seuen times or as his that doth begin them fifty yeeres before Babels fall and ends them towards the dissolution of the world as Hierome citeth Hypolitus to haue done or if any certainty be in them yet such it is as may rather dazell the eye vnto dimmer darkenesse then illuminate the vnderstanding with brighter knowledge if we will lend our eares vnto Origen who vnderstandeth these weekes not to be weekes of seauen yeeres but of ten times seauen for euery yeere taking ten and doth beginne their reckoning from the beginning of the world so that seuenty weeks should make foure thousand nine hundred yeeres from the creation vnto Christ and some beginne them at the natiuity of Christ and continueth them vnto the end of the World as Apollianus hath done Others that allow their certainty and propriety of the Angels speech yet doe differ in assigning their beginnings and endings because three other edicts are mentioned in Ezra and Nehemiah besides that of Cyrus and yet wheresoeuer they beginne them they still bring their endings â—…ther at the birth of Christ in the â—…me of Herod or at the death of Christ in the raigne of Tiberius as Lord Plessie hath well obserued That they beganne when Babels Kingdome ended is most manifest â—…y Ieremiah the Prophet where hee â—…ith Thus saith the Lord after seaâ—…nty yeeres bee accomplished at Babel I â—…ill visit you and performe my good proâ—…ises towards you and cause you to reâ—…rne to this place And by the last Chapter of the second of Chronicles where it is said In the first yeere â—…f Cyrus King of Persia when the word â—…f the Lord spoken by the mouth of Ieremiah was finished the Lord stirred vp the â—…irit of Cyrus King of Persia and hee â—…ade a Proclamation through all his Kingdome and also by writing saying Thus saith Cyrus King of Persia all the Kingdomes of the Earth hath the Lord God of Heauen giuen mee and hee hath â—…mmanded mee to build him a house in Ierusalem that is in Iudah who is among you of all his people with whom the Lord his God is let him goe vp And the other Edicts made by Darius and Artaxerxes successours tâ—… Cyrus are but confirmations of thiâ—… his Edict and not new Edicts made from which these seuens might hauâ—… their beginnings for so the Record layed vp in the Library at Babel and searched at the command of Darius doth signifie where in a volume iâ—… was thus written as a memoriall In the first yeere of King Cyrus King Cyrus made a decree for the house of God in Ierusalem c. And that they ended at the death of Christ when sinnes were sealed vp and iniquity reconciled by the annointing of the holy of Holies is manifest both by a definite and certaine number in themselues assigned namely seuenty seuens as also by a definite number multiplied from other Seuens thus Ieremiah had shewed the seuenty yeeres captiuity wherein they were to serue the King of Babel his sonne and his sonnes sonne which exactly fell so and were expired at Daniels prayer and thence being multiplied ten times more do bring vs to the certaine time of Christs death and make foure hundred and Ninety yeeres Againe those multiplied yeeres â—…eing diuided into parts definite â—…pproue the whole certaine and the â—…rst and last falling accordingly â—…ake that time to point out his â—…ime for whom time was ordained For the first Seuen The Iewes obâ—…ction against Christ that forty sixe â—…eers the Temple was in building Ioh. 2. â—…0 and the three of hinderance since Syrus his Edict make that number â—…ertaine euen seuen Seuens or forty Nine yeers whereof more hereafter And that the last were as exactly â—…ccomplished from the baptisme of Christ vnto his death euen halfe a seâ—…en of yeeres by the foure Passeouersâ—…lebrated â—…lebrated by himselfe in the last whereof hee died is apparant by â—…e Euangelists records and by the â—…ncient affirmed to bee the three â—…eers and a halfe of Christ his preaâ—…ing to confirme the couenant vnâ—… the which time the Time Times â—…d halfe a Time in the Apocalips is alluded vnto by many Interpreteâ—… And had those seuenty seuens or yeeâ—… of the Angels predicted for Chrâ—… his preaching and death beene vâ—… certaine the Iewes had not beeâ—… so iustly taxed for more negligeâ—… obseruerâ—… of time then were tâ—… Oxe or the Asse the Storke tâ—… Turtle the Crane or the Swalloâ—… neither had beene so blame-worth of times ignorance for their owâ—… visitations Moreouer had these Seuenty Sâ—…uens beene vncertaine then the aâ—…ceptable yeere of Iubile had not bâ—… so certainely expected as in Luâ—… wee see it was neither had any ceâ—…taine Chronology continued from tâ—… old vnto the new Testament Aâ—… what should moue the holy Ghâ—… so carefully to keepe and continâ—… a true Chronology of â—…uery particâ—…lar story from the first creation vâ—… to the first yeere of Cyrus and theâ—… breake it off especially considerinâ—… that all times led vnto Christ whom through whom and for whoâ—… were all things writ that were writ whom bee glory for euer and euer Amen Thus much being spoken of their beginnings and endings let vs now come to the accounts therein contained and for the better vnderstanding follow the yeeres of the Kingdomes wherein they fell beginning at the last and ascending to the first in which and whose raignes the most doubts fall The Roman Writers set Christs death in the eighteenth of the Emperour Tiberius and his birth in the forty two of Augustus whose whole raigne was fiftie sixe yeeres so that by them Christ his age is made to be vpon thirty three yeeres And both Romans and Greekes reckon betwixt the first of Augustus and the last of Alexander two hundred and eightie yeeres namely seuenty Olympiads for Alexander died in the 114. Olympiad and Augustus began his raigne in the 184. But the Grecian Monarchy began sixe yeeres before the death of Alexander by the slaughter of Darius as all Authors acknowledge and ended with the death of Cleopatra Queene of Aegypt being the last of his successours in the fourteenth yeere of Augustus as by the raignes of the Ptolomies are generally gathered Which number sixe before Alexanders death and foureteene likewise after Augustus his beginning being added to 280. make the number to bee compleat three hundred yeeres the whole and exact time of the Grecian Monarchy And the Romans raigne from the fourteenth of Augustus vnto the death of Christ the Messiah where the last Seuen of the Seuenty ended by the remainder of Augustus his raigne which was forty two yeeres more and eighteene likewise expired vnder Tiberius is most apparant that sixty yeeres of the Roman gouernment were spent which being added to the three hundred of the Grecians both together make three hundred and sixty So that one hundred and thirty for the Persians time must
yeer of King Cyrus the holy Scriptures plainely declare and that all that is writ was writ to and for Christ the Apostle doth affirme But how shall that fulnesse of time be knowen for the ending of the Ceremonies by the death of the Messiah which was then taught to the beloued Daniel and now much behooueth all men to know if from Cyrus downward the chaine of Chronologie in Daniels seuens be broken off for the space of 144. yeeres as Liuely doth them in his Olympicks table Where from the fiftie fiue to the eighty nine Olympiad in which and not before he beginneth to account Daniels weekes a Vacuety is left for so long a time Whereas contrariwise we see that Daniel beganne his prayer for their deliuerance immediately at the expiration of the seuenty yeeres captiuity and at the beginning of Daniels prayer the Angell Gabriel was sent from God to shew him that the Commandement for the deliuerance of the people was come forth and from that comming forth of the Commandement to the death of the Messiah seuenty seuens were determined for a full deliuery from the captiuity of sinne by the sacrifice of the Messiah Christ the Lamb figured in the Law And that this Commandement came forth in the first yeere of Cyrus the writers of the Chronicles and the booke of Ezra doe plainly declare both of them affirming and saying that in the first yeere of Cyrus when the Word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Ieremiah was finished the Lord stirred vp the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia and hee made a proclamation through all his kingdome and also by writing saying Thus saith Cyrus King of Persia all the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heauen giuen mee and hee hath commanded mee to build him a house in Ierusalem that is in Iudah Who is among you of all his people with wbom the Lord his God is let him goe vp And of this commandement made by Cyrus for the returne of the Iewes to build their Citie and Temple the Prophet Isaiah foretould aboue an hundred yeeres before Cyrus was borne for saith he He saith to Cyrus thou art my Shepheard he shal performe all my desire saying to Ierusalem thou shalt be built and to the Temple thy foundation shal be surely laid By which words of the Prophets wee conclude That not a linke of the sacred chaine of Chronologie is either broken or opened betwixt the commandement giuen by Cyrus the Lords Shepheard and the death of Christ the great Shepheard when hee gaue his life for his Flock For as time is chained linke vnto linke from Adam to Cyrus so is it chained linke vnto linke from Cyrus to the death of Christ by the speech of an Angel without al helps of the disagreeing Olympicks who in this diuine Chronologie do but trouble the waters of Shiloh and can be no let for time but that the Messiah in Daniels text is Christ Iesus our Lord and Sauiour And therefore let vs measure vnto him the true Temple and Altar with the Reed of Gabriel as Iohn did the Temple and Altar with the Reed of the Angel and in this case cast out the accoūts of the heathenish Olympiads as Iohn did cast out and not measure the Court for that was giuen to the Gentiles And so come we to his