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
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
Noah that would haue a name and turned their speech into babling He plagued that flouting Ismael and quailed that doughtie Esay Hee drowned stout Pharaoh in the red sea and ouerthrew the iron charets of Sisera at the waters of Mageddon He smote diuers nations and slue mightie Kings Sehon King of the Ammorites and Ogg the King of Basan and all the kingdomes of Canaan he foiled that proud Philistine and hewed the horne of Agag in peeces He made Iesabel a pray for dogges and wicked Achab to be slaine in the valley of Iesreel He made King Ioakim to be buried like an asse and prophane Nebucadnetzar to eat grasse like an oxe He made drunken Baltasar to tremble like a leafe and Antiochus the vild to be deuoured of wormes to shew that he regardeth not proud lookes or feareth the Kings displeasure for he setteth vp Kings and putteth downe Kings as Luke 1. He looked on the low degree of his handmaid he hath shewed strength with his arme he hath scattered the proud in the imaginations of their hearts he hath put downe the mightie from their seats and hath exalted the humble and meeke As Ioseph out of the dungeon Dauid from the sheepecoats Daniel from the Lyons denne Peter and Iohn from mending their nets and made them rulers ouer mightie Nations teachers to the Princes of the earth Matth. 5. Therefore blessed are the meeke for they shall receiue the inheritance of the earth Christ being meeke was ledde as a sheepe vnto the slaughter not opening his mouth 162. Henoch borne HIs name signifieth Holy or Dedicated to God The name sheweth his fathers affection in giuing him vnto God answerable to Abraham in offering Isaack Henoch of Kaine was contrarie in signification to this Henoch the one dedicated to God the other to the possessions of this world For Kaine after his curse wandring to the land of Nod buildeth a Citie and calleth it after the name of his sonne Henoch The other Henoch though indeed a rare man yet was 65. yeres without any mention of his integritie and after that his holinesse is made manifest in this that he found fauour with God His calling was very glorious being made a preacher to declare salvation to all that would beleeue in Christ and his owne actions of life to be performed in the highest degree of vertue Whereby we are taught to bee holie and blamelesse before God not giuing our members subiects vnto wantonnesse or pleasures of this life but esteeming the world as though it were not and possesse it as though wee possest it not putting on the new man Christ Iesus that we may be holy euen as he is holy 7. You haue heere the number of seuen to shew that Henoch is the seuenth from Adam for so is he called in the Epistle of Iude. He was no doubt a very rare man seeing that hee is commended of the holy Ghost to haue walked with God to haue his yeeres answerable to the dayes of the sunne and registred to be the seuenth from Adam a Sabbath keeper for his yeeres doe agree with the number of the Sabbath Which number of seuen or of the Sabbath throughout the Bible doth still put vs in mind of the Creation and so of the true keeping of the Sabbath For in the beginning God made the world in sixe dayes and rested the seuenth and hallowed and sanctified the same and commaunded it to be kept holie throughout all generations and to resemble the same in his Creation before there was a Sabbath He made seuen starres in the heauens which Philosophers call planets which haue force in the whole course of nature which he in his wisedome placed there that the very heathen and such as would not take notice of the Sabbath might haue the name thereof in their mouthes although they made no vse thereof in their hearts 65. Methushelah borne His name signifieth Long life or Speare death 187. Lamech borne HIs name signifieth Striken or heart-wounded He is called so in respect of some inward griefes that he should beare for the afflictions of the world You haue an other Lamech of Kaines house but of contrarie nature to this Lamech Lamech of Kaine was a striker Lamech of Seth striken the one a Preacher of destruction to the world the other an example of impietie to the world and being 1600. yeeres after Kaine knew Kaines storie He had two wiues it was not so from the beginning Some hold that he was the first that had two wiues but doubtlesse many others had the like but God in one doth shew the manners of the rest Hee saith to his wiues I will kill a man c. So that as the world began with killing so it continueth in wickednesse and violence The other Lamech doth make a confession full of contrition and in naming his sonne Comforter 600. yeeres before the flood sheweth that he was a Prophet of verie liuely skill Compare him with Christ CHrist is both outwardly striken and inwardly wounded Outwardly when in the open hall he was buffetted scourged and spitted at and vpon the crosse pierced both handes feete and