for thou hast shed much blood and hast made great warres But when thy dayes shall be fulfilled and thou shalt sleepe with thy fathers I will set vp thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy Bowels Hee shall build an house for my name and I will establish the throne of his Kingdome for euer I will be his father and hee shall be my sonne if hee sinne I will chasten him with the rodde of men and with the stripes of the children of men but my mercy shall not depart away from him as I tooke it from Saul whom I put away before thee And albeit this house and Kingdome in their spirituall meaning were built and established in and by Christ yet litterally they were performed in Salomon whose works were so glorious and peace so famous as they were figures of the true substances following But that Salomon sinned is manifested by his story for his wiues turned away his heart after other gods when hee suffered the worshipping of Ashteroth the Goddesse of the Zidonians Milcom the abomination of the Amorites Chemoâ—…h the Idoll of Moab and Molech the Diuel of the children of Ammon For which cause God did chastise him by the rebellions of Hadad the Edomite of Rezon King of Damascus and of his seruant Ieroboam that rent his Kingdome after him and carried away ten Tribes These in part were the Rods in Gods hand that corrected his offences but his mercy hee tooke not from him as he had promised whose saluation notwithstanding these his great sinnes is confirmed by these many and more testimonies of Scriptures He loued the Lord 1 King 3 3 and is likewise called the Lords beloued Nehe. 13. 26. His Iedidiah 2 Sam. 12. 25. He pleased the Lord 1 Kings 〈◊〉 10. was a true Prophet 1 Kings 8. 48. a figure of Christ Luke 11. 31. and a repentant King as his Booke Ecclesiastes sufficiently sheweth His sonnes after him for the most part were extreamely wicked for of nineteene Kings of Iudahs throne from his loynes descended twelue are noted to bee extreamely impious who often prouoked and lastly procured the vtter subuersion of that glorious Kingdome which whilst it stood was the glory of the earth and a figure of the Celestiall that is to come The want of issue then which failed in Ieconiah was the Rod of Salomons line wherewith God scourged him and his Kingdome and how that fell out let vs see the seuerall rents that therein were made The first rent of Salomons Kingdome may bee said to beginne in his owne life time when Ahijah the Shilonite rent the new garment that Ieroboam wore into twelue peeces retaining onely two and deliuered him tenne by which was signified the tenne Tribes that God would take from Salomons Throne and Son and giue them vnto this Ephrathite the Sonne of Nebat Who no sooner was made King but that he set vp two golden Calues the one at Dan and the other at Bethel for his people to worship lest in returning to Ierusalem their harts should returne to the Lord and their subiection vnto Rehoboam With this his sinne all the Kings of Israel were polluted onely Shallum and Hosheah excepted for with that sinne they are not charged though otherwise they were as wicked as the rest And this was the cause that moued the Prophet Hosheah to say Thy Calfe O Samaria hath cast thee off Another rent was threatned to Salomons issue and Kingdome when his house ioyned with Omâ—…ies in Ioram the sonne of Iehoshaphat King of Iudah and in Athalia the daughter of Ahab King of Israel For Ahabs whole house that is both male and female must vtterly perish according to the threats of the Lord by Elijah the Prophet Behold saith he I will bring euill vpon thee and will take away thy posterity and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall as well him that is shut vp as him that is left in Israel And I will make thy house like the house of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahiiah for the prouocations wherewith thou hast prouoked and made Israel to sinne The dogges shall eate him of Ahabs stocke that dieth in the City and hee that dieth in the fields shall the Fowles of the ayre eate And that the whole houses of Ieroboam and of Baasha were both of them extinct and their remnant swept away as dung from the dung-hill and all gone is most apparant by the holy Text and so must the whole house of Ahab be hauing the like threats of destructioÌ„ from the same Spirit that did not repent which presently beganne in Ahab and Iezebel themselues Hee wounded to death at Ramath Gilead by the King of Syria and shee throwne out of her window was dashed to death in Iezreel by her Eunuchs Ahaziah their first sonne was brused to death by a fall through his lettice window in Samariah And Ioram their second with all his brethren the sons of Ahab and his Kinsmen were all slaine in Iezreel by Iehu vntill hee left none remaining saith the Text of the whole House of Ahab And as Gods wrath followed Ahab in his sonnes vnto destruction so did it in his daughter Athalia the mother of most of the Kings of Iudah and most of them following her sinnes were also swept away till they were all gone For the three first Kings that succeeded of her descent were all of them slaine in battell and in conspiracy And Vzziah the fourth put from the peoples presence died a leaper Bad Ahaz distressed by Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel made himselfe seruant to Tiglah Pileser King of Ashur who carried his treasures away vnto Damascus And good Hezektah was told that his substance and seed foreshewing his treasures should be carried captiue vnto Babel The blood shed by Manasseh called as Abels for Babylons punishments and Amon for seruing strange gods was slaine by his seruants The godly Iosiah was told of captiuity curse and destruction of people and place which yet was deferred all his owne life because his heart melted at the words of the then found Booke of the Law but his sonnes succeeding soone pulled those plagues by his life kept back vpon themselues and Iudahs estate For Iehoahaz the first inthroned was captiuated by Necho carried to Aegypt and there died and Iehoiakim his successor made subiect to Nebuchadnezzar was for his rebellion slaine and his carkasse left vnburied to the heate of the day and the frost of the night Zedekiah was made blinde chained and carried to Babel where he died the City Ierusalem sacked the Temple t burned the Priests u slaine the people pillars and holy vessels transported to Babylon and all of them polluted and subiected to the Chaldeans that bitter furious and terrible Nation
