Works of Joseph Hall, Book 10 – Dedication 40

Works of Joseph Hall · Book 10 – Dedication 40

p. 921CONTEMPLATIONS. THE TENTH BOOKE. IEPTHA.

ISrael, that had now long gone a whoring from God, hath been puniſhed by the regiment of the Concubines ſonne, and at laſt ſeekes protection from the ſonne of an harlot: It is no ſmall miſery to bee obliged vntounto the vnworthy. The Concubines Sonne made ſute to them; They make ſure to the ſonne of the harlot. It was no fault of Ieptha that he had an ill mother, yet is he branded with the indignity of is baſtardie; neither would God conceale this blemiſh of nature, which Ieptha could neither auoide, nor remedy. God, to ſhew his deteſtation of whoredome, reuenges it not onelyonly vponupon the actors, but vponupon their iſſue: Hence he hath ſhut out the baſe ſon from the congregation of Iſrael, to the tenth generation, that a tranſient euill might hauehave a durable reproch attending it; and that after the death of the Adulterer, yet his ſhame might liue. But, that God who iuſtly tyes men to his lawes, will not abide that we ſhould tye him to our lawes, or his owne; Hee can both rectifie and ennoble the bloud of Ieptha. That no man ſhould be too much diſcouraged with the errors of his propagation, euen the baſe ſonne of man may be the lawfully begotten of God; and though he be caſt out from the inheritance of his brethren vponupon earth, may be admitted to the Kingdome of Iſrael.

I heare no praiſe of the lawfull iſſue of Gilead; onelyonly this miſ-begotten ſonne is commended for his valour, and ſet at the ſterne of Iſrael: The common gifts of God reſpect not the Parentage or bloud, but are indifferently ſcatred where he pleaſes to let them fall. The choice of the Almighty, is not guided by our rules; As in ſpirituall, ſo in earthly things, it is not in him that willeth: If God would hauehave men glory in theſe outward priuiledges, he would beſtow them vponupon none but the worthy.

Now, who can be proud of ſtrength or greatneſſe, when he ſees him that is not ſo honeſt, yet is more valiant, and more aduanced? Had not Ieptha been baſe, hee had not been thruſt out; and if he had not been thruſt out from his brethren, hee had neur been the Captaine of Iſrael. By contrary paſes to ours, it pleaſeth God to come to his owne ends: and how vſually doth he look the contrary way, to that he moues? No man can meaſure the concluſion of Gods act by his beginning: He that fetches good out of euill, raiſes the glory of men out of their ruine. Men louelove to goe the neereſt way, and often faile: God commonly goes about, and in his owne time comes ſurely home.

The Gileadites were not ſo forward to expell Ieptha, as glad to recall him; No Ammonite threatned them when they parted with ſuch an helper: Now whom they caſt out in their peace, they fetch home in their danger and miſery. That God, who neuer gaue ought in vaine, will finde a time to make vſe of any gift that he hath beſtowed vponupon men: The valour of Ieptha ſhall not ruſt in his ſecrcey, but be imployed to the p. 922common preſeruation of Iſrael. Neceſſity will driue vsus to ſeeke vp all our helps, euen thoſe whom our wantonneſſe hath deſpiſed.

How iuſtly are the ſuits of our need vpbraided with the errors of our proſperity! The Elders of Gilead now heare of their ancient wrong, & dare not finde fault with their exprobration; Did yee not hate mee, and expell mee out of my Fathers houſe? How then come ye now to me in time of tribulation? The ſame expoſtulation that Ieptha makes with Gilead, God alſo at the ſame time makes with Iſrael; Yee hauehave forſaken mee, and ſerued other gods; wherefore ſhould I deliuer you any more? Goe and cry vntounto the gods whom yee hauehave ſerued. As wee, ſo God alſo findes it ſeaſonable, to tell his children of their faults, whiles he is whipping them. It is a ſafe and wiſe courſe, to make much of thoſe in our peace, whom we muſt make vſe of in our extremity; elſe it is but iuſt, that wee ſhould be reiected of thoſe, whom we hauehave reiected.

Can we looke for any other anſwer from God then this? Did ye not driue me out of your houſes, our of your hearts, in the time of your health end iollity? Did yee not plead the ſtrictneſſe of my charge, and the weight of my yoke? Did not your wilfull ſinnes expell me from your ſoules? What doe you now crouching and creeping to me in the euil day? Surely, O God, it is but iuſtice, if thou be not found of thoſe, which were glad to loſe thee; it is thy mercy, if after many checks and delayes, thou wilt be found at laſt. Where an act cannot be reuerſed, there is no amends, but confeſſion; and if God himſelf take vp with this ſatisfactiō, He that confeſſes, ſhall find mercy; how much more ſhould men hold themſelues well paid with words of humility, & deprecation?

Iepthaes wiſdome had not been anſwerable to his valour, if he had not made his match before hand; He could not but know how trecherouſly Iſrael had dealt with Gideon. We cannot make too ſure worke, when we hauehave to doe with vnfaithfull men: It hath been an old policy to ſerue our ſelues of men; and after our aduantage, to turne them vp. He bargaines therefore for his Soueraignty ere he win it, Shall I bee your Head? Wee are all naturally ambitious, and are ready to buy honour euen with hazard. And if the hope of a troubleſome ſuperiority incouraged Ieptha to fight againſt the forces of Ammon, what heart ſhould we take in the battels of God againſt ſpiritual wickedneſſes, when the God of heauen hath ſaid, To him that ouercomes, will I giuegive power ouer nations, & to ſit with me in my Throne? Oh that we could bend our eyes vponupon the recompence of our reward; how willingly ſhould we march forward againſt theſe mighty Ammonites! Ieptha is noted for his valor, & yet he intreats with Ammon ere he fights. To make war any other then our laſt remedy, is not courage, but cruelty and raſhnes: And now, when reaſon will not preuaile, he betakes himſelf to his ſword.

As God beganne the war with Ieptha, in raiſing vp his heart to that pitch of fortitude, ſo Ieptha beganne his war at God, in crauing victory from him, and powring out his vow to him: His hand tooke hold of his ſword; his heart, of God: therefore he whom the old Teſtament ſtiles, valiant; the new, ſtiles faithfull; he who is commended for his ſtrength, dares truſt in none, but the arme of God: If thou wilt giuegive the Ammonites into my hand. If Ieptha had not lookt vpward for his victory, in vaine had the Gileadite lookt vp to him. This is the diſpoſition of all good hearts; they looke to their ſword, or their bow, as ſeruants, not as Patrons; and whiles they vſe them, truſt to God. If we could doe ſo in all our buſineſſes, we ſhould hauehave both more ioy in their ſucceſſe, and leſſe diſcomfort in their miſcarriage. It was his zeale to vow: it was his ſin to vow raſhly, Iacob, his forefather, of whom he learned to vow, might hauehave taught him a better forme; If God will be with mee, then ſhall the Lord be my God. It is well with vowes, when the thing promiſed makes the Promiſe good: But when Ieptha ſayes, Whatſoeuer thing commeth out of the dores of my houſe, ſhall be the Lords, or I will offer it for aburnt ſacrifice; his deuotion is blinde, and his good affection ouer-runs his iudgement: For what if a dog, or a ſwine, or an aſſe had met him? where had been the promiſe of his conſecration?

Vowes are as they are made; like vntounto ſents, if they be of ill compoſition, nothing offends more; if well tempered, nothing is more pleaſant: Either certainty of euill, or p. 923vncertainty of good, or impoſſibility of performance, makes vows no ſeruice to God: When we vow what we cannot, or what we ought not doe, we mocke God, in ſtead of honouring him: It is a vaine thing for vsus to goe about to catch God hood-winkt: To conſcience ſhall neuer finde peace in any way, but that which we ſee before vsus, and which we know ſafe, both in the kinde, and circumſtances. There is no comfort in (Peraduenture I may pleaſe God;) What good childe will not take part of the parents ioy? If Ieptha returnes with Trophees, it is no maruell if his daughter meete him with Timbrels: Oh that we could be ſo affected with the glorious acts of our heauenly Father! Thou ſubdueſt thine enemies, and mightily deliuereſt thy people, O God; a ſong waiteth for thee in Sion.

Who would hauehave ſuſpected danger in a dutifull Triumph? Well might Iepthaes daughter hauehave thought; My ſexe forbade me to doe any thing towards the helpe of my Fathers victory; I can doe little, if I cannot applaud it: If nature hauehave made me weake, yet not vnthankfull; nothing forbids my ioy to be as ſtrong as the victors: Though I might not go out with my father to fight, yet I may meet him with gratulations; A Timbrell may become theſe hands which were vnfit for a ſword; This day hath made me the daughter of the Head of Iſrael; This day hath made both Iſrael free, my Father a Conquerer, and my ſelfe in him noble: and ſhall my affection make no difference? What muſt my Father needs thinke, if he ſhall finde me ſitting ſullenly at home, whiles all Iſrael ſtriues who ſhall runne firſt to bleſſe him with their acclamations? Should I onelyonly be inſenſible of his and the common happineſſe?

And now, behold when ſhe lookes for moſt thankes, her Father anſweres the meaſures of her feet, with the knockings of his breaſt, and weepes at her muſick, and teares his clothes, to looke vponupon her whom he beſt loued, and giues no anſwere to her Timbrels, but Alaſſe, my daughter, thou art of them that trouble me: Her ioy alone hath changed the day, and loſt the comfort of that victory, which ſhe inioyed to ſee wonne. It fals out often, that thoſe times and occaſions which promiſe moſt contentment, proue moſt dolefull in the iſſue: The heart of this Virgin was neuer lifted vp ſo high as now, neither did any day of her life ſeeme happy but this; and this onelyonly proues the day of her ſolemne and perpetuall mourning: As contrarily the times and euents which we hauehave moſt diſtruſted, prooue moſt beneficiall. It is good in a faire morning, to thinke of the ſtorme that may riſe ere night, and to inioy hoth good and euill fearefully.

Miſerable is that deuotion which troubles vsus in the performance; Nothing is more pleaſant then the acts of true piety: Ieptha might well ſee the wrong of this religion, in the diſtaſte of it; yet whiles himſelfe had troubled his daughter, he ſaies, Alaſse, my daughter, thou art of them that trouble me: She did but her duty: he did what he ſhould not; yet he would be rid of the the blame, though he cannot of the ſmart. No man is willing to own a ſin; the firſt man ſhifted it from himſelfe to his wife; this, from himſelfe to his daughter: He was ready to accuſe another, which onelyonly committed it himſelfe. It were happy if we could be as loth to commit ſin, as to acknowledge it.

The inconſideration of this vow was very tough, and ſetled; I hauehave opened my mouth, and cannot goe backe. If there were iuſt cauſe to repent, it was the weakeneſſe of his zeale, to thinke that a vow could bind him to euill; An vnlawfull vow is ill made, but worſe performed. It were pitty this conſtancy ſhould light vponupon any, but an holy obiect; No loane can make a truer debt, then our vow; which if we pay not in our performance, God will pay vsus with iudgement. We hauehave all opened our mouthes to God in that initiall and ſolemne vow of Chriſtianity; Oh that we could not goe backe! So much more is our vow obligatory, by how much the thing vowed is more neceſſary.