sides Inwardly when hee was reuiled with blasphemous speeches at his death and when in stead of drinke to comfort him they gaue him gall and mirhe mingled together but most especially when his guiltlesse soule did suffer the torments of hell to redeeme our guiltie soules and bodies from the thrall of Satan as may appeare when from his sides issued water and blood 56. Adam dieth THe Hebrewes descant very straungely vpon the Arithmeticke of Adams yeares which hee liued which were 930. Vpon a sentence in the 24 of Iob. where it is sayd All the daies of man vpon earth are but a shadow As if he should say all the dayes of Adam are but Abell for Adam in Hebrew signifieth earth and Abell signifieth shadow or vanitie whereby we are taught that from the earth we came and to the earth we must returne according to Ge. 3. We are also to vnderstand from hence that although God deferre his punishments yet he is mindfull of his promises for not one tittle or iot of his word shall passe as appeareth in Adams death which God before had promised and was accomplished though it were 930. yeares after Wherefore howsoeuer we be setled on the pleasures of this life or bee aduaunced to thrones of Maiestie as Adam was we are to know that it is but a Steward shippe bestowed vpon vs for a season and that in this world wee are to looke for no abiding place for we are but grasse wee are consumed as smoke our daies come to an end A Thousand yeares in Gods sight is as yesterday He turneth Adam to dust and saith Returne ye sonnes of Adam He bringeth our yeares to an end as it were a tale that is tould Wherefore let vs pray to God with Moses to teach vs to number our daies aright that wee may apply our harts vnto wisedome Adam cometh
died 905 yeeres old Kenan died being 910 yeeres old Mahalaleel died being 895 yeeres old Iared died 962 yeeres old While hee liued there was no proclaiming of the flood but presently after there was 480. 120. Yeres begin Gen. 6. WHerein Noah made the Arke for so long was he in making it not because he could not haue made it sooner for God could haue commanded it to be made with a word aswell as he made all the world but to shew the patience and long suffering of God in sparing his iudgements that they who would not heare the preaching of Noah might iustly be condemned Many things fall out in the Bible whose numbers are answerable to this of 120. 120. Nations paid tribute to bring the Iewes home from captiuity The gouernement of the Persians was about 120. yeeres 120. Seuerall nations that is some of euery Nation were at Ierusalem after Christs resurrection The Hebrewes descant very strangely with the letters of Iehouah and the 120. yeeres wherein the Arke was in making thus Multiplie 120. by the letter ×” which is 5. then you haue 600. Multiplie 600. which is Noahs age at the flood with the letter ×™ which is 10. then you haue 6000 The end of the world This is the consent of all the Hebrewes Here is a doubt to be discussed concerning the wordes spoken in Gen. 6. The occasion of the doubt ariseth thus God saith in Gen. 6. My spirit shall not alwaies striue with man his daies shal be 120. yeares In Ge. 5. Noahs age is reckoned and he is then said to be 500. yeares old and begetteth Sem Cham and Iapheth when his age is reckoned againe at the floude the summe is but 600. so that if the 6 chapter be in time after the fift and in the fift Noah is 500. yeares old and that afterwardes God saith the daies of all flesh shal bee 120. yeares then Noah at the floude must be 620. yeares for put 120. to 500. and you haue 620 but his age at the floude is but 600. Therefore some thinke that either the Chronicle is false or els the 20. yeares were shortned like as it shall bee in the ende of the world least els no flesh should be saued To answere this doubt we must obserue that it is no reason in Diuinitie that because a matter commeth or is made mention of in a Chapter afterwards that the time therfore of that storie or action followeth the Chapters or Actions going before For this is but a circumstance of method For Moses in penning the Scriptures vseth this order he layeth down things of like nature together as Genealogies together and such like though they differ in time because else hee should make often repetitions of the same things The obseruation of this caused the Hebrewes to set downe this rule that Moses in penning his story doth not regard the cricumstance of first and latter To wit he doth not set downe that in the first place which is first in time so that which is later in time afterwards but sometimes that which is later in the first place and that which is first in time in the last as the necessity of the narration giueth occasion This being thus made plaine the doubt is easily discussed for neither is Noah 620. yeares olde at the floude neither are the yeares of the floude any thing shortned but the Chronicle is altogether true For if wee referre the 120. yeares of the floude 20. yeares before