Twenty-One Sermons on Amos 2, Collection of lectures · Lecture 13
THE XIII. LECTVRE.
AMOS 2.9.10 11.
Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the Cedars, and he was strong as the Okes, yet I destroyed his fruit from aboue, and his rootes from beneath.
Also I brought you vp from the land of Egypt, and led you fortie yeares through the wildernesse, to possesse the land of the Amorite.
And I raised vp of your sonnes for Prophets, and of your yong men for Nazarites. Is it not euen thus, O yee children of Israel, saith the Lord?
MY meditations hauehave beene heretofore fiue times exercised in discoursing vntounto you of the sinnes, wherewith the people of Israel in the precedent verses stand charged. Their sinnes were, Couetousnesse, Crueltie, Oppression, False dealing, Filthie lusts, Incest, Idolatrie, Riot, and Excesse. Grosse and palpable enormities. My endeuour was by the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, to arme you against them, that yee giuegive them no passage, no not a little; that yee suffer them not by any meanes to hauehave dominion ouer you.
From their sinnes we come to their Blessings; those blessings wherewith God had blessed them. Foure are heere mentioned.
One is, the ruine of the Amorites, set downe verse 9. Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the Cedars, and he was strong as the Okes, yet I destroyed his fruit from aboue, and his rootes from beneath.
The second is, their deliuera…e from the seruitude of Egypt. ver. 10. Also I brought you vp from the land of Egypt.
The third is, their safe passage through the desert, touched in the same verse; I led you fortie yeares through the wildernesse. And why so? but, to possesse the land of the Amorite.
These were three great blessings; yet were they but temporall. The fourth passeth; It is spirituall, ver. 11. I raysed vp of your sonnes for Prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites:
The confirmation of all followeth in the same verse: Is it not euen thus, O yee children of Israel, sayth the Lord? Say O yee children of Israel; HaueHave I not done so and so for you? HaueHave I not destroyed the Amorite for your sake? HaueHave I not freed you from your Egyptian yoke? HaueHave I not guided you through the desert? HaueHave I not giuen you Prophets and Nazarites of your owne sonnes, and of your owne yong men for your instruction in the true seruice and worship of your God? Is it euen thus, O yee children of Israel, saith the Lord?
You hauehave now the scope of my Prophet, and the summe of this Scripture. My present discourse must begin with the first mentioned benefit bestowed by God vponupon that people. It is the ruine of the Amorites for their sake, thus expressed, ver. 9. Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, &c.
Herein I commend vntounto you three principall parts;
The first hath a generall touch of the ruine of the Amo…ites: Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them.
The second hath a description of that people. They are described, from their stature, and from their valour. Each is set forth vntounto vsus by way of comparison: their stature or tallnesse by the Cedar, their valour or strength by the Oke; Their height was like the height of the Cedars, and hee was strong as the Okes.
The third hath a particular explication or amplification of their ruine; It was not any gentle stripe that they receiued, not any light incision, not any small wound; but it was their extermination, their contrition, their vniuersall ouerthrow, their vtter ruine. Their roote and fruit; Princes and subiects; Parents and children, yong and old, were all brought to nought: Yet I destroyed his fruit from aboue, and his rootes from beneath.
Of the first of these three parts at this time. It hath a generall touch of the ruine of the Amorites. Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them.
Yet.] The Hebrew letter is Ʋan; it is most vsually put foraEt. And: It is here so rendred by Leo Iuda, by Calvin, by Gualter, by Brentius, and by Drusius. Thebforeign. Septuagint, the author of thecAutem. Vulgar Latine, and Vatablus doe translate it But. dQuamvis.Tremellius and theeLicet. Translator of the Chaldee Paraphrase hauehave Although. Our English Bible hath Yet. Be it either And, or Although, or But, or Yet, it varieth not the meaning of the holy Ghost.
The meaning of the holy Ghost, is, by this enumeration of Gods benefits vponupon Israel, to taxe Israel of Ingratitude. God showred downe his benefits vponupon them, yet they returned no thankes. So much is here enforced by this particle, Yet, to this sense: Notwithstanding all the good I hauehave done vntounto Israell, whether for their temporall, or for their spirituall estate; for their temporall, by destroying the Amorite before them, by freeing them from their seruitude in Egypt, and by guiding them through the wildernesse: and for their spirituall estate, by giuing vntounto them Prophets euen of their owne sonnes: yet Israell, fHos. 11.7.my people Israell, hauehavegHos. 13.6. forgotten me. Crueltie, Couetousnesse, Oppression, False dealing, Filthie lusts, Incest, Idolatrie, Riot, and Excesse, these are the fruits wherwith they repay me: Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them.