as by the Prophets they are termed For Ioel saith that their teeth were like the teeth of Lyons and that they had the iawes of a great Lyon and Ieremy calles them a mighty and very strong Nation whose quiuer was an open sepulcher Ezekiel saw the tops of the Cedars of Lâ—…banon broken off and carried into the Land of Merchants by the Eagle of Babel and Daniel 〈◊〉 Babels King like a Lyon with wings being himselfe carried thither captiue in the first captiuity with periured Iehoiakim But the last and greatest rent of Salomons Kingdome was when the earth was commanded to take knowledge that his successour and sonne Ieconiah should die childlesse and that none of his seede should sit vpon Salomons Throne any more as by Ieremy was proclaimed and to Iechoniah told I wil giue thee saith he into the hand of them that seeke thy life and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest euen into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babel and into the hand of the Chaldeans And I will cause them to carry thee away and thy mother that bare thee into another countrey where ye were not borne and there shall ye die But to the I and whereunto they desire to returne thither they shall not returne Is not this man Coniah as a despised and broken Idoll or as a vessell wherein is no pleasure wherefore they are cast out into a Land which they know not O Earth Earth Earth heare the word of the Lord thus saith the Lord write this man childlesse a man that shall not prosper in his dayes for no man of his seede shall prosper to sit vpon the Throne of Dauid or to beare rule any more in Iudah Of whose successor Crowne and Kingdome the Prophet Ezechiel further speaketh when Nebuchad nezzar after he had captiuated Ie coniah in Babylon had set his Vncle Zedekiah vpon Iudahs throne Thou Prince of Israel saith he polluted and wicked whose day is come when iniquity shall haue an end Thus saith the Lord God I will take away the Diademe and take off the Crowne this shall be no more the same I will exalt the humble and will abase him that is hie I will ouerturne ouerturne ouerturne it and it shall be no more vntill hee come whose right it is and I will giue it him And for the reuersing of that Crowne into another Family the words of the Prophet Ieremy and Haggai doe witnesse The one speaking thus As I liue saith the Lord though Coniah the sonne of Iehoiakim King of Judah were the signet of my right hand yet would I plucke thee thence iâ—… not this man Coniah as a despised and broken Idoll And the other thus In that day saith the Lord of Hosts I will take thee O Zerubbabel my seruant the sonne of Salathiel saith the Lord and I will make thee as a Signet for I haue chosen thee saith the Lord of Hosts If seuen thunders of wrath should sound the period of any posterity how could they be lowder or plainer then these vniuersall speeches pronounced against Ieconiah O Earth Earth Earth heare the word of the Lord write this man childlesse Or the change of state in any Kingdome then this of Zedekiahs crowne I will ouerturne ouerturne ouerturne it it shall be no more the same Or what could be more distinctly said who should be cast off then this of Iechoniah by name a vessell without pleasure and who chosen Gods Signet then Zerubbabel that built the Lords Temple and brought forth the head stone thereof with shouts crying grace grace Let vs then that haue eares to heare heare what the Spirit hath spoken of Iudahs temporall Crowne and speaketh of him vnto whom it spiritually belongeth Behold the dayes come saith the Lord I will raise vnto Dauid a righteous Branch and a King shall raigne and prosper and shall execute iudgement and iustice in the Earth In his dayes Iudah shall be saued and Israel shall dwell safely and this is the name whereby he shall be called THE LORD OVR RIGHTEOVSNESSE Which speech of Ieremy is farre milder then that which was thundered out before and not much vnlike vnto the still voyce that spake to Elijah after the tempest of winde earth-quake and fier had rent the rockes and mountaines in peeces This righteous Branch then must not be brought from Salomons Stem of wicked Kings nor from the halfe bloud of Achab by his daughter Athaliah that died in their sinnes seeing that both roote and branch were cut off in Iechoniah and all threats of destruction as well to the house of Israel as Iudah accomplished when the want of issue in him was declared to the World But against this proclamation of Ieremy the Iewes haue their answere namely that these words are not meant for a childlesse posterity but for a Seed that should not inherit the fathers possession for thus Dauid Kimchi comments vpon this Text Write him childlesse If Ieconiah had sonnes saith he they died in his lifetime if hee had none then should hee haue none to gouerne for not Salathiel his sonne but Zerubbabel his Nephew ruled in Iudah after him And the threats in the Law of a childlesse posterity they expound in the same sence for where it is said He that lieth with his Ant or with his brothers wife