Iewes was extinct Iohn was banished into Patmes and is commaunded to write to the Seuen Congregations in Asia the lesser where Iaphets Sonnes were first setled to so many Congregations as Iaphet had Sonnes Grace and peace from him that was and is and which is to come and from the seuen Spirits expressed in Esay 11. which are before his throne and from Iesus Christ which is a faithfull witnesse and first begotten of the dead Alpha and Omega the first and the last who is aliue but was dead and behold he liues for euer and euer and hath the keys of hell and of death and giueth light and life to Iaphet the Gentile who was in darkenesse and in the shadowe of death perswading him to dwell in the Tents of Sem to be a dweller in the spirituall Canaan and a Citizen in the heauenly Salem where there is no earthly Temple For God almightie and the Lambe are the Temple of it Now for Sem. SEm being one Hundred yeares old begetteth Arphaxad two yeeres after the flood so old was Abraham when hee begat Isaack He is in vertue equall with any before the flood This Sem was a King Prophet Sacrificer He signifieth A Name to teach them that the should looke to him in whom Sem and the whole world should be blessed He had fiue sonnes Elam Ashur Arphaxad Lud. Amram Elam of whom the Persians Ashur of whom the Assyrians Arphaxad of whom Christ Amram of whom the Aramites Lud of whom the Lidians There be diuers which condemne Genealogies warranted therby as they affirme by Saint Pauls Councill to Timothie neither that they giue heed to fables and Genealogies endlesse which breede rather questions then godly edifying by faith Indeed seeing Genealogies are of great consequence to the prouing of Christ to be the Messias the Iewes to crosse this faine diuers of their owne which S. Paul calleth endlesse and therefore to be auoided as also tales inuented by them whereby they corrupted the story of the Scriptures But this condemneth not the Genealogies which the Holy Ghost penneth but rather approueth them And if we doe but crosse the account laide downe by the heathen we do obscure the euidence of the Scriptures Thus much for the answere of this obiection 100. Arphachsad borne HIs name signifieth Healing Some hold that the Caldeans come from him CHRIST healeth all our infirmities Shelah borne HIs name signifieth Spoyling He was the Father of the Shelanites When he is thirtie yeeres old he begetteth Heber Heber a representer of the sonne of God who beginning to be thirtie yeeres old buildeth vp the decayed walles of the Gentiles Thirtie yeeres after the promise giuen to Abram was it before his seed began to be afflicted Ioseph being thirtie yeeres old expoundeth Pharaohs dreame Heber signifieth Pilgrime or stranger so saith Abraham I am a stranger and Pilgrime giue me a place for money to burie my dead So saith Saint Peter repeating the same storie I beseech you as Pilgrims and strangers to abstaine from fleshly lusts which fight against the soule Hebers posteritie went as strangers flitting from land to land looking for a Citie whereof God was the builder Heb. 11. Hereby we are taught that the world is not the end to which wee were created but that the glory of God is the end or marke that wee ought to leuell at For if we consider Man and the World in man the sences and in the world the sensible things Man as the beholder the world as the Theatre Man as the guest in the world the Feast prepared of all things conuenient for him wee will presently say not only that they be made one for another but also that in very deed the world was made for man and not man for the world And againe if wee consider how the world affordeth content of pleasures to all the sences but nothing sufficient to content the minde shall wee not conclude that as the pompe of this pilgrimage cannot bee mans end so can it not also bee his full contentation but man by a peculiar priuiledge hath an Vnderstanding wit which was giuen vnto him and Will which he receiued franke and free the one to knowe and discerne the leuell of his ende the other to loue and embrace it Seeing then the hither ende of all creatures heere beneath is Man and the furthest end of them is God the neerest and immediate end of man is to know God in the death merits of his Sonne Christ and them to embrace as the soueraigne welfare and comfort of our soules when from this handfull of earth our soules must goe to God that gaue it And what gaineth it a man to get all the kingdomes in the world by humane policie and want grace to ayme the end of our pilgrimage at heauen For what else is the getting of this world but a proofe of want and pouertie And what are honour vaine titles and Imperiall glories but a stampe of the diuels nature Therefore as the end of the first man when he was in his perfect holines was to attaine vnto God so the end of vs who by regeneration are partakers of that righteousnes must tend wholly to the mortifying of our worldly affections and accounting of these transitory momentaries as though they were not And to be short like as the soule is the shape of man so is the knowledge of God the true shape of mans vnderstanding and what desire we but the things that are and what can he want which possesseth him in whom all things are Then let vs say that as it had beene a happie case for Adam to haue continued still in his first estate so is it now for vs to returne thither againe that is to be set againe in Gods fauor that we may one day see his face yet againe And because this vnspeakeable blessednesse cannot be brought to perfection in this life so full of miserie we must so dispose our life in this world not to liue still in the world but to die in respect of these dead things and to liue vnto God if we intend to liue the true and euerlasting life for our true resting point is the turning againe vnto God from whose fauour and fellowship we be departed Man is composed of bodie and soule the body mortall the soule immortall now if we set mans felicitie in his bodie onely we doe too great wrong both to the soule and to the whole man For if it consist in the bodie it perisheth and fadeth with the body and then what remaineth to the soule which ouerliueth but wretchednesse but wee looke for a felicitie which belongeth to the whole man In the soule ioyned with the body we haue three abilities Life Sence Vnderstanding The soule giueth life vnto the body and the perfection of life is health If our life then serue to no other end than the outward things of this pilgrimage what had the first man to do with any of them who was created perfect
