Twenty-One Sermons on Amos 2, Collection of lectures · Lecture 14
THE XIIII. LECTVRE.
AMOS 2.9.
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.
OF the benefits here mentioned to hauehave beene bestowed by God vponupon his people, the people of Israel, in the first place we hauehave the ouerthrow of the Amorites. It is deliuered, vers. 9. Therein I propounded to your religious attentions three principall parts.
In the first, we hauehave the ouerthrow of the Amorites; Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them.
In the second, the Amorites are described. Their description is taken from their stature, and from their valour, each is set forth vntounto vsus by way of Comparison: their stature or height by the Cedars; their valour or strength by the Oke. Their height was like the height of the Cedars, and he was strong as the Okes.
The third hath an explication, or an amplification of the ouerthrow of the Amorites. 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. Fruit and roote, Prince and people, Parents and children, old & yong, were all brought to nought: Yet destroyed I their fruit from aboue, and their roote from beneath.
The first of these three principall parts, deliuering in a generalitie the ouerthrow of the Amorites, was the subiect of my last discourse out of this place. Now followeth the second: the description of that people, the people of the Amorites. They are for their height or stature compared to the Cedars, and for their strength and valour to the Okes. Their height was like the height of the Cedars, & he was strong as the Okes.
Their height was like the height of the Cedars.
IN Syria, and especially in mount Lebanon, the Cedar trees grew very high. Sennacherib King of Assyria by his message to Hezekiah King of Iudah, giueth testimonie hereunto. His message is, 2. King. 19.23. With the multitude of my chariots, I am come vp to the height of the mountaines, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut downe the tall Cedars thereof. Succidam altitudinem Cedrorum eius, so he speaketh in the Hebrew, I will cut downe the tallnesse of the Cedars of Lebanon. The words are repeated, Esa. 37.24. I will cut downe the tallnesse of the Cedars of Lebanon. The tallnesse of the Cedars] out of doubt they are very high.
The Cedars of Lebanon, Esa. 2.13. are sayd to be sublimes & elevatae, high and lifted vp. In Tremellius his translation, they are celsissimae & elatissimae, most tall and towring. Out of doubt they are very high.
If humane authoritie may be added to diuine, Theophrastus in his fift Booke of his historie of Plants, chap. 9. sayth, that the Cedar for its length or height is foreign, its worthie admiration. Rovillius in his Historie of Plants, lib. 1. cap. 11. affirmeth, that the Cedar of Phoenicia or Syria beareth a bodie streight and very tall, mounting aboue all other trees. Arias Montanus sayth as much: Cedrus vbicum{que} fuerit, the Cedar wheresoeuer it groweth, it ouertoppeth all other trees, and is aboue all pre-eminent and conspicuous. To proue it, he bringeth those words of the spouse concerning her Beloued, Cant. 5.15. His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the Cedars: that is, his Heroicall proceritie and the maiestie of his countenance is like vntounto the Cedars of Lebanon.
The Spouse thus comparing the countenance of her beloued, to mount Lebanon and the Cedars there, intimateth, that the encrease of the knowledge of God and his worship shall be so great, as that the open profession of Christ, for its durablenesse & stabilitie, may well be likened to mountaines: and that the Cedars of Lebanon doe not so much ouergrow other trees in tallnesse; as true Christian religion for its reuerend maiestie shall ouergoe whatsoeuer blind, bushie, and thornie superstitions.
It is out of doubt. Cedar trees are verie high. So high, that neuer man, neuer Gyant was so high. How then is it, that my text thus speaketh of the Amorites, Their height was like the height of the Cedars?
It is by a figure, which the Greekes call Hyperbole. Whereof many instances may be alledged out of holy Scripture. In the 2. of Sam. 1.23. it is said of Saul and Ionathan, They were swifter then Eagles, they were stronger then Lyons. Swifter then Eagles, and yet the Eagle of birds is the swiftest; stronger then Lyons, and yet the Lyon of Beasts is the strongest. They were swifter then Eagles, they were stronger then Lyons: they are two Hyperboles, or prouerbiall speeches. By them the holy Ghost lets vsus vnderstand, that Saul and Ionathan, were exceeding swift of foot, and strong of bodie.