to vncouer their nakednesse shall diâ—… childlesse That is meant say they that a seede so begot shall not inherit the patrimony whereas in truth it inforâ—…th a farre greater defect For 〈◊〉 in the Hebrew from the roote 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word is vsed some times in the old Testament and signifieth one rooted vp oâ—… one who hath not in himselfe a roote for heires of his owne body A dee per signification by much then the want onely of an heire for inheritance as in the answer of Abraham to God is apparant What wilt thou giue me saith he seeing 〈◊〉 goe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 childlesse and the Steward of mine house is this Eliezer of Damascus behold to me thou hast giuen no seede and lo one borne in my house is mine heire Here it is most manifest that his speech was a complaint for want of issue from his body and not for want of an heire which we see hee had ordained and prouided and so must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Ieremy be taken against Ieconiah that childlesse man And no otherwise can the malicious Iewes force it but by forcing a glosse vpon Gods decree saying that Ieconiahs repentancâ—… altered Gods purpose and oath for in their Gemera or Babylonian Talmud thus they write 〈◊〉 maketh reconciliation for three things spoken of by Ieremy the sword hunger and plague which they that abode in the City should suffer but hee that did yeelde to the Caldeans should haue his life for a prey Naâ—… saith Rabbi Iochanan
neither can neither be followed nor found For their beginning is but roueâ—… at from Hercules that aimelessâ—… marke their neglect remained tâ—… the daies of Licurgus the tenth from the founder their restoration was by Iphitus of Elis but set thâ—… centers in the circles of these timeâ—… where yee can find them and their celebration superstitiously begun in honour of the Idoll of Iupiter Olympius and againe restored to cease 〈◊〉 contagious pestilence if not to â—…fect the world with their pestifeâ—…ous accounts Their counsellour was Appollo â—…e instrument of Sathan there prise â—…as a Garland of a Spiders Webbe â—…ouen in the boughes of a wilde â—…liue and fruitlesse tree and their â—…ownes the crowne of vaine-glory â—…nd not that of immortality for â—…hich the Apostle councelleth the Corinthians to striue may well bee â—…mpared to the houses of Spiders in wherein was no confidence and to â—…e Webbes in Isaiah that made no â—…arments to couer from cold Are these gaimes then the inâ—…ntion of Sathan fit linkes to liâ—…it an Angels speech and account â—…r the saddest action that the â—…orld euer saw and shall more creâ—…t bee giuen them for the time of â—…e Suns course in the heauens then â—…nto the heauenly Oracle of an Angell from God for the time of his Sons death on earth Or shall those men whose charge is to teach all Nations that the Kingdome of God is come in his Christ take their authority for the time of his comming from such hea then recorders as neither knew God nor were regarded of God in the time of their ignorance as the Apostle witnesseth The City and holy Altar wee see were measured by the reede that the Angell gaue vnto Iohn and by the same reede the direction oâ—… God did Daniel from Ieremy measure the yeeres of captiuity and from their expiration was taught by an Angel from God the time oâ—… Christs sufferings without all help of any secular learning or accounâ—… of heathenish Olimpicks but rather by farre more holier bands tied with the accounts of three moâ—… certen euents as of seuen seuens sixtâ—… two seuens and one seuen in the halfe whereof Christ should die And whereof Gabriel confesseth that he was sent from God to teach Daniel the certaine knowledge and Daniel himselfe acknowledged that â—…he vnderstood the thing and had vnderstanding of the vsion which was vnlocked vnto him by no key of â—…humaÌ„e litterature but by the Scriptures of truth as the angell affirmed Neither Saint Paul the greatest humanist among the Apostles brought vp at the feete of Gamaleel and spake more Languages then all â—…is opposers euer relied vpon the Olimpicks or other secular learning touching the knowledge of Christ and his passion But contrariwise confessed that hee had deliuered vnto the Corinthians that which hee had receiued which was That Christ died for our sinnes that he was buried and rose the third day and that hee did according to the Scriptures of God without other helps of Olimipcks or secular learning And as touching humane litterature that any wise were oposit to the Gospell hee admonisheth his Disciple Timothy to auoide prophane oppositions of Sciences falsly called which while some professe they haue erred concerning the Faith And commendeth him for his knowledge in the holy Scriptures which are able to make him wise being giuen by inspiration of God and are sufficiently profitable to teach to improoue to correct and to instruct that the man of God may bee absolute And that Light which Saint Peter willeth vs to guide our steps by is the sure word of the Prophets to the which saith he yee doe well that yee take heede as vnto a light that shineth in a darke place vntill the day dawne and the day-star arise in your hearts But that the Olimpicks could bee the Light to leade to that Starre or to enlighten the sacred stories by their accounts is so farre from effect as they rather much darken the true Chronologie of the one and confound the mutuall agreements of the other nor haue they any assured truth for time in themselues For Phlegon for their beginning in pisus Pelops and Hercules appoints no time Pausanias saith hee must record but will not credit them and Plutarke in the life of Numa condemneth all gatherings of time from the Olimpiads And such are their