Commentary on the Minor Prophets, Commentary 1 · Chapter 2

Commentary on the Minor Prophets · Commentary 1 · Chapter 2

p. 14CHAP. II

Verſe 1. Say unto your brethren Ammi] Beſides the publike preaching of this gracious promiſe, chap. 1.10. There it ſhall be ſaid unto them &c. charge is here given that this be the ſubject of their more private diſcourſe alſo: and that they that fear the Lord ſpeak often one to another, we that were not a people, are now a people: we that had not obtained mercy, have now obtained mercy. Jubet per Prophetam ne haec vox in eccleſia taceatur. Mercer.God commands by the prophet that theſe ſweet words Ammi Ruhamah, be toſſed and talked of at every friendly meeting; I will not leave you fatherleſſe: In me the fatherleſſe findeth mercy:foreign. Heb. 13.5.Heb 13:5 I will never leave thee, I will not, not, not forſake thee: ſo many Nots there are in the Originall for more aſſurance, God would have ſuch precious paſſages as theſe, to be rehearſed (even in the places of drawing water Judg. 5.11. where the maids met to fetch water, or do other ordinary chares) for mutuall incouragement, and for the praiſe of his name. O the matchleſs mercy of our God! O the never-enough adored depth of his free grace! who would not fear thee o King of Nations!Pſal. 92.1.Ps 92:1 who would not be telling of thy goodneſſe in the morning, and of thy faithfulneſſe every night? Read that triumphant Pſal. 145. per totum; and be you ever chaunting out, (as they of old at their daily employments) aliquid Davidicum; ſo building up one another with Pſalms and hymns and ſpirituall ſongs. Think but on theſe two words in the text, and you cannot want matter. Is it nothing to be in covenant with God, and to be under mercy? O bleſſed are the people that have the Lord for their God, Pſal. 144.15.Ps 144:15ſaith David. But I obtained mercy ſaith Paul. 1 Tim. 1.16. and that was his foreign his confident boaſting, where ever he came, being a conſtant preacher of Gods free grace: (as was likewiſe Auſtin, which makes him hardly cenſured by the Semipelagian papiſts and Arminians as an enemy to nature, becauſe ſo high a friend to grace.] Neither is he forgetfull to tell his Epheſians and others to whom he writeth, that they were once dead in ſins and treſpaſſes, but now, quickened together with Chriſt &c. They were forreiners, but now fellow-citizens with the Saints: they were darkneſſe,Eph. 5.8.Eph 5:8 but now light in the Lord, and ſhould therefore walk as children of light, and talk of his praiſes, who had drawn them out of dreadfull darkneſſe, into marvelous light. Come, ſaith David, and I will tell you what God hath done for my ſoul. The Lord hath done great things for us, ſaith the Church, whereat we are glad.Pſal. 66.19. Pſal. 126.3. Luke. 1.49.Ps 66:19Ps 126:3Luke 1:49 He which is mighty hath done to me great things: and holy is his name, ſaith the bleſſed Virgin. Say ye unto your brethren Ammi, and to your ſiſters Ruhamah. Say it, ſay it, to brethren and to ſiſters, upon every opportunity, and with the utmoſt importunity, that it may take impreſſion upon their ſpirits, and not be as a ſcale ſet upon the water, nor as raine falling upon a rock that leaves no ſigne behind it. The Grecians being delivered out of ſervitude by Flaminius the Roman General,Plutark. rang out Soter, Soter, that is Saviour, Saviour, with ſuch a courage, that the very birds of the ayre, aſtoniſhed thereat, fell to the earth. The people of Iſrael gave ſuch a loud ſhout at the return of the Ark, that the earth rang againe. A drowning man being pulled out of the water by Alphonſus King of Arragon, and reſcued from ſo great a death, cryed out (as ſoon as he came again to himſelf) by way of thankfulneſſe Arragon, Arragon. Valer. Max. Chriſtian. p. 41 1. Sam. 7.12. Pſal. 116.8.1 Sam 7:12Ps 116:8let us cry as loud Ammi, Ruhamah, hitherto God hath helped us, who were lately (with thoſe Iſraelites in the wilderneſſe) talking of our graves. Say therefore with the Pſalmiſt, Becauſe thou haſt delivered my ſoul from death, mine eyes from tears, my feet from falling, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living &c.

Verſe 2. Plead with your mother, plead] Here of right begins the ſecond chapter (the former verſe being not ſo fitly ſeparated from the former chapter) and it is nothing elſe but a commentary upon the firſt, as Parcus well noteth. For the Prophet here proceedeth in accuſing the people of diſloyality and ingratitude: whereupon he denounceth a divorce and puniſhment: and then foretelleth their repentance and return into favour with God under the kingdom of the Meſſiah. Now the end wherefore both the accuſation and the promiſe is here reiterated, is not ſo much to confirm what had been before affirmed as to ſet forth the means whereby p. 15this off-caſt people was to be at length reduced unto the Church: viz. Partly by externall meanes (as ſharp Sermons and ſore afflictions) and partly by the internall grace of the Spirit of God, and good affiance of his love ſealed up to them, by ſundry ſpirituall and temporall favours conferred upon them; as ſo many love-tokens. Come we now to the words of this verſe; where Oecolampadius begins the chapter: Plead with your mother, plead] It is verbum forenſe, ſaith Mercer. An expreſſion borrowed from pleaders at the bar. q.d. Be in good earneſt with her, rebuke her roundly and openly, according to the nature of her offence: that ſhe may be ſound in the faith, and aſhamed of her perfidiouſneſs. What though ſhe be your mother, and in that reſpect to be honoured by you, yet ſhe is a perverſe rebellious woman, as Saul once ſaid of his ſon Jonathans mother (how truly I enquire not: malice little regards truth,1 Sam. 21.301 Sam 21:30 ſo it may gall or kill) and therefore to be barely and boldly told her own. Beſides, we cannot better ſhew our reſpect to Parents, then by ſeeking their ſouls health: and by dealing fairly but freely with them therein. Not as Walter Mupes (ſometimes Arch-deacon of Oxford) did by his mother Church of Rome: For relating the groſſe ſimony of the Pope in confirming the election of Reginald baſtard ſon of Jocelin Biſhop of Sarum into the ſea of Bath, he thus concludes his narration, Sit tamen Domina mater que noſtra Roma baculus in aqua fractus: & abſit credere quae vidimus: yet let our Lady, and mother Rome be as a ſtick put into the water, which ſeems to be broken, but is not ſo: and far be it from us, to beleeve our own eyes againſt her. Was this charity? or ſtupidity rather? Charity may be ingenuous, but not ſervile and blockiſh.Levit. 19.17.Lev 19:17 It is not love but hatred (if Moſes may judge) to ſuffer ſin in a deareſt friend to paſſe uncontroulled. Good Aſa depoſed his own mother for her idolatry: and our Edward the ſixt would not be drawn by any perſwaſion of friends or fear of enemies, to indulge his ſiſter, the Lady Mary, Act. & Mon.to have Maſſe ſaid in her houſe. The truth is, thoſe Ammi's and Ruhamah's that have found mercy from God, they have their hearts ſo fired up thereby with a holy zeal for him, that they cannot endure to ſee him diſhonoured, but muſt appear and plead for him againſt any in the world. Again, as any one is more aſſured of his own ſalvation by Chriſt, the more he thirſteth after the ſalvation of others; as we ſee evidently in Saint Paul that veſſell of mercy. I am perſwaded, ſaith He, or I am ſure, that neither life nor death, &c. ſhall ever ſeparate me from Gods love in Chriſt. And what followes in the very next words, but this, I ſay the truth in Chriſt, I lie not, my conſcience alſo bearing me witneſs in the holy Ghoſt; Rom. 8.38, 39. Rom. 9.1, 2, 3, 4.Rom 8:38Rom 8:39Rom 9:1Rom 9:2Rom 9:3Rom 9:4That I have great heavineſs and continuall ſorrow in my heart. For I could wiſh that my ſelf were accurſed from Chriſt, for my brethren my kinſmen according to the fleſh, who are Iſraelites, &c. And how effectually and convincingly he pleadeth with them to draw them to Chriſt and hold them cloſe to him, that golden Epiſtle to the Hebrewes will well witneſs to the worlds end.

For ſhe is not my wife] For I have put her away by a bill of divorcement, Iſai. 50.1. with a Habe tibi quae tua ſunt (which was the form of divorce among the Romanes) Take thine own things and be gone. Now the Jewiſh Synagogue had nothing ſhe could properly call her own, but ſin and miſery: when God firſt took her, ſhe had not a rag to her back, Ezek. 16.10. nor any kind of comelineſs. But what he was pleaſed to put upon her, verſe 14. But ſhe (fooliſh woman and unwiſe, Deut. 32.5.) truſting in her borrowed beauty plaid the harlot, & poured out her fornication on every one that paſſed by: his it was verſe 15. The Synagogue of Rome is ſuch another meretrix meretriciſſima quae gremium claudit nemini, as her own ſons ſay of her, by way of commendation. Saint John calleth her the whore, the great whore, Rev. 17.1.15. and further telleth us, that ſhe ſitteth upon her paramours in a baſe manner, in an unſeemly ſort, ſhe ſitteth upon their very conſciences, and keepes them under by force: whereas Stephen King of Polony (one of her ſons but not altogether ſo obſequious) was wont to ſay, that God had required three things to himſelf, ſc: ex nihilo aliquid facere, ſcire futura, & dominari velle conſcientijs, that is, to make ſomething of nothing, to know things to come, and to bear rule over mens conſciences. How ſhe forceth men to commit folly with her by the cruell Inquiſition; and how ſhe hireth others for preferments (Luther was offered a Cardinalſhip: Beſſarion of Nice was won over to her by ſuch an offer;Val. Max. Chriſtian. pag. 289. Thomas Saranzius was of a poor Shoomakers ſon made Biſhop, Cardinall and Pope; all in one year, and called Nicolas the p. 16fifth, Alſted. Chr. Pag. 378.the like might be ſaid of Aeneas Sylvins Canon of Trent; afterwards Pope Pius the ſecond) and for a price too, is notoriouſly known to the Chriſtian world. Stratagem nunc eſt Pontificium ditare multos ut pijeſſe deſinant, John Baptiſt. Gelli. Dialog. 5.ſaith a good Author. It is one of the Popes Stratagems to enrich men that he may oblige them to himſelf: and bring them into his own vaſſallage. In divers towns of Germany (as at Auſburgh, &c.) there was a known allowance by the year for ſuch Lutherans as would become Papiſts. Thus this whore of Rome imitateth Her in the text: of whom it is elſewhere complained, Ezek. 16.33. They give gifts to all whores (and ſo buy repentance at too dear a rate) but thou giveſt thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hireſt them that they may come unto thee on every ſide for thy whoredom: Yea thou haſt plaid the harlot with them, Nolo tanti poenitentiam emere. Dem.and yet couldſt not be ſatisfied, verſ. 28. It was but time therefore that God ſhould caſt her off, as now no wife of his but an adultereſſe of the Devil, as ſhe ſhewed her ſelf notably in the Trent-Conventicle:Jer. 3.3.Jer 3:3 where with a whores forehead that refuſed to be aſhamed ſhe not onelyonly eſtabliſhed by a Law their abominable Idolatry, but alſo ſet forth that Heatheniſh decree, whereby ſhe equalleth (at leaſt) the Apocrypha to the holy Canon, the Vulgar puddle to the Hebrew and Greek fountains, unwritten verities and traditions to the ſacred Scriptures: and further addeth, that the holy Ghoſt himſelf is not to be hearkened unto, ſpeak he never ſo plainly and expreſſely,D. Prid. Lect. niſi accedat meretricis purpuratae eff…ons interpretatio, unleſſe ſhe may have the interpreting of his meaning, according to her way. O monſtruous impudency, deſerving a divorce! True it is that God hateth putting away, Mal. 2.16. and Iſa. 50.1. he tells theſe Jewes, that he had not given their mother a bill of divorcement, ut ſolent moroſi et crudeles mariti as cruell and f…o… and husbands uſe to do, for every light offence. But what he had done this way, he was meerely compell'd to it; as not able to wink any longer at thei… flagi…ious practiſes: Hear his own words. Thus ſaith the Lord, where is the bill of your mothers divorcement whom I have put away? or which of my creditours is to whom I have ſold you? Behold, for your iniquities you ſold your ſelves; and for your tranſgreſſions is your mother put away. And yet not ſo far put away neither, but that if ſhe repent, ſhe may be received again: and that's no ſmall mercy. See Jer. 3.1. They ſay, If a man put away his wife, and ſhe go from him and become another mans, ſhall he return unto her again? ſhall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou haſt plaid the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, ſaith the Lord. Lo, God is above Law; and his mercy is matchleſs: he will do that for his people that none elſe in like caſe would ever be drawn to do, Mic. 7.10. Who is a God like unto thee? ſaith the Prophet, by way of admiration. David never came near his concubines more after that Abſalom had gone in to them, and Achitophel judged that act would be ſuch an injury, as David would never put up and therefore gave that pernicious counſell. But Gods thoughts are not as mans thoughts, neither are our wayes his wayes, &c. Of mercy, and multiplied-pardons.Iſai. 55.8.9.Isa 55:8Isa 55:9 But as the heavens are higher then the earth ſo are his wayes higher then our ways, and his thoughts then our thoughts. We are not to mature things according to our own modell; and to have as low thoughts of God and his goodneſs as thoſe Miſcreants once had of his power, when they demanded, Can God prepare a table for us in the wilderneſſe? Can he give us water out of the Rock? Surely a Finite creature cannot beleeve the infinite attributes of God throughly, without ſupernaturall grace: which therefore muſt be implored, and every of us excited not to caſt away our confidence which hath ſo great recompenſe, ſo great encouragement:Ezek. 18.Ezek 18 but to ſay to our mother, and each to other, put away your whoredoms. &c. Caſt away all your tranſgreſſions, &c. Ye have done all this wickedneſſe (ſaith Samuel to the revolted People of his time) but what of that? yet turn not aſide from following the Lord: for that were to adde rebellion to ſin, as Herod to all his other hateful practices added that of beheading the Baptiſt. Do not therefore turn aſide from following the Lord,1 Sam. 12.20, 21, 22.1 Sam 12:201 Sam 12:211 Sam 12:22 but go home again to him, and he will ſpeak peace. For the Lord will not forſake his people for his great Names ſake: ſith it hath pleaſed the Lord once to make you his people. He choſe you for his love: and now loves you for his choice; yea he cryes after you, as once, Return you backſliding children, and I will heal your backſliding. O that you would reciprocate and ſay, Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God. Jer. 3.22.

Let her therefore put away her wheredoms out of her ſight] Not out of my ſight, p. 17(as a Lapide readeth it, neither according to the Original, nor yet his own vulgar Tranſlation) but out of her ſight, or from her face, So the Sepiua. foreign.and her adulteries from between her breaſts. Sed quid hoc ſibi vult? ſaith Calvin here. But what may be the meaning of this. It ſurely ſeemeth harſh to ſay, that women play the whores; either with their faces, or with their breaſts: And yet it is not unknown to the Learned what Arch…ſilans the Philoſopher ſaid to a young wanton, that caſt luſtfull looks, and laſeivious glances upon others; Nihil intereſt quibus membris cinaedi ſitas, poſterioribus an prioribus: You may be naughty-packs more wayes then one And Plutarch tells of a certain Oratour,Li. foreign am & pupillam oculi ſignificat. that ſaid of an impudent fellow; Quod in oculis haberet non foreign ſed foreign, that he had in his eyes not Pupils, but Punks. And S. Peter ſaith of the Sectaries of his time, that they had eyes full of the adultereſſe, (ſo runs the Originall) and that could not ceaſe to ſinne, 2 Pet. 2.14. It is evident enough (ſaith Calvin) that the Prophet in this Text alludeth to the manner of harlots, painting their faces, decking,foreign. or laying out their breaſts to allure lovers. Filthy dreſſing and naked breaſts, (ſaith another Divine) this is whoredom between the breaſts. A third calleth naked breaſts and wriſts,Bifield on 1 Pet 2. Mr. Bolion.1 Pet 2 abhorred filth. Hierom ſaith, if a man or woman adorn, or carry themſelves ſo, as to provoke others to luſt after them, though no evil follow upon it, yet the parties ſhall ſuffer eternal damnation; becauſe they offered poyſon to others, though none would drink it. In Scripture, women taxed for this, were notorious wicked perſons, and uſually whores: as Tamar, Jezabel, thoſe Damoſels, Eſay 3. Dives, Luke 16. Lupa Romana, Rev. 1.73. Our Henry the ſixth, when a Mask of women were preſented unto him, whereof ſome of them ſhewed their naked breaſts, he left the preſence, crying,Daniels hiſt 1…8. Fie, fie Ladies, in ſooth ye are to blame, to bare thoſe parts to the eyes of man, that nature appointed modeſty to conceal. Frederick the Emperour, ſeeing ſome countrey wenches, neer Florence, in dancing to ſhew their naked legs, Eamus, ſaid he, meretricum hic ludus eſt non virginum, Let us go hence, for this is not maids play,Vol Moz. C…ſt. 377. but whores rather. That Yonker in the Proverbs, was met by a woman with the attire of an harlot, and ſubtill of heart, or truſſed up about the breaſts, foreign pro foreign quaſi nudato pude… d…. And ve…ſe 18. Ne…v…h dod… … uberibas.with her upper parts naked, like a bedlam. So Levi Ben Gerſom, ſhe met him with her naked breaſts, yea with ſomething elſe naked, which modeſty forbids to name, as ſome conſtrue that Text, Prov. 7.10. So ſhe caught him and kiſſed him, verſe. 13, with ſtrange impudency: and no queſtion but having caught him, her luſt grew more flagrant: as by unclean touches of the face and breaſts, men are more enkindled. Hence that of our Saviour in expounding the ſeventh Commandement, Matth. 5.30. If thy right hand offend thee, ſc. by dalliance, and wanton touches, cut it off, &c. Hippocrat…s obſerveth, that there are venae & viae ab utero ad mamillas, veins and paſſages that go from the beily to the breaſts; and that's the reaſon that he gives of the temptation to luſt, that is in the breaſts. Keep thy ſelf pure, ſaith Saint Paul to his ſonne Timothy. And again, The younger women exhort with purity, or chaſtity. It is not ſafe to pry into the beauty of young women. Ʋt vidi ut perij, &c. The eyes are thoſe windows of wickedneſſe, and loop-holes of luſt. Let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her ſight. Prov. 6.25.Prov 6:25And let not the ſtrange woman take thee with her eye-lids, ſaith Solomon. For prevention hereof, in Chryſoſtoms time, the women were disjoyned from the men in the Church, by a woodden wall. And Tertullian ſaith to the Chriſtian women, Judicabunt vos Arabiae foeminae Ethnicae, &c. The Heathen women of Arabia ſhall judge you:De veland. virg. c. 17. for they do not onelyonly cover their faces but their heads too; and rather then they will have any part appear naked, they will let the light but into one eye. In Barbary, they ſay, it is death for any man to ſee one of the Xeriffes concubines;Heyl. Geog. pag. 156. and for them too, if when they ſee a man (though but thorow a caſement) that do not ſuddenly ſcreek out. Millions of people have died of the wound in the eye. Aholah and Aholibah, that is, Iſrael and Judah, no ſooner ſaw the Aſſyrians, (thoſe deſirable young men) though but pourt…yed upon the wall, but they doted upon thoſe Paramours, and received them into the bed of love, Ezek. 23.16, 17. Et divarica… it tibias ſuas, Ezek. 16.25. and multiplied their whoredoms. The very ſight of the Altar at Damaſ…us, ſet Abaz agog to have one of the ſame faſhion, 2 King. 16. And Jeroboam coming out of Egypt, where the Ox was worſhipped, brought home two Calves with him; and ſet them up at Dan and Beth…l. The Nicodemites and Familiſts hold p. 18it no ſin, to be preſent at Idoll-ſervice, and alledge a Text for it out of Apocryphall Baruc. Mr. Borroughs.But a good Interpreter well obſerveth, that, that which is intended ſpecially here, in theſe words, Let her put away her whoredoms out of her ſight, and her adulteries, &c. is, that they ſhould not be content meerly with change of their hearts, to ſay, Well, we will acknowledge the Lord to be the true God, and our hearts ſhall wholly truſt in him; but for theſe externall things, what great matter is in them? Oh no, they muſt abſtain from all appearance of evil, from the badges of Idolatry, &c. Thus he. Thoſe badges, or enſignes of Idolatry they uſually carried between their breaſts, (ſaith another Authour) to teſtifie that the Idoll had their hearts; whereas Chriſt ſhould have been there, Cant. 1.13. Who to ſhew his dear love to his Church, appeared to John girt about the paps with a golden girdle, Rev. 1.13. See the Note there, Cor ſedes amoris. The heart is the ſeat of the affections. Hence God calleth for it; My ſonne give me thine heart: and the devil ſtrives for it, Luk. 22.3. Act. 5.3. Once he ſtrove about a dead mans body, Jude ver. 9. but his deſigne therein, was to have ſet up an idoll for himſelf in the hearts of the living. His eldeſt ſon and ſucceſſour the Pope, uſeth the ſame policie. It was a watchword in Gregory the thirteenths time, in Queen Elizabeths dayes, My ſon, give me thy heart: Diſſemble, go to Church, be a Papiſt in heart, and then do what ye will: Take the Oath of Allegiance, Supremacy, any thing that ſhall be put to you, I will abſolve you. Do but carry a Crucifix between your breaſts (that's the place where they wear ſuch mawmets) and kiſſe it when you have ſworn (as Lewes the eleventh of France uſed to do) and it ſhall ſuffice.Cominaeus. An oath upon the conſcience of a Popiſh Idolater is like a colier upon a Monkeys neck; that he will ſlip on for his Maſters pleaſure, and ſlip off again for his own. Paſcenius ſcoffes King James for the invention of the Oath of Allegiance. Equivocation the Jeſuites have invented, or revived rather, ad conſolationem afflictorum Catholicorum, for the comfort of afflicted Catholikes, as Garnet and Blackwell profeſſe. So impudent is Idolatry, ſuch frontleſſe whoredoms appear in their very faces, they openly proſtitute themſelves; Imo volunt extare ſigna foeditatis ſuae, ſaith Calvin, here they hang out their filthy ſuperſtitions in the ſight of the Sun, as Sodom: they ſet them upon the cliffe of the rock, as Jeruſalem, Ezek. 24.7, 8. ut ſimiles ſint publicis ſcortis, like common whores that ſolicite lovers, and ſend to them, as ſhe, Ezek. 22. It was a ſad complaint God made Chap. 7.1. of this Prophecie. When I would have healed Iſrael, then the iniquity of Ephraim was diſcovered, then it broke forth as the leproſie in their foreheads: Their fornications were not onelyonly covert, but overt. Their whoredomes in the face, were their worſhipping the two golden Calves and Baalim (ſaith Parcus) their adulteries between their breaſts, were their truſt in Idols, in the arm of fleſh, in confederacies, &c. when they would ſeem nevertheleſſe to truſt in God alone: As now the Papiſts profeſſe to do, and have thereto coyned diverſe nice diſtinctions of worſhip, per ſe, & per accidens, proprie, & improprie, and a hundred the like evaſions. But there is no hiding of their Aſſes cars by theſe ſubtilties. Doctor Reynolds in his Books de Idolatria Romana hath (among others) proved them rank Idolaters. Weſton writes, that his head aked in reading that Book; but they all yeeld it unanſwerable: and yet they repent not of the works of their hands, that they ſhould not worſhip devils, and idols of gold, and ſilver, and braſſe, and ſtones, and of wood, which neither can ſee, nor hear, nor walk, Revel. 9.20. But, as thoſe that make them, are like unto them, ſo are all thoſe that truſt in them, ſtockiſh, and ſ…upid; given up to the efficacy of errour, to beleeve a lie, yea and that againſt common ſence, Iſaiah 44.17. which is no ſmall ſtumbling-block, to both Jews and Mahometans.