Why was the ſoule of Ieptha thus troubled, but becauſe he ſaw the entaile of his new honor thus ſuddenly cut off? He ſaw the hope of poſterity extinguiſhed, in the viginity of his daughter. It is naturall to vsus, to affect that perpetuity in our ſucceſſion, which is denied vsus in our perſons; Our very bodies would emulate the eternity of the ſoule. And if God hauehave built any of vsus an houſe on earth, as well as prepared vsus an Houſe in p. 924heauen, it muſt be confeſſed a fauour, worth our thankfulneſſe: but as the perpetuity of our earthly houſes is vncertaine; ſo let vsus not reſt our hearts vponupon that, but make ſure of the Houſe which is eternall in the heauens.

Doubtleſſe; the goodneſſe of the Daughter added to the Fathers ſorrow: Shee was not more louing, then religious; neither is ſhee leſſe willing to be the Lords, then her fathers: and as prouoking her Father to that which he thought piety, though to her owne wrong, ſhe ſaies, If thou haſt opened thy mouth vntounto the Lord, doe with me as thou haſt promiſed. Many a daughter would hauehave diſſwaded her Father with teares, & hauehave wiſht rather her fathers impiety, then her owne preiudice; Shee ſues for the ſmart of her Fathers vow. How obſequious ſhould children be to the will of their carefull Parents euen in their finall diſpoſition in the world, when they ſee this holy maid willing to abandon the world vponupon the raſh vow of a Father! They are the liuing goods of their Parents, and muſt therefore wait vponupon the beſtowing of their owners: They miſtake themſelues, which thinke they are their own; If this maid had vowed her ſelfe to God without her Father, it had been in his power to abrogate it; but now that he vowed her to God without her ſelfe, it ſtands in force. But what ſhall we ſay to thoſe children, whom their Parents vow and care cannot make ſo much as honeſt; that will be no other then godleſſe, in ſpight of their Baptiſme, and education? What, but that they are giuen their Parents for a curſe, and ſhall one day find what it is to be rebellious?

All her deſire is, that ſhe may hauehave leaue to bewaile that which ſhe muſt be forced to keepe, Virginity: If ſhe had not held it an affliction, there had been no cauſe to bewayle it; it had been no thanke to vndergoe it, if ſhe had not knowne it to be a croſſe. Teares are no argument impatience; we may morne for that we repine not to beare. How comes that to be a meritorious vertue vnderunder the Goſpell, which was but a puniſhment vnderunder the Law? The daughters of Iſrael had been too lauiſh of their teares, if virginity had been abſolutely good: What iniury ſhould it hauehave been to lament that ſpirituall preferment, which they ſhould rather hauehave emulated?

While Iepthaes daughter was two moneths in the mountaines, ſhee might hauehave had good opportunity to eſcape her fathers vow; but as one, whom her obedience tyed as cloſe to her Father, as his vow tyed him to God, ſhe returnes to take vp that burden, which ſhee had bewailed to forſee: If we be truly dutifull to our Father in heauen, we would not ſlip our neckes out of the yoke though we might, nor flie from his commands, though the dore were open.

SAMSON conceiued.

OF extraordinary perſons, the very birth and conception is extraordinary; God beginnes his wonders betimes, in thoſe whom he will make wonderfull: There was neuer any of thoſe which were miraculouſly conceiued, whoſe liues were not notable & ſingular. The preſages of the wombe, and the cradle, are commonly anſwered in the life; It is not the vſe of God to caſt away ſtrange beginnings. If Manoahs wife had not been barren, the Angell had not been ſent to her: Afflictions hauehave this aduantage, that they occaſion God to ſhew that mercy to vsus, whereof the proſperous are vncapable; It would not beſeeme a mother to be ſo indulgent to an healthfull child, as to a ſicke. It was to the woman that the Angell appeared, not to the husband; whether for that the reproch of barrenneſſe lay vponupon her more heauily, then on the father, or for that the birth of the child ſhould coſt her more deare then her husband; or laſtly, for that the difficultie of this newes was more in her conception, then in his generation: As Satan layes his batteries euer to the weakeſt; ſo contrarily, God addreſſeth his comforts to thoſe hearts that hauehave p. 925moſt need; As, at the firſt, becauſe Eue had moſt reaſon to be deiected, for that her ſin had drawn man into the Tranſgreſſion, therefore the Cordiall of God moſt reſpecteth her; The ſeede of the Woman ſhall breake the Serpents head.

As a Pyſitian firſt tells the ſtate of the diſeaſe with his ſymptomes, and then preſcribes; ſo doth the Angell of God firſt tell the wife of Manoah her complaint, then her remedy; Thou art barren. Al our afflictiōs are more noted of that God which ſends them, then of the Patient that ſuffers them: how can it be but leſſe poſſible to indure any thing that he knowes not, than that he inflicteth not? He ſaith to one, Thou art ſicke, to another, Thou art poore; to a third, Thou art defamed; Thou art oppreſſed, to another: That All-ſeeing eye takes notice from heauen of eueryevery mans condition, no leſſe then if he ſhould ſend an Angell to tell vsus he knew it; His knowledge compared with his mercy, is the iuſt comfort of al our ſufferings. O God, we are many times miſerable, and feele it not, Thou knoweſt euen thoſe ſorrowes which we might hauehave; Thou knoweſt what thou haſt done: doe what thou wilt.

Thou art barren. Not that the Angell would vpbraid the poore woman with her affliction; but therefore he names her paine, that the mention of her cure might be ſo much more welcome; Comfort ſhal come vnſeaſonably to that heart, which is not apprehenſiue of his owne ſorrow: We muſt firſt know our euils, ere we can quit them. It is the iuſt method of eueryevery true Angell of God, firſt to let vsus ſee that whereof either we doe, or ſhould complaine, and then to apply comforts: Like as a good Phyſician firſt pulls down the body, and then raiſes it with cordialls. If we cannot abide to heare of our faults, we are not capeable of amendment.

If the Angell had firſt ſaid; Thou ſhalt conceiue; and not premiſed, Thou art barren, I doubt whether ſhe had conceiued faith in her ſoule, of that infant which her body ſhould conceiue; Now, his knowledge of her preſent eſtate, makes way for the aſſurance of the future. Thus euer it pleaſes our good God; to leaue a pawne of his fidelity with vsus, that we ſhould not diſtruſt him in what he will doe, when wee finde him faithfull in that which we ſee done.

It is good reaſon that he which giues the ſonne to the barren mother, ſhould diſpoſe of him, and diet him both in the wombe firſt, and after, in the world. The mother muſt firſt be a Nazarite, that her ſonne may be ſo. Whiles ſhe was barren, ſhee might drinke what ſhee would: but now that ſhe ſhall conceiue a Samſon, her choyce muſt be limited; There is an holy auſterity that euer followes the ſpeciall calling of God: The worldling may take his full ſcope, and deny his backe and belly nothing; but he that hath once conceiued that bleſſed burden, whereof Samſon was a type, muſt be ſtrict and ſeuere to himſelfe; neither his tongue, nor his palat, nor his hand, may run riot: Thoſe pleaſures which ſeemed not vnſeemly for the multitude, are now debarred him. We borrow more names of our Sauiour then one; As we are Chriſtians, ſo we are Nazarites; the conſecration of our God is vponupon our heads, and therefore our very haire ſhould be holy. Our appetite muſt be curbed, our paſſions moderated, and ſo eſtranged from the world, that in the loſſe of parents, or childrē, nature may not make vsus forget grace. What doth the looſeneſſe of vain men perſwade them that God is not curious, when they ſee him thus preciſely ordering the very diet of his Nazarits? Nature pleads for liberty; religion for reſtraint: not that there is more vncleannes in the grape, then in the fountain; but that wine findes more vncleanneſſe in vsus, then water; and that the high feed is not ſo fit for deuotion, as abſtinence. Who ſees not a cer… mony in this cōmand? which yet carries with it this ſubſtance of euerlaſting vſe, that God and the belly will not admit of one ſeruant; that quaffing & cramming is not the way to heauen: A drunken Nazarite is a monſter among men. Wee hauehave now more ſcope then the ancient: not drinking of wine, but drunkenneſſe with wine is forbidden to the Euangelicall Nazarite; wine, wherein is exceſſe. Oh that euer Chriſtians ſhould quench the Spirit of God, with a liquour of Gods own making! that they ſhould ſuffer their hearts to be drowned with wine, and ſhould ſo liue, as if the practiſe of the Goſpell were quite contrary to the rule of the Law!

p. 926The mother muſt conceiue the only Giant of Iſrael, and yet muſt drinke but water; neither muſt the childe touch any other cup. Neuer wine made ſo ſtrong a Champion as water did here. The power of nouriſhment is not in the creatures, but in their Maker. Daniel and his three companions kept their complexion, with the ſame diet wherwith Samſon got his ſtrength; he that gaue that power to the grape, can giuegive it to the ſtreame. O God, how iuſtly doe we raiſe our eyes from our tables vntounto thee, which canſt make water nouriſh, and wine enfeeble vsus!

Samſon had not a better mother, then Manoah had a wife; ſhe hides not the good newes in her owne boſome, but imparts it to her husband: That wife hath learned to make a true vſe of her head, which is euer ready to conſult with him about the meſſages of God. If ſhe were made for his helper, hee is much more hers. Thus ſhould good women make amends for their firſt offence; that as Eue no ſooner had receiued an ill motion, but ſhe deliuered it to her husband; ſo they ſhould no ſooner receiue good, then they ſhould impart it.

Manoah (like one which in thoſe lewd times had not loſt his acquaintance with God) ſo ſoone as he heares the newes, fals downe vponupon his knees. I doe not heare him call forth and addreſſe his ſeruants to all the coaſts of heauen (as the children of the Prophets did in the ſearch of Elias) to finde out the meſſenger; but I ſee him rather look ſtraight vp, to that God which ſent him, My Lord, I pray thee let that man of God come againe. As a ſtraight line is the ſhorteſt, the neereſt cut to any bleſſing, is to goe by heauen; As we may not ſue to God, and neglect meanes, ſo we muſt ſue to God for thoſe meanes which we ſhall vſe.

When I ſee the ſtrength of Manoahs faith, I maruell not that he had a Samſon to his ſonne; he ſaw not the meſſenger, hee heard not the errand, hee examined not the circumſtances; yet now he takes thought, not whether he ſhall hauehave a ſonne, but how hee ſhall order the ſonne which he muſt hauehave: and ſues to God, not for the ſon which as yet he had not, but for the direction of gouerning him, when he ſhould be. Zachariah heard the ſame meſſage, and crauing a ſigne, loſt that voice wherewith he craued it: Manoah ſeeks no ſigne for the promiſe, but counſell for himſelfe; and yet, that Angell ſpake to Zachary himſelfe, this onelyonly to the wife of Manoah; that, in the Temple like a glorious ſpirit; this, in the houſe, or field, like ſome Prophet, or Traueller; that to a Prieſt, this to a Woman. All good men hauehave not equall meaſures of faith; The bodies of men hauehave not more differences of ſtature, then their graces: Credulity to men is faulty and dangerous; but in the matters of God, is the greateſt vertue of a Chriſtian; Happy are they that hauehave not ſeene, yet beleeued: True faith takes all for granted, yea for performed, which is once promiſed.