disagreements in Thaluâ—…s Castor Phlegon Plutarke Dionisius and others in assigning their accounts as the supporters of that tottering foundation must beare as great a weight if nor greater as Atlas is fained to doe in supporting the world To giue an assay then how their accouÌ„ts agree with the holy Scriptures of God wee will but touch two among many that by them the credit of the rest may be iudged Master Liuelie setteth King Cyrus in the fiftie fiue Olimpiad And Titus the Emperour in the ond hundred twelfth betwixt whom he accounteth no lesse then six hundred twenty nine yeeres and odde moneths more by one hundred then the Sun euer measured But that Cyrus his first could meete with the Olimpiad 55 the diuers beginnings of them by diuers men assigned doth make very doubtfull for Bibliander doth begin them in the thirteenth of Iotham King of Iudah and Paulus Phrygio in his twelfth but Africanus Bullinger and Functius set them in the second yeere of Iotham the same King Glareanâ—… will haue the first Oimpiad to be in the fiftieth yeere of Azariah king of Iudah and Eusebius in his forty nine but Pererius begins them in the eight of King Ahaz which is twenty fiue yeeres after So that the first yeere of Cyrus most certenly fixed in the diuine Chronologie as the pole is in the North cannot fit the fifty fiue Olimpiad for their diuers beginnings The other proofe is taken from the destruction of Ierusalems Temple which Clemens Alexandrinus saith happened in the last of the forty seuenth Olimpiad Now wee know by the holy Text that the destruction of the Temple was in the nineteenth yeere of Nebuchadnezzer King of Babell from whence to the end of the captiuity or first of Cyrus fiftie one yeeres more were to ensue to make vp the seuentie of the captiuity But from the last yeere of the forty seuenth Olympiad to the first of the fifty fiue are but twenty nine yeeres whereunto adde nineteene more from Nebuchadnezzers first yeere in the which the captiuity began vnto the Temples destruction in his ninteenth and yet there will waÌ„t of the seueÌ„ty twenty two yeers to the end of the captiuity Wherby we see that the first yeere of Cyrus must bee pulled backe and set in the fiftieth and not the fifty fiue Olympiad so far differing are these prophane Olympiads from the sacred Chronologie of the holy text That a most certen and exact Chronologie was registred from Adam the first man vnto the first
this pedegree was the immediat son of the second Caleb or the immediat father vnto the third may seeme doubtfull As also Kenaz hauing no such pregnant testimony either of predecessor or successor as may inforce it may be obiected there is no certaine descents betwixt the Lands searcher and the equalising of the skilfull workman Bezaleel To which may be answered that although Ezer bee not so precisely named a sonne as some others are yet is he said to bee of the sonnes of Hur in the first of the Chronicles the fourth Chapter and the fourth verse and neerer to him by any of his sonnes he cannot bee then of Caleb who was his eldest sonne as verse fiftie so that the many descents in so short a time will warrant him to be Calebs sonne And for the other obiection of doubt thus I answere If the Kene zite Numb 32. vers 12. be not the immediate sonne of Caleb and the immediate father vnto Iephuneh then more of his families must come betwixt and so the last Caleb should be further remooued from Bezaleel and a more impossibilitie imagined But to vnloose this seeming hard knot and to approue the truth of a continued succession let it be allowed to suppose the ages of these men when they were fathers and especially of him vpon whom resteth the greatestdoubt so shall wee force neither breach of successiō nor find such impossibilities as haue bin alleaged Admit then Hur to bee twentie yeeres old when he begot Caleb and Caleb twenty when he begot Ezer Ezer twenty when he begot Caleb Caleb twenty when he begot Kenaz Kenaz twenty when he begot Iephuneh Iephuneh twenty when he begot Caleb and Caleb we know was forty when hee searched the land all which yeeres being added together make one hundred and sixty Returne to Hur in his other issue and admit Hur to be seuentie when he begot Vri Vri to be sixtie when when he begot Bezaleel and Bezaleel thirty when hee wrought vpon the Tabernacle which yeeres likewise being summed together come also to one hundred and sixty Thus then you see this rough way made smooth and nature no whit forced in neither line for that sons were begotten both at younger and elder yeeres through many descents in those times as we haue alreadie seene And that Bezaleel should bee thirtie is most agreeable to the Law of the Leuites who at thirtie were chosen for seruices in the Tabernacle and therefore most likely that at those yeeres hee was chosen to worke in the Tabernacle Now seeing wee haue the true Tabernacle which is not made with hands and are heires of that Canaan whose rest is perpetuall let vs study to enter therein and with thanks offer our sacrifices vnto him who is the first and the last in euery leafe and line of the Law For of him and through him and for him are all things that are written to whom be all glory for euer Amen CHAP. 6. That God became Man and from what men descended the Scriptures Genealogies doe euidently shew IT resteth now to shew that through these holy Genealogies GOD became Man and that Christ the word before all things was in mans loynes inclosed till the fulnesse of time came that God sent his Sonne to bee made of a Woman This blessed fruit therefore in whom our election was sealed before the foundation of the world was first promised to our first parents in Paradise after their taste of the forbidden fruit of death when likewise the Serpents malice was