Verſe 3. Leſt I ſtrip her naked] Deus ideo minatur ut non puniat. God therefore threatneth, that he may not proceed to puniſh. Here he doth not ſo much direct as threaten, as conditionally terrifie, from the pernitious effect, or ſad iſſue of their adulteries, a full and finall deſolation, after an utter deprivation of Gods gifts and graces, ſhadowed under a fourfold Metaphor. 1. Of ſtripping her of all her borrowed beauty, thoſe jewels, and that comelineſſe that he had put upon her. 2.Ezek. 16.6.Ezek 16:6 Of reducing her to her firſt forlorn condition wherein he found her, Ezek. 16. viz. in her blood, in her blood, in her blood, as it is there ſaid and ſet out for greater emphaſis. 3. Of laying her waſt as a wilderneſſe, (by the incurſions and hoſtilities p. 19of cruel enemies) or, as in the wilderneſſe (ſo ſome read it, by underſtanding the particle In) that is, as in the wilderneſſe of Arabia, where they were put to great ſtraits when they came out of Egypt. The very firſt handſel God gave them there, was bitterneſſe and thirſt. It was by Marah that they came to Elim, &c. 4. Of afflicting and puniſhing her with the moſt miſerable and unſufferable kinde of death; I will ſlay her with thirſt, which is worſe then to be ſlain with hunger. All which is ſoretold, with ſome hope nevertheleſſe of grace and forgiveneſſe, if ſhe return and ſeek the Lord; as by the word leſt is ſecretly given to underſtand: Leſt I ſtrip her naked,] As a jealous husband ſnatcheth away with indignation the clothes and ornaments that he had beſtowed upon his adulterous wife. The Lord threatneth the wanton women of Zion, to make naked their ſecret parts, Eſay 3.17. ſo that their ſhame ſhould be ſeen, Eſay 47.3. even all their nakedneſſe, Ezek. 16.37. to diſcover their skirts upon their face, as Nahum. 3.5. Thus the great whore of Babylon is threatned with nakedneſſe, Revel. 17.16. And this we ſee already performed upon her in part, as Mr. Philpot barely told Chadſey in that vehement expreſſion of his, Afore God, you are bare-breecht in all your religion:Act. & Mon. 1657. he uttereth it ſomewhat more groſſely. There was a baſe cuſtome in Rome, that when any woman was taken in adultery, they compelled her (for a puniſhment) openly and beaſtly to play the harlot: ringing a bell whiles the deed was doing, that all the neighbours might be made aware. This the good Emperour Theodoſius took away,M. Clark in the life of Theod. ſenior. 47. and made better Lawes for the puniſhment of adultery. God, when he threatneth to ſtrip the Jewiſh Synagogue naked, meaneth (ſaith Mercer) that he will take away ornamenta regni & ſacerdotit thoſe ornaments of the Kingdome, and of the Prieſthood, leave them as, 2 Chron. 15.3. without the true God, and without a teaching Prieſt, and without Law, ſine lege, ſine rege, ſine fide, as the Braſilians are ſaid to be. The children of Iſrael (ſaith our Prophet, Chap. 3.4. where he interprets this Text) ſhall abide many dayes without a King, and without Princes, and without a ſacrifice, and without an image, and without an Ephod, and without Teraphim: that is, without any forme of civil Government, and without any exerciſe of true (yea or of falſe) religion. What a comfort was it to good David, in his baniſhment, and after the ſlaughter of the Prieſts by Saul (even fourſcore and five perſons, that did wear a linnen Ephod, 1 Sam. 22.18.) that Abiathar the ſon of Abimelech, came down to him to Keilah, with an Ephod in his hand, and that thereby he could enquire of God what to do, as he did,1 Sam. 23.6.1 Sam 23:6 1 Sam. 30.7? And what a grief and miſery to Saul, that God had forſaken him in thoſe viſible pledges of his favour, and would not be found of him? Hence he lay all open and naked to his enemies; who now might do what they would to him, and none to hinder them. This alſo was the caſe and condition of the people, when Aaron (by making the golden Calf at their command) had made the people naked unto their ſhame amongst their enemies, Exod. 32.25. that is, deſtitute of Gods powerfull protection, and deprived of their former priviledges. A people, or a perſon may ſin away their happineſſe; and forfeit the favours they formerly enjoyed. An hypocrite may loſe his gifts, and common graces; as that idle and evil ſervant did his talent; his light may be put out in obſcure darkneſſe. See Ezech. 43.11, 17. with the Note.

and ſet her as in the day that ſhe was born,] Not onelyonly nudam tanquam ex matre, Naked as ever ſhe was born, (The Albigenſes in France, thoſe old Proteſtants, were turned out ſtark-naked, both men and women, at the taking of Carcaſſon, by the command of the Popiſh Biſhop: and ſo were thouſands of good Chriſtians by the bloody Rebels in Ireland now alate) but as ſhe was born of the Amorite, and Hittite; her navel was not cut, her birth-blot was not waſhed in water, nay ſhee was caſt out into the open field, and no eye pitied her. (as the Princeſſe did Moſes, and as the ſhepherdeſſe did Romulus and Remus) See all this and more, moſt elegantly ſet out, Ezek. 16. together with what high honour, and ſumptuous ornaments God did put upon her, verſe 11, 12. What this people were in the day of their nativity, Ioſhuah telleth them in part, Chap. 24.2. Your fathers dwelt on the other ſide of the flood in old time, even Terah the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, and ſerved other gods: And I took your father Abraham out of Ʋr of the Chaldees, as a brand out of that fire, &c. and gave him Iſaac… And I gave unto p. 20Iſaac Iacob, who, together with his children, went down into Egypt, where they fell to the worſhipping of Idols, Ezek. 16.26. And although they were there, held under miſerable ſervitude, yet they continued exceeding wicked and abominable. The fire of their afflictions ſeemed to harden their hearts, as much as the fire of the furnace did the bricks they made. Hence, as they hardened their hearts. God hardened his hand, and had haſtened their deſtruction, had it not been that he had ſeared the wrath of the enemy: leſt their adverſaries ſhould behave themſelves ſtrangely, Deut. 32 27.Deut 32:27and leſt they ſhould ſay, our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this. Pſal. 107.8.Ps 107:8The Pſalmiſt was ſenſible of all this & therefore ſaith, Our fathers underſtood not thy wonders in Egypt, they remembred not the multitude of thy mercies, but provoked him at the ſea, even at the Red ſea. Nevertheleſſe he ſaved them for his Names ſake &c. And what was it elſe, but the reſpect to his own great Name, and the remembrance of his holy covenant that moved the Lord to premoniſh this perverſe people of their preſent danger: and not to ſuffer his whole wrath to ariſe againſt them, and to ruſh in upon them without a Ne forte, Am. 4.12.Amos 4:12leſt I ſet her as in the day &c. The eſo…e thus will I do unto thee, O Iſrael: and becauſe I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God with intreaties of peace. leſt your houſe be left unto you deſolate. Luc. 21. leaſt wra…h ſeiſe upon you, and that without remedy. And make her as a wilderneſs] after that … have brought her out of a wilderneſſe, and ſet her in a land that floweth with milk and hony. God can quickly curſe our bleſſings, and deſtroy us after that he hath done us good. See this excellency ſet forth Iſay 5.5. and Jer. 17.5.6. Pſal. 107.34. Zech. 7.14. with the Note there and take heed leſt living in gods good land, but not by Gods good lawes, we forfeit all into his hand, and he take the forfeiture. For he had rather that wild beaſts ſhould devour the good of a land, yea, that Satyres and devils ſhould dance there: then that wicked and ſtubborn ſinners ſhould enjoy it. If Philip of Spain could ſay he had rather have no ſubjects, then Lutheran ſubjects: And if the Councell of Tholouſe (out of a like blind zeale for propagating Popery) did decree that the very houſe ſhould be p…lled down in qua fuerit inventus baereticus wherein an heretick (as they then called Gods true ſervants) wa… found: How much more ſhall the King of heaven, the righteous judg, root out and pluck up a rabble of rebels that refuſe to be ruled by him. Idolatry is a Land-deſolating ſin, and brings in the devouring ſword Judg 5.8.1. Joh. 5.21.1 John 5:21 Pſal. 78.58.59.62. Jer. 22.7.8.9. Cavete ab Idolis. And ſlay them with thirſt] Surgit hic oratio, ſurgit afflictio; To be ſlame with thirſt is a grievous judgment. Lyſimachus parted with his kingdome, for a draught of water in a dry land: and made himſelf of a great King a miſerable Captive to the King of Getes; Darius ſlying from his enemies,Plut. was glad to drink of a dirty puddle, that had carrion lying in it: profeſſing that it was the ſweeteſt draught that ever he drank in his life. Dives would have given all that ever he was worth for a drop of cold water. The members, infeebled for want of due moiſture, ſeek to the veynes for relief, the veines to the liver, the Liver to the Entrals, the Entials to the ventricle, …he ventricle to the orifice. But theſe being not ab…e to impart what they cannot receive, One he cryes, Father Abraham. But hoſpitable Abraham hath it not to him:Rab. Samuel. fire and brimſtone, ſtorme and tempeſt, is now the portion of his cup, extream thirſt is a piece of Hels pains,Act. & Mon. fol. 1547. and one of the greateſt of earths miſeries. A dear ſervant of God in Queen Maries dayes, (kept and pined in priſon) would faine have drunk his own water: but for want of nour ſhm…nt could make none. Inward refreſhings he had, even thoſe divine conſolations of the ma…ty…s: he drank of the river of Gods pleaſures, Pſal. 26.8. which caſt him into a ſweet ſl…: at which time one clad all in white ſeemed to ſtand before h…m and to ſay, Samuel, Samuel, be of good cheer, for after this day tho ſh…t never be hungry or thirſty more: for ſoon after this he was buried: and from that time till he ſhould ſuffer, he felt neither hunger nor thirſt (as himſelf declared) though he were kept by the cruel B of Norwich with 2. or 3. morſels of bread every da…, and th…ee ſpoonfuls onelyonly of water. Mercer expounds this text of ſpirituall thi…ſt, the ſame that was foretold by Amos. Am. 8Amos 8Ideo que ſubdit verſ. 4. ſaith Oecolampadius, and therefore God addeth in the next verſe, that he will not have mercy upon her childrer, but will kill them with death; hu… them to hell as he threateneth to do Jeſ…bel's children, Ren. 2.23. Oh when the poor ſoul ſhall be in a wilderneſſe in a dry and thirſty land, ſcorched p. 21and parched with the ſenſe of ſin and feare of wrath; when the terrours of God fall thick upon it, even the invenomed arrowes of the Almighty: Beſides the bufferings of Satan, that haile ſhot, hell-ſhot of fiery darts, Eph. 6. ſo called for the dolour and diſtemper they work, (in alluſion to the poiſoned darts uſed in war by the Scythyans and other nations, the venemous heat whereof is like a fire in the fleſh) when conſcience I ſay ſhall by this means lie burning and boyling, what would it not gieve for a cup of conſolation, Phil. 2.1. Gen. 16.14. Judg. 15.19Phil 2:1Gen 16:14Judg 15:19yea for any conſolation in Chriſt as the Apoſtle hath it, for any Beer-lahai-roi, to fill the bottle at, yea for any En-haccore, any cleft in a jaw-bone to revive a thirſty Sampſon, that muſt elſe be ſlaine with thirſt. David never ſo deſired after the water of the well of Bethlehem, as he did after God in a dry and thirſty land, where no water was, Pſal. 63.1. As the hunted Hart (the Hind ſaith the Septuagint) panteth after the water-brookes, ſo panteth or brayeth my ſoul after thee. My ſoul thirſteth for God &c. Oh, foreign Pſal. 42, 1.2.3Ps 42:1Ps 42:2Ps 42:3when ſhall I come and appear before God. The tears have been my meat &c. Hunters ſay the Hart ſheds tears (or ſomthing like) when hotly purſued, and cannot eſcape. He is a beaſt thirſty by nature, and whoſe thirſt is much increaſed when he is hunted, The female eſpecially, in whom the paſſions are ſtronger then in males. Chriſt (that Aicleth Shachar, that is, the morning-Hart or ſtagg, as he ſeemeth to be ſtiled Pſal. 22.1. in the title, felt his ſoul heavie to the death in his bitter agony; and taſted ſo deep of that dreadfull cup, that in a cold winter night he ſwat great clods of blood, which, through cloths and all, fell down to the ground. And when this lamb of God was even a roaſting in the fire of his fathers wrath, he cryed out, I thirſt. At which time men gave him cold comfort, even vineger to drink: but God his Father moſt ſweetly ſupported him: ſo that he might better ſay then David, In the multitude of my perplexed thoughts within me, thy comforts have refreſhed my ſoul. But what ſhall thoſe poore creatures do that are ſtrangers to the promiſes, and have no water of the well of life to relieve them, when Gods wrath is as a fire in their bones, and falleth upon their fleſh like molten-lead or running-bell-mettle. Then they that have ſuckt in ſin as an Ox ſucks in water, ſhall ſuck the gall of aſp… and venom of vipers, and have none to pitty them. Francis Spira fele this ſpirituall thirſt &c.

Verſe 4. And I will not have mercy upon her children] Lo here another, And to thoſe foure afore; and more dreadfull then the reſt: Like as that in the 16. of Jeremy verſ. 13. where I will not ſhew you favour, was worſe to them then their captivity in a ſtrange countrey. Say that God do caſt off his people, yet if he ſay,Ezek. 7.5.Ezek 7:5 they ſhall be as if I had not caſt them off, and will hear them Zech. 10.6. the affliction is nothing ſo great, as when he ſends an evill, an onelyonly evill without mixture of mercy, as here. Oh, this pure wrath, this judgment without mercy muſt needs be very heavy: when it is once grown to hatred, there is little hope. Hoſ. 9.15. All their wickedneſſe is in Gilgal, for there I hated them. God is not of himſelf foreign a hater of mankind, but the contrary, Titus 3.4. But ſuch is the venemous nature of ſin, and ſo contrary it is to Gods both holy nature and juſt law,foreign. that he cannot but hate it in whomſoever he finds it: yet with this difference, that he pitties it rather in his Saints, & hates it in his enemies: as we hate poyſon in a toad, but we pitty it in a man: becauſe in the one it is their nature, in the other, their diſeaſe. And as revenge is the next effect of hatred, wicked men may expect no better dealing from God, then a man would afford to his ſtubborn enemy. Pharoah had plague upon plague: neither did the Lord leave him, till he had daſht the breath out of his body: ſo true is that of the Pſalmiſt,Pſal. 18.Ps 18 With the froward thou wilt wreſtle, and that of Solomon, The back ſlider in heart ſhall be filled with his own wayes. He hath made a match with miſchief, he ſhall have his belly-full of it.Prov. 14,Prov 14 He would needs have his own way, and had it, (for I would have purged him, but he would not be purged) Now I will have my way another while: for thou ſhalt not be purged from thy filthineſſe any more, till I have cauſed my fury to reſt upon thee, Ezek. 24.13. So our Saviour to thoſe refractory Jewes in the Goſpell. I would have gathered thee as the hen gathereth her chickens, I would but thou wouldſt not: therefore they ſhall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee. And I will not have mercy upon her children] Lo, God is ſo incenſed by a generall defection, that he will make havock and deſtroy even the mother with the children, p. 22(which was Jacobs great fear, Gen. 32.11.) yea he will daſh the mother in pieces upon the children as Shalman did at Betharbel Hoſ. 10.14 he will put young and old into the ſame bag together, as fowlers deal by birds, which yet was forbidden by a law,foreign. Qualis mater talis filia. Partus ſequitur ventrem. Deut. 22.6. his eyes ſhall not ſpare children, as Iſai. 13.19. And why? For they are the children of whoredoms] They are maliex malis, as Hierom interprets it: they love and live in the adulteries of their mother: they take after her, as the birth uſually followeth the belly, and as in a Syllogiſme, the concluſion followes the weaker propoſition. Thoſe Jewes in the Goſpel boldly boaſted to our Saviour that they were not the children of fornication, for they had Abraham to their father Joh. 6.33. nay, God to their father verſ. 41, But he as boldly telleth them, that they a e…a baſtardly brood, yea a ſerpentine ſeed; and that they were of their father the devil, verſ. 44. And in another place, as Serpents, ſaith He, ye generation of vipers, how can ye eſcape the damnation of hell. If mercy interpoſe not, as the cold grave muſt one day hold your bodies, ſo hot hell your ſouls. But I will have no mercy upon her children: for they are the children of fornications] i.e. they are not onelyonly miſbegotten and illegitimate, (which though no fault of theirs, yet is their reproach, as hath been ſaid in the Notes on the former chapter) but they are children of fornications in an active ſenſe too; they have learned of their mother to fornicate: they are as good at reſiſting the holy Ghoſt, as ever their Fathers were, Acts 7.51. they fill up the meaſure of their fathers fias, that wrath may come upon them to the utmoſt. Children as they derive from their parents a curſed birth blot which comes by propagation; ſo they are very apt to fall into their vices by imitation: and then they …ue both their own and their parents iniquities.

