The Eye and Wheel of Providence, Chapter 23
CHAP. XXIII. Of Gods Providence concerning Marriage; and in bringing Man and Wife together. Some Objections anſwered.
6. ORder may require that I ſpeak ſomething of God's Providence touching Marriage. God having finiſhed his works, and furniſhed the world with all kind of creatures, and ſet Adam to be Lord and Ruler over them, Geneſ. 1.26. and put him in Paradiſe a place of all delight, yet in his wiſdome ſaw that there was ſomething wanting to him (for the time to come) as Zanchy ſaith, viz. a meet mate and comfortable companion, which could not be found among all the Creatures; the Angels being too high for him, and wanting bodies; and all other Creatures too low and baſe for him, and wanting reaſonable ſouls; therefore he reſolveth, that ſome courſe muſt ſpeedily be taken, whereby ſuch a ſupply might be made as nothing might be wanting to him, Aut ad eſſe, aut ad benè eſſe, either to his being or well-being; and to this purpoſe, he conſulteth or deliberateth about the buſineſſe; The Lord God ſaid, It is not good that the man ſhould be alone, &c. Geneſ. 2.18. That this conſultation was not with the Angels,Lombard. l. 2. diſtinct. 16. the maſter of the Sentences proveth; affirming, That God and they had not the ſame Image, and therefore God did not ſpeak to them. Pet. Martyr. loc. com. 12. p. 89.Peter Martyr likewiſe ſpeaking of the Creation of the Angels, giveth this as a reaſon, why there is nothing particularly ſaid thereof, leſt they might have been imagined to have been joyned in commiſſion with God, and to have helped him in the making of other creatures, and ſo might have been worſhipped, and Idolatry committed; nor could he ſpeak to, or conſult with the Elements, for they were liveleſſe and ſenſleſſe creatures, and meer paſſive principles; nor did he ſpeak of himſelf (being but one) in the plural number,Junius & Tremel. in Gen. 1. more magnatum, after the manner of great men; for that cuſtome (as the Learned have obſerved) was not ſo ancient, as to be begun by the Ancient of dayes. In a word, it's an undoubted truth, that the conſultation was held by the three Perſons of the Trinity; and it were no hard matter to prove out of the two Hebrew words [Jehovah Elohim] the one of the ſingular number, the other of the plural, an Unity of Eſſence, and a plurality of Perſons in the God-head, or Divine Nature.
In the conſultation we may obſerve,
1. A Declaration of ſomething that God ſaw to be wanting to Adam before Eve was made, in theſe words, It is not good that the man ſhould be alone.
2. A Determination to make a ſupply of it, by making an help meet for him.
Object. 1. But God here, and the Apoſtle Paul ſeem not to agree; for God ſaith, It is not good for man to be alone; and Paul ſaith; It were good for a man not to touch a woman, that is to be alone, and not to marry, if he can contain.
Resp. Some anſwer, That God in Gen. 2. ſpakeLyra & Bucan. loc. com. of mankind which was then in Adam, that it was not good to be alone for them, how ſhould there be procreation and a preſervation of the Species; but Paul of particular perſons having the gift of continency: So that God might ſpeak de bono publico & ſpecifico, and Paul, de bono privato & individuali. But the ſounder anſwer is to diſtinguiſh of the times, wherein both ſpeeches were uttered, and then we ſhall ſee both true, and no contradiction between them. God ſpake in Geneſis of a woman in her firſt eſtate by creation, and ſo ſhe was a part of man's perfection, who was but half himſelf, till he had her; but Paul ſpeaks of men and women in the ſtate of corruption, wherein by reaſon of ſin many inconveniences follow married perſons; at firſt in time of man's innocency, it was abſolutely and ſimply good for man to marry, that by this means he might have children, and alſo have a companion and comforter; but now ſinne hath ſo infected all eſtates, as that which was ſimply good is become indifferent; yea ſowr-ſweet, it hath as much gall as honey in it, yea it hath rather moe than leſſe inconveniences than ſingle life: for in the 28th verſe of this Chapter, he ſaith, That ſuch, i. e. married perſons ſhall have troubles in the fleſh; not that unmarried perſons ſhall eſcape, and have none, but becauſe comparatively married perſons ſhall have moſt, and be tied to ſome diſcommodities from which the other may be free. Ambroſe ſaith,Bona ſunt vincula nuptiarum, ſed vincula bonum eſt conjugium ſed ramen jugum. Ambroſ. The bonds of Wedlock are good; yet they are bonds ſtill; matrimony is good, but yet it is a yoke.
Object. 2. Paul ſaith, It were good for a man not to touch a woman; therefore ſaith Hierom, It is evil to touch a woman, for good and evil are contrary one to another.
Reſp. Our Apoſtle doth not uſe a word contrary to evil, as it is a vice,Paulus modeſtè deterreta nuptiis, nòn tanquam à remalâ, ſed tanquam ab oneroſa & moleſta; aliud eſt admittere carnis turpitudinem, aliud habere carnis tribulationem, illud eſt criminis facere, hoc laboris pati. Auguſt. but as it's an inconvenience, as Biſhop Juell well obſerveth out of Auſtin. Paul in a modeſt manner withdraweth men from marriage, not as from a thing evil and unlawfull, but as from a thing troubleſom and burdenſom. It's one thing to commit filthineſſe of the fleſh, and another thing to endure or abide trouble in the fleſh; the one is to commit a fault, the other is to ſuffer a puniſhment: The Spirit of God noteth to us a ſingular commendation of Anna the daughter of Phanuel, that ſhe lived well a maid, a wife, and a widow, to ſignifie, that neither virginity, marriage, nor widowhood in themſelves, are either pleaſing or diſpleaſing to God, they being all appointed by him, yea allowed and approved of him. We are all born ſingle; and have liberty ſo to continue. Marriage is God's ordinance; and all may uſe it that pleaſe. God alſo is the Author of widowhood by taking away huſbands or wives; therefore in it ſelf it's neither ſimply good to live ſingle, nor ſimply evil to marry.