quailed by this sentence I wil put enmity between thee and the woman and betweene thy seed and her seed He shall breake thine head and thou shalt bruse his heele And that this her seed then promised was the very Messiah to come both Iewes and Gentiles haue acknowledged the ◅athers looked for and the Patriarkes beleeued in The Scriptures thus beginning with a Messiah the onely Alpha of al our happinesse aimeth at no other marke besides him the onely Omega of all our hopes For leauing the state-affaires of the world as the breeding of Kingdomes Principalities and the like they directly leade vs to the birth and of-spring of Abraham whereof Christ was to bee borne and vnto him eight seuerall times was promise made that in his seed all the nations of the earth should bee blessed And vnto Isaac his sonne the same promise was confirmed in the same words Vnto Iacob he was the star that should haue dominion and vnto Iudah the Lion that should weld the Scepter to Dauid he was the Sonne that was his Lord and to Esay the child vpon whose shoulders the gouernment was laid To faithfull Ahaz he was the sonne of a Virgin and to the backe-sliding Iewes a signe that a woman should compasse a man Brifely vnto his elect he was and is the Rocke of Saluation and vnto his Zion the the corner stone tried and precious These and infinite more promises of the Messiah are most frequent in the Scriptures of God which were all accomplished in Christ the Immanuel with vs whose naturall fathers were as great a cloud and as many witnesses to shew the truth of his humanity as were the Euangelists Disciples that wrote and were sent to preach his Deity being fitted forthat worke as was the golden crownework vpon the edges of the incense Alter and leade our paths into that way of truth as the fiery Pillar did light the Israelites remouings But our ouer-much negligence in these holy Genealogies as also in the double discents legall and naturall of Iesus our Lord and Messiah hath greatly hurt both our owne cause and hindered the Iewes from embracing the Gospell Our hurt in bringing him naturally from Salomon whose line was ended long before their hinderance by our entangling the text of the old Testament in Ioash and Ieconiah and in the new in Iacob Ioseph and Eli whereby they daily obiect that we are not able by Scriptures to reconcile our owne Euangelists Saint Mathew and Saint Luke That he is of Dauid both they and we agree but whether by Salomon or Nathan resteth the question They hold him from Salomon by birth and naturall succession wee naturally from Nathan by a legall right the next heire to Salomons Kingdom his own posterity being vtterly extinct But this not obserued that Saint Mathew recordeth Christs legall descent from Salomon whereby he was the lawfull King of the Iewes and that Saint Luke bringeth his naturall line from Nathan thereby to shew him to be the Seed of the promise hath bred many intricate and some of them dangerous expositions In the mentioning whereof let it bee farre from mee to blot with the least imputation the faire remembrances of any paineful father gone before vs in the Scriptures explanation from whose bright torches we must confesse our dim candles haue beene much enlightened and by whose
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
smooth and al flesh shall see the saluation of God And that this Baptist was the Elijah there meant Christ himself witnesseth that the Law and the Prophets spake vnto Iohn and that Iohn was the Elias which was to come Who more to manifest his function in many things resembled the former Elijah Their Diets were strange and both in the wildernesse their Garments hairie and their Girdles of Leather their reprehensions free without respect of person and both con firmed by voyce from Heauen This Ambassador Iohn then beginning his function at the Baptisme of Christ declareth him to bee the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world Testifying of himselfe that he was the forerunner vnto him that should Baptise them with the holy Ghost and with fier And with this Lambe of God Iohn the Euangelist beginneth his Gospell shewing him to be the Word that was with God in the beginning by which the World was made and without which was made nothing that was made In it was Life and the Life was the light of men This Word saith he was made flesh and dwelt among vs we saw the glory thereof as the glory of the onely begotten Sonne of the Father full of grace and truth This Sonne of God Saint Lukes pen sheweth to be Iesus the Seed promised in Paradise to the espoused Virgin Eua and borne at Beth-lehem of the betrothed virgin Mary according to the Prophets recording betweeene them all his naturall Fathers from Eli to Adam whom he calleth the Sonne of God By which tearme Son through them all he proueth that Iesus was the Christ of whom Moses wrote and the Prophets spake The purposes therefore of the two Euangelists being thus obserued their reconciliation is easie namely that Saint Matthew following the right that Iesus had by law vnto Salomons Crowne recordeth his title therunto from such Kings and persons as excepting his legall right of succession he in no wise tooke flesh of or by nature came and in that sense of Succession bringeth Christ to bee the sonne of Salomon But Saint Luke purposing to prooue Christ hâ—… humanity registreth his naturall descent from euery particular Father and among them bringeth him by Nature from Nathan the brother of Salomon Saint Matthew by a legall right bringeth Christ from twelue as wicked Kings as the Earth bare when they ware Iudahs Crown But Saint Luke by his naturall parentage deriueth him from the holy seed and high Saints of God that should possesse Gods Kingdome for euer Saint Matthew in his legall