Verſe 5. For their mother hath plaid the harlot] Being a wife of whoredoms chap. 1.2. (ſee the Note there,) therefore I will not have mercy upon her children, but will root out all her increaſe, job. 31.12. Either ſhe ſhall commit whoredom, and not increaſe, Hoſ. 4.10. Or if ſhe do, it is for miſchief: ſhe ſhall bring forth children to the murtherer: or at leaſt, ſhe ſhall bequeath them a fearfull legacy of ſin and puniſhment, worſe then that leproſie that Gehezi left to his poſterity, or that Joab leſt to his, 2 Sam. 3.29. lameneſs and gonorrhaea, &c. It is a dangerous thing to keep up the ſucceſſion of a ſin in the world, and to propagate guilt from one generation to another: it is a great provocation. When the wickedneſſe of ſuch is ripe in the field (and they have filled up the meaſure of their fathers ſins) God will not let it ſhed to grow again: but cuts it up by a juſt and ſeaſonable vengeance. Let parents therefore break off their ſins and get into Gods favour: if for nothing elſe, yet for their poor childrens ſake: labouring to mend that by Education which they have marred by propagation and evil example. And let children of wicked parents (as they tender their own eternall good) take Gods counſell, Ezek 20. verſ. 18.30. Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations? Oh, walk ye not after the ſtatutes of your fathers: neither obſerve their judgements, nor defile your ſelves with their idols. True it is, men are wonderous apt to dote upon their fathers doings, and are hardly drawn off from their vain converſation by received tradition from their anceſtors 1 Pet. 1.18. A bo…e majori diſcit arare minor. Ovid.Preſcription is held Authoritie ſufficient. Me ex ea opinione quam à majoribus accepi de cultu deorum nullius unquam movebit oratio, …ic.ſaith Tully, No man ſhall ever diſſwade me from that way of divine worſhip that my forefathers lived and died in. It is reported of a certain Monarch of Morocco, that having read Saint Pauls Epiſtles he liked them ſo well, that he profeſſed that were he then to chuſe his Religion, he would, before any other, embrace Chriſtianity. But every one ought,Heyl. Geog. pag. 714. ſaid he, to die in his own Religion: and the leaving of the faith wherein he was born was the onelyonly thing that he diſliked in that Apoſtle. Thus He. Sed teto erravit caelo, Antiquity muſt have no more Authority then what it can maintain, foreign, Mine Antiquity (ſaid Ignatius) is Chriſt Jeſus, who ſaid not to the young man, Do as thy forefathers, but Follow thou me. She that conceived them hath done ſhamefully] She hath utterly ſhamed her ſelf and all her friends; husband, children, all. The woman is or ſhould be the glory of the man. Solomons good huſwife was ſhe, Prov. 31.28, 29. Her children riſe up and call her bleſſed: her husband alſo, and he praiſeth her, ſaying, Many daughters have done vertuouſly: but thou excelleſt them all. Alphonſus King of Arragon was once reſolved p. 23never to commend his wife, leſt he ſhould be accounted immodeſt, or uxorious: but afterwards he changed his mind,Val: Max. Chri. 73. and was ſo taken with his wives vertues and conſtancy, that he reſolved to praiſe her quocunq in trivio, cui que obvio, ſine modo, et modeſtia in all places and companies, &c. So did Budaeus, Pareus, and others.Plin. Tacit. utinam aut coelebs vixiſſem, aut orbusperirſſem. Prov. 14.34. Deut. 28. Jer. 25.9. Ezek. 5.15.Prov 14:34Deut 28Jer 25:9Ezek 5:15 but a wicked wife, (an harlot eſpecially) puts her husband to the bluſh and is a great heart-break, as Livia was to Auguſtus (Eudemus was both her Phyſician and her ſtallion) his children alſo proved ſtart naught: which made him wiſh that either he had lived a Batchelour, or died childleſſe. Righteouſneſs exalteth a nation: but ſin is a ſhame to any people. It is the ſnuff that dimmeth their candleſtick, the leaven that ſowreth their Paſſeover, the reproach that rendreth them a proverb, and a by-word, an aſtoniſhment and an hiſſing, a taunt and a talk to other countries. Such was Iſraels Apoſtaſie & Idolatry, their ſubjecting Religion to carnal policy in ſetting up the two calves, and Baalim: when Ephraim ſpake there was trembling, and then he exalted himſelf in Iſrael: but when he offended in Baal, he died Hoſ. 13.1. Whilſt he kept cloſe to God, who but Ephraim. None durſt quack, but all quaked at the name of Ephraim: he was on high, and much honoured. But when he declined to Idolatry, he became contemptible: and every paltry adverſary caſt dirt in his face, and crowed over him. So true is that of Solomon, The wiſe ſhall inherit glory: Prov. 3.35.Prov 3:35but ſhame ſhall be the promotion of fools: What a victorious Prince was Henry the fourth of France, till he (for politike reſpects) turned Papiſt? Till then he was Bonus Orbi: but after that, Orbus Boni, as the wits of the time played upon his name Borbonius, Life of Phil. de Mornay.by way of Anagram. Once he was (before his revolt) perſwaded by Du-Pleſſy to do publike pennance for having abuſed the daughter of a certain Gentleman in Rochel, by whom he had a ſon. Hereunto he was drawn with ſome difficulty, being read, to fight a battle: and this was no diſgrace to him: But when, by compliance at leaſt, he became an Idolater for lucre of a crown, and love of life, he became a vile perſon, as Antiochus is called, Dan. 11.21. and was worthily laſhed with rods by the Pope, in the perſon of his Embaſſadours; and butchered by the inſtigation of thoſe Jeſuites whom he baſely recalled into France, whence they had been baniſhed, and admitted them into his boſom; making Father Cotton his Confeſſour et ſic probroſe ſe geſſit, et rem confuſione dignam admiſit, as here. He both ſhamed and undid himſelf. For ſhe hath ſaid, I will go after my lovers] Amaſios meos, My ſweet-hearts, Marbeck. Act. & Mon.thoſe that have drawn away my heart from my husband. But if that perſecutour could ſay to the Martyr. What (a devil) made thee to meddle with the Scriptures? how much better might it be ſaid to the Synagogue, (and ſo to all Apoſtates) What (a devill) meant you to go a whoring from ſuch an husband (who is totus, Cant. 5.16.Song 5:16totus deſiderabilis, altogether lovely, even the chief of ten thouſand,) after dumb idols and falſe Prophets who are their brokers (proxenetae et proci) and ſpokeſmen? Athenaeus brings in Plato bewailing himſelf and his own condition, that he was taken ſo much with a filthy whore. Adultery is filthineſſe in the abſtract:Gelulim. Ezek. 22.3. 1 Pet. 4.3.Ezek 22:31 Pet 4:3 ſo is alſo idolatry: and therefore idols are called by a word that ſignifieth the very excrements that come out of a man; a tearm too good for thoſe dunghill-deities, thoſe abominable idolatries, as Saint Peter expreſſeth it. Mention is made in hiſtories of a certain heathen people that puniſh adultery with death: and with ſuch a death as is ſuitable to the ſin. For they thruſt the adulterers or adultereſſes head into the paunch of a beaſt, where lieth all the filth and garbage of it, there to be ſtifled to death.foreign Jude 7.Jude 1:7 Sodom and Gomorrha had fire from heaven for their burning luſt: and ſtinking brimſtone for their ſtinking brutiſhneſſe. They are alſo thrown out (as St. Jude phraſeth it) for an example, ſuffering the vengeance of eternall fire. And in the like pickle are the Beaſt, and the falſe Prophet (thoſe Arch-idolaters) for theſe both are caſt alive into a lake of fire burning with brimſtone Rev. 19.20. And worthily,Eſay 3.9.Isa 3:9 ſith they declared their ſins as Sodom, they hid it not: And as this huſwife in the text: who ſaid I will go after my lovers] ſhe did, of wickedneſs forethought, upon deliberation, de induſtria, ex conſilio, wilfully and of purpoſe, impudently and without all ſhame of ſin, ſay, I will go after. This was ſhameles indeed: They ſhould rather have gone after her,Deut. 23.18.Deut 23:18 then ſhe after them. Moſes fitly compareth a whore to a ſalt-bitch that is followed after by all the dogs in a town. And am I dogs-head, ſaid Abner to Iſhboſheth, 2 Sam. 3.8. that is. Am I ſo given to luſt & laſciviouſnes as dogs are that run after every ſalt-bitch? But this harlot verified that ſaying in Ezekiel. The contrary is in thee from other women p. 24in thy whoredoms: whereas none followed thee to commit whoredoms, thou followeſt them; and glorieſt in thy ſo doing, as Lots daughters did in their deteſtable inceſt, naming their children Moab, that is, a birth by my father; and Benammi, that is, begotten by one of my near kindred. Theſe all might have held their tongues with ſhame enough. But ſuch kinde of ſinners are ſingularly impudent, Jer. 3.3. infatuated, Hoſ. 4.11. and paſt feeling, Epheſ. 4.19. And ſo are Idolaters wickedly wilfull, and irreclaimable for moſt part. See Jer. 44.16, 17. & 2.10. Eſay 44.19, 20. A ſeduced heart hath turned him aſide, that he cannot deliver his ſoul; nor ſay, Is there not a lie in my right hand? How ſtiffe are Papiſts to this day in defence of their Image-worſhip? how ſevere againſt ſuch as deface, or but diſgrace them? Murther is not ſo hainous a ſin, &c.

That give me my bread and my water, &c.] What can be more like to the doings of the Papiſts then this? ſaith Danaeus. Who knows not what ſuit they make, and what thanks they return to their He-Saints, and She-Saints, and how they ſacrilegiouſly transfer the glory due to God alone, to the creature. The Lord rightly reſolveth the genealogy of corn, wine, and oil into himſelf, verſe 22. of this chapter. And the Apoſte tells us, that it is He that filleth mens hearts with food and gladneſſe, Act. 14.17.

— Et cum chariſſima ſemper,

Munera ſint Author quae precioſa facit.

This ſhould make us lift up many an humble, joyfull, and thankfull heart to God: well content if we may have offam et aquam, bread and water, and the goſpel: and vowing with Jacob, Gen. 28.20.Gen 28:20that if God will give us bread to eat, and raiment to put on, then ſhall he be our God, and we will honour him with the beſt of our ſubſtance. As for other gods, whether Pagan, or Papagan, ſay we as that Heathen did, Contemno minutulos iſtos deos modò Jovem mihi propitium habeam, I care not for theſe petty-deities: I truſt in the living God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy: All things, I ſay, both ad eſum, et ad uſum, for back and belly, (beſides better things) which is all that carnall people care for. There be many (too many) that ſay (and can skill of no other language) Who will ſhew us any good? who will give us bread,Pſal. 4.Ps 4 water, wooll, oil, &c? they look no higher, know no heaven but plenty, hell but penury, God but their belly, whereunto they offer ſacrifice with Poliphemus, and care for no more, quam ut ventri bene ſit ut lateri, then that their bellies may be filled,Epicur. ap. Hor. their backs fitted. Let them have but plenty of victuals, and the Queen of heaven ſhall be their good Lady, Jer. 44.17. Baſe ſpirits look onelyonly after low things: gain and credit carry them any way. They work for their peny a day; and are like little children, which will not ſay their prayers unleſſe they may be promiſed their breakfaſt: Whereas a true worſhipper of God ſoareth aloft, hath his feet at leaſt, where other mens heads are, trades for higher commodities, cannot be put off with mean matters. When great gifts were ſent to Luther, he refuſed them with this brave ſpeech, Valde proteſtatus ſum me nolle ſic ſatiari: Melch. Adam.I deeply proteſted, that I would not be put off by God with theſe low things. The Papiſts offered to make him a Cardinall, if he would be quiet. He replied, No, not if I might be Pope. They ſent Vergerius, the Popes Nuncio, to tempt him with preferment, and to tell him of Eneas Sylvius, who following his own opinions,Hiſt. of Counc. of Trent. p. 73. with much ſlavery and labour, could get no further preferment then to be Canon of Trent, but being changed to the better, became Biſhop, Cardinall, and finally, Pope Pius 2. The ſame Vergerius alſo minded him of Beſſarion of Nice, who of a poor Collier of Trapezond, became a great renowned Cardinall, and wanted not much of being Pope. But what ſaid Luther to all this? Contemptus eſt a me Romanus et favor, et furor, I care neither for the favour nor fury of Rome. The Bramble thought it a brave buſineſſe to raigne over the trees: not ſo the vine and fig-tree. We read of Pope Silveſter, that he gave his ſoul to the devil for ſeven yeers enjoyment of the Popedome; which Luther ſpurn'd at. One good caſt of Gods loving countenance, was more to David then a confluence of all outward comforts and contentments. Thou haſt put gladneſſe in mine heart, ſaith he, more then in the time that their corn, and their wine increaſed, Pſal. 4.7. Their corn, and their wine he calleth it; becauſe it is their portion, (poor ſouls) and they are too too well apaid of it. Wealth upon any tearms is welcome to them, p. 25and thoſe are their lovers that will keep them to it, yea though it be the devil himſelf: whoſe language alſo here they ſeem to have learned when they ſay, my corne and my water &c. All's their own if you will beleeve them: like as the devill ſayd to our Saviour, Luk. 4.6. All this wealth is mine and to whomſoever I will, I give it. But God is the true proprietary, the owner of all: and it is his alone to ſay Cui volo, do illa. Dan. 4.22. The devill is God of this world: 2 Cor. 4.42 Cor 4:4but tis but titular onelyonly, as a king at cheſſe: or at beſt, by uſurpation onelyonly as Abſalom was a king: and as the Pope is Lord of all the kingdomes of the world, both for temporals and ſpirituals; to diſpoſe of them at his pleaſure. When he makes Cardinals, he uſeth theſe big-ſwoln words, eſtote confratres noſtri, et principes mundi, Be you brethren to us, and princes of the world. And by ſuch high honours, biſhopricks, and benefices, he prevaileth with very many to be wholy at his devotion. One of his poore beneficiaries ingenuouſly confeſſed, that he and thoſe of his rank preached the goſpel for nothing elſe, niſi ut nos paſcat & veſtiat then to get a poore living by it. Let Saints ſay, Non eſt mortale quod opto, we breath after better things:Rev. 12.1.Rev 12:1 we have the moon under our feet and are above corn, wooll, flax &c. The devill ſhall not ſtop our mouthes with theſe palterments. Balaam may run and ride after the wages of wickedneſſe, and get a ſword in his guts. Ahab may make a match with miſchief, and ſell himſelf to do wickedly: Judas hunt after lying vanities, and haſtened to his own place. But Moſes was of another ſpirit,Heb. 11.37.Heb 11:37 and refuſed to be called the ſon of Pharoah's daughter Heb. 11.24. And thoſe Worthies in the ſame chapter that were tempted with offers of profit and preferment, could not be won over, but reſiſted the devill, and he fled from them. The world was crucified to Saint Paul, and he to the world. He was of too generous a ſpirit: he was no malleable matter: all was but dung and dogs-meat in his account Philip. 3.8. D. Taylor martyr was promiſed not onelyonly his pardon, but great promotion; yea a Biſhoprick: but he would none of it: Another D. Taylour Biſhop of Lincoln,Act. & mon. fol. 1386. Ib. 1918. Ib. 815. Ib. 1444. Ib. 1578. was violently thruſt out of the Parlament-houſe in his robes, in Q. Maries raigne, and deprived. So was Hirmanius Archbiſhop of Colen for certain reformations, done by the ayd and advice of Martin Bucer. I dare ſay, (ſaid B. Bonner to Mr. Hawkes martyr) that Cranmer would recant if he might have his living: ſo judging others by himſelf. But Latimer and Shaxton parted with their Biſhopricks in King Henry the eights time, rather then to ſubmit to the ſix Articles. And John Knox refuſed a Biſhoprick offered him by King Edward the ſixth, as having aliquid commune cum Antichriſto: ſo did Miles Coverdale in Q. Eliſabeths raigne;Knox his life by Mr. Clark. chuſing rather to continue a poore Schoolmaſter. Pliny ſaith of Cato, that he took as much glory in thoſe dignities and honours that he denyed, as he did in thoſe that he enjoyed. He was wont alſo to ſay that he had rather men ſhould queſtion why he had no ſtatue or monuments erected to him, then why he had:Plin. Nat. hiſt. praef. Certainely it is ſo with the Saints: and upon better grounds.

