yea as not to be full of wants God hath much adoe with vs Either wee lack health or quietnes or children or wealth or company or our selues in all these It is a woonder these men found not fault vvith the vvant of 〈…〉 their quayles or vvith their olde clothes or their solitarie way Nature is moderate in 〈◊〉 desires but conceit is vnsatiable Yet vvho can deny 〈…〉 be a sore vexation Before 〈◊〉 they vvere forbidden sowre bread but now vvhat â—eauen is so â—â—wr as want When meaneâ— hold out it is easie to be 〈◊〉 Whiles their dough and other câ—â—es lasted vvhiles they vvere gathering of the dates of Elim vvee heare no newes of them Who cannot pray for his daily bread vvhen he hath it in his cup-bord But vvhen our owne prouision failes vs then not to distrust the prouision of God is a noble tryall of faith They should haue said He that stopt the mouth of the sea that it could not deuoure vs can as easily stop the mouth of our stomacks It was no easier matter to kill the first borne of Egypt by his immediate hand then to preserue vs Hee that commanded the Sea to stand still and gard vs can as easily commaund the earth to nourish vs He that made the rod a serpent can as well make these stones bread Hee that brought armies of frogs and caterpillers to Egypt can as well bring whole drifts of birds and beasts to the desert He that sweetned the waters with wood can aswell refresh our bodies with the fruits of the earth Why doe we not wait on him whom wee haue found so powerful Now they set the mercy and loue of GOD vpon a wrong last whiles they measure it onely by their present sense Nature is iocond and cheereful whiles it prospereth let God withdraw his hand no sight no trust Those can praise him with timbrels for a present fauor that cannot depend vpon him in the want of meanes for a future Wee all are neuer weary of receiuing soone weary of attending The other mutiny was of some few male-contents perhaps those strangers which sought their owne protection vnder the wing of Israel this of the whole troup Not that none were free Caleb Ioshua Moses Aaron Miriam were not yet tainted vsually God measures the state of any Church or country by the most The greater part carries both the name and censure Sinnes are so much greater as they are more vniuersall so farre is euill from being extenuated by the multitude of the guilty that nothing can more aggrauate it With men commonness may plead for fauour with God it pleads for iudgement Many hands drawe the cable with more violence then fewe The leprosie of the whole body is more loathsome then that of a part But what doe these mutiners say Oh that we had died by the hand of the Lord. And whose hand was this O yee fond Israelites if ye must perish by famine God carried you forth God restrain'd his creatures from you and while you are ready to die thus ye say Oh that we had dyed by the hand of the Lord. It is the folly of men that in immediate iudgement they can see Gods hand not in those whose second causes are sensible whereas God holds himselfe equally interessed in all challenging that there is no euill in the citie but from him It is but one hand and many instruments that God strikes vs with The water may not lose the name though it come by chanels and pipes from the spring It is our faithlesnesse that in visible meanes wee see not him that is invisible And vvhen would they haue wisht to die When we sate by the flesh-pots of Egypt Alas what good would their flesh-pots haue done them in their death If they might sustaine their life yet what could they auaile them in dying For if they were vnpleasant what comfort was it to see them If pleasant what comfort to part from them Our greatest pleasures are but paines in their losse Euery minde affects that which is like it selfe Carnall minds are for the flesh-pots of Egypt though bought with seruitude spirituall are for the presence of GOD though redeemed with famine and vvould rather die in Gods presence then liue without him in the sight of delicate or full dishes They loued their liues well enough I heard how they shrieked when they were in danger of the Egyptians yet now they say Oh that we had died Not oh that wee might liue by the flesh-pots but oh that wee had dyed Although life be naturally sweete yet a little discontentment makes vs weary It is a base cowardlinesse so soone as euer wee are called from the garrison to the field to thinke of running away Then is our fortitude worthy of praise when we can indure to be miserable But vvhat can no flesh-pots serue but those of Egypt I am deceiued if that Land affoorded them any flesh-pots saue their owne Their Landlords of Egypt held it abhomination to eate of of their dishes or to kill that vvhich they did eate In those times then they did eate of their owne and why not now They had droues of cattell in the Wildernes why did they not take of them Surely if they would haue been as good husbands of their cattell as they vvere of their dough they might haue had enough to eate without need of murmuring for if their back-burden of dough lasted for a moneth their heards might haue serued them many yeares All grudging is odious but most when our handes are full To whine in the midst of abundance is a shamefull vnthankfulnesse When a man would haue looked that the anger of GOD should haue appeared in fire now beholde his glory appears in a cloud Oh the exceeding long suffering of God that hears their murmurings and as if hee had been bound to content them in steed of punishing pleases them as a kinde mother would deale with a rabid childe who rather stils him vvith the brest then cals for the â—odde One would haue thought that the sight of the cloud of God should haue difâ—pell'd the cloud of their distrust and this glory of GOD should haue made them asham'd of themselues and afraide of him Yet I doe not heare them once say What a mighty and gracious God haue wee distrusted Nothing will content an impotent mind but fruition When an heart is hardned with any passion it will indure much ere it will yeeld to relent vp for them that loue him As on the contrary if the righteous scarce be saued where will the sinners appeare Oh God thou canst thou wilt make this disterence Howsoeuer with vs men the most crabbed and stubborne oftentimes fare the best the righteous Iudge of the vvorld frames his remunerations as hee findes vs And if his mercy sometimes prouoke the worst to repentance by his temporall fauours yet hee euer reserues so much greater rewarde for the righteous as eternity is beyond time and heauen aboue earth It