In Psalme 107.26. it is sayd of the waues of the Sea in a great tempest; They mount vp to Heauen, they goe downe againe to the depths. They are two Hyperboles. By them the Psalmist setteth as it were before our eyes, the greatnesse of the daunger, wherein they often times are, that trade by Sea.
In Genes. 13.16. The Lord said to Abram, I will make thy seede as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbred. I will make thy seede …s the dust of the earth, saith the Lord. It is an Hyperbole. S. Austine so takes it, de Civ. Dei lib. 16. c. 21. And well. For who seeth not, how incomparably greater the number of the dust is, then the number of all the men, that euer hauehave bin, are, or shall be, from the first man, Adam, to the end of the world, can be? And therefore where the Lord saith, I will make thy seede as the dust of the earth; we are not to imagine that the posteritie of Abram, was to be in number as the dust (all the people of the earth put togither cannot stand in this comparison) but wee are giuen to vnderstand, that they were to be a very great people.
I passe ouer with silence, many instances of like nature, and returne to my text, where it is said of the Amorites, Their height was like the height of the Cedars. The speach is prouerbiall, its hyperbolicall. We may not from it collect, that the Amorites were as high as the Cedars, but this onelyonly that the Amorites were a people very tall and high of stature. Neuer did any man equall the Cedars in height: yet shew me a man, that is of a vaste bodie, and of an vnusuall proceritie, I may take vp this Scripture phrase, and say of him; His height is like the height of Cedars.
Thus you see the Amorites for their height or talnes are likened to the Cedar. For their strength or valour they are resembled to the Oke, in the next words: He was strong as the Okes.
The figure of speach is, as before. Its prouerbiall. The Oke you know, is a hard kinde of wood, strong, firme, and durable. Hence is the prouerbe, Quercu robustior, or robore validior, stronger then the Oke. Neuer was there man of so firme a constitution, that he can properly be said to be stronger then the Oke: Yet shew me a man of extraordinarie strength, I may take vp this Scripture-phrase, and say of him, Fortis ipse quasi quercus, he is strong as the Okes. And in this sense it is here said of the Amorite, He was strong as the Okes.
That the Amorites were of an vnusuall and extraordinarie height and strength, as they are here described by our Prophet Amos, you may further know by the relation which the Spies made vntounto Moses after their returne from the search of the Holy land. Their relation is, Num. 13.28. The people be strong that dwell in the land; we saw the children of Anak there. At the 32. verse they speake more fully: All the people, that we saw in it, are men of great stature. And there we saw the Gyants, the sonnes of Anak, which come of the Gyants, and we were in our owne sight, as grashoppers, and so were we in their sight. By this relation of the Spies you see, that the Amorites, the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, were more, then ordinarie tall and strong.
The tallest and strongest of the Amorites (of these Amorites, which the Lord destroyed before Israel) was Og the King of Basan. Of his height and strength, the Iewes make st…ange reports. For his height they say: he was in his cradle and swadling cloutes thirty cubits high, and as he grew in yeares, so grew he in tallnesse. For his strength they say, when he had heard that the tents of the children of Israel, tooke vp the space of three miles, he rooted vp a mountaine of like space, and set it on his head, with purpose to cast it vponupon the tents of Israel: but as he caried it, Ants made a hole through the midst of it, and so it descended and rested vponupon his necke: whence by reason of his teeth excessiuely increasing and running into the holes of the mountaine, the mountaine stuck so fast, that he could not remoue it, to cast it, as he had purposed, vponupon the campe of the Israelites. This the Iewes do write in their booke of Benedictions; and Lyra in his Postill vponupon Num. 21. makes mention of it: but withall censures it to be so absurd, that it needs no other refutation: yet he makes mention of it, that we may see quanta coecitas est in Iudaeis, how blinde the Iewes are, to beleeue such fables.
It is, I grant, one of those Iewish fables, whereto S. Paul wished Titus, chap. 1.14. not to giuegive any heed: and I beleeue it no more, then I doe, that the Gyant Antaeus was threescore cubits high, because Gabinius in the 17. booke of Strabo hisapag. 960. Geographie affirmes it: or that in Scythia in a rocke by the riuer Tyres, there was to be seene the print of Hercules his foote of two cubits length, because Herodotus in hisbpag. 110. Melpomene is the relator of it.
