his word séeing it is so sure a way for mée to walke in Or why should any Teacher deliuer to me that which hée neuer receiued of God to be deliuered to his people If they craue obedience why should they bée angry that I pray to haue it shewed out of his word whom onely I must obey Hée hath prescribed a forme of seruing him that forme hée will accept and blesse with eternall peace all other formes hée will abhorre and punish Nadab and Abihu preach so vnto vs and all flesh They wish vs to take héed by their harme God is in other things full of patience but in this he is full of wrath and his authoritie to appoint his owne worship he will not indure it to be taken from him by any man Let Popish whisperers then make good out of Gods word Latine Prayers when we vnderstand no Latin Calling vpon Saints that heare vs not Flying from the sufficiencie of Christs Passion to our owne merits crossings and creepings with a thousand deuised toyes and we will obey them But if they cannot let them leaue vs to serue God according to his word that we may bée accepted 3 You may also well note it here that Nadab Abihu were two of Aarons eldest sonnes which after their father should in his place haue succéeded him yet there is no mercie with God to stay his iudgement when they will not be ruled by his word No prerogatiue therefore of any man shall saue him from wrath if hee thus offend but the eldest shall die aswell as a yonger the richest aswell as the poorer a great man or woman aswell as a small There is no regard with God of these things But the soule that serueth him according to his owne will reueiled in his VVord that is regarded and euer déere vnto him c. Build we not therefore vpon any titles and so swarue from the rule laid downe vnto vs. If so little a transgression cannot be qualified any way by any circumstance O what will bée their case one day that so many wayes stray from the Law of God and almost in no one iote of their worship haue any warrant Thinke with your self more of this matter and meditate further of it at your times 4 Then Moses said vnto Aaron This is that the Lord spake saying I will be sanctified in them that come neere mee and before all the people I will be glorified You can conceiue what wo it was to Moses to sée this end of two of his brothers sonnes but he must stoope to God and so he doth telling Aaron the trueth of the fault and so consequently defending God that he did but iustly In déede saith he we must confesse that this is that we were told before how God will be sanctified in them that come neere vnto him that is how he will haue his Law obeyed and followed in his worship and not any way else how though he vse the Ministerie of man yet no man liuing must be wiser than Hee to swarue from the forme appointed and to follow his owne libertie but man must thinke it his wisedome to doe as God biddeth c. 5 But Aaron held his peace saith the Text that is was so astonished with the fearefulnes of it that he had no spéech but all amazed and shaken with the woe of it held his peace He howled not out with any vnséâ—mly cries neither vttered any words of rage and impatiencie but méekly stooped to Gods will kissed his rodde and held his peace If thus Aaron in so great a iudgement how much more we when our friends dye naturally swéetly and comfortably so that we may boldly say NoÌ„ amisimus sedpraemisimus VVe haue not lost them but sent them before vs whether we our selues hope to follow Lay to this heauie harted father yet silent and patient the example of olde father Elye the Priest to whom when Samuel had related such fearefull things quietly he answered It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good The example also of Dauid who in his distresse very bitter and heauie yet notably said Let the Lord doe to me as seemeth good in his eyes These are most excellent Paterns for vs to follow in all our crosses and griefes not forgetting that golden Saying of Iob Wee haue taken good things at Gods hands and shall we not take euill O yes yes The Lord giueth and the Lord taketh and euer euer blessed be his Name for all The fish groweth greater in salt waters and the Lord for his mercie make our Faith Pacience and Comfort in him great in the saltest and bitterest waters of this world Amen 6 Obserue here againe with your selfe the strange and admirable change of these worldly matters in the turne as we say of a hand For but Yesterday as it were Aaron and these sonnes of his had a famous and glorious consecration into the greatest and highest dignitie vpon earth nothing vnder the Sunne being more glorious than that Priest-hood in those dayes And how may you thinke his heart reioyced to sée not onely himselfe but his children which Parents often loue more than themselues so blessed and honoured But O change now sudden and fearefull O fickle fading comfort