The Song of the Beloved Concerning His Vineyard, Part 2 · Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
The louelove and merciemercy of God, expreſſed alſo in theſe words, viz.
In a very fruitefull hill, verſe 1.
WHen men intend to plant Gardens, Orchards, and Vineyards, they firſt make choyce of the …lace, and ſoyle, ſuch as they thinke to beThe place of the Vineyard. …oth fertile, pleaſant, and moſt meete for …he purpoſe: neither without this prouidēt …oreſight, may they expect any fruite of …heir labours. Salomon diſplayed his owne …are in this caſe, when he ſayd: I hauehave made …y great workes, I hauehave built me houſes, I hauehave planted me Vineyards, I hauehave mad… me Gardens and Paradiſes, and planted i… them trees of all fruite: Eccleſ. 2. 4. 5. VntoUnto this point of husbandry alludeth the Prophet Iſayah, when he ſayth, My Beloue… had a Vineyard; Bekeren Ben-ſchamen, tha… is, In an horne of the ſonne of Oyle.
By an horne, the Hebrews vnderſtan… An horne. Sonne of oyle.pleaſure, ſtrength, heigth: by Oyle, they note fatneſſe, plentie, fertilitie: and by the ſonne of Oyle, they note that which i… of Oyle, or commeth of oyle, or fatneſſe a phraſe vſuall with them, as the Sonne o… Nobles: the ſonne of dayes: the ſonne o… death: the ſonne of plentie, &c. So, by th… horne of the ſonne of Oyle, the Prophe… meaneth a very pleaſant and plentiou… …ill or high countrey: declaring thereby, that God had planted his people in … land both pleaſant and plentifull of allPleaſant and fertile. fruites.
2. Some moralizing on this place, vnderſtād by this hill, the field of this world: but they exceede the meaning of the Prophet, who doubtleſſe ſpeaketh of the land of Chanaan, and alludeth to the words of the promiſe made to them that hearkned to the Lords voyce, and walked in hisDeut. 28. 1. 11. 13. …ayes, Deut. 28. The Lord will ſet thee on …gh aboue all the Nations of the earth. A…ine: He ſhall make thee plenteous in good…ſſe in the fruite of thy body, in the fruite of …y cattell, and in the fruite of thy ground, in …e land which the Lord ſware vntounto thy fa…ers to giuegive thee. Againe, The Lord ſhall …ake thee the head and not the tayle: and …ou ſhalt be aboue only, and not beneath. …nd ſpeaking againe of this ſpeciall land … the Lords Vineyard, he ſayth vntounto the …ildren of Iſrael, The land whither yeThe plentie and pleaſures of the land of promiſe. Deut. 11. 11. 12. … to poſſeſſe, it is a land of mountaines and …lleys, and drinketh water of the rayne of …auen (which was in this preferred to the …nd of Egypt, which for want of rayne …rely needed to be watred with ſtreames …awen out of the riuer Nylus.) This land …eth the Lord thy God care for: the …es of the Lord thy God are alwayes …on it, from the beginning of the yeare, …to the end of the yeare. And this no…d his continuall prouidence ouer this …nd beyond all others. This is the ſame … the which the Lord ſpake when he ſaid, …at he would deliuer his people out of the hand of the Egyptians, and bring them out of that land, into a good land and … large, into a land that floweth with milk… and honey. And indeede, Moſes both beleeuing and foreſeeing this in the Spirit propheſied thereof in his Song, ſaying He caried him vp to the high places of th… Deut. 32. 13. 14.earth (for the land of Canaan was indeed… high in reſpect of Egypt) that he migh… eate the fruites of the fields: and he ca… ſed him to ſucke honey out of the ſtone, an… oyle out of the hard Rocke: Butter of Ki… and Milke of Sheepe, with fat of the Lamb… and Rammes fed in Baſhan, and Goate… with the fat of the graynes of wheate, an… the red liquour of the Grape haſt th… drunke.
3. Some would referre this only t… the Citie of Ieruſalem, which was high… then all other Cities, and the Countr… thereabouts, no leſſe fruitefull, eſpeciall… in Vines, the which do grow and pr… ſperBacchus amat colles, Aquilonem, & frigora Syluae. naturally, rather in the high hille… then in the low countries, chiefely ther… where they hauehave the heate of the Sunne a pure ayre & ſweete humor. And there of is it, that all Vines are not of like goo… neſſe and pleaſant taſte, becauſe all pla… are not alike in goodneſſe and na…e for it. And it is certaine, that as the …ophet commendeth the field whereon … Vineyard was made by the ſituation …reof on an hill, and by the goodneſſe …he ſoyle: ſo he would thereby diſplay … plentifulneſſe and pleaſures of the …d of Canaan, into the which the Lord …d by his grace brought his people of …ael, and planted them: as alſo the happy …e & condition of that people, as long …hey enioyed the preſence and fauour God in that pleaſant land, in regard …ereof, all nations called them bleſſed, …he Prophet Malachie ſayd.Mala. 3. 10.