Yet beleeue I, that Og the King of Basan was of more then ordinarie tallnes and strength. And you will beleeue it too, if you will estimate a monument of his, which was to be seene in Rabbath, the Metropoliticall Citie of the children of Ammon, now called Philadelphia. The monument was a bedsted of his. It is described, Deut. 3.11. His bedsted was a bedsted of yron: nine cubits was the length thereof, and foure cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man. Of a man of reasonable stature; not of a Gyant, nor of a dwarfe. Nine cubits long was his bedsted, and bedsteds vsually exceed the common stature of men by two feet: therefore the stature of Og was about seauen cubits and a foote. So he was about three yards, two foote, and six inches high. Such an vnvsuall tallnes could not but be accompanied with strength answerable to it: and therefore Og the King of Basan was of extraordinarie tallnes and strength If the rest of the Amorites were any thing like vntounto Og, then might the relation of the Spies be iust:cNum. 13.28, The people of the land are strong; dvers. 32.they are men of a great stature: and my text saith well, Their height was like the height of the Cedars, and he was strong as the Okes.
Thus hauehave you the description of the Amorites, They were tall of stature, and strong of bodie. Tall and strong. Yet, were they not thereby the more acceptable to the Lord. The Lord, notwithstanding their talnes, and their strength brought them to ruine. For so it followeth: Yet destroyed I their fruit from aboue, and their roote from beneath. The lesson which we are to take from hence is: God respecteth not, the tall man for his talnes, nor the strong man for his strength.
Its true.e1 Sam. 16.7. God seeth not as man seeth. Man indeed looketh on the outward appearance; but God looketh on the heart. Man vsually esteemes of a man, by the beauty of his face, by the fairenesse of his countenance, by the comely feature of his bodie. God doth not so.
Saul, the first of the Kings of Israel, was a choice yong man, and a goodly: there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person then he: from his shoulders and vpward he was higher, then any of the people. He is so described, 1. Sam. 9.2. So is he, chap. 10.23. Saul, when he stood among the people, was higher, then any of the people, from the shoulders and vpward. In the next verse Samuel asketh the people: Doe you see him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? What is the peoples answer? They shout, and say; God saue the King. They saw him a goodly man of person; and therefore iudged him fit to be a King. But the Lord, who seeth not as man seeth, and respecteth not mans outward appearance, reiected him from being King. His talnes, and the goodly proportion of his bodie were no priuiledge vntounto him. You are to beleeue it vponupon the Lords owne words, 1. Sam. 16.1. There the Lord tells Samuel, that he hath reiected Saul from reigning ouer Israel.
VponUpon the reiection of Saul, the Lordf1. Sam. 16.1. prouided him a King among the sonnes of Iesse the Bethlehemite, and Samuel was to anoynt him. Samuel for that purpose went vntountogvers. 4. Bethlehem, and called for Iesse hishvers. 5. sonnes.ivers. 6. Eliab the eldest, came first in place. Him would Samuel hauehave anoynted. His motiues were two. Abulensis quaest. 22. in 1 Sam. 16. sets them downe. One was, the prerogatiue of birth in Eliab; the other was, his faire countenance and goodly stature.
Eliab had the prerogatiue of birth: he was the first-borne sonne. Some of the prerogatiues of the first-borne sonne are couched by old Iacob in his prophecie concerning his eldest sonne, Reuben, Gen. 49.3. Reuben, thou art my first-borne, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellencie of dignitie, and the excellencie of power. Prior in donis, maior in imperio; so the vulgar Latin concludes that verse.
Prior in donis] There is the first prerogatiue belonging to the eldest sonne; it concernes his profit. Prior in donis; he was first to be respected in the diuision of his Fathers inheritance; he was to hauehave a double portion of all his substance, according to the Commaundement, Deut, 21.17. The Father shall giuegive to his eldest sonne a double portion of all that he hath. The reason is annexed: For he is the beginning of his strength: the right of the first borne is his.