that Chapter in which it was sayd Noah was 500. yeares old and begot Sem Cham and Iaphet then do we make all things agree without crossing one another And this of necessetie we must needs doe for seing God hath layd downe the Generals in proper and plaine termes we must so cast the particulers that they may make the generall true and no way alter it Besides we haue a like example for though all the liues deaths of the fathers before the floud are reckoned and summed vp together in one chapter we must not thinke that all their liues are precedent to the Chapters following for the Chronicle sheweth that Lamech liued fiue yeares before the floud and Methushelahs death and the beginning of the floud are very neere Euen so here this sentence of the 120. years is to be counted before the fift chapter wherein Noahs age is reckoned for the shortning of the daies at the end of the world the holy Ghost saith it shal be so But for the shortning of the daies at the floud we haue no such warrant in Moses Therfore we are not to beleiue it 120. Yeares begin Ge. 6. In which the Spirit of Christ preached while the Arke was in making VPon this sentence there dependeth a great and waightie question Whether Christ descended into Hell in his humane soule The cause why this question is necessarie to be handled is because diuers of the ancient fathers hold the opinion of Christ discent into hell in his humane soule whose opinions hauing been so superstitiously receiued haue drawen others of later time into the like errours But if men would follow the plainnesse layd downe in the Bible and with humilitie search it auoiding curiositie they neede not trouble themselues with the errors of the Fathers The words of the text 1. Pet. 3. are these Christ was dead concerning the flesh but was quickened by the Spirit By the which hee also went and preached to the spirits in prison which in times past disobeyed when once the long suffering of God abode in the daies of Noah while the Arke was in making Now the words whereupon this error is grounded are these Christ being dead as concerning the flesh went and preached to the spirits in prison Vpon this they gather that the spirits mentioned there are meant those in hell and went and preached that is after he was dead But if we compare these words with the residue and consider the time when this preaching was we shall see Saint Peter meaneth nothing lesse than the descending of Christs soule into hell For first the text saith Hee went and preached by the same spirit by which he was quickned This spirit is of necessitie the Godhead For what spirit was there that could loosen the sorrowes of death that they should not hold him and raise Christ from the dead but the Godhead of Christ Then the soules of all men godly or vngodlie being immortall cannot die and therefore this quickâ—ing cannot be meant of his humane soule for it needed none Besides we must consider to whom Saint Peter wrote to wit to the Iewes Now seeing Christ taught nothing but Moses and the Prophets and the Apostles nothing but what they learned of Christ with what conscience could Saint Peter write a storie to the Iewes of the seuere iustice of God which was neuer in Moses for Moses neuer mentioneth Christs descent into hell there to cause the wicked to be more tormented Therefore seeing this old opinion gathered out of
but the floud came for the sinnes of man for the bloud of Abell came the floude and washt them all away Yea the waters that were vnder the earth aduanced themselues aboue man Further in this storie of the floud these three things are chieflye to be considered the Arke Persons that were saued Time of the continuance of the floude And first for the Arke THe Arke was made about mount Lebanon where the Cedars for Salomons Temple were had and it was sixe score yeeres in making which time in Saint Peter is called the long suffering of God The fortie yeeres in the wildernesse was a famous thing but the making of the Arke was more famous and the time thrise so long not any thing so famous as the Arke except the Lords death The proportions of height depth and breadth are described Gen. 6. The heighth is the tenth part of the length The beasts were in the middlemost place the fodder aboue the dung beneath And God bids vs marke the quantitie of all the beasts of the earth by the bulke of the Arke There is much speach taken from the Arke to the Church but the consequent of the one followeth not in the other In the Arke were beasts cleane and vncleane Some in the Arke did perish They that were out of the Arke did perish The waters did hold vp the Arke In the Church are faithfull and vnfaithfull Some in the Church do perish So the Turke being out of the Church doth perish The waters doe wash them clean away that are without The tossing vpon the waters doth represent the troubles which the Church of God is to endure in this life Againe no man of modestie but may know that it was no pleasant life for Noah and