The Period of the Persian Monarchy, Chapter 4
CHAP. IV. Observations and explanations on some places of Ezra, and Nehemiah.
THe resolution is; That we must reade on:Some doe question, whether it be their part to reade on in the Booke of Ezra, in their private going over the Scripture: sith many places are nothing but names, and as they conceive, of no great use to us. for that nothing bIn sacris Libris nihil contemnatur, aut obiter praetereatur: etiamsi nomina recenseantur. Chrysost. hom. 21. & 24. super Gen. Et in Rom. 16. Ser. 31.is to be contemned in these holy writings; no nor to be skipped over. Say it be but the repeating, and cataloguing onelyonly of names. There is no Booke, no Chapter, no line in the Word of God, but is profitable, given by inspiration of God, and written for our learning. And if wee understand it not in some places; yet those places have in them an immanent power to edifie: though as yet it be not transient, conveighing the profit of it to us, till in some measure we doe understand it.
2. The way to come to the understanding of them, is, not to passe those places over; but to reade them. And when we are busie in reading places which we conceive not,cChrysost. Serm. 3. de Lazaro. God opens the heart, and sends us in, the interpretation, as he did Philip to the Eunuch, Act. 8.
3. There is much to be had out of the Genealogies, to a wise, and diligent Reader. Wee learne the increase, or decrease of the Church, the strange holding out of some Families, as the Servants of Solomon, and the Gibeonites, called in these Bookes, the Nethinims: They were made drawers of water to the Temple, as a kind of punishment. God made this crosse, a merciemercy. Their employment so neere the house of God, gave them fit occasion to be partakers of the things of God. And the Lord, wee see, did wonderfully honour them. The neerer they were to the Church, the neerer to God. In a word, hee sees little, that sees not many things of excellent use, to be gathered out of Chapters full of names.
4. Say, that as yet we can pick nothing out of some such Chapters; yet must we not step over them in our course of reading them: but we are in any hand to take them along in our reading, if it be but to shew our obedience to God in reading over all his sacred word.
Object. But doth not Paul, Tim. 1.4. warne Timothy, that hee should not give heed to fables, and endlesse genealogies, which minister questions, rather then ediying?Resp. He doth. But he meanes Genealogies that were fabulous, not such as doe edifie: Now all the Scripture tends to edifying. Cajetan notes, that hee meanes by endlesse Genealogies, such as are not in the word, which gender questions, that the Scripture doth not end and determine.dAugust. contra Adversarios Le…gis & Prophet. lib. 2. cap. 1. tom. 6. No question, the Apostle finds fault with such fabulous genealogies, as in those dayes were too cō mon among the Iewes, & after were written in the Books of Talmud. S. Paul eAquinas in 1. Tim. 1.4.1. Tim. 4.7. cals them old wives tales. And when men begin to be giddy, and to be sicke of foolish pride, they study much in doting pedegrees. Paul to Timothy and Titus both, means such genealogies as do move & not end questions. Which minister questions (saith Paul to Timothy) not which end questions. What questions?Tit. 3.9. foolish questions. And for those genealogies which had any pith in them, they became also uncertaine and endlesse, when Herod had burnt up the Records, as Iosephus notes. Now fChrysost. Hom. 23. in Act. Questionum nullus finis.of such questions there is no end: And we may all observe, that to bee full of impertinent questions, comes from a weak understanding: as we see in children, who will even tire one with babbling questions. So the Apostles in their ruder time, before the passion of Christ, and after too, before the comming downe of the holy Ghost, were asking questions sometime not so profitable, as, When the day of Iudgement should be? But when they were filled with the gifts of the holy Ghost, Acts 2. we heare no more of such questions. No, no: They then found fault with such curiosity. The same holy Father doth observe, that Thomas, Iudas, and Peter were full of questions. But Iohn, whom Christ loved, and who might have beene most bold with him, was very sparing that way. In a word, the Genealogies of the word are of great use, and do satisfie the doubts of men, and not move questions that can have no end.