Here we are to take out a lesson against Vnthankefulnesse. It is this, Ʋnthankefulnesse is a sinne very odious in the sight of God.
This truth you will acknowledge to be very euident, and out of question, if you will be pleased to consider three things.
The
First is, that God doth seriously forbid Vnthankefulnesse.
Second is, that he doth seuerely reprehend it.
Third is, that he doth dulie punish it.
First, God forbiddeth vnthankefulnesse. It is forbidden, Deut. 6.22. Take heed, that thou forget not the Lord thy God when thou art full. hDeut. 6.10.When the Lord thy God shall hauehave brought thee into the land which he sware vntounto thy Fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Iacob, to giuegive thee, and shall hauehave giuen thee great and goodly Citties, which thou buildest not: iVers. 11.And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and Wells di…g…d which thou diggedst not; vineyards & oliue trees planted, which thou plantedst not, kDeut. 8.10.11.12.when thou hast eaten and be full, lDeut. 6.12.Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Take heed that thou be not vnthankefull.
Secondly, God reprehendeth vnthankfulnesse. He reprehendeth it in the Iewes, Esa. 1.2. I hauehave nourished, I hauehave brought vp children, but they hauehave rebelled against me. He reprehendeth it in the Gentiles, Rom. 1.21. There are the Gentiles sayd to be without excuse, Because when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were they thankefull. Hee reprehendeth it in the proud Christian, 1. Cor. 4.7. The proud Christian he boasteth of his dignitie, of his good workes, of his merits. Vnthankfull man, what hast thou, that thou hast not receiued? And if thou hast receiued it, why doest thou glory, why boasteth thou as if thou hadst not receiued? It is a reprehension of Vnthankfulnesse which you hauehave, Mat. 25 26. There the seruant that receiued of his Master one Talent to be employed to the best aduantage, and employed it not, is thus checked: Thou wicked and slothfull seruant, thou knowest that I reape, where I sowed not, and gather where I hauehave not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to hauehave put my money to the exchangers.
I may not passe by Iesus his censure, which he giueth of the Leapers, Luk. 17.17. It is a reprehension of their Vnthankfulnesse. Tenne were clensed: onelyonly one, and he a Samaritane, returned to giuegive thankes. It drew from Iesus this expostulation: Were there not ten clensed? but where are the nine?
Let me recall you to review that reproofe of Vnthankefulnesse, Esa. 1.2. How begins it? Heare ô men, hearken ô Angels? No. A greater Auditorie must yeeld attention. Heare ô Heauens, and hearken ô earth. Why? What is the matter? I hauehave nourished, and brought vp children, and they hauehave rebelled against me. What? Children! and they rebell! If seruants had done it, if bondmen, if the sonnes of Agar, of whom it was sayd of old,mGen. 21.10. Cast out this bondwoman, and her sonne, if these had rebelled against me, it were the lesse to be maruailed at: but they are children, mine owne children, children of mine owne education, nourished and brought vp by my selfe: That these should rebell against me! Heare ô Heauens, and hearken ô earth, stand yee hereat astonished.
Marke, I beseech you, how the Lord goeth on to amplifie this Vnthankefulnesse of his people, ver. 3. The oxe knoweth his owner, and the asse his Masters crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. See you not, how God setteth his people, as it were to Schoole, to the Oxe, and to the Asse, to learne of them what their dutie is? And no maruaile is it, sayth a goodnCalvin. Interpreter. For it often times falleth out, that bruit beasts doe make a greater shew of humanitie, then man himselfe doth.
It is a commendation giuen vntounto dogges, that they are fidelissimi dominis, & gratissimi, most faithfull, most grateful vntounto their Masters: that by night they watch and ward, and keepe their Masters houses; that by day they attend their Masters abroad; that they fight for them, yee and sometimesoBosquier s… cundâ naufragij tabulâ Conc. in dedicativis Templi pag. 158. die for them too. The Dogge that in K. Pyrrhus hispTheatrum mundi Launai lib. 1. sub finem. Campe in the middest of his armed souldiers inuaded the parricide and murderer of his Master, is recorded for a paterne of thankefulnesse. So is that Merchants dogge, that in the Iland Teos, lay vponupon a bagge of money of his Masters, which his Masters boy had by negligence left behind him in a by-way: and so long he lay vponupon it, that at his masters returne to seeke what he had lost, tùm custodia finem fecit, tùm caninam efflavit animam, sayth myqElias Cretens. comment ad orat. 2. Naziazenus de Theologia. p. 60. Author, hee yeelded vp the custodie of the bagge, and dyed.
