hath giuen vs ouerthrowe the foure of Idolatrie and superstition which Antichrist hath buylded to deface the glorie of almightie God let vs deliuer Gods children out of the dangerous captiuitie thraldome of ignorance which bringeth destruction of body and soule to al that cōtinue therein So God by his Prophet threatneth the destruction of this Edom no lesse than of the other For as by comparison it may appeare the same cause of destructiō is in the one that was in the other also the power might aswell of the one as of the other is of late days by the wōderful working of almightie God maruelously diminished his glory defaced The Edomites were beloued of their neighbours feared of their enimies therefore great was their pride but they were brought to desolation by their own cōfederates Euē so it was with the bishop of Rome he was beloued of al princes in Christēdome they reuerenced him as a god also they feared him so that they durst not stir agaynst him For what Prince soeuer did not in all pointes submit him selfe vnto him at his plesure he excōmunicated him discharged his subiects of obedience in the end deposed him of his kingdome for besides the translating of the Empire frō one kingdome to an other besides the deposing of Hilderike king of France diuers other inferiour Princes he excōmunicated deposed seuen Emperours one after an other namely Henry the fourth Henry the fifth Frederik the first Philip Otho Frederike the seconde and Conradus his sonne Therfore great is the pride of his heart so that he exalteth him selfe aboue men and Angels he compareth him selfe with the sunne and the Emperour with the moone chalenging vnto him selfe so muche more excellencie than the Emperour as the sunne excelleth the moone Euen as the earth sayth he surmounteth the moone seuen times and the sunne surmounteth the earth eyght times whiche béeing multiplied by seuen maketh fifty sixe so be excelleth the Emperour fifty and sixe times Neither is he cōtnet with this superioritie ouer the Emperour but also he preferreth him selfe before the Angels in iurisdiction knowledge and reward This is the pride of his hart in the which Pope Alexander the thirde of that name trode vpon the necke of Frederike the Emperour saying this verse of the Psalme Thou shalt walk vpon the Liō and the Aspe the yong Lion and the dragon shalte thou treade vnder thy féete And Pope Adrian the fourth suffered the same Emperour to hold his styrup twise and gaue him a scoffe for his labour bicause he did holde the wrong stirup Also Pope Gregorie the seuēth suffred Henry the Emperour the fourth of that name to stande bare foote and bare legged at his gates with his wife and his childe thrée dayes thrée nightes in the middest of winter Such was the pride of his hart which had so deceyued him that he thought it vnpossible that he shoulde be ouerthrowen But as it appeareth this day the Bishop of Rome is of little reputatiō he is despised of many nations of whom in times past he was feared The moste part of his confederates haue forsaken him as the Polonians the Transsiluanians Hungarians many Princes of Germanie the Princes of Englande and Scotlande and many men in other countreys And it is not to be doubted but that shortly by the working of almightie God the words of this Prophet shall be fulfilled in him that is to say he shall be brought downe to the grounde he shal be spoyled of all his treasures vtterly forsaken of all his friends cut off from the earth vpō the soden with al his adherēts For the day of the Lord is at hād a day of tribulation anguish a day of gret sorow heauinesse a day as the Prophet Zophony termeth it of desolation destruction of obscuritie darknesse of cloudes blacknesse vnto al the enimies of Gods children The day I meane when our Sauiour shal come from heauen with his mightie Angels in flaming fire rendring vengeance vnto all those that knowe not God ◠that do not obey the Gospel of Iesus Christ who shall be punished with euerlasting perdition frō the presence of the Lord from the glory of his power But vpon mount Sion shal be saluation the children of God shall haue no cause to lament when the terrible day of the Lord shall come for that day shal be their deliuerance Then shall their enimies weepe and lament but they shall be glad and ful of ioy for their sakes all the wicked shal be consumed as stubble with the fire for God wil sende his Angels they shal gather all the nations of the worlde before him and shall separate the faythfull from the vnfaythful as the husband man separateth the wheat frō the tares they shal binde the tares togither cast them into the fire that neuer shal be quenched but the faithfull which are the wheat shall be gathered into Gods barne that is to say they shal be placed in his kingdome of euerlasting ioy peace and rest And then all principalities powers béeing subdued no mā shal be able to stir against God or agaynst his saincts which before were despised trode vnder foote most cruelly murthered but now deliuered out of all misery exalted into heauen and glorified So that in all poynts in all respects the Lorde shal rule he only shall be worshipped and glorified the kingdome shall be his To whom be all prayse honor and glory world without ende Amen THus endeth the exposition of the Prophet Abdias in the which the letter