his familie to dwell an whole yeere vpon the waters and to abide the noisomnes of all kindes of beasts in the Arke which came to the Arke at the appointment of God to the condemnation of all the world For it appeareth that the verie brute beasts had more regard to themselues than the wicked workers which despised the preaching of Noah and the making of the Arke who said where is the appearance of his comming Euer since the Fathers died all things continue in one state winter summer spring haruest c. And while they were thus saying the flood commes and washeth away their foundation But saith Saint Peter in this they aâ—e willingly ignorant for euen as before the flood they married feasted builded goodlie houses c. euen to the day that Noah entred into the Arke and neuer thought the preaching of Noah true because all things continued still in the same sort they thought it vnpossible that the waters which were beneath the valleyes could couer the highest mountaines fifteene cubits and yet this they might haue knowen that as the waters in the Creation couered the earth till God commaunded them to goe to their channell euen so againe at the commaundement of God they could returne to couer it Saint Peter therefore addeth that these men were willinglie ignorant The Arke rested vpon mount Ararat which is a mountaine in Armenia and signifieth Take away feare Whereby we are to note that whosoeuer dwelleth vnder the defence of the most high and shall say vnto the Lord Thou art my hope my strong hold and my God in whom I put my trust shall not be afraid for any terror by night nor for the arrow that flyeth by day for the pestilence that walketh in darkenesse nor the sickenesse that destroyeth in the noone day For a thousand shall fall at their right hand ten thousand at their left hand but they shall not be touched With their eyes shall they see the reward of the vngodly for the Lord is their hope and he hath set his house of defence very high With long life will he satisfie them and through his louing kindnesse will he shew them his saluation Let euery one therefore say The Lord is my light and my saluation whom then shall I feare The Lord is the strength of my life whereof then should I be afraid for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his Tabernacle and set me vp vpon a Rocke of Stone Now compare Christ and the Arke together The Arke had a doore by the which Noah and his houshold entred in to the sauing of them Mount Ararat Take away feare Christ Is the doore by whom we enter into the holy of holiest to the sauing of our soules Christ Is that mount Ararat vpon whose shoulders if we rest wee need not feare what man can doe vnto vs. The persons were Noah Iaphet Sem Cham and their wiues Psal 130. The Lord hath brought my soule out of hell and kept my life from them that goe downe to the pit Hebrews 11. By faith Noah prepared the Arke to the sauing of his houshold NOah walked with God therefore it is certaine that the spirit of Christ preached by him For Saint Peter giueth a rule The spirit of Christ spake in all the Prophets His calling was very glorious being made a preacher to declare saluation to all which would beleeue in Christ How he was receiued it is manifest seing he preuailed with a very few yet the word of God is not in vaine for seeing they refused the mercie of God offered in Christ it is certaine Noah would preach the iudgements of God the other part of the Gospell which the Latines call excommunication The Hebrewes The Lord commeth The Hebrewes and with them the Greeke Orators do vse to faine Prosopopeia which is a conference or communication when they meane to expresse things more at full So wee may imagine Tubalkaine to say Surely Noah is an honest man and payeth well for his worke and hee hath with very great charge kept a great sort of labourers these sixe-score yeeres What should he meane by this Surely answereth Iubal I will tell you strange things Seuen of my best Rammes and seuen of my best Ewes ran from my flocke right foorth to the Arke and there they went in And another standing by replieth I am sure I can tell saith he as great a meruaile as this for comming by a wood I sawe a fearefull Lyon and a fierce Lyonesse and they went as gently by me as two Lambes not offering to do me any hurt and came to the Arke and there were plankes set and they went in Yea saith another I saw a huge Beare doe the like and so they might speake of the rest of the beasts This might driue them to an amasednesse but this could not saue them And hereby it is apparant that it is not in our power to repent when we list For this is not repentance to be sory for our sins There is no man so wicked but hath done so There must also be a turning to God which is neuer except we be lightned by his spirit The Lord vseth first to offer mercy which if it be contemned he hardneth our hearts
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
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