that man taketh hold of in this world whatsoeuer it be if wordly These sonnes so lately exalted and honoured to their old Fathers swéet and great ioy now lye destroyed before his face to his extréeme and twitching torment And how Not by any ordinarie and accustomed death but by fire from Heauen a sore and dreadfull iudgement For what also Euen for breach of commaunded dutie by the Lord all which doubled and trebled the fathers sorrow As it did in Dauid when his sonne Absolon died not an vsual death and in rebellion and disebedience against his king and Father You remember his passion then vttered O my sonne Absolon my sonne my sonne Absolon would God I had died for thee O Absolon my sonne my sonne He considered the cause wherein he dyed the manner how he dyed to a father so kinde as Dauid was both of them full of woe and sorrow Let neuer therefore any prosperitie in this world puffe vs for wée little know what to morrow-day may bring with it The glasse that glistereth most is soonest broken the rankest corne is soonest layd and the fullest bough with pleasant fruite is soonest slit hauing more eyes vpon it moe stones cast at it than all the other boughs of the trée Pleasant wine maketh wise men fooles and fooles often starke mad Thousands fall at the left hand but tenne thousand at the right Multos fraÌ„git aduersitas sed plures extollit prosperitas Many saith Saint Bernard are crushed with aduersitie but more are puffed vp by prosperitie Lacertus Milonem perdidit ambitio Caesarem Nimis alter Naturae nimis alter Fortunae credidit Milo his strong arme ouerthrew him and Caesar his ambition The one
and able to disperse all duskie cloudes bringing his glorious truth out to beare sway againe at his good pleasure Simplex nuda est sed efficax magna It is simple and naked saith One but powerfull and strong Splendet cum obscuratur vincit cum opprimitur It shineth euen when it is darkned ouercommeth when it is oppressed The 2. part THese thinges thus passed ouer the holy Ghost commeth to shewe the first of those ten plagues which the King and his people tasted of namely of the turning of their waters into blood whereby their fish died and both man and beast were perplexed Of this plague there is a Denuntiation ver 17. 18. c. Secondly an Execution ver 22. 23. Thirdly an Euent which againe is thrée-fold 1. A Conuersion of the waters into blood 2. An Imitation of this myracle by the Enchaunters who did the like ver 25. And lastly an Encrease of hardnes in Pharaohs heart when hee had séene all this ver 25. 26. Concerning some profitable vse of all which to our selues thus may we meditate and thinke of them 1. God telleth Moses that Pharaoh in the morning will come to the water to wit vnto the riuer Nilus and there he should meete him Whereby wee sée the truth of the Psalmist his spéech O Lord thou hast searched mee out and knowne me thou knowest my downe sitting and mine vprising yea thou vnderstandest my thoughts and that long before thou art about my bed and about my pathes spiest out all my wayes What care then should wee haue of our actions when euery step of ours is thus knowne to God Hee knoweth you sée which way wee will walke in the morning before euer wee goe out of our houses and he knoweth all to goe no further in this matter 2. Wee sée againe how the Lord smiteth the waters héere that the Egyptians might knowe as also all the world besides how the Lord our God hath power ouer all his creatures to giue the vse of them to vs and to take the vse of them from vs at his pleasure Interpreters vpon this place say Hanc plagam intulit Deus propter pueros â—udeorum in aquis immersos fluuius enim mutatus in sanguinem conqueritur de câ—de puerorum per eos commissa This plague GOD brought vpon them for the children which were drowned and the riuer thus turned into blood complained to God for that slaughter saith Theodoret. Origen and Augustine say it was poena culpâ— the punishment of sinne meaning the drowning of the children That which is added in the Text And it shall greeue the Egyptians to drink Austine saith of it thus Bibentibus erat exitiuÌ„ non bibeÌ„tibus pâ—na obsitim quaÌ„ sustinebant Vnto theÌ„ that dranke it was death vnto theÌ„ that dranke not it was a great punishment for the thirst which they sustained Iosephus in like sort Si bibebant coÌ„festim â—â—ri dolore corrâ—piebantur hoc forsan Textus innuit cuÌ„ dicit affligâ—â—tur Egiptiâ— If they dranke by and by they were taken with a bitter griefe and this peraduenture the Text meaneth when it saith It shall greeue the Egyptians to drinke Philo saith Hominum siti enectorum magnus numerus ace uatim iacebat in triuijs non sufficientibus domesticis ad sepultuâ—e officia A great number of men dead with thirst lay by hâ—apes in the streetes and high-wayes their houshold friends or seruants being not enowe to bury