lesse is the danger of seducement The errour of the mighty is armed with authority and in a sort commaunds assent whether in good or euill greatnes hath euer a traine to followe it at the heeles Forty dayes they spent in this search and this cowardly vnbeleefe in the search shall cost them forty yeeres delay of the fruition Who can abide to see the rulers of Israel so basely timorous They commend the Land the fruit commends it selfe and yet they plead difficulty Wee be not able to goe vp Their shoulders are laden with the grapes and yet their hearts are ouerlaid with vnbeliefe It is an vnwoorthy thing to plead hardnes of atchieuing where the benefit will more then requite the indeuour Our Land of Promise is aboue we knowe the fruit therof is sweet and glorious the passage difficult The giantly sonnes of Anak the powers of darknesse stand in our way If wee sit downe and complaine we shall once knowe that without shall be the fearefull See the idle pleas of distrust We are not able They are stronger Could not God inable them was he not stronger then their giants Had he not promised to displace the Canaanites to settle them in their stead How much more easie is it for vs to spy their weaknes then for them to espy the strength of their aduersaries When wee measure our spirituall successe by our owne power we are vanquished before we fight Hee that would ouercome must neither look vpon his owne arme nor the arme of his enemy but the mouth and hand of him that hath promised and can performe Who are we flesh and blood with our breath in our nostrills that we should fight with Principalities powers spirituall wickednesses in heauenly places The match is too vnequall wee are not like grashoppers to these giants when we compare our selues with them how can we but despaire when wee compare them with God how can we be discouraged Hee that hath brought vs into this fielde hath promised vs victory GOD knew their strength ere hee offered to commit vs. Well might they haue thought Were not the Amalekites stronger then we were not they armed we naked Did not the only hand of Moses by lifting vp beat them downe were not the Egyptians no lesse our maisters Did not Death come running after vs in their chariots Did wee not leaue these buryed in the sea the other vnburied in the Wildernesse Whence had the Anakims their strength but from him that bids vs goe vp against them Why haue the bodies of our forefathers taken possession of their Hebron but for vs But now their feare hath not left them so much reason as to compare their aduersaries with others but onely with themselues Doubtlesse these giants were mighty but their feare hath stretched them out some cubits beyond their stature Distrust makes our dangers greater and our helps lesse then they are and forecasts euer woorse then shall be and if euills be possible it makes them certaine Amongst those twelue messengers whom our second Moses sent through the Land of Promise there was but one Iudas But amongst those twelue which the former Moses addressed through the same Land there is but one Caleb and yet those were chosen out of the meanest these out of the heads of Israel As there is no societie free from some corruption so it is hard if in a community of men there be not some faithfulnesse We shall wrong GOD if we feare least good causes shall bee quite forsaken He knowes how to serue himselfe of the best if the fewest And could as easily be attended with a multitude if he did not seeke his owne glory in vnlikelihoods Ioshua was silent and wisely spared his tongue for a further aduantage Onely Caleb spake I doe not heare him say Who am I to striue with a multitude What can Ioshua and I doe against ten rulers It is better to sit stil then to rise fal But he resolues to swim against this streame and will either drawe friends to the truth or enemies vpon himselfe True Christian fortitude teaches vs not to regard the number or quality of the opponents but the equitie of the cause and cares not to stand alone challenge all commers and if it could be opposed by as many worlds as men it may be ouerborne but it cannot be daunted Whereas popularitie carryes weak minds and teaches them the safety of erring with a multitude Caleb saw the giantly Anakims and the walled citties as well as the rest and yet he saies Let vs go vp and possesse it As if it were no more but to go and see and conquer Faith is couragious and makes nothing of those dangers wherewith others are quayled It is very materiall with what eyes we looke vpon all obiects Feare doth not more multiply euills then faith diminisheth them which is therefore bold because either it sees not or contemnes that terrour which feare represents to the weake There is none so valiant as the beleeuer It had beene happy for Israel if Calebs counsell had beene as effectuall as good But how easily haue these rulers discouraged a faint-hearted people In stead of lifting vp their ensignes and marching towards Canaan They sit them down lift vp their voice and cry The roddes of their Egyptian task-maisters had neuer beene so fit for them as now for crying They had cause indeed to weep for the sinne of their infidelity but now they weep forfeare of those enemies they saw not I feare if there had beene ten Calebs to perswade and but two faint spies to discourage them those two cowards would haue preuailed against those tenne solicitors How much more now ten oppose but two incourage An easie Rhetorick drawes vs to the worse part yea it is hard not to runne downe the hill The faction of euill is so much stronger in our nature then that of Good that euery least motion preuailes for the one scarce any suite for the other Now is Moses in danger of losing all the cost and care that euer he bestowed vpon Israel His people are already gone backe to Egypt in their hearts and their bodies are returning Oh yee rebellious Hebrewes where shall GOD haue you at last Did euer Moses promise to bring you to a fruitfull Land without inhabitants To giue you a rich country without resistance Are not the graues of Canaan as good as those of Egypt What can ye but die at the hands of the Anakims Can yee hope for lesse from the Egyptians What madnes is this to wish to die for feare of death Is there lesse hope from your enemies that shall be when ye goe vnder strong and expert leaders then from the enemies that were when yee shall returne maisterlesse Can those cruell Egyptians so soone haue forgotten the blood of their fathers children brothers husbands which perished in pursuing you Had ye rather trust the mercy of knowne enemies then the promise of a faithfull GOD Which way will yee
