thus expresly So long O Serpent as the womans children keepe the law they kill thee and when they cease to doe so thou stingest them in the heele and hast power to hurt them much But whereas for their harme there is a sure remedie to heale it for thine there is none for in the last dayes they shall crush thee all to peeces with their heeles by means of Christ their King The particulars wherof Adam neglected not to examine And the woman likewise vnderstanding from thence duly marking embracing the same that God had a purpose to saue her gathereth from these words matter inough to saue her and all the world after her which receiue like comfort of the same promise For she rightly vnderstood that this seede must needs be Christ who must come and take Adams nature vppon him who should bee subiect to death that hee might ouercome him that had power of death For shee knew and so did Adam that if euer man being but onely man might work his owne redemption himselfe was likelyest to haue done it because hee was the chiefest of all the men that euer should be in the world but Adam being the goodlyest man and not able to doe it himselfe he knew it must needs be God who must appeare in the similitude of Adams nature and suffer death that hee might rise againe to sit at the right hand of his Father to make intercession for all the sonnes of Adam They both the man and the woman embracing this obtayned the fauour of God and Adam called his wife Euah that is Life to shew that whosoeuer beleeued as she beleeued should bee partakers of eternall life as it is written Rom. 10. Who so confesseth with his mouth and beleeueth with his heart that Iesus Christ is the Sonne of the liuing God he shall be saued But Adam and Euah were driuen out of Paradise Cherubins were set to keep the way of the tree of life they were clothed with skins as it shuld appeare with skins of beasts to shew their beastlines which God for them had slaine to offer for sacrifice to teach thē the vse thereof for no doubt God would not destroy beasts to haue them spoyled seeing that Adam was not to eat any And we see that Kaine and Abel offered sacrifices as being taught from Adam whose sacrifices were of two sorts Abel offred as appeareth in sinceritie of Religion the other for outward ceremonie voide of true Religion wherefore to Abel and his offring God had respect but to Kaine and his offring he had no regard Wherefore Kaine being possessed with the poyson of the Serpent enuied Abel because his workes were good and his owne euill and killed him and being asked of God why he had slaine his brother in stead of asking pardon of God he sayd that his fault was greater than that Gods mercie could forgiue it Against whom Saint Augustine cryeth vehemently that by how much lesse the mercie of God could be inferiour to the fault of Kaine seeing that to forgiue is a thing proper to God and to reuenge and punish is farre estranged from his nature by so much more great was the offence of Kaine in the words he sayd than in the murther he did seeing that by the stroke of the sword hee tooke away but the life of his brother but by the blasphemie of his tongue hee gaue death to his owne soule To kill his brother was euill done but to despaire in Gods mercie was euen a transgression of the Deuill For more doe we offend God to esteeme him without mercie than in any other sinne we commit against man For which God curseth him giuing him a marke of a guiltie conscience alwayes accusing him of sinne against God and inhumanitie against nature Whereupon he goeth vp and downe wandring as one finding no rest or peace like an excommunicate person from the place of true religion into the land of Nod which signifieth Fugitiue This Kaine was the eldest sonne of Adam whom he named Possession for so doth Kaine signifie as if he had gained a goodly possession But seeing what might be the comfort of such possession hee calleth his other sonne Abell that is Vanitie to shewe that if a man haue neuer so large kingdomes or possessions or bee neuer so noblie borne as Kaine was except the sonne of God it is all but vanitie and a vexation of mind It is not now to be vnderstood that Adam had now no more children but Kaine and Abell for doubtlesse Adam had many more as may appeare by Kaines story For it is sayd that Kaine departed into the land of Nod and knew his wife who must needes be Adams daughter and married before the murther for we are not to thinke that Adam would afterward haue bestowed his daughter vpon a reprobate The Holy Ghost nameth onely three of Adams sonnes Kaine Abel and Seth to make a proportionable number answerable to the number of the letters of the words of the holy tongue or the tongue of Adam for vpon three letters doth euery word in the tongue consist Kaine to represent the afflictors of such as in this life esteemed the world and the pleasures thereof Vanitie which is Abell and Seth whose name signifieth setled or foundation to shew the assurance