enioying the benefit of the whole world and if these things must be the end of vs now after our corruption what is more vnhappy than man what is more vncapable of happines than man A body subiect to infinite diseases weake fraile fraught with miseries within wrapped in them without alwayes vncertaine of life euermore sure of death whom a worme an herbe a graine of dust may kill who if hee looked for no other happinesse than this were much better to be a plant than a man And what man is he that feeleth not a law in himselfe that goes about to bridle him which feeleth not a guiltie and accusing conscience in the midst of his pleasure or whose greatest delights leaue him not a sting of repentance behind them And what happinesse can that be whereof we bee ashamed Now then seeing that we haue a double life the one in this world the other in another the one dying the other immortall the first which is here tending to the second as the worse to the better our seeking must not bee for such an end or such a felicitie as dieth with vs but for such a one as maketh vs happie quickneth vs and refresheth vs eternally which surely is not to be found in mortall things Where is this happinesse then to be found In wisedome in religion and in knowledge which are not attained vnto by reason but by faith For beliefe mounteth higher than our vnderstanding And a certaine Arabian proceeded so farre as to say that the root whereby the felicitie to come is contained vnto is faith and what is this faith in God but a belieuing that our eternall happinesse liueth in him And what is the belieuing but a hoping for it And what is hope but the desiring of it And what is the desire of it but the hauing of it And what is the continuers beliefe of it here but a bewraying that here we cannot enioy it And if we haue not faith what haue wee but ignorance And if wee haue faith what haue wee but a desire and longing considering that the greater our faith is the more we despise the base things of this world And the greater our desire is the more we hate our selues and the more earnestly do we loue God And to be short what is blessednesse afore appointed but we would see it The way vnto felicitie but we would enioy it Looke then what proportion is betweene that which is present and that which is to come such proportion is there betwixt the hope we haue here and the perfection of that good which we hope to attaine vnto It followeth then seeing the world was made for man man for the soule the soule for the mind the mind for God that all our doings can haue no end to rest vpon here but onely in the life to come which is the beholding true knowing of God For who is he that would depart with any peece of his owne liking in this life but in hope of better things And what were it for him to loose his life if there were not a life more happie after this The taking vp of that godly man Henoch out of this life was to no other end but to set him in another life void of all euill And when we read the turmoiles of Noah the ouerwhartings of Abraham the persecution of Isaack the banishment and wayfaring of Iacob the distresses of Ioseph Moses and the residue of the fathers they all shewe vnto vs that they surely looked for a better life after this and that there is a iudgement to come For had they looked for no other comfort after this life the flesh would haue perswaded them to haue held thēselues in quiet here Noah among his friends Abrahā among the Chaldees Moses in Pharaohs Court Salomon in his pleasures c. But they knew that their shoot-anker was to liue immortally vnited vnto God Hermes in his Poemander saith that God made man like vnto himselfe and he linked him to him as his sonne for he was beautifull and made after his owne image and gaue him all his workes to vse at his pleasure and therefore he exhorteth him to forsake his bodie to manure his soule and to consider the originall roote from whence it sprang which is not earthly but heauenly Discharge thy selfe saith he of this body which thou bearest about thee for it is but a cloake of ignorance a foundation of infection a place of corruption a liuing death a sensible carion a portable graue and a houshold theefe it flattereth thee because it hateth thee it hateth thee because it enuieth thee as long as that liueth it bereaueth thee of life and thou hast not a greater enemy than that Now to what end were it for him to forsake this light this dwelling place this life if it were not for a better in an other world therfore Chalcidius saith I go home again into mine own coūtry where my better forefathers kinsfolks be And a wise man of the Chaldeys exhorteth men with speed to returne vnto their heauenly father to seeke Paradise as the peculiar dwelling place of the soule This is confirmed in the Gospel when Christ promiseth the theefe that day he should be with him in Paradise And of Epicharin we haue this saying If thou beest a good man in thy heart death can doe thee no harme for thy soule shall liue happily in heauen And Plato