The Eye and Wheel of Providence, Chapter 8
CHAP. VIII. Of Gods particular Providence; of the extent of it to the Heavens; to the Sun and Moon.
IN the next place I ſhall treat of Gods particular Providence, which ſheweth it ſelf in particular things, and towards particular perſons. The Lord in the Creation of the world acted like a King, giving Laws to all his Creatures: that which we call the nature of the Creatures, was Gods Law that he gave unto them; this nature was the rule whereby he appointed them to act and work. And as he made variety of Creatures, ſo he gave them divers Laws; their different natures are the ſeverall Laws whereby God ruleth and governeth them. The reaſon why the Trees and Plants ſpring from ſuch a ſmall Kernell or ſeed, and ſome of them bring forth one kind of fruit, ſome another; the cauſe why the Fowls, Fiſhes and Beaſts, have their ſeverall Elements wherein they live, and ſport themſelves, and bring forth their young, and provide for them, being ignorant of what they do; the reaſon is, becauſe God hath given theſe Creatures ſuch a Law, by which they act and move, which is a notable manifeſtation of Gods Providence. They are in a great errour, that ſay this Providence is extended unto univerſall things only, and not to particulars; for if they will have God to be ignorant of particular things, as ſome atheiſtically have profeſſed then verily God could not underſtand himſelf, neither ſhould he be infinite in knowledge, (as I have ſhewed him to be before) if his Providence were not extended to every thing. Now if God have a certain knowledge of every particular thing, why can he not then alſo take the care of them? eſpecially ſince particulars, (as they are particulars) are appointed for ſome certain end,Explan. verae Relig. l. 1. §. 10. as well in ſpeciall as in generall: and the very entities or common eſſences of things which are preſerved by God, the ſame cannot ſubſiſt but in their ſingulars, as one obſerveth; ſo that if theſe ſingulars (being left by divine providence) do come to ruine, then likewiſe may theſe generall eſſences alſo.
Let us conſider the extent of this particular Providence to the Heavens, to the Sea, the Earth, and all Creatures that are therein. And
1. For the Heavens. We read not only of a Covenant made with day and night, (a Covenant as between King and Subject) but alſo of the Ordinances of Heaven and earth which he hath appointed, Jer. 33.25. On the ſecond day of the Creation, God raiſed up the Firmament like a Circle of Braſs, or rather like a Globe of Gold and Azure, which ſerved to divide the ſeven Orbs of the Empyreall Heaven;Cauſin. hiſt. ſac. l. 1. now it was in the midſt of the Waters, that this admirable work was formed: whether they were neceſſary to temper the rayes and orders of the Stars, or that the courſe and revolutions of a moving body, would be more even and free in an Element ſo pure, and ſo pliable to all ſorts of motions, or for what other reaſon it were, the Learned have not determined. Now as we may have cauſe to admire the Almighty power of God, in ſtretching out this huge ſpatious body of the Heavens, ſtretching out the Heavens like a Curtain, as the Pſalmiſt ſpeaketh; Pſal. 104.2. then may we alſo exceedingly admire at the Providence of God, in that the Heavens ſhould be carried about, compaſſing the reſt of the world every day for thouſands of years together, and yet hold on in one tract, and keep one way, and never go out of it; this fully ſheweth the continuall Providence of God: the Lord carrieth about the Wheels of Heaven in a continuall motion, ſtill holding them to their diurnall task.
2. Let us look further to the Sun in the Heavens. The Sun ariſeth every morning; this great Eye of Heaven openeth his eye-lids every morning,The Sun is the image of the Soveraign King, the heart of nature, it daily ſpeaketh to us out of the gates of the Eaſt, with as many tongues as it hath rayes. Cauſin. twinckling and moving continually: no ſooner doth he peep above the Horizon, but he ſendeth forth his rayes and beams and ſtreams of light, which the Poets call the wings of the morning. The beams of the Sun are called wings, partly becauſe of its ſwift diſparckling of them, and partly, becauſe it ſpreads its light in its riſing like wings, whence Homer called the Sun foreign, the golden-haired Sun; and the Scripture ſpeaks of the wings of the morning, Pſal. 139.9. If I take the wings of the morning, &c. and of the morning ſpread upon the mountains, Joel 2.2. The benefits that we enjoy by the Sun are very many, and principally theſe:
1. Light: how comfortable is it to ſee the light, and to walk by it. Truly the light is ſweet, and a pleaſant thing it is for the eyes to behold the Sun, Eccl. 11 7. Thus he may be called the Torch, Candle, or univerſall eye of the world.
2. Heat: the beams thereof have a wonderfull and univerſall efficacy; there is nothing hid from the heat thereof, Pſal. 19.6. Theſe beams are of a ſearching nature; great are the influences of the Sun; he ariſeth with healing in his wings. The beams of the Sun do warm, refreſh, quicken and cheriſh all things, dries up cold moiſtures that are noxious to the Creatures, excites and quickens Plants, Beaſts, and Men in the Spring-time, and reviveth all that ſeemed well nigh dead in the Winter. We read of pretious things brought forth by the Sun, Deut. 33.14.Perkins on Mat. 5. now in regard hereof ſome call it the univerſall fire of the world.