of his faith in the promises of God to the confirming of our faith which was that from him must come that seede of the woman that should bruse the head of the Serpent This sentence they and we and all the world were and are bound to take notice of For this we ought to know and beleeue so assuredly that we might shew our selues setled vpon a sure foundation not vpon sands where sea and wind may ouerthrow vs but vpon the Rocke Christ Iesus That our building may remaine as the mount Sion and as the heauenly Ierusalem which is builded foure square of three foures of precious stones that howsoeuer we be tossed with afflictions of this life we may stand firme acknowledging Iehouah to be the one true and euerlasting God Father Sonne and Holy Spirit and that his mercy is like to eternall mountains that cannot be remoued wherewith hee loued vs vnto saluation before the foundation of the world Thus duly considering his power and wisedome in the particular actions of the creation Adams fall the promise of eternall life Adams faith and his sacrifices the shadowes of our Redemption The seuenth day and the vse thereof we shall spend our dayes in beholding our end and neuer doe amisse sorrowing with a godly sorrowe as Enosh whose name signifieth Sorow did for as in our dayes so in his men fell from the true Religion of Adam Seth and other godly men which were then aliue turning the grace of God into wantonnesse marrying wiues of Kaines poysoned seede respecting beauty and other outward guifts rather than vertue not remēbring their Grandmother Euah that for beholding the beauty of one forbidden fruit commending it to Adam
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
short of 1000. yeares so much as is the dayes of mans life Iared Methushelah and Noah ouerreached Adam in long life because of the power of the word of God He died about mount Moriah where he was made He liued till he saw many kings he himselfe the greatest and vntill he had erected a stately gouernment and taught them humane arts And he was fittest to do it beeing a King to commaund whome hee would and what hee would and hauing wit excelling all the men in the world And as in a Princes Court it is requisite to haue Noble men some higher and some lower and men of all degrees so Adam liued vntill he might haue a stately Court Now if a King should coÌ„maund a Diuine to make Adams will from his storie he would make it in this sort O my sonnes gather you together and harken vnto the words of your father Adam the last that euer he shall speake vnto you I was voide of saluation and enioyed not happinesse by disobeying which disobedieÌ„nce I theÌ„ practised wheÌ„ I harkened to the perswasion of Heua did eat the forbidden fruite I then felt the heauy iudgements of God against sinne and sawe my nakednes whereof I was ashamed 〈…〉 not remooued it by offering a blessing in the 〈◊〉 of the woman 〈…〉 you all the dayes of my life as a father that you may learne 〈…〉 gouernours which resemble fathers in behauiour I haue instructed you to loue and obey their gouernement you must know that as my saluation râ—â—â—th vpon beliefe in the sâ—ede of the woman so must yours But the house of Kaine despising this and killing Abel a figure of him who by dying shall ouercome the power of the Serpent will cause the flood to destroy the earth Few shall embrace this doctrine for though eight bee saued by the Arke yet seuen onely shall keepe sincerely the beliefe in this promise of the seede of the woman My daies haue beene long with the rest of your fathers but the end of all flesh is come vpon me for out of the earth I came and to the earth I must returne 113. Henoch is taken vp being 365. yeres old HIs yeres are answerable to the dayes of the sunne 65. yeres a yere for a day And as the sunne excelleth all other starres in brightnesse so did his life excell all other men then aliue in the world for vertue He is also sayd to haue walked with God to be a preacher of righteousnesse to bee taken vp These foure speciall commendations are of equall glory and wee may be assured by these testimonies that his godlinesse was very rare The Grecians say that hee left a booke behind him of his preaching But thereby as much as in them lyeth they call into question the truth of the Scriptures For first by this opinion they derogate from the glorie of Moses that he should not be the first writer Secondly from the wisedome of God which tooke order to lay downe the liues of the fathers in so short Arithmatique and would thereby haue his wisedome wonderfull to those which should come after which had bene to small purpose if Henoch had left a booke of his preaching But the Grecians thus being answered it followeth that Henochs prophecie was against the wordes of the wicked and against the contempt of religioÌ„ which wicked men shewed in not beleeuing the preaching of the flood Saint Iude in his Epistle from the circumstances of the men and manners of the people to whom Henoch