Verſe 6. Therefore behold, I will hedg up thy way with thorns] i. e. with difficulties and diſtreſſes; So God had fenced up Jobs way that he could not paſs, Chap. 19.8. he had thrown the croſs in his way, to ſtop him in his career. And ſo he had hedged the church about, that ſhe could not get out. Lam. 3.7. he had encloſed her wayes with hewen ſtone, and made her paths crooked. Verſ. 9. A great mercy if well conſidered, though grievous to the fleſh, that loveth not to be cooped or kept within compaſſe. Man is fitly compared to a wild-aſſe colt uſed to the wilderneſſe,Jer. 2.24. Job. 11.12.Jer 2:24Job 11:12 ſnuffing up the wind at her pleaſure, rude and unruly, untamed, and untractable, To be kept by hedges and fences within a paſture, ſeemes to ſuch no ſmall puniſhment: neither count they any thing liberty but licentiouſneſſe: or a merry life, unleſſe they may have the devil their play-fellow: But the devil plaies at no ſmall games: capite blanditur, ventre oblectat, caudâ ligat: he playes at ſwoop-ſtake, he lyes in wait for the precious life, as that harlot. Prov. 6.26. nothing leſs will content him. In great wiſdome therefore, and no leſs mercy to mens ſouls, doth God reſtrain, and bound them by afflictions, that they may not run wild as they would: nor feed upon the devils commons which would fat them indeed, but for the ſlaughter. This made Job prize affliction as a ſpeciall favour, Job. 7 18. Jerom prayeth, Correct me O Lord, Chap 10. and Luther to like purpoſe, Feri Domine, feri clementer — Strike Lord, ſtrike, it ſhall be a mercy. And King Alfred p. 26prai'd God alwayes to ſend him ſome ſickneſſe, whereby his body might be tamed, and he the better affectioned to God-ward. It is obſerved by one of our Chroniclers,Dan hiſt fol. 14. that Affliction ſo held in the Saxon Kings in the Danick wars, as having little out-lets or leiſure for eaſe and luxury, they were made the more pious, juſt, and carefull in their government: otherwiſe it had been impoſſible ſo to have held out &c. Sure it is, that if God did not hedge us in (as by his hedge of protection Iſ. 5.5. ſo) by his hedge of affliction as here, no reaſon would rule us, no cords of kindneſſe would containe us within the bounds of obedience. David himſelf before he was afflicted, I went aſtray ſaith He: But God brought him home againe by weeping croſſe. He once ſo leapt over the pale, that he broke his bones, and felt the paine of it to his dying day: he brake Gods hedge, and a Serpent bit him, Eccleſ. 10.8. his conſcience flew in his face, the guilt whereof is compared by Solomon to the biting of a Serpent and ſting of an Adder. Prov. 23.32. he roared for the diſquietneſſe of his heart: But better ſo, then roare in hell, where is puniſhment without pitty, miſery without mercy, ſorrow without ſuccour, crying without comfort, miſchief without meaſure, torment without end and paſt imagination The Prophet Amos likeneth incorrigible perſons to horſes running upon a rock, where firſt they break their hoofs, and then their necks, Amo. 6.12. Another fitly compareth them to that Jeſuit in Lancaſhire who followed by one that found his glove with a deſire to reſtore it him, but purſued inwardly by a guilty conſcience, leapes over an hedge, plunges into a marlepit behind it unſeen, and unthought of, where in he was drowned. To prevent their deſerved deſtruction (if it may be) God telleth them here that he will not only hedg them in, but wall up their way, And make a wall] macerabo maceriam, I will wall a wall, and immure her: as jealous husbands do their wives whom they miſtruſt: And this God ſpeaks by an Apoſtrophe to others, as loathing the thought that ever he ſhould be put to it, I will make a wall that ſhe ſhall not find her paths] q. d. Ile hamper her and handle her as ſhe was never handled. By a like paſſionate Apoſtrophe Gen. 49.4. old Jacob, ſpeaking of Rubens inceſt, Thou wenteſt up to thy fathers bed: then defiledſt thou it: moved with the odiouſneſſe of the fact, he breaks off his ſpeech to Reuben, and turning him to the reſt, he addeth, He went up to my couch. q. d. Out upon it, I am the worſe to think of it. Maginus tels us, that in Lituania the men are ſuch wittals, that they ſuffer their wives to have their ſtallions whom they call Cennubij adjutores, and prize them far above all their accquaintance. And Balthaſar Exnerus telleth us of a certaine Duke of Oppania, who marrying a Lituanian Lady, and going forth to meet her,Val. Max. Christian. when ſhe came firſt to him: he found in her company one of that rank, a luſty young fellow; whom when he underſtood what he was, and wherefore he came, voluit laniandum canibus objicere, he was once in minde to make dogs-meat of him. But underſtanding that it was the cuſtome of that countrey, he ſent him home againe without further hurt. The Lord our God is a jealous God: and be the Gods of the Heathen good fellowes, ſaith One, yet he will not endure corrivals: nor ſhare his glory with another. Why trimmeſt thou thy way to ſeek love? And why gaddeſt thou about ſo much to change thy way, thou alſo ſhalt be aſhamed of Egypt as thou waſt aſhamed of Aſſyria. Yea thou ſhalt go ſorth from him, i. e. from the Egyptian thy preſent patron and protector. And thy hands upon thy head, which was the geſture of women in great ſorrow. 2 Sam. 13.19. for the Lord hath rejected thy confidence, and thou ſhalt not proſper in them, Jer. 2.33.36.37. This people to have a ſtake in ſtore, howſoever the dice chanced to turn, ſought to joyn friendſhip aſſoon with the Aſſyrian. as with the Egiptian, and ſo to ſecure themſelves: but it would not do. They followed after theſe lovers, but could never overtake them. Egypt proved but a broken reed. Aſſyria the rod of Gods wrath, the ſtaff in his hand, Eſ. 10.5. yea the hedge of his making, hemmed them in by ſtraight ſieges, both at Samaria and Jeruſalem: till at length the Romans came, and walling them about, till they were forced to yield, took away both their place and their nation, according to that they feared, Job. 11.48. and cauſed to ceaſe the dayly ſacrifice which they would needs till then hold out in oppoſition to the Goſpell.foreign. That ſhe ſhall not finde her paths] thoſe high-waies to hell wherein ſhe hath hitherto tired her ſelf, by trotting after her lovers. Druſius noteth here, that an harlot hath her name in the Chaldean tongue from her tracing up and down; p. 27delighting to be abroad altogether, to ſee, and to be ſeen, that ſhe may draw in the ſilly-ſimple. See Prov. 7.11, 12. with the Note. God is able to ſtrike ſuch people with ſuch blindneſſe as he did the wicked Sodomites at Lots door, ſubito ſcotomate, ſaith Junius, ſuch as tormented their eyes, as if they had been prickt with thorns, as the Hebrew word there ſignifieth, Gen. 19.11. See Pſal. 75.6. Iſai. 29.19. & 19.11, 12, 13. The fool knoweth not how to go to the city, Eccleſ. 10.15. they are ſo blinded and baffled many times in their own wayes. God loves to make fools of them.

Verſe 7. And ſhe ſhall follow after her lovers,] Follow them hot-foot, purſue them eagerly and earneſtly, as the hunter doth his game, or the purſivant, the party to be arreſted: So little was ſhe bettered by her former ſufferings: Thus the blinde Sodomites continue groping ſtill for the door, as if they were ambitious of deſtruction, which was now even at next door by. And thus Pharaoh, that ſturdy rebell. rageth againſt God, and menaceth Moſes with death, then, when that palpable groſſe darkneſſe was upon him. This was one of thoſe wild bulls in a net that was full of the fury of the Lord, Iſa. 51.20. He was full of it, and yet lay raging againſt it, adding impatience to his impenitence, and paſſive diſſobedience to his active. Another Bull of the ſame breed was Ahaziah, who ſent a third Captain after the two former had been conſumed with fire from heaven: as if he would deſpitefully ſpit in the face of heaven, and wreſtle a fall with the Almighty. And a third was that ſtubborn ſtigmatick Ahaz, who the more he was diſtreſſed,Perdidiſtis fructum afflictionis. Aug. the more he treſpaſſed, This is that King Ahaz, 2 Chron. 28.22. Theſe men loſt the fruit of their afflictions; which indeed was a great loſſe, but that they were not ſenſible of it. Thoſe that belong to God ſhall have ſtroke upon ſtroke, one croſſe in the neck of another, till they be kindly humbled, and brought home to their firſt husband. God will ſtrike a parting-blow, betwixt them and their ſweethearts; and make them pollute the Idols which they had once perfumed, Eſay 30.22. She ſhall follow them, but ſhe ſhall not overtake them,] Perſequetur, ſed non aſſequetur. She ſhall meet with diſappointment, but it ſhall be in mercy: ſhee ſhall be croſt with a bleſſing, chaſtened by the Lord, that ſhe may not be condemned with the world. She ſhall ſeek for favour and ſuccour at her ſweet-hearts hands, but all in vain, they ſhall all forſake her, and ſhall change their ancient love into mortall hatred, Jer. 2.36. Ezek. 36.17. It is the uſuall practiſe of the devil, and his inſtruments, to bring men into the briers, and there to leave them to ſhift as they can: thus the Phariſees dealt by Judas; What is that to us? ſay they;Matt. 27.4.Matt 27:4 ſee thou to that: they left him when they had led him to his bane; like as familiars leave their witches, when they have once brought them into fetters. God dealeth not ſo with any of his, when he is moſt angry. But as in very faithfulneſſe he afflicts them, that he may be true to their ſouls. So when they follow hard after him, as David did, they are ſure to overtake him, though perhaps not preſently; when they ſeek him, they are ſure to finde him, ſo they ſearch for him with all their heart, Jer. 29.13. True it is, that God often by the hand of the enemy, as by a purſivant at Arms, fetcheth in bankrupt tenants, that is, his own untoward and backſliding people, and leaveth them in the purſivants hand, till they take ſome courſe to ſatisfie for their arrears. But that once done, he will ſoon ſet them at liberty, and make them glad, according to the dayes wherein he had afflicted them.Pſal. 90.Ps 90 Let a poor ſoul but ſay, as here, I will go and return to my firſt husband,] that is to God. I have run away from him, by my ſins, I will now return again to him by repentance. Let there be but ſuch language in the hearts of Gods prodigals, and he will ſoon relent toward them, meet them on the way, Iſa. 65.24. fall upon their necks and kiſſe them, Luke 15.20. hee will receive them with all ſweetneſſe. Jam ex hoc loco licet colligere quae ſit vera reſipiſcentia, ſaith Calvin here. By this Text we may gather what true repentance is: Namely, when a ſinner not onelyonly confeſſeth himſelf guilty, and worthy of puniſhment, but truly diſpleaſeth himſelf, and ſeriouſly returnes to God. Here we have thoſe two eſſential parts of true Repentance, ſc. Contrition, and converſion; or Humiliation, and Reformation. The former is called in Scripture, Repentance for ſin, the latter, Repentance from ſin: and the one without the other is to no purpoſe or profit. for then was it better with me then now,] It was ſo: but how came you to conceive or conſider of it p. 28in this ſort? but by diſappointments and afflictions? Theſe are to us as Benhadads beſt counſellours, that ſent him with a cord about his neck to the mercifull King of Iſrael. The Septuagint render the Text thus; For he was good to me then, o're he is now. And what wonder? Is there any thing to be gotten by departing from Chriſt, by leaving thy firſt love, by quenching the ſpirit, and making Apoſtacie from former degrees of grace, and holineſſe? Can any ſon of Jeſſe do for us as Chriſt can? or do we think to mend our ſelves by running out of Gods bleſſing into the worlds warm Sun, as Demas did? O call me not Naomi, ſaid ſhe once, but call me Marah: for I went out full, and am come home empty. So doth a revolted Chriſtian ſay,Ruth 4.Ruth 4 when he comes from the act of ſinning, when he hath been ſeeking after his ſweet-hearts: he went with his heart full of peace, and his hand full of plenty; and meeting with a bargain of ſinning, thought to eeke out his happineſs, and make it fuller (as Solomon did) but came home empty: empty of comfort, but laden with croſſes. He hath loſt his evidences, is excommunicated from the power of the Ordinances, is under the terrour of a wounded ſpirit, is buffetted by Satan, is out of hope of ever recovering the radiancy of his graces, hath his backburden of afflictions: ſo that he is forced to confeſſe it to be the greateſt madneſſe in the world, to buy the ſweeteſt ſin at ſo deer a rate. David found it ſo, the Shulamite found it ſo, Cant. 5.1, 2, &c. No reſt ſhe had at home, nor comfort abroad, till ſhe had recovered her firſt husbands company; for then it was better with her then now; and yet now too, upon her hearty repentance, all becomes as well with her as ever it had been before, Chap. 6.4, &c. Was it not ſo likewiſe with Ephraim, Ier. 31.19, 20, 21. with the Prodigall, Luke 15. with Peter after his ſhamefull recidivation. Let this then be to all Gods relapſed people as a valley of Achor, a door of hope, that they may be readmitted. Shall Sarah receive Hagar into favour? Ioſeph his brethren? David his Abſolom, Philemon his Oneſimus? Shall that Non-ſuch Ahab, ſhew mercy to his profeſt enemies the Syrians, that had the ſecond time ſet upon him? And ſhall not God receive his repenting children? fetch home his baniſhed, yea though they may ſeem to be as water ſpilt upon the ground? bring them back into his own boſome, though they have never ſo far wandred out of the way? He will, he will. OnelyOnly he expects that they ſhould ſay, and do, as the Church of Iſrael here, and as the Church of Epheſus is adviſed, Revel. 2.4. Firſt, Remember whence ye are fallen: ſc. not onelyonly from your former feelings and comforts, but alſo from your former fitneſſe for Gods kingdome; that jus aptitudinale (as the Schools call it) that David himſelf had parted with for a ſeaſon, and therefore is called plain David ſo oft together, and not my ſervant David, as formerly, 2 Sam. 24.12, &c. Secondly, Repent: Sigh out that of Iob, Job 29 2, 3, 4Job 29:2Job 29:3Job 29:4O that I were as in moneths paſt, as in the dayes when God preſerved me! When his candle ſhined upon my head, and when by his light I walked thorow darkneſſe: As I was in the dayes of my youth, when the ſecret of God was upon my tabernacle: When the Almighty was yet with me, &c. O it was far better then with me, then now. Thus relent, repent, revenge upon your back-ſlidings; ſpare for no pains, but be extraordinarily humbled: deteſt your ſelves, give God no reſt till he return unto his reſt, &c. Thirdly, Do your firſt works, with a redoubted diligence for your former negligence; and tie your ſelves thereto by ſolemne Covenant. Begin (though at firſt but faintly) to pray, read, confer, meditate, ceaſe from ſin, ſhun the occaſions, recover by degrees as a weak body doth by good diet, moderate exerciſe, &c.

Verſe 8. For ſhe did not know] i. e. She would not be aknown or affected, of this ſhe was willingly ignorant, as S. Peter hath it, 2 Epiſt. 3. Ʋt liberius peccet libenter ignorat, as Bernard. Her ignorance was not a meer neſcience, or an invincible ignorance, ſuch as ſhe could not help; but it was wilfull, affected, acquired: they not onelyonly deſired not the knowledge of Gods wayes, but haced it, ſpurn'd and ſcorn'd at it,Tu aedepol, ſi ſapis quod ſcis, neſcies. Terent. ſhutting the windows leſt the light ſhould come in: and being blinded by the God of this world, leſt the light of the glorious Goſpel of Chriſt ſhould ſhine unto them, 2 Cor. 4.4. leſt they ſhould ſee and ſay that which Nature and Scripture do both teach them, viz. that all their accommodations and comforts come from me alone. Had this their ignorance been meerly negative, yet had they not been wholly excuſed. The Apoſtle noteth, that our Saviour laid p. 29down his precious life even for the not-knowings of the people which were ſuch as they could not help, Heb. 9.7. but there ignorance being affected,foreign it was an high degree of ingratitude and impudence, and a very great aggravation of their ſin: it made it to be ſin with an accent, wickedneſs with a witneſs. Iſrael was herein worſe then the Ox and the Aſſe (that knowes his owner and his maſters crib, Iſai, 1.3.) they fell below the ſtirrop of reaſon, nay of ſenſe. Hence God ſo ſtomacketh the matter both there and here. Non ſemel hoc peccatum carpit, ſaith Mercer: he cannot ſatisfie himſelf in ſaying how much it troubled him to be thus unkindly, ungratefully, and unreaſonably dealt withall: it runneth in his thoughts, his heart is grieved at it, and he muſt vent himſelf. And when he hath told his grief, and aggravated his wrong, yet he hath not done with it: but is upon it again and again; ſtill convincing, upbraiding; charging Iſrael for their foul and inexcuſable unfaithfulneſs and unthankfulneſs. Eandem ſententiam quia ſancta et neceſſaria eſt, repetit, ſaith Oecolampadius here; he repeates over the ſame he had ſaid before, out of the trouble of his ſpirit: and that they might once lay it to heart and be humbled.

that I gave her corn and wine and oil, &c.] A great deal more then ſhe reckons upon v. 5 and yet payes her rent there to a wrong Landlord too. God is well content that we have the benefit, and comfort of his creatures, ſo he may have the praiſe: this is all the rent he lookes for; and this he indents with us for Pſal. 50.15. the Saints alſo knowing his mind, promiſe it him, and bind themſelves to it as did Jacob, Gen. 28.20, 21. David Pſal. 51.14. For they know that ingratitude forfeits all (as in this text. She would not know, Hieron. in locum.but ile make her know: ut qui ex copia datorem non ſenſerunt, ſentiant ex penuria, for ſhe ſhall faſt another while, and go naked, &c.) like as the Merchants non-payment of cuſtoms, may prove the utter loſſe of all his commodities. Hence their firſt care to ſee God in all, as Moſes often urgeth this people in Deuteronomie to taſt the ſuperabundant ſweetneſs of God in the ſweetneſs of the creatures; to look upon all, as ſwimming towards them in the blood of Chriſt, as being a piece of his purchaſe: and this exceedingly ſweetneth all their comforts. God give thee the dew of heaven ſaith Iſaac to his ſon Jacob Gen. 27.28. Profane Eſau likewiſe, had the like, but not with a God give thee: neither cared he how he had it, ſo he had it any way: but it is otherwiſe with the Saints. See but the difference in theſe two brethren, long after this Gen. 33.9.11. Eſau as a mere naturall man contenting himſelf, (like a bruit beaſt made and taken to be deſtroyed) with a naturall uſe of the creature, cryes out I have enough, my brother: keep that thou haſt to thy ſelf. But mark how Jacob delivers himſelf in another manner. Take I pray thee, my bleſſing that is brought to thee: becauſe God hath dealt graciouſly with me, and becauſe I have enough, See a like difference between the rich fools Habes multa. Thou haſt much goods laid up for many years, Luke 12.19. and Davids doxology, 1 Chron. 29.13.16. O Lord our God, all this ſtore cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. And to the ſame purpoſe ſpeaks Eliezer, Gen. 24.35. The Lord hath given my maſter, flocks, herds, ſilver, gold, &c. and Job, chap. 1.21. The neglect of this obſerving of God and aſcribing all to him is the ſource of much ſin in the world, and the mother of much miſchief. Jer. 2.5. God chargeth his people that they were gone far from him and had made his heritage an abomination verſ. 7. and why? but becauſe they did not ſay, Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the Land of Egypt, &c. verſ. 6. Were men but ſenſible of what God doth for them every day and hour, they could not in equity and common ingenuity ſerve him as they do; He preſerveth, and provideth for us all: layes us down and takes us up, gives us all things richly to enjoy, commanding the beſt of his creatures to cater for us, Hoſ. 2.21. and to bring us in the beſt of the beſt for our ſubſiſtence, Pſal. 8. Every good gift temporall, and perfect giving ſpirituall and eternall cometh from the Father of lights, as naturally and as conſtantly as light doth from the Sun, or water from the Seal.Jam. 1.17.Jas 1:17 Let us therefore imitate thoſe Lights of heaven and rivers of the earth, do all the good we can with thoſe good things God hath given us, corn, wine, ſilver, gold, &c. and then reflect back toward, and return all the glory and praiſe unto the Sun of our righteouſneſs, and Sea of our ſalvation. The beams of the Moon and Stars return as far back to glorifie the face of the Sun, which gave them their beauty, as they can poſſibly. Let us (ſemblably) ever ſend back to Gods own glorious ſelf, the honour of all his gifts, by a fruitfull improvement of them, and freſh ſongs of praiſe. p. 30Let the ſtreams of Gods daily bounty lead us (as the water-courſe doth, either upward to the ſpring, or downward to the main Ocean) to the ſource and Fountain whence they flow. Let the returns we make, be from God, of God, to God; from him, as the Efficient, of him as the Material, and to him as the finall cauſe: David joyneth theſe three together, Pſal. 86.4, 5. And Paul Rom. 11. ult. In fine, let us labour to be like the full ears of corn that hang down the head toward the earth, their originall. Or if any be ſo graciouſly exalted, ſo freely favoured above his fellowes, that his ſtalk is ſo ſtiffe that it beareth him up above the reſt of his ridge, let him look up to heaven; not in thoughts of pride, but humble vowes of thankfulneſs. Be not as horſe and mule that drink of the brook, but never think of the ſpring: or as ſwine, that haunch up the maſt but never look up to the tree: or as the barren earth, that ſwallowes the ſeed, but returnes nothing to the ſower, &c.