them Such a plague was this turning of their waters into blood 3. We may further note an encrease of terrour in this myracle aboue the former of the Serpents For as you plainly sée it was far greater and more 〈…〉 efull And we may thereby learne this good Lesson â—â—at where milder meanes will not serne God both câ—â— and will add sharper and heauier The Serpents before were a faire warning but yet because they hurt no man they profited few men Now therefore he will touch them a little néerer he will strike the water which neither man nor beast may want and so sée if their hearts will yéeld obedience to his will Thus assuredly dealeth he with men and women at this day but peraduenture it is not marked He encreaseth his crosses from goods to bodie from body to minde from ourselues to our children and still maketh vs abound with more want and woe in greater and sharper measure that we may repent and turne if wee will be perswaded if not in the end he can make an end and finally destroy vs with miserie that shall neuer end O that wee may haue then wise hearts to obserue the steps and degrées of Gods dealing with vs profiting by the lesser and so preuenting the greater to his good contentment and our euerlasting comfort and safety Nilus was a riuer wherein they much gloried receauing by it great riches and great defence wherefore to sée this riuer turned into blood so fearefullie might well haue smitten their hearts and made them humble themselues to God but nothing will humble some men neither entred all this into Pharaohs heart which hardnes is euer a fearefull signe and to be prayed against Marke it also how if we stoope not to God but continue obstinate by degrées hee will come to our néerest and déerest comforts Thus I hope if you reade this Chapter ouer againe in your Bible you sâ—e some measure of the vse of it which is the thing I ayme at to encourage you to the reading of the Text and then daylie more and more reading with godly Prayer and Meditation shall yéeld further vse and profit in many things the holy Scriptures being as a déepe water wherein the greatest Lyon may swim and the greatest vessell touch no bottome Let this much therefore suffice of this Chapter CHAP. 8. In this Chapter are set downe three fearefull plagues more The plague of Frogges The plague of Lice The plague of Flies 1. WHereof to make vse to our instruction and reformation let vs consider this gracious Admonition in the first verse vouchsafed to Pharaoh againe Let my people goe that they may serue mee Can there any thing be swéeter to the Childe of God than to marke how slowe the Lord is to punish and how desirous of amendment without punishment O howe may my Soule assure it selfe of mercie if penitentially I séke it where such a Nature is Cannot hee endure to punish Pharaoh a proude and haughtie rebell against his Diuine will and will he willingly smite my poore soule your poore soule or any poore soule brused and broken with the sense of sinne and groaning and sighing for one drop of mercie at his hand No no there is mercy with the Lord and therefore shall he euer be feared Hee is slowe to anger and of great kindnes Hee will not alwaies chide neither keepe his anger for euer He hath not dealt with vs after our sinnes nor rewarded vs according to our iniquities
and fetch their Cattell in according to it Looke therefore euer at obedience and iudge thereby of your heart at the least looke at the willingnes of your hart to obey though humane frailety cause some imperfectioÌ„ When Iosiah his hart melted when those Iewes harts were pricked wheÌ„ those Trauellers harts burned in the way to EMMAVS then was it wel you know with al of them And such féeling must euer make vs well also For there be too many that say Moses what the can will fetch neither seruants nor cattell into the house to whoÌ„ it shal happen one day as suredly as here it did to the Egyptians Uengeance shal come down one way or other and light vpon them as here did thunder hayle and fire and lightning vpon the despisers of Moses warning For with an heard heart saith the Wise-man it shal neuer be well in the end If a condemned man should refuse his Prince his gratious pardon died he not iustly If a besieged Citie should refuse offered aide perished it not worthelie So standeth it with Contemners of the word which is a gratious pardon for all our offences and a sauing ayde to our besieged soules When a sicke man refuseth meate we doubt of his well-doing but if he féede well wee hope of life So is it with vs if we receiue the Word or refuse the Word For he that is of God saith our Sauiour heareth Gods word and who so will not as sure a signe it is on the other side For you therefore heare not because ye are not of GOD. A fish fresh and swéete is knowne by the eare being fresh and swéete and so is euer a good Christian Search