with one stroke ioynes these two bodyes in their death vvhich were ioyned in their sinne and in the very flagrance of their lust makes a new way for their soules to their own place O noble heroicall courage of Phineas which as it was rewarded of GOD so is woorthy to bee admired of men Hee doth not stand casting of scruples Who am I to do this The sonne of the high Priest My place is all for peace and mercie It is for mee to sacrifice and pray for the sin of the people not to sacrifice any of the people for their sin My duty calls mee to appease the anger of GOD what I may not to reuenge the sins of men to pray for their conuersion not to work the confusion of any sinner and who are these Is not the one a great Prince in Israel the other a Princesse of Midian Can the death of two so famous persons goe vnreuenged Or if it be safe and fit why doth my Vncle Moses rather shed his owne tears then their bloud I will mourne with the rest let them reuenge whom it concerneth But the zeale of God hath barred out all weake deliberations and hee holds it now both his duty and his glory to be an executioner of so shamelesse a payre of offenders God loues this heate of zeale in all the carriages of his seruants And if it transport vs too far hee pardoneth the errours of our feruencie rather then the indifferencies of luke warmnesse As these two were more beasts then any that euer he sacrificed so the shedding of their bloud was the acceptablest sacrifice that euer hee offied vnto GOD for both all Israel is freed from the plague all his posterity haue the priesthood entayled to them so long as the Iewes were a people Next to our prayers there is no better sacrifice then the bloud of malefactors not as it is theirs but as it is shed by authority Gouernors are faulty of those sinnes they punish not There can be no better sight in any State then to see a malefactor at the gallowes It is not enough for vs to stand gazing vpon the wickednesse of the times yea altho with teares vnlesse wee endeuour to redresse it especially publique persons carry not their Iauelin in their hand for nought Euery one is ready to aske Phineas for his commission and those that are willing to salue vp the act plead extraordinary instinct from God who no doubt would not haue accepted that which himselfe wrought not But what need I runne so farre for this warrant when I heare GOD say to Moses Hang vp all the Heads of Israel and Moses say to the vnder-Rulers Euery one slay his men that are ioyned to Baal-Peor Euery Israelite is now made a Magistrate for this execution and why not Phineas amongst the rest Dooth his Priesthood exempt him from the bloud of sinners How then doth Samuel heaw Agag in peeces Euen those may make a carcasse which may not touch it And if Leui got the Priesthood by shedding the blood of Idolaters why may it not stand with that Priesthood to spill the bloud of a fornicator and Idolater Ordinary iustice will beare out Phineas in this act It is not for euery man to challenge this office which this double proclamation allowed to Phineas All that priuate persons can doe is either to lift vppe their hands to heauen for redresse of sin or to lift vp their hands against the sin not against the person Who made thee a Iudge is a lawful question if it meet with a person vnwarranted Now the sinne is punished the plague ceaseth The reuenge of God sets out euer after the sinne but if the reuenge of men which commonly comes later can ouertake it GOD giues ouer the chase How oft hath the infliction of a lesse punishment auoyded a greater There are none so good friends to the State as courageous and impartiall ministers of iustice These are the reconcilers of God and the people more then the prayers of them that sit still and do nothing The death of Moses AFter many painfull and perilous enterprises now is Moses drawing to his rest Hee hath brought his Israelites from Egypt through the Sea and wildernesse within the sight of their promised Land now himselfe must take possession of that Land whereof Canaan was but a type When wee haue done that wee came for it is time for vs to be gone This earth is onely made for action not for fruition The seruices of Gods children should be ill rewarded if they must stay heere alwaies Let no man thinke much that those are fetcht away which are faithfull to GOD They should not change if it were not to their preferment It is our folly that we would haue good men liue for euer and account it an hard measure that they vvere Hee that lends them to the vvorld owes them a better turne then this earth can pay them It vvere iniurious to wish that goodnesse should hinder any man from glorie So is the death of Gods Saints precious that it is certaine Moses must go vp to mount Nebo and die The time the place and euery circumstance of his dissolution is determined That one dies in the field another in his bed another in the water one in a forraine nation another in his owne is fore-decreed in heauen And tho we heare it not vocally yet God hath call'd euerie man by his name and saith Die thou there One man seemes to die casually another by an inexpected violence both fall by a destiny and all is set downe to vs by an eternall decree Hee that brought vs into the world wil cary vs out according to his owne purposes Moses must ascend vp to the hil to die Hee receiued his charge for Israel vpon the hill of Sinai And now hee deliuers vppe his charge on the hill of Nebo His brother Aaron dyed on one hill hee on another As Christ was transfigur'd on an hill so was this excellent type of his Neither doubt I but that these hills were types to them of that heauen whither they were aspiring It is the goodnes of our God that hee will not haue his children die any where but where they may see the Land of Promise before them neither can they depart vvithout much comfort to haue seene it Contrarily a vvicked man that looks downe and sees hell before him how can he choose but finde more horror in the ende of death then in the way How familiarly doth Moses hear of his end It is no more betwixt God and Moses but Goe vp and die If hee had inuited him to a meale it could not haue beene in a more sociable compellation No otherwise then he said to his other Prophet Vp and eate It is neither harsh nor newes to Gods children to hear or think of their departure To them death hath lost his horror through acquaintance Those faces which at first sight seemed ill fauoured by oft viewing growe