Maior in imperio] It is the second prerogatiue of the eldest sonne. It concernes his honor and state of authoritie. He had a certaine regall principalitie & rule ouer his brethren. It appeareth by the blessing which Isaac bestowed vponupon Iacob, who had gotten the birth-right from his brother Esau, Gen. 27.29. Be Lord ouer thy brethren, and let thy mothers sonnes bow downe to thee.
Onkelos paraphrasing the prophecie of Iacob concerning Reuben, mentioneth a three-fold prerogatiue of the eldest sonne. Reuben, it was thy right to hauehave receiued three better portions, then thy brethren; the priest-hood, the birth right, and the kingdome.
Now, if the eldest sonne had such prerogatiues; if he were prior in donis, and was to hauehave the best respect in the diuision of his Fathers inheritance: if he were maior in imperio, and had regall principality and rule ouer his brethren, if the excellencie of dignitie, and the excellency of power were his; if his were the priest-hood, the birth-right, and the kingdome; why might not Samuel, thinke Eliab, Iesses eldest sonne, to be the man, whom the Lord had chosen to be King ouer Israel, rather then a yonger brother?
A second motiue, why Samuel might thinke Eliab fit to be the anointed king of Israel, was Eliabs faire countenance, and his goodly stature. Euripides could say, foreign, beautie, its worthy an Empire. Atheneus the Dipnosophist, kCap. 7. pag. 366. § 18.lib. 13. affirmes it, and Porphyrie in the second Chapter l of his Introduction cites it. Beautie, its worthie an Empire. Priamus in Homer, admiring the beautie of Agamemnon, sayth vntounto Helena, mIliad. γ 169.with these mine eyes I neuer yet beheld man so faire; and adddethnV…s. 170. foreign, In his countenance he is like a King. Many Nations (saith Athenaeus in the same place) hauehave chosen for their Kings the fairest among them. And well. For foreign, Beautie, it best of all beseemeth Kings.
Now if Eliab were of a faire countenance, and of a goodly stature, why might not Samuel thinke Eliab to be the man, whom the Lord had chosen to be King ouer Israel, rather then any other of his brethren, who could not be compared vntounto him, either for fairenesse of face, or for goodlinesse of stature?
Thus, what for prioritie of birth, and what for comelines of person, Eliab was by Samuel thought to be the man, whom the Lord had chosen for his King among all the sons of Iesse. It seemes, Samuel thought so. For when Eliab was brought before him, he looked on him, and sayd of him: Surely the Lords annointed is before him, 1. Sam. 16.6. Surely, Eliab is the man, whom the Lord hath designed to be his anointed.
But the Lord, the Lord who seeth not as man seeth, who respecteth not mans outward appearance, he refused Eliab. Eliab was no King for him. For thus saith the Lord to Samuel concerning Eliab. 1. Sam. 16.7. Looke not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I hauehave refused him. Eliab, notwithstanding the prioritie of his birth, and notwithstanding the comelinesse of his person, he is refused: and Dauid, little Dauid, little in his fathers eyes, and little in the eyes of his brethren, neglected and despised of all (for hee was the yongest of all) he is chosen to be the Lords anointed. He is takenoP…al 78.70.71.72. 1. Sam. 16.11. 2. Sam 7.8. from the sheepe-folds, from following the Ewes great with yong, and is placed in rule and gouernment, to feed Iacob the people of the Lord, and Israel the Lords inheritance.
Thus much may serue for the confirmation of my propounded doctrine: God respecteth not the tall man for his tallnesse, nor the strong man, for his strength: You may adde, nor the great man, for his greatnesse, nor the rich man for his wealth, nor the wise man, for his wisedome. The reason I hauehave alreadie touched. It is expressed, 1. Sam. 16.7. The Lord seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. He looketh on the heart: and therefore he chooseth not as man chooseth, the tall, the great, the strong, the rich, the wise; but the low man, the little man, the weake man, the poore man, the foolish man. Whereto else tendeth the Apostles speech to the faithfull among the Corinthians, 1. Cor. 1.26. You see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mightie, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise: and God hath chosen the weake things of the world, to confound the things that are mightie: and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are. And what is the end of all? Its this: that no flesh should glory in the presence of God. It is the vse we are to make of the doctrine now deliuered.