other Assertion which is that the text of holy Scrip ture in Daniel will not permit the name Messiah to be referred vnto Christ Iesus our Sauiour That Christ Iesus saith hee could be the Messiah mentioned in Daniel the hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not proue it being an attribute giuen to King Priest and Prophet must there be so taken and not appropriated to any one particular person which the text will not beare So that the word Messiah in Daniels text he will haue not to be meāt of Christ as it is in Iohns Gospel and in the second Psalme but rather a succession of gouernors both Iewes and Romans that ruled in Ierusalem from the rebuilding thereof by Nehemiah vntill the finall destruction both of Citie and Temple by Titus the Emprour And those that referre the word Messiah in that place vnto Christ Iesus saith hee cannot so doe without straining or wresting of the text which they who so vnderstād it are driuen vnto For as the Chronologie here fitteth not for Messiah to be vnderstood of Christ our Lord so the very text it selfe is against it And therefore he pitieth that the Message of an holy Angell containing a most excellent prophecy from Gods owne mouth should be so peruerted and depraued as it hath beene by those that picke out that sense But is it not a greater pitie that learning should thus turne edge vpon Diuinity to depraue vs of one of the most pregnant prophecy for Christ his passion reuealed in the whole Scriptures of God or that this most holy message of the Angell should be appropriated onely vnto prophane Gouernours people and place whose period had beene prophecied and whose tennor was shortly to be determined rather then vnto him who by that his foreshewed death was to bring an estate of euerlasting life and whose Kingdom should neuer haue end Therefore to free the text from any such interpretation let vs take the consent of all almost those malicious Iewes excepted that either speake against their owne knowledge and conscience or haue the vaile of Moses as yet vndrawne from before their hearts But the best approued Docters among them as Rabbi Saadias Rabbi Nahman and Rabbi Hadarson expounding that text of Daniel agree rhat the Messiah there spoken of is Christ the very annointed of God so farre are they from attributing that name to any other besids him though God hath giuen them the spi rit of slumber not to insee what themselues say And of Christian expositers wee take the testimony euen of the aduersarie himselfe who saith that the most part and best learned of those who haue laboured for the vnderstanding of this Prophecy haue vnderstood the Messiah here spoken of to bee Iesus Christ. And how generally true that opinion is and hath beene the worthy instrument of Gods truth the learned Du. Plessie in his truenesse of Christian Religion doth testify where he saith That this text is meant of the Messiah Christ is so euident and absolute that it is a starke shame to deny it And Lyra our Countryman against the resisting Iewes from the adiunct giuen vnto the Messiah frameth this argument The Messiah in Daniel saith he is called Messiah Prince for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie but none is called Messiah the prince but only Christ therefore is Christ the very Messiah spoken of in Dvniel Neither doth that Prophet speake of many but of one and the same Messiah and he to bee slaine to
of Iudah became thereby eclipsed Notwithstanding in the times of the later Prophets the like prouidence is continued by preseruing the Lights of the holy Genealogies a◅iue when the holy Spirit in the pens of Ezra the Scribe of Nehemiah the Prince their memorials and pedegrees were recorded vnto Iaddua the High Priest in the dayes of great Alexander where ended the Storie of the old Testament And in the New the holy Genealogies are set euen in the frontispice thereof and the first text read in the Gospel is The Booke of the generation of Iesus Christ the Sonne of Dauid the Sonne of Abraham Which well considered if nothing else could moue a reuerend desire to studie them yet at leastwise should it moue a trembling feare to despise them seeing that Christ is the subiect of that diuine text the Alpha Omega through whom they were writ and the Stone that bruseth his contemners to powder Genealogies then being the first step laid in the new Testament are for vse the first step that mounteth from earth vnto heauen as Iacobs Ladder did reach by which the great Archangell Christ from the top descended vnto the lowest staffe the Tabernacle of our flesh In them wee see the dispercions of Families in the peopleing of the World and in them the gouernment of the World when it was peopled In them the state of the holy and sincere worshippers of God and in them the wicked Idolaters and profaners of all his waies Briefly in them we see both the builders and pullers downe of the walles of Sion Gods mercy euer extended vpon his chosen the blessed and his