I could tell you of as great thankefulnesse in Lyons. It was a thankful Lyon that spared Androclus a runnagate from his Master, put into Circus Maximus at Rome, to be deuoured by the Beasts there. The kindnesse he had done to the Lyon was in Africa: and it was nothing else but the plucking of a thorne out of his foote, It was a kindnesse, and the Lyon forgat it not. Its registred by Gellius Noct: Attic. lib. 5. cap. 14.
It was a thankefull Lyon, that followed Gerasimus the Abbot to keepe his Asses: the kindnesse that the Abbot had done to the Lyon, was done at the riuer Iordan. It was nothing else, but the remoouing of a little bramble from the Lyons foote; It was a kindnesse, and the Lyon did him seruice for it. Its reported by Iohan. Moscus in his pratum spirituale c. 107. And Fran. Costerus the Iesuite cites it to be true, in hisrPag. 255. Sermon vponupon the thirteenth Dominicall after Pentecoast.
It was a thankefull Lyon that followed a certaine souldier that went with Duke Godfrey of Bullein to the Conquest of the Holy land. The kindnesse that the souldier had done to the Lyon, was done not farre from Ierusalem. And what was it? A serpent that had gotten this Lyon at the aduantage, and was like to be his executioner, was slaine by this souldier: This was a kindnesse, and the Lyon was thankefull for it. It is storied by Bernardus Guidonis in his Chronicle: And Philip Diez, a Fryer minorite of Portugall in his Summa predicantium at the word, Ingratitude, takes it for true: and vponupon the relation thereof breaketh out into this exclamation:sPag. 495. O magnam bestiae gratitudinem, & ingentem hominum ingratitudinem! Quare haec audientes vos, non confunditis? O the great thankefulnesse of a beast, and the exceeding great vnthankefulnesse of men! How is it that you heare this, and are not confounded.
Salomon, the wisest among the sonnes of men, Prov. 6.6. sends the sluggard to the Ant, to learne of her to labour. Goe to the Ant, thou sluggard, consider her wayes, and be wise. SheetProu. 6.7. hauing no guid, ouerseer, or ruler, prouideth her meate in summer, and gathereth her food in the haruest. Goe, learne of her, doe thou likewise. Is the sluggard sent to the Ant to learne? Then well may the Vnthankefull man be sent to the Lyon, to the dogge, to the oxe, and to the asse. He may learne to be thankefull of the Lyon, and of the dog: I hauehave shewed it vntounto you by humane testimonies. The oxe and the asse may also teach it them: diuine demonstration makes it good. Remember, I beseech you that same exaggeration of the ingratitude of Israel: The oxe knoweth his owner, and the asse his masters cribbe, but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. And let this suffice to shew, that God doth seuerely reprehend vnthankefulnesse.
Now in the third place, I am to shew, that he doth punish it.
The punishments wherewith God repayeth vnthankefulnesse are of two sorts. They are eyther Temporall or Eternall.
Among Temporall punishments I ranke the losse of the commodities of this life.
Such a punishment, a temporall punishment it was, wherwith God repayed the Vnthankefulnesse of the Israelites in the wildernesse of Pharan, at Kibroth-Hattaanah, or the graues of lust, their thirteenth mansion, so called because thereuNum. 11.34. they buried the people that lusted for flesh. This punishment, Psal. 78.30, 31. is thus described: While their meate was yet in their mouthes, the wrath of God came vponupon them, and flew the fattest of them, and smote downe the chosen of Israel. In the 11. of Numbers, ver. 33. thus: While the flesh was yet betweene their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague.
A temporall punishment it was, wherewith God repayed the motherxHos. 2.5. that played the Harlot, Hos. chap. 2. for her vnthankfulnesse. Shee knew not, that the Lord gaueyVer. 8. her Corne, and wine, and oyle, and multiplyed her siluer, and her gold. For shee sayd verse 5. I will goe after my louers, that giuegive me my bread and my water, my wooll and my flax, mine oyle and my drinke. You may see her punishment resolued vponupon, vers. 9. I will returne, saith the Lord, and will take away my Corne in the time thereof, and my wine, in the season thereof, and I will recouer my wooll and my flax. Mine sayth the Lord. They are all his. It was the Harlots Vnthankefulnesse to call them hers. But shee was punished with the losse of them.