There were ſome things wherein man needed the help of woman, even in the ſtate of innocency before his fall, viz. to be his companion, as alſo to bring forth and bring up children, and to increaſe the world, and increaſe the Species. Theſe ends remain ſtill; for this is the only means God hath appointed to fill the earth with inhabitants, and Heaven with Saints. And we read Geneſ. 24. ult. That Iſaac went in to Rebekah his wife, and was comforted after the death of his mother. Now beſides theſe two ancient ends before the fall, there be two other ends that God hath appointed ſince the fall.
1. The chief and principal, a remedy againſt incontinency, 1 Cor. 7.1. To avoid fornication, let every man have his wife, and every woman her own huſband, ſaith the Apoſtle; The reaſon hereof he giveth, verſ. 9. Becauſe it is better to marry than to burn. Marriage is honourable among all men, Heb. 13.4. Yea its lawfull for Miniſters to marry, notwithſtanding what the Papiſts ſay to the contrary. We read that the Prieſts and the Prophets in the Old Teſtament were married, as Moſes, Aaron, Samuel, Iſaiah, and Zachariah the father of John Baptiſt in the New; yea even Peter himſelf was married; for it's ſaid Mat. 8.14. That his wives mother was ſick of a fever. And Philip both an Evangeliſt and a Deacon had four daughters, Act. 21.8. and that Miniſters may have wives, its plain, 1 Tim. 3.2. A Biſhop muſt be unreprovable, the husband of one wife: that it was ancient for Paſtors to marry, appeareth by a ſaying of Polycrates ſon of Gregory Nazianzen, who affirmed that he was the eighth Biſhop of Epheſus that had ſucceeded without intermiſſion, ex majoribus Epiſcopis; and in Auſtin's time there was a Decree of the third Councel of Carthage, That Biſhops and Miniſters children might not marry with any Infidel, Heretick, or Schiſmatick.
2.Euſeb. Eccleſ. Hiſt. l. 5. c. 25. Bucan. loc. com. 12. An. 421. God hath made woman to be a helper to man, viz. to help him bear about the troubles of this world, and mannage his temporal eſtate, by ordering and diſpoſing wiſely ſuch things as belong to her charge; whereof Solomon ſpeaketh, Prov. 14.1. Every wiſe woman buildeth her houſe, but the fooliſh plucketh it down with her hand: And Prov. 31.11. he ſaith, She muſt be ſuch a one as the heart of her huſband may ſafely truſt to, ſo that he ſhall have no need of ſpoil; one that will do him good and not evil all the dayes of his life.
Now it is God that by a ſpecial Providence bringeth man and wife together. Memorable is that Providence of God upon the prayer of Abraham's ſervant, to ſhew him the Damſel that was to be a wife to his Maſter's ſon.Gen. 24. And when Iſaac went out into the field in the evening of the day to pray and to meditate, Gods Providence ſo ordered it, he ſhould there meet with Rebekah, where he went to meet and converſe with God, He lifted up his eyes, and ſaw the Camels coming. Moſes flying from the Court of Pharaoh into the Land of Midian; being weary with travelling, not knowing whither to go, he is conſtrained to repoſe himſelf near a Well, expecting like a flower ſcorcht with the Sunne, ſome gentle gale of wind, and ſome drop of dew from the hand and boſom of Divine Providence: As he was in this expectation, he ſaw ſeven daughters of the Prince of Midian coming to water their flocks:Exod. 2. But when theſe illuſtrious Shepherdeſſes had drawn water for this end; ſome Shepherds that followed them drave them away, taking ſome of it to water their own flocks; Moſes not being able to endure ſuch an indignity, took upon himſelf the juſt quarrel of theſe Virgins, and having chaſed away theſe preſumptuous perſons, he himſelf drew water out of this Well, and watered their flock, which was the occaſion that Revel their Father (being advertiſed of what had paſſed) ſent for him, and married him to one of his daughters named Zipporah, who bare unto him two ſons. God's Providence is ſeen in bringing every man his mate, though they live never ſo farre aſunder; this being well conſidered will comfort them againſt all troubles and hinderances that ſhall by any means be raiſed up againſt them. A godly Divine obſerveth,Greenham's Treatiſe of Contract. That it is Satans work to bring men and women to doubt of this, and when once they yeeld to it, what ſtrife and trouble doth he work betwixt them? For whence ariſeth that impatience of ſpirit, that we ſee to be in many, that murmuring, chiding, curſed ſpeeches, and much unquietneſſe, doth it not come of this, becauſe they have not a reverend perſwaſion, that the Lord in his Providence, as by his own hand, joyned them in that near bond and conjunction together? It were well our Saviour were invited to all weddings, as he was to Cana in Galilee, the wine of true comforts and bleſſings ſhould never then be wanting. Chriſt honoured that firſt ordinance of God with his preſence, and his firſt miracle.