alwayes flourished and the Tables of the Lawe The Arke was couered and the couering thereof was called the mercie-seat which figured Christ who is our propiciatorie or mercie-seat to couer our iniquities Ouer the mercie-seat were the forme of two Angels hauing relation to the Angels that kept the way to the tree of life to shew that none were worthie to come into that Holy of holiest but Aaron the annointed of the Lord who likewise figured Christ both in name and office For Aaron signifieth Christ which in English is Annointed and in office by entring once for all into the Holy of holiest For it was the office of the high Sacrificer once euery yeere to enter into this Holy of holyest with blood Of this Dauid speaketh Psalme 40. When hee commeth into the world hee saith Sacrifice and burnt offering thou wouldest not haue but a bodie hast thou ordained In the beginning of thy booke it is written that I should doe thy will O God Then said I loe I