hath his place and his commendation that is the playne meaning of the wordes of the holy Scripture without any morall or allegoricall exposition whiche I call the letter is profitable to comfort to teache to improue to correct and to instructe in godlynesse whiche is rather to giue lyfe than to kil Therfore here a mā may aske this questiō How is it true that the Apostle sayth The letter killeth but the spirite giueth life for if the letter kil it is hurtfull if it be hurtful thē it is not profitable as is aforesaid Here for the better vnderstāding of the Apostle first it is to be noted that there is in one sentēce a christiā a true letter there is also in the same sentēce an heretical a false letter As for example I reioyce sayth the Apostle in my afflictions for you fulfil the rest of Christes afflictiōs in my flesh for his bodies sake which is the Church Here by Christes afflictions the Apostle vnderstādeth the afflictiō of Christians who are the body wherof Christ is the head The afflictiōs of the body are called Christes afflictiōs bicause whatsoeuer the body suffreth the head that is to say our fauiour Christ is partaker of the same sufferings as appeareth by his own words where he sayth Saule Saule why persecutest thou me and
sayth When I am exalted I will draw all men vnto me that is to say all that do beléeue and S. Paule sayth All men séeke their owne profite that is to say all men for the most parte neglecte their dutie towards God and their neighboure So in this place where the Prophet signifieth that God will plague all Nations he vnderstandeth all those that are enimies vnto the people of God and not all nations vniuersally as it is signified by these words As thou hast done it shall be done vnto thée For this is the purpose of the Prophet to comforte the Israelites whose consolation consisteth not in the destruction of all nations but in the ouerthrow of their enimies Therfore he giueth them to vnderstande that their enimies shall be vtterly destroyed saying For euen as you haue drunke vpon my holy hill so all nations shall drinke continually yea they shall drinke and swalowe vp and they shall be as though they had not beene By this worde drinke metaphorically or figuratiuely is vnderstanded affliction oftentimes in the scriptures as in these words of our Sauiour Let this cup passe from me but if it can not passe from me but I must néedes drink it thy wil be done Heere by drinking of the cup he meaneth the suffring of his most paynful passion Also the prophet Ieremie preaching the destruction of the Edomites with Abdias hath these words Thus sayth the Lorde Beholde they whose iudgement was not to drink of the cup haue assuredly drunken and art thou he that shalt escape free Thou shalte not goe free but thou shalte surely drinke of it For I haue sworne by my selfe sayth the Lorde that Bosra shall be wast and for a reproch and a desolation and a curse and all the cities thereof shal be perpetuall desolations These words do plainly teache vs that to drinke figuratiuely signifieth to suffer affliction This therefore is that he sayth in the person of God euen as you that are my people haue ben afflicted in your owne countrey which I haue chosen as a peculiar place for my selfe to be worshipped in so all nations that haue afflicted you shall be plaged yea they shall be miserably scourged and brought to perpetuall desolation Thus the Prophete endeth the first chapter of his prophesie whiche concerneth the destruction of the Edomites nowe he describeth the felicitie and prosperitie of the Israelites But vpō mount Sion there shal be saluation and it shal be holy and the house of Iacob shall recouer their possessions And the house of Iacob shall be a fyre and the house of Ioseph a flame and the house of Esau as stubble and they shall kindle among them and consume them and there shall be none left of the house of Esau for Iehoua hath spoken it Sion is the hill vpon the whiche Ierusalem was buylded and is taken for the whole countrey of the Israelites They shall be deliuered saythe the prophet they shal recouer their possessions and also destroy their enimies euen as fire doth consume stubble For therfore are the Israelites likened vnto fire the Edomites to stubble to declare the sodayne destruction that God shall sende vpon the posteritie of Esau by the hands of the inhabitants of Ierusalem Which the Prophet Ezechiel expresseth in playne words saying I will execute my iudgement vpon Edom by the hande of my people Israell and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my indignation and they shall knowe my vengeance sayth the Lorde God. Thus God threatneth destruction to the Edomites but the Israelites shall flourishe as in the words following it is declared And they shall possesse the Southe side of mounte Esau and the champion countrey of the Philistines and they shall possesse the feelden countrey of Ephraim and the feelden countrey of Samaria and Beniamin shal possesse Gilead Héere the Prophet sheweth the Israelites how their dominion shall be enlarged The south side of Idumea or of moūt Seir is the furthest parte of the countrey from Israell This is it therefore that is giuen them to vnderstande that they shal inhabite not onely their owne countrey but also the countrey of the Edomites and the Philistines