willed his soule to returne home to her kinred and to her first originall that is saith he to the wise and immortall godhead the fountaine of all goodnesse as called home from banishment into our owne natiue countrey Seneca speaking of the Lady Martiares sonne being dead saith he is now euerlasting and in the best state bereft of this earthly baggage which was none of his and set free to himselfe for these bones these sinewes this coat of skinne this face and these seruiceable hands are but fetters and prisons of the soule By them the soule is ouerwhelmed beaten downe and chased away It hath not a greater battell than with that masse of flesh for feare of being torne in pieces it laboureth to returne from whence it came where it hath ready for it an happie and euerlasting rest We read of the Thracians that they sorrowed at the birth of their children and reioyced at the death of them because they thought that which we call death not to be a death but rather a very happie birth Therefore Herodotus calleth these people the neuer dying Getes and the Greekes the neuer dying Thracians For they were of opinion that at their departure out of this world they went to Zamolxis or Gabeleize that is to him that gaue them health saluation or welfare Herocles saith that the wicked would not haue their soules to be immortall to the intent they might not be punished for their faultes but yet that they preuent the sentence of their Iudge by condemning themselues vnto death aforehand But
sayd to the children of Israel I set here before you life and death eate of the one and liue and eate of the other and die eternally Yet could not be content with this glorious estate but did eate of the forbidden fruit by the perswasion of a woman which God framed out of Adams ribbe and ioyned to him to be an helpe for him Before they had continued in Paradise one day as it is written Psal 49. Adam being in honour continueth not a night but is like to the beasts that perish which woman was deceiued by the subtiltie of a Serpent that is of the Deuill speaking in a Serpent which beast was fittest to possesse to the deceiuing of her because he excelled all other beasts in the field in wit For if an Asse had sayd so much to her as did the Serpent it is very likely shee would haue examined the cause further but he hauing once bin an Angel of light but not keping his first originall being throwne downe from heauen continuing his knowledge though he lost his vertue was not to seeke either for matter or oportunitie enuying their states to bring his murtherous purpose to passe for so is he called the Serpent the old Deuill or Satan who was a Murtherer from the beginning but knowing the prohibition commeth to the woman saying Yea hath God sayd Yee shall not eate of euery tree in the garden to whome the woman answereth saying We may eate freely of the fruite of the Trees in the garden but as for the Tree in the middest of the garden God hath sayd yee shall not eate of it nor touch it least happily you die Out of which speeches the Serpent beeing a ramping and a roaring Lyon going about seeking how hee might deuoure her quickly sucketh aduantage finding her to haue digressed from the words of the commaundement adding thereto a tricke of his owne head saith to the woman Ye shall not die at all but you shal be as Gods knowing good and euill In that he saith gods he meaneth not the true God for whatsoeuer hee speaketh is to be taken in the worst meaning that can be made of it but he meaneth you shal be in the state of damnation as Deuils which are called Princes Gods of the world And likely enough that he touched the fruit because that shee added to the Commaundement the worde touche Now the woman beholding the fruit that it was good to eate pleasant to the eyes a Tree to be desired to get knowledge She tooke of the fruit did eate gaue also to her husband and he did eat These 3. properties aboue are expounded in Iohn Wantonnes of the eies Lust of the flesh The pride of life By reason of which sinne Adam and Eue seeing their owne nakednes sowed figge-tree leaues together and hidde themselues from the presence of God among the Trees of the garden their soules beeing then in the state of Damnation with a light shining in darknes but their darknes not comprehending the same shewing thereby the weaknes of their nature and of their posteritie God but a little leauing them to their selues that when they had sinned they had rather hide themselues in darkenesse and seek to stockes and trees that haue no help in them than to God that made them But Dauid afterwards being clothed with the spirit of wisedome vnderstanding acknowledgeth the power of God to ouer-reach the compasse of mans vaine imagination when he sayth Whether shall I flye from thy presence If I take the winges of the morning and flye to the vttermost part of the world thou art there If I climbe vp to heauen thou art there If I goe downe to hell thou art there also For God who made the eye shall not hee see all the dwellers vppon earth who hath weighed all men in a ballance numbring the dayes and verie haires of their heads diuiding to euerie one their double portion according to the fore-purpose of his election being a righteous Iudge sparing not the person of Adam though hee were a King and the stateliest King that euer should bee but calleth him to account in the coole of the same day wherein he was created and fell punisheth him though not according to the desert of his transgression like a merciful Iudge that would saue and as a Father that pitieth his owne childe knowing whereof he was made and that he was but dust sayth to Adam What hast thou done and leauing him to consider of his sinne goeth to the woman with like tendernesse saying What hast thou done as if he should haue