A temporall punishment it is, which is threatned to fall vponupon eueryevery Vnthankefull wretch, Prov. 17.13. Who so rewardeth euill for good, euill shall not depart from his house. Plagues and punishments from God shall be his portion.
Thus is Ʋnthankefulnesse repayed with temporall punishments. It is repaid likewise with Eternall.
An Eternall punishment it is, which is adiudged to the vnthankefull, and vnprofitable seruant, in the parable of the talents, Matth. 25.30. Cast him into vtter darkenes; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Eternall is the punishment, which Iudas suffereth for his vnthankefulnesse. He fellzAct 1.18. headlong, he burst asunder in the middest, all his bowels gushed out, and so he went into his owne place, Act. 1.25. His owne place! Ex proprijs meritis damnationis locum, suum effecit, saith Caietane, Iudas by his owne deserts made the place of damnation, his owne place. His owne place, not by any desire or affectation of his owne, but by Gods ordination. He went into his owne place: Abijt in Infernum, sayth Lorinus, he went into Hell: and there hee suffereth theaReuel. 21.8. second death; a death after death, a death and yet euerlasting. For as Hell is large, so its long, and strong too. Betweene vsus and you sayth Abraham in Paradise to Diues in hell, there is a great gulfe fixed, bLuk. 16.26.so that they which would passe from hence to you, cannot; neither can they passe to vsus, that would come from thence. Ex inferno nulla redemptio: there is no getting out of Hell: and therefore Iudas his punishment is Eternall.
St Paul 2. Tim. 3.2. sets downe a catalogue of the wicked: Among them, foreign, the vnthankefull hauehave their place. They hauehave their place among the wicked; and therfore the portion of the wicked, must be their portion. And what shall become of the wicked? S. Paul sayth, 1. Cor. 6.10. They shall not inherit the kingdome of God. He saith it againe, Gal. 5.21. They shall not inherit the kingdome of God. S. Iohn in his Reuelation, Chap. 21.8. sayth, They shall hauehave their part in the lake, which burneth with fire and brimstone. The Vnthankefull therefore, as wicked, shall not inherit the kingdome of God, but shall hauehave their part in the lake, which burneth with fire and brimstone. Their punishment shall be Eternall.
Hitherto you hauehave heard; First, that God doth seriously forbid Ʋnthankefulnesse. Secondly, that he doth seuerely reprehend it. Thirdly, that he doth duly punish it. From hence is the lesson, which I commended vntounto you, made good.
Vnthankefulnesse is a sinne very odious in the sight of God.
The consideration hereof should worke in vsus a resolution to giuegive thankes vntounto our God for all his benefits. And although Dignas Deo gratias agere non sufficimus, though we be not able worthily to giuegive God thanks; yet let eueryevery one of vsus professe with S. Bernard, in his second SermoncDomin. 6. Pentac. pag. 230. h. de septem panibus: Ingratitudinem prorsus odit anima mea, my soule doth hate vnthankefulnesse. Peremtoria siquidem res est Ingratitudo. Vnthankefulnesse! its a killing sinne, its an enemie to grace, its a blacke friend to saluation. I tell you, sayth that Father, quoniam pro meo sapere, I tell you, that to my vnderstanding, there is nothing, that so much displeaseth God, especially in the children of Grace, and men of Conuersion, as vnthankefulnesse doth. His reason is: Vias obstruit gratiae; & vbi fuerit illa, iam gratia accessum non invenit, locum non habet. Vnthankfulnesse, it stops, it dams vp the passage of grace. Let Vnthankefulnesse be any where, the good graces of God will hauehave no accesse thither; much lesse will they reside there.
The same sweete Father Serm. 51. in Cantica dPag 719. h.speaketh to like purpose. Vnthankefulnesse! its the soules enemie; its a burning wind, siccans tibi fontem pietatis, rorem misericordia, fluenta gratiae. It dryeth vp the fountaine of pietie, the dew of mercy, the riuers of grace.