then your selfe by this Rule and you shall profit either to prayer for what you misse or to thankes-giuing for what you finde In the eye of Christ it was so blessed a thing to heare obey the word that he pronounced happinesse rather to such than to the wombe that bare him and the paps that gaue him sucke A moouing spéech if we haue any life in vs. 13. Then Moses stretched out his rod towards Heauen and the Lord sent thunder and hayle and lightning vpon the ground and the Lord caused hayle to raine vppon the land of Egypt So there was hayle fire mingled with the hayle so grieuous as there was none throughout all the land of Egypt since it was a Nation Of which strange Plague many things are written which I will cut off séeking onely to make some profitable vse vnto vs of it Grandinem fulgura immisit illis ostendens quòd ipse sit Dominus omnium elementorum Et enim tam Aegyptij quaÌ„ Graeci existimabant quosdaÌ„ Deos esse coelestes alios subterraneos Et hos quideÌ„ imperare terrae illos vero mari alios in montes alios in agros imperiuÌ„ habere Quapropter etiam Syrus dicebat Deus mâ—ntiuÌ„ Deus Israel non conualliuÌ„ Ob id meri to Deus omniuÌ„ non soluÌ„ per fluuiuÌ„ terram sed per aërem mare castigauit eos flumina coelitùs illis immisit doceÌ„s quòd ipsesit Dominus Creator omnium quod beatus Moses dixit vt cognoscas quód Domini sit terra tu serui tui He sent vpon them Hayle and Lightning to shew that he was Lord of all the elements For both the Egyptians and Graecians had a conceipt that there were some Gods of the Heauens some of the earth and some vnder the earth that one sort ruleth the Earth an other sort the Sea one sort the Mountaines another sort the fields Wherefore that Syrian said the God of Israel is the God of mountaines not of vallies Wherefore God rightly heere chastised theÌ„ not only by the Waters and the Earth but by the Ayre also and the Sea and sent Thunder Lightning froÌ„ Heauen vpon them that so he might teach and shew that he is Lord and Creator of all things Which blessed Moses said in those words to Pharaoh that thou mightest know how the Earth and Thou and thy Seruants are in the Lords power Let it make vs soundly settle in our hearts euer both what héere we sée and what other Scriptures testifie of Him He raineth downe snares fire brimstone storme and tempest And it is the Lord that commaundeth the waters it is the glorious God that maketh the thunder Fire and hayle snow and vapours winde and storme fulfill his word Whether therefore wee be hindered or furthered by weather let vs euer cast vp our eyes to Heauen for it is the Lord still that ruleth these things and by his Will they come and goe Nature is His seruant and the Deuill is His rod neither of them working but as he appointeth The very Heathens had a glimpse of this truth when they taught Aeolus to be God of the winde and Neptune God of the Sea supposing that by some God these things must be gouerned Thinke then of the yéere 1588. and poure out his praise that so gouerned these things for our comfort On the other side when so euer they shall crosse our affaires either by Sea or Land stoope we to Him in humilitie search out our wayes what wee knowe amisse and amend it spéedily that the Lord may rebuke both winde and sea for our profit Furthermore in this that the Lord sent this plague of thunder and lightning vpon the Egyptians let vs learne how he commeth not stealing to wrath and iudgement against rebellious sinners but ratling and shaking both Heauen and Earth The fruite whereof should bee to make vs feare to offend For I will make the eares of whosoeuer heareth to tingle saith the Lord at that which I will doo so noting a fierce fearefull publique procéeding against sinne and sinners as it were vpon Stages house tops not in darknes and in secret Againe fire was mingled with hayle to teach that his Judgements shall not bee single but euen one vpon the necke of another vntill wee be either humbled or destroyed according vnto his will One Example of many that are in Gods Booke and other Histories may suffice Haman that wicked enemie of the Church true Religion was at length to taste of Gods Justice for his sinnes and how commeth the Lord against him closely couertly No but euen with thunder and lightning as héere against Pharaoh that is with open and great shew to all men of his wrath For first he is made to leade his horse in honour of him whom of all men he most maliced secondly hee falleth iustlie into his Princes heauie indignation and when hee humblie sued at the Quéenes féete for pardon hee was taken by the King as intending high villanie which encreased the Kings wrath mightily thirdly he is dispatched away to be hanged vpon that Gallowes which in his greatnes he had prepared for another fourthly his house and Land his honour and