right of Succession bringeth Christ from Ieconiah that neuer had child nor any of his seed euer sate vpon Iudahs Throne But Saint Luke by his Natural fathers deriueth him from Zorobabell made the Ruler of Iudah and Signet vpon Gods finger Saint Mathew bringeth Ioseph the sonne of Iacob to be the lawfull heire of Iudahs Crowne from Abiud the eldest sonne of Zorobabell And Saint Luke recordeth Mary the daughter of Heli to descend from Rhesa a yonger sonne of Zorobabell who ioyning in mariage with Ioseph he became the supposed but indeed was the legall father of Iesus and Mary was made blessed among women when her virgins wombe was made blessed and the Word was incarnate in that sanctified Tabernacle Thus our two Euangelists vncouering the Arke wherein this Manna was kept by shewing the Messiah in his Nature and Office looke face to face as did the two Cherubins vpon the Mercy seate of the holy Oracle both of them sounding the same thing that Iesus was the Immanuel with their well tuned Harps set to the straine of the Patriarks and Prophets shew Christ to be the Lambe of God slaine to take away the sinnes of the world and the Lion of Iudah crowned with Salomons Crowne who hath obtained a more excellent ministery then that of the Tabernacle by how much hee is the Mediator of a better Couenant Heb. 8. 6. Great therefore is the mysterie of Saluation That God was manifested in the flesh iustified in the spirit sâ—…ne of Angels preached to the Gentiles beleeued on in the world and receiued vp into glory Happy are they that beleeue in him And blessed are they that are not offended in him CHAP. X. That Christ Iesus by his naturall descent was the onely imediate and lawfull King of the Iewes and that none other had any claime or title thereunto HAuing thus by Gods most gracious assistance shewed Christ Iesus to bee the true sonne of Dauid and from the Euangelists declared his parentage naturall and in common reputation it remaineth now to proue that the same Iesus the sonne of the Uirgine both from Ioseph and Mary was the only heire of Dauids terrestiall kingdom of Canaan and in that right is euer called King of the Iewes to manifest which shall be obserued First That it was an earthly kingdome that was promised to Abraham and by his seed possessed Secondly That the generall expectation of the Iewes was set vpon a terrestiall and powerfull King and Kingdome Thridly That none other by any descent kindred or estate had any right title or claime to the kingdome of Iudah Fourthly That Christ Iesus alone and none but hee was the lawfull King of the Iewes the seed and sonne of Dauid that sits vpon his Throne for euer Prepare my heart O Lord to indite this good matter and make my hand the pen of a readie writer to proclaime that King which is fairer then the children of men For the first That it was an earthly Kingdome wee will begin with the promise made to Abraham lay that as the foundation of a terrestriall before wee build vpon the mysticall as Salomon did the materials of his Temple whose beauty was a figure of that which is to come The beginning then of this earthly kingdome was when God began to make Canaan a Kingdome which was at his calling of Abraham from Mesopotamia vnto the plaine of mount Moreh where hee bad him lift vp his eies and looke Northward and southward eastward and westward and to walke through the breadth and length of the land All which hee would giue vnto him and to his seed after him to inherit with promise that Kings from his loynes proceeding should rule and possesse all the land from the Riuer of Egypt vnto the great Riuer Euphrates Here we see the foundation of a terestricall kingdome laid whereof Abraham had the promise and his seede after him the possession Of whose state and continuance old Iacob prophecied that the Scepter should not depart from Iudah nor a law-giuer from betweene his feete vntill Shilo should come and vnto him the people should be obedient That by the Scepter is meant an earthly gouernment or a regall authority both the Septuagint and the Chalde paraphrase doe auouch and that Iesus Christ was the Shiloh from
the wombe of the Virgine the Rabbins themselues confesse and the successe sheweth because at the comming of this Shiloh or birth of Christ Iesus the gouernment of Iudah was taken cleane from them and their Crowne worne by Herod an Idumean stranger Vntill which time the line of the lawfull Kings of the Tribe of Iudah had beene exactly and distinctly recorded and kept But in one generation following were so confounded scattered and shufled together among other Tribes and the Tribes each amongst others so mixed as to this day there is not a Iew knowne in the world that can distinctly shew of what tribe he is descended And their faire Dominions with such desolations ouerrunne that all hope is lost of any recouery and for the obedience prophecied vnto him the preaching of the Gospell hath gotten that through the world It was the faire land that Moses from mount Nebo did behold that Ioshuah from mount Hermon to mount Hor did conquer At first diuided among the twelue Tribes and after established a kingdome vnder Saul of whom the spirituall could not be intended neither was it in him figured And that kingdome possessed and crowne worne by him was taken from Beniamin and giuen to Iudah and in Dauid setled with promise that a sonne out of his loynes should sit vpon the throne thereof and should raigne King for euer and euer which none euer did or could doe but onely his Sonne Iesus the Prince Messiah to whom be praise for euer and euer and that he alone is the heire vnto that right is witnessed by the sacred Texts and shall be our paines heere to declare First then this terrestriall Kingdome was seated as saith the Prophet in the midst of