Commentary on the Pentateuch
CHAP. XVI. Vers. 1. Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children ]
GOd had foretold him of his children's affliction, and yet gave him no child, but holds him still in suspense. He knows how to commend his favors to us by withholding them, Cito data cito vilescunt; we account it scarce worth taking, that is not twice worth asking. [A handmaid, an Egyptian ] One of those maids, belike, that were given her in Egypt, Gen. 12.16.
Vers. 2. The Lord hath restrained me ] She faults herself, not her husband, as many a crank dame would have done. [It may be that I may obtain children by her] Heb. Be built by her, as God made the midwives houses; that is, gave them children, for their mercy to the poor children, Exod. 1.21. and as he promised to make David an house, that is, to give him seed to sit upon his Throne. Saraies aim was good here, but the means she used naught. She was too hasty, Abram too facile, both to blame for want of faith, and violation of wedlock. Albeit this might be a sin of ignorance in them, as was also polygamy. God had promised a seed to Abram, but not expressly as yet unto Sarai. Now, by the Law, bond-servants children were their masters, Exod. 21.4. And among the Heathens, Stratonice the wife of King Diotarus being barren, gave secretly her maid Electra unto her husband, by whom she had an heir to the Crown.
Vers. 3. After Abram had dwelt ten years ] The Rabbin's tell us of a tradition that the Hebrews grounded from hence; That if a woman had no child in the first ten years, she might be held barren, and another wife taken. But this is like one of their ill glosses that mar'd so many good texts, Matth. 5. and refuted by our Savior the Law-giver, who best understood his own meaning.
Vers. 4. Her Mistress was despised in her eyes ] Heb. Allevata est, sive elevata est, and so she was beaten with her own rod, and yet complains. Neither is it any wonder; For, for three things the earth is disquieted, saith Agur, and two of them are, For an odious woman, when she is married, and a • handmaid that is heir to her mistress. Asperius nihil est humili dum surgit in altum. Set a beggar on horse-back, and there's no hoe with him.
Vers. 5. My wrong be upon thee ] The greatest wrong-doers are the greatest complainers commonly, as Exod. 2.13, 14. guiltiness is ever exceptions, and clamorous. Here be verba stomachant is atque imprecantis. Or as some think rather, verba implorantis vindictam divinam seque consolantis spe defensionis divinae. Take it which way you will, as a passionate person she powrs out foolishness, and (besides the false charge she lays upon her husband) takes God's name in vain. Fret not thyself to do evil. [The Lord judge ] He must be sent for all in haste, to decide the controversy; who if he had come, you may soon see which of them would have had the worst of it. The best, we see, have their domestical contentions; some household words will now and then pass betwixt them: we match not with Angels, but men and women. Two flints may as soon smite together, and not fire come forth, as two persons meet in marriage, and not offenses fall out: Pub. Rubius Celer was held a happy man among the Romans, that commanded it to be engraven upon his grave-stone, That he had lived three and forty years and eight months with G. Ennia his wife, sine querela, without the least quarrel. Another I have read of, that complained that his conjugium, was a continual conjurgium; and when he died, gave order it should be written upon his tomb, He •• , Vi • ter, miraculu •• ! hic vir & uxor non litigant, &c. This to prevent, Alphons •• King of Aragon was wont to say, that to procure a quiet life, the husband must be deaf, and the wife blind. But they say better that advise to a mutual forbearance, lest no offense be given on either side; or if given, yet not taken; the second blow makes the fray, we say. Be not both incensed together. If Abraham were to blame in conniving at Hagar's contempt of her Mistress, (as it may be he was somewhat) yet it was his wisdom to bear with Sarah when she was in her passion. Let two fires meet, and it will be hard quenching them. A choleric couple being asked how they agreed so well? the husband made this answer, When my wives fit is on her, I bear with her (as Abraham did with Sarai ) and when my fit is on me, she bears with me; and so we never chide together, but asunder. Those unkind husbands had much to answer for, Malachi. 2.13. that caused their wives to cover the Louds altar with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, so that he regarded not the offering anymore. And those wi • es can never answer it to God, that live customarily in the sin of frowardness, or rebellion against their husbands. Amongst all the infirmity • noted in any godly woman in the Scriptures, there is no example of any that did so. This of Sarah is but of one only fact: And for that of Zipporah, the error seems to be as much in her judgment, as in her affections. Those couples that are even warbling, can neither be at peace within themselves, 1 Cor. 7.15. nor pray as they should do to God, 1 Pet. 3.7. which if they did often, as Isaac and Rebecca did, they could not disagree. For either praying together would make them leave jarring, or jarring, will make them leave praying; which the Apostle accounts no small hindrance.