sayd Oh daughter haue I made the heauens and the host thereof that is Angels Sunne Moone and Starres c. to be thy seruants and the earth and all that therein is to be obedient at thy call breathing into thy nostrils life wherby thou becamest a liuing soule in the image of God that is in righteousnesse and true holynesse to be a temple and a Tabernacle for the holy of the holyest to dwell in and hast thou defiled the same with fond lusts regarding the wordes of the Serpent the Father of lyes not respecting my power and my seueritie that as I made thy body and soule that I could destroy the same whereby thou hast purchased the execution of my law established at thy creation to thee and thy husband what hast thou done But God hauing examined the matters and finding them both guiltie and the malice of the Serpent to bee the cause of their guiltinesse neuer stayeth iudgement nor vouchsafeth once to reason the matters with him but presently curseth him and punisheth Adam and the woman and curseth for their sakes the earth plants and whole course of nature and made them of obedient seruants rebellious enemies to Adam and his posteritie And because Adam was not deceiued but the woman became into the transgression he maketh her will subiect to the desire of her husband encreasing her sorrowes and her conceptions Thus he chastiseth them but giueth them not ouer but pronounceth to the woman a short but a pithy sentence That the seede of the woman should breake the head of the Serpent That is to say I will cause one to be borne of the womans seede which shall subdue the Deuill and the Deuill shall doe his endeauour to trip vp his heeles by tempting him In this beginneth a controuersie against the Iewes of later times who hold opinion that the Messias or Christ whome wee vphold to be the mediator between Gods iustice and mans sinne shall be some great Emperor that shall deliuer them from bodily oppression howbeit they cannot deny but that by the death which God threatneth to Adam for his transgression Rabbi Moses vnderstandeth a spirituall death that is to wit the death of the soule wounded with sinne and forsaken of her life which is God and that by the venome of the Serpent he meaneth sinne it selfe which shall cease saith he vnder the Messias And the Thargum of Ierusalem sayth
for the pleasantnesse of the taste and the vnlawfull desire that shee had of diuilish knowledge not long before was driuen out of Paradise whose blessing of procreation was ioyned with sorrow of conception whose innocent soule by breaking but one commaundement became guiltie of eternall death and lost the whole glory of Paradise and was driuen out into mountaines as not worthy to enioy the benefit of the tree of life in the garden of Eden But Enosh being a godly man and knowing that the fruits of worldly sorrow are likewise eternal death of godly sorrow repentance which word signifieth a changing of iudgement from ignorance to true knowledge to the renewing of the spirit nameth his sonne Kenan Contrite or repenting or a looking backe into their impieties detesting their vaine conuersation to the killing of sinne in himselfe and to the embracing of righteousnesse For it is not onely required of a man to eschew euill but withall to doe good to flee darkenesse if wee will enioy light to follow the right way if wee will not erre to auoid the mire and durt if we will be cleane and without spot and forbeare to be euill if we will begin to be good for it is not enough for a valiant man to doe what he may but also he is bound to attempt nothing but what he ought And as repentance is the fruit of godly sorrow so thankefulnesse to God for deliuerance from like trials proceedeth from repentance Therefore Kenan the Contrite nameth his sonne Mahalaleel my praise God which none can doe effectually without a lowly mind sanctified first by grace to the subduing of the flesh Mahalaleel knowing that such fruit is required of such a tree nameth his sonne Iared the lowly which gifts of grace God bestoweth vpon such onely as he accepteth vnto himselfe as it is written Blessed is the man vnto whom God imputeth not his sinne c. So that a man hauing thus purged himselfe from the iniquitie of wicked men marking the rules of Gods eternall wisedome he shal be a vessell sanctified vnto honour meete for the vses of the Lord 2. Tim. 2. Therfore Iared the lowly nameth his sonne Henoch the holy Now God commaunding all men to direct their steppes by the straight line of his word first layeth downe his will what we ought to doe to please him and then induceth vs thereto not onely by hope of eternall life but promiseth vs in this life long and happy daies as in the eternall lawe is expressed Loue God aboue all and thy neighbour as thy selfe that thy dayes may bee longe in the Land which the Lord thy God giueth thee c. Henoch therefore being assured of the infinite mercies of God towards him and his seede by faith still beholding as in a glasse the redemption by the Sonne of God the summe of all saluation nameth his sonne Methushelah long life or Speare-death For euen as the point of a Speare keepeth off that which would otherwise destroy euen so Methushelah kept away the Floud a longe time from drowning the World But because men should not thinke that any liueth without calamities least outward happinesse should make men to forget God Methushelah hauing heard his fathers and himselfe also being a Prophet preach of the destruction of the world by the floud calleth his sonne Lamech that is Stroken or Hart-wounded which is to be vnderstood that in respect that he being neere those times of dangers many of his posteritie were like to be drowned not only in the floud but eternally tormented for ioyning with the wicked mockers which despised the preaching of the Fathers