He may seeme to hauehave reference to that Heauenly meditation of S. Austine in the 18. chapter of hiseTom. 9. fol. 159. e. Soliloquies: Lord I will recount in my minde all the good which thou hast done for me all my life long, euen from my fPsal. 71.5.youth. For I know right well, that vnthankefulnesse doth much displease thee, as being the roote of all spirituall wickednesse. It is ventus quidam desiccans, & vrens omne bonum; It is a certaine wind, that dryeth and burneth vp whatsoeuer good is, and stoppeth the fountaine of thy heauenly mercies, ô Lord.
Such should be our eueryevery dayes meditation. EueryEvery day should we recount in our minds, all the good things which God hath done for vsus all our life long, euen from our youth. Here to are we exhorted by S. Paul, 1. Thes. 5.18. In eueryevery thing giuegive thankes. His exhortation is made strong with a reason annexed. For this is the will of God in Christ Iesus concerning you. The like exhortation is made to the Colossians, chap. 3.15. Be yee thankefull, and ver. 17. Whatsoeuer yee doe in word or in deed, doe all things in the name of the Lord Iesus, giuing thankes to God, and the Father by him. The Ephesians are in like sort exhorted, chap. 5.20. GiueGive thankes alwayes for all things vntounto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ.
In this Apostolicall exhortation to thankesgiuing foure circumstances are principally remarkeable, Quando, pro quibus, cui, per quem.
One is, Quando; When we are to giuegive thankes. We are to doe it, foreign, alwayes, at all times.
The second is, pro quibus; for what we are to giuegive thanks, We are to doe it foreign, for all things. For all things which God sendeth vponupon vsus, or our neighbours, be they prosperous or otherwise. For euen aduersitiegRom. 8.28. worketh for the good of them, that louelove God.
The third is, cui; to whom we are to giuegive thankes. We are to doe it foreign, to God and the Father, because he is God and Father: God in greatnesse, and Father in goodnesse: God, for his creation and generall gouernment of the world, and Father, for his election, redemption, and iustification of the faithfull.
The fourth is, Per quem; By whom we are to giuegive thanks, we are to doe it foreign, in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ. Not in our owne name, for there is nohRom. 7.8. good in vsus. Of our selues we cannot so much asi2. Cor. 3.5. thinke a good thought; much lesse can we speake a good word, or doe a good deed. Nor in any Angels name, for the Angels are butkHeb. 1.14. foreign, they are but ministring spirits. Nor in any Saints name: for this were to mingle the bloud of Thomas with Christs bloud, aslLuk. 13.1. Pilate mingled the bloud of the Galileans with their owne sacrifice: Christ, he alone is our Sauiour, our Redeemer, our Mediator, our Aduocate: in his name alone are we to giuegive thankes. GiueGive thankes alwayes for all things to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ.
This is our dutie, beloued, euen to giuegive thankes alwayes for all things to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ.
Is it our dutie? Let vsus then embrace it. Ascendant gratia, vt descendat gratia: let our thankes ascend vp to God, that his grace may descend downe vponupon vsus. For cessat decursus gratiarum, vbi non fuerit recursus, sayth Bernard Serm. 1. in capite ieiunij. The course and descent of the graces of God ceaseth, and the spring is dryed vp, when there is not a recourse and tide of our thankefulnesse.
O! Why should so good an exercise be a burthen and griefe to any Christian soule. Let the vnrighteous vanish away in their gracelesse vnthankefulnesse, and become as the dung of the earth: but let the righteous alwayes reioyce in the Lord, mPsal. 33.1.for it well becommeth the iust to be thankefull.
Early and late let vsus prayse his holy name, though not with the harpe, nor with the Psalterie, nor with an instrument of ten strings, as the Psalmist aduiseth, Psal. 33.2. Yet let vsus doe it with the best members, and instruments we hauehave, with our bodies, and with our soules.
An eminent nB. King in Jon. l…ct 25. p 328.piller of our Church, hath for this place a sweete meditation: Let vsus neuer turne ouroEz…. 8.16. backes to the Temple of the Lord, nor our faces from his mercy seate. Let vsus not take without giuing, as vnprofitable ground drinketh and deuoureth seed without restoring. Let vsus neither eate nor drinke, nay, let vsus neither hunger nor thirst, without this condiment to it, The Lord be praysed. Let the frontlets betweene your eyes, the bracelets vponupon our armes, the gards vponupon our garments, be thankes. Whatsoeuer we receiue to vse or enioy, let vsus write that posie & Epiphoneme ofpChap. 4.7. Zacharie vponupon it; Grace, grace vntounto it: for all is grace.