nations did containe the Prouinces of Iury Samaria and Gallely the Land of Gilead also without Iordan was a portion of the twelue Tribes The whole so rich in earthly blessings as it is often in Scriptures called A Land flowing with milke and hony and so pleasant for situation as of some it is held to haue been Adams Paradise And as the Kingdome was glorious so were many of her Kings such were Dauid Salomon Asa Iohoshaphat and others godly that ruled well their owne and ouer-ruled others till their successors became godlesse and prouoked the ruine of both as when Nebuchadnezzer King of Babell captiuated the Land and led away Ieconias prisoner who was the last man that wore that glorious Crown After whom the Persians with-held it from Zorobabel the most lawful heire thereof And the Grecians and Syra-Grecians from Abiud and his successors vnto Ioseph the husband of Mary These being as foure beasts tooke this earthly Kingdom for the heauenly they could not from those the high Saints of God that should possesse a Kingdome for euer and euer with such desolation of that goodly Land till lastly the Romans made conquest of all and placed the Idumean Herod vpon Iudahs throne where Iacobs prophecy had the full euent And thus we see no temporall Crowne worne of any of Iudah from the captiuity of Babylon till Christ Iesus with thornes was crowned shewed and acknowledged King of the Iewes the abhomination of desolation set in the holy place and the place neuer called holy after Christs death And thus much of the earthly Kingdome promised to Abraham and the first point the second followeth That the expectation of the Iewes was set vpon an earthly Kingdome and powerfull King wee may see by the practise of the common multitude who hauing fedde vpon the fiue barley Loues and two small fishes acknowledged Iesus to bee the Prophet expected but withall presently assaied to haue him their King Againe when he told them that the sonne of man was come to seeke and to saue that which was lost their apprehension was of a temporall restauration of their down-cast estate And vpon that opinion the Apostles themselues as it seemeth were set when they demanded whether at that time Christ would restore the Kingdom of Israel And againe we trusted that it had been he that should haue deliuered Israell And to the same purpose were the answeres of the ignorant women of Samaria touching the Messias and the learned Nicodemus of Gallile touching mans new birth both of them aiming as we see only at outward things And indeed so generall was the opinion of an earthly and powerful Monarchie as that euen the common people expected it and had a prophecy touching the same among them which was That a King out of Iury should rule the whole world Which so terrified the Romans included in that prophecy as that they denied aide to their supplicant Ptolomie King of Egypt and so troubled the assembly of the elders in Ierusalem that their high Priest Caiaphas gaue counsell to kill Iesus lest the Romans should come and take away their Kingdome which was none otherwise meant then of the temporall And a temporall King and terrestriall kingdom it was that Herod so feared and sought to retaine when Christ was sought after by the stile of King of the Iewes And of that earthly kingdome likewise Pilat gaue Iesus the title though to the preiudice of Caesar his Emperour Neither meant the Scribes and Pharisees more then of the temporall when themselues expounded Moses without all spirituall vse the cheife Priests so ignorant that they knew not whether the Baptisme of Iohn was from Heauen or of men nor none of them how Dauids sonne could be Dauids Lord And the Sadduces taught that there was no Resurrection of the body neither Angell nor spirit so farre were they from that which is eternall Finally all of them apply euery Text in the Prophets touching the calling of the Gentiles of Christ and his Kingdome to be meant of a powerfull terrestriall Monarch Monarchie and promise themselues conquests attendance pleasures as in another earthly Paradise all Nations yeelding them seruice and obedience And now wee come to speake of Christ his title vnto Iudahs Crowne the third point Iesus legally descending from Iechoniah and lineally from Zorobabel by his ancestor Salathiel who was made a sonne to a childlesse man is borne the next in bloud and succession to sit vpon Dauids throne and by that right is often called by each of the Euangelists King of the Iewes For the right of Zorobabel resting in Ioseph the husband of Mary and he dying issulesse in Mary her selfe Christ Iesus their Sonne then must bee heire vnto both and by Father and Mother haue the iust title to Iudahs Crowne That Ioseph then in his dayes was the next successour to Salomons Throne is apparant by Saint Matthew in whose Catalogue without any colaterall he is brought downe from Salomon among his successors And by Saint Luke is recorded to be of Iudah of Bethlehem of the house and lineage of Dauid vnto which Tribe and