But although God throweth mens consciences downe for a while with griefe of other mens iust punishment yet hee rayseth them vp againe giuing them hope of his assured promises and a sweet comfort of eternall life Lamech being thus strengthned with the faith of his Fathers ayming still to the sentence of saluation pronounced in Paradise calleth his Sonne Noah Restorer or Comforter saying This Sonne shall comfort vs concerning the sorrow of our hands and concerning the earth which the Lord hath cursed Wherein he sheweth that he both looked backward to the creation and forward to the Redemption by Christ the Seede of the Woman that should bruse the head of the Serpent Thus much for the vse of the names of the Ten Fathers before the floud in generall ⧠Now follow their liues and deaths in particular and first for Adam There is a great doubt made of the time of the yeere of Adams creation and of the day of his fall and is refused as a thing vnprofitable to be knowen and vnpossible to be proued First for the time of his Creation IT is certaine he was created in September at the time that fruits be ripe which is at the fall of the leafe and that was the fittest time seeing in the course of nature there was no fitter time to expresse the nature of Adams fall And as the fall of Adam being answerable to the fall of the leafe because by his fall death was brought vpon all So the death of Christ beeing contrarie to Adams fall because it brought life to all the fittest time to resemble this life in the course of nature was the spring therefore Christ dyed at the spring to deliuer vs out of the spirituall prison when as all thinges shewe themselues to bee deliuered out of this earthly prison Now for the day of Adams fall IT was on fryday the sixt day the day of Adams creation at the time of eating For wee doe not reade that euer Adam did eate before he did eate of the forbidden fruit Therefore when by the storie the time of eating cannot be separated in time reason sheweth vs to ioyne them in time for Satan was a Murtherer from the beginning and we must bring it from the beginning as neere as can be not crossing any Scripture The searching of this matter is not of small importance for from the true vnderstanding of the creation we see the cleerenesse of the Redemption and not marking the creation aright is the cause of much follie and they that misse of the lawes of creation are sure to misse of the lawes of Redemption And Moses making mention of many times hee would not haue omitted the time of the fall except it had beene done presently after the creation thetefore Adams fall must needes bee layd as neere the beginning as may bee not crossing the story The bare narration sheweth that no famous action went betweene the commaundement and the fall and the shortnesse of the time doth shewe the force of the aduersarie Besides it is a great sinne to say that euery man except Christ could fulfill any one point of the Lawe for thereby wee darken the glory of Christ and prooue him not to haue performed the whole lawe If Adam had continued vntill the Sabbath in his innocencie no doubt he would haue kept a perfect Sabbath and if hee had kept a
for Ieroboam receiueth the Religion of Egypt and maketh two Calues whereby all Israel became Idolatrers Here beginneth Iobs Storie Satan compasseth all the earth c. BEfore wee come to examine Iobs causeâ— there may bee by the way a question discussed concerning succession that is to say Whether succession of Bishops be a necessarie marke of the Church And we shall if we mark the Stories of the Scripture find that is none for in Iobs time where there was a visible Sacrificer to continue the Religion of God in outward policie Satan hauing ouerranne the whole earth telleth God that hee could finde none iust or that feared God So that thereby wee may gather that there were verie fewe whome the world by eye-sight acknowledged godly And to make this more plaine wee are to obserue that the question is not Whether the godly in their owne hearts doe knowe who serue God but Whether there bee continually such an apparance thereof that it may appeare to eye-sight Since Christ wee haue not the like time to this wherein Satan can bragge he ouer-runneth the whole earth For in Iobs time Iacob is dead the Religion which Iobs friends hold is condemned by God Elihu is verie young and Iob himselfe condemned of his friends therefore wee may verie well conclude That it is no sound Diuinitie to affirme that it is no true Church except the policie thereof be so visible as it may be knowne by eye-sight In the Reuleation foure Angels stand on the foure Corners of the earth holding the foure Windes of the Earth that they should not blowe neither on the earth neither on the Sea neither on any greene Tree By this likewise wee may gather that the godly were verie fewe and scarce knowne For the office of these foure Angels was to stay the graces of Gods Spirite from blowing vppon and refreshing the soules of those which dwelt on the earth Wee shall see this cleerer if wee obserue the particular fallings through the Scriptures In Enosh his time Religion decayed in the house of God for the which the flood came and drowned the world After the flood for their wickednesse which they manifested in building the Tower of Babell they haue their tongues confounded and all their families scattered In Iobs time none of the children of Israel forsook the Idols of Egypt In the time of the Iudges you shall finde a great many of fallings away and therefore God gaue them into the hands of diuers and sundry oppressors In Roboams time the ten Tribes fell away In Antiochus time Religion was so corrupted that the Leuites would be Kings and thereby became Saduces maintaining an opinion That after this life the bodie was no