wrath euer seuere vpon the reiected the cursed For from Cain to Lamech his seueritie continued through Ham Canaan Nimrod Amelek Ismael Esau it followed which last found no repentance though hee sought it carefully with teares and Agrippa his last was but almost perswaded to become a Christian. Wheras cōtrariwise the elect were led by Gods Angell through Canaan Egypt the Red Sea and the Wildernesse vnto Canaan their rest where Sion became the Lords delight Ierusalem his chosen Citie and the Lords Temple the very gate of heauen Vnto which without respect of Countrey Person or Tribe whether Iew or Gentile they that looked with the eye of fauour were againe of God fauoured as Salomon prayed for Such were Hiram king of Tyrus that forwarded the building of the Temple the Queene of Sheba that came from the vtmost parts of the earth to heare the wisdome of Salomon Ebedmelech the Black-more that pitied Ieremiah and drew him out of the Dungeon Cyrus the Lords annointed that released Babylons Captiuitie and Darius King of Persia that fauored forwarded the work of the second Temple Againe the healed Naaman was a Syrian the Widow of Sarepta was a Sidonian the supplicant woman was a Greeke a Syrophenician Candaces Eunuch was an Ethiopian the clensed Leper was a Samaritan and Cornelius was Captaine of the Italian Band. And this made Peter to confesse and say that God is no respecter of persons but in euery Nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousnesse is accepted with him Search then the Scriptures for they testifie of Christ and as hee is sought for so is he found but no where more fully then in the sacred Genealogies which through seuentie fiue generations shew him to be the seed promised to subdue Satan the iust age of Abrahams life when he receiued the promise of seede in whom the World should be saued He is the Light and Life of the World let vs seeke him therefore whilest it is day for the night commeth when no man can work Saul in seeking Asses found a Crowne and we in seeking the Messiah shall find an immortall Kingdome Happy are they that so seeke and so finde for God is a rewarder of them that seeke him CHAP. II. That the Names of the Fathers and Patriarkes in the Scriptures Genealogies doe leade vnto Christ. MOses ready to goe the way of all flesh in his last Booke and leaue-taking of his brethren the Israelites among many other documents to them deliuered gaue this precept continually to be followed That the children should aske their fathers concerning the Lords Couenants euen since the day that man was created vpon the earth And the disputer in Iob from the same text giueth the reason For we are but of yesterday and know nothing because saith he our daies are a shadow vpon the earth If then from the wise wisdome is to be had what truer can be gotten then from the ancient Patriarkes Fathers and high Saints both before and after the floud they being the Parents of Christ and the patterns of all true holinesse The former for length of dayes and holy conuersations are best able to instruct vs ought chiefly to be knowne of vs for the parents of all Nations vpon the earth Whose Religion and seruice to their God Iehouah their sacrificing declareth and the propheticall naming of their sonnes sufficiently sheweth what hope they had of the other and how vaine they held this transitory world For Adam no sooner had Cain a possession but forthwith was borne to him Abel a vanitie and therefore his third sonne in name was Seth a setled foundation vpon the Rocke Christ. And Seth knowing the sinnes that should be wrought by the Sonnes of the holy Stem whē they for beauties sake should match with the profane but faire daughters of Cains race named his sonne Enos the sorrowfull as foreseeing the heauie relapse in religion and the turning of the grace of God into wantonnesse as vpon the like stumbling blocke the Israelites fell when twentie foure thousand fell vnder the plague of death for the like wantonnes with the daughters of Moab Vnto Enos was borne Cainan the Contrite and vnto him Mahalaleel the praise-God whose sonne was Iared the lowly and his sonne Enoch the Consecrated a figure of the resurrection by the translation of his earthly body into heauen from the society of men and the world His sonne was Methuselah the spearedeath and his Lamech the heart-wounded who fore-seeing the generall deluge named his sonne Noah the Comforter that should restore the earth which God had cursed and re-people the world which for sinne was drowned And the like appellations had the Fathers after the Floud when the yeeres of their liues were cut shorter by the halfe for Sem the second son of Noah was named Renowne who in his name Melchizedek is renowned indeed being the first King and Priest mentioned in the world and the figure of Christ in them both His sonne Arphaxad was a Healer and his sonne Sale a spoiler his sonne Heber a Pilgrim and his sonne Peleg a Diuision and so consequently of all the rest Where by