Vers. 6. But Abram said to Sarai, Behold, &c. ] Here that of Solomonis verified, A soft answer pacifieth wrath. Hard to soft doth no hurt, as a bullet against a wool-sack. Uxoris vitium aut tollendum, aut tollerandum, said Varro, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 The woman is the wants, and hath many provocations among children and servants, that the man me • t • not with. This must be considered, and all bitterness abandoned. The Heathens when they sacrificed at their marriage feasts, used to cast the gall of the beast sacrificed out of doors. Viper • virus, ob venerationem nuptiarum, • v • mit (saith St. Basil): & in d • ritiem animi, in feritat • m, tu crudelitatem ob unionis rever • utiam non deponis? What kin art thou to him whose name is Wormwood? Rev. 8.11. [And when Sarai dealt hardly with her ] Beat her, belike: For a servant will not be corrected by words, Prov. 29.19. and then he must have blows, and be buffeted, 1 Pet. 2.20. Not so a wi • e. M. Aurelius the Emperor, though a Heathen, could say to the shame of many Bedlams amongst us: Uxor admonenda persapt, reprehendendararo, violentis manibus tructanda nunquam. [She fled] This was her fault, Eccles. 10.4. But our natures are refractory, and will sooner break then bend, till God subdue them.
Vers. 7. In the way to Shur ] Which lay between Canaan and Egypt. So she was hying homewards to her own country. Oh that our afflictions might drive us heavenward!
Vers. 8. Hagar Sarai's maid ] This was a good item to her, that she was out of her way, because out of her place. [Whence camest thou? and whither wilt t •• ] Such is the sweet and secret voice of God's Spirit (that Angelus Tutelaris, as I may say) in our hearts, when extravagant; So that we cannot do the evil we would, Gal. 5.17. [I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai ] Who haply had over-done, as we are all apt to do, when we are judges in our own causes, and concernments. She should have thought of that of Job, chap. 31.15. Did not he that made me in the womb▪ make her? and that of Paul, Have not I also a master in Heaven? Colos. 4.1. But passion is head-long, and like heavy bodies, down steep hills, once in motion, rest not till they come to the bottom. Look to it therefore, in corrections especially.
Vers. 9. Return to thy Mistress ] When now she had smarted, she is in case to be counseled. There's great skill in the choice of a fit time for admonition. It is not to give a man a purge in a fever-fit. [Submit thyself ] Heb. Afflict thyself, or suffer thyself to be afflicted or humbled under her hands. The like counsel is given us all by St. James, Be afflicted, and weep, and mourn, &c. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and he will lift you up.
Vers. 10. I will multiply thy seed ] Thus God contemneth not poor servants: nay, if they be faithful, he will give them the reward of inheritance, even a child's part, as Hagar, and her child had. We read not that she cried to God; but her affliction spake for her; and he is oft (ont of his mere Philanthropie ) found of them that sought him not. He heareth the young Ravens that cry to him only by way of implication. The Lord hath heard thy affliction, saith the Angel in the next verse.
Vers. 12. And he will be a wild-man] Heb. A wild-asse, which is fierce, intractable, and untameable. And such by nature is every mothers child of us, Job 11.12. A wild-asse-colt. An Ass is none of the wisest creatures, much less an Asses-colt; least of all, a wild-asse-colt. Lo such is man. [His hand will be against every man ] This was first accomplished in his person, and th • n in his posterity. For himself, he was ferus & pugnax, ever quarrelling and contending. Now a quarrelsome man is like a Cock of the game, that is still blood, with the blood of others, and of himself. As for his posterity, the Saracens, Mahomet, the mischief of mankind, had his generation from this wild-asse. And Sarai was utterly disappointed; for these Agarens were ever enemies, and so continue to be to her seed.
Vers. 13. Thou God seest me ] This shows she had been well trained and tutored in her Master Abram's house. Before, she told the Angel the plain truth, and lied not, verse. 8▪ And here she thankfully acknowledgeth God's goodness in looking upon her forlorn solitariness, setting up a memorial of that mercy to all posterity. The greater was her sin again, that being so well principled, she should have any thoughts of returning to Egypt, there to forsake her faith learned in Abram's family. [Have I also here looked, &c.] q. d. Have I found God here also in the wilderness, as I had done oft before in my Masters house? Or, am I yet alive, though I have seen God?