He that before ſent his Angell vnasked, will much more ſend him againe, vponupon intreaty; thoſe heauenly meſſengers are ready both to obey their Maker, and to relieue his children. Neuer any man prayed for direction in his duties to God, and was repulſed: rather will God ſend an Angell from heauen to inſtruct vsus, then our good deſires ſhall be fruſtrate.

Manoah prayed, the Angell appeared againe; not to him, but to his wife. It had been the ſhorter way to hauehave come firſt to the man whoſe prayers procured his preſence: But as Manoah went directly, and immediatly to God, ſo God comes mediately & about to him; and wil make her the meanes to beare the meſſage to her husband, who muſt beare him the ſonne: Both the bleſſing and the charge are chiefly meant to her. It was a good care of Manoah, when the Angell had giuen order to his wife alone, for the gouerning of the childes diet, to proffer himſelfe to this charge; How ſhall we order the child? As both the Parents hauehave their part in the being of their childrē, ſo ſhould they hauehave in their educatiō; it is both vnreaſonable & vnnatural in husbands, to caſt this burdē vponupon the weaker veſſel alone: it is no reaſon that ſhe which alone hath had the pain of their birth, ſhould hauehave the pain of their breeding. Though the charge be renued to the wife, yet the ſpeech is directed to the husbād; the act muſt be hers, his muſt be the ouerſight; Let her obſerue all I cammanded her. The head muſt ouer-look the p. 927body; it is the duty of the husband, to be carefull that the wife doe her duty to God.

As yet, Manoah ſaw nothing but the out-ſide of a man, and therefore offers the Angell an anſwerable entertainement, wherein there is at once Hoſpitality & Thankfulneſſe. No man ſhall bring him good newes from God, and goe away vnrecompenced; How forward he is to feaſt him, whom he tooke for a Prophet! their feet ſhould be ſo much more beautifull, that bring vsus newes of ſaluation, by how much their errand is better.

That Manoah might learne to acknowledge God in this man; he ſets off the proffer of his thankfulneſſe from himſelfe, to God; and (as the ſame Angell which appeared to Gideon) turnes his feaſt into a ſacrifice: And now hee is Manoahs ſollicitor to better thankes than he offered. How forward the good Angels are to incite vsus vntounto piety! Either this was the Sonne himſelfe, which ſaid it was his meat and drinke to doe his Fathers will, or elſe one of his ſpirituall attendance of the ſame diet. We can neuer feaſt the Angels better, then with our hearty ſacrifices to God; Why do not we learn this leſſon of them, whom we propoūd to our ſelues as the patterns of our obedience? We ſhall be once like the Angels in condition, why are we not in the meane time in our diſpoſitions? If we doe not prouoke, and exhort one another to godlineſſe, and do care more for a feaſt, then a ſacrifice, our appetite is not Angelicall, but brutiſh.

It was an honeſt minde in Manoah, whiles he was addreſſing a ſacrifice to God, yet not to neglect his meſſenger; faine would he know whom to honour; True piety is not vnciuill, but whiles it magnifies the author of all bleſſings, is thankfull to the meanes. Secondary cauſes are worthy of regard: neither need it detract any thing frō the praiſe of the agent, to honour the inſtrument. It is not only rudeneſſe, but iniuſt ice in thoſe, which can be content to heare good newes from God, with contempt of the bearers.

The Angell will neither take nor giuegive, but conceales his very name from Manoah. All honeſt motions are not fit to be yeelded to; good intentions are not alwaies ſufficient grounds of condiſcent. If we doe ſometimes aske what we know not, it is no maruell if we receiue not what we aske. In ſome caſes, the Angell of God tells his name vnasked, as Gaberiel to the Virgin; here, not by intreaty: If it were the Angell of the couenant, he had as yet no name but Iehouah; if a created Angell, he had no commiſſion to tell his name; and a faithfull meſſenger hath not a word beyond his charge: Beſides that, he ſaw it would be of more vſe for Manoah, to know him really, then by words. Oh the bold preſumption of thoſe men; which (as if they had long ſoiourned in heauen, and been acquainted with all the holy Legions of ſpirits) diſcourſe of their orders, of their titles, when this one Angell ſtops the mouth of a better man then they, with Why doſt thou aske after my name, which is ſecret? Secret things to God; reuealed, to vsus and our children. No word can be ſo ſignificant as actions; The act of the Angell tells beſt who he was; He did wonderfully: wonderfull therefore was his name. So ſoone as euer the flame of the ſacrifice aſcended, hee mounted vp in the ſmoke of it; that Manoah might ſee the ſacrifice, and the meſſenger belonged both to one God; and might know, both whence to acknowledge the meſſage, and whence to expect the performance.

Gideons Angell vaniſhed at his ſacrifice; but this in the ſacrifice; that Manoah might at once ſee both the confirmation of his promſe, & the acceptation of his obedience, whiles the Angell of God vouchſafed to perfume himſelfe with that holy ſmoke, and carry the ſent of it vp into heauen. Manoah beleeued before, and craued no ſigne to aſſure him, God voluntarily confirmes it to him aboue his deſire: To him that hath, ſhal bee giuen: Where there are beginnings of faith, the mercy of God will adde perfection.

How doe we thinke Manoah and his wife looked to ſee this ſpectacle? They had not ſpirit enough left to looke vponupon another: but in ſtead of looking vp cheerefully to heauen, they fall downe to the earth, on their faces; as weake eyes are dazeled with that which ſhould comfort them. This is the infirmity of our nature, to be afflicted with the cauſes of our ioy; to be aſtoniſhed with our confirmations to conceiue death p. 928in that viſion of God, whererein our life & happineſſe conſiſts. If this homely ſight of the Angell did ſo confound good Manoah, what ſhall become of the enemies of God, when they ſhall be brought before the glorious Tribunall of the God of Angels?

I maruell not now, that the Angell appeared both times rather to the wife of Manoah; her faith was the ſtonger of the two. It falls out ſometimes, that the weaker veſſell is fuller; and that of more precious liquor: that wife is no helper, which is not ready to giuegive ſpirituall comfort to her husband; The reaſon was good, and irrefragable, If the Lord were pleaſed to kill vsus, he would not hauehave receiued a burnt offering from vsus. God will not accept gifts, where hee intends puniſhment, and profeſſes hatred. The ſacrifice of the wicked, is abomination to the Lord: If we can finde aſſurance of Gods acception of our ſacrifices, we may be ſure he loues our perſons. If I incline to wickedneſſe in my heart, the Lord will not heare me; but the Lord hath heard me.

SAMSONS Marriage.

OF all the Deliuerers of Iſrael, there is none of whom are reported ſo many weakneſſes, or ſo many miracles, as of Samſon. The newes which the Angell told of his conception and education, was not more ſtrange, then the newes of his owne choyce; he but ſees a daughter of the Philiſtim, and falls in louelove; All this ſtrength begins in infirmity; One maide of the Philiſtims ouer-comes that champion, which was giuen to ouercome the Philiſtims: Euen he that was dieted with water, foūd heat of vnfit deſires: As his body was ſtrōg notwithſtanding that fare, ſo were his paſſions; without the gift of continency, a low feed may impaire nature, but not inordination. To follow nothing but the eye in the choyce of his wife, was a luſt vnworthy of a Nazarite; This is to make the ſenſe not a Counſeller, but a Tyran.

Yet was Samſon in this very impotency, dutifull; He did not in the preſumption of his ſtrength rauiſh her forceably; He did not make vp a clandeſtine match without conſulting with his Parents, but he makes ſute to them for conſent; GiueGive me her to wife: As one that could be maſter of his owne act, though not of his paſſion; and as one that had learned ſo to be a ſuter, as not to forget himſelfe to be a ſonne. Euen in this deplored ſtate of Iſrael, children durſt not preſume to be their owne caruers; how much leſſe is this tolerable in a well guided and Chriſtian Common-wealth? Whoſoeuer now diſpoſe of themſelues without their Parents, they doe wilfully vnchild themſelues, and change naturall affection for violent.

It is no maruell if Manoah and his wife were aſtoniſhed at this vnequall motion of their ſonne; Did not the Angell (thought they) tell vsus that this child ſhould be conſecrated to God; & muſt he begin his youth in vnholy wedlock? Did not the Angell ſay that our ſonne ſhould begin to ſaue Iſrael from the Philiſtims; and is he now captiued in his affections by a daughter of the Philiſtims? Shall our deliuerance from the Philiſtims begin in an alliance? HaueHave we been ſo ſcrupulouſly carefull, that be ſhould eate no vnclean thing, and ſhall we now conſent to an heatheniſh match? Now therefore they grauely indeuour to coole this intemperate heat of his paſſion, with good counſell; as thoſe which well knew the inconueniences of an vnequall yoke; corruption in religion, alienation of affections, diſtraction of thoughts, conniuence at Idolatry, death of zeale, dangerous vnderminings, and laſtly, an vnholy ſeed: Who can blame them, if they were vnwilling to call a Philiſtim, daughter?

I wiſh Manoah could ſpeake ſo loud, that al our Iſraelites might heare him; Is there neuer a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all Gods people, that thou goeſt to take a wife of the vncircumciſed Philiſtims? If religion be any other then a cypher, p. 929how dare we not regard it in our moſt important choyce? Is ſhe a faire Philiſtim? Why is not this deformity of the ſoule more powerfull to diſſwade vsus, then the beauty of the face, or of metall to allure vsus? To dote vponupon a faire skinne, when we ſee a Philiſtim vnderunder it, is ſenſuall and brutiſh.

Affection is not more blinde, then deafe. In vaine doe the parents ſeeke to alter a young man, not more ſtrong in body, then in will; Though he cannot defend his deſires, yet he purſues them; Get me her, for ſhe pleaſes me. And although it muſt needs be a weake motion that can plead no reaſon, but appetite; yet the good Parents, ſith they cannot bow the affection of their ſonne with perſwaſion, dare not breake it with violence. As it becomes not children to be forward in their choyce; ſo parents may not be too peremptory in their deniall: It is not ſafe for children to ouer-run parents in ſettling their affections; nor for parents (where the impediments are not very materiall) to come ſhort of their children, when the affections are once ſetled: The one is diſobedience; the other may be tyranny.

I know not whether I may excuſe either Samſon in making this ſute, or his parents in yeelding to it, by a diuine deſpenſation in both: For on the one ſide, whiles the Spirit of God notes; that as yet his parents knew not this was of the Lord, it may ſeeme that he knew it; and it is likely he would know, & not impart it? This alone was enough to winne, yea to command his parents; It is not mine eye onelyonly, but the counſell of God, that leads me to his coyce: The way to quarrell with the Philiſtims, is to match with them; If I follow mine affection, mine affection followes God, in this proiect. Surely, hee that commanded his Prophet afterwards to marry an harlot, may hauehave appointed his Nazarite to marry with a Philiſtim: On the other ſide, whether it were of God permitting, or allowing, I finde not: It might ſo be of God, as all the euill in the City; and then the interpoſition of Gods decree, ſhall be no excuſe of Samſons infirmity. I would rather thinke, that God meant onelyonly to make a Treacle of a Viper; and rather appointed to fetch good out of Samſons euill, then to approue that for good in Samſon, which in it ſelfe was euill.