more and concerning the soule it was no more to be esteemed than the soule of a beast or any other creature In Christs time all the Iewes were back-sliders except some few perhaps about seuen Thousand which might hold religion sincerely answerable to Elias time After Christ in Vrbanus time all the Christians fell away and then came vp the power and authoritie of Antichrist for whom he made lawes So that if wee consider these things well we shall finde that the godly haue alwaies been so fewe and the outward policie of true Religion so darkened that it could hardly bee discerned This question being thus discussed wee are to consider the time when Iob was afflicted And if we examine things duly we shall find this time to be before Moses There bee slouthfull fellowes that say the time cannot bee prooued when Iobs Storie fell out As though if any one should write Epistles or Orations a good Scholler could not easily from the matter find out the time wherein hee should liue In the Three and Twentie Orations made by Iob and his friends there is mention made of the Creation of the Flood of Babell and the Seuentie Families of Lot of Sodom and his destruction but nothing of the comming from Egypt which being so famous a deliuerance they would not haue omitted For the Prophets continually rehearse it and doe as it were make large Commentaries thereon Further it must bee at such a time wherein Satan had the conquest ouer the whole world for so Satan sayth he had run ouer the whole world and found none that feared God and departed from euil which affirmation cannot bee true but onely when Israel was in Egypt for then all the world but they worshipped strange Gods and of them Ezechiel sayth None of the Children of Israel forsooke their Idols of Egypt Therefore this must needes bee a maruailous Victorie which Satan had gotten Besides Iob himselfe sayth O that God would answere and trie mee This had beene a foolish speech if it had beene after Moses for then his integritie should haue beene determined by Moses lawes When the tongues are diuided you haue Abraham called and made a rare man So when in Egypt all Religion was corrupted you haue Moses borne thereby to shew that when Satan thinketh hee beareth most sway the Lord in mercie will raise vp one to ouerthrowe his Kingdome The temptations of Iob must needes bee about the birth of Moses when the lawe was made of killing the young Children Satan possessing the hearts of the wicked that all their care and studie was bent to the ouerthrowe of the Church and when Aaron was borne but three yeares afore there was peace for wee doe not read that they were faine to hide him Thus much for the time THe place where hee dwelt was Eastward The Sabeans on the one side the Caldeans on the other and Canaan on the other and he as it were in the middest This Country is called Huts God hath in his prouidence dealt so surely that the verie heathen if they bee marked will make plaine the euent of Gods promises Nimrod hee goeth about to ouerthrow Sems blessing and builds him a Tower but God giueth it an ouerthrow Afterwards Nachors Twelue Sonnes ouerrunne the land of Chush Ismaels Twelue Sonnes they doe the like Esau hath eleuen Dukes and Eight Kinges and eleuen Dukes againe and that afore there was any King in Israel as Moses speaketh and they conquer Chush and his Land In Egypt Chush his posteritie imagine by the multitude and strength of their Chariots and Horsemen to reuenge themselues of the Children of Israel but the Lord ouer-whelmed them in the red Sea When the Children of Israel are in the wildernesse they of Canaan and their borders deale despightfully with them and will graunt them no passage thinking therby to starue them in the wildernesse But the Lord by Iesus their Captaine destroyeth them all euen to Canaan the youngest according to the curse of Noah And let Canaan bee his seruant When the Iewes are carried away captiue to Babylon there Chush his posteritie haue a great stroke and seeme to ouerthrow Sems blessing But God raysed vp Cyrus of Sem and Darius of Iaphet to ouerthrow the Babylonians and therby comforteth the Iewes
on the mercies of God acknowledging his power and his iustice which they neglecting to embrace God to shewe his iudgements hardneth their hearts to follow that which shall bee their owne destruction as Amasias did who contrary to the coūsell of the Prophet of God goeth vp against Ioash king of Israel After him the kingdome of Iuda was voide Eleauen yeares 3201. Azarias two and Fiftie yeares HIs name was also called Vzzias All is one in Hebrew it signifieth Might or Strength In his dayes Amos the Prophet the Father of Esay did prophecy so did Oseas the prophet Amos beginneth to preach two yeares before the Earth-quake which was in his time Azarias did vprightly in the sight of God according to al that Amasias his father did and he sought God in the daies of Zechariah which vnderstood the visions of God and when he sought the Lord God made him to prosper for he went forth and fought against the Philistins and brake down the wall of Gath and the wall of Iabneth and the wall of Ashdod and built Cities in Ashdod and amonge the Philistines and many valiant things did he But when he was stronge his heart was lifted vp to his destruction for he transgressed against the Lord his God and went into the Temple of the Lord to burne incense vpon the Altar of incense vsurping the office of the Sacrificers and is stroken with leaprosie and therefore dwelt apart being cut off from the house of the Lord and so continued vnto the day of his death From hence wee may learne what a grieuous thing it is in the sight of God to meddle in the office of the Sacrificers which the Lord had forbidden Num. 18. We may also learne from hence not to forget God in our