saue her familie from the common destruction If our soules haue this tincture of the precious blood of our Sauiour vpon our doores or windowes wee are safe But if any one of the brethren of Rahab shall flye from this redde flagge and roue about the Citie and not containe himselfe vnder that roofe which hid the Spyes it is in vaine for him to tell the auengers that he is Rahabs brother That title will not saue him in the street within doores it will If wee will vvander out of the limits that GOD hath sette vs wee cast our selues out of his protection wee cannot challenge the benefit of his gracious preseruation our most precious redemption when we fly out into the by-waies of our owne hearts Not for innocence but for safety and harbour the Church is that house of Rahab which is saued vvhen all Iericho shall perish Whiles wee keepe vs in the lists-thereof wee cannot miscary through mis-opinion but when once we run out of it let vs looke for iudgement from GOD and error in our owne iudgement Iordan diuided THe two Spyes returned with newes of the victory that should be I do not hear them say The Land is vnpeopled or the people are vnfurnished vvith armes vnskilfull of the discipline of warre but They faint because of vs therefore their Land is ours Either successe or discomfiture begins euer at the hart A mans inward disposition dooth more then presage the euent As a man rayses vp his owne heart before his fall and depresses it before his glory so God rayses it vp before his exaltation and casts it downe before his ruine It is no otherwise in our spirituall conflicts If Satan see vs once faint he giues himselfe the day There is no way to safety but that our harts be the last that shall yield That vvhich the heathens attributed to Fortune we may iustlie to the hand of GOD That he speedeth those that are forward All the ground that we lose is giuen to our aduersaries This newes is brought but ouer night Ioshua is on his way by morning and preuents the sunne for hast Delayes whether in the businesse of God or our owne are hatefull and preiudiciall Many a one loses the Land of Promise by lingring if wee neglect Gods time it is iust with him to crosse vs in ours Ioshua hastens till hee haue brought Israel to the verge of the promised Land Nothing parts thē now but the riuer of Iordan There hee stayes a time that the Israelites might feed themselues a while with the sight of that which they shold afterwards inioy That which they had bin fortie yeers in seeking may not be seized vpon too suddenly God loues to giue vs cooles heats in our desires and will so allay our ioyes that their fruition hurt vs not Hee knowes that as it is in meates the long forbearance wherof causes a surfet when we come to fullfeed so it fares in the contemners of the mind therefore hee feeds vs not with the dish but with the spoone and will haue vs neither cloyed nor famished If the mercie of GOD haue brought vs within sight of heauen let vs be content to pause a-while and and vpon the banks of Iordan fit our selues for our entrance Now that Israel is brought to the brimme of Canaan the clowd is vanished which ledde them all the way And as soone as they haue but crossed lordan the Manna ceaseth which nourisht them all the way The clowd Manna were for their passage not for their rest for the Wildernesse not for Canaan It were as easie for GOD to worke miracles alwayes but hee knowes that custome were the way to make them no miracles He goes by-waies but till he haue brought vs into the rode and then hee referres vs to his ordinarie proceedings That Israelite should haue been very foolish that would still haue said I will not stirre till I see the clowd I will not eat vnlesse I may haue that food of Angels Wherefore serues the Ark but for their direction Wherefore serues the Wheat of Canaan but for bread So fond is that Christian that will still depend vpon expectation of miracles after the fulnesse of Gods kingdome If God beare vs in his armes when we are children yet when we are well grown he looks we should go on our owne feet it is enough that hee vpholds vs tho hee cary vs not He that hitherto had gone before them in the clowd doth now goe before them in the Ark the same guide in two diuerse signes of his presence The clowd was for Moses the Arke for Ioshuas time the clowd was fit for Moses the Law offred vs Christ but enwrapped in many obscurities If he were seene in the clowd hee was heard from the couer of the Arke Why was it the Ark of the Testimonie but because it witnessed both his presence loue And within it were his Word the Law and his Sacrament the Manna Who can wish a better guide then the God of heauen in his word and Sacraments Who can know the way into the Land of Promise so well as hee that owes it And what meanes can better direct vs thither then those of his institution That Arke which before was as the heart is now as the head It was in the midst of Israel whiles they camped in the desert now when the clowd is remooued it is in the front of the Army That as before they depended vpon it for life so now they should for direction It must go before them on the shoulders of the sonnes of Leui they must follow it but within sight not within breathing The Leuites may not touch the Ark but onely the barres The Israelites may not approach neerer then a thousand pases to it What awfull respects doth GOD require to bee giuen vnto the testimonies of his presence Vzzah payd deere for touching it the men of Bethshemesh for looking into it It is a dangerous thing to bee too bold with the ordinances of GOD. Tho the Israelites were sanctified yet they might not come neere either the mount of Sinai when the law was deliuered or the Ark of the couenant wherein the law was written How fearfull shall their estate be that come with vnhallowed hearts and hands to the word of the Gospell and the true Manna of the Euangelicall Sacrament As we vse to say of the Court and of fire so may we of these diuine institutions we freeze if wee be farre off from them and if we be more neere then befits vs wee burne Vnder the Law we might looke at Christ aloof now vnder the Gospell we may come neare him He calls vs to him yea hee enters into vs. Neither was it onely for reuerence that the Arke must be not stumbled at but wayted on a far but also for conuenience both of sight and passage Those things that are neare vs tho they be lesse fill our eye Neither could so many thousand eyes see the same