To shut vp this point, let our daily deuotion, be the same that Dauids was, Psal. 103.1, 2. let it be our daily song: Llesse the Lord ô my soule, and all that is within me blesse his holy name. Blesse the Lord ô my soule, & forget not all his benefits.
Thus farre hath the vnthankefulnes of Israel, noted in the particle Yet, carryed me. I now goe on with the explication of the first benefit here mentioned, to hauehave bin bestowed by God vponupon that vnthankefull people.
I destroyed the Amorite before them.
foreign, say the Septuagint, I hauehave taken away; Exterminavi, the Vulgar, Calvin, and Gualter, I hauehave cast out; Delevi, Leo, Iuda, and Castalio, I hauehave wiped away; Excidi, Oecolampadius, I hauehave cut off; Perdidi, Vatablus, Tremellius, and Iunius, I hauehave destroyed; Drusius expounds it, Delevi, Perdidi, profligavi; Mercerus, Disperdidi, abolevi. The word in the originall signifieth, so to abolish and wipe away a people or a nation, that there be not any memorie left of it.
I destroyed the Amorite.
The Amorites were descended from Canaan the fourth sonne of Ham. In Gen. 10.16. Canaan is sayd to hauehave begotten, the Iebusite, and the Amorite, and the G…rgasite. He begat the Amorite.
I destroyed the Ammorite] What? The Ammorite alone? Not so: But the Ammorites and other nations of the land of Canaan: whom, when they had fulfilled the measure of their iniquitie, God did cut of, that he might giuegive their land for an habitation to the posteritie of Iacob, the people of Israell, according to his couenant made with Abraham, Gen. 15.18. VntoUnto thy seed hauehave I giuen this land from the riuer of Egypt vntounto the great riuer, the riuer Euphrates. The Kenites and the Kentzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgasites, and the Iebusites. The Amorites you see were not alone.
According to this couenant with Abraham, a promise is made to the Fathers in the desert, Exod. 23.27. I will send my feare before thee, and will destroy all the people, to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turne their backes vntounto thee. And I will send hornets before thee, which shall driue out from before thee. Whom? The Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite? Its true. But they are not all. Looke backe to the 23. verse. There shall you finde the Lord thus to speake. Mine Angell shall goe before thee, and bring thee vntounto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Iebusites: and I will cut them off. You see againe, the Amorites were not alone.
I pervse the Catalogue of the Nations, whom the Lord hath cast out before Israell. It is Deut. 7.1. There I finde, that he hath cast out, the Hittites, and the Girgasites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Heuites, and the Iebusites, seauen Nations, greater and mightier then Israell was. Seuen Nations? Then the Amorites were not alone.
Were they seauen Nations, that were driuen out before Israel? How then is it, that the Lord here in my text recounting vntounto Israell this great benefit, nameth onelyonly the Amorite, saying, Yet destroyed I the Ammorite.
The Iesuite Pererius in his third Tome of Commentaries vponupon Genesis, writing vponupon the 15. Chapter, ver. 16. these words, The iniquitie of the Amorite is not yet full, moues this very doubt, but thus: The reader may here wonder, why mention is made onelyonly of one Nation of the Amorite, sith it is plaine by other places of holy Scripture, that there were seauen Nations, which the Lord draue out from before the Israelites.
His first answere is: It may by a Synecdoche. A part may be put for the whole; one Nation of the Amorites for all the seauen. A like Synecdoche there is, Iosh. 1.4. There thus sayth the Lord vntounto Ioshuah: From the wildernesse and this Lebanon, euen vntounto the great riuer, the riuer Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and vntounto the great Sea, toward the going downe of the Sunne, shall be your coast. All the land of the Hittites, shall be your coast; The Hittites onelyonly are named; and yet within the bounds described all the seauen had their habitations. It is therefore a Synecdoche. A part is put for the whole: One Nation of the Hittites for all the seauen. Its so here: One Nation of the Amorites for all the seauen.
This answere admitting a Synecdoche is approued by Piscator, Tremellius, and Iunius. Yet Pererius thinkes to giuegive a better. And therefore his second answere is: that the Amorites are praecipuè & singulariter, chiefly and principally, named aboue all the rest, and for them all; because for the largenesse of their Nation, and for their height of stature, and for their strength of bodie, and for their excessiue crueltie, and impietie, they were aboue all, famous and much spoken of.