the best learned of euery Tribe were sent These comming to Alexandria entred vpon the Translation taking each of them a part of the old Testament amounting about foureteene chapters as wee now distinguish them for a man as saith the learned Hebrecian Master Broughton But well knowing the Kings desire was more to adorne his famous Library then any deuotion hee had to their Lawes they many times hid their minds in translating and being among themselues different in gifts left the rellish of their vaines in a differing degree as by their parts in translating doth euidently appeare For the Translaters of Moses were very eloquent so were they who delt with the stories and they that translated the Psalmes and Prouerbs The Grecian on Iob saith hee was a Poet reader and cared not to yeeld euery saying strictly but what might be to Greekes familiar The Translaters of Ecclesiastes was yonger in Hebrew then in Greeke he of Amos not the best he of Ezekiel very learned so that the diuersities of their gifts telles vs that all did not all Oftentimes they rather abridge then translate as on Hester and infinitely in the Prophets and sometimes they enlarge the Text more like free commenters then bound Translaters In misteries and hard phrases often they deale exceeding well but their now hitting and now missing shewes that they followed copies which were neither vowelled nor accented which without exceeding great skill and paines could not bee truly translated nor vnderstood and the neerenesse in forme of many of the Hebrew Characters might cause a mistaking especially in them that saw no reason of exact care when their labour was required onely for a braue Library Besides Iesus the sonne of Syrac who was a child when these Docters translated telles how hard it is to translate Hebrew into another Language whose words saith hee carry another force in themselues then when they are translated But wee must acknowledge that neuer since their time any age afforded so learned through all the Prophets Emblemes Hebrew subtilties and Greeke elegancy as these seauenty two Translaters were notwithstanding they liued in those disquiet times of the poore Iewes oppressions and the Hebrew tongue for daily vse lost fiue hundred yeeres before But how this narration of their ouerslips and variances doe agree with Iosephus for their exactnesse vnto Moses I see not onely doe I say though an errour be admitted to haue beene committed by these Septuagints yet in the holy Euangelist can be none the Spirit of truth being the only inditer Or that these Hebrew Doctors should mistake the Hebrew Characters they being so learned is not like either so godlesse as to alter and adde vnto Moses knowing it death so to doe Why then may we not rather with Austin thinke that the first Septuagint hath beene corrupted both in matter and meaning seeing they haue beene so infinitely maymed by the Translations of Aquilas Symmachus Theodotion and the namelesse interpretet called the fifth Edition with them of Origens named the Octaplun Yea and Hierome thinketh these seuenty two Doctors translated but only the fiue books of Moses which howsoeuer had been approoued before his time yet in his time stood farre differing and was much corrupted from the Hebrew phrase and therefore not like to be theirs Againe in those bookes of Moses wee see that translation to differ in it selfe for albeit both in Genesis and in Exodus it accounteth seuenty fiue persons to descend into Egypt yet doth it in Deuteronomy reckon but seuenty saying Thy fathers went downe into Egypt with seuenty persons and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the Starres of the heauen in multitude And againe their departing from Moses his text is apparant for wheras he recordeth by name all the seed of Rachel and rekoneth the number to be fourteene they translate them to bee eighteene and for the two soules borne vnto Ioseph in Egypt they translate fiue and not as bound Translaters but as free Commenters from the first book of the Chronicles adde Shuthelah and Tahan the sonnes of Ephraim and Eden his nephew and Machir the sonne of Manasseh and Gilead his nephew to bee the fiue persons that filled the number of seuenty fiue that descended into Egypt And surely this moued Saint Austin to conceiue some great and hid miserie to be contained therein for so reuerend an opinion hee hath of the first Septuagint as hee holdeth firmely that the same Spirit that spake in the former Prophets spake also in these Translators and where they dissent from the Hebrew we must saith he hold it their Propheticall depth for that which was not originally in the Hebrew it pleased God in them to supply But he might haue done well to haue added this saying withall It is I that so speake and not the Lord who hath so perfited his Word that it is eternal death to adde or to diminish Of the like opinion is Ioseph Ben Gorion who will haue these Septuagints likewise indued with