We are vrged vntounto it, Ierem. 9.23. There thus sayth the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisedome, neither let the mightie man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he vnderstandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which exercise louing kindnesse, iudgement, and righteousnesse in the earth. In like sort say we: Let not the tall man glorie in his tallnesse, neither let the strong man glorie in his strength, though the height of the one be like the height of the Cedars, and the other be strong like the Okes, yet let them not glorie therein: but let them glory in this, that they vnderstand & know God to be the Lord, which exerciseth louing kindnes, iudgement, and righteousnesse in the earth: that is, in the Apostles phrase, 1. Cor. 1.31. He that glorieth, let him glorie in the Lord. And againe, 2. Cor. 10.17. He that glorieth, let him glorie in the Lord. All other glorying is vaine. Glorie not in thy tallnesse; what can it auaile thee? Glory not in thy strength; it cannot helpe thee. Say thou wert as tall as the Amorites in my text, and thy height were like the height of the Cedars; say thou wert as strong as they, strong as the Okes: yet notwithstanding the one, or the other, height or strength, thou maist perish and come to nought, as they did. Glorie thou therefore in the Lord.
Here may the man that is low of stature, or weake of body, be comforted; for as much as God seeth not as man seeth, nor chuseth as man chuseth. Be thou little, or be thou weake, thou art neuer a whit the further from the grace & fauour of God. No further then Zacheus was. Zacheus was a verie little man. In the 19. of Luke, ver. 3. it is sayd of him foreign, that hee was little of stature. Iesus passed through Iericho. Zacheus was very desirous to see him, but could not, for the presse of the people; because he was little of stature. To supply this defect of his, he gets him vp into a tree, and seeth Iesus. Iesus for it spake graciously vntounto him: Zacheus, make hast, and come downe, for to day I must abide at thy house. You see, Iesus respected Zacheus for all his little stature.
He was of little stature] Statura brevis, & magnus in opere; S.pT…m. 8. fol. 310. H. Austin saith it, Enarr: in Psal. 129. Zacheus was in deede little of stature, but was great in good workes. Great in his louelove toward Iesus, whom he was so desirous to see; and great in charitie towards men, to whom he was readie to make a fourefold restitution, if he had done wrong to any.
Zacheus, little of stature! Chrysologus Serm. 54. thus meditates vponupon it:qPag. 225. Satis hic animo magnus erat, qui pusillus videbatur in corpore. Nam mente tangebat coelos, qui corpore homines non aequabat. Zacheus was great enough in mind, albeit he was but little in bodie: in bodie he was no match for men, and yet his minde reached vp to Heauen. Whereupon he frames this exhortation: Nemo de brevitate corporis, cui addere nil potest, curet; sed vt fide emineat, hoc procuret: Let not any man be grieued, because he is little of stature, whereto he cannot adde one cubite, but let eueryevery mans care be, to be eminent aboue others in faith.
You hauehave hitherto heard of the varietie of mens statures: you hauehave heard of the Amorites, that their height was like the height of the Cedars: Of King Saul, that he was higher then any of his people, from the shoulders and vpward; of Eliab, that he was high of stature; of Zacheus, that he was low of stature: This varietie of mens statures is by eueryevery dayes experience confirmed vntounto you. And why is, there such varietie of mens statures?
One reason may be to stirre vsus vp to this consideration; that God is the most prouident author of eueryevery mans stature. It is not in man, to adde any thing to his stature: not one cubite, sayth our Sauiour, Mat. 6 27. He sayth it againe, Luke, 12.25. Which of you with taking thought, can adde one cubite to his stature? No man. No man can doe it. Nay, it is not in man, to amend the imperfections, wherewith he is borne into the world. The man that was borne blind confesseth it, Ioh. 9.32. Since the world began was it not heard, that any man opened the eyes of one that was borne blind. We cannot supply any defect wherwith we are borne into this world; much lesse can we adde any thing vntounto our stature? It may thus farre serue for our instruction, Vt ex illo capite neminem contemnamus, vel exagitemus, saith Franzius Disp. 2. in Deuter. Thes. 92. that we despise not any man, nor speake ill of him for his stature, be it great or little, or for any defect he hath in nature from his natiuitie.