although it were not of the nature of other Cloudes but a more Diuine thing higher than mans minde is able to comprehend by which in the daie time the heate of the Sunne was tempered and in the night a comfortable light giuen saith Greg. Nyssen writing of the life of Moses The comfort and vse I take from it is this that in new perilles the Lord can haue new remedies at his pleasure Now before vs and now behinde vs and euermore with vs if wee bee with him by a sure trust in his goodnesse blessed be his Name euermore for it The winde which the Lord vsed to cause the Sea to runnebacke was not for any néede of such meanes but that he might shew his power ouer all creatures to vse them commaund them at his wil. So by the water of Iorden he healed Naaman when he could haue healed him without it By clay and spittle he opened eies and diuers such things in the Scriptures when at other times by his only Word he did as much without any meanes at all Then went they through on dry land and the waters stood as a wall vnto them on the right hand and on the left If you aske how they durst aduenture to passe so dangerously seeing the waters might haue gushed together againe and haue ouerwhelmed them The Epistle to the Hebrewes telleth vs That by faith they passed through the red-Red-sea as by dry land which when the Egyptians had assaied to doo they were swallowed-vp If you looke at the waters on either side you may see the condition of Gods Children in this world beset on the right side with a floud of prosperitie beset on the left side with a floud of aduersitie yet through a true faith walking through both and hurt by neither they arriue on the other side safely when by either of these many others are destroyed pray we then euer for this Faith 8 The Egyptians féele the Lord against them and then would flie but it was too late And let it euer preach vnto our mindes the danger of deferring our conuersion to GOD. For when wée would wée shall not but euen perish and die as here did the Egyptians O what newes in Egypt was this when it came what woe and what weeping what wailing and wringing of hands by wiues for their husbands children for their Fathers and friends for their friends which now were deuoured of the cruell Sea But it is too late Had I wist commeth euer behinde saith the old Prouerbe And therefore a notable Example is this to all degrees one to perswade with an other vnto Religion and the true seruice of God that such fearefull newes may neuer be brought to our friends of vs. For the Lord will not euer beare with our contempt but as here was a heauie Morning when the Sea roaring returned together and they flying and crying in the middest of it so assuredly shall there be either a morning or an euening of miserie vnto them who proudly disdaine to be taught of their God happy are they that thinke of it in time 9 The glorious victorie of the Church here is a thing worthy all due consideration yeelding vs comfort to the worlds end in all our perplexities For how doo they see their enemies destroyed and themselues deliuered how triumph they in Songs of ioy and gladnesse in the next Chapter verse 1. c This is the Word and we must beléeue it these are his promises and we must be strong in them The Church is Christs body therefore it shall not be forsaken It is the house of God therefore it shall not be forsaken He hath bought it with his bloud Acts 20. 28. 1. Pet. 1. 18. therfore it shall not be forsaken It is his spouse Hosea 2. 19. 2. Cor. 11. 2. Apoc. 21. 2. 9. therefore it shal not be forsaken It is built vpon Christ Mat. 16. 18. therfore it shal not be forsaken In a word the Gaâ—es of Hell shall not preuaile against it neither of his kingdome shall there be any end Math. 16. Luke 1. 33. The harmers of his Church shall in their time be punished and the fauourers of it euer blessed I will blesse them that blesse thee saith God to Abraham and curse them that curse thée Sehon King of the Amorites and Og the King of Basan with all the rest of that sort how did they fall before Gods people and were destroied The Great Monaâ—chies of the world the Chaldaean the Persian the Graecian and the Roman which were not obedient to his Truth and fauourers of his flocke where are they On the other side how blessed be the Midwiues that were kinde vnto his people how saued he Rahab and all her familie The Widow of Sarepta lost not her loue to his Prophet neither the Ethiopian in Ieremie nor any other So is his Church right deare vnto him you plainely sée and it is the comfort strong of euery member For the loue of the body draweth a loue of the hand and foote and euery part we see in experience by our owne bodies No part can perish without a great greife to the whole neither the vilest part bee but a little touched without an offence to the very heart What comparison betwixt vs and Christ in our loue and his None none and the more he