4. And this ſhall wee the betterThe ſituation of the land of Chanaan. Mare mortuum. …we, if wee note, how this land was bordered and compaſſed about. It … on the Eaſt ſide thereof, the Dead …, whereas in the olde tyme were …ed the Cities of Sodome and Go…rha, the which Countrey as wee …de in the booke of Geneſis, Chap. 13. …. was both pleaſant and plentifull in …ites, and therefore Loth in his de…ting from Abraham, made choice thereof to dwell there. Beyond the whi… Althamer. in Syl. Bibl.Sea, was the Countrie of Moab and A… mon, and the great Riuer Euphrates, b… yondLuther. in Iſay. the which is Babilon, and the regi… of the Chaldaeans, and beyond that Per… Then on the North ſide lieth Galilaea, the backe whereof is the Mountaine … banus, beyond the which is Damaſcus, … the famous Riuer Euphrates: then Sy… and Aſſyria, which bend towards the E… then beyond that, is Zidon and Tyre, … tending ſomething towards the W… Then on the Weſt part, are the Philiſt… or the land of Palestina, with the coaſts the great Sea, called Mediterraneum, the Sea of Palestina. And then, laſtly the South ſide, Egypt, Ethiopia, the red S… Edom and Midiam. But Egypt, thoug… be ſet on the South ſide of Iudaea, de… neth very much to the Weſt. And th… are the limits or bounds of the land Chanaan, otherwiſe called the land promiſe: the which is more at large … ſcribed in thoſe places of the Scriptu… as Gen. 10. 19. Exod. 23. 31. Nomb. 34. to verſe 13. Deut. 11. 11. 24. Ioſh. 1. and Ezech. 47. 15. vntounto the 21. verſe. 5. Now, by this we may gather, that …e Lords Vineyard was ſited indeede … the hill of the ſonne of Oyle (as the Pro…het ſayth) that is, in a moſt pleaſant and …uitfull land. Such a bleſſing did the Lord …ue to the children of Iſrael, and ſuchThe good things belong to the good. …ood things beſtoweth he on his people, things ordeined (indeede) not for the …icked Chanaanites, but for the godly …raelites: not for the atheiſticall world…gs, but for the true worſhippers of …od, howſoeuer the wicked hauehave and do …yly vſurp on them and abuſe them: … ſtirre vp the children of God to the …ght conſideration of his fatherly louelove …d mercies towards them, and to be right …ankfull vntounto him, by whom and from …hom, they enioy theſe ſo rare bleſſings.
6. Where the Prophet ſayth, My Be…ed had a Vineyard in ſuch a place, he …ould teach vsus whoſe thoſe good things …e, and who giueth and beſtoweth them … the children of men. The Diuell ſaith, …ll theſe things be mine, and to whom ſoeuer …ill I giuegive them, Luke. 4. 6. But he lyeth …oſt falſely: for he hath nothing, butWhoſe the things of … permiſſion from the Lord. For the earth is the Lords, the world is the Lords, the world are? Gods.and all whatſoeuer is therein is the Lords, who giueth the ſame to whome ſoeuer hee will. Thus alſo the worldly man ſayth▪ Theſe Lands, theſe Parks, theſe Foreſts, theſe Granges, theſe Manours, theſe Farmes, and all theſe things be mine: I hauehave gotten them, I hauehave trauailed for them, I hauehave aduentured my life, and periſhed my conſcience, and now they b… mine, nor belong they to any other. This was Nabals reſolution. But the Prophet ſaith: The Vineyard is the Lords: The vineyard of the Lord of hoaſt is the houſe o… Iſrael: and the man of Iuda his choy… plant, and whatſoeuer we hauehave for th… vſe of our life, is the Lords: for he giueth water and bread, milke and honey, and whatſoeuer elſe. And this the ſeruant o… Abraham confeſſed, when comming toGen. 24. 35. Bethuels houſe, to get a wife for Iſaak h… maiſters ſonne, he ſaid: The Lord hath bleſſed my maiſter wonderfully, that he is becom… great: for he hath giuen him ſheepe an… beeues, and ſiluer and gold, and men-ſeruants, and maid-ſeruants, and camels, an… aſſes: So he acknowledged that his maiſter was enriched of the bleſſing of God, from whom he knew that eueryevery good thing came, and not of any labour or wiſedome of his, albeit he was a man both wiſe and vertuous.
7. Oh that men would in like ſort acknowledge whoſe all theſe things be, and …ow they be enriched with them in theWe ſhould conſider of whom we hauehave our wealth, &c. and vſe i… well. world, and that they would accept & vſe them as his gifts, and not to abuſe them after their luſts. Let vsus know, that the Lord hath a Vineyard and talents, and …e ſetteth forth his Vineyard to ſome: …e lendeth …his talents to other. Let not now the Husbandmen ſay, this Vineyard is our owne, and we will not …aue this Lord to rule ouer vsus: Nei…her let them which hauehave the talents …o be employed, neglect them to their pleaſures, and recken not of any ac…ompt: But let the Husbandmen know, that they are but tenants, and that the Vineyard appe…eineth to their Lord, who looketh for the fruits thereof: and let the other know, that the talents belong to …heir maiſter, to whome they ought to …eeld increaſe thereof, elſe ſhall they be thruſt out, and deſtroyed for euer: for the Vineyard is the Lords: the Talents are his: and he will not that we derogate from him, and arrogate to our ſelues that which belongs to his honour.