When Samſon went on wooing, hee might hauehave made the ſluggards excuſe, There is a Lion in the way: but he that could not be ſtaid by perſwaſion, will not by feare. A Lion, young, wilde, fierce, hungry, comes roaring vponupon him, when he had no weapon but his hand, no fence but his ſtrength: the ſame prouidence that carried him to Timnah, brought the Lion to him. It hath been euer the faſhion of God, to exerciſe his Champions with ſome initiatory incounters: Both Samſon and Dauid muſt firſt fight with Lions, then with Philiſtims; & he whoſe type they bore, meets with that roaring Lion of the wilderneſſe, in the very threſhold of his publike charge. The ſame hand that prepared a Lion for Samſon, hath proportionably matches for eueryevery Chriſtian; God neuer giues ſtrength, but he imployes it: Pouerty meets one like an armed man; Infamy, like ſome furious Maſtiue, comes flying in the face of another: the wilde Bore out of the forreſt, or the bloudy Tyger of perſecution ſets vpō one; the brawling curs of hereticall prauity or contentious neighbourhood, are ready to bait another: and by all theſe meaner and brutiſh aduerſaries, will God fit vsus for greater conflicts: It is a pledge of our future victory ouer the ſpirituall Philiſtims, if we can ſay, my ſoule hath been among Lions. Come forth now thou weake Chriſtian, and behold this preparatory battell of Samſon; Doſt thou thinke God deales hardly with thee in matching thee ſo hard, and calling thee forth to ſo many fraies? What dooſt thou but repine at thine owne glory? How ſhouldſt thou be victorious, without reſiſtance?

If the Parents of Samſon had now ſtood behind the hedge and ſeen his incounter, they would hauehave taken no further care of matching their ſonne with a Philiſtim; For who that ſhould ſee a ſtrong Lion ramping vponupon an vnarmed man, would hope for his life and victory? The beaſt came briſtling vp his feareful mane, wafting his raiſed ſtem, his eyes ſparkling with fury, his mouth roaring out knels of his laſt paſſage, & brething death from his noſtrils, & now reioyced at ſo faire a prey. Surely, if the Lion had had no other aduerſary then him whom he ſaw, he had not loſt his hope; but now he could p. 930not ſee that his maker was his enemy; The Spirit of the Lord came vpō Samſon; what is a beaſt in the hand of the creator? He that ſtrooke the Lions with the aw of Adam, Noah, & Daniel, ſubdued this rebllious beaſt to Samſon; what maruell is it if Samſon now tore him, as if it had been a young Kid? If his bones had been braſſe, and his skinne pl…es of yron, all had bin one: The right hand of the Lord bringeth mighty things to paſſe.

If that roaring Lyon, that goes about continually ſeeking whom he may deuoure, finde vsus alone among the vineyards of the Philiſtims, where is our hope? Not in our heeles; he is ſwifter then we: not in our weapons; we are naturally vnarmed: not in our hands, which are weake and languiſhing; but in the Spirit of that God, by whom we can doe all things: if God fight in vsus, who can reſiſt him? There is a ſtronger Lion in vsus then that againſt vsus.

Samſon was not more valiant then modeſt; he made no words of this great exploit the greateſt performers euer make the leaſt noyſe; He that works wonders alone, could ſay, See thou tell no man; whereas thoſe, whoſe hands are moſt impotent, are buſieſt of their tongues. Great talkers ſhew that they deſire onelyonly to be thought eminent, whereas the deepeſt waters are leaſt heard.

But, whiles hee concealed this euent from others, hee pondred it in himſelfe; and when hee returned to Timna…h, went out of the way to ſee his dead Aduerſary, and could not but recall to himſelfe …is danger, and deliuerance; Heere the beaſt met me, thus he fought; thus I ſlew him. The very dead Lyon taught Samſon thankfulneſſe: there was more honey in this thought then in the carkaſſe. The mercies of God are ill beſtowed vponupon vsus, if we cannot ſtep aſide to view the monuments of his deliuerances; Dangers may be at once paſt, and forgotten. As Samſon had not found his hony-comb, if he had not turned aſide to ſee his Lion; ſo we ſhal loſe the comfort of Gods benefits, if we doe not renue our perils by meditation.

Leſt any thing ſhould befall Samſon, wherein is not ſome wonder, his Lion doth more amaze him dead, then aliue; For loe, that carkaſſe is made an Hiue; and the bitterneſſe of death, is turned into the ſweetneſſe of honey. The Bee, a nice and dainty creature, builds her cells in an vnſauory carkaſſe; the carkaſſe that promiſed nothing but ſtrength, & annoyance, now offers comfort & refreſhing; and in a ſort, payes Samſon for the wrong offered. Oh the wonderfull goodneſſe of our God, that can change our terrours into pleaſure, and can make the greateſt euils beneficiall! Is any man, by his humiliation vnderunder the hand of God, growne more faithfull, & conſcionable? there is hony out of the Lion. Is any man by his temptation or fall become more circumſpect? there is alſo hony out of the Lion: ther is no Samſon, to whom eueryevery Lion doth not yeeld hony: EueryEvery Chriſtian is the better for his euils; yea, Satan himſelfe, in his exerciſe of Gods children, aduantageth them.

Samſon doth not diſdaine theſe ſweets, becauſe he findes them vncleanly layd; His diet was ſtrict, and forbade him any thing that ſauoured of legall impurity; yet hee eates the hony-combe out of the belly of a dead beaſt; good may not be refuſed; becauſe the meanes are accidentally euill; Hony is hony ſtill, though in a dead Lion. Thoſe are leſſe wiſe, and more ſcrupulous then Samſon, which abhorre the graces of God, becauſe they finde them in ill veſſels: One cares not for the Preachers true doctrine, becauſe his life is euill; Another will not take a good receit from the hand of a Phyſician, becauſe he is giuen to vnlawfull ſtudies; A third will not receiue a deſerued contribution from the hands of a Vſurer. It is a weake neglect, not to take the hony, becauſe we hate the Lion: Gods children hauehave right to their fathers bleſſings, whereſoeuer they finde them.

The match is now made; Samſon (though a Nazarite) hath both a wedding, and a feaſt; God neuer miſliked moderate ſolemnities in the ſeuereſt life; and yet this Bridal feaſt was long, the ſpace of ſeuen days. If Samſon had matched with the beſt Iſraelite, this celebration had been no greater; neither had this perhaps been ſo long, if the cuſtome of the place had not required it. Now I doe not heare him plead his Nazaritiſme, for a colour of ſingularity: It is both lawfull and fit, in things not prohibited, p. 931to conforme our ſelues to the manners and rites of thoſe with whom we liue.

That Samſon might thinke it an honour to match with the Philiſtims, hee whom before the Lion found alone, is now accompanied with thirty attendants; They called them companions, but they meant them for ſpies. The courteſities of the world are hollow and thankleſſe; neither doth it euer purpoſe ſo ill, as when it ſhewes fayreſt. None are ſo neere to danger, as thoſe whom it entertaines with ſmiles; whiles it frownes, we know what to truſt to; but the fauours of it are worthy of nothing but feares and ſuſpicion: Open defiance is better then falſe louelove.

Auſterity had not made Samſon vnciuill; he knows how to entertaine Philiſtims with a formall familiarity: And that his intellectuall parts might be approued anſwerable to his armes, he will firſt try maſteries of wit, & ſet their braines on worke with harmleſſe thoughts; His riddle ſhall appoſe them, and a deep wager ſhall binde the ſolution; Thirty ſhirts, and thirty ſutes of raiment; neither their loſſe, nor their gayne could be much, beſides the victory, being diuided vntounto thirty partners: but Samſons muſt needs be both waies very large, who muſt giuegive or receiue thirty alone. The ſeuen daies of the feaſt are expiring, and yet they which had bin all this while deuouring of Samſons meat, cannot tel who that eater ſhould be from whence meat ſhould come. In courſe of nature, the ſtrong feeder takes in meat, and ſends out filthines; but, that meat and ſweetnes ſhould come frō a dououring ſtomacke, was beyond their apprehenſion.

And as fooles and dogs vſe to beginne in ieſt, and end in earneſt, ſo did theſe Philiſtims; and therefore they force the Bride to intice her husband to betray himſelfe. Couetouſnes & Pride hauehave made them impatient of loſſe: and now they threat to fire her, and her fathers houſe, for recompence of their entertainement, rather then they will loſe a ſmall wager to an Iſraelite. Somewhat of kinne to theſe ſauage Philiſtims, are thoſe cholerick Gameſters, which if the dice be not their friend, fall out with God curſe (that which is not) Fortune; ſtrike their fellowes, and are ready to take vengeance vponupon themſelues: Thoſe men are vnfit for ſport, that loſe their patience together with their wager.

I doe not wonder that a Philiſtim woman loued her ſelfe and her fathers family, more then an Iſraelitiſh Bridegroome; and, if ſhe beſtowed teares vponupon her husband, for the ranſome of them. Samſon himſelfe taught her this difference, I hauehave not told it my father or my mother, and ſhould I tell it thee? If ſhee had not been as ſhe was, ſhee had neither done this to Samſon, nor heard this from him; Matrimoniall reſpects are dearer then naturall; It was the law of him that ordained marriage (before euer Parents were) that Parents ſhould be forſaken, for the husband or wife: But now, Iſraelitiſh Parents are worthy of more intireneſſe, then a wife of the Philiſtims; And yet whom the Lion could not conquer, the teares of a woman hauehave conquered. Samſon neuer bewraied infirmity but in vxoriouſneſſe; What aſſurance can there be of him that hath a Philiſtim in his boſom? Adam, the perfecteſt man, Samſon, the ſtrongeſt man Salomon, the wiſeſt man, were betrayed with the flattery of their helpers. As there is no comfort comfortable to a faithfull yoke-fellow: ſo woe be to him that is matched with a Philiſtim.

It could not but much diſcontent Samſon, to ſee that his aduerſaries had plowed with his Heifer, and that vponupon his owne backe; now therefore he payes his wager to their coſt. Aſcalon the City of the Philiſtims, is his wardrope; he fetches thence thirty ſutes, lined with the liues of the owners: He might with as much eaſe hauehave ſlain theſe thirty companions, which were the authors of this euil; but his promiſe forbade him, whiles he was to clothe their bodies, to vnclothe their ſoules; and that Spirit of God, which ſtird him vp to reuenge, directed him in the choice of the ſubiects. If we wonder to ſee thirty throats cut for their ſutes, we may eaſily know, that this was but the occaſion of that ſlaughter, whereof the cauſe was their oppreſſion & tyranny. Dauid ſlew 200. Philiſtims for their fore-skins: but the ground of his act was their hoſtilitie. It is iuſt with God to deſtine what enemies he pleaſes, to execution: It is not to be expoſtulated why this man is ſtricken rather then another, whē both are Philiſtims.

p. 932SAMSONS victory.

