Samsons Seven Locks of Hair Compared to the Seven Spiritual Virtues, Introduction
Iudg. chap. xvi. verſ. xix. And ſhee made him ſleepe vponupon her Knees: & ſhe called a man, & made him to ſhaue off the ſeauen Lockes of his head: and ſhee began to vexe him: and his ſtrength was gone from him, &c.
THis Hiſtory of Samſon declareth vntounto vsus the infirmitie and weakneſſe of Gods chiefeſt Veſſels,The infirmitie of Gods Sancts. whenſoever they are left vntounto themſelues: for albeit Samſon had both ſpirituall and naturall ſtrength aboue others, yet when God leſt him but a little hee loſt them both, and became a pitifull prey & ſpectacle to his enemies, whome before hee vanquiſhe. So this Hiſtorie is a faithfull Recorder, aſwell of the Vices as Vertues of the Sancts, & a perfect mirrour wherin eueryevery one may behold both the deformity & beauty of his own perſon.Simil. Iudg. 4.8. and 8.27. & 11.39. Barac the Captain had his own faintheartednes, Gedeon his Ephod, Iephtah his vnnaturall offering, &c. Theſe things are manifeſt by the Scriptures, and like Bekons ſet vponupon the ſhore,Simil. to warne vsus who ſeeme to ſtand, to take heede leſt wee fall. Yea, they are the Cicatrices, and marks of their woundes, to remember vsus to beware of the like ſnares of Satan.
But although our ſpirituall enemies beguile vsus, and enſnare vsus in the groſſeſt ſinnes, yet let vsus not deſpare: for there is ſtill mercy with God:Prov. 24.16. & howbeit the Righteous may fall ſeven times aday, yet hee ſhall riſe againe. For ſure it is, that whom the Lord loveth, hee loveth to the ende: which we ſhall eaſily perceiue in this ſhort Treatiſe hereafter, God willing. For albeit the Lord externally chaſtiſe vsus for our humiliation, yet he taketh not his holy Spirit frō vsus. For when he thought good he renewed his graces in Samſon, and as his haire grew, the Lord gaue him growth of ſtrength alſo: ſo that in his death hee became more victorious ouer Gods enemies than in all his life.
The grounds of doctrine.
FIrst wee ſhall ſpeak, God willing, of the ſeauen Lockes of Samſons head,and the myſticall interpretation thereof.
Next, of the Princes of the Philiſtims, and the craftie deuiſe to ſuppriſe Samſon by Dalilah.
Th…lie, Samſons facilitie in yeelding, and ſecuritie in ſleeping, being ouercome by his fleſhlie affections. Together with the juſt puniſhment thereof, in putting out of his eyes, which hee abuſed vntounto his luſt. As alſo his captiuitie, and that ſhamefull ſpectacle which was made of him before the vncircumciſed.
And finallie, wee ſhall intreat of Samſons Triumph, the reſtitution of his ſtrength, and deſtruction of Gods enemies; repreſenting therein Christ Ieſus, our true Samſon, who by his death gaue the greateſt foyle to our enemies, and led captiuitie captiue.
SAMSONS SEAVEN LOCKES OF HAIRE.
THe number of ſeauen in the Scriptures is a Number of perfection;The number of ſeauen. as the ſeauen Dayes, ſeauen Lampes, ſeauen Angels, ſeauen Viols, &c. So vnderunder the ſeauen Lockes of SAMSONS Haire, which were the Markes of his NAZAREISME, are ſignified the perfect Graces of the holie Spirit, which the LORD had beſtowed vponupon him, and thorow which (as long as hee kept them) hee was more than a Conquerour.
For albeit the Giftes of GODS holie Spirit bee innumerable, and infinit, as Hee is himſelfe; yet there are ſome more principall, and moſt neceſſarie; (ſine quibus non) without the which none can perſwade-themſelues that the Spirit of GOD dwelleth in them,Theſe gifts are abſolutelie neceſſarie. nor yet that they ſhall inherite the Kingdome of Heauen. And theſe Seauen are ſo platted together, euen as SAMSONS LOCKES were, and as the links of a golden Chaine, that the one of them cannot bee without the reſt, and all of them cannot bee without one. And theſe are the Lockes which CHRIST prayſeth, in the fourth Chapter of the Canticles, at the beginning.