A second reason, why there is such varietie of statures in the world, may be to let vsus vnderstand, that a mans stature of it selfe is not to be reckoned as a part of his felicitie or glory. For if a great and a goodly stature be as common, nay, more common to the wicked, then to the godly, as S. Austin seemes to proue, De Civit. Dei. lib. 15. cap. 9. why should a godly man boast himselfe of his great and goodly stature? Especially, sith for the most part, men that are conspicuous for their elegant and well featured bodies, are defectiue for vnderstanding, wisedome, and pietie.
Baruch obserues it, Chap. 3. ver. 26.27.28 There were (sayth he) Gyants, famous from the beginning, that were of so great stature, and so expert in warre. Those did not the Lord choose, neither gaue he the way of knowledge vntounto them. But they were destroyed, because they had no wisedome, and perished thorow their owne foolishnesse. His obseruation is: there were gyants, men of great stature, yet were they without knowledge, without wisedome. Great men, and yet fooles. Whereas pumiliones, dwarfs, little men, men of very little stature, sometime scarse a cubite high, doe excell in fortitude, vnderstanding, and wisedome, as the but now cited Franzius hath noted.
Tydeus corpore, animo Hercules. Its an old prouerbe. Tydeus was a man of very little stature, but (as Menander the Historian sayth) foreign, he was Hercules for his minde. The prouerbe, appliable to such as being of little stature are of an vndaunted courage, sheweth, that many a little man is such.
Many a man of little stature is of the liuelier wit. So it pleaseth God, our most wise, and prouident God, to temper the gifts of the bodie and minde in men of diuers statures. He doth not alwayes giuegive all to one; but for the most part he recompenseth the defects of the body with the endowments of the minde. GiueGive me the endowments of the mind; what care I for the stature of my bodie. Aequè enim brevis, & longus viuit, sayth Musculus Comment. in Matth. 6. As long liues the short man as the tall man. Nihil detrimenti habet brevis statura, nec plus aliquid habet longa: The short stature hath no losse, neither hath the long stature any aduantage for Heauenly affaires. Be my stature what it will; let me be transformed by therRom. 12.2. renuing of my mind I am well; For so shall I proue what is that good, that acceptable and perfect will of God, which is ours1. Thes. 4.3. sanctification. Blessed is that man, whatsoeuer his stature be, that shall be so transformed by the renuing of his mind, that he may proue what is that good, that acceptable and perfect will of God: which is his sanctification.
I hauehave stood long vponupon the second part of this verse, the description of the Amorites: the time requireth, that I goe on with the third part. It is the explication, or the amplification, of the ruine of the Amorites. The words are,
Yet I destroyed his fruit from aboue, and his rootes from beneath.
The words are prouerbiall, they are figuratiue, they are metaphoricall. I destroyed his fruit from aboue, and his rootes from beneath. The meaning is, exterminavi eum totum, tDrusius.quantus, quantus erat: I hauehave wholy cast him out, I hauehave vtterly destroyed him.
The like phrase we meet with, Iob 18.16. Its there said of the wicked man: His rootes shall be dried vp beneath, and aboue shall his branch be cut off. The comparison stands betweene a wicked man, and a dry tree. A dry tree may seeme to be firmely rooted, and may hauehave faire and wide spreading bowes, when its good for nothing, but to be cut downe and cast into the fire. So it is with the wicked man. All his pompe, all his power, all his excellencie, all his honor, all his glory (which are to him as the fruit and the rootes are vntounto a tree) shall more then suffer an Eclipse, they shall vtterly vanish. His roots shall be dried vp beneath, and aboue shall his branches be cut off.
I cannot giuegive you an easier or plainer exposition of the Allegorie, then Bildad the Shuhite doth in the same chapter of the booke of Iob, and the verse following: His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall hauehave no name in the street. He shall hauehave no name in the street! Whats that? Its this: His old friends and acquaintance shall not so much as speake of him but to vilifie him; as to say, He was a wicked wretch, an adulterer, an vsurer, a thiefe, a drunkard, a slanderer, a swearer, a blasphemer, a man, that neither feared God, nor loued his neighbour. VponUpon such a man, the wicked man, Salomon hath passed his censure, Prov. 2.22. He shall be cut off from the earth, he shall be rooted out of it. This also may serue for an exposition of the Allegorie: His rootes shall be dried vp beneath, and aboue shall his branch be cut off.