exceedeth vs the more is our comfort ioy We neuer saide that God wanted a Church before Luther as wee are either foolishly vnderâ—â—ood or maliciosly reported but we know he blesseth not all times alike punishing mans ingratitude often with Cloudes yet euer he hath his people and euer shall haue to the end In regarde of which variable estate the Church is resembled to the Moone which after full hath a wanne and neuer abideth still full It is compared to a ship tosseâ— and tumbled in the Sea and in great perill many times of which you may often thinke with much profit How the Arke of Noeâ—igured â—igured the Church you may reade in the Notes vpon Genesis Chapter 6. And if you desire to peruse the old Fathers these marginall places may direct you Nauis non ex vno ligno constat sed ex diuersis c. A ship is not made of one board saith Epiphanius No more dooth the Church consist of one man or of one sort of men A Ship is narrow at the beginning and then much broader in the middle so the Church at first is small and farre greater in time yea euen spread abroad in the world Narrow and straight is Abel and Sheth little and small in Noâ— and his familâ—e but seuenty Soules came into Egypt yet thousands thousands grew of theÌ„ Narrow was the Ship in Elias time but Achab Iezebel beeing gone it grew broader The Apostles Disciples were but few but when at one Sermon there were added three thousand Soules the Ship you see grew broader And so of those
as the Dogge that returneth to his vomit Or the Swine that walloweth in the myre that is wickedly filthily and beastly This taught Irenaeus many yeares agoe and both for his antiquitie and worthinesse let vs marke his words They that haue the Pledge of the Spirit saith hée and serue the concupiscence of the flesh but subiect themselues to the Spirit and reasonably behaue themselues in all things rightly of the Apostle are called spirituall because the Spirit of GOD dwelleth in them And they that cast away the Counsaile of the Spirit and serue the pleasures of the flesh liuing vnreasonably and vnbridledly following their sinfull desires hauing no working of the Spirit but liuing as dogges or swine rightly hee calleth carnall because they sauour of nothing but the flesh And the Prophets for the selfe same cause compared them to bruite and vnreasonable beasts as to fed-Horses neighing after their Neighbours wiues c. Dauid also in the Psalme Man being in honour hath no vnderstanding but is compared to the beasts that perish c. Now all these things are done Figuratiuely to note cleane and vncleane persons as before For they that haue a true Faith and a good life by meditating in the Word are such as diuide the hoofe and chew the cudde and they are cleane Such doe neither or but the one are vncleane as hee that beleeueth in GOD but liueth not well or hee that liueth in an outward honestie but beleeueth nor rightly hee also that doth neither liue well nor beleeue well all these are vncleane The Iewes saith this Father may be sayd in some sort to chewe the cudde because they read the Scriptures but they diuide not the hoofe because they beleeue not in the Sonne of GOD Christ Iesus as well as in the Father To this effect Irenaeus Others haue by cleane beasts parting the hoofe noted the true Teachers of the Word which diuide the same aright the Lawe and the Gospell Praecepts and promises c. They againe say others may be well called cleane diuiding the hoofe who doe not beléeue in great or in grosse but discerne and distinguish things as Christ and Moses Nature and Grace Truth and falshood c. Not beleeuing euery spirit but trying the Spirits whether they be of God or no. Things may not bée taken euer litterally And againe we may not be too bold with Mysteries and Allegories leauing the letter but a true wisedome is to be prayed for and vsed in both Hee that is spirituall saith the Apostle discerneth all things That for diuiding and be wise vnto Sobrietie that for beeing too busie in deuising Mysteries For chewing the Cudde They may bée said to doe it and so to be cleane who meditate of that they heare and learne out of Gods Booke and often repeating it in their mindes ponder it in their heart as is said of the blessed Virgin A thing much commended in the Scripture as in the first Psalme Blessed is that man that meditateth in the Law of God day and night Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my hart be alway acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength my Redemer Isaac went out to meditate c. Commended also by the Fathers Meditatio Dei dulcis est To meditate of God is a sweete thing Saith Saint Augustine Meditatione pericula agnoscimus oratione euadimus And by meditation saith Saint Bernard Wee know perils by prayer we auoyd them 2 Your Chapter nameth many particulars which were but curiositie to stand on A few