which they have prepared for Baal] Or, wherewith they have made Baal laviſhing gold out of the bag, and weighing ſilver in the ballance, they hired a gold ſmith and he made it a God: they fall down, yea they worſhip. Eſay 46 6. This Baal was a ſpecial Idol of the Zidonians: but firſt of the Chaldees, who called him Bel; the Carginians Bal, whence thoſe compoſitions Hannibal, Haſdrubal; as amongſt the Babylonians Belteſhazzar Mehetabel, &c. Varro (though a Heathen) inveighes much againſt idols and images: and ſaith,Errorem auxerunt, metum dempſerunt. that they that firſt brought them increaſed errour, and took away fear. Plutarch ſaith, it is ſacriledge to worſhip by images, &c. It is thought, they came firſt from Babylon. For Ninus having made an image of his father Belus (this Baal in the text) all that came to ſee it, were pardoned for all their offences: whence, in time, that image came to be wo…ſhipp…d. A great promoter of this kind of Idolatry in Iſrael was Ahab, in favour of his wife Jezebel, and to ingratiate with her kindred, 1 King. 16.31. and this was the ruine of his houſe. This Baal was by the Zidonians called Jupiter Thalaſſius, or their ſea-Jupiter, and is thought to be their chief God. They had their Dij minorum gentium petty gods (called in ſcripture the hoſt of heaven, the queen of heaven, and a little further in this chapter Baalim) the Greeks called them foreign: which ſaith Plato, are certain middle-powers or meſſengers betwixt God and man, to carry up prayers, and bring down bleſſings, &c. Quam autem haec damonum theologia conveniat cum ſanctorum et Angelorum cultu apud pſeudochriſtianos, res ipſa loquitur, Mede in Apoc. pag. 115.ſaith learned Maſter Mede. How this doctrine of devils or heathen-deities agreeth with Saintworſhip,Melch. Ad. de Germ. Theol. pag. 815. and Angel-worſhip among he Papiſts, is eaſie to be diſcerned. A great ſtumbling it is to both Jewes and Turkes, who know it to be contrary to the firſt commandment: and image-worſhip, to the ſecond. Whence the Turkes will not endure any images,Lib. 4. no not upon their coynes. And Paulus Jovius tells us, when Sultan Solyman had taken Buda in Hungary, he would not enter into the chief Temple of that city, to give praiſe to Almighty God for the victory, till all the images were firſt down, and thruſt out of the place. We read alſo of a certain Turkiſh Embaſſadour, who being demanded why the Turkes did not turn Chriſtians? he anſwered, becauſe the Chriſtian Religion is againſt ſenſe and reaſon: for they worſhip thoſe things that are of leſſe power then themſelves, and the works of their own hands: as theſe in the text, that made them Baal, yea (as if God had hired them to be wicked) they made it of the very gold and ſilver which he had given them, though for a better purpoſe. And this was horrible wickedneſs, hatefull ingratitude. This was to ſue God with his own mony, to fight againſt him with his own weapons, as David did againſt Goliath, as Jehu did againſt Jehoram, and as Benhadad did againſt Ahab with that life that he had lately given him.Z…naras in Annal. I read of a monſter, who that very night that his Prince pardoned and preferred him, ſlew him, and raigned in his ſtead. This was Michael Balbus, and he is and ſhall be infamous for it to all poſterity. Ingratitude is a monſter in nature. Lycurgus made no law againſt it, quod prodigioſa res eſſet beneſicium non rependere. To render good for evil is Divine: good for good is humane: evil for evil is brutiſh: but evil for good is deviliſh. And yet alaſ…e how ordinary an evil is this amongſt us, to abuſe, to Gods great diſhonour, our health, wealth, wit, proſperity, plenty, peace, friends, means, day, night, corn, wine, ſilver, gold, all comforts and creatures, our times, our talents, yea the holy Scriptures, the Goſpel of grace, and our golden opportunities, the offers of mercy, and motions of the ſpirit, turning our backs upon thoſe bleſſed and bleeding embracements, and purſuing p. 31our luſts (thoſe idols of our hearts) thoſe Baals, that is,Deut. 32.5.Deut 32:5 Lords and husbands that have us at their beck, and check? But is this faire dealing? Do we thus requite the Lord, fooliſh and unwiſe as we are? Holy Ezra, thinks there is ſo much unthankfulneſſe and dis-ingenuity in ſuch an entertainment of mercy, that heaven and earth would be aſhamed of it, Ezra. 9.13. Should we do ſo? ſaith He, oh God forbid us any ſuch wickedneſſe. Others render it, which they have ſacrificed, or dedicated to Baal, for Idolaters ſpare for no coſt, Dum Deum alienum dotant, as ſome render that text Pſal. 16.4. whiles they give their goods not to the Saints (as David) that are on the earth, but to another God. They laviſh gold out of the bag: as we read of a certain King of this land, who laid out as much as the whole crown revenues came to in a yeare, upon one coſtly crucifix: and of another, that left by will a very great ſum of mony for the tranſporting of his heart, to be buried in the holy land, as they called it. How profuſe papiſts are in decking their mawmets and monuments of idolatry, is better known then that it needeth here to be ſpoken of Their Lady of Loretto, that Queen of heaven, as they call her ſtilo veteri, hath her Churches ſo ſtuffed with vowed preſents and memories,Sands his Relat. as they are faine to hang their Cloiſters and Churchyards with them.

Verſe 9. Therefore will I returne] i. e. I will alter my courſe, change my ſtand, change the way of mine adminiſtrations, deale otherwiſe with them then yet I have done: they ſhall bear their iniquities, and know my breach of promiſe, as Num. 14.34. they ſhall know the worth of mine abuſed mercyes, by the want of them another while. I will go and returne to my place, till they acknowledge their offence and ſeek my face: in their affliction they will ſeek me early. Hoſ. 5.15.Hos 5:15Finally, I will cut them ſhort of alimony and hold them to ſtraight allowance;Hoſ. 7.14.Hos 7:14 and then I ſhall be ſure to heare them howling upon their beds for corne and wine: as dogs do that are tied up, and cannot come at their meat. And take away my corn, and my wine] thoſe precious fruits of the earth, as S. James calleth them, James. 5.7. the product of Gods great care, from years end to years end, Deut. 11.12. without which the earth could not yield her increaſe: neither would there be a veine for the ſilver, a mine for the gold, iron taken out of the earth, or braſs molten out of the ſtone. Job. 28.3. All that we have is his, in true account, and he is the great Proprietary, Mat. 20.15.Matt 20:15who onelyonly can ſay (as he in the goſpel) May not I do what I will with mine own? And what ſhould he ſooner and rather do, then take away meate from his childe that marrs it? If fulneſſe breed forgetfulneſſe, (as the fed hawk forgets his maſter, and as the full Moon gets furtheſt off from the Sun) ſo men, when they have all things at the full, forget God, and wickedly depart from him, what can he do leſſe then forget them (that ſo they may remember themſelves) and make fat Ieſhurun look with leane cheeks, that they may leave kicking,Deut. 32.15. Iſay. 26.9.Deut 32:15Isa 26:9 and learne righteouſneſſe? Neither doth God do this, till greatly provoked, till there is a cauſe for it, Therefore I will returne. He may well ſay, as that Roman Emperour did, when he was to pronounce ſentence of death, Non niſi coactus, I am even compel'd to it, there is no other remedy, 2. Chron. 36.16. As a woman brings not forth but with paine; and as a bee ſtings not, but provoked: ſo here, Ille dolet quoties cogitur eſſe ferox, he afflicteth not willingly, nor grieves the children of men, Lam. 3.33. It's ſin that maketh him returne as here: that puts him out of his road of mercy into wayes of judgment, that putteth thunderbolts into his hand, and maketh him do his work, his ſtrange work, and bring to paſs his act, his ſtrange act. Iſay. 28.21. What can a Prince do leſs then diſarme a rebel? what can God do leſs, then take away his own and be gone from ſuch an impudent adultereſſe, as is here deſcribed?Jer. 7.18.Jer 7:18 ſhould he ſuffer her with his corn to make cakes to the Qu…en of heaven, and to poure out his wine for drink-offerings to other gods, that they might provoke him to anger? No: rather then ſo, he will take away corn in the time thereof, and his wine in the ſeaſon thereof] He will cut off the meate from their very mouths, Ioel. 1.16. and pull their morſel from between their teeth. Juſt at harveſt, when their corne is to be inned, God will blaſt it, or otherwiſe blow upon it, when all their old ſtore is ſpent, and they reckoned upon a good recruit, they ſhall be defeated and fruſtrated. Therefore hath God watched upon the evill, and brought it upon us, ſaith Daniel, chap. 9.14. Lo, God watcheth his time when to be even with his enemies: and taketh his fitteſt opportunity p. 32for their greater miſchief. They that are wicked overmuch ſhall dye before their time, Eccle. 7.17. Not before Gods time (for ſta…a cuique dies, every mans time is ſet, Job. 7.1. our bounds are preſcribed us, and a pillar pitcht up by him, who beares up the heavens, which we are not to treſpaſſe) but before their own time that they had propounded and promiſed to themſelves as that rich foole, Luk. 12.19. who talked to himſelf (as fooles uſe to do) Verſ. 17. ſaying Soul, thou haſt much good laid up for many years. But we know what became of him that very night; his many years were quickly up, his glaſs was run, when he thought it had bin but new turned.Pſal. 64.7.Ps 64:7 God ſhot at him with an arrow ſuddenly, he fetcht off this bird with a bolt whileſt he was gazing at the bow, or pruning himſelf upon a bough. He chopt into the earth before he was aware: as one that walketh in the ſnow chops into a pit. He died tempore non ſuo (as ſome render that forecited text in Eccleſiastes) not in his own time, but in Gods time; then when it had been better for that foole to have done any thing, then to have died, becauſe (like Elies ſons) he died in his ſins: and like Jezebels children, he was killed with death. This made Auſtin ſay,Rev. 2.23.Rev 2:23 that he would not for the gaine of a world, be an Atheiſt for one half hour: becauſe he knew not but that God might,Job. 27.8.Job 27:8 in that time, call him: And then, what is the hope of the hypocrite though he hath gained, when God taketh away his ſoul? He is troubled, when God taketh away his corn in the time thereof, and his wine in the ſeaſon thereof: he is hungry and hardly beſtead, and therefore ready to curſe God, and look upward, howling againſt heaven, as the hungry wolf. But firſt he ſhould conſider,Eſay 8.21.Isa 8:21 that the corn and wine and wooll and flax that he hath in keeping is not his, but Gods; and that he reſerves the propriety of all in his own hand: neither hath any man ought, in reference to him the Monarch of the world, that he can call his own. The rich fool indeed talked much on this manner, Luk. 12.18. I will pull down [my] barns and build greater, and there will I beſtow all [my] fruites, and [my] goods. All was his own belike: God was not in all this mans thoughts; For if he had, he would ſoon have known what to have done: ſc. he would have acknowledged God the Author and owner of all (as Moſes mindeth men) he would alſo have fed the hungry with his corn,Deut. 8.17.18.Deut 8:17Deut 8:18 and clothed the naked with his wooll and flax, as Tyrus converted did with her merchandiſe Iſay. 23.18. he would have ſaid to God as David did,1 Chron. 29.14.1 Chr 29:14 all things come of thee, and of thine own we give thee. Bernard reports of Pope Eugenius, that meeting with a poore but honeſt Biſhop, he ſecretly gave him certain Jewels wherewith he might preſent him. If God did not firſt furniſh us out of his treaſury; we ſhould have nothing wherewith either to honour him or to help our ſelves or others; Gods poore, I meane, whom Solomon calleth owners of our goods and maketh us but their ſtewards, Pro. 3.27. with-hold not thy goods from the owners thereof. Next, the hungerbit hypocrite ſhould conſider, that there is a worſe hunger yet behind: and an heavy account to be given of the corn, wine, wooll, and flax, the creatures that he hath deteyned in unrighteouſneſs, and ſpent upon his luſts, Jam. 4.3. If the huſband men muſt be aſhamed and howl becauſe the harveſt of the field is periſhed: If the drunkards muſt wake, weep and waile becauſe the new wine is cut off from their mouths,Serm. 4. in Quadrageſs. Jo. de comb. Comp. Theol. l. 6. c. 21. Joel. 1.5, 11. How ſhall they much more howl in hell, ubi nullus unquam cibus eſt, nulla conſolatio, ſaith Bernard, where there is no manner of meate, no drop of water to be had for love or mony: where they muſt faſt, and find no mercy for ever, where they muſt hunger and thirſt in aeterno Dei as the Schooles ſpeak, as long as God is God. The ſufferings of this world to the wicked, is but as the falling of the leaves in compariſon of the trees, that will fall upon him hereafter, in that eternity of extremities. If here, In the fulneſſe of his ſufficiency he ſhall be in ſtraits, and every hand of the troubleſome ſhall come upon him. When he is about to fill his belly, God ſhall caſt the fury of his wrath upon him, and ſhall raine it upon him while he is eating, as it is threatned Job. 20.22.23. what think we, will their portion be in hell? Meane while God will recover his wooll and his flax] He will ſnatch it away (as the word ſignifieth) in great diſpleaſure, as a man doth his ſtolen goods out of the hands of a thief: He will reſcue them, as Abraham did Lot and the captives from Chedor-laomer, Gen. 14. 1 Sam. 30.Gen 141 Sam 30as David did his wives, goods, and friends from the Amalekitiſh rovers. The poore creatures, corn, wine, wooll, &c. groan heavily under the abuſe of graceleſſe perſons, Rom. 8.22. and God heareth them, as he did p. 33the oppreſſed Iſraelites in Egypt, for he is gratious, He hears them I ſay, and recovers them: He ſpoiles their poſſeſſours of them, as Jacob did Laban of his ſheep,foreign Gen. 31.10.16.Gen 31:10Gen 31:16 as the Iſraelites did the Egyptians of their Jewels: the ſame word is uſed there, as here, and it is a wonderfull ſignificant word ſaith Mercer, S. Paul, imitateth it, when he ſaith the creature ſhall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. This God doth when he ſnatcheth away kingdomes from tyrants, wealth fron worldlings, ſtrength from royſters, ſpirituall common gifts from the proud and ſecure. Zech. 11.17. See the note there, when men abuſe mercies, they forfeit their right in them: wicked men have not onelyonly a civill title, but a right before God to the things that they poſſeſſe; It is their portion, Pſal. 17.14. And what Ananias had was his own whiles he had it, Act. 5. And God gave Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar as pay for his pains in taking Tyre. True it is, all was forfeited in Adam: but wicked men have yet a right to all they do enjoy in a lawfull way, by divine donation, till the day of execution: As when a traitour hath his life given him, for a time at leaſt, he hath meate and drink alſo given him to maintain his life for that time. God dealeth not as that cruel Duke D'alva did, who ſtarved ſome priſoners after that he had given them quarter, ſaying, Though I promiſed you your lives,Hiſt of Netherl. I promiſed not to finde you meate. That which wicked men are charged with, and ſhall be accountable for, is, not their right to uſe the creatures, but their not right uſing them: This makes the creature cry in its kinde and long for liberty: even as birds do that thruſt a long neck out of a cage (ſo much the Apoſtles word importeth Rom. 8.19.) And God who heareth the cry of the widdow and fatherleſſe, and looſeth his priſoners Pſal. 146.7.foreign. heares and frees the poor creatures groaning under mans abuſe &c. Given to cover her nakedneſſe.] This is the end of garments ſo called quaſi gardmentes: they arme and fence our bodies againſt the injury of winde and weather, againſt heate of ſummer, cold of winter; They alſo cover our nakedneſſe and deformity, thoſe parts eſpecially that are by an Antiphraſis called verenda & pudenda (here principally perhaps intended) becauſe they ought never to be laid naked but kept covered pudoris gratia for common honeſty ſake: that the ſhame of thy nakedneſſe do not appeare, Rev. 3.18.Vatab. Nature teacheth to cover our nakedneſſe; Therefore alſo when a man hath commttted a ſin, he bluſheth: the blood, as it were would cover the ſin. But nothing will do that, ſave onelyonly the righteouſneſſe of Chriſt, the fleece of that immaculate lamb of God, whom therefore we muſt put on, Rom. 13.14. in all his offices and efficacies. Our firſt parents indeed were born with the royall robe of originall righteouſneſſe on their back; but the devill ſoon ſtript them of it; and therehence they became ſore aſhamed of their bodily nakedneſſe (but chiefly of their ſpirituall) which therefore they ſought to hide as they could, their privities eſpecially. Whence ſome are of opinion that to look upon the nakedneſſe of another is a ſin againſt nature. The Prophet Habakkuk taxeth it in the Chaldees Chap. 2.15. and the Hebrewes there ſay, It was a filthy cuſtome amongſt them, common at their feaſts. Cloathes are the enſignes of mans ſin, and the cover of our ſhame. To be proud of them, is as for a thief to be proud of his halter: to brag of them, is as for the Lazar to brag of a plaſter laid to his filthy ſore: the fineneſſe of ſuch is their filthineſſe: their neatneſſe, naſtineſſe, as one ſpeaketh.

Verſe 10. And now will I diſcover her lewdneſſe,] Or her filthineſſe, baſeneſſe, fooliſhneſſe, ſapleſsneſſe; perhaps the ſame with her nakedneſſe, verſe 9. See the Note there. How ſhameleſſe the Heathen Idolaters were, the worſhippers of Priapus eſpecially (which Ierome and Iſidore ſay, was the ſame with Baal-peor, and made Maacha the mother of Aſa guilty of that villany) with their infamous Nos pudore pulſa, ſtamus ſub Jove coleis apertis, &c. is notoriouſly known; how they ran about naked in their Lupercalia, Bacchanalia and other beaſtly ſolemnities. God threatneth to make her naked here in another manner,Chaldeus reddit ignominiam, ut quam velatam deſiderabant, apertam contemnant Hieron. to her utter diſgrace and ignominy. He had threatned her before with poverty, now with ſcorn and contempt: theſe go ſeldome aſunder; but when ſelf-procured, they are very grievous. See Deut. 28. Fornicatours are fools, Ier. 29.23. Gen. 34.7. Shechem committed folly in Iſrael, and is therefore called a lad, or a childe, (ver. 19. Neque diſtulit puer) for his witleſſeneſſe, as being carried not by right reaſon, but blind affection. So Amnon was for this as one of the fools in Iſrael, 2 Sam. 13.12. a p. 34Nabal, a Nebulo, one that falls below the dignity of a man, below the ſtirrup of reaſon, flagitious and profligate.

Spirituall fornicatours are all this and more. They hunt after lying vanities, and ſo forſake their own mercies;Jonas 2.8.Jonah 2:8 being ſingularly fooliſh (as the word here uſed importeth) and miſerable by their own election. The indignity and iniquity of their practiſe, ſee Ier. 2.9, 10, 11, 12, 13. Satan deals by them as he did by Adam, when he gave him an apple for Paradiſe; and ſet him to the tree of Knowledge, that he might not taſte the tree of life. And like unto them (ſaith a Lapide here) is every wicked perſon, who by Satans perſwaſion preferreth the creature before the Creatour, earth before heaven, the devil before God, hell before heaven, ſin before ſanctity, evil before good. Theſe are lewd perſons of ſordid and ſervile diſpoſitions, homines ad ſervitutem parati (as Tiberius ſaid of the Romans) men of an under-ſpirit, as thoſe, 1 Chron. 4.23. Hedge rogues Mr. Dyke calleth them.

In the ſight of her lovers] That her, whom they have ſo deſired whiles ſhe was veiled, they may deride when laid open. There can nothing befall a woman more grievous, then to be ſtript naked, but eſpecially before her ſweet-hearts, Lam. 3.8. All that honoured her, deſpiſe her, becauſe they have ſeen her nakedneſſe: yea ſhe ſigheth and turneth backward. It is the paint or the dreſſe many times, that makes the lewd woman lovely; Think the ſame of Idolatry: how pompous is it, and theatricall? but God will detect it and make it ridiculous every day more and more. Eraſmus was very inſtrumentall this way, and did prejudice Popery by his witty jearing, as much as Luther did by his ſtomacking and inveying, ſaith One. Though it cannot be denied,Capito. but that Pruriginoſa iſtorum hominum ſcabies aſperiori ſtrigali fricanda fuerat, Amama. Anibarb. Praefat.the ſcabby hides of thoſe Popelings called for a ſharper curry-comb, as another Learned man phraſeth it.

and none ſhall deliver her out of my hand] Not her idols, not her confederates. An idol is nothing in the world: and all Nations, ſet by God, are as a drop of a bucker, or duſt of a ballance: they can no more ſtand before him, then a glaſſe-bottle can before a cannon-ſhot.1 Cor. 8.4. Iſai. 40.15.1 Cor 8:4Isa 40:15 It was bootleſſe therefore for this adultereſſe to hope for help from her lovers, when God once took her in hand. He would give her, her due, Ipſis ſpectantibus & ſtantibus inſtar ſtipitum, whiles they look on and ſtood like ſo many ſtocks, not daring to ſtir for her reſcue and relief. See for this, Rev. 18.10. with the Note.