Mercerus, that great Professor of the Hebrew tongue in the Vniuersitie of Paris, is of opinion, that the Amorite here, and else-where, is aboue all, and for all mentioned, because he of all was the most terrible, the most mighty, and the strongest.
The like is affirmed by Arias Montanus, that learned Spaniard; Amorrhaeum potissimùm appellat, The Amorite he especially nameth, because that Nation & multitudine, & copijs, at{que} potentiâ, in multitude, in forces, and in power, excelled all the rest of the Nations, that were cast out before Israell.
Here then, where the Lord hath sayd, Yet destroyed I the Amorite, in the Amorite we are to vnderstand also, the rest of those seauen Nations, which the Lord draue out from before Israel: the Hittites, & the Girgasites, and the Canaanites, and the Perezzites, and the Hivites, and the Iebusites. Seauen they were in number, greater and mightier then Israell was. All seauen were cast out by the Lord from before Israel: and so much are we to vnderstand by this, that the Lord here sayth, Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them.
Before them] foreign, say the Septuagint. They well render the Hebrew, which word for word is a faciè ipsorum, from their face. Mercerus sayth, a conspectu eorum, from their sight; that is, sayth he, eorum causâ, ad eorum adventum, for their sake, or at their comming. Albertus Magnus renders it, à praesentia eorum, from their presence. Our English, before them, hits the sense. The sense is: God stroke such a terror into those seauen Nations, the inhabitants of the land of Canaan; that at the comming of the Israelites, at the hearing of the name of Israel, they vanished, they fled away, they forsooke their auncient habitations; or else were suddenly slaine without much resistance.
Thus hauehave you the exposition of the first branch of this ninth verse, which conteineth a generall touch of the ruine of the Amorites. Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them.] The Israelites, their vnthankefulnesse towards me is verie notorious, yet hauehave I destroyed the Amorite before them. Yet I] the Lord their God, who hauehave freed them from their bondage in Egypt, and hauehave led them fortie yeares through the wildernesse, I hauehave destroyed] hauehave ouerthrowne, hauehave driuen out, hauehave brought to ruine—The Amorite] not onelyonly the Amorites, but also the rest of the Nations, sixe other mightie Nations, whose dwelling was in the land of Canaan: all these hauehave I destroyed before them] for their sake, for Israels sake; that Israel might without resistance take quiet possession of the land of Canaan, the land that floweth with milke and honey. The lesson which we may take from hence is this: God is all in all, either in the ouerthrow of his enemies, or in the vpholding of his children.
For further proofe hereof we may hauehave recourse to the 15. chapter of the Booke of Exodus. There Moses sings a song vntounto the Lord, a song of thankesgiuing, wherein hee acknowledgeth the Lord to be all in all, in the ouerthrow of his enemies, Pharaoh and his host in the red Sea. His acknowledgment is, vers. 6. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in peices the enemie: In the greatnesse of thine excellencie, thou hast ouerthrowne them: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which hath consumed them as stubble. With the blast of thy nostrills the waters were gathered together: the fiouds stood vpright as an heape: the depths were congealed in the heart of the Sea. The enemie feared not to enter. But thou Lord, didst blow with thy wind: the Sea couered them; they sanke as lead in the mightie waters. Who is like vntounto thee, O Lord? Who is like thee? God is all in all in the ouerthrow of his enemies.
He is also all in all in the vpholding of his children. Moses in the same song auoucheth it, vers. 13. Thou, Lord, in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: Thou hast guided them in thy strength vntounto thine holy habitation. It was not their qP…al. 44.3.owne sword that deliuered them, neither did their owne arme saue them. But the Lord, He and his merciemercy He and his strength deliuered them, God is all in all in vpholding of his children.
I… it thus dearely beloued? Is God all in all in the ouerthrow of his enemies? Then for the ouerthrow of that great Nauie, called the inuincible Nauie, the great Armada of Spaine, which*This Sermon was preached A…gust. 27. 1615. twentie seauen yearesrAu. Ch. 1588. since threatned desolation to the inhabitants of this Ile, let God hauehave the glorie. It was the right hand of the Lord; not our vertue, not our merits, not our armes, not our men of might, but the right hand of the Lord it was, that brought that great worke to passe. TheirsExod. 15.4.5. chosen Captaines were drowned in the Sea: the depth couered them; they sanke into the bottome as a stone. Some of them that were taken from the furie of the waues, and were brought prisoners to the honourablest cittie in this land, in their anguish of mind spared not to say,tLetter to Mendoza. pa. 17. that in all those fights, which at Sea they saw, Christ shewed himselfe a Lutheran. Sure I am, that Christ shewed himselfe to be little Englands uPsal. 18.2.rocke, and fortresse, and strength, and deliuerer. Quid retribuemus? What shall we render? nay, what can we render, vntounto the Lord for so great a deliuerance? Let our song begin as the Psalme doth, the 115. Psalme. Non nobis, Domine, non nobis: Not vntounto vsus, Lord, not vntounto vsus, but vntounto thy name giuegive the glory, for thy merciemercy and for thy truths sake.