may be touched for example sake The Cony was vncleane because hee cheweth the cudde and diuideth not the hoofe And by this some haue thought were figured out such men and women as lay vp their treasures in earth because the Conies digge and scrape and make their berryes in the earth whereas the Scripture teacheth vs not to doe thus but to lay vp our treasures in Heauen where no theefe no moth c. These men and women are vncleane and God will haue none of them 3 The Hare was also vncleane for the same cause because hee cheweth the cudde but diuideth not the hoofe The Hare is a very fearefull creature and therefore by him figured out fearefull men and women despayring of grace and shrinking from God fearing crosses and losses and forsaking Faith Such persons are vncleane and excluded out of the Kingdome of GOD. Read Apoc. chap. 21. But the fearefull and vnbeleeuing and the abhominable and murtherers and whore-mongers and forcerers and Idolaters and all lyers shall haue their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and Brimstone which is the second death 4 The Swyne was vncleane beause hee parteth the hoofe but cheweth not the cudde and of their flesh they might not eate nor touch their carkeise c. Tertullian saith Herein was figured such vncleane persons as bee good for nothing but to be slaine For if you consider what a creature the Swyne is Hee neuer looketh vp to Heauen but hath his mouth euer in the earth and myre caring for nothing but his belly Hee serueth not to ride vpon as doth the horse to till the ground as doth the Oxe to giue milke as doth the Cowe to cloath vs with his fléece as doth the Sheepe to watch by night for vs as doth the Dogge and so foorth but he is onely nourished for the knife and his death hath vse his life hath none Such ought not men and women to bée and if any be such they are vncleane God would admonish the Iewes by this Figure and still we may learne by it to be no Swyne no Hogge no filthy myrie creatures wallowing in sinne and vncleanes without regard and féeling louing the earth and looking euer on the earth rooting in it all the day and féeding the belly with all gréedinesse nourished onely to the slaughter and profiting no way whilest we liue A profitable meditation for Gods children that they may so continue and a profitable remembrance to others not yet called that they may become his children A good caueat to rich Cormorants in this world who neuer profite any till they dye with all the wealth they haue A knife therefore for the Hogge that wée may haue Puddings and death for such Wretches that the Common-wealth may haue vse of their bagges 5 From the Land Your Chapter commeth to the Water and so from the beastes to the Fishes therin vers 9. shewing what was cleane and what vncleane what might be eaten and what might not But Fishes in particular are not named as the beastes were the Fowles afterward are because the most part was vnknowen to Iewes hauing little vse or none of Fish and few Waters or none but Iordan for fresh-Fresh-fish sea-Sea-fish was sold néerer the East and came not to the Iewes much where they were By the markes therefore God describeth them and saith Whatsoeuer hath finnes and skales in the Waters
in the Seas or in the Riuers them shall yee eate But all that haue not c they shall be abhomination vnto you By the synnes some haue thought was figured Faith and by the skales good and honest works These two make a cleane man or woman acceptable to God But hee or shee that wanteth both or either is vncleane Faith without workes is not a true Faith but a dead and beautifull workes without Faith are the blossomes of Hypocrisie and please not God 6 After Land and Water Moses commeth to the Ayer and sheweth what Fowles therein are cleane and vncleane Wherein you may note the great mercie of God in that most of these vncleane Fowles are indéede odious to our Nature and we eat them not whereas he might haue restrained them from those that they loued and liked So good is hée in all things and carefull not to lay heauie burthens vpon vs. Some good Foules are yet restrained that man might learne Temperance and Obedience For Gluttonie and Excesse wée are very prone vnto Some haue considered the nature of euery Fowle and laboured to learne somewhat for amendement but it is good to be sober in these things As for example by the Eagle which flyeth high they haue noted mounting mindes to be a fault and to make men vncleane as indéede they doc howsoeuer the meaning was thu◠to teach by making the Eagle vncleane By the Goshauke men that prey vpon their weaker brethren neighbors and gripe them so as they kill them or vndoo thē By the Vulture men that delight too much in Wars and contention By the Kyte cowardly-men that yet are deuourers as they can By the Rauens vnnaturall Parents that forsake their children Vnkinde