Contemplations VPON THE PRINCIPAL PASSAGES OF THE HOLY STORY THE SECOND VOLVME In foure Books By I. HALL Dr. of Diuinity At London printed by H. L. for S. MachaÌ„ are to be sold in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Bul-head 1614. TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTIE PRINCE CHARLES PRINCE OF GREAT BRITAINE Most excellent Prince ACcording to the true dutie of a seruant I intended all my Contemplations to your now-glorious Brother of sweet and sorrowfull memory The first part whereof as it was the last Booke that euer vvas dedicated to that deare and immortall name of his so it was the last that was turned ouer by his gratious hand Now since it pleased the GOD of spirits to call him from these poore Contemplations of ours to the blessed Contemplation of himselfe to see him as he is to see as he is seene to whom is this sequel of my labours due but to your Highnes the heire of his Honour and vertues Euery yeere of my short pilgrimage is like to adde somthing to this Worke which in regard of the subiect is scarce finite The whole dooth not onely craue your Highnesses Patronage but promises to requite your Princely acceptation with many saâ—red examples and rules both for piety and wisedome towards the decking vp of this flourishing spring of your Age in the hopes whereof not onely vvee liue but hee that is dead liues still in you And if any peece of these indeuours come short of my desires I shall supplie the rest vvith my prayers vvhich shall neuer bee vvanting to the GOD of Princes that your happy proceedings may make glad the Church of GOD and your selfe in either World glorious Your Highnesses in all humble deuotion and faithful obseruance J. HALL Contemplations THE FIFT BOOKE The waters of Marah The Quayles and Manna The Rock of Rephidim The Foyle of Amalek or The hand of Moses lift vp The Law The Golden Calfe TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE HENRY EARLE OF HVNTINGDON LORD Hastings Botreaux Molines and Moiles His Maiesties Lieutenant in the County of Leicester A Bountiful Fauourer of all good Learning A Noble Precedent of Vertue The First Patrone of my poore studies I. H. Dedicates this first peece of his Labours and wisheth all Honour and Happines CONTEMPLATIONS THE FIFT BOOKE The waters of Marah ISRAEL was not more loath to come to the red Sea then to part from it How soon can God turne the horror of any euill into pleasure One shore resounded with shrieks of feare the other with timbrels and dances and songs of deliuerance Euery maine affliction is our red Sea which whiles it threats to swallow preserues vs At last our songs shall be lowder then our cries The Israelitish Dames when they saw their danger thought they might haue left their timbrels behinde them how vnprofitable a burden seemed those instruments of Musicke yet now they liue to renue that forgotten minstralsie and dancing which their bondage had so long discontinued and well might those feet dance vpon the shore which had walked through the Sea The Land of Goshen was not so bountifull to them as these waters That affoorded them a seruile life This gaue them at once freedome victory riches bestowing vpon them the remainder of that wealth which the Egyptians had but lent It was a pleasure to see the floating carcasses of their aduersaries and euery day offers them new booties It is no maruell then if their hearts were tied to these banks If wee finde but a little pleasure in our life we are ready to dote vpon it Euery small contentment glewes our affections to that we like And if heere our imperfect delights hold vs so fast that we would not be loosed how forceable shall those infinite ioyes bee aboue when our soules are once possessed of them Yet if the place had pleas'd them more it is no maruell they were willing to follow Moses that they durst followe him in the wildernesse whom they followed through the Sea It is a great confirmation to any people when they haue seene the hand of God with their guide O Sauior which hast vndertaken to carry me from the spirituall Egypt to the Land of promise how faithfull how powerfull haue I found thee How fearlesly should I trust thee how cheerefully should I follow thee through contempt pouertie death it selfe Maister if it be thou bidde vs come vnto thee Immediately before they had complained of too much water now they goe three dayes without Thus God meant to punish their infidelitie with the defect of that whose abundance made them to distrust Before they saw all water no land now all dry and dusty land and no water Extreamities are the best tryals of men As in bodies those that can beare sudden changes of heats and cold without complaint are the strongest So much as an euil touches vpon the mean so much help it yeelds towards patience Euery degree of sorrow is a preparation to the next but when wee passe to extreames without the meane we want the benefit of recollection and must trust to our present strength To come from all things to nothing is not a descent but a downfall and it is a rare strength and constancy not to be maimed at least These headlong euils as they are the sorest so they must be most prouided for as on the contrary a sudden aduancement froÌ„ a low condition to the height of honour is most hard to menage No man can maruell how that tyrant blinded his captiues when he heares that hee brought them immediatlie out of a darke dungeon into rooms that were made bright and glorious We are not worthy to knowe fot what wee are reserued no euill can amate vs if we can ouercom sudden extremities The long differring of a good though tedious yet makes it the better when it comes Well did the Israelites hope that the waters which were so long in finding would be precious when they were found Yet behold they are crossed not only in their desires but in their hopes for after three dayes trauell the first fountaines they finde are bitter waters If these wells had not run pure gall they could not haue so much complained Long thirst wil make bitter waters sweete yet such were these springs that the Israelites did not so mnch like their moisture as abhor their relish I see the first handsell that God giues them in their voyage to the Land of promise Thirst and bitternesse Satan giues vs pleasant entrances into his waies and reserues the bitternes for the endâ— God â—nures vs to our worst at first and sweetens our conclusion with pleasure The same GOD that would not lead Israel through the Philistines Land least they should shrinke at the sight of warre now leads them through the Wildernesse and feares not to trie their patience with bitter potions If hee had not loued them the Egyptian fornace or sword had preuented their thirst or that Sea wherof their enimies drunk dead and yet see how