With like affection recount we the deliuerance of our King and State, from that infernall and hellish exployt of the powder treason. The contriuers thereof I now name not. What could they expect, but vponupon the least discouerie of so execrable an action, to incurre an vniuersall detestation, to hauehave all the hatred of the earth poured vponupon them and theirs, to be the outcasts of the Common wealth, and the Maranathaes of the Church, they and their names for euer to be an abhorring to all flesh. Yet they so farre proceeded in that their Diabolicall machination, that they were at the poynt to hauehave giuen the blow; that blow, that should hauehave beene the common ruine of vsus all. But God, our God, who is foreign, as the Greekes describe him, Psal. 9.9. A helper at opportunities, in the needfull times of trouble, when we were thusxIoh. 4.35. albi ad messem, white for their haruest, readie to be cut downe by them; then, euen then did our God deliuer vsus. Quid retribuemus? What, what shall we render? nay, what can we render vntounto the Lord for so great a deliuerance? Let our song be as before: Non nobis Domine, non nobis: Not vntounto vsus, Lord, not vntounto vsus, but vntounto thy name giuegive the glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truths sake.
God, you see, is all in all in the ouerthrow of his enemies: So is he, all in all in the vpholding of his children.
Of his children, that is, of such, as liue by faith in Christ, and doe serue the Lord their God in spirit and in truth. Such if they be oppressed, if they be in need, if in trouble, hauehave God for their refuge, Psal. 9.9. God will be the same God to them, as he was to Dauid, Psal. 18.2. He will bee their Rocke, their Fortresse, their Deliuerer, their God, their Strength, their Buckler, the horne of their saluation, and their high Tower.
Here are they to be admonished, who, neglecting the strong God of their saluation, put their confidence in the transitorie things of this world. They, who trust in their wealth, and boast themselues in the multitude of their riches, they are here reprooueable. How can their wealth, how can their riches profit them in the euill day? Will they serue for a ransome vntounto God for thee? Looke to the 49th Psalme, and the 8. verse, and you shall find, that the redemption of a soule is much more precious.
And they who relie vponupon great men, thinking themselues safe in the shadow of their wings, are here reprooueable. They hauehave their warning, Psal. 146.3. Put not your trust in Princes, nor in any sonne of man. And why not? There is no helpe in them: and why no helpe? Their breath goeth forth, they returne to their earth, and their verie thoughts doe perish.
They also who make any other creature their confidence, are here reproueable. They for their instruction may hauehave recourse to the 33. Psalme, at the 16. verse, thereof they may thus read: There is no King saued by the multitude of an host: a mightie man is not deliuered by much strength. An horse is a vaine thing for saftie, neither shall he deliuer any by his great strength.
What? Is a horse a vaine thing to saue a man? Is much strength vaine? Is there no saftie for a King in the multitude of an host? Is there no trust to be put in Princes? Nor in any man? Nor in wealth? Nor in the multitude of riches? Nor in any of the transitorie things of this world? Quid nos? What shall we then doe, beloued? Let vsus say with the confidence, that the Church hath in Gods succour, Psal. 20.7. Some put their trust in Chariots, and some in Horses, some in Princes, some in other men, some in their strength, some in their riches, some in something else, that is vaine and transitorie, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. The Lord our God who was all in all in destroying the Amorites before his people Israell; is now all in all in vpholding vsus, his Children by adoption and grace, against the furie of all our enemies, that hauehave had euill will at our prosperitie. I conclude with the words of the Psal. 146.5. Happie is he, that hath the God of Iacob for his helpe; whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made Heauen and earth, the sea, and all that therein is. To this Lord our God, Father, Sonne, and holy Ghost, one true and euerliuing God, sing we an Hallelujah. Hallelujah, saluation and glory, and honour, and power, be vntounto the Lord our God for euermore.