and Beniamin whose habitation is in the west shall possesse Gilead which is in the East that is to say the Israelites shall haue dominion from the west to the East and from the North to South which in the words following is further declared And they of this host of the Israelites that are in captiuitie among the Cananites shall possesse vnto Sarephath and they of Ierusalem that are in captiuitie in Sephared shall possesse the cities of the South And there shal come vp in mount Sion sauiours to giue sentēce agaynst the mount of Esau and Iehoua shal haue the kingdome That is to say the Israelites dominion shall be from the South to the North and from the North to the South from the one ende of the countrey to the other For the Cananites dwelled in the South countrey and Sarephath otherwise called Sarepta was in the North so was also Seraphad otherwise called Bosphorus according to the iudgement of some Interpreters This benefite God promiseth by his Prophet vnto his people for bringing of whiche thing to passe he vsed the ministerie of certayne noble men and chiefe captaynes as Zorobabell Nehemias Esdras and such other who héere are called Sauiours bicause God by their hands chiefly saued the people So in the booke of the Iudges Othniell and Ehud are called Sauiours bicause they were the captaynes by whose meanes the Israelites were deliuered from the bondage of their enimies The like prosperitie God promiseth héere vnto the same people the which béeing brought to passe the Prophet sayth that the kingdome shall be the Lordes that is to say the Israelites shall not onely be restored to their countrey landes and possessions but also they shall serue God and worshippe him according to his will. For although God ruleth all the world and all natiōs perteyne to his kingdome yet that properly is called the kingdome of the diuell where men follow their owne lust and neglect the worship of God and there is the kingdome of God where he is truely worshipped the Gospell preached and his lawes obeyed Where the Lorde is king there is no tyrannie or bondage but libertie and fréedome that people that serueth the Lord shall florish shall prosper and shall be blessed in this life and in the life to come for he is euerlasting therfore his people shall be euerlasting Briefly this is it that the Prophet in the former wordes giueth vs to vnderstand that the children of God shall abound both in earthly and heauenly possessions Whereby we are taught to put our trust in him for he is able to help vs to pray vnto him in al our necessities for he is readie willing to helpe vs to giue him thanks for his benefites for great is his goodnes toward
vs to extoll magnifie his name for wōderful are his works to our great profite and commoditie Finally to obey his lawes and statutes for he serueth them that serue him so dooing God will sende vs sauiours to saue vs and to deliuer vs from our enimies and the wordes of the Prophete shall be verified vpon vs in that he saythe The kingdome shall bée the Lordes For he shall be our kyng for euer and we his people shall be continually garded vnder the shadowe of his wings and alwayes defended from all maner miserie and calamitie Hitherto I haue opened the sence and meaning of the Prophet according to the letter which although for diuers causes it is very necessarie to be vnderstanded yet béeing considered of it selfe without any further application of the same vnto our selues it is vnfruitfull and vnprofitable As the Apostle sayth the letter killeth but the spirite giueth life Therfore I haue added moreouer vnto the letter certayne generall lessons for the instruction of all Christians Which application of the scriptures vnto our selues the Apostle putteth vs in minde of where he sayth what soeuer things are written afore time they are written for our learning that we through patience and comforte of the Scriptures might haue hope And as in diuers other places so especially in the thirtenth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrues he hath giuen vs an example of this interpretation where the words of the almightie God spoken only vnto Iosua and perteyning onely vnto him according to the letter are vsed as a generall lesson for all men to teach them to put their trust in god After that Moses was dead God appoynted Iosua to be ruler of the Israelites and to bring them into the lande of promise and bicause he shoulde not feare nor be dismayde God sayde vnto him As I was with my seruant Moses so I will be with thée I will not fayle thée nor forsake thée Vpon these words the Apostle groundeth this generall doctrine Let your conuersation be without couetousnesse and be content with those things that ye haue For he hath saide I will not fayle thee neyther forsake thée Thus the Apostle dissuadeth vs through distrust of Gods goodnesse to vexe our selues with immorderate care of worldly riches and the vnlawful meanes to enriche our selues bicause God hath sayde vnto Iosua I will not fayle thée neyther forsake thee teaching vs therby to apply the holy Scriptures to our comforte confirmation of our fayth Whose example I haue followed by adding the morall as they call it vnto the letter of the Prophet But besides this morall there is also in the prophesie conteyned an allegorie concerning the comming of our sauiour