I Can no more iuſtifie Samſon in the leauing of his wife, then in the chuſing her: He choſe her, becauſe ſhe pleaſed him, & becauſe ſhe deſpiſed him, he left her. Though her feare made her falſe to him in his Riddle, yet ſhee was true to his bed: That weake trechery was worthy of a checke, not a deſertion. All the paſſions of Samſon were ſtrong, like himſelfe: but (as vehement motions are not laſting) this vehement winde is ſoone allaid; and he is now returning with a Kid, to win her that had offended him, and to renue that feaſt which ended in her vnkindneſſe. Slight occaſions may not breake the knot of matrimoniall louelove; and if any iuſt offence hauehave ſlackned it on either part, it muſt be faſtned againe by ſpeedy reconciliation.

Now Samſons father in law ſhews himſelfe a Philiſtim, the true parent of her that betraied her husband; for no ſooner is the Bride-groome departed, then he changes his ſonne: What pretence of friendſhip ſoeuer hee made, a true Philiſtim will ſoone be weary of an Iſraelite. Samſon hath not ſo many dayes liberty to enioy his wedding, as he ſpent in celebrating it: Marriage hath been euer a ſacred Inſtitution, and who but a Philiſtim would ſo eaſily violate it? One of his thirty companions enioyes his wife, together with his ſute; and now laughs to be a partner of that bed, whereon he was an attendant. The good nature of Samſon, hauing forgotten the firſt wrong, carried him to a proffer of familiarity, & is repulſed; but with a gentle violence, I had thought thou hadſt hated her. Lawfull wedlocke may not be diſſolued by imaginations, but by proofes.

Who ſhall ſtay Somſon from his owne wife? Hee that ſlew the Lion in the way of his wooing, and before whom thouſands of the Philiſtims could not ſtand, yet ſuffers himſelfe to be reſiſted by him that was once his father in Law, without any returne of priuate violence.

Great is the force of duty once conceiued, euen to the moſt vnworthy: This thought, I was his ſon, bindes the hands of Samſon; elſe how eaſily might he, that ſlew thoſe thirty Philiſtims for their ſutes, hauehave deſtroyed this family for his wife? How vnnaturall are thoſe mouthes, that can curſe the loines from which they are proceeded; and thoſe hands, that dare lift vp themſelues againſt the meanes of their life and being?

I neuer read that Samſon ſlew any but by the motion and aſſiſtance of the Spirit of God: and the diuine wiſdom hath reſerued theſe offenders to another reuenge: Iudgement muſt deſcend from others to them, ſith the wrong proceeded from others, by them. In the very marriage, God fore-ſaw and intended this parting, and in the parting, this puniſhment vponupon the Philiſtims. If the Philiſtims had not been as much enemies to God, as to Samſon; enemies to Iſrael in their oppreſſion, no leſſe then to Samſon in this particular iniurie, that purpoſe and execution of reuenge had been no better then wicked: Now He to whom vengeance belongs, ſets him on work, & makes the act iuſtice: when he commands, euen very crueltie is obedience.

It was a buſie and troubleſome proiect of Samſon, to vſe the foxes for his reuenge: for not without great labor and many hands could ſo many wilde creatures be got together, neither could the wit of Samſon want other deuices of hoſtility: But he meant to finde out ſuch a puniſhment, as might in ſome ſort anſwere the offence, and might imply as much contempt, as treſpaſſe. By wiles, ſeconded with violence, had they wronged Samſon, in extorting his ſecret, and taking away his wife: and what other Embleme could theſe foxes tied together preſent vntounto them, then wilineſſe combined by force, to worke miſchiefe?

Theſe foxes deſtroy their corne, before he which ſent them deſtroy the perſons. Thoſe p. 933iudgements which beginne in outward things, end in the owners: A ſtranger that had been of neither ſide, would hauehave ſaid, What pitty it is to ſee good corne thus ſpoiled? If the creature be conſidered apart from the owners, it is good; and therefore if it bee miſ-ſpent, the abuſe reflects vponupon the maker of it; but if it be looked vponupon with reſpect to an ill maſter, the beſt vſe of it is to periſh. He therfore that ſlew the Egyptian cattel with murraine, and ſmote their fruit with haileſtones; hee that conſumed the vines of Iſrael with the Palmer-worme, and Caterpiller, and canker-worme, ſent alſo foxes by the hand of Samſon, into the fields of the Philiſtims. Their corne was too good for them to inioy, not too good for the foxes to burne vp: God had rather his creatures ſhould periſh any way, then ſerue for the luſt of the wicked.

There could not be ſuch ſecrecie in the catching of three hundred foxes, but it might well be knowne who had procured them: Rumor wil ſwiftly flie of things not done: but of a thing ſo notoriouſly executed, it is no maruell if Fame be a blab. The mention of the offence drawes in the prouocation: and now the wrong to Samſon is ſcanned and reuenged; Becauſe the fields of the Philiſtims are burned for the wrong done to Samſon by the Timnite in his daughter, therefore the Philiſtims burne the Timnite and his daughter. The tying of the firebrand betweene two foxes, was not ſo witty a policy, as the ſetting of a fire of diſſention betwixt the Philiſtims. What need Samſon be his owne executioner, when his enemies will vndertake that charge? There can be no more pleaſing proſpect to an Iſraelite, then to ſee the Philiſtims together by the eares.

If the wife of Samſon had not feared the fire for her ſelfe, and her Fathers houſe, ſhe had not betrayed her husband, her husband had not thus plagued the Philiſtims, the Philiſtims had not conſumed her and her father with fire: now ſhee leaps into that flame which ſhee meant to auoid. That euill which the wicked feared, meets them in their flight: How many in a feare of pouerty, ſeeke to gaine vnconſcionably, and die beggers? How many to ſhunne paine and danger, hauehave yeelded to euill, and in the long runne hauehave been met in the teeth with that miſchiefe, which they had hoped to hauehave left behinde them? How many in a deſire to eſchue the ſhame of men, hauehave falne into the confuſion of God? Both good and euill are ſure paymaſters at the laſt.

He that was ſo ſoone pacified towards his wife, could not but hauehave thought this reuenge more then enough, if he had not rather wielded Gods quarrell then his owne; He knew that God had raiſed him vp on purpoſe, to be a ſcourge to the Philiſtims, whom as yet he had angred more then puniſhed: As if theſe therefore had been but floriſhes before the fray, he ſtirres vp his courage, and ſtrikes them both hip & thigh, with a mighty plague. That God which can doe nothing imperfectly, where hee begins eyther mercy or iudgement, will not leaue till hee hauehave happily finiſhed: As it is in his fauours, ſo in his puniſhments; One ſtroke drawes on another.

The Iſraelites were but ſlaues; and the Philiſtims were their maſters: ſo much more indignely therefore muſt they needs take it, to be thus affronted by one of their owne vaſſals: yet ſhall we commend the moderation of theſe Pagans. Samſon, being not mortally wronged by one Philiſtim, falls foule vponupon the whole Nation; the Philiſtims hainouſly offended by Samſon, doe not fall vponupon the whole Tribe of Iudah, but being muſtered together, call to them for ſatisfaction from the perſon offending: the ſame hand of God which wrought Samſon to reuenge, reſtrained them from it; It is no thanke to themſelues that ſometimes wicked men cannot bee cruell.

The men of Iudah, are by their feare made friends to their Tyrants, and taytors to their friend; it was in their cauſe that Samſon had ſhed bloud, & yet they conſpire with the Philiſtims, to deſtroy their owne fleſh and bloud. So ſhall the Philiſtims bee quit with Iſrael, that as Samſon by Philiſtims reuenged himſelfe of Philiſtims; ſo they of an Iſraelite, by the hand of Iſraelites. That which open enemies dare not attempt, they work by falſe brethren; and theſe are ſo much more perilous, as they are more entire.

p. 934It had been no leſſe eaſie for Samſon to hauehave ſlaine thoſe thouſands of Iudah that came to binde him, then thoſe other of the Philiſtims, that meant to kill him bound: And what if he had ſaid, Are ye turnd Traytors to your Deliuerer? your bloud be vponupon your owne heads. But the Spirit of God (without whom he could not kil either beaſt, or man) would neuer ſtirre him vp to kill his brethren, though degenerated into Philiſtims; they hauehave more power to binde him, then he to kill them: Iſraelitiſh bloud was precious to him, that made no more ſcruple of killing a Philiſtim, then a Lion: That bondage and vſury that was allowed to a Iew from a Pagan, might not be exacted from a Iew.

The Philiſtims that had before plowed with Samſons Heifer in the caſe of the Riddle, are now plowing a worſe furrow with an Heifer more his owne. I am aſhamed to heare theſe cowardly Iewes ſay, Knoweſt thou not that the Philiſtims are Lords ouer vsus? Why haſt thou done thus vntounto vsus? We are therefore come to binde thee. Wheras they ſhould hauehave ſaid; We finde theſe tyrannicall Philiſtims to vſurpe dominion ouer vsus; thou haſt happily begun to ſhake off their yoke, and now we are come to ſecond thee with our ſeruice; the valour of ſuch a Captaine ſhall eaſily lead vsus forth to liberty; We are ready either to die with thee, or to bee freed by thee: A fearefull man can neuer be a true friend; rather then incurre any danger, he will be falſe to his owne ſoule. Oh cruell mercy of theſe men of Iuda! Wee will not kill thee, but we will binde thee, and deliuer thee to the hands of the Philiſtims, that they may kill thee. As if it had not been much worſe to dye an ignominious and tormenting death, by the hands of Philiſtims, then to bee at once diſpatcht by them, which wiſht either his life ſafe, or his death eaſie.

When Saul was purſued by the Philiſtims vponupon the mountaines of Gilboa, he could ſay to his Armour-bearer, Draw forth thy ſword, and kill me, leſt the vncircumciſed come and thruſt me thorow, and mocke me; and at laſt, would rather fall vponupon his owne ſword, then theirs: And yet theſe couſins of Samſon can ſay, Wee will not kill thee, but we will binde thee, and deliuer thee. It was no excuſe to theſe Iſraelites, that Samſons binding had more hope, then his death; It was more in the extraordinary mercy of God, then their will, that hee was not tyed with his laſt bonds: Such is the goodneſſe of the Almighty, that he turnes the cruell intentions of wicked men to an aduantage.

Now theſe Iewes that might hauehave let themſelues looſe from their owne bondage, are binding their Deliuerer, whom yet they knew able to hauehave reſiſted. In the greateſt ſtrength, there is vſe of patience; There was more fortitude in this ſuffering, then in his former actions; Samſon abides to be tyed by his owne countrymen, that he may hauehave the glory of freeing himſelfe victoriouſly. Euen ſo, O Sauiour, our better Nazarite, thou which couldſt hauehave called to thy Father, and hauehave had twelue Legions of Angels for thy reſcue, wouldſt be bound voluntarily, that thou mightſt triumph; So the bleſſed Martyrs were racked, and would not be looſed, becauſe they expected a better reſurrection. If we be not as well ready to ſuffer ill, as to doe good, we are not fit for the conſecration of God.