The like Allegorie you see, is in my text: I destroyed his fruit from aboue, and his rootes from beneath.
Fruit and rootes] That is, saith Lyranus, patres & filios, fathers and their sonnes. Paulus de palatio by the fruit and the rootes vnderstandeth viros, mulieres, parvulos; men, women, and the litle ones. The litle ones are the fruit, men and women are the roote. Albertus Magnus will hauehave the fruit to be divitias, aedificia, culturam; their riches, their buildings, their husbandry; and the rootes to be, tribus, familias, & successionem filiorum & nepotum; their tribes, families, kinreds, and the succession of their sonnes and nephewes. Arias Montanus takes the fruit and the rootes to signifie omnem illius gentis familiam, posteritatem{que}, all the linage of that nation and their posteritie.
I passe by other like interpretations: these few may giuegive vsus the true meaning of the words we hauehave in hand. The words are an explication or rather an amplification of the first part of this verse, concerning the destruction of the Amorites. There the Lord saith, I destroyed the Amorite before them: here he saith, I destroyed his fruit from aboue, and his roots from beneath. From hence we know, that it was not any gentle stripe which the Amorites receiued, not any light incisiō, not any small wound, but that it was their extermination, their contrition, their vniuersall ouerthrow, their vtter ruine. Fruit and root, Prince and subiect, Parents and children, old and yong, they were all destroyed. For thus saith the Lord, I destroyed their fruit from aboue, and their roote from beneath.
But when did this great destruction befall the Amorites? It bef…ll them in the dayes of Moses, when the Lord deliuered ouer into the hands of Israel,tD…ut. 2.33. Sihon King of the Amorites, uNum. 21.34. Deut. 3.3.and Og the King of Bashan. Then did Israel smite both those Kings, Sihon King of the Amorites, and Og the King of Bashan. Them they smote with the edge of the sword, them and all their people; and tooke their Cities, all the…r Cities, and vtterly destroyed the men, the women, and the litle ones of eueryevery Citie: they left none aliue, They destroyed their fruit from aboue, and their rootes from beneath. These famous victories, gotten by Israel ouer those two mighty Kings, are described Num. 21. and Deut. 2. & 3.
Is Israel now the conqueror? Is it the sword of Israel that smiteth Sihon King of the Amorites, and Og the King of Bashan, them, and their people, their men, women, and litle ones? How then is it, that the Lord in my text takes it to himselfe, and saith, I destroyed the Amorite, I destroyed his fruit from aboue, and his rootes from beneath?
The answer is easie. Israel indeed smote the Amorites; but it was by the power of the Lord, not by any power of their owne. Moses confesseth it of Sihon, King of the Amorites, Deut. 2.33. The Lord our God deliuered him vntounto vsus, and we smote him, and his sonnes, and all his people. He confesseth it likewise of Og King of Bashan, Deut. 3.3. The Lord our God deliuered into our hands Og the King of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him vntill none was left to him remayning. Israel could not smite till God had deliuered. God first deliuered, then Israel smote. Israel smote the Amorites, not by any power of their owne: they did it by the power of the Lord. And what is done by the power of the Lord, may well be said to be done by the Lord.
In regard hereof it is, that the Psalmist, Psal. 135.10. ascribeth the victorie, whereof we now speake, immediatly vntounto God: Whatsoeuer the Lord pleased, that did he in Heauen and in Earth, in the Seas, and in all deepe places. He smote great Nations, and slew mighty Kings; Sihon King of the Amorites, and Og King of Bashan: and all the kingdomes of Canaan. And gaue their land for an heritage, euen an heritage vntounto Israel his people.
The like he doth in the next Psalme: and in the like words, Psal. 136.17. O giuegive thanks vntounto the Lord, To him, which smote great Kings, and slew famous Kings: Sihon King of the Amorites, and Og the King of Bashan, and gaue their land for an heritage, euen for an heritage vntounto Israel his seruant. In both Psalmes you see the destruction of the Amorite ascribed to God himselfe, and his sole power.