preached gathered what might be the summe of Henochs preaching in this sort Behold the Lord commeth how as at the giuing of the law with thousands of his Angels to give iudgement against all men to rebuke all the vngodly among them of all their wicked deeds which they haue vngodly committed and of all their cruell speakings which wicked sinners haue spoken against him Vpon which words the Grecians not knowing the course of the Hebrewes in their fained speeches say that Henoch left a booke of his preaching behind him His taking vp did shew what should be the state of the godly Hee was taken vp in despite of the wicked and in recompence of his own faith Hee was taken vp 57. yeeres after Adams death all the fathers then being aliue And it may be the fathers did see him taken vp as a figure of Christs ascension The wicked might then say where is the appearance of the flood For Adam is dead and Henoch is taken vp and all things continue as from the beginning In that God bestowed so short life vpon Henoch it sheweth that hee would bestow greater blessings of him in another kind Now compare him with Christ Henoch Christ Was a Prophet for he prophecied of the destruction of the world by the flood Walked with God His dayes were as the dayes of the sunne Was taken vp being the seuenth from Adam Was a Prophet and prophecied of the destruction of the world Did the will of his Father Is the bright sunne of Iustice whose dayes in the Psalmes are likened to the dayes of the sunne In the Scripture is the seuenth that ascended To wit 1. The sonne of the widow of Sarepta 1. King 17. 2. The Shunamites sonne whom Eliseus brought againe to life 2. King 4.32 3. The souldier buried by Eliseus corps 4. Iayrus daughter Mat. 9. 5. The widowes sonne Luke 7. 6. Lazarus Luke 11. 7. Christ That is 3. in the olde Testament new Testament and the Lord was the seuenth 1042. 168. Seth died being 912 yeeres olde 1056. 182. Noah borne HIs name signifieth Comforter or Restorer The faith of Lamech no doubt was cleare concerning saluation by the seede of the woman in that he named his sonne Comforter or Restorer As if he had said though for impietie all the world be destroyed yet I am assured that the promise made to Adam must of necessitie be performed or else no flesh can be saued In this faith Adam after he had transgressed by eating of the forbidden fruite was saued In this faith Abell offered vp a greater sacrifice than Kaine In this faith Henoch walked with God and was no more seene for he was taken vp In this faith all the Fathers obtained eternall life In this faith Noah became a preacher of righteousnesse and an executor of true iudgement and prepared the Arke to the sauing of his houshold c. Heb. 11. 10. This ten is to shew that Noah is the tenth from Adam multiply Henoch by Noah that is the number of of the Sabbath by the full number 10. you haue the number 70. which throughout the Bible is famous and of great force for light in the storie In this tenth age Gods iustice ouer all flesh was extended Compare him with Christ Noah Christ Was a preacher of righteousnesse Found grace before God Was a King Prophet Sacrificer Was the true preacher of righteousnesse Dan 9. Grew in fauour with God and man Luke 2. Was a King Prophet Sacrificer Enosh
and prouideth for the building of the Temple Thus we see how God is still true in his promises Cursed be Canaan a seruant of seruants shall he be Iob he goeth to Sems house for his possessions thereby shewing his religion which would not enioy earthly possessions amongest those whome God had cursed And wee may see in this the law of nature obserued that euerie one is to resort to his eldest brothers house Thus much concerning the place The next circumstance is of what kindred he is HE is of Abraham by Keturah for it is said that he was the richest of all the men of the East This cannot be meant generally for no doubt the kings of the east exceeded him in riches But if we take it of those of Abrahams house by Keturah to whome Abraham gaue gifts and sent them away it is true Besides hee calleth his friends which come to comfort him his brethren for hee sayth My Brethren are like Riuers of water This were improperly spoken if he were not of Abraham he cannot be of Esau for how could that then be true that Esau I haue hated being likewise cursed for despising the promise if so rare a man for godlinesse and sinceritie and that before Moses should be of Esaus kindred Ieremie speaketh in his Lamentations in this wise Lament 4. Reioyce thou Edom in the Land of Huts From hence some conclude that seeing Huts is in the Land of Edom and Iob of Huts therefore he is of Esaus kindred and not of Abraham by Keturah This obiection though it may seeme at the first sight of force yet it is easily answered by marking the times for many ages had passed betwixt Iobs age and Ieremies prophecie Esaus posteritie might at this time haue brought Huts vnder his subiection but in Iobs time wee doe not