To ſee Samſon thus ſtrongly manicled, and expoſed to their full reuenge, could not but be a glad ſpectacle to theſe Philiſtims; and their ioy was ſo full, that it could not but flie forth of their mouthes in ſhouting and laughter; Whom they ſay looſe with terror, it is pleaſure to ſee bound. It is the ſport of the ſpirituall Philiſtims, to ſee any of Gods Nazarites fettered with the cords of iniquitie, & their Imps are ready to ſay, Aha, ſo would we hauehave it. But the euent anſwers their falſe ioy, with that clauſe of triumph, Reioyce not ouer me, O mine enemie: though I fall, yet I ſhal riſe again. How ſoon was the countenance of theſe Philiſtims changed, and their ſhouts turned into ſhriekings? The Spirit of the Lord came vponupon Samſon: and then, what are cords to the Almighty? His new bonds are as a flax burnt with fire; and he rouzes vp himſelfe, like that young Lion whom he firſt incountred, & flyes vponupon thoſe cowardly aduerſaries, who if they had not ſeen his cords, durſt not hauehave ſeen his face. If they had been ſo many diuels, as men, they could not hauehave ſtood before that Spirit, which lifted vp the p. 935heart and hand of Samſon. Wicked men neuer ſee fairer proſpect, then when they are vponupon the very threſhold of deſtruction; Security and Ruine are ſo cloſe bordering vponupon each other, that where we ſee the face of the one, we may be ſure the other is at his backe. This didſt thou, O bleſſed Sauiour, when thou wert faſtened to the Croſſe, when thou layeſt bound in the graue with the cords of death; thus didſt thou miraculouſly raiſe vp thy ſelfe, vanquiſh thine enemies, and lead captiuity captiue; Thus doe all thy holy ons, when they ſeem moſt forſaken and laid open to the inſultation of the world, finde thy Spirit mighty to their deliuerance, and the diſcomfiture of their malicious aduerſaries.

Thoſe three thouſand Iſraelites were not ſo ill aduiſed, as to come vp into the rocke vnweaponed, to apprehend Samſon; Samſon therefore might hauehave had his choice of ſwords, or ſpeares, for this skirmiſh with the Philiſtims; yet he leaues all the munition of Iſrael, and finding the new iaw-bone of an Aſſe, takes that vp in his hand, and with that baſe inſtrument of death, ſends a thouſand Philiſtims to their place. All the ſwords and ſhields of the armed Philiſtims cannot reſiſt that contemptible Engine, which hath now left a thouſand bodies, as dead as the carcaſſe of that beaſt, whoſe bone it was. This victory was not in the weapon, was not in the arme: it was in the Spirit of God, which moued the weapon in the arme. O God, if the meanes be weake, yet thou art ſtrong: Through God wee ſhall doe great acts; Yea, I can doe all things through him that ſtrengtheneth me. Seeſt thou a poore Chriſtian, which by weake counſell hath obtained to ouercome a tentation? there is the Philiſtim vanquiſht with a ſorry iaw-bone.

It is no maruell, if he were thus admirably ſtrong and victorious, whoſe bodily ſtrength God meant to make a type of the ſpirituall power of Chriſt: And behold, as the three thouſands of Iuda ſtood ſtill gazing with their weapons in their hand, whiles Samſon alone ſubdued the Philiſtims; ſo did men and Angels ſtand looking vponupon the glorious atcheiuements of the Son of God, who might iuſtly ſay, I hauehave trod the wine-preſſe alone.

Both the Samſons complained of thirſt; The ſame God which gaue his Champion victory, gaue him alſo refreſhing; and by the ſame meanes; The ſame bone yeelds him both conqueſt, & life; and is of a weapon of offence, turned into a well of water: Hee that fetcht water out of the flint for Iſrael, fetches it out of a bone for Samſon. What is not poſſible to the infinite power of that Almighty Creator, that made all things of nothing? Hee can giuegive Samſon hony from the mouth of the Lion, and water from the mouth of the Aſſe. Who would not cheerefully depend vponupon that God, which can fetch moiſture out of drineſſe, and life out of death?

SAMSONS end.

I Cannot wonder more at Samſons ſtrength then his weakneſſe; Hee that began to caſt away his louelove vponupon a wife of the Philiſtims, goes on to miſ-ſpend himſelfe vponupon the harlots of the Philiſtims: He that did not ſo much ouercome the men, as the women ouercome him. His affections blinded him firſt, ere the Philiſtims could doe it: would he elſe, after the effuſion of ſo much of their bloud, hauehave ſuffered his luſt to carry him within their walls, as one that cared more for his pleaſure, then his life? Oh ſtrange debauchedneſſe, and preſumption of a Nazarite! The Philiſtims are vp in Armes to kill him; hee offers himſelfe to their City, to their Stewes, and dare expoſe his life to one of their harlots, whom he had ſlaughtered. I would hauehave looked to hauehave ſeene him betake himſelfe to his ſtronger Rocke, then that of Etam, and by his auſtere deuotion, to ſeek protection of him, of whom he receiued ſtrength: but now, as if he had forgtten his p. 936conſecration, I finde him turned Philiſtim for his bed, and of a Nazarite, ſcarce a man. In vaine doth he nouriſh his haire, whiles he feeds theſe paſſions. How vſually doe vigor of body, and infirmity of minde lodge vnderunder one roofe? On the contrary, a weariſh out-ſide is a ſtrong motiue to mortification: Samſons victories hauehave ſubdued him, and hauehave made him firſt a ſlaue to lewd deſires, and then to the Philiſtims. I may ſafely ſay, that more veſſels miſcarry with a faire gale, then with a tempeſt.

Yet was not Samſon ſo blinded with luſt, as not at all to looke before him; he foreſaw, the morning would be dangerous, the bed of his fornication therefore could hold him no longer then midnight; then he riſes, and in a mocke of thoſe ambuſhes which the Azahites laid for him, hee carries away the gates wherein they thought to hauehave incaged him. It a temptation hauehave drawn vsus aſide, to lie downe to ſinne, it is happy for vsus, if wee can ariſe ere wee bee ſurpriſed with iudgement. Samſon had not left his ſtrength in the bed of an harlot; neither had that God which gaue it him, ſtript him of it with his clothes, when he laid him downe in vncleanneſſe: His mercy vſes not to take vantage of our vnworthineſſe, but euen when we caſt him off, holds vsus faſt. That bountifull hand leaues vsus rich of common graces, when we hauehave miſ-ſpent our better ſtore: Like as our firſt Parents, when they had ſpoiled themſelues of the Image of their Creator, yet were left wealthy of noble faculties of the ſoule.

I finde Samſon come off from his ſinne with ſafety; he runnes away lightly with an heauier weight then the gates of Azzah, the burden of an ill act. Preſent impunitie argues not an abatement of the wickednes of his ſin, or of the diſlike of God; nothing is ſo worthy of pitty, as a ſinners peace: Good is not therefore good, becauſe it proſpers, but becauſe it is commanded: Euill is not euill becauſe it is puniſhed, but becauſe it is forbidden.

If the holy Parents of Samſon liued to ſee theſe outrages of their Nazarite; I doubt whether they did not repent them of their ioy, to heare newes of a ſonne. It is a ſhame to ſee how he that might not drinke wine, is drunke with the cup of fornications; His luſt carries him from Azzah, to the plaine of Sorek, and now hath found a Dalilah, that ſhall pay him for all his former vncleanneſſe. Sinne is ſteepe and ſlippery; and if after one fall wee hauehave found where to ſtand, it is the praiſe, not of our footing, but of the hand of God.

The Princes of the Philiſtims knew already where Samſons weakeneſſe lay, though not his ſtrength; and therefore they would entiſe his harlot by gifts, to entiſe him by her dalliance, to betray himſelfe. It is no maruell, if ſhe which would be filthy, would be alſo perfidious. How could Samſon chuſe but thinke, if luſt had not bewitched him, Shee, whoſe body is mercenary to me, will eaſily ſell me to others; Shee will be falſe, if ſhe will be an harlot? A wide conſcience will ſwallow any ſin: Thoſe that hauehave once thralled themſelues to a known euill, can make no other difference of ſinnes, but their owne loſſe, or aduantage: A lyar will ſteale; a theefe can kill; a cruell man can bee a Traytor; a drunkard can falſifie; wickedneſſe once entertained, can put on any ſhape: Truſt him in nothing, that makes not a conſcience of eueryevery thing.

Was there euer ſuch another motion made to a reaſonable man? Tell me wherein thy great ſtrength lieth, and wherewith thou maieſt be bound to doe thee hurt. Who would not hauehave ſpurned ſuch a ſutor out of dores? What will not impudency aske, or ſtupiditie receiue? He that killed the thouſand Philiſtims for comming to binde him, indures this harlot of the Philiſtims to conſult with himſelfe of binding him; and when vponupon the triall of a falſe anſwer he ſaw ſo apparant trechery, yet wilfully betrayes his life by her, to his enemies: All ſinnes, all paſſions hauehave power to infatuate a man; but luſt moſt of all. Neuer man that had drunke flagons of wine, had leſſe reaſon, then this Nazarite, Many a one loſes his life: but this caſts it away; not in hatred of himſelfe, but in louelove to a ſtrumpet. Wee wonder that a man could poſſibly be ſo ſottiſh, and yet wee our ſelues by tentation become no leſſe inſenſate; Sinfull pleaſures, like a common Dalilah lodge in our boſomes▪ we know they aime at nothing but the death of our ſoule; wee will yeeld to them, and die: EueryEvery willing ſinner is a Samſon; let vsus not inueigh againſt p. 937his ſenſleſneſſe, but our own: Nothing is ſo groſſe and vnreaſonable to a well-diſpoſed minde, which tentation will not repreſent fit, and plauſible: No ſoule can out of his owne ſtrength, ſecure himſelfe from that ſinne which he moſt deteſteth.

As an hood-winkt man ſees ſome little glimmering of light, but not enough to guide him; ſo did Samſon, who had reaſon enough left him to make triall of Dalilah, by a crafty miſ-information; but not enough vponupon that triall, to diſtruſt and hate her he had not wit enough to deceiue her thrice; not enough to keepe himſelfe from being deceiued by her. It is not ſo great wiſedome to proue them whom we diſtruſt, as it is folly to truſt them whom we hauehave found trecherous: Thrice had he ſeen the Philiſtims in her chamber, ready to ſurprize him, vponupon her bonds; and yet will needs be a ſlaue to his Traytor. Warning not taken, is a certaine preſage of deſtruction; and if once neglected it receiue pardon, yet thrice is deſperate.