to iudgement our ful redemption by him in destroying Antichrist in bringing vs both body soule vnto the euerlasting blessednesse which he hath prepared for all the faithfull For the wordes and works of God are vnserchable do teach vs a great deale more thā the letter at the first sight offreth vnto vs This I say that in the scriptures especially in the old testamēt in the writings of Moses the Prophets there are for the most part thrée senses in one text according to those diuers sēses thrée diuers interpretations The first is called literal grāmatical or historical the second tropological ethical or moral the third allegorical figuratiue or mysticall The literal interpretatiō is called grāmatical historical bicause in it nothing else is noted but that which the grāmer rules the historie it self in playne meaning giueth vs to vnderstande This alwayes is fyrst chiefly to be noted as the ground foundation of the other interpretations If we make not a good foundation that whiche we buyld thereon will be weake so if we do not truely expound the letter of the scripture commonly we shal make an vnprofitable moral and a false allegorie The bare letter of the newe Testament especially is for the most part very profitable and cōmodious to al Christiās There are fiue generall vses commodities of the scripture taught of the Apostle S. Paule in the Epistle to the Romanes the .15 chapter and in the seconde Epistle to Timothie the third chapt First by it we learne patience in aduersitie by it we haue consolation in persecution and are therby encouraged to continue vnto the ende in the true worship of God through hope of life euerlasting secondly we are taught true doctrine as touching the articles of our fayth and thirdly to improue false doctrine cōtrary to the same fourthly by the scriptures we lerne to correct our wicked liuing which is cōtrary to Gods cōmādements and finally we are therby instructed in godlinesse in al such things as are acceptable vnto god All these commomodities are founde in the literall sence of the scriptures For what is more comfortable than the very letter of these wordes So God loued the worlde that he gaue his onely begotten sonne to the ende that who soeuer beleeueth in him should not perishe but haue life euerlasting And the letter of these words We are iustified by fayth without the works of the lawe doth teache vs the doctrine of iustification by fayth without any desert of our good works also doth improue the contrarie In like maner the letter of other places doth teach other doctrine And where the Apostle sayth The workes of the fleshe are manifest which are adultry fornicatiō vnclennesse wantonnesse Idolatrie witchcraft hatred debate emulations wrath contentions seditions heresies enuy murthers dronkennesse gluttonie and suche like whereof I tell you before as also I haue tolde you before that they which do such things shall not inherite the kingdome of god But the fruite of the spirite is loue ioy peace long suffering gentlenesse goodnesse fayth méekenesse temperancie agaynst suche there is no lawe The very letter of these words serueth to correct and to instruct vs in godlinesse So commodious is the bare letter of the holy Scriptures and the morall therof which is to gather out of the letter some good lesson for our instruction is no lesse profitable For all the miracles of our sauiour Christ as according to the letter and historie they serued to the commoditie of those that were healed by him so they may be morally interpreted to our comforte and to the confirmation of our fayth that are nowe liuing For by his goodnesse thereby shewed vnto other men we haue an euident argument of his readinesse to helpe vs when soeuer we in like sort do séeke helpe at his hands so that we haue no cause to mistrust his goodnesse nor to séeke helpe else where of Saincts and Angels that are no sauiours His miracles also doe teache vs his Diuinitie they teache vs that he is Christ the sauiour of the world and do improue the contrarie doctrine as our Sauiour witnesseth in the Gospell Moreouer all the examples of godly men serue for
declaration of this double and triple sence of the Scripture and the manifolde commoditie thereof let vs consider the historie of Dauid persecuted by Saule and after exalted to the kingdome of Israell As touching the letter euery Christian mā that hath read the bookes of Samuel doth cōfesse that Dauid was liuing about a thousand yeres befere the cōming of our Sauiour in the flesh that béeing persecuted of king Saule he was diuers times in danger of death from the which God did wonderfully deliuer him and also deliuered Sauls into his hands but he would not lay hāds vpon him vnto death And when tidings was brought him that Saule was dead he executed the messenger as a murtherer bicause he confessed that he had slayn him Then he was proclaymed king and after that he was established in the kingdome he committed adultrie with Bethsabe and caused hir husband to be slayne and did other things displeasant vnto God for the whiche he was gréeuously punished This is the truth of the letter As touching the morall we learne by Dauids fall and the punishmēt of his wickednesse to looke circumspectly vnto our selues and to feare the Iudgemēt of God for our iniquities We learne by his whole life that