Observations Natural and Moral, Chapter 13
CHAP. XIII. How old ſome of Chriſts predeceſſors were when they begot children.
Gen. 18.11. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, and it ceaſed to be with Sara after the manner of women.
AS the Lord hath meaſured the Periods of the life of man, how long he ſhall live, and when hee ſhall die; ſo he hath meaſured the Periods when a man beginneth to beget children, and when hee leaveth off to beget, When … begin to beget ordinarily.and ſo of the woman.
The Period when a man beginneth to beget, or may beget, is thirteene yeares of age ordinarily, quando exit ab eo concubitus ſeminis, when the ſeed of copulation goeth out from him, Leuit. 15.16. (becauſe then he is able to lye with a woman) and the Iewes call him Parvus ſo long as non exit ab eo concubitus ſeminis, and they extend it to the thirteenth yeare and the womans to the eleventh. The Period when he ceaſeth to beget differeth now in men, from the time when the Patriarches lived.
The time when the woman leaveth off to conceive ordinarily is fiftie.
And wee may obſerve in the Scriptures that theſe Kings of whom Chriſt came not according to the fleſh, ſome of them begat their children very young, Conferre 2 King 16.2. and 2 King 17.1. with the 2 King. 16.6. and 2 King. 18.1. and ye ſhall find no interregnum betwixt Achaz and Ezeki…: and conferring the kingdome of Iſrael and Iudea together, it will appeare how old Achaz was when he begat his Sonne.ſo Salomon begot his Sonne Rehoboam when hee was little more than twelve yeares of age, and Achaz was but eleven yeares when he begat Ezekias. But theſe againe who were the predeceſſors of Chriſt were verie old before they begot their children, to exerciſe their faith; this wayes Abraham begat not his ſonne untill he was an hundreth yeare old, and Boaz begat his ſonne when he was ſevenſcore yeares old. So Sara the great grandmother of our Lord, Many of Chriſts prodeceſſors were old before they b…got children.bare a child when ſhe was nintie yeare old. And Rachab another of our Lords predeceſſors bare her ſonne, when ſhe was fiftie five yeare old or thereabout.
There was great difficultie both upon Abrahams part and Sarahs part here. Geneſis 17.17. Greas difficultie of begetting children both on Abrahams and Sarahs part.Shall a child bee borne to him who is an hundreth yeare old? and ſo upon Sarahs part, The Lord hath reſtrained mee from bearing, Geneſis 16.2. Yet the Lord who who hath power over the wombe and grave, made Sara to conceive: the Chaldie Paraphraſe of Iernſalem upon Gen. 30.4. ſetteth downe theſe foure keyes, God hath reſerved foure Itayes to himſelfe.the firſt is facunditatis ad aperiendum, & ſterilitatis ad occludendam, the key of fruitfulnes to open the wombe, and the key of barrenneſſe to ſhut the wombe, Gen. 30.22. God remembred Rachel and opened her wombe. Secondly clavis pluviae the key of the raine, Clavis faecunditatis Pluviae cabatiouis ſepulchri.Deut. 28.12. The Lord ſhall open unto thee his good treaſures, the heavens to give raine unto the Land in due ſeaſon. The third is clavis cibationis the key of feeding every thing, Pſal. 145. Thou openeſt thy hand and filleſt with thy bleſſing everie living thing: the fourth is, clavis ſepulchri the key of the grave, Seven mothers barren and yet bare children.Ezek. 37. When I ſhall open your graves.
There were ſeven mothers who were barren, and yet the Lord opened their wombe, Sara, Rebecca and Rachel, the mother of Sampſon, Anna the mother of Samuel, and Elizabeth the mother of Iohn.
It may be asked whether Abraham thought himſelfe abſolutely unfit to beget children, Queſt. or onelyonly reſpectivelie thought himſelfe to beget upon Sarah. Anſw. 1
Some hold that he thought himſelfe abſolutely unfit to beget children upon any woman, Whether Abraham thought himſelfe abſolutely unable to beget children.becauſe the Apoſtle Rom. 4.19. called his body a dead body, and becauſe the Apoſtle ſaith Galat. 4.23. That Iacob who was borne of a free woman was by promiſe, and Heb. 11.11. By faith Sara conceived, and Eſay 51. Looke to therocke whence ye were hewed, Abraham compared to a rocke and Sarah to a pit.Abraham is compared to a rocke here, and Sara to a pit; and as a rocke cannot bring forth children of it ſelfe, ſo neither could old Abraham, and it may ſeeme that there was as great an impoſſibilitie to Abraham to beget, as it was to Sarah to beare children; therefore they hold that this was a miracle when this power was given to him to beget children anew againe. Anſw. 2
But if we will conſider the matter better, wee ſhall find that Abraham doubted not abſolutely of his power to beget children, Abraham doubted onelyonly to beget Children upon Sarah.but onelyonly to beget children upon Sara who was now nintie yeare old, yet hee might beget children upon a younger woman, for after the death of Sara when he was an hundreth thirtie ſeven yeares, old, he begat ſixe children upon Keturah, although hee doubted to beget children upon Sarah. Abraham after he begat Iſaac lived ſeventie and five yeares, therefore his body was not a dead bodie ſimplie; and hee wanted not power altogether to beget. Abraham might beget when he was an hundreth yeare old according to the courſe of nature.Againe in theſe times men lived two hundreth yeares as Terah the father of Abraham lived two hundreth yeares, therefore they were not unfit and impotent for generation when they were an hundreth yeares old, for then they ſhould have beene unfit for generation, the halfe of their life time. Thirdly Iacob who was the great grandchild of Abraham begat Benjamin when he was an hundreth and ſeven yeare old, therefore Abraham might beget children by his naturall ſtrength when he was an hundreth yeare old although his ſtrength was not reſtored to him miraculouſly.