prosperitie least therby we procure our owne destruction In Antiochus time the Leuites who were appointed of God onely to sacrifice and offer incense before him will vsurpe into the kings seat and beare rule vpon the like successe in victories And then God plagueth thē with a spirituall leaprosie more foule and filthy than that of the bodie being from Pharisees become Saduces denying the resurrection and the life of the soule departed from the bodie This Azarias king of Iuda saw the daies of Eight kings of Israel wherein the word of God remaineth true The wicked shall not liue out halfe their dayes 3253. Iotham Sixteene yeares HIs Fathers plague causeth him to rule indifferently well His Sonne Achaz succeeding is farre worse Micheas the Prophet teacheth in the dayes of Iotham King of Iuda 3268. Achaz Sixteene yeares HE walked in the wayes of the Kings of Israel and made moulten Images for Baalim Moreouer he burnt incense in the valley of Benhinnom and burnt his Sonnes with fire after the abhomination of the heathen whome the Lord had cast out before the Children of Israel He sent for helpe to Tiglah Pilueeser and the rest of the Kings of Ashur which was not lawfull to seeke helpe of Infidels Then the Prophet Esay prophecied and by him God giues a prophesie for when Ierusalem was besieged for the wickednesse of Achaz God sendeth Esay to Achaz and willeth him to aske a signe Who answereth hee will not tempt God Esay 7. The Prophet replyeth Is it not a small thing to grieue men but you must also grieue my God therefore the Lord will giue you a signe A Virgin shall conceiue and beare a Sonne and she shall call his name Emanuel God with vs. Thereby to shew Achaz the greatnesse of his impietie for seeking to the Nations for helpe For seeing God spareth not his owne Sonne but giueth him to death for vs will not he likewise send strength to Iudah He was buried in the Citie of Ierusalem but not in the Sepulchres of the Kings of Iudah 3281. Ezechias nine and Twentie yeres A new Heber HEre we see some recouerie of the state For in the yeare that Azarias died Esay sawe the Lord sitting in the Temple the Seraphins stood vpon it euerie one hauing sixe winges and one cryed to another Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts And God speaketh Ye shall heare me but not vnderstand yee shall see plainely and not perceiue Esay asketh How longe Lord vntill the Cities be wasted the house without a man and the Land vtterly desolate Thereby meaning their captiuitie wherein there shall be tenne forsakings in Ezecchias time two in Manasses one Iosias time one the fift in Iehoachaz time the Sonne of Iosias the sixt in Iehoiakim the Seuenth when he rebelled after he had serued the King of Babell three yeares the Eight in Ieconias time the two last which makes the Tenth vnder Zedechias himselfe being carried to Babell his eyes put out and his Sonnes slaine and after the house of the Lord burnt and all the Citie carried captiue so the Lord is in his Temple beholding the actions of men and his skirts fill the Temple the least of Gods mysteries excelling all the wisedome of man and the Angels proclaime Holynesse to God this Esay confessed for he saw nothing but woe vnto himselfe being a man of polluted lippes that so by faith in the Sonne of God his sinne might bee put away In Ezechias time Esay speaketh of nine Nations plagued which were borderers on Iudea From this we might gather that seeing their wickednesse was equall they should receiue the like measure of punishment Hee goeth further and telleth what Assur shall speake and Babell and prophecieth of Cyrus one hundred yeares before he was borne answerable to the prophecie that was of Iosias in Ieroboams time concerning the taking vp of the bones of the Prophets Esay in Ezechias dayes prophecieth of Christ and saw the promise a farre off and embraced it and shewed the particulars as if they were now perfourmed by Pilate This would not haue mooued a prophane man but he being a prophet knew that God was faithfull who had promised And the men in his time gathered together Salomons Prouerbs Yet for all this we shall finde that fewe were saued and Christ saith that many Kings desired to see that which you see and saw them not Ezechias was verie desirous to haue his posteritie to keepe the Kingdome in the true Religion Esay commeth vnto him and willeth him to set his house in a readinesse for he should die for any thing yet reuealed Hee wept not for feare of death seeing he had great assurance of Gods fauor and thereby his saluation made certaine but to remember the wickednesse of the Kings before and how through their impiety Iuda was humbled and that now hee should sleepe with his Fathers not leauing a godly one to succeed him He hath a Sonne but it had been better that Manasses his Sonne had neuer been he was so wicked This Ezechias committeth a grieuous offence in shewing his wealth to the Embassadors of the king of Babell Thereupon saith the prophet because thou trustedst not in God but in thy wealth therefore one of Babell