with them and they be athirst Either God must humour carnall minds or be distrusted If they prosper though it be with wickednes God is with them If they be thwarted in their owne designes straight Is God with vs It was the way to put God from them to distrust and murmure If he had not been with them they had not liued If hee had been in them they had not mutined They can thinke him absent in their want and cannot see him absent in their sin and yet wickednesse not affliction argues him gone Yet then is hee most present vvhen hee most chastises Who would not haue looked that this answere of Moses should haue appeased their fury As vvhat can still him that will not be quiet to thinke he hath God for his aduersary But as if they would wilfully warre against heauen they proceed yet with no lesse craft then violence bending their exception to one part of the answere and smoothly omitting what they could not except against They will not heare of tempting God they maintain their strife with Moses both with words and stones How malitious how heady is impatience The act was Gods they cast it vpon Moses Wherefore hast thou brought vs The act of God was mercifull they make it cruell To kill vs and our children As if GOD and Moses meant nothing but their ruine vvho intended nothing but their life and liberty Foolish men What needed this iourney to death Were they not as obnoxious to God in Egypt Could not God by Moses as easily haue killed them in Egypt or in the Sea as their enemies Impatience is full of misconstruction If it be possible to find out any glosse to corrupt the text of Gods actions they shall be sure not to scape vntainted It was no expostulating with an vnreasonable multitude Moses runnes straight to him that was able at once to quench their thirst and their fury What shall I doe to this people It is the best way to trust God with his owne causes when men will be intermedling with his affaires they vndoe themselues in vaine We shal find difficulties in all great enterprises If we be sure we haue begun them from God we may securely cast all euents vppon his prouidence which knowes how to dispose and how to end them Moses perceiued rage not in the tongues onely but in the hands of the Israelites Yet a while longer and they will stone mee Euen the leader of Gods people feared death and sinned not in fearing Life is worthy to be deare to all especially to him vvhome publique charge hath made necessary Meere feare is not sinfull It is impotence and distrust that accompany it which make it euill How well is that feare bestowed that sends vs the more importunately to GOD Some man would haue thought of flight Moses flyes to his prayers and that not for reuenge but for help Who but Moses would not haue saide This twise they haue mutined and beene pardoned and now againe thou seest O Lord how madly they rebell and how bloodily they intend against me preserue me I beseech thee and plague them I heare none of this but imitating the long suffering of his God hee seeks to God for them which sought to kill him for the quarrell of God Neither is God sooner sought then found All Israel might see Moses goe towardes the rocke None but the Elders might see him strike it Their vnbeleefe made them vnworthy of this priuiledge It is no small fauour of God to make vs witnesses of his great works That he crucifies his Son before vs that hee serches the water of life out of the true rock in our sight is an hie prerogatiue If his rigour vvould haue taken it our infidelitie had equally excluded vs whom now his mercy hath receiued Moses must take his rod God could haue done it by his vvill without a word or by his word without the rod but hee will doe by meanes that which hee can as easily doe without There vvas no vertue in the rod none in the stroke but all in the command of God Meanes must be vsed and yet their efficacie must bee expected out of themselues It doth not suffice GOD to name the rod without a description Whereby thou smotest the riuer Wherfore but to strengthen the faith of Moses that hee might well expect this wonder from that which he had tryed to be miraculous How could hee but firmly beleeue that the same meanes which turned the waters into blood and turned the Sea into a wall could as vvell turne the stone into vvater Nothing more rayses vp the heart in present affiance then the recognition of fauours or vvoonders passed Behold the same rodde that brought plagues to the Egyptians brings deliuerances to 〈◊〉 By the same meanes can God saue and condemne Like as the same sword defends and kilâ—s That power which turned the wings of the Quayles to the Wildernes turned the course of the water through the rocke Hee might if he had pleased haue caused a spring to well out of the plaine earth but hee will now fetch it out of the stone to conuince and shame their infidelitie What is more hard and dry then the rock What more moist and supple then vvater That they might be ashamed to thinke they distrusted least God could bring them water out of the cloudes or springs the very rock shall yeeld it And now vnlesse their hearts had beene more rockie then this stone they could not but haue resolued into teares for this diffidence I wonder to see these Israelites fed with Sacraments Their bread was Sacramentall whereof they communicated euery day least any man should complaine of frequence the Israelites receiued daily and now their drinke was Sacramentall that the ancient Church may giue no warrant of a dry Communion Twise therefore hath the rock yeelded them water of refreshing to signifie that the true spirituall rock yeelds it alwayes The rocke that followed them was Christ Out of thy side O Sauiour issued that bloody stream wherby the thirst of all beleeuers is comfortably quenched Let vs but thirst not with repining but with faith this rocke of thine shall abundantly flow forth to our soules and follow vs till this water be changed into that new wine vvhich wee shall drinke vvith thee in thy Fathers Kingdome The Foyle of Amalek or The hand of Moses lift vp NO sooner is Israels thirst slaked then God hath an Amalekite ready to assault them The Almighty hath choise of rods to whip vs with and will not be content with one tryall They would needs be quarrelling with Moses without a cause and now God sends the Amalekites to quarrell with them It is iust with God that they which would bee contending vvith their best friends shold haue work enough of contending with enemies In their passage out of Egypt God vvould not lead them the nearest vvay by the Philistims Land least they should repent at the sight of warre now they