affliction is a good scholemaster vnto godlinesse in that it restrayneth our carnall lustes and kéepeth downe our flesh but cōtrariwise prosperitie maketh vs forget the lawes of god for Dauid in aduersitie would not slay Saul the king when he was deliuered into his hands although he were his deadly enimie giuing vs an ensample of our duetie towards our Prince so narowly did he looke vnto his pathes but in prosperity he neglected Gods cōmandemēts swarued from his ordinances by cōmitting adultrie murther other offences Wherby we are taught that prosperitie is a slipperie place to stand vpon It is like an high stéepe mountayne narrow in the top vpō the which a man standing is in danger of euery wind to be blowē down to break his neck except he hold fast by some trée or hide him selfe vnder some bush or such like so in prosperity we are in dāger of euery assault of the flesh world diuel except we hold fast by a true faith in Christ who is a sure stay our only stay both in prosperitie aduersitie without whō we can not be safe neither in the moūt of honor welth nor in the valley of afflictiō For it may be that by the meanes of much rain the valley may be ouerflowē with water they drouned that dwel in it vnlesse they saue them selues by a bote or suche other meanes so in aduersitie we are in dāger to be ouerwhelmed with the waues of affliction to be prouoked to forsake God excepte we cleaue fast vnto Christ by a liuely fayth who is our only arke of saluation Therfore Dauid doth not say I trust in the valley but I trust in the Lord wherfore do they say vnto my soule flye vnto the mountains Thus much of the moral in the history of Dauid There is in it also an allegory or mystery prefiguring our sauiour Christ which we lerne by the words of the prophets Ezechiel Hoshea where God speaketh in thē after this sort I will set a shepherd ouer my shéepe he shall feede them euen my seruāt Dauid he shal féede them he shall be their shepheard I the Lord wil be their God and my seruant Dauid shall be the Prince among them he shall be king ouer thē and they shal haue one shepheard and my seruant Dauid shal be their Prince for euer The children of Israell shall turne and séeke the Lorde their God Dauid their king and shall feare the Lorde his goodnesse in the later days These Prophets Hoshea and Ezechiel liued the one thrée hundred yeres the other foure hundred yeres after Dauid Therfore séeing they prophesie of a Dauid to come after them in the later dayes and bicause they call him an euerlasting king which can not be verified of Dauid literally béeing a mortall man it is euident that they do meane an other prefigured by Dauid that is to say our Sauiour who gouerneth the true Israelites that is to say the elect people of God for euer who also in the Gospel calleth himselfe the good shepheard giuing vs to vnderstand that he is that Dauid the shepheard of Gods people of whome the Prophets do speake Therfore the historie of Dauid is mystically expounded thus Dauid in aduersitie therby brought downe as I may say vnto hell dothe signifie our Sauiour taking our nature vpon him and debacing him selfe vnto the lowest degrée hūbling him selfe vnto the death euen vnto the death of the crosse and Dauid deliuered from his enimies and placed in the kingdome doth signifie our Sauiour rising frō death and ascending vnto heauen where he is exalted vnto the right hand of God and gouerneth all the worlde Thus this historie may truly be expounded wherby we may vnderstande that in the holy scriptures much more is to be considered than the letter at the first sight offreth vnto vs After this sorte also the Apostle teacheth vs to expounde the historie of Salomon Dauids sonne God sayd vnto Dauid that he would giue him a sonne whose throne he would establish for euer and he would be his father and he should be his sonne where the letter directeth vs vnto Salomon who then had established the kingdome vnto him selfe when he had put to death those that rebelled against him and his father But the holy Ghost in the person of Salomon as in a type and figure teacheth vs that our sauiour Christ hauing subdued all the enimies of his father and of him selfe shall reigne for euer quietly with his faythfull seruants that herken vnto his lawes submit themselues vnto his gouernment Vnto this expositiō the Apostle leadeth vs where he applieth the words of almightie God vnto our sauiour saying Christ is so much the more excellent than Angels as he hath gotten him a more excellent name thā they For vnto which of the Angels saide he at any time Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thée And agayn I wil be his father he shall be my sonne Therefore séeing that the Apostle expoundeth the words to be spokē of our Sauiour which literally do appertein vnto Salomō I say that Salomō was a figure of our sauiour that in the history of Salomon there is an allegory besides the letter Likewise Ionas in the whales belly after deliuered by the power of God was not only an example of Gods omnipotent goodnesse but also a figure of the buriall resurrection of our Sauiour as we are taught by his owne interpretation in the Gospell And Hoshea the Prophet declaring the benefites of God towards the Israelites their vnthankfulnesse for the same reciteth their deliuerance out of Egypt In whom God