The Apoſtle ſaith that Abrahams bodie was now a dead bodie Rom. 4.19. Object. And almoſt now an hundreth yeare old. Anſw.
This is ſpoken onelyonly in reſpect of Abrahams owne opinion who was out of hope to have children therefore the Apoſtle ſaith, Why the body Abraham was called a dead bodie.he conſidered not his owne bodie, and comparatively his body was much more unable at that time than it was before, and if in his younger yeares he begat no children upon Sarah much leſſe was there hope now in his old dayes. Galat. 4.23. He that was borne of the bondwoman was borne after the fleſh, but he that was borne of the free woman, was borne by the promiſe, hence it may ſeeme that he begat not his Sonne Iſaac by his nturall ſtrength but by faith taking hold upon the promiſe. Anſw.The ſtrang conception was upon Sarahs par… and not upon Abrahams.
This ſtrange conception was upon Sarahs part and not upon Abrahams part, for when the Lord opened the wombe of Sarah, Abraham begat children by his naturall ſtrength which he had then.
But it may be ſayd that the Lord maketh the difficultie as great upon Abrahams part as upon Sarahs: Object. Eſay. 51. Looke to the rocke whence ye were hewed, and to the pit whence ye were digged. Anſw.
Abraham was a rocke when hee was conſidered with Sarah. Secondly when the Prophet calleth him a rocke here from whence the people of God were hewed out, he meaneth eſpecially in this place of their calling out of VZ of Chaldea, Why Abraham was called a rocke.that Abraham was an Idolater when he was called thence.
When the Lord gave Sara ſtrength to conceive, Queſt. whether was this a miracle or not, ſeeing that it ceaſed to bee with her after the manner of women, Geneſis 18.11.
When God who is the author of nature contracteth nature or enlargeth it, Anſw. this is not a miracle, although it be a great worke of God. God worketh foreign , but never foreign , he worketh according to nature, beſides nature, above nature, but he never worketh againſt or contrarie to nature, Deus operatur foreign ſed non foreign .for the God of nature never worketh againſt nature: when Peter looked upon Ananias & beheld him, here his ſight was foreign , according to nature; when Steven ſtood before the councell Act. 7. and ſaw unto the third heaven, this was foreign beſides nature, for the Lord extended and enlarged nature, but this was not a miracle; but when Chriſt reſtored ſight to the blind, and made them to ſee, this was foreign above nature, and this was a miracle. Example 2. When the hungrie Lyons devoured the accuſers of Daniel, and when the Lyon killed the young Prophet, this was according to nature, and when …e brake not his bones, this was beſides nature: but in the loweſt degree, (for Lyons uſe commonly to breake the bones that they may get the marrow,) ſo when the hungry Lyon ſpared Daniel, this was beſides nature in a higher degree, but it was not a miracle but onelyonly the reſtraining of nature; but when the Ravens fed Elias, this was above nature. So in our Lords predeceſſors ſome of them conceived and bare their children when they were young, and this was according to nature, When Chriſts predeceſſors conceived being old it was not a miracle, but the Lord inlarged nature onelyonly.but when Rachab bare a Sonne when ſhe was fiftie yeare old, and Sarah when ſhe was nintie, this was beſides nature, but not above nature, God did onelyonly enlarge nature here; but when the Virgine Marie conceived and bare Chriſt, this was above nature and a miracle indeed.
As the Lord made barren Sarah to conceive, ſo the Lord is able to make his barren Church fruitfull: Creare & formare quid.Eſay 43.5. Thus ſaith the Lord creating Iacob and forming Iſrael: to create a thing is to create it of nothing, and to forme a thing is to faſhion it after it is created, ſo hee created when he made barren Sara to conceive, when hee multiplied the poſteritie of Abraham then he formed them: The poſteritie of Abraham why called Iacoh and Iſrael.ſo he calleth them Iacoh and Iſrael, poore Iacob when he went over Iordan, with his ſtaffe, but rich Iſrael when he returned home againe over Iordan: the Church is firſt dead and created of nothing, and then the Lord addeth a new forme to her and multiplieth her. Looke to the rocke whence ye were hewed, and to the pit, whence yee were digged. As a ſtone cannot beget children, ſo no more could Abraham beget children upon Sara, but the Lord who is able to raiſe up children to Abraham out of the ſtones, ſo he raiſed a ſeed to himſelfe; and as that ſtone which was cut out without the hands of man, became a great mountaine and filled the earth, Dan. 2. ſo did his Church, &c.