What man would euer play thus with his owne ruine? His harlot bindes him, and calls in her executioners to cut his throat; he riſes to ſaue his own life, and ſuffers them to carry away theirs, in peace. Where is the courage of Samſon? Where his zeale? He that killed the Philiſtims for their clothes; He that ſlew a thouſand of them in the field at once; in this quarrel, now ſuffers them in his chamber vnreuenged. Whence is this? His hands were ſtrong, but his heart was effeminate; his harlot had diuerted his affection. Whoſoeuer ſlackens the reines to his ſenſuall appetite, ſhall ſoone grow vnfit for the calling of God. Samſon hath broke the green withies, the new ropes, the woofe of his haire, and yet ſtill ſuffers himſelfe fettered with thoſe inuiſible bonds of an harlots louelove; and can indure her to ſay, How canſt thou ſay, I louelove thee, when thy heart is not with me? thou haſt mocked me theſe three times: Whereas he ſhould rather hauehave ſaid to her; How canſt thou challenge any louelove from me, that haſt thus thice ſought my life? O canſt thou thinke my mockes a ſufficient reuenge of this trechery? But contraily he melts at this fire; and by her importunate inſinuations, is wrought againſt himſelfe. Wearineſſe of ſollicitation, hath won ſome to thoſe actions, which at the firſt motion they deſpiſed; like as we ſee ſome ſuters are diſpatcht, not for the equity of the cauſe, but the trouble of the proſecution; becauſe it is more eaſie to yeeld, not more reaſonable. It is more ſafe to keepe our ſelues out of the noy…e of ſuggeſtions, then to ſtand vponupon our power of deniall.

Who can pitty the loſſe of that ſtrength which was ſo abuſed? who can pitty him the loſſe of his locks, which after ſo many warnings can ſleepe in the lappe of Dalilah? It is but iuſt that he ſhould riſe vp from thence ſhauen and feeble; not a Nazarite, ſcarce a man. If his ſtrength had lyen in his haire, it had been out of himſelfe; it was not therefore in his locks, it was in his conſecration, whereof that haire was a ſigne. If the razor had come ſooner vponupon his head, he had ceaſed to be a Nazarite; and the gift of God had at once ceaſed, with the calling of God; not for the want of that excretiō, but for the want of obedience. If God withdraw his graces, when he is too much prouoked, who can complain of his mercy? He that ſleeps in ſinne, muſt looke to wake in loſſe and weakneſſe. Could Samſon thinke, Though I tell her, my ſtrength lies in my haire, yet ſhe will not cut it; or though ſhe doe cut my haire, yet ſhall I not loſe my ſtrength, that now he riſes and ſhakes himſelfe in hope of his former vigor? Cuſtome of ſucceſſe, makes men confident in their ſinnes, and cauſes them to miſtake an arbitrary tenure for a perpetuity.

His eyes were the firſt offenders, which betrayed him to luſt: and now they are firſt pulled out, and he is ledde a blinde captiue to Azzah, where he was firſt captiued to his luſt. The Azzahites, which lately ſaw him not without terror, running lightly away with their gates at midnight, ſee him now in his own perpetuall night, ſtrugling with his chaines: and that he may not want paine, together with his bondage, he muſt grind in his priſon.

As he paſſed the ſtreet, eueryevery boy among the Philiſtims could not throw ſtons at him, eueryevery woman could laugh and ſhout at him; and what one Philiſtim doth not ſay, whiles he laſhes him vntounto bloud, There is for my brothers or my kinſman, whom thou p. 938ſleweſt. Who can looke to run away with a ſin, when Samſon a Nazarite is thus plagued? This great heart could not but hauehave broken with indignation, if it had not pacified it ſelfe with the conſcience of the iuſt deſert of all this vengeance.

It is better for Samſon to be blinde in priſon, then to abuſe his eyes in Sore…: yea, I may ſafely ſay, he was more blind when he ſaw licentiouſly, then now that he ſees not; He was a greater ſlaue when he ſerued his affections, then now in grinding for the Philiſtims. The loſſe of his eyes ſhewes him his ſinne; neither could he ſee how ill he had done, till he ſaw not.

Euen yet, ſtill the God of mercy lookt vponupon the blindneſſe of Samſon, and in theſe fetters enlargeth his heart from the worſe priſon of his ſinne; his haire grew together with his repentance, and his ſtrength with his haire. Gods mercifull humiliations of his owne, are ſometimes ſo ſeuere, that they ſeeme to differ little from deſertions; yet at the worſt hee loues vsus bleeding: and when we hauehave ſmarted enough, we ſhall feele it.

What thankfull Idolaters were theſe Philiſtims? They could not but know, that their bribes, and their Delilah, had deliuered Samſon to them, and yet they ſacrifice to their Dagon; and, as thoſe that would be liberall in caſting fauours vponupon a ſenſeleſſe Idoll (of whom they could receiue none) they cry out, Our god hath deliuered our enemie into our hands. Where was their Dagon, when a thouſand of his clyents were ſlain with an Aſſes iaw? There was more ſtrength in that bone, then in all the makers of this god; and yet theſe vaine Pagans ſay, Our god. It is the quality of ſuperſtition to miſinterpret all euents, and ſo feede it ſelfe with the conceit of thoſe fauours, which are ſo farre from being done, that their authors neuer were. Why doe not we learne zeale of Idolaters? And if they be ſo forward in acknowledgement of their deliuerances to a falſe deity; how cheerefully ſhould we aſcribe ours to the true? O God, whatſoeuer be the meanes, thou art the Author of all our ſucceſſe: Oh that men would praiſe the Lord for his goodneſſe, and tell the wonders that he doth for the ſonnes of men!

No Muſician would ſerue for this feaſt, but Samſon; hee muſt now be their ſport, which was once their terror; that he might want no ſorrow, ſcorn is added to his miſery: EueryEvery wit and hand playes vponupon him; Who is not ready to caſt his bone and his ieſt at ſuch a captiue? So as doubtleſſe he wiſht himſelfe no leſſe deafe, then blind, and that his ſoule might hauehave gone out with his eyes. Oppreſſion is able to make a wiſe man mad: and the greater the courage is, the more painefull the inſultation.

Now Samſon is puniſhed, ſhall the Philiſtims eſcape? If the iudgement of God begin at his owne, what ſhall become of his enemies? This aduantage ſhall Samſon make of their tyranny, that now death is no puniſhment to him, his ſoule ſhall flie forth in this bitterneſſe, without pain; and that his dying reuenge ſhall be no leſſe ſweet to him then the liberty of his former life. He could not but feele God mockt through him; and therefore whiles they are ſcoffing, hee prayes; his ſeriouſneſſe hopes to pay them for all thoſe ieſts. If he could hauehave been thus earneſt with God in his proſperity, the Philiſtims had wanted this laughing ſtocke. No deuotion is ſo feruent, as that which ariſes frō extremity; O Lord God, I pray thee think vponupon me; O God, I beſeech thee ſtrengthen me at this time only. Though Samſons haire were ſhorter, yet he knew, Gods hand was not; as one therefore that had yet eyes enough to ſee him that was inuiſible, and whoſe faith was recouered before his ſtrength, he ſues to that God, which was a party in this indignity, for power to reuenge his wrongs, more then his own: It is zeale that moues him & not malice; his renued faith tels him, that he was deſtined to plague the Philiſtims, and reaſon tels him, that his blindneſſe puts him out of the hope of ſuch another opportunity. Knowing therfore, that this play of the Philiſtims muſt end in his death, he recollects all the forces of his ſoule and body, that his death may be a puniſhment in ſtead of a diſport; and that his ſoule may bee more victorious in the parting, then in the animation: and ſo addreſſes himſelfe both to dye, and kill; as one, whoſe ſoule ſhall not feele his owne diſſolution, whiles it ſhall carry ſo many thouſand Philiſtims with it to the pit. All the acts of Samſon are for wonder, not for imitation: p. 939So didſt thou, O bleſſed Sauiour, our better Samſon, conquer in dying; and triumphing vponupon the chariot of the Croſſe, didſt leade captiuity captiue: The law, ſinne, death, hell, had neuer been vanquiſht, but by thy death: All our life, liberty, and glory, ſprings out of thy moſt precious bloud.

MICHAES Idolatry.

THe mother of Micha hath loſt her ſiluer, and now ſhe fals to curſing: ſhe did afterwards but change the forme of her god; her ſiluer was her god, ere it did put on the faſhion of an image: elſe ſhe had not ſo much curſed to loſe it, if it had not too much poſſeſſed her in the keeping. A carnall heart cannot forgoe that wherein it delights, without impatience; cannot be impatient, without curſes: whereas the man that hath learned to inioy God, and vſe the world, ſmiles at a ſhipwrack, and pitties a theefe, and cannot curſe, but pray.

Micha had ſo little grace, as to ſteale from his mother; and that out of wantonneſſe, not out of neceſſity; for if ſhe had not been rich, ſo much could not hauehave been ſtolne from her; and now, he hath ſo much grace as to reſtore it; her curſes hauehave fetcht againe her treaſures: He cannot ſo much louelove the money, as he feares her imprecations: Wealth ſeemes too deare, bought with a curſe: Though his fingers were falſe, yet his, heart was tender. Many that make not conſcience of committing ſinne, yet make conſcience of facing it: It is well for them, that they are but nouices in euill. Thoſe whom cuſtome hath fleſhed in ſinne, can either deny and forſweare, or excuſe and defend it: their ſeared hearts cannot feele the gnawing of any remorſe; and their forehead hath learned to be as an impudent, as their heart is ſenſleſſe.

I ſee no argument of any holineſſe in the mother of Micha: her curſes were ſinne to he… ſelfe, yet Micha dares not but feare them. I know not whether the cauſleſſe curſe be more worthy of pitty, or deriſion; it hurts the author, not his aduerſary: but the deſerued curſes, that fall euen from vnholy mouthes, are worthy to be feared: How much more ſhould a man hold himſelfe blaſted with th… iuſt inprecations of the godly? What metall are thoſe made of, that can applaud themſelues in the bitter curſes which their oppreſſions hauehave wrung from the poore, and reioyce in theſe ſignes of their proſperity?

Neither yet was Micha more ſtricken with his mothers curſes, then with the conſcience of ſacriledge: ſo ſoone as he findes there was a purpoſe of deuotion in this treaſure, he dares not conceale it, to the preiudice (as he thought) of God, more then of his mother. What ſhall we ſay to the palate of thoſe men, which as they finde no good relliſh but in ſtolne waters, ſo beſt in thoſe, which are ſtolne from the fountaine of God? How ſoone hath the old woman changed her note? Euen now ſhe paſſed an indefinite curſe vponupon her ſonne for ſtealing; and now ſhe bleſſes him abſolutely, for reſtoring; Bleſſed be my ſonne of the Lord. She hath forgotten the theft, when ſhe ſees the reſtitution: How much more ſhall the God of mercies be more pleaſed with our confeſſion, then prouoked with our ſinne?

I doubt not but this ſiluer, and this ſuperſtition came out of Egypt, together with the mother of Micha. This hiſtory is not ſo late in time, as in place; for the Tribe of Dan was not yet ſetled in that firſt diuiſion of the promiſed land; ſo as this old woman had ſeen both the Idolatry of Egypt, and the golden Calfe in the wildernes; and no doubt contributed ſome of her earerings to that Deity; & after all the plagues which ſhe ſaw inflicted vponupon her brethren, for that Idoll of Horeb, and Baal-Peor, ſhee ſtill reſerues a ſecret louelove to ſuperſtition, & now ſhewes it. Where miſ-religion hath once poſſeſſed it ſelfe of the heart, it is very hardly cleanſed out; but (like the plague) it will hang in the very clothes, and after long lurking, breake forth in an expected infection; and p. 940old wood is the apteſt to take this fire: After all the ayring in the deſart, Michoes mother will ſmell of Egypt.