the Spirit of the Prophets For saith d he they being separated into diuers chambers apart and not permitted to see each others copies notwithstanding agreed exactly in phrase and in words and in thirteene places of Scripture of purpose altred the text with so vniforme consent as if it had been done by one man and one pen. Vnto the which likewise S. Chrysostome and Saint Augustine do agree but Saint Hierome nothing at all Nor the famous Iosephus Ben-Matthias maketh no such miracle vnlesse it bee in saying that the translation was finished in 72. dayes according to the number of the Translaters But touching the number descending into Egypt hee saith they were seuentie soules and accounting Iacobs seede by his foure wiues summeth vp each particular as Moses hath done Which is a great inducement vnto me to thinke that the first Septuagint was not corrupted before Iosephus wrote nor that the Euangelist Saint Luke followed the faultie but the faithfull copie of those learned Rabbins done in the dayes of Phyladelphus King of Egypt yet will I not herein preiudice any opinion of the learned Fathers ancient and moderne who haue diligently laboured to vnclaspe this great doubt Some thinking as Augustine Pererius that the Septuagint S. Stephen speaking from them are inno error but that the fiue thereunto added being borne in Egypt while Ioseph liued are added by way of anticipation And Eugubinus the Romanist will admit no fault in the originall but that it was rather corrupted by some ignorant pen-man in translating the copie And so Beza the Protestant coniectureth that the word Pantes all by the ignorance of the transcriber was writ pénte fiue contrary to the Text of Moses Iunius iudgeth that Iacobs foure wiues and Iudahs two sonnes Er and Onan Iacob himselfe being deducted make the number to bee seuentie fiue but Rachel Er and Onan were dead
Iudahs Crowne ascendeth as is said no higher then Abraham vnto whom the first promise either of King or Kingdome was giuen for when God meant to make him the glory of men and had called him from Vr of the Chaldeans had shewed and giuen him the Land of Canaan this further he assured that his Seede should be in number to the starres of heauen and in multitude as the dust of the earth and that Kings should proceede out of his loynes Sara his wife should bee a mother to kings of people Now as in Isaac the seede was called so in Iudah the Scepter was established which whilst it stood vpright with God was the glory of the Earth and their Temple the very gate of Heauen But when all Religion was turned to an outward worship and Salomons Throne made a denne of theeues looke what was done to Shilo must be done to Ierusalem for Christ his kingdome was not of this world And therefore vnder Nebuthadnezzer the Caldean Lion the glory and maiesty thereof fell From Zerubabell Gods signet by the Persian Beare the right was retained and the high Saints the holy Seede the onely substance of the downe-cast gouernment by the Grecian Leopard and double-king'd monster all fuell for Tophet were so afflicted as none were left to stand for the Crowne saue onely Ioseph a poore Carpenter and Iesus his supposed Sonne whilst an Idumean stranger vsurped their rights To this purpose then Saint Mathew wrote that the King promised to Abraham and found of the Wisemen was IESVS of Beth-lehem of Iudah and Dauid the sonne of Salomon touching succession but taking no flesh of his impious successors But the drift of S. Luke our other Euangelist was to shew that God became man in Iesus the Immanuel according to the promise made of him in Paradise beleeued in and looked for of all the Fathers figured in the law prophecied of by the Prophets now in the last time euen in the fulnesse of time was made man of a woman The Scriptures are full of a promised Messiah and as fully speake that from Adam Abraham Isaac Iacob Iudah and Dauid hee should come To Adam he was promised the Seed of life to Abraham the heire of the Couenant to Isaac the Seede in whom all should bee blessed to Iacob the Starre and Scepter of Israel to Iudah the Lion that none might stir vp and to Dauid the Sonne that was fairer then the children of men His offices were figured in the person of Melchisedec of him Moses meant when he spake of the Prophet and Iob acknowledged him for his Redeemer Ioshuah saw him a Captaine of the Lords Host Gideon the Angel that promised deliuerance and vnto Samuel he reuealed himselfe and in all the ensuing Prophets is so cleereiy foreshewed as the Sun shews no greater brightnesse in his greatest strength Vnto whom saith Peter Wee doe well to take heede as vnto a light that shineth in a darke place vntill the day dawne and the day-star arise in our hearts Therefore let vs heere behold how God hath reuealed his Christ vnto them and how they haue reuealed him vnto vs the frame of Saluation standing so ioynted as they without vs cannot be made perfect First then Isaiah saw him the Em manuel and Sonne