CHAP. XVII. Vers. 1. The Lord appeared to Abram ]
AFter thirteen years absence and silence, for ought we read; so that Abram began to conclude that Ishmael surely was the promised seed, & all the sons he was likely to have to inherit the land: The Church then may err, when she cleaves not close to the word; though God at length will direct her into the right way, as here he did Abraham. [I am God All-mighty] Or Al. sufficient, Self-sufficient (so Aquila )▪ Independent, Absolute, the Original, Universal good. Ibn-Ezra interprets Shaddai, a Conque • or: Others a Destroyer, which a Conqueror must needs be. Eundem victorem & vastatorem esse oportet, saith Cameron. And to this the Scripture alludes, when it saith Shod shall come from Shaddai, Destruction from the Almighty, Esa. 13.6. Some there are that derive Shaddai of Shad a dug, because God feeds his children with sufficiency of all good things, as the loving mother doth the child with the milk of her breasts. Hence the Heathen called Diana (and likewise Ceres ) 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 & Mammosam, as if she were the Nurse of all living creatures. God is the only satisfactory good, proportionable and sitting to our souls, as the dug to the childes stomach. [Walk before me] Heb. Indesinenter ambula, Walk constantly, step for step, and keep pace with me. Austin would not, for the gain of a million of worlds, be an Atheist for half an hour, because he • new not but God might in that time make an end of him. For can two walk together and they not agreed, saith the Prophet? Ye cannot serve the Lord (saith Joshua to the people that promised fair) that is, unless ye will serve him entirely, walk uprightly, as Abram here; walk evenly, without halting or halving with him. Holiness must run thorough the whole life, as the warp doth thorough the woof: all the parts of our line of life must be straight before God. As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways (as the Planets steal back by a secret slow motion of their own, contrary to that of the Primum Mobile) The Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity, with openly profane persons ( Psal. 125.5.) when peace shall be upon Israel, upon all that are Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile. Surely, as an unequal pulse shows a distempered body, so doth uneven walking an unsound soul, such as is not verily persuaded that God is All-sufficient, able and ready to reward the upright, and punish the hypocrite.
Vers. 2. And I will make my Covenant ] This is now the fifth confirmation of the Covenant; which shows that it is the prora and puppis, the first, second and third of our salvation; and it is fit we should be well studied in it, and assured of our interest. For as the Mercy-seat was no larger then the Ark, so neither is the Grace of God then the Covenant. And as the Ark and Mercyseat were never separated; so neither is his mercy from his people.
Vers. 3. And Abram fell on his face ] Twas sit he should, now that God talked with him. Such a posture of body befits us at the hearing of the word, as may best express our reverence, and further our attention. Balac is bid to rise up to hear Balaam's parable. Eglon though a fat unwieldy man, riseth up from his seat to hear God's message from Ehud. The people in Nehemiah stood to hear the Law read and expounded. Constantine the Great, would not be entreated to sit down or be covered at a Sermon: No more would our Edward the sixth, whose custom was also to take notes of what he heard, which (together with his own applications of the word to himself) he wrote in Greek characters, that his servants might not read them. The Thessalonians are commended for this, that they heard Paul's preaching as the word of God, and not of man. Had Samuel thought it had been God that called to him (and not Eli ) he would not have slept, but fallen on his face before the Lord as Abram here, who was no novice, but knew well, that though God loves to be acquainted with men in the walks of their obedience, yet he takes state upon him in his Ordinances, and will be trembled at in his word and judgments.
Vers. 4. As for me] Ego ecce. An abrupt speech, to show what haste God made to comfort and confirm Abram, now fallen at his feet. [Thou shalt be a father of many nations.] The Israelites, Ishmaelites, Edomites, Keturites, &c. besides all Believers, Gal. 3.28, 29.
Vers. 5. Neither shall thy name anymore, &c. ] This is reckoned for an high favor by those holy Levites, Neh. 9.7. The Jews say, that for honors sake; God inserted one of the letters of his own incommunicable name Jehovah into the name of Abram, now Abraham. Sure it is, that by styling himself the God of Abraham, he doth him more honor then if he had engraven the word Abraham upon the firmament, or in the clouds in letters of gold.