both see and feele it He knowes how to make the fittest choise of the times of euill and withholds that one while which hee sends another not vvithout a iust reason why he sends and withholds it And though to vs they come euer as we thinke vnseasonably and at sometimes more vnfitly then others yet hee that sends them knowes their opportunities VVho vvould not haue thought a worse time could neuer haue beene pickt for Israels warre then now In the feeblenesse of their troupes when they were wearied thirsty vnweaponed Yet now must the Amalekites doe that which before the Philistims might not doe We are not worthy not able to choose for our selues To be sicke and dy in the strength of youth in the minoritie of children To bee pinched with pouerty or miscarriage of children in our age how harshly vnseasonable it seemes But the infinite wisedom that orders our euents knowes how to order our times Vnlesse wee will bee shamelesse vnbeleeuers O Lord we must trust thee with our selues and our seasons and know that not that which we desire but that which thou hast appointed is the fittest time for our sufferings Amalek was Esaues grandchild and these Israelites the Sons of Iacob The abode of Amalek was not so farre from Egypt but they might well heare what became of their cozens of Israel and now doubtlesse out of enuie watcht their opportunitie of reuenge for their old grudge Malice is commonly hereditary and runnes in the blood and as we vse to say of runnet the older it is the stronger Hence is that foolish hostilitie which some men vniustly nourish vppon no other grounds then the quarrels of their forefathers To wreak ouâ— malice vpon posteritie is at the best but the humour of an Amalekite How cowardly and how crafty was this skirmish of Amalek They doe not bid them battel in faire tearms of warre but without all noise of warning come stealing vpon the hindmost and fall vpon the weake and scattered remnants of Israel There is no looking for fauour at the hands of malice The worst that either force or fraud can doe must be expected of an aduersary but much more of our spirituall enemie by how much his hatred is deeper Behold this Amalek lieâ— in ambush to hinder our passage vnto our Land of promise and subtilly takes all aduantages of our weaknesses Wee cannot be wise or safe if we stay behinde our colours and strengthen not those parts where is most perill of opposition I doe not heare Moses say to his Ioshua Amalek is come vp against vs it matters not whether thou goe against him or not or if thou go whether alone or with companie or if accompanied vvhether vvith manie or few strong or weake Or if strong men vvhether they fight or no I vvill pray on the hill but Choose vs out men and goe fight Then onely can vvee pray with hope vvhen wee haue done our best And though the meanes cannot effect that which wee desire yet God will haue and vse the likeliest meanes on our part to effect it Where it comes immediately from the charge of GOD any meanes are effectuall One stick of wood shall fetch vvater out of the rock another shall fetch bitternesse out of the water But in those proiects which vve make for our owne purposes vve must choose those helps vvhich promise most efficacy In vaine shall Moses be vpon the hill if Ioshua be not in the vally Prayer without meanes is a mockerie of GOD. Here are two shadowes of one substance The same Christ in Ioshua fights against our spirituall Amalek and in Moses spreads out his armes vpon the hill and in both conquers And why doth he climbe vp the hill rather then pray in the valley Perhaps that he might haue the more freedom to his thoughts which following the sense are so much more heauenly as the eye sees more of heauen Though vertue lies not in the place yet choise must be made of those places which may be most helpe to our deuotion Perhaps that hee might be in the eye of Israel The presence and sight of the leader giues heart to the people neither dooth any thing more moue the multitude then example A publique person cannot hide himselfe in the valley but yet it becomes him best to shew himselfe vppon the hill The hand of Moses must be raised but not emptie neither is it his owne rod that he holds but Gods In the first meeting of God with Moses the rod was Moseses it is like for the vse of his trade now the propriety is altered God hath so wrought by it that now he challenges it and Moses dare not call it his owne Those things which it pleases God to vse for his owne seruice are now changed in their condition The bread of the Sacrament was once the Bakers now it is Gods the water was once euery mans now it is the Laver of Regeneration It is both vniust and vnsafe to hold those things common vvherein God hath a peculiarity At other times vpon occasion of the plagues and of the Quayles and of the rock he was commanded to take the rodde in his hand now hee doth it vnbidden He doth it not now for miraculous operation but for incouragement For when the Israelites should cast vp their eyes to the hill and see Moses and his rod the man and the meanes that had wrought so powerfully for them they could not but take heart to themselues and thinke There is the man that deliuered vs from the Egyptian Why not now from the Amalekite There is the rod which turned waters to blood and brought varieties of plagues on Egypt Why not now on Amaleck Nothing can more hearten our faith then the view of the monuments of Gods fauour If euer wee haue found any word or act of God cordial to vs it is good to fetch it forth oft to the eye The renuing of our sense and remembrance makes euery gift of God perpetually beneficiall If Moses had receiued a command that rod which fetcht water from the rock could as well haue fetcht the blood of the Amalekites out of their bodies God will not worke miracles alwayes neither must wee expect them vnbidden Not as a standerd-bearer so much as a suppliant dooth Moses lift vp his hand The gesture of the body should both expresse further the piety of the soul. This flesh of ours is not a good seruant vnlesse it help vs in the best offices The God of spirits dooth most respect the soule of our deuotion yet it is both vnmannerly and irreligious to be misgestured in our prayers The carelesse and vncomely carriage of the body helps both to signifie and make a profane soule The hand the rod of Moses neuer moued in vaine Though the rod did not strike Amalek as it had done the rock yet it smote heauen and fetcht downe victory And that the Israelites might see the hand of Moses had a greater stroke in the