reade hee had done so And the scripture makes plaine that Abrahams Sonnes by Keturah went and dwelt East-ward And considering Iobs Religion which no doubt was not embraced in Esaus house we must needs thinke notwithstanding this obiection that Iob was of Abrahams kindred Thus much for the circumstance of his kindred ELihu whome God approoueth is of Aram by Milcah who hath Bethuel God is risen the Father of Rebecca and the Father of Aram of whome Elihu These two names containe in them great Religion for the rest of Nachors Sonnes they signifie nothing Here wee see Saint Paules rule true If the vnbeleeuing man will dwell with the beleeuing woman let them not depart for the vnbeleeuing man is sanctified by the beleeuing woman And I rather thinke that Milcah named these two than Nachor thereby to shew her faith in God hauing obtained that prerogatiue at her husbands hand for Nachor must needs learne Idolatrie from Terah his Father Wee may likewise obserue from Iobs kindred what a care Abraham had yea euen in his old age to teach his posteritie the law of God seeing hee instructed Keturah and her Sonnes And this care God affirmeth when hee sayth Gen. 18. That hee cannot keepe secret from Abraham his Counsels for he will teach it his posteritie Therefore we shall find that this booke of Iob is a Commentarie on this sentence Now we come to the question and the summe of the Booke THe question is not concerning Adams fall or the goodnesse and purenesse of workes they doubt not of the Resurrection nor of the Trinitie nor of any other points of faith but it is only a Question of Practise that is to say Whether a man which aboundeth in wealth and being brought to pouertie can be in fauour of God and whether God do so gouern the world that those whom he loueth he will suffer to see affliction Iob is declared to be merueilous great his blessings multiplied in his sonnes in his daughters in Sheepe Oxen Asses and Cammels He himselfe could not bee old perhaps at this time sixtie yeeres for they say they had then liuing elder then his father and after his temptation he liued 140. yeeres and we must take heed we make him not to outliue Isaack Now all his wealth is taken from him himselfe in great miserie remembreth Iacobs storie going with his staffe and his scrip ouer Iordan and by the remembrance thereof comforteth himselfe and confesseth Chap. 1. Naked came I out of my mothers wombe and naked shall I returne thither the Lord giueth and the Lord taketh away blessed therefore be his name Saint Paul in the 1. Tim. cap. 6. Tels him that godlinesse is great riches if a man be content with that he hath for we brought nothing into the world and it is certaine we can carrie nothing out And the children of Israel euery yere when they came to offer after the Priests had taken the basket of first fruits and set it before the Altar of the Lord were wont to say Deu. 26. A Syrian was my father to wit Iacob who went ouer Iordan with his staffe and his bagge and after he returned into Canaan and being readie to perish went downe into Egypt and soiourned there with a small company and grew there vnto a nation great mightie and full of people This confession was not miraculous in Iob. For the heathen could say thus much as they cōfesse in their Epigrams that naked they came out of the earth and naked they shall goe thither Sathan touched his bodie and left him him nothing free but the flesh of his teeth and his tongue that with his tongue he might by desperation blaspheme God Suidas thinketh his torments endured seuen yeeres by matters mentioned in his orations which likelihood could not fall out sooner as that euery one mocked him and fleed from him Then it was a great while after that his kins-men heard of his temptation yet they could come being Dukes and great men and dwelling farre When they come they tarry seuen dayes without speaking any word so great was his griefe vpon him that all this while it droue them into an amazednesse Then they begun to dispute with him Their disputations are true and voide of oathes they make mention of the Sabbath the inueigh against adulterie and other sinnes of the second table they confute iustification by workes they pray not to Saints departed for Iobs recouerie By their orations wee may easily learne to confute these fond opinions which Popery holdeth His friends may seeme to stacker concerning his saluation by reason of his rauing and speaking so doubtfully of the truth for the which God condemneth him after and asketh Iob 38. Who is he that obscureth knowledge with many words Eliphas therefore beginneth thus Chap. 4. Wilt thou be grieued if one assay to commune with thee but who can hold himselfe from speaking Thou thy selfe hast taught many and hast strengthened the weary hands Thou hast had great hope patience and confidence And yet I can tell thee thy case is very ill and if thou dost not repent thou wilt not be saued For who euer perished being an innocent Indeed the