tending to Idolatry as other Gentile Writers haue but all against the false Gods and their worshippings so that shee seemeth to me to haue been a Citizen of the City of God saith Saint Augustine in his booke so intituled Now that these Sybils were ancient we see in Homer of Ezekiah his time sixe hundred thirty six yeeres before the birth of Christ who inserteth many of their verses in his Rapsodie as Viues in his annotations vpon S. Augustins Ciuitate Dei noteth And also respectiue for that the Romans made doubt to assist King Ptolomy to recouer his Kingdome of Egypt because the Sybils had prophecied that At what time the Romans should set a King in Egypt then should bee borne the King of the whole world Which Oracle Cicero writing to Lentulus who sued to haue that charge alleageth And Tacitus telles vs that wheras many vaine predictions were publisht of the Fate of Rome vnder the names of the Sybils Augustus Caesar after that the Capitoll was burnt in the ciuil wars caused their prophecies to bee sought for in Samum Illium Erthrum through Affrica Sicilia and the Colonies of Italy and to be brought to Rome to the Cities Pretor by a day assigned and to be examined by the Priests to distingush the true from the false as neere as might be by the iudgement of man and those allowed of referred againe to a second examination of the Fifteene In which businesse Suetonius affirmeth no lesse then two thousand bookes to haue been committed to the fier but the approued prophecies of the Sybils saith he at the Emperours commandement were laid vp and kept vnder locke in two golden Chests at the foot of the Image of Apolle in mount Palatine in Rome Where they remained saith Amianus in the daies of Iulian the Apostata and whence Stillico tooke and burnt them when he intended treason towards his double sonne in law Honorius the Emperour lest in mouing the people against him their prophecies should hinder his designes as Claâ—…dian in his verses thus writeth He burnt the Fatâ—… of the Sybils helps Whereby we see both the great antiquity of these receiued Sybils and the reuerend regard that was had of their writings but chiefely the end of all prophecies both diuine and humane concerning Christ Iesus in whom all the types of the Law ended and in whose person al Genealogies ceased that from Adam had beene continued vnto him the blessed seede and Sonne of God and to force them further either for Story or distinction of Tribes Mariages or Issues is to fall into that sin which S. Paul condemneth seeing those Starres did all set at the bright rising of that brightest Sunne Neither doth the new Testament from the first of Saint Mathew to the last of the Apocalyps prosecute any Genealogies no not from the degree of a Grandfather besides them appertaining to the person of Christ though many bookes therein be hystorical and might haue required the staies of Genealogies as most of them in the old Testament haue done For onely Zacharias from his priestly course Elisabet from Aaron Anna from Ashur Paul from Beniamin and Barnabas from Leui are declared in al the rest a still silence is seene and all to shew that the vse of Geneologies ended in Iesus the seede of the promise and that thenceforth the world should not looke for another The Iewes we haue seene blinded in their owne affections affecting an earthly tranquility vnder their daily expected Monarch from Salomon and with Iulian the Apostata do vehemently accuse vs Christians that agree not in the Parents of his person whom we make our Messiah whether Nathan or Salomon But I would to God wee had not followed their Rabbins too far in the line of Salomon and that wee were more exercised in these kinds of Studies so maturely touching the humanity of Christ for by Peter we are commanded to be ready alwaies to giue an answere to euery man that asketh a reason of the hope we hold And by Moses are ordained to prouoke them to the Gospell neither of which wee can doe but by shewing that God is become man and that man come according to the Scriptures of God For in this consisteth life euerlasting to know the onely true God and Iesus Christ whom he hath sent This Christ then wee Christians worship and know what we worship euen the sonne of Dauid that is Dauids Lord whom all must kisse or else perish and all made blessed that trust in him O then yee Sons of the Couenant be not as Dauids deafe Adder that stoppeth her eare and will not harken to the voyce of the charmer charme he neuer so wisely nor with your questioning Elders answere we cannot tel For you haue had Abraham your father pointing at Christ the seede of the promise in whom all the Nations of the earth are made blessed Moses your Law-giuer shewing the Prophet that the Lord would raise from among your brethren vnto whom ye should harken And the Prophets your Charmers both multiplying visions and vsing similitudes with precept vpon precept line vpon line heere a little and there a little haue declared the Virgins sonne to be the Immanuel the wonderfull Counseller the mighty God the euerlasting father and Prince of peace Christ himselfe teaching himselfe to bee the way the truth and the life and the spirituall rock and Manna sent downe from heauen The Euangelists Apostles Disciples and Proselites all of them clowds of witnesses vnto you of his Life Death Resurrection and Ascention And lastly we Gentiles of the vncircumcision though with stamering lips and another tongue tell you That in these last daies God hath spoken by his Son who is heire of all things by whom he made the world and in whom he that beleeueth shall not perish but haue life euerlasting That a promise was made vnto Dauid you know that he should neuer want a Successor to sit vpon his Throne nor that Leui should euer want a Sacrificer to minister before the Lord But that there is and hath long time beene wants of both cannot be denied And therefore that is not spoken of a temporall but spirituall King and Kingdome and of that Priesthood and order of Melchisedec which continueth for euer Which is Iesus who is gone before vs into the holy place the most holiest To day then if you y will heare his voyce harden not your hearts as your fathers did in the wildernesse for be not deceiued God is not mocked but is a ielous God and a consuming fier His arrowes you reade are sharp that stick in the hearts of the Kings enemies and his bloud you know hath beene heauie vpon thâ—… heads of your children who to-this day are a despised and a dispersed Nation through the world without King without Prince without