Verſe 11. I will alſo cauſe her mirth to ceaſe,] Idolaters are frollick and jovial, the greateſt mirth-mongers, the merry Greeks of the world, ſet altogether upon the merry pin, Job 21.13.Job 21:13they ſpend their dayes in pleaſure, and ſuddenly turn into hell. Thus it was with theſe old idolaters. See Amos 6.4. And thus it is with the Papiſts at this day. They have a Proverb amongſt them; Spiritus Calvinianus eſt ſpiritus melancholicus, A Calviniſticall ſpirit is a melancholy ſpirit. Turn Proteſtant once, and you muſt for ever bid adieu to mirth and jollity, and lead a Monkiſh melancholy life. In their ſupplication to King Iames for a Toleration, they uſed this as an argument for their Religion above ours, becauſe more ſuitable and pleaſing to mans nature.Revel. 13.Rev 13 It is indeed an alluring, tempting, bewitching religion. Sir Walter Rawleigh knew what he ſaid, That were he to chuſe a Religion for licentious liberty, laſciviouſneſſe, and merry-living, he would be a Papiſt. Hence the whole world is ſaid to wonder after the Beaſt, foreign. Qu…d omnium animalium amicus ſit. Iſidor.which is ſaid to be like unto a Leopard, or Panther: Now the Panther is admired, and followed by moſt other beaſts of the field (and thence hath his name) either for the beauty of his hide, or for the ſweetneſſe of his ſmell. So is the Pope for thoſe ſenſual delights, and ſwiniſh pleaſures he alloweth his followers. Lupanar utriuſque Veneris Roma condidi…, ſaith Agrippa, concerning Pope Sixtus Quintus. But what ſhould I rake in that dunghill? Such ſinfull mirth, as it is baſe born, ſo it is of ſhort continuance: God will make it to ceaſe, and to go ſoon out in a vexing ſnuffe. For why? There is a ſnare (or cord) in the ſinne of the wicked, ſc. to ſtrangle their joy with, but the righteous ſing and are merry, Prov. 29.6. yea they are merry, (or right ſet in their mindes,foreign. And the Sept. here foreign. as the Apoſtles word ſignifies, Iames 5.13.) and therefore they ſing, yea and ſhall ſing for joy of heart, when wicked men ſhall crie for ſorrow of heart, yea howle again for vexation of ſpirit, Eſay 65.14. Mean-while their mirth is but the hypocriſie of mirth. It may wet the mouth, but not warm the heart; ſmooth the brow, p. 35but not fill the breaſt. It is like a little counterfeit complexion; As they repent only in the face, Mat. 6.16. ſo they rejoyce only in the face, 2 Cor. 1.5.12. Indeed they revel rather then rejoyce, & the end of that mirth is heavineſs, Pro. 14.13. as lightening is attended with thunder, & as comets end in a peſtilent vapour. Let the Lord but turn his hand & take away his corn, &c. deſtroy vine and fig-trees, &c. and this carnal mirth is at an end: their light is put out in obſcure darkneſſe, they lye down in ſorrow, and are all Amort. they are filled with unmedicinable perplexities, and are ready to run mad Deut. 28.34. Whereas a godly man, as he hath a conſtant ſpring of comfort within him, and can be merry without muſick, ſo he can ſtand under the greateſt weight of affliction without buckling, as Paul: he can be medjis tranquillus in undis as Noah: he can confidently ſay wth Habakkuk Although the figtree ſhall not bloſſom, neither ſhall fruit be in the Vines &c. Yet will I rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my ſalvation. Chap. 3.17.

Her feaſt-dayes, her new-moones] Not the matter of their joy onelyonly ſhall be aboliſhed, but the times too; She ſhall neither have holy-dayes nor good dayes (as they are called, Eſth. 8.17.) to keep and celebrate. Here then the Lord ſhewes how he will uncover this harlots nakedneſſe, Viz Firſt he will ſtrip her of her ſpirituals, and next of her temporals, Verſe 12. Her feaſt-dayes, new-moons, ſabbaths, and ſolemn-feaſts were but apiſh imitations of thoſe commanded by God, whoſe ape Satan will needs be. Habent & veſpae favos: ſimiae imitantur homines, Waſpes alſo have honey-combs as well as Bees; and apes will be doing at mens actions. Satans ſynagogue may ſeem a true Church. The ten revolted Tribes kept alſo diverſe ſolemne dayes, partly commanded by the Law, (as new-moons and ſabbaths) and partly inſtituted by Ieroboam, in honour of their idols, as now among the Papiſts, in pretended honour of the Saints, with feaſting, dancing, ringing, roaring of organs, &c. Theſe ſolemnities therefore, the Lord here firſt utterly diſowneth, calling them, her feaſt-dayes, her ſabbaths, &c. and none of his, becauſe they did lacte gypſum miſcere, mingle lime with milk, as Irenaeus ſaith of Plato; Non mea, tua funt, as Martial ſaith of his Epigrams, ill read by another. And ſecondly, that he will take them away, (ſc. by carrying themſelves away captive. See Chap. 9.4, 5.) and ſo pull off their vizour, waſh off their varniſh of rites and ceremonies, and lay them open to all in their own colours.

Verſe 12. And I will deſtroy her vines, and her fig-trees,] Not her wine, and her figs onelyonly, (i. e.) her delicious drinks and ſweet-meats, (even all her plenty) ſed vineta ipſa & ficeta, as Rivet obſerveth: which ſhews a great deal of anger, (for fruit-trees were not to be deſtroyed in an enemies countrey) like as he diſcovered a great deal of fear of the Spaniſh Inquiſitours,Heyl. Geog. 52, &c. that brought one of them his pears (which he had ſent for) tree and all by the roots It is wiſdome to meet God by repentance, leſt he ſtub up root and branch together, leſt he overturn, overturn, overturn, ſo as it ſhall be no more, Ezek. 21.27. leſt he crie, Cut it down, Luke 13.7.Luke 13:7why cumbreth it the ground? ſith it is not for fruit, let it be for the fire.

whereof ſhe hath ſaid, Theſe are my rewards,] The wages of my wickedneſſe, the hire of my Harlotry, Deut. 23.18. Ezek. 16.34. pretium m…ritorium Adultery is coſtly. Whores muſt have their rewards, they lie in wait for a prey, Prov. 23.20. and will ſoon bring a rich man to beggery, Prov. 6.26. Solomon himſelf was ſo exhauſted by ſuch ſhee ſinners (ſo they call them, Cruces et crumenio ulgas, ſuck purſes the Poet calleth them) that he was forced to oppreſſe his Subjects, to ſup…ly his coffers: which occaſioned the loſſe of ten Tribes Harlots know no other language but that of the horſe-leech, Give, give; and may fitly be compared to the ravens of Arabia, that full-gorged have a tunable ſweet voice; but empty, they ſcreech horribly.

Corpus, opes animum famam, vim, lumina, Scortum,

Debilitat, perdit, necat, aufert, tripit, orbat.

Idolatry alſo is no leſſe coſtly: witneſſe this harlots habit, verſe 13. and the purple whore of Rome, with all her trinckets, and thoſe maſſes of money that ſhe drains out of many parts of Chriſtendome for the ſupport of her ſtate.Muſcipulata res. Otto (one of her Mice-catchers, as the ſtory calleth him) ſent hither into England by Gregory p. 36the ninth, after three years raking together of money for pardons, and other palterments, at laſt departing, he left not ſo much money in the whole Kingdome, as he either carried with him, or ſent to Rome before him. What will not men part with to purchaſe heaven?Bellarm. Now they perſwaded the poor people (and ſtill they do) that good works (and what ſo good, as to gratifie the Pope with great ſummes?) were mercatura regni coeleſtas, the price to be given for heaven. Idolaters are all Merit-mongers: they will have heaven as a purchaſe; they lay claim to it, as wages for their work. They ſay with that wretched Monk; Redde mihi aeternam vitam quam debes, Luke 15.Luke 15Give me eternal life which thou oweſt me, Give me the portion that belongeth to me. God forbid, ſaith another Papiſt, that we ſhould enjoy heaven, as of meer alms to us. On the other ſide, the godly diſclaim their own merits, beg hard for mercy, expect a recompence of reward from him, but all of free-grace; accounting all that they can do for God, but a little of that much, that is due to him, and that they could well beteem him: they do all righteouſneſſe but reſt in none: they know that Gods kingdom is partum & non paratum; that their reward is the reward of inheritance, and not of acquiſition: and that if they could do any thing this way, yet would it be mercy in God to reward every one according to his work, Pſalm. 61.12.

and I will make them a forreſt,] See this more fully ſet forth, Iſai. 5.5, 6. Such is the hatred God beareth to ſinne, that he makes bloody wailes, as it were, upon the backs of the inſenſible creatures for mans ſake. A fruitfull land turneth he into barrenneſſe for the wickedneſſe of them that dwell therein, Pſal. 107.34. Thus he dealt by Sodom, which was once as Egypt, yea as Eden, but is now a place of nettles and ſalt-pits: By Iudea, that once Lumen totius orbis, now laid deſolate: as Babylon, where Strabo ſaith their Barley yeelded three hundred-fold increaſe, and their Palm-tree three hundred and ſixty ſeverall ſorts of commodities, as bread, honey, wine, vineger, &c. but what devaſtation befell it by the Modes, ſee Eſay 13.19, &c. It were eaſie to inſtance in the ſeven Churches of Aſia, the Palatinate, and other parts of Germany, in Ireland, and now Scotland, and what may England look for? Shall we altogether paſſe unpuniſhed? Shall we ſtill ſit ſafe under our vines and fig-trees, and not be forreſted, and by thoſe wilde beaſts of the field devoured? Sure it is, that no beaſt of the field doth ſhew it ſelf more raging, or ravenous, then do the wicked, when God ſuffers, or rather ſends them to break into his vineyard: Witneſſe thoſe breathing devils the Iriſh Rebels, more cruel then any Cannibals. Curſed be their wrath; for it was cruel, tranſcendent…y ſo, extending it ſelf both to the living and the dead. Ʋrſi non ſaeviunt in cadavera: but theſe bears, Pſal. 58.4. boars, Pſal. 80.13. lions, leopards, &c. did rage againſt dead carcaſſes, and tore them with their teeth. Hiſtories tell us, that the firſt founders of Rome were nouriſhed by a Wolf: Certain it is that the off-ſpring of that people have the hearts of Wolves: being ſavage and cruel above meaſure. Their citie was firſt founded in blood, and ſo was the Papacy: for the foundation of that See was laid when Phocas ſlew his liege Lord and Emperour Mauricius, whom he ſtewed in his own blood. Whence the Poet wittily; Suffocas, Phoca, imperium; ſtabiliſque Papatum. The habit of that harlot is, according to her heart, purple and ſcarlet; and her diet is the diet of the Cannibals.Rev. 17.6.Rev 17:6 I ſaw her drunken with the blood of the Saints. They are wholly bloody, both in their poſitions, and diſpoſitions, their plots, and practiſes. The Pope is ſaid to be a Leopard, or Panther, with his feet like a Bear, and his head like a Lion, Revel. 13.2. See the Note there And of their S. Dominick (the father of the Dominicans) it is reported, that when his mother was with childe of him, ſhe dreamed, that ſhe brought forth a Wolf, with a fire-brand in his mouth: and he prooved accordingly;Ezek. 21.31. Habac. 1.2, 3.Ezek 21:31 a bruitiſh man, skilfull to deſtroy, to devour the man more righteous then himſelf, by his bloody inquiſitors. I pray that God would deliver his turtle from theſe ſavage creatures; that he would cauſe the evil beaſts to ceaſe out of the land, Ezek. 34.25. that the beaſts of the land may no more devour them, verſ. 28.

Verſe 13. And I will viſit upon her the dayes of Baalim,] That is, I will puniſh p. 37the ſins committed in thoſe dayes wherein they went after thoſe multitudes of Heatheniſh gods: 30000.In Theog. In Georg. lib. 1. of them Heſiod reckons up in his days And Servius upon Virgil telles us, that for fear of offending any of them they uſed to cloſe up their petitions with Dij que Deae que omnes, All ye gods & goddeſſes, &c. Some of the Hebrews by Baalim underſtand Dominos domuum the Lords of the houſes: for the planets are ſaid to have thir houſes. Oecolampadius underſtands it of thoſe Idols which they worſhipped under the name of the Stars, called elſwhere the Queen of heaven, or the heavenly conſtellations. Others by Baal conceive to be meant their chief God: called alſo by them Baal-ſamen, or the Lord of Heaven: by Baalim their undergods, mediozuma numina inter mortales caelicolaſ que vectores. This was Plato's Demonogy (See the Note above upon verſe 8. of this chapter) Saint Paul is thought to have been well read in Plato's writings (his foreign 2 Tim. 1.6. is verbùm Platoineum) and to have alluded to him in that paſſage, 1 Cor. 8.5, 6. Though there be that are called (Baalim ſignifieth Lords) whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods many and lords many: but to us there is but one God the Father, and one Lord Jeſus Chriſt, that is but one Mediatour betwixt God and Man, the Man Chriſt Jeſus, who indeed in regard of his humane nature is inferiour to the Father, but yet ſuch a Lord by whom are all things, and we by him. The Papiſts acknowledge but one God, but they have many Baalims, many Lords and Mediatours both of interceſſion and of Redemption too. But this is an heatheniſh opinion, as indeed many of theirs are: whence they are called Gentiles, in oppoſition to the holy City the Church, Rev. 11.2.

wherein ſhe burnt incenſe to them] which typified prayer, both in the ſweet ſavour, and aſcending property; elationibus fumi with pillars of ſmoke, Chap. 3.6. This ſhould have been done to God alone. He is the proper object of prayer, as being omnipreſent, omniſcient and omnipotent: and beſides in covenant with his people: He never ſaid to the ſeed of Jacob, ſeek ye me in vain. No: he ſcorns that, and leaves that to the Heathen idols to do, Eſa. 45.18.19.Deut. 2, 2.Deut 2:2 Our Rock is not as their rock our enemies themſelves being judges. He is not like Baal, that purſuing his enemies could, not hear his friends. Nor like Jupiter of Creet that was carved without ears,Luc. dial. and could not be at leiſure to attend ſmall matters, no nor greater neither, unleſs it were at certain times when he was pleaſed to look down through certain chinkers in heaven, as Lucian faineth. He is not as Diana, who being preſent at Alexanders birth,Sic. de nat deor. lib. 2. could not at the ſame time preſerve her Epheſian temple from the fire. O thou that heareſt prayers (ſaith David: that's one of his titles of honour. Pſal. 65.2.) unto thee ſhall all ſleſh come. Whither elſe ſhould I go? Baſil makes prayer a chain tied to Gods ear, and mans mouth. Jamblichus ſaith, it is copula quâ homines cum Deo conjunguntur, a tie wherewith men are knit unto God.foreign. De orth. fid. Damaſcen ſaith it is an aſcent of the heart to heaven. The Church is ſaid to aſcend out of the world by theſe pillars of incenſe, Cant. 3.6. And as the Angel that appeared to Manoah by aſcending up in the flame of the Altar, is ſaid to do wondrouſly, Judg. 13.19, 20. So do the Saints by their daily devotions coming up (as Cornelius his prayers and alms did) for a memoriall before God, Act. 10.4. and being a precious incenſe, Pſal. 141.2. far beyond that of Baal Prieſts, or Chimney-Chaplaines, who were called Chemarims, 1 King. 23.5. Zeph. 1.4.Zeph 1:4or Black-ones, ab incenſione thuris from their much offering up of incenſe, with the ſmoke whereof they were blacked and ſooted; as ſome hold.

and ſhe decked her ſelf with her ear-rings and her jewels] Harlot-like: matrons adorn not themſelves ſo pompouſly. Whence Tully compares the Latine tongue to a grave Matrone; the Greek to a ſumptuous harlot in all her bravery. This drawes the ſenſes, and is therefore much in uſe amongſt adulterers and Idolaters: as Papiſts for inſtance with their exceſſive gayetie in Gods ſervice; their palles, copes and other maſſing-veſtments of as great price, ſome of them,Athena…s. as Demetrius king of Macedon his robewas: which none of his ſucceſſours would were propter invidioſam impendij magnificentiam for the richneſs thereof. Gods likes no ſuch doings now adayes in his ſervice. The High-Prieſt indeed of old was ſumptuouſly attired from head to foot. Os humeroſ que Deo ſimilis as repreſenting the perſon of God,Virg. that he might dazle the eyes of the beholders, and breed reverence in them by ſuch an appearance. But now it is far otherwiſe. Cor aureum requirit Deus, non veſtem. God lookes not for gorgeous array but gracious hearts: faith and love within, modeſty and humility p. 38without: theſe are things of great price in the ſight of God, 1 Pet. 3.4. theſe beautifie the ſoul better then Iſaacs jewels did Rebeccah's body. It was therefore excellent counſell that Tertullian gave the young women of his time,Lib. de cult. foemin. and may be uſefull to to us all: Veſtite vesſerico pietatis, byſſino ſanctitatis, &c. Cloath your ſelves, ſaith he with the ſilk of piety, with the ſattin of ſanctitie, with the purple of modeſtie. So ſhall you have God himſelf to be your ſuitour: Chriſt will make love to you, and greatly deſire your beauty. Pſal. 45.11. The kings daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold verſ. 13. She is like that Spartan woman mentioned by Plutarch, who when her neighbours were ſhewing their apparrell and jewels, ſhe brought out her children vertuous and well taught, and ſaid, Theſe are my ornaments and jewels.

and ſhe went after her lovers] This is oft objected to her, as a foul buſineſs indeed: this was the ſin that disjoynted Gods ſoul from her, to the making of her deſolate, a land not inhabited Jer. 6.8. We muſt take ſpeciall care, that no creature creep into the Bridall-bed betwixt Chriſt and the ſoul: or if any do, complain to him betime and he will play Phineas his part,Act. and Mon. as Maſter Bradford phraſeth it. And forgat me, ſaith the Lord] This is reſerved to the laſt, as the foot and root of all the forementioned evils both of ſin and puniſhment. See the lack of Gods holy fear Rom. 3.18. There is no fear of God before their eyes. And thence it is, that their throat is a gaping grave, their mouth full of gall and guile, that deſtruction and miſcry are in their wayes, &c. 13, 14, 15, 16. &c. Fearleſneſs and forgetfulneſs of God go alwayes together. Jer. 5.22, 23. thoſe that remember him and his preſence, cannot but bear an awfull reſpect to him. It is a problem in Ariſtotle, why are men credited more then other creatures. His anſwer is foreign, becauſe they beleeve a Deity. Man alone remembreth, and therefore reverenceth God. Thoſe therefore that ſo forget him, after long experience eſpecially of his gracious care to protect them and provide for them, as a husband doth for the wife of his boſom, theſe are ſtrange creatures, and muſt look to be viſited and reminded of him from whom they have ſo deeply revolted: for of all things God cannot abide to be forgotten. See Iſai. 17.10. Deut. 8.21.