Vers. 6. I will make thee exceeding fruitful ] Heb. Foecundabo te valde valde: And as oft as thou thinkest upon thy new name, thou shalt remember my promise, and rest assured of my performance. See how God of his grace, condescends unto us, and accommodates us.
Vers. 7. For an ever lasting Covenant ] Circumcision, the outward sign of it, was temporary, and changeable into baptism; but the Covenant of grace, thereby then, and by baptism now sealed up unto us, is eternal; being stablished and ratified by the death of the Testator, by the blood of the Arch-shepherd, Heb. 13.20. Here it must be considered, that there is a twofold Covenant; 1. Single, such as God makes with children, when baptized; viz. If ye will repent, believe and walk with me, ye shall be saved. Now if they break the condition, God is freed, he is not bound any further. 2. Double, such as God •• kes with his elect only; and that is to perform both parts, sc. If you will believe, repent, obey, ye shall be saved. And further, I will give you a new heart, so that you shall repent, believe, &c. and be saved. Thus God undertakes for both parts, and so it becomes an everlasting Covenant; such as hath the sure or unfailable mercies of David. And here those, that are thus in Double-Covenant with God, are fitly compared to them that are gone in at a Church-door: some are further in then others, but yet all are in. So, though the weak in faith be not so forward, yet they may be in, though not so far in. [And to thy seed after thee] See the Note on the next Verse.
Vers. 8. All the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession ] And yet now, for their inexpiable guilt, in putting to death the Lord of life, they are utterly dispossessed of that pleasant land. In Jerusalem itself there are not to be found a hundred households of Jews. Adri •• the Emperor drove them utterly out of Jewry, and commanded them by proclamation not so much as to look toward it, from any Tower or high-mountain: Yea long before this, the Lord, for their wickedness, counted them but usurpers, and called them sojourners in that land, Ezek. 20.38. and 11.15. If men forfeit their privileges, God may, at his pleasure, take the forfeiture and dis-privilege them, as he did Saul, and Judas, who by transgression fell from his office, that he might go to his own place, Act. 1.25. [I will be their God] This is a singular comfort for all believing parents. Their greatest care is for their poor little ones, what they shall do another day: why, cast them upon God, their God as well as thine: for is not he in Covenant with them too? It would be a great stay of mind, if God should say to us for our children, as David said to Mephibosheth, or to Barzillai for his son Chimham; Chimham shall go with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee, and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that I will do for thee. Behold God saith all this and more to us, when he saith, I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee. I remember a sweet passage of Mr. Saunders the Martyr in a Letter to his wise: Though we do shortly depart hence, and leave our poor Infant (to our seeming) at all adventures, yet shall he have our gracious God to be his God: For so hath he said (and he cannot lie;) I will be thy God, and of thy seed. Yea, if you leave him in the Wilderness, desti • u • e of all helps, being called of God to do his will, either to die for the confession of Christ, or any work of obedience; that God which heard the cry of the little poor Infant of Hagar, and did succor it, will do the like to the children of you, or any other fearing him, and trusting in him.
Vers. 9. Thou shalt keep my Covenant. ] This is the stipulation on Abraham's part, by receiving the Sacrament of Circumcision, to avouch God to be his God, Deut. 26.17. Now to the making the Lord to be our God, it is required that with highest estimations, most vigorous affections, and utmost endeavors we bestow ourselves upon him. Thus if we choose God for our God, Psal. 73.25. We shall be assured, that he hath chosen, and avouched us for his people, 1 John 4.19.
Vers. 10. Every man-child amongst you. ] Infants were circumcised, to signify that we had better be flayed, and have our skin quite stripped off, then to have it as a skin-bottle hanging in the smoke of filthy desires, and blown full of unclean motions with the breath of Satan. That wretched Renegado that betrayed the Rhodes was well served. For his promised wife and portion were presented: but the Turk told him, that he would not have a Christian to be his son in law, but he must be a Mussle-man, that is, a believing Turk, within and without. And therefore he caused his baptized skin (as he called it) to be fleyed off, and him to be cast in a bed, strawed with Salt, that he might get a new skin, and so he should be his son-in-law. But the wicked wretch ended his life with shame and torment.