Sol in media quidem ferè coelorum altitudine ſuam ex Dei iuſtituto obtinuit regionem.3. Diſtinction of times; and ſo it may be called the great Clock or Calendar of the world. The Sun ariſeth, and the Sun alſo goeth down, ſaith Solomon, and haſteneth to the place where he aroſe, Eccl. 1.5. In the Heavens God hath ſet a Tabernacle for the Sun, Arias Montan. ad Pſal. 19.Pſal. 19.4, 5. Arias Montanus ſaith, that the region of the Sun is almoſt in the middle height of the Heavens, and there it is as in a flitting habitation, becauſe it never stayeth in one place, but is as a Bridegroom coming out of his chamber, Deut. 4.19. Baſil calleth the Sun a ſolitary creature, becauſe it ſhines alone, obſcuring all other lights with his clearneſs. Baſil. Hexam. Homil. 6.and rejoyceth as a ſtrong man to run his race. The Sun when he ariſeth is gloriouſly adorned with ſhining rayes, and ſeemeth like a Bridegroom to be very cheerfull, with all celerity performing his courſe; even as a Giant that runneth for a prize. The Sun in the Hebrew is called Shemeſh, that is, a Miniſter or Servant, being a common ſervant to the whole world. Mathematitians conſidering the greatneſs of the Sun (being as they ſay an hundred and ſixty times bigger than the earth) wonder that he burneth not the earth to aſhes; but herein appeareth the wiſdome of divine Providence, ſo to place the Sun in the Heavens, viz. in the middle ſpace, ſo as it ſhall not ſcorch the earth; and albeit it be at an unſpeakable diſtance from us, yet doth it caſt out his influences downward, (quite contrary to the nature of light or fire) unto the loweſt of Creatures. Thus Chryſoſtome diſcourſeth upon this Subject: This great light thus doth, as if the great Creator thereof had charged it thus to do: Send forth thy light againſt the nature of the ſame; Chryſoſt. ad pop. Antioch. Homil. 9. Cor coeli eſt Sol, uti cor noſtrum eſt Sol corporis: ſicut cor eſt in medio corporis humani, ita Sol quantitate maximus, luce pleniſſimus, actione efficaciſſimus, in medio coeli poſitus eſt. Alſted. Theolog. Natural part 2.caſt thy beams down towards man, to guide and direct him there; do ſo, for, for him thou waſt made; his candle cannot do ſo, it is againſt its nature, whoſe flame tends upward; but ſo ſhalt thou do, that thou maiſt ſerve man for whom thou waſt made; thy light ſhall tend downward. Beſides, the Sun never goes out of his way, yet is in continuall motion: there is a diverſity in every day of the year, yet notwithſtanding if we compare one thing with another through the whole year, we ſhall ſee it is conſtant in its motion; and when it hath touched thoſe limits which we call tropicks, it is retrograde, and turneth back again: and though the Sun riſe at one point of the Sky to day, and at another a few dayes after, and likewiſe do ſet, yet at the end of the year, he returneth again, to follow the ſame trace which he hath continued ever ſince the Creation of the world, except once in Joſhuaes dayes. This is that great light which God made to rule the day.
3. From the Sun I ſhall proceed to ſpeak of the Moon,Luna à Phaenicibus coeleſtis regina appellata eſt, & eſt humorum domina & oeconoma. The Moon is called a great light, not becauſe it is greater than the other Stars, for there are many bigger than the Moon; they ſeem little to us becauſe of their diſtance from us. Calvin. which runneth a much ſhorter compaſs than the Sun, whereby it appeareth, that ſhe is in the midſt between the earth and the Sun. This is that other great light, made by God to rule the night, Gen. 1.16. called by the Phaenicians the Queen of Heaven; by others the Wife of the Sun, for the Moon is the laſt receptacle of all the influences and vertues, that go forth from the Sun into other Stars, which afterwards ſhe communicateth to the earth, and here the wiſdome of God is admirable; for therefore is the ſphear of the Moon placed in the loweſt place of the heavenly bodies, and in the higheſt of the elementary bodies: and albeit the benefits of the Sun ſeem to be more apparent, becauſe it maketh notable mutations of times, of Summer and Winter, and with his heat cheriſheth and maketh the earth fruitfull, nouriſheth Plants and living Creatures; yet the Moon alſo is very beneficiall to man, becauſe it nouriſheth and governeth the humours, for the life of Plants and Animals ariſeth from the mixture of heat and moiſture, and is nouriſhed by a due temperament of both. The Moon is a celeſtiall Calendar, for moſt Nations in times paſt uſed Lunar moneths, deſcribing their Moneths, Feſtivall dayes, and times appointed for publick meetings and debates by the Moon: and for this cauſe David ſaith, Pſal. 104.19. that God hath appointed the Moon for ſeaſons. The Hebrews reckoned their Moneths from one new Moon to another, whence from the newneſs thereof,A novitate ejus menſis Chodes dicitur, quaſi dicas, nova Luna. Flac. Illyr. Clavis Script. the Moon was called Chodes, which is as much as to ſay, the new Moon: and here the wiſdome of divine Providence is much to be obſerved, that this Planet the moſt familiar with the earth, appointed by God for the remedy of nocturnall darkneſs, ſhould outgo the admiration of all the reſt. She with her manifold windings and turnings into divers ſhapes, hath much troubled the wits of the ſpectators, fretting and fuming, that of this Star, being the neareſt of all, they ſhould be moſt ignorant, growing as it doth, or elſe waining evermore: one while bended pointwiſe into tips of horns, another while divided juſt in the half, and anon again in compaſs round: ſometime ſhining all night long, and other-while late it is ere ſhe riſeth: one while big and full, and another while little or nothing to be ſeen, as every mans experience maketh evident.Plin. Natural. Hiſt. l. 2. c. 9. And Pliny ſaith, that the Moon being next to the Center, (and therefore of leaſt compaſs) performeth the ſame courſe and circuit in twenty ſeven dayes, and one third part of a day, which Saturn the highest Planet runs in thirty years: after this, making conjunction with the Sun two dayes, forth ſhe goeth, and by the thirtieth day at the moſt returneth to the ſame point and miniſtery again, wherein is to be ſeen much of the Providence of God.