So is it, Psal. 78.55. but more generally: The Lord! He cast out the heathen before Israel, he cast out the Amorites, and made the Tribes of Israel to dwell in their Tabernacles.
But no where so plainely is this great worke of casting out the Amorites and other the heathen before Israel, attributed vntounto God, as Psal. 44. There the people of God groning vnderunder their affliction in the middest of their enemies, doe thus begin their confession, vers. 1. We hauehave heard with our eares, O God, our fathers hauehave told vsus, what worke thou diddest in their dayes, in the times of old. What this worke was they expresse vers. 2. Thou diddest driue out the Heathen with thine hand] Thou with thy hand didst driue out the Amorites, and other the Heathen, and in their roomes didst plant our fore-fathers. This was a great worke, and it was Gods worke. That it was Gods worke and his alone, they yet further acknowledge, vers. 3. Our forefathers, they got not the land in possession by their owne sword, neither did their owne arme saue them: but thy right hand, and thine arme, and the light of thy countenance, O God, did stablish them.
God was all in all in the ouerthrow of the Amorites, and the rest of the Heathen. By his strength, by his might, by his power onelyonly were they ouerthrowne. And therefo…e albeit Israel smote with the sword Sihon King of the Amorites, and Og the King of Bashan, them and their people, their men, their women, and their litle ones, sith they did it onelyonly by the strength, might, and power of the Lord, the Lord in my text doth rightly challenge the whole glory of this ouerthrow vntounto himselfe; saying first, I destroyed the Amorite before them: and againe, I destroyed his fruit from aboue, and his roots from beneath.
From hence we may take a profitable lesson. Its this, Though God vse meanes for the performance of his counsels, yet the accomplishment and glory of them, belongeth to him alone.
This truth is so euident, that it needs no fu…ther proofe. Israel, the people of Israel, they were the meanes which God vsed for the performance of his counsels vponupon the Amorites, euen to destroy them, and to roote them out from being a people, but the accomplishment and the glory of that great worke was the Lords alone. The people of Israel, had they had much ado to ouercome their enemies, the Amorites, they might happily hauehave imputed somewhat to their owne force. They might hauehave said; Shewed we not great power in the battle? Behaued we not our selues like men? Did not we fight valiantly?
But when their enemies were driuen like chaffe with the winde; when they, who earst were stour, and strong; were tall as the Cedars, and strong as the Okes; when they should extraordinarily be dismaide; should hauehave no more heart then a silly sheepe hath; but should be scattered at the first onset; should be so cowardly, as that their enemies might at their pleasure slay them, till they were weary of slaying them; what can be said of it? what can be thought of it? This is all. The Lord, who is Lord of battels, though he vse meanes for the performance of his counsels, and for the atchieving of his victories, yet will he hauehave the accomplishment and the glory of all to be peculiar vntounto himselfe. Thus is my doctrine illustrated.
Though God vse meanes for the performance of his counsels, yet the accomplishment and glory of them belongeth to him alone.
The reason hereof is, because all power is Gods: and whatsoeuer power man hath to execute or performe what the counsell of the Lord hath appointed, its all deriued from God.
The vse is, to teach vsus, to yeeld God the honor of all the victories, that he giueth vsus against our enemies. The honor of all victories must be his. When I say, all victories, I meane not onelyonly the victories of Princes, when they make warre, or winne a battell in the field, but euen our priuate victories too: as, when we hauehave bin assailed by some particular man, and are escaped from his hands; this is a victorie, and the honor of it must be the Lords.
If a neighbour, an vnkinde neighbour, hath done vsus any wrong, or hath put vsus to some trouble, & we are deliuered from it, we must assure our selues, it is God that hath giuen vsus the vpper hand, to the end, that we should alwaies hauehave our mouthes open to giuegive him thanks for it. This must we doe; but this is not all. We must with the mouth giuegive thanks to God for giuing vsus the vpper hand against those that hauehave wrongfully molested and vexed vsus; and besides, we must endeuour by our whole life to shew forth, how much we are bound to God for our deliuerance. This is the scope, this is the end of our redemption and saluation, (according to old Zacharies prophecie, Luk. 2.74.) that being deliuered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serue God without feare, in holinesse and righteousnes before him all the dayes of our life.
Thus far of the 9. verse.