Vers. 11. It shall be a token of the Covenant. ] It seals up nothing then to those that are not in Covenant. Circumcision to such is but as a seal to a blank. Unregenerate Israel was to God as Ethiopia, Amos 9.7. Circumcision of itself, avails nothing, if the heart be uncircumcised. The Apostle distinguisheth of Circumcision, Colos. 2.11. and tells us that the true Circumcision is made without hands, and is that of the heart in the Spirit, and not in the Letter, Rom. 2.29. It is a wonderful work of the Spirit, wrought by the Word, upon the Saints in their first Conversion, whereby corruption of nature is wounded, beloved sins cast away with sorrow, and the sinner received into an everlasting communion with God, and his Saints. Labor this, or you are not a button the better for your Baptism. A man may go to Hell with Fontwater on his face, if not baptized with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. Circumcision seals not up any Covenant of Grace to Turks, as it did not, of old, to Ishmaelites, Edomites, and Midianites, who yet would needs be circumcised.
Vers. 12. And he that is eight days old.] This warrants our baptising of Infants of both Sexes. See the Notes on Chap. 9. Vers. 10.
Vers. 13. He that is born in thy house,] Householders must see to it, that their families fear God: They walk not in a perfect way, that do otherwise, Psal. 101.2. that look not
Vers. 14. That soul shall be cut off.] From the Common-wealth of Israel: So shall those be from benefit by Christ, that are uncircumcised in heart; As hateful to him, as Goliath was to David. Pray therefore, that God will thrust his holy hand into thy bosom, and pull off that abominable fore-skin. He had much ado to forbear Moses, when he met him in the Inn; and we know why, Exod. 4.24.
Vers. 15. Thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah.] The Chaldee Sarai, is made Hebrew Sarah: One of the four Letters of Jehovah being also added (as before in Abraham ) that she may be absolutely a Lady or Princess.
Vers. 17. Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed.] Not as doubting, much less deriding, Rom. 4 19. but as rejoicing and admiring the goodness and power of God. The narrow mouthed vessel of his heart not quickly capable of so great comfort, (for Tarda solet magnis rebus inesse fides ) he fell upon his face and laughed.
Vers. 18. Oh that Ishmael might live.] The life of grace here, and of glory hereafter: That he be not killed with death when he dies, as Jesabels children were, Revel. 2.23.
Vers. 19. I will establish my Covenant with him.] This was a far greater favor, th • n that bestowed on Ishmael in the next verse. Twelve Princes shall he beget. Nothing so ennobleth, as Christ, Graces, being in the Covenant, &c. Isai. 19.25. Assyria is the work of God's hands, but Israel his inheritance.
Vers. 20. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee.] Faithful prayer may have anything at God's hands. It is but ask and have with Abraham: As Zedekiah said to his courtiers glosingly, God saith to his servants seriously; The King can deny you nothing. Let this encourage to pray for ourselves and children; for by prayer we may take out of God's treasury, plentiful mercy for ourselves and ours.
Vers. 21. But my Covenant.] This is the thirteenth time that the Covenant is named in this Chapter, saith an Interpreter; and hereby is meant the promise of Christ and salvation by him. A subject so sweet to every sanctified soul, that Saint Paul cannot come off it. He names the Lord Jesus Christ, ten times together in ten verses, 1 Cor. 1.1. to 10. It was to him Mel in • re, melos in aure, jub • lum in cord.
Vers. 22. And he left off talking with him. ] As a man with his friend. Such honor have all his Saints. O speak it when I am gone, and preach it at my funeral, God dealeth familiarly with man, said that heavenly Spark, how ready to be extinct. Saint Paul calls prayer 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , an entreparlance with God, 1 Tim. 2.1. and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the confident intergatory or rejoyndre of a good conscience toward God, 1 Pet. 3.21. The Persian Monarks held it a piece of their silly glory, to secret themselves from their greatest subjects, Esther 4.11. And Jupiter's Image at Crete was made without ears. Plutarch gives the Reason, Non enim convenit audiri ab eo quenquam, qui omnium rerum sit Dominus at que princeps. A pretty plea for Baal. He is too great to talk with men. Our God thinks not himself so. He solicits suitors, and loves to be, interchangeably, solicited by them.
Vers. 23. Abraham took Ishmael.] To make the other more willing. [Circumcised the flesh.] Not regarding the affliction, danger, scandal, shame of the action in the eyes of the world.
Vers. 26. In the self same day.] To show his prompt and present obedience, without shucking and hucking, without delays and consults.
Vers. 27. All the men of his house.] Faciles se praebent in re ardua & ridicula. An excellent pattern of a well ordered family.