of iron and clay and brake them to peeces then was the iron the clay the brasse the siluer and the gold broken all together that no place was found for them and the stone that smote them became a great mountaine and filled the whole earth Dan. 2. Daniel sawe some great beasts come vp from the sea the first a Lyon the second a Beare the third a Leopard the fourth vnlike the former with teeth of iron and tenne hornes Dan. 7. These great beasts which are foure are foure Kings which shall take the kingdome of the Saints of the most high In the thirteenth of the Reuelation Iohn sawe a beast rise out of the sea hauing seauen heads and tenne hornes mouthed like a Lyon bodied like a Leopard footed like a Beare and the Dragon gaue him his power And Daniel beheld till the thrones were set vp and the Ancient of daies did sit whose garment was white as snowe and the haire of his head like the pure wooll his throne was like the fiery flame and his wheeles as burning fire a fiery streame issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministred vnto him and tenne thousand thousands stood before him the iudgement was set and the bookes opened the beasts were slaine and their bodies cast into the burning fire and behold one like the Son of man came in the clowdes of heauen and came to the Ancient of daies and he gaue him dominion and honour and a kingdome that all people nations and languages should serue him his kingdome shall neuer be destroyed so as Reuel 20. Iohn sawe a great white throne and one that sate on it from whose face flied both the earth and the heauen and he sawe the dead both great and small stand before God and the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which was the booke of life and the dead were iudged of those thinges which were written in the bookes according to their workes and whosoeuer was not found written in the booke of life was cast into the lake of fire Dan. 3. Nebucadnetzar erecteth an Image and commaundeth to worshippe it Sidrach Mishach and Abednego refused This sheweth that wicked lawes cannot compell godly men to doe that which God forbiddeth for the faithfull are alwaies assured that God wil defend them this is the meaning of this place and will not feare him that can throwe the body into the fire but stand in awe of him that can throwe both body and soule into eternall fire so in Apoc. 1◠As many as would not worship the image of the beast were killed 3409. Ioachin three moneths HE was eight yeares old when he beganne to raigne and hee ruled three monthes and ten dayes in Ierusalem and did euill in the sigh of the Lord. And when the yeare was out King Nebucadnetzar sent and brought him to Babel with the pretious vessels of the house of the Lord. He beganne his raigne at eight yeares and raigned ten yeares when his father was aliue and after his fathers death which was the eighteenth yeare of his age he raigned alone three monthes and ten dayes So he was brought prisoner to Babel and Zedechias his brother but in truth his Vncle was made King in his steede so he continued in prison all the daies of Nebucadnetzar that is seauen and thirtie yeares after Nebucadnetzar had carried him captiue vnto the first yeare of euill Merodach King of Babel who succeeded Nebuchadnetzar This was foretold him by the Prophet Ieremie cap. 22. Thou that dwellest in Lebanon and makest thy nest in the Cedars how beautifull shalt thou be when sorrowes come vppon thee as the sorowes of a womā in trauaile as I liue saith the Lord though Coniah that is Ioachin or Ieconias the sonne of Iehoiachim King of Iuda were as the signet of my right hand yet would I plucke thee thence and I will giue thee into the hand of them that seeke thy life and into the land of them whose face thou fearest euen into the hand of Nebucadnetzar King of Babel and into the hand of the Chaldeans and I will cause them to carry thee away thy mother that bare thee into another countrie where ye were not borne and there shall yee die but to the land whereunto they desire to returne they shall not returne thither But after the death of Nebucadnetzar euill Merodach his sonne did lift vp the head of Ioachin or Ieconias King of Iudah out of the prison and spake kindely to him and set his throne aboue the throne of the Kings that were with him in Babel changed his prison garments and he did continually eate meate before him all the daies of his life and his portion was a continuall portion giuen him by the King euery day a certaine all the daies of his life 3410. Zedechias Eleauen yeares HIs name was first Mattamah but Nebucadnetzar changed his name to Zedechiah Hee was one and twentie yeares olde when he beganne to raigne And he did euill in the sight of the Lord according to all that Iehoiakim had done Therefore the wrath of the Lord was against Ierusalem and Iudah vntill he cast them out of his sight And Zedechias rebelled against the King of Babell and in the ninth yeare of Zedechias raigne the tenth month and which day of the month Nebucadnetzar King of Babel came he and all his host against Ierusalem and pitched against it and they built forts against it round about So the citie was besieged vnto the eleauenth yeare of King Zedechias and the ninth month the famine was so great in the citie that there was no bread for the people of the land So that the fourth of Ieremies Lamentations was trulie performed that mothers did eate their owne children So the citie was broken vp and the King Zedechias fledde but the armie of the Caldees pursued after him and tooke him in the deserts of Iericho and all his host was scattered from him Then they tooke the King and carried him vp to the King of Babel to Riblah where they gaue iudgment vpon him and they slue the sonnes of Zadechias before his eyes and put out the eyes of Zedechias and bound him in chaines and carried him to Babel Heere is performed the wordes of Ieremie the Prophet chap. 24. I will giue Zedechias the King of Iudah and his Princes and the rest of Ierusalem for a terrible plague to all the kingdomes of the earth and for a reproch and for a prouerb for a common talke for a curse in all places where I shall cast them and I will send the sword the famine and the pestilence among them till they be consumed out of the land that I gaue to them and their Fathers And Ier. 5. For the house of Israel and the house of Iudah haue grieuouslie transgressed against me saith the Lord they haue denied the Lord and said It is not he neither shall the plague come vpon vs neither shall wee see sword nor famine