It had bin better the ſiluer had bin ſtolne then thus beſtowed; for now they hauehave ſo imployed it, that it hath ſtolne away their hearts from God; and yet, while it is molten into an image, they thinke it dedicated to the Lord. If Religion might be iudged according to the intention, there ſhould ſcarce be any Idolatry in the world. This woman loued her ſiluer enough; and if ſhe had not thought this coſtly piety, worth thanks, ſhe knew which way to hauehave imployed her ſtocke to aduantage: Euen euill actions hauehave oft-times good meanings, and thoſe good meanings are anſwered with euill recompences. Many a one beſtowes their coſt, their labour, their blood, and receiues torment in ſtead of thanks.

Behold a ſuperſtitious ſonne of a ſuperſtitious mother; She makes a god, and hee harbours it; yea, (as the ſtreame is commonly broader then the head) he exceeds his mother in euill: He hath an houſe of gods, an Ephod, Teraphin; and that he might bee complete in his deuotion, he makes his ſonne his Prieſt, and feoffes that ſinne vponupon his ſonne, which he receiued from his mother. Thoſe ſinnes which nature conuayes not to vsus, we hauehave by imitation. EueryEvery action and geſture of the Parents, is an example to the childe; and the mother, as ſhe is more tender ouer her ſonne, ſo by the power of a reciprocall louelove, ſhe can worke moſt vponupon his inclination. Whence it is, that in the hiſtory of the Iſraelitiſh Kings, the mothers name is commonly noted: and as ciuilly, ſo alſo morally, The birth followes the belly. Thoſe ſonnes may bleſſe their ſecond birth, that are deliuered from the ſinnes of their education.

Who cannot but thinke how far Micha ouer-lookt all his fellow Iſraelites; and thought them profane and godleſſe in compariſon of himſelfe? How did he ſecretly clap himſelfe on the breſt, as the man, whoſe happyneſſe it was to ingroſſe Religion from all the Tribes of Iſrael, and little can imagine, that the further he runs, the more out of the way. Can an Iſraelite be thus paganiſh? O Micha! how hath ſuperſtition bewitched thee, that thou canſt not ſee rebellion in eueryevery of theſe actions, yea in eueryevery circumſtance, rebellion? What, more gods then one? An houſe of gods, beſide Gods houſe? An Image of ſiluer to the inuincible God? An Ephod, and no Prieſt? A Prieſt, beſides the family of Leui? A Prieſt of thine owne begetting, of thine owne conſecration? What monſters doth mans imagination produce, when it is forſaken of God? It is well ſeen there is no King in Iſrael. If God had been their King, his lawes had ruled them. Moſes or Ioſhua had beene their King, their ſword had awed them. If any other, the courſes of Iſrael could not hauehave beene ſo headleſſe. We are beholden to gouernment for order, for peace, for religion. Where there is no King, eueryone will be a King, yea a God to himſelfe. Wee are worthy of nothing but confuſion, if wee bleſſe not God for authority.

It is no maruell if Leuites wandred for maintenance, while there was no King in Iſrael. The tithes & offerings were their due: if theſe had bin paid, none of the holy Tribe needed to ſhift his ſtation. Euen where Royall power ſeconds the claime of the Leuite, the iniuſtice of men ſhortnes his right. What ſhould become of the Leuites, if there were no King? And what of the Church, if no Leuits? No King, therefore no Church. How could the impotent childe liue without a Nurſe? Kings ſhall be thy nurſing Fathers, and Queenes thy nurſes, ſaith God. Nothing more argues the diſorder of any Church, or the decay of Religion, then the forced ſtragling of the Leuites. There is hope of growth, when Micha rides to ſeeke a Leuite; but when the Leuite comes to ſeeke a ſeruice of Micha, it is a ſigne of gaſping deuotion.

Micha was no obſcure man; all Mount Ephraim could not but take notice of his domeſticall gods. This Leuite could not but heare of his diſpoſition; of his miſ-deuotion; yet want of maintenance, no leſſe then conſcience, drawes him on, to the danger of Idolatrous patronage. Holineſſe is not tyed to any profeſſion. Happy were it for the Church, if the Clergy could be a priuiledge from lewdnes. When need meets with vnconſcionablenes, all conditions are eaſily ſwallowed, of vnlawfull entrances, of p. 941wicked executions: Ten ſhekels, and a ſute of apparell, and his diet, are good wages for a needy Leuite. He that could beſtow 11000. ſhekels vponupon his puppets, can afford but ten to his Prieſt: ſo hath he at once a rich Idoll, and a beggerly Prieſt. Whoſoeuer affects to ſerue God good cheape, ſhewes, that he makes God but a ſtale to Mammon.

Yet was Micha a kinde Patron, though not liberall: He cals the young Leuite his father, and vſes him as his ſonne; and what he wants in meanes, ſupplies in affection. It were happy, if Chriſtians could imitate the louelove of Idolaters, towards thē which ſerue at the Altar. Micha made a ſhift with the Prieſthood of his owne ſonne; yet that his heart checkes him in it, appeares both by the change, and his contentment in the change: Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, ſeeing I hauehave a Leuite to my Prieſt: Therefore whiles his Prieſt was no Leuite, hee ſees there was cauſe why God ſhould not bee good to him. If the Leuite had not comne to offer his ſeruice, Michaes ſonne had been a lawfull Prieſt. Many times thy conſcience runnes away ſmoothly with an vnwarrantable action, and reſts it ſelf vponupon thoſe grounds, which afterward it ſees cauſe to condemne. It is a ſure way therefore to informe our ſelues throughly ere we ſettle our choice, that we be not driuen to reuerſe our acts with late ſhame, and vnprofitable repentance.

Now did Micha begin to ſee ſome little glimpſe of his owne errour: He ſaw his Prieſthood faulty; he ſaw not the faults of his Ephod, of his Images, of his gods: and yet (as if he thought all had been well, when he had amended one) he ſayes, Now I know, the Lord will be good to me. The carnall heart pleaſes it ſelfe with an outward formality, and ſo delights to flatter it ſelfe, as that it thinkes, if one circumſtance be right, nothing can be amiſſe.

Iſrael was at this time extremely corrupted; yet the ſpies of the Danites had taken notice euen of this young Leuite, and are glad to make vſe of his Prieſthood. If they had but gone vp to Shilo, they might hauehave cōſulted with the Arke of God: but worldly minds are not curious in their holy ſeruices: If they hauehave a god, an Ephod, a Prieſt, it ſuffices them: They had rather enioy a falſe worſhip with eaſe, then to take paines for the true: Thoſe that are curious in their diet, in their purchaſes, in their attire, in their contracts, yet in Gods buſineſſes are very indifferent.

The author of lies ſometime ſpeakes truth for an aduantage; and from his mouth, this flattering Leuite ſpeaks what he knew would pleaſe, not what he knew would fall out: The euent anſwers his prediction, and now the ſpies magnifie him to their fellowes: Michaes Idoll is a god, and the Leuite is his Oracle. In matter of iudgement, to be guided only by the euent, is the way to error; Falſhood ſhall be truth, and Satan an Angell of light, if we follow this rule: Euen very coniectures ſomtimes happen right; A Prophet, or Dreamer, may giuegive a true ſigne or wonder, and yet himſelfe ſay, Let vsus goe after other gods. A ſmall thing can win credit with weake mindes, which where they hauehave once ſped, cannot diſtruſt.

The idolatrous Danites are ſo beſotted with this ſucceſſe, that they will rather ſteale then want the gods of Micha; and becauſe the gods without the Prieſt can doe them leſſe ſeruice, then the Prieſt without the gods; therefore they ſteale the Prieſt with the gods. O miſerable Iſraelites! that could thinke that a god, which could bee ſtolne; that could looke for protection from that, which could not keep it ſelfe from ſtealing; which was won by their theft; not their deuotion! Could they worſhip thoſe Idols more deuoutly then Micha that made them? And if they could not protect their maker from robbery, how ſhall they protect their theeues? If it had beene the holy Arke of the true God, how could they think it would bleſſe their violence, or that it would abide to be tranſlated by rapin and extortion? Now their ſuperſtition hath made them mad vponupon a god, they muſt hauehave him; by what meanes they care not, though they offend the true God, by ſtealing a falſe. Sacriledge is fit to be the firſt ſeruice of an Idol. The ſpies of Dan had been curteouſly entertained by Micha: thus they reward his hoſpitality. It is no truſting the honeſty of Idolaters: if they hauehave once caſt off the true God, whom will they reſpect?

p. 942It ſeems, Leuites did not more want maintenance, then Iſrael wanted Leuites: Here was a Tribe of Iſrael without a ſpirituall guide. The withdrawing of due meanes, is the way to the vtter deſolution of the Church; Rare offrings make cold Altars. There needed ſmall force to draw this Leuite to change his charge; Hold thy peace, and come, and be our father, and Prieſt; Whether is it better, &c. Here is not patience, but ioy: He that was won with ten ſhekels, may be loſt with eleuen: When maintenance and honour calls him, hee goes vndriuen; and rather ſteales himſelfe away, then is ſtolne. The Leuite had to many gods, to make conſcience of pleaſing one: There is nothing more inconſtant, then a Leuite that ſeeks nothing but himſelfe.

Thus the wilde fire of Idolatry, which lay before couched in the priuate ball of Micha, now flies furiouſly thorow all the Tribe of Dan; who (like to theeues that hauehave carried away plaguy clothes) inſenſibly infected themſelues, and their poſterity, to death. Hereſie and ſuperſtition hauehave ſmall beginnings, dangerous proceedings, pernicious concluſions. This contagion is like a canker, which at the firſt is ſcarce viſible, afterward it eates away the fleſh, and conſumes the body.

CONTEMPLATIONS. THE ELEVENTH BOOKE.

CONTAINING

The Leuites Concubine.

The deſolation of Beniamin.

Naomi and Ruth.

Boaz and Ruth.

Anna and Peninna.

Anna and Eli.

Eli and his ſonnes.

By IOS. HALL, D. of Diuinitie, and Deane of Worceſter.

AT LONDON, Printed by IOHN BEALE and NATHANIEL BVTTER, Ann. Dom. 1624.

p. 944TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE SIR FVLKE GREVILL, KNIGHT, CHANCELOVR OF THE EXCHEQVER, ONE OF HIS MAIESTIES MOST HONOVRABLE PRIVY COVNCELLORS; A MOST WISE, LEARNED, IVDICIOVS INGENVOVS CENCOR OF SCOLLERSHIP; A WORTHY EXAMPLE OF BENEFACTORS TO LEARNING. I. H.

VVith his vnfained prayers for THE HAPPY SVCCESSE OF ALL HIS HONOVRABLE DESIGNEMENTS, HVMBLY DEDICATES THIS MEANE PIECE OF HIS STVDIES.