CHAP. XVIII. Vers. 1. And the Lord appeared unto him ]
1. UT praeludium incarnationis. 2. Ex Philanthropia: his delight is in the habitable part of God's earth, Prov. 8.31. [And he sat in the tent-door] He dwelt in a tent (let us be content though we dwell not to our minds) yet kept a good house. A very hearty householder he was. [In the heat of the day] The usual time of rest and repast, when travellers wax faint and hungry.
Vers. 2. And he lift up his eyes and looked]. As pursuing hospitality (that's the Apostles expression, Rom 12.13.) and waiting an opportunity of doing good. Charity is no churl. The liberal man deviseth liberal things, Esa. 32.8. he considereth the poor and needy, Psal. 41.1. Praeoccupat vocem petituri, as Augustine expounds it; he stays not till he is asked a good turn, he ministereth to the uses, not only to the necessities of the Saints, as the Apostles word is, Rom. 12.13. And as Bishop Hoopers, and Dr. Taylours practice was. The one had his board of beggars sent for, and served every day with whole and wholesome meats, ere himself sat down to dinner. And the other went once a fortnight at the least to the Almshouse, and other poor men that had many children, and were sick, to see what they lacked, and to supply them. [And bowed himself toward the ground] Piety is no enemy to courtesy; it doth not remove, but rectify it, that it be not only complemental and ridiculous. Potest Augur Augurem videre & non ridere? So it may it be said of our common cringers.
Vers. 5. For therefore are ye come to your servant ] He meaneth not, that they therefore came to him to taste of his cheer; but that God by his providence, had so ordered that he should see them passing, and invite them to his house. How glad was this good man of an occasion to show kindness, acknowledging God's good providence! And how improvident are we for ourselves, that will not offer a sacrifice, when God sets up an altar before us? [So do as thou hast said] The Angels needed not his courtesy, yet kindly accept of it. Good offers or offices, even from inferiors, are not to be rejected, but regarded, yea rewarded.
Vers. 6. Make ready quickly] Habent aulae suum Ci • o, Ci • o, saith One. So had Abraham's house here. He, she, the boy, and all hasted, and had their several offices. The very expression itself here used, is concise and quick: Much like that of the Prophet in the case of returning to God, If ye will inquire, inquire; return, come.
Vers. 9. Behold in the tent] David compares a good woman to the vines upon the walls of the house, because she cleaveth to her house. Others to a snail, that carrieth her house on her back. St. Paul reckons it for a virtue in a woman to keep at home; and Solomon for a sign of a lewd housewife, that her feet abide not in her house.
Vers. 10. According to the time of life ] That is, when this time shall return again; this time twelve-month. See verse. 14. with the Note to it. [Sarah heard it in the tent door] She was listening, out of womanish curiosity. Yet some think, the Angel asked for her on purpose, that she hearing her name mentioned might listen.
Vers. 11. Now Abraham and Sarah were old ] So, when we were altogether without strength, according to the time of life, Christ died for the ungodly, Rom. 5.6.
Vers. 12. Sarah laughed ] God's promises seem absurd and ridiculous, many of them, to human reason, which therefore must be silenced, and shut out, as Hagar was; for it will argue carnally, as that unbelieving Lord, 2 King. 7.2. storms at God's offers as Naaman at the message, looks upon God's Jordan with Syrian eyes, as he, and after all, cries out with Nicodemus, How can these things be? measuring God by its own model, and casting him into its own mould. [After I am waxed old, shall I lust?] Old and cold, is our English proverb; and the Greek word for an old body signifies one, in whom natural heat is extinct. It is a most undecent thing to see the pleasures of youth prevailing in times of age, among old decrepit goats. Were it not monstrous to behold green apples on a tree in winter? [My Lord being old also] This was the only good word in the whole sentence: God takes notice of it, and by St. Peter records it to her eternal commendation, 1 Pet. 3.6. yea, he was so well pleased with her subjection to her husband, whom she here in her heart calleth Lord, that he is content to forgive her great sin of unbelief.
Vers. 1.3. Said to Abraham, wherefore did Sarah laugh?] The wives sin reflects upon the husband. But Solomon shows that some wives are so intemperate and willful, that a man may as well hide the wind in his fist, or oil in his hand, as restrain them from illdoing, Prov. 27.15, 16. Liberum arbitrium, pro quo tantopere contenditur, viri amiserunt, •• xores arripuerunt, saith One wittily.