out of dislike They haue so oft thought and resolued of the necessity of the issue of their dissolution that they cannot holde it either strange or vnwelcome Hee that hath hadde such entire conuersation vvith GOD cannot feare to goe to him Those that knowe him not or knowe that hee will not knowe them no maruell if they tremble This is no small fauour that God warnes Moses of his end He that hadde so oft made Moses of counsell what hee meant to doe with Israel would not now doe ought with himselfe without his knowledge Expectation of any maine euent is a great aduantage to a wise heart If the fiery chariot had fetcht away Elias vnlookt for we shold haue doubted of the fauor of his transportation It is a tokeÌ„ of iudgemeÌ„t to come as a theef in the night God forewarns one by sicknes another by age another by his secret instincts to prepare for their end If our hearts be not now in a readinesse we are worthy to be surprized But what is this I heare Displeasure mixed with loue that to so faithfull a seruant as Moses He must but see the Land of Promise he shall not tread vpon it because he once long agoe sinned in distrusting Death tho it were to him an entrance into glory yet shal be also a chastisement of his infidelity How many noble proofes had Moses giuen of his courage strength of faith How many gracious seruices had hee done to his Maister Yet for one act of distrust he must be gathered to his Fathers All our obediences cannot beare out one sin against God How vainely shall we hope to make amends to God for our former trespasses by our better behauior when Moses hath this one sin laid in his dish after so many and worthy testimonies of his fidelity When wee haue forgotten our sinnes yet GOD remembers them and altho not in anger yet he calls for our arerages Alas what shall become of them with whom God hath tenne thousand greater quarrels That amongst many millions of sinnes haue scattered some fewe acts of formal seruices If Moses must die â—he first death for one fault how â—hall they escape the second for â—inning alwayes Euen where God loues hee will not winke at sinne and if he do not punish yet he wil chastice How much lesse can it stand with that eternall iustice to let wilfull sinners escape iudgement It might haue beene iust vvith God to haue reserued the cause to himselfe and in a generality to haue tolde Moses that his sin must shorten his iourney but it is more of mercy then iustice that his children shall knowe why they smart That GOD may at once both iustifie himselfe and humble them for their particular offences Those to whom hee meanes vengeance haue not the sight of their sinnes till they be past repentance Complaine not that God vpbraides thee with thy old sins whosoeuer thou art but knowe it is an argument of loue whereas concealement is a fearful signe of a secret dislike froÌ„ God But what was that noted sinne vvhich deserues this late exprobration and shall carry so sharpe a chastisement Israel murmur'd for water God bids Moses take the rod in his hand and speake to the rock to giue water Moses in stead of speaking and striking the rock with his voyce strikes it with the rod Heere was his sinne An ouer-reaching of his commission A fearefulnes and distrust of the effect The rod hee knew was approued for miracles hee knew not how powerful his voice might be therfore he did not speak but strike and he stroke twise for failing And now after these many yeeres he is striken for it of God It is a dangerous thing in diuine matters to goe beyond our warrant Those sinnes which seeme triuiall to men are hainous in the account of God Any thing that sauors of infidelity displeases him more then some other crimes of morality Yet the mouing of the rod was but a diuerse thing from the moouing of the tongue it was not contrary He did not forbid the one but hee commanded the other This was but acrosse the streame not against it where shal they appeare whose whole courses are quite contrary to the commandements of God Vpon the act done God passed the sentence of restrayning Moses with the rest from the promised Land now he performes it Since that time Moses had many fauors from God All which could not reuerse this decreed castigation That euerlasting rule is grounded vpon the very essence of God I am Iehouah I change not Our purposes are as our selues fickle incertaine His are certain and immutable some things which he reueales he alters nothing that he hath decreed Besides the soule of Moses to the glory whereof God principally intended this change I finde him carefull of two things His Successor and his Body Moses moues for the one the other God doth vnasked Hee was so tender ouer the welfare of Israel in his life would not slaken his care in death Hee takes no thought for himself for he knew how gainfull an exchange he must make All his care is for his charge Some enuious natures desire to be missed when they must goe and wish that the weaknes or want of a successour may be the foyle of their memory honor Moses is in a contrary disposition It sufficeth him not to finde contentment in his owne happinesse vnlesse he may haue an assurance that Israel shall prosper after him Carnall mindes are all for themselues and make vse of gouernment only for their owne aduantages But good hearts look euer to the future good of the Church aboue their own against their own Moses did well to show his good affection to his people but in his silence God wold haue prouided for his owne Hee that call'd him from the sheep of Iethro will not want a gouernour for his chosen to succeed him God hath fitted him whom he will choose Who can be more meet then he whose name whose experience whose graces might supply yea reuiue Moses to the people He that searched the Land before was fittest to guide Israel into it Hee that vvas indued vvith the spirite of GOD was the fittest deputie for GOD He that abode still in the Tabernacle of Ohel-moed as Gods attendant was fittest to be sent forth from him as his lieutenant But oh the vnsearchable counsell of the Almighty Aged Caleb and all the Princes of Israel are past ouer and Ioshua the seruant of Moses is chosen to succeed his maister The eye of God is not blinded either with gifts or with blood or with beauty or with strength but as in his eternall elections so in his temporary hee will haue mercie on vvhom hee will And well doth Ioshua succeed Moses The very acts of God of olde were allegories where the Law ends there the Sauiour begins we may see the Land of Pâ—omise in the Law Onely Iesus the mediatour of the new Testament can bring