This was not in his first year of his Kingdome of Persia, Cap. 1. v. 1. Now in the first yeare of Cyrus King of Persia, that the Word of the Lord by the mouth of Ieremiah might be fulfilled: the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia, that he made proclamation throughout all his kingdome.but of his Monarchy, when he had conquered Babylon. Now how long he reigned after his Conquest, precisely we cannot say. Dan. 10.1. we read of The third year of Cyrus, and some Chronologers think he lived not much above five or sixe yeares longer.
Tis sayd, The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus. There be that say, that, Cyrus was converted, because he is called The Lords annoynted, and his Servant.
But Saul was the annoynted of the Lord: yet none of the best men, or of the best Kings: Hee that doth looke over the stories of Cyrus; shall find that hee lived and dyed a meere Heathen. And the Prophet Isay, cap. 45.4. saith in the name of God, That Cyrus had not knowne him. And therefore, it was in respect of his office, and the worke the Lord did designe him to; though he never were really anoynted with oyle, as Saul and David were. I say, in regard of his place, and this great worke of the Lord in his hand, he was called, The annoynted of the Lord. Out of which we may see, that the Lord doth many times doe great and famous matters for his Church, by the hands of wicked men. And their divinity is not sound, who hold the contrary Tenet. It was the mighty worke of God to bring this wise and great Prince in the very first entrance into his Monarchy, before things were fully setled, to dismisse so great & so gIn respect of their custome & Religion.united a people, as the Iewes were, into their owne Country with such a faire and ample patent as hee did; they being held among the Barbarians, a People given much to insurrection: But God must and will have his wayes take place. There is no resisting of his will by any: The will of men must goe after his decree. Which decrees of God, manifested no lesse than 170. yeares before, did not leave this fact of Cyrus contingent, but made it necessary.
They write, that he was made to see the Prophecy of Isaiah, where he finding his very name, so long before he was borne, was thereby moved to this great worke. That might bee a perswasion: but the cause, we see, was; because the Lord by a potent worke of his spirit stirred up the heart of Cyrus to send forth so gracious an Edict. And yet we must not thinke, that this his being made acquainted with the will of Gods decrees, gave to this his Act the Nature of Obedience; Obedience being properly an act of ours, when wee doe obey the will of Gods command; he by it imposing on us and requiring of us, the worke as a duty. In the first of Kings 11. Ieroboam had it cleered to him, that Gods will was, hee should be King over the tenne Tribes: yet because it was a will of Gods decree, not of his cōmand, as of a duty to be done by him, he goes among Divines for an intruder, and an usurper, in and for that fact of his. hVid. 23.9.5. cap. 45. in annot.'Tis Obedience, when wee obey a divine precept: but not ever when wee follow a divine instinct. iDavenant. in Col. 1. v. 2. p. 15.16.'Tis a worke belonging immediately and onelyonly to God to worke effectually on the Will, and thus to stirre up the heart of a man. Kings hearts are in Gods hands.
This shewes us,Ver. 7. Also Cyrus the King brought forth the Vessels of the house of the Lord: which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Ierusalem, and had put them in the house of his God. that nothing that is once appointed by God in his worship, say it be after used in Idolatrous worship, as these vessels were, can be defiled. but it may & must returne to 'ts ancient use: and bee had in the worship of God againe. Whereas wee reade, 2. Kings, 24.13. that Nebuchadnezzar did cut in pieces all the Vessels of gold, which Solomon K. of Israel had made, in the Temple of the Lord: The meaning is, That hee did kHeb. foreign truncavit.curtaile, as it were, the Temple.Ver. 8. Even those did Cyrus King of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithridath the Treasurer: and numbred them unto Shazbazzar the Prince of Iudah. For 'tis plaine, hee did reserve those Vessels whole. For Belshazzar did after drinke in them, Dan. 5.2. And here wee finde, that they were restored, and brought backe to the house of God againe. This Shazbazzar, the Prince of Iudah was Zerubbabel, called so in Chaldaea▪ Iunius denies it: but our English Annotations, and that of Deodat's, in the Italian, doe with more likelihood affirme it. He was by the King ordained head & Conductor of those of his Nation, who would be willing to returne. Thus God kept the seignorie, and the chiefe staffe of Authority in the line of Iudah. No length nor change of time can eate out, and breake off the decrees of God.