of a Virgine wounded for our transgressions and broken for our iniquities vpon whom the chastisement of our peace was laid and by whose stripes we are healed Ieremiah calleth him the Lord our Righteousnesse the King that should execute iustice the Righteous Branch raised to Dauid And Ezekiel tearmes him the Shepheard that should feed and the Prince that should raigne euen the seruant Dauid Daniel saw him a Stone cut without hands a finisher of sins a maker of reconciliation a bringer of euerlasting righteousnesse and a Sealer vp of vision and prophecie and expresly nameth him Messiah Prince most holy Hosheah calleth him Dauid their King whom Israel should seeke should finde his goodnesse in the latter dayes Ioel sheweth That the Spirit in his daies should be powred out vpon all flesh that their sonnes and their daughters should prophecy their old men should dreame dreames and their young men should see visions Amos prophecied that in the daies of this Messiah the Tabernacle of Dauid that was falen downe should bee raised vp and the Breaches thereof built as in the daies of old Obadiah telles vs that They who shal be saued shal come to Mount Zion that the Kingdom shall be the Lords And Ionas in the Whale was a signe of Christ in the Graue Micah foreshewed whence the Ruler of Israel shuld come whose goings forth had beene from the beginning and from euerlasting Nahum bids vs behold vpon the Mountaine the feet of him that publisheth peace Habakkuk telles vs that Saluation came by the Annointed whose glory couereth the Heauens and the Earth is full of his praise Zephaniah saith that hee shall starue all the I dols of the Earth and euery man shall worship him from his place euen all the Iles of the Heathen and with pure language they shall call vpon his Name and shall serue him with one consent Haggai sheweth that the Lord would fill his last house with greater glory then the first wherein should be peace and vnto whom the desire of all Nations should come Zechariah sheweth Christs triumphs to be poore riding vpon a Coâ—…t the foale of an Asse and his wages as poore euen thirty peeces of siluer a goodly price saith he to be valued at by them for him whom they had pierced and for whom euery family should mourne apart as one that mourneth for his only Son And Malachi the last Prophet closeth vp the Old Testament for Christ with this saying Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet beforâ—… the comming of the great and fearefull day of the Lord. And he shall turne the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers leâ—…t I come and smite the earth with câ—…rsing And with this Elias the Euangelists doe begin the New Testament in the birth of the Baptist whose office was fore-shewed by the Angeâ—… before his birth that in the spirit and power of Elias he should goe before to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Which in the fifteenth of the Emperour Tiberius Pilat Herod Philip and Lysanias being Gouernours and Annas Caiph as high Priests accordingly he did when in preaching the Baptisme of Repentance his voyce from Isaiah cryed in the wildernesse preparâ—… yee the way of the Lord make his paths straight euery valley shall bee filled and euery mountain shall be brought low the crooked shall bee made straight and the rough waies shal be made
King of the Iewes so called and acknowledged liuing after death the same humane body though being also glorified had the same faculties preheminence and prerogatiues of life and rights thereunto belonging as before in his body was subsisting For death hauing no power to retaine him in the graue his humane body after his resurrection was againe verily a humane man among men vpon earth the space of forty daies In which at sundry times hee was seene both saith the Apostle of the Apostles and at one time of aboue fiue hundred brethren at once All of them being faithfull witnesses of his presence in the flesh for of the vnfaithfull after his resurrection hee was neuer seene in his flesh And now Dauids Kingdome come to the full period and the wall of seperation betweene Iew and Gentile puld downe when the vaile of the Temple was rent assunder Christ Iesus then that was heire of of all before all beginnings is thenceforth King ouer all vnto all eternities For being the Seede the Shiloh and the Sonne promised to sit on Dauids throne for euer Acccordingly came of Abraham of Iudah Dauid of Mary in the town Bethlehem as the Prophets had tould and by the title of King of the Iewes was sought for acknowledged and so stiled as the onely next heire to Salomons Crowne as we haue shewed But that earthly Canaan vsurped by Herod and the Caesars hee came not by strength to recouer the terme of that tennor so neerely expired but rather taught that Caesar should haue Caesars paid tribute as a subiect though himselfe the Sonne was free and would not giue iudgment of death for Adultery when it was not lawfull for the Iewes his nation to