Verſe 14. Therefore behold I will allure her] A ſtrange [Therefore] It may very well have a Behold at the heeles of it: For the ſenſe is this; Becauſe ſhe hath quite forgotten me, and will never be converted of her ſelf, I will prevent her by my mercy, recalling her mildly but mightily by my Goſpel. Seducam eam et deducam in deſertum. Such another ſweet text as this we have in Eſay 57.17, 18. For the iniquity of his covetouſneſſe was I wroth and ſmote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. I have ſeen his wayes, and will heal him. Wayes? what wayes? his covetouſneſs, frowardneſs, &c. And it is as if God ſhould ſay, I ſee theſe froward children will lay nothing to heart: frownes will not humble them, blowes will not better them. If I do not ſave them till they ſeek me they will never ſaved: therefore I will heal him, I will lead him alſo, and reſtore comforts unto him and to his mourners: I will create the fruit of the lips peace to him. O the never-enough adored depth of Gods free grace and fuperabundant love to his people! This David well underſtood,Pſal. 25.11.Ps 25:11 and therefore prayed, pardon my iniquity: for it is great. He knew that God both could and would remit more then he could commit: and that mercy rejoyceth againſt judgement; whileſt God for his own ſake (though not for ours) blotteth out the thick cloud as well as the cloud, enormities as infirmities Eſay 44.22. See his Non-obſtante Pſa. 106.8. his Reſolve Gen. 8.21. and his Mandamus Pſal. 14.4. and then it muſt needs be done, though no god would do it but himſelf Mic. 7.18. though no man could imagine how it ſhould be done. Eſay 55.7, 8. I will allure her] that is, I will effectually perſwade her by the preaching of the Goſpel. Men may ſpeak perſwaſively, but God onelyonly can perſwade Gen. 9.27. they may ſpeak to the ear, but He to the heart: and this He doth to his Elect, not onelyonly by a morall perſwaſion, but by an irreſiſtible inward attraction, Act. 11.17. by a mercifull violence, by making them willing to follow the Lamb whereſoever he goeth. They kiſſe the Son with a kiſſe of love and homage, having firſt been kiſſed with the kiſſes of his mouth: whereupon immediately followes, Draw me, we will run after thee, Cant. 1.1, 4. Eliſha could more with a kiſſe, then his man could with a ſtaffe, in raiſing the dead child. Chriſts works upon his people fortiter, but yet p. 39ſuaviter powerfully,Recte Calvin. textum hunc reddit Inclinabo eam. but yet ſweetly he inclineth their hearts to his teſtimonies and not to covetouſneſs, Pſal. 119.36. and brings them to the obedience of faith monendo potius quam minando, docondo quam ducendo. If he do ſeduce them (as ſome render the word here) it is for no hurt, it is but to ſpeak in a word private with them, as one friend may with another: it is but to give them his loves, as he ſpeakes in the Canticles: to ſhew them his glory; as he did Moſes: to ſpread before them his beauty, and ſo to catch them by guile, as Saint Paul did Corinthians 2 Ep. 12.19. to ſteal away their hearts before they are awar…, according to that Cant. 6.12. that they thenceforth may be an Amminadib, a willing people, a free-hearted people, Pſal. 110.3. waiting for the law Eſay 42.8. and walking by the rule, Gal 6.16. &c. Oh it is a bleſſed thing to be thus allured, thus inveigled, thus ſeduced out of the wayes of ſin and death, into the wayes of holineſs and happineſs; by the doctrine of the Goſpel,Mercer. Rivet. which is the true Pitho, the Suadae medulla, qua capiuntur homines, ſed bono ſuo, the divine Rhetorike, wherewith mens minds are taken, but for their greateſt good.

and I will bring her into the wilderneſs] Look how I at firſt allured my people out of Egypt where they ſat by the fleſh-pots, and enjoyed the pleaſures of ſin for a ſeaſon (out of Egypt have I called my ſon, that I might ſet him higher then the Kings of the earth) and brought them into the wilderneſs, and there extraordinarily provided for them (never was Prince ſo ſerved in his greateſt pomp) and ſpake to their hearts, giving them right judgements and true lawes good ſtatutes and commandments Neh. 7.13. to their great comfort, Pſ. 19.8. So will I again do for them, and much more then ſo, by Chriſt, in the dayes of the Goſpel. Indeed as the people at their firſt ſetting foot upon the promiſed land, met with trouble in the valley of Achor by the ſin of Achan; ſo ſhall the Saints be ſure of troubles; but Chriſt will not leave them comfortleſs: a door of hope he will open unto them in their deepeſt diſtreſſes. Death ſhall be unto them not a trap-door to hell (as it is to the wicked) but an inlet into life eternall, where they ſhall ſing the ſong of Moſes, and the ſong of the Lamb. Rev. 15.13. Let the Saints therefore rejoyce in hope, be patient in tribulation. Vineyards God will give them here, ſome grapes at leaſt of the heavenly Canaan aforehand, ſpirituall benedictions, Divine comforts to ſuſtain them, ſuch generous wine as ſhall make the lips of thoſe that are aſleep to ſpeak, Cant. 7.6. Yea to ſing, Eph. 5.18.19. Lo, ſuch wine, of the beſts and ſuch ſongs of joy ſhall the Saints have for thoſe vines which before he threatened to deſtroy verſ. 12. and that mirth which he would cauſe to ceaſe, verſ. 11. Repentance can turn croſſes into comforts, and (like the Philoſophers ſtone) make golden afflictions 1 Pet. 1.7. As it is the fair and happy daughter of an ugly and odious mother, viz. ſin;foreign. ſo it is the mother of all mercies and benefits: for it is repentance unto life, Act. 11.18. yea to ſalvation, and therefore never to be repented of, 2 Cor. 7.10. It is that rainbow, which if God ſee ſhining in our hearts and lives, he will not onelyonly not drown us; but do us all good.

and ſpeak comfortably to her] Heb. ſpeak to her heart, ſuch things as ſhall chear her up, and make her heart leap and even dance Levalto's. Confer Gen. 34.3. Ruth 2.13. Judg. 9.3. Paſtquam perauxero eam. Tremell. Benigne alloquar. Caſtalio.Gen 34:3Ruth 2:13Judg 9:3See Iſai. 40.1. and comparing 1 Sam. 15.35. Obſerve that the ſame word foreign Nacham ſignifieth to repent firſt, and then to comfort. And to this purpoſe it is that ſome tranſlate the text thus, After I have brought her into the wilderneſs, and ſo humbled her thoroughly, as I once did her forefathers there, I will ſpeak to her heart: yea I will take her alone for the purpoſe, even into a ſolitary wilderneſs, where I may more freely impart my minde to her (ſo ſome fenſe it) that having her whole deſire ſhe may come up from the wilderneſs, leaning upon her beloved, Cant. 8.5. and ſo be brought into the bride houſe, with all ſolemnity.

Verſe 15. I will give her her vineyards from thence] or. from thenceforth: either from that time, or from that place. God, as out of his melting heartedneſs toward her he thinks ſhe hath ſuffered double for all her ſins, Eſay 40.1. (though ſhe think ſhe hath ſuffered leſs then her ſins Ezra 9.13.) So he is ready, upon her repentance, to make her (ſtrait) a plentifull amends, He deſtroyed her vineyards and damped her mirth, verſ. 11.12. Now ſhe ſhall have all again, with advantage: not her corn onelyonly for neceſſity, but her vineyards alſo for delight: yea an honeſt affluence of both. She ſhall have reall manifeſtations of his love: and although he take her into the wilderneſs, yet will he not be unto her a wilderneſs, or a Land of darkneſs: wherefore then ſhould his people ſay, we are Lords, we will come no more unto thee? p. 40Jer. 2.31. why ſhould they not rather reaſon thus with the prodigall. I will go to my father: for in his houſe is bread enough. I will return to my firſt husband, for then was it better with me then now, I will repent, for the kingdome of heaven is at hand &c. Lo this is the right way of reaſoning, ſc. from mercy to duty, from deliverance to obedience,2 Cor. 5.14. Tit. 2.14. Ro. 2.4. Ro. 12.1.2 Cor 5:14Titus 2:14Rom 2:4Rom 12:1 Ezra. 9.14. The love of Chriſt conſtraineth us, ſaith Paul: the grace of the Goſpell teacheth us to deny ungodlineſſe, and to live godly, &c. the kindneſſe of God leadeth to repentance: & if beſought by the mercies of God to preſent our bodies for a ſacrifice to God, how can we do otherwiſe? If God bring vineyards out of wilderneſſes, comforts out of croſſes, meate out of eaters, honey out of the rock,Deut. 32.13.Deut 32:13 and oyle out of the flinty rock, that is, mercies out of difficulties, they muſt needs be very hard-hearted, that are not melted and mollified thereby.

And the vally of Achor ſor a doore of hope] The vally was neer unto Jericho, that city of Palmtrees, and was fertile, fat, and full of vines, Iſai. 65.10. thought to be the ſame with Engeddi which is often mentioned in the Canticles. This vally was a kinde of dore or inlet into the promiſed land: and here they began firſt to eate of the fruits of the land, which they had ſo much longed for, Joſh. 5.10. and now hoped for the enjoyment of the whole; whereof that vally was a pledg, and earneſt. Hereby then is covertly promiſed to Gods people, deliverance by Chriſt, together with the firſt-fruits and earneſt of the ſpirit, whereby they ſhall be brought to an aſſured hope of the harveſt of happineſſe, of the whole bargain of Chriſts benefits, Spes in humanis incerti nomen boni: ſpes in divinis nomenest certiſſemi Heb. 11.1. this is hope unfaileable, as proceeding from faith unfained, which can believe God upon his bare word, and that againſt ſenſe in things inviſible, and againſt reaſon in things incredible. It can take a man out of the vally of Achor, that is of trouble (ſee Joſh. 7.6.) and ſet him on the everlaſting mountains, where as from Piſgah, he may have a full proſpect of heaven; the hope where of maketh abſent joyes preſent, wants plentitudes; and beguiles calamity, (as good company doth the way) yea lookes upon it as an in let to mercy, a promiſe whereof to apoſtatizing Iſrael ſome make this fat vally of Achor to be dotis nomine, as a dowry: in alluſion to the manner of the Jewes in their marriages to give ſome piece of ground to the ſpouſe as a pledge.

and ſhe ſhall ſing there] As rejoycing in hope, Rom. 12.12. Et res plena gaudio & ſpes, Pſal. 65.13.Ps 65:13as Bernard hath it. They ſhall ſhout for joy, they ſhall alſo ſing. Some think the Prophet here alludeth to that cuſtome of the Jewes to ſing in the time of their vintage, See Judg. 9.27. Eſay. 16.10. Others will have it to be an alluſion to their marriage-ſongs: that being the time of the rejoycing of a mans heart Cant. 3.11. Viz. at the recovery of his loſtrib. The Septuagint render … ſhall be humbled: and indeed the word ſignifieth both to be humbled and …. Some are humbled but not humble, low but not lowly: theſe muſt look for more load. But they that mourn in a godly manner, are ſure to be comforted. God will turn all their ſighing into ſinging; they ſhall ſing aloud upon their beds which they have ſoaked in teares,Goſr. in rit. Epiſt. l. 1. Conf. l. 6. c. 12. and made to ſwim againe, as David Pſa. 6. A reconciled condition is a ſinging condition, Bernard was ſo over-joyed at his converſion, that he was almoſt beſide himſelf. Cyprian telleth his friend Donatus, that his comforts then were inexpreſſible. Auſtin ſaith the like of himſelf. The Saints cannot but ſing at this dore of hope, though they be not yet got in at it. See Pſal. 138.5. they ſhall ſing in the wayes of the Lord, Pſal. 119.54.Ps 119:54though they be yet but viatores. Gods ſtatutes are their ſongs even in the houſe of their pilgrimage; as hoping to ſing ſhortly in the height of Zion, to flow to the bountifulneſſe of the Lord, Jer. 31.22. As in the dayes …f her youth, and in the day when ſhe came up &c. Out of a low countrey, but a lower condition; being ſhiftleſſe and ſuccorleſſe. Then did God put Timbrels into their hands, and ditties into their mouths. See Exod. 15. And ſo it is here ſaid, he will do againe in the time of the goſpell. Let our Nonſingers here take notice, that ſinging (and that joyntly with others) is a Goſpell-ordinance: and for further proof let them read Mr. Cottons excellent treatiſe upon this ſubject.

Verſe. 16. And it ſhall be in that day] A ſweet promiſe of a thorow reformation, much like that Zach. 13.2. God will turne to his people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to ſerve him with one ſhoulder, p. 41Zeph. 3.9. For which end he formes their ſpeech for them, & tutours them here how to terme him. Iſhi they muſt call him, but not Baali, my husband,So Tyrannus; fur, ſophiſta. but not my Lord: Not that there was any hurt in the word my Baal or Lord: but becauſe it had been abuſed and given to Idols, God would have none of it: or becauſe it was grown among the better ſort a name of contempt: like as for the ſame reaſon the word Burden is rejected, Jer. 23.36. Or laſtly, leſt the people whileſt they ſpoke of one thing ſhould think of another: and naming Baal ſhould be put in minde of an Idol. This is Hieromes reaſon. Some diſtinguiſh thus betwixt the 2 words,Lyra. Oecelamp. that Iſh is a name of love, Baal of feare, Others obſerve that Iſh ſignifieth an excellent man, and is therefore made choyce of as every way better then Baal, or Lord. Auguſtus forbad men to call him Lord: and deſired rather that more amiable name of Father of his countrey. It is wiſdome when we call upon God to make choyce of fit titles, not onelyonly ſuch as he in his word hath warranted, but alſo ſuch as may be ſuitable to our requeſts, and helpfull to our faith in prayer; ſuch as wherein we may ſee the thing prayed for comming towards us, as it were. This will notably excite devotion. Inſtances of it ſee Pſal. 80.1. Act. 1.24. and 4.24.25. &c. Note there and in the next verſe, that there is no ſmall danger in words and names. What a deale of miſchief hath the word Huguenot done in France, and Puritan here. Anno 1572. Cardinall Allen at Rhemes inſtructed his emiſſary-ſeducers, ſent over hither, to divide the people under the names of Proteſtant and puritan: provoking them thereby to reall and mutuall both hate and contempt. His Rhemiſts in their anotations on 1 Tim. 20. warn their readers of uſing the words of Hereticks (ſo they call us) though they have no great hurt in them: and hold to their old termes of maſſe, pennance, Prieſt &c. they call us Novatores, but we may call them ſo better. The truth is, we may not teach nova, nor yet novè? Caſtalion cannot be excuſed in his Jana Genius Reſpublica for Eccleſia and other affected novelties. Melanchthons wiſh was, that men would not onelyonly teach the ſame things, but in iiſdem verbis, in iiſdem ſyllabis in the ſame words, yea in the ſame ſyllables: for he that faineth new words brings in new doctrines (it may be thought) as did Arminius. And yet it is not many yeares ſince here amongſt us, that he that would not be an Arminian was held no better then a practicall Puritan. But let us keep our old words (ſaid thoſe Veteratores) and we ſhall eaſily keep our old faith: The devill doth ſometimes ſpeake the trueth for his own ends. But was Wincheſter well adviſed when he made The Lord, and not to ſay our Lord, Act. & Mon. 1116. Ib. 1803.to be ſymbolum baereticorum, a note of an heretick. Or Dr. Stery, whoſe rule to know an heretick was this, they will ſay The Lord, and we Praiſe God; and The living God. This was not Novum nomen, but Novum crimen, C. Caeſar. Much like that of Pope Paul 2.Cade of the church. Alſted. who pronounced them hereticks that did but name the name Academy either in earneſt or in jeſt: And another Pope made it hereſie to hold that there were any Antipodes.

Verſe 17. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth] So preciſe ſhe ſhall be, ſo circumſpect, according to Exod. 23.13. that ſhe ſhould ſpit out of her mouth thoſe dunghill duties with utmoſt contempt; as David had done before her, Pſal. 16.4. If bodily filthineſſe may not be once named among Chriſtians Ephe. 5.3. why ſhould ſpirituall? The Primitive Chriſtians would not call their dayes of the week by the Heatheniſh names of Dies Martis, Dies Mercurii &c. (as Mercurius Triſmegiſt had. ſuperſtitiouſly named them) but the firſt, ſecond, third &c. day of the week: as not willing to have the names of thoſe Idols mentioned among Gods people. Mentioned they may be (no doubt) recitative without ſin, as Baal is Rom. 11.4. and Caſtor and Pollux. Act. 18.11. but not honoris gratia for honour ſake, or without ſome expreſſion of deteſtation of them; ſuch as was that of Cyril, who ſpeaking of Paganiſh idolatries breaks out thus, foreign we rake a dunghill in a diſcourſe of dunghill gods. What a patheticall ſpeech or rather ſhriek is that of Almighty God, Jer. 44.4. Oh! do not this abominable thing: do not honour Idols in the leaſt.Act. & Mou. ſhall I bow my knee to yonder Iackanapes? ſaid that martyr pointing to the Rood in Pauls. Should I kiſs Baal? as they did 1 King. 19.18. Or ſo much as kiſs my hand in honour to him, as Job. 31.27. were not this to deny the God that is above? Verſe 28. And how can thoſe be excuſed that have ſo often in their mouths Jupiter omnipotens, mehercule, p. 42Mecaſtor, Hieron. Damaſo.& caetera magis portenta quam numina, ſaith Hierom: and thoſe that think their verſes nothing ſo neate, unleſſe there be often naming, and ſometimes invocating too of Apollo, Jam. 3.11.Jas 3:11Minerva, Venus, &c. Doth a fountain ſend forth at the ſame place ſweet water and bitter? Thoſe that ſay they think no hurt in all this, are no more excuſed thereby then he that ſaid, Laſciva eſt nobis pagina,Ovid. vita proba.

Thoſe that thus borrow garniſh of the Egyptians, may therewith get their botches and boyles. Howſoever, they may feare to have Bellarmine himſelf (who was no preciſian) to riſe up in judgment againſt them and condemn them; who would not have Paul called Divus Paulus, but Beatus: becauſe Divus, and Diva, were the words of the heathens for their gods and goddeſſes.

and they ſhall no more be remembred] ſc. without indignation and deteſtation, without a What have I to do any more with Idols? Hoſ. 14.1. Eſay. 30.22.Hos 14:1Isa 30:22or a Get you hence, Abite hinc, abite longe as Charles 5 ſaid of all his worldly pomp and atchievements at the laſt, as Amnon thruſt Tamar out of dores when he had had his will of her, when he had moyled himſelf in that filthy guzzle, and ſullied his conſcience. She multiplied her whoredomes (ſaith the Prophet) in calling to remembrance the dayes of her youth wherein ſhe had plai'd the harlot in the land of Egypt, Ezek. 23.21. and verſe 8. Not the new ſent of meat, but the remembrance of their old fleſh-pots moved Iſrael: they found ſweetneſſe in a luſt twice ſod, they had ſtill the broth of theſe abominable things in their veſſels, as the Prophet Eſay hath phraſed it, Chap. 65.4. To remember with delight ſins paſt is, to recommit them: and herein the deceitfull heart is with all care to be looked unto, that when we call to mind former evill practiſes, though with an intent to be humbled for them, we be not inſnared, and drawn to commit them afreſh by being tickled in the thought of them.