Friends which shrinke away Ill Husbands which prouide not for their Families c. By the Ostrich painted Hypocrites and carnall men that haue faire great feathers but cannot flye c. By the little Owle and the great Owle such as loue darknesse and flye the light such also as are vnsociable with men and loue solitarines too much By the Sea-mew which liueth both on Land and Water such as will be saued both by Faith and workes partly by the one and partly by the other c. Such Ambodexters also as the world hath store of holding with the Hare and running with the Hound Fire in the one hand and water in the other Two faces vnder a Hood c. By the Hawke such as are kept for others harme whereof also there are too many We must haue an Oliuer for a Rouland and so we maintaine such as the earth is weary of and their wickednes shall be our destruction if not of our whole house and posteritie By the Cormorant all gréedy couetous persons c. By the Lapwyng you may take occasion to remember what the Poet saith which is thus TEREUS King of Thracia maryed Progne daughter of Pandion which Progne hauing a sister called Philomela after certaine yeares desired her husband that either shee might goe to her sister to see her or haue her sister fetched vnto her The King willingly yeelded He would fetch her sister to her and to that end went to sea came to her Father and his Father in-law obtained leaue for her to goe with him for awhile to her sister But see as they were in their iourney his vncleane heart burned in lust towards Philomela his wiues sister and by force abused her cutting out her tongue after that shee might not tell Thus dumbe speachles he brought her home to her sister who amazed at this change in her and not knowing more then her husband the King would tell her in stead of ioy had great sorrowe in her selfe no way now able to talke with her sister and to haue any comfort in her But Philomela getting an needle and silke expressed thereby as by writing how her husband had abused her bodie and cut out her tongue as hee brought her to see her Then Progne all inraged with furie and wrath casting which way to bee reuenged of him for this odious fact caught at last her little sonne by him and slew him crying vpon her Mother Mother and clasping about her neck with kisses as long as he could making meate of him for the King his father The King liking the meate well called for the little childe that he might haue some of it when shee with a fierce looke told him he had his childe in his bellye for the good he had done to her sister and with that shewed him the head flinging foorth from him as fast as shee could hee so astonished that he could not tell what he did Then saith the Poet they were all three to auoyd further mischiefe suddenly changed into three Fowles Progne this cruell Mother into a Swallowe who caryeth red vpon his brest to note the bloodinesse of her brest Philomela her sister into a Nightingale who keepeth in the woods as ashamed of the villanie done to her by the King and lamenteth it in the Night by her sorrowfull song The wicked King who was cause of all into a Lapwyng which is delighted with dounge and filth to note his foule and filthy minde to his sister in-law hath a long bill wherewith he striketh and hurteth other Birds noting his cruell knife that cut out his sisters tongue feathers vpon the head like a crowne noting his place dignitie that he was a King wherevpon the Verses were made Rex fueram sic crista probat sed sordidavita Immundam e tanto culmine fecit auem The Lapwyng then may shadow out all foule vncleane mindes full of crueltie and lust full of crueltie also to worke the concealment of lust as you sée in Dauid first lusting and then killing But thus to follow Allegories I forbeare onely noting thus much to shew you Learned mens applications of these things for our good And surely although I dare not say that by these vncleane birds and beasts thus much was meant yet thus much is most certaine that whoso haue these qualities noted in the nature of them they are as certainly vncleane to God as these birds were for vse of meat to this people Let vs euer therefore abhorre such spots that we be cleane to the Lord who is cleanenesse it selfe 8 Some thing is spoken in your Chapter of creeping things whereby men haue noted the vncleanenes shadowed of such as minde earthly things too much and particularly by the Weasel deceitfull persons because the Weasell is deceitfull and craftie By the Mouse such as liue vpon others labours and are vnprofitable themselues By the Want or Mole such as are blinde and ignorant Lastly that which is spoken of vncleanenes growing by the touch of these things and that which you reade of washing and breaking earthen Vessels you must euer take it so that God stood not so much vpon these Ceremonies as to teach his People héereby