put any man to death For his comming as the Angell tould Daniel was to a farre more heauenly intent namely to expiat sinne to abolish iniquitie to establish righteonsnesse to seale vp vision and prophecie and to annoint the most holy But of the earthly he shewed that both City and Sanctuary should bee destroyed And so much Sain Stephen whose face shone Angel-like affirmed vnto the cheife Priest of the Iewes when he said that Iesus of Nazareth should destroy that place and change the ordinances that Moses had giuen them Which most manifestly hee did when his body the true Serpent was lifted vp betwixt Heauen and Earth to make an Attonment betwixt heauen and earth his bloud as the Lambes sprinkled vpon the Altar of his Crosse making cleane the conscience of the offender and lastly his voyce vttering this last Period of people and state it is finished when ended the Ceremonies and holinesse of the place And hauing conquered Sathan Sinne and the Graue is entred into his Kingdom of glory is set in Maiesty and power at the right hand of God his Father and his enemies made his foot-stoole for euer O thou that hast the Key of Dauid that openeth and no man shutteth open our hearts to beleeue in thee the King of glory and the Gates of thy Kingdome that wee may enter in the day of thy Mariage and behold thee our King crowned with Salamons Crowne CHAP. XI A touch of some Iewish and vaine Genealogies which hinder truth Against which Saint Paul warneth with answere to Master Liuelies Iewish obiections HAuing thus shewed some principall vses of the sacred Genealogies for Story for Christ and for his Kingdom therein haueing vrged no more then the Scriptures inforce it followeth by order and desired satisfaction that some-what bee spoken of their forced abuses falling vnder the check of the holy Ghosts pen. That there are Gâ—…nealogis endles which with fables breed questions rather then godly edifying the Apostle sheâ—…eth and among foolish Questioâ—…s Contentions and Wranglings about the Law ranketh Genealogies that are vnprofitable and vaine And vpon these texts some presume so farre as they thinke themselues freed from the search of all Genealogies and others demand whether saluation consisteth vpon their pregnant knowledge or damnation vpon the ignorance therein That wee are not freed from the search the commandement of Christ doth inforce who enioyneth the search of the Scriptures and the reading of Moses in whose writ and whose pen wee finde all the Patriarks recorded from Adam in Paradise to Ioshua the Captaine that placed the Tribes in the Land Whence the writers of the Chronicles of Ezra Nehemiah and Ruth continue their memorials vnto Zorobabel and thence likewise by the same Spirit they are recorded to Ioseph and Mary and euen vnto Christ Iesus himselfe That Paul therefore should contradict Moses being brought vp in his lawes at the feete of Gamaliel and should condeme those for foolish which he maketh the pillars of his stories may not bee consented vnto neither that in his Apostleship hee should account the search and knowledge how Christ was come in the flesh for vaine seeing among the many graces of the Iewes for Adoption Glory Couenants the Law seruice of God and the promises himselfe she weth that Christ from those Fathers came and tooke flesh vrging the doctrine of his humanity in most of his Epistles and putting his Disciple Timothy in minde To remember that Iesus Christ was made of the Seede of Dauid And that the Scriptures are of an equall esteeme the Rabbins in that thing onely commendable affirme who hold these words in Genesis The sonnes of Cham were Cush and Mizraim with the like wisedome from God as these words in Deuteronomie Heare Israel Iehouah our God Iehouah is one being both of them breathed from the same Spirit And Rambam witnesseth that Manasses was of old time condemned because he held that the Families of Ishmael Esau and such like had not the like vse for histories as the others had and therefore hee forbade the reading of Moses as bookes not penned by the wisdome of God But how true so euer this accusation is of Manasses most certen it is that the Rabbins and others their like haue fained many and so false Genealogies as might very wel moue the Apostle to forbid their abuse For vnto our first Parents the faire foure children to be begotten and borne of Adam and Eue in the first day of their Creation And in the first world they say that Giants were begotten by the falne Angels vpon the faire daughters of men Noah the righteous they make vnrighteous in faining him to take to wife Naamah the daughter of the double wiued Lamech and sister to Tubalcain so should that holy Patriarke not onely sinne with the Sonnes of God in choosing a wife of the daughters of men but the latter world also should bee replenished from a branch of that cursed roote Cain Dinah the daughter of Iacob hauing no husband in the Scriptures record they marry to Iob the great man in the East