Verſe 18. And in that day will I make my covenant for them with the beaſts &c.] At the firſt creation all things were ſubject to man on this condition, that he ſhould be ſubject to his maker as his maſter.Auguſtin. Rebellis autem facta eſt quia homo numini, creatura homini. But no ſooner did man rebell againſt God, but the creature began to rebel againſt him. Look how a Noble-mans ſervants will draw in defence of their Lord, and ſouldiers fight for their Generall: ſo here, God is Lord of hoſts.Pſal 119.91.Ps 119:91 They continue this day according to thine ordinance (and fight in their courſes Judg. 5.20.) for they are all thy ſervants, ready preſt they are to ſeiſe a ſinner, and to doe execution upon him, as a traytour, and rebel to the higheſt Majeſty: as the ſword that Hector gave Ajax turned into his own bowels, when once he began to abuſe it to the hurt of hurtleſſe creatures. Now here God promiſeth to aboliſh that enmity, to make peace, even pacem omnimodam, peace, peace, as the Prophet Eſay hath it, Chap. 26. a muliplied peace, a perfect, ſheere, pure peace with God, with themſelves, with all creatures: and to reſtore them in Chriſt that dominion they once had over the works of his hands,Rom. 8.28.Rom 8:28 Pſal. 8.6. with Heb. 2.7. yea power over all nations Rev. 2.26. with a promiſe that all ſhall work together for their good, and they ſhall be fully freed if not from the ſmart, yet from the hurt of every creature. Compare Ezek. 34.25. Job. 5.23. Eſay. 11.6.7. where the Prophet ſeemeth to allude to the carriage of the beaſts in Noahs Ark; all bloodineſs and rapine laid aſide. The Jewes fooliſhly argue from theſe texts, that Chriſt is not yet come, becauſe the Lion yet rageth, the Wolf devoureth, Serpents yet ſting and ſpare not the beſt. And ſome interpreters of ours are of opinion, that theſe promiſes ſhall be literally fulfilled at the reſtitution of all things, which they make to be at the time of the call of the Jewes. But when I find Nebuchadnezzar and other enemies of the Church to be called Lions, Leopards, Wolves &c. as Jerem. 5.6. and elſwhere, I cannot but think that theſe might be here meant, in part at leaſt,Virg. ponent que ferocia Poeni Corda volente Deo: according to Peters viſion Act. 10. and that God will ſo meeken the ſpirits of his converts, that they ſhall not hurt nor deſtroy in all his holy mountain Eſay. 11.9. The literall ſenſe is very good I grant: but yet it is ſtill to be taken (as all ſuch promiſes are) 1. with exception of the croſs here. 2. with expectation of the full accompliſhment hereafter, in the ſtate of perfection.

p. 43And I will break the bowe, and the ſword, and the battle out of the earth.] Theſe words ſeem to be oppoſed to that threat Chap. 1.5. I will break the bowe of Iſrael, &c. And it is as if he ſhould ſay, After that I have broken their power, and tamed their pride by the enemies forces, then I will puniſh thoſe enemies, and ſo take order with them, that they ſhall not hurt my people by any of their hoſtilities. Lo, peace is a piece of Gods Covenant; and covenant-mercies are very ſweet, when all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, Pſal. 25.10. Not mercy onelyonly, but truth too, that comes by vertue of a covenant: Mark, what God ſaith to Abraham, Gen. 17.20, 21. I have bleſſed Iſhmael; twelve Princes ſhall he beget: but my Covenant will I eſtabliſh with Iſaac. And in the ſame Chapter Divines obſerve, that in ten verſes thereof, God repeateth his Covenant which he made with Abraham, thirteen times: to note thus much, that that was the mercy indeed that muſt ſatiſfie Abraham in all his troubles, ſorrows, and afflictions: For the Covenant of Gods peace ſhall not be removed, no not when the mountains ſhall depart, and the hils be removed, Eſay 54.10. The Lord will give ſtrength to his people; the Lord will bleſſe his people with peace, Pſal. 29.11.

and will make them to lie down ſafely.] Being gathered under my wings, they ſhall repoſe themſelves upon my power and providence, committing themſelves to me in well-doing. All true and ſolid ſecurity, whether inward or outward; all true peace, whether of countrey, or of conſcience floweth from Gods favour, Pſal. 3. & 4. Hence the Apoſtle wiſheth grace and peace, and the Angels ſang,Epheſ. 1.2. Luke 2 14. Deut. 33.16.Eph 1:2Luke 2:14Deut 33:16 Glory be to God on high, and peace on earth, even the peace of good-will toward men, the good-will of him that dwelt in the buſh. The Lord is with me, ſaith David, I will not fear what man can do unto me. I will ſleep and wake, and wake and ſleep again;Pſal. 3.Ps 3 for the Lord ſuſtaineth me. No wonder I ſlept ſo ſoundly and ſafely (ſaid King Philip) when Antipater watched me. Abner watched not ſo well, when David fetcht away Sauls ſpear and pitcher, and was barely told of it.Phil. 4.7. 1 Pet. 1.5. Lev. 26.5. Pſal. 116.7.Phil 4:71 Pet 1:5Lev 26:5Ps 116:7 Iſhboſheth was ſlain whiles he ſlept. The Saints go ever under a double guard, the peace of God within them, and the power of God without them, and may therefore in utramque aurem dormire, lie down ſafely, (See Ier. 23.6.) call their ſouls to reſt.

Verſe 19. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever,] This, becauſe it could not be eaſily beleeved, is thrice repeated. We beleeve not (what ever men may dream to the contrary) without much ado, and many conflicts. When faith goes about to lay hold on Chriſt, the devils raps her on the fingers, and would beat her off. Hence ſhe is fain to take great pains for it, to work hard for her living. The Apoſtle ſpeaks more then once of the work of faith, foreign.1 Theſſ. 1.3. and 2 Epiſt. 1.11. And it is no leſſe difficult (ſay Divines) to beleeve the Goſpel then to fulfill the Law. No man can come unto the Son, except the Father draw him: the ſoul naturally hangs back, and had as lief put off its immortality, as put on Chriſt:Joh. 6.John 6 The devil alſo doth his utmoſt to hinder. The conteſt was not ſo great betwixt Michael and him concerning Moſes his dead Body, as it is here betwixt the beleever and him concerning Chriſts living body. And ſhould not God mightily aſſiſt, the buſineſſe would never be done. Hence faith is called, the faith of Gods power, Tarnan.Col. 2.12. the faith of his operation, and what an Almighty power God doth therein put forth, is elegantly deſcribed by the Apoſtle in that ſixfold gradation, Epheſ. 1.19. which ſhews it to be more then a morall ſwaſion. Betroth thee, I will, I will, I will, ſaith God here: and ſome think the Sacred Trinity is here (though darkly, according to the manner of thoſe times) brought in betrothing the Church in this trina repetitio. And mark, that he doth not ſay, I will be reconciled unto thee, and receive thee again after thy foul-playes with me, (for Reconciliationes ferè ſunt vulpinae amicitiae inter homines, Men are ſeldom reconciled heartily) but I will eſpouſe thee, marry thee unto me, and that for ever. I will null the Bill of divorce, love you no leſſe then if you had continued true to me, or were now a pure Virgin. Quis hanc Dei bonitatem dignè collaudet? ſaith Druſius. Who can ſufficiently ſet forth this goodneſſe of God? When God once pardoneth ſin, he will remember it no more; he will not come with back-reckonings. Diſcharges in juſtification are never repealed or called in again. Peccata non redeunt is a true axiom: and it is no leſſe true, that peccata non minuunt juſtificationem. God can pardon ſins of all ſizes; and aſſoon diſperſe the thick cloud, as the cloud, Eſay 44.22. See the matchleſsneſſe p. 44of his mercy to a repenting adultereſſe, Jer. 3.5. What greater love can he ſhew to her, then to marry her again, and rejoyce over her as a bridegroom rejoyceth over his bride, Eſay 62.5. Yea to reſt in his love, and to joy over her with ſinging, Zeph. 3.17. and to do this for ever, (as it is here promiſed) ſo that there ſhall be no more breach of conjugall love and communion for ever betwixt them. Ama amorem illius. Oh love this love of his, ſaith Bernard, and reciprocate. And as the wife will keep her bed onelyonly for her husband (ſaith Mr. Bradford Martyr) although in other things ſhe is content to have fellowſhip with others;Acts & Mon. fol. 1503. as to ſpeak, ſit, eat, drink, go, &c. ſo our conſciences (which are Chriſts wives) muſt needs keep the bed, that is, Gods ſweet promiſes, alonely for our ſelves and our huſband; there to meet together, to embrace, and laugh together, and to be joyfull together: If ſin, the law, the devil, or any thing would creep into the bed, and lie there, then complain to thine husband Chriſt, and forthwith thou ſhalt ſee him play Phineas part. And again, if Satan ſhould ſummon us, ſaith he, to anſwer for our ſinnes, or debts, in that the wife is no ſutable perſon, but the husband, we may well bid him enter his action againſt our husband Chriſt, and he will make him a ſufficient anſwer. Thus Mr. Bradford in a certain letter of his unto a friend.

In righteouſneſſe and in judgement, in loving kindneſſe, &c.] Theſe are the gems of that ring that Chriſt beſtoweth upon his Spouſe, ſaith Mercer. Theſe are thoſe foreign, or love-tokens, that Chriſt the Bridegroom giveth to his Bride the Church, ſaith Tarnonius. Here he promiſeth to performe to her, and to work in her all thoſe offices and requiſites due from married couples in that eſtate the one to the other. God will both juſtifie her, by the imputation or Chri…s righteouſneſſe; and ſanctifie her by the ſpirit of judgement, that is or ſanctification. (See John 16.10, 11. Matth. 12.20. and the Note there.) And becauſe the beſt have their frailties, and although they be veſſels of honour, yet are they but earthen veſſels, and have their flawes, their cracks, therefore it is added, I have betrothed thee unto me in loving-kindneſſe, and in mercies. q. d. My heart and wayes towards you ſhall be full of gentleneſſe and ſweetneſſe, without mo…oſity or harſhneſſe. My loving-kindneſſe ſhall be great, Neh. 9.17. marvellous great, Pſal. 31.21. Excellent, Pſal. 36.7. Everlaſting, Eſay 54.8. Mercifull, Pſal. 117.2. Multitudes of loving-kindneſſe,Pſal.36.5.Ps 36:5 Eſay 63.7. as for my mercies, or bowels of compaſſion towards you, they are incomprehenſible, as having all the dimenſions, Epheſ. 3.18. Thy mercy O God, reacheth unto the heavens, there's the height of it: Great is thy mercy towards me, and thou haſt delivered my ſoul from the lowermost hell, there is the depth of his mercy.Pſal. 86.13.Ps 86:13 The earth is full of thy goodneſſe, there is the breadth of it. All the ends of the earth have ſeen thy ſalvation, there is the length of it. O pray to ſee that bleſſed ſight, Epheſ. 1.18. and 3.18. that beholding as in a glaſſe, this glory of the Lord, ſhining bright in his Attributes, you may be transformed into the ſame image, 2 Cor. 3.18.2 Cor 3:18from glory to glory: and as in water, face anſwereth to face, as lead anſwereth the mould, as tally anſwereth tally, Indenture indenture, ſo may we reſemble and expreſſe the Lord our Husband, in righteouſneſſe, holineſſe, loving-kindneſſe, tender mercies, and faithfulneſſe: that as the woman is the image and glory of the man, ſo may we be of Chriſt. For our encouragement it muſt be remembred, that the Covenant that Chriſt maketh with us, is a double Covenant, to performe his part as well as ours, to make us ſuch as he requiret… us to be in all holy converſation and godlineſſe: for which end alſo we have a …uplica… of his Law written in our hearts, Jer. 31.33. a law in our mind, anſwerable to the law of his mouth, Rom. 7.23. In a word, he graciouſly undertaketh … parts: therefore is the Covenant everlaſting, and the fruits of it are ſure mer…, compaſſions that fail not. In foedere novo nihil poteſt incidere quo miniss ſit …raum, quum non ſit ei adjecta conditio, ſaith Mercer upon this Text: that is, In the new Covenant there can nothing fall out whereby it ſhould not be everlaſting, ſith there is no condition required on our part. That faith, or faithfulnoſſe, mentioned in the next verſe, God requireth not as a mutual reſtipulation of our part. (as works were in the old covenant) But here it is rather a declaration of his pleaſure what he would have us to do, and whereto he will enable us. It is not a condition to endanger the Covenant; but an aſſurance, that he will give us ſtrength to keep it.

p. 45Verſe 20. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulneſſe] Tremellius, Druſius, and Tarnonius render it in fide in faith, and interpret it of de fide vera et ſalvifica of that true juſtifying faith whereby we are united to Chriſt: And for this they urge the next words, as an Expoſition of theſe. And they ſhall ſhall know the Lord: alledging ſome other texts of Scripture wherein ſaving knowledge is put for juſtifying faith, as Eſay 53.11. Jer. 31.33. Job. 17.3. The Septuagint alſo render it foreign.Tarnou. in exer. cit. Biblic. See Maſter Dugards treatiſe called The change. Now foreign is the New Teſtament is oft uſed for ſaving and growing faith Tit. 1.1. Col. 2.1. and 3 10. which indeed is the bond of the ſpirituall marriage: and is it ſelf nothing elſe but a fiduciall aſſent preſuppoſing knowledge. For man is a rationall creature, faith a prudent thing, comprehending in it ſelf theſe three acts: 1 knowledge in the underſtanding. 2. Aſſent or rather Conſent in the Will. 3. Truſt or confidence in the heart; certainty of Adherence: if not of Evidence. The Papiſts faſten faith in the will, as in the adaequate ſubject, that they may the mean while do what they will with the underſtanding and the heart. To which purpoſe they exclude all knowledge, & deteſt Truſt in Chriſts promiſes, expunging the very name of it every where by their Indices Expurgatorij. A blind belief as the Church beleeves is as much as they require of their miſled and muzzled Proſelytes. Bellarmine ſaith that faith may far better be defined by ignorance then by knowledge. But how ſhall men beleeve on him of whom they have not heard? Let us leave to the Papiſts, their implicit faith and their blind obedience: and cry after Chriſt as that poor man did. Lord that mine eyes might be opened, and that I may know the Lord] yea grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt. Theſe things have I written unto you (ſaith Saint John to thoſe that were no Babyes or Zanyes in faith or knowledge) that beleeve on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternall life, and that ye may (yet more) beleeve in the Son of God. 1 John. 5.13.1 John 5:13David though he had proceeded further in the diſcovery of Divine truthes then thoſe before him, Pſal. 119.99. yet he was ſtill to ſeek of that which might be known ver. 96. Even as thoſe great diſcoverers of the new-found lands in America were wont to confeſſe at their return, that there was ſtill a Plus-ultra more yet to be diſcovered.

Verſ. 21. And it ſhall come to paſſe in that day] In that time of grace and reconciliation, fitly ſet forth by the name of a day in regard of 1 Revelation. 2 Adornation. 3 Conſolation. 4 Diſtinction. 5 Speedy Preterition;

I will hear ſaith the Lord of Hoſts;] that is, I that have the command of both the upper and nether ſprings and forces, Sun, Moon, Stars, &c. Deut. 4.9. thoſe ſtorehouſes of Gods good treaſure which he openeth to our profit Deut. 28.12. and therehence makes a ſcatter of riches upon the earth by their influence. I that ſtop and unſtop thoſe bottles of the skie the clouds which there hang and move, though waightie with their own burden: I that make the earth to bring forth and bud, that it may give ſeed to the ſower, and meat to the eater, Eſay 55.10. &c.

I will hear the heavens] Heb. I will anſwer: that is I will ſo hear as that I will anſwer: ſo will not great ones ſometimes: or if they do, yet the poor man ſpeakes ſupplications, but the rich anſwereth him roughly. Solyman 2 The grand Signior, when many thouſands of his poor Chriſtian ſubjects,Prov. 18.23.Prov 18:23 to be eaſed of their heavie taxations fell down before him, and offered to turn Mahumetans, rejected their converſion, and doubled their taxations. God hath here a great ſort of ſuppliants.Blunts voyage. 111. Hom. (The Poets fam, that Litae or Supplications are alwayes about Jupiter) the heaven, the earth, the corn, &c. and he heareth and ſpeedeth them all. Never any humble petitioner went ſad out of his preſence: Never ſaid he to the houſe of Iſrael, Seek ye me in vain. The Heathen-idols may do ſo, but He ſcorns it. Are their any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cauſe rain? or can the heavens give ſhowers? Surely they cannot, till God have heard and anſwered them.Jer. 14.22.Jer 14:22 The genealogie of rain of corn and wine is here reſolved into Jehovah: and he promiſeth to endow his beloved Spouſe with them as part (though the leaſt part) of her joynture. All are yours for you are Chriſts 1 Cor. 3.23. In marrying with the heir you have right to All. Here is omnium rerum ubertas ob Deiſemen Chriſtum, ſaith Hier. plenty of all things for Chriſts ſake, who where ever he comes, cometh with a Cornucopia a horn of ſalvation, beſides a largeſſe of outward comforts. This was very neceſſary doctrine at all times to be taught in the Church, leſt preſſed with miſeries, men ſhould faint in their minds. Chriſt knowes we have need of theſe things alſo: and therefore not only bids us p. 46pray, but promiſeth to give us our daily bread by a concatenation of cauſes, by a ladder of providences which the Heathens called Deſtiny, but the Saints call it the harmony of the world; agallant deſcription whereof we have Ez…. 1. far different from the Stoikes Fate or the doctrine of Plato and Ariſtotle and other of the worlds wizzards concerning the divine providence, which they either denied or imbaſed.

and they ſhall hear the earth] which being chapt and ſcorcht ſeemeth to ſollicite ſhowers and fattening influences by an elegant Proſopopoeia, as if theſe inſenſible creatures underſtood what they did: when men are once in covenant with God, all the creatures will be ſerviceable to them, yea greedy to do them good: they wil even cry for it.Vinum pendulum, i.e. vuas.

Verſe 22. And the earth ſhall hear] That is, ſhall bear great ſtore of corn, wine, and oil; new and freſh oil the word ſignifies, newly expreſt, clear and ſhining, ſuch as is called golden oil, Deut. 28.14.Deut 28:14Zech. 4. Gods dear children ſhall have the beſt of the beſt, Eſay 55. Even the kidneyes of wheat, or whatſoever dainties the earth can afford them. They ſhall ſuck honey out of the Rock; or, if it be but water, yet it ſhall be to them as ſweet as hony, becauſe therein they taſte and ſee the Lords goodneſſe, and they have meat to eat that the world wots not of.

and they ſhall hear Jezreel] that is they ſhall anſwer the pains and prayers of Gods people, who are here called Jezreel ſtill (though the Septuagint …ead it Iſrael) not to upbraid them with their former wickedneſs and calamities thereby procured (which yet was the firſt reaſon of that name given them Ch. 1.) but rather to ſet forth the riches of his grace imparted to ſuch a graceleſs people. And withall to ſhew that nothing could hinder them from partaking of thoſe covenant-mercies, and that happy communion with God whereto they were now reſtored. This very name of theirs (once their ſhame ſhould now turn to their glory. O… Jezreel ſcattered by God (which is one ſignification of the name) they ſhould become Jezreel a ſeed of God (which is another) that they might comfort themſelves with the hope of Chriſt the promiſed ſeed, and know that their poſteritie ſhould not to degenerate into Gentility, but that many of them ſhould embrace Chriſt and inherite the promiſes, as did Araunah the Jebuſite who became a ſamous Proſelyte Zack. 9.7. (ſee the Note there) and as Jether the Iſmaelite, 1 Chron. 7.17. … ſaith and religion called an Iſraelite 2 Sam. 17.25. and as Chriſt …eth himſelf … of Nazareth as a title of honour, which was once caſt upon him as a reproach.

Verſe 23. And I will ſow her unto me in the earth] Not in the …ir, as once, when they were ſcattered into the four winds of heaven, but in the earth, which the heavens ſhould hear verſe 21. the inhabitants whereof ſhould … multip…ed: and become as the ſand of the ſea which cannot be meaſured, nor numbred, Chap. 1.10. See the Note there, and Jer. 31.27. Ezek. 36.37. The Preaching of the Goſpel i… a kind of ſowing of ſeed,Pſal. 129.7.Ps 129:7 1 Pet. 1.23. and this ſeeding is in the earth that they may be gathered into heaven, where the mower ſhall fill his hand and he that bindeth ſheaves his boſom. And although Gods e…ect lie here for a time under the clo…s, yet at length they ſhal fructifie, and many ſpring from them by whom the name of Chriſt ſhall be ſo propagated. He ſhall ſee his ſeed, he ſhall prolong his dayes, and the pleaſure of the Lord ſhall proſper in his hand Eſay 53.10.

and I will have mercy upon her] Her unhappy name Lorubamah ſhall be done away, and the contrary come in place. Lo this is as it were the collogue of the Sermon, and it is very comfortable. The Sun of righteouſneſs loves not to ſet in a cloud. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous, yea our God is mercifull. Be it that he is once righteous, yet he is both gracious and mercifull for it. Pſal. 116.5. The Jewes, for their ſeventie years captivity in Babylon, had ſeven ſeventies of yeers (ſet forth by Daniels weeks) granted for the enjoying of their own country. Gods merciemercy bear the ſame proportion to his puniſhments (when he hath to deal with his elect people) which ſeven a complete number, hath to an unity. This promiſe here made, the Apoſtle teſtifieth Rom. 9.25. to be begun to be fulfilled in his time by the converſion of ſome Jewes, and calling of ſome Gentiles. The full accompliſhment thereof we daily expect and pray for.

and I will ſay to them] that is, I will make them ſo: as when he ſaid to Lazarus come forth of the grave, he brought him forth: together with his word there went forth a power.

and they ſhall ſay] Dicere nſtrum eſt fides et obedientia noſtra, ſaith Pareus p. 47here; we ſay thus when we beleeve and obey. There ſhall be reſtored therefore between God and his people, a moſt ſweet harmony, and an intimate conjunction: ſuch as he had before deſcribed to be betwixt himſelf and all the ſecond cauſes, for his Churches ſake; And truly it is never will with us indeed, till the heavens anſwer the earth, till Chriſt the Sun of righteouſneſs ſo ſhine into our hearts, that we melt and comply as here, and as Zach. 13, 9. See the Note.