Vers. 14. Is any thin • • oo hard for God ] He can do all things pessi • le and honorable. He cannot lie, die, deny himself, for that implieth impotency. He could not do any mighty work in his own Country because of their unbelief, Mark 6.5, 6. He could not, because he would not. He can do more then he will, as of stones raise up Churches, Matth. 3.9. Call for legions, Matth. 26.53. Create more worlds in an instant. But whatsoever he willeth, that he doth in heaven and earth, and none can sa • , What doest thou? Our God can deliver us, Dan. 3.17. Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean, Matth. 8.2. &c. [I will return to thee according to the time of life] He returned not personally, that we read of; but virtually he did, by making good his promise at the appointed time. That of Doctor Sands, afterwards Bishop of Worcester, is wonderful, and worth relating. He departing the land for fear of Q. Mary, took his leave of his Host and Hostess who was childless, and had been married eight years. When the wind served, as he went toward the ship, he gave his Hostess a fine hand-kerchief, and an old royal of gold in it, thanking her much, and said, Be of good comfort, ere that one whole year be past, God shall give you a child, a boy. And it came to pass, that day twelve-month, lacking one day, God gave her a fair son.
Vers. 15. I laughed not, for she was afraid ] And well she might; for as everybody hath its shadow, so hath every sin its fear. Her sin she saw was detected, and her conscience she felt was troubled; hence her fear. [Nay, but thou didst laugh] A lie must be roundly reproved, and the truth asserted. She laughed but within herself, but as good she might have laughed out aloud; for God searcheth the heart. I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was in my Country? Jon. 4.2. No, Jonas, it was not thy saying, it was only thy thinking: but that's all one before him, who understandeth thy thoughts afar off, Psal. 139.2.
Vers. 16. To bring them on the way ] A special piece of courtesy, and much spoken of in Scripture, 3 Joh. 6. Acts 20.38. & 21.5. Ram. 15.24. 1 Cor. 16.11. Tit. 3.13.
Vers. 17. Shall I hide from Abraham.] My bosom-friend. He shall be both of God's Court, and his Council. His secret is with them that fear him. The Kings of Israel had someone Courtier, called the Kings Friend by a specialty; to whom they imparted arcana Imperii, State-secrets. Such an Office had Abraham about God, who calls him Abraham my Friend. See what our Savior saith to all his, John 15.15. This honor have all his Sai • as.
Vers. 18, 19.] Seeing that Abraham, &c.] God's first motive here is, from his own antecedent love to Abraham, as the second from his consequent.
Vers. 19. For I know him.] God hath a quick eye to see our good works. He weighs and rewards every circumstance. Christ could tell, that the people had come from far to heat him; that they had fasted three days; that they went in a Wilderness, where they could not cater for themselves; that if they should be sent home, so, they would faint by the way. What was it that he took not knowledge of? I know thy works, and thy labor, in doing them, Revel. 2.2. [That he will command his children, &c.] A good housh •• der, whatsoever he gets abroad, he brings home to his family, as Bees bring all their honey to the hive. The lips of the righteous feed many, those under his own roof especially. Welfare Popery for that. Old folks will tell us, that when, in those days, they had holy bread given them at Church, they would bear a part thereof to those that did abide at home. The way to get more, it to communicate that we have, according to that, H • benri dabitur. No man hath received ought from God for private use: Neither is any one born for himself, much less new-born. He that kid his talent, was soon shred of it.
Vers. 20. Because their sin is very grie • o •• .] Or, very heavy, such as the very ground groans under: The A •• le-tr • e of the • arth is ready to break under it. Sin is a burden to God, A ••• . 12. It was so to Christ; he fell to the ground when he was in his agony. It was so to the Angels, who sunk into Id • ll under in. It was so to Kore, and his company, the earth could not bear them. It was so to the Sodomites; they were so clogged with this excrement of naughtiness (as Saint James calleth it) that God came from Heaven, to give their land a vomit.
Vers. 21. I will go down now, and see, &c.] The Sodomites sined as freely and securely, as if God knew nothing. Now therefore he is come to know, that is, to give them to know, that he knew all, as well as if he had been in their bosoms.
Vers. 22. Abraham stood yet before the Lord ] And without such to stand and pray, the world could not stand: they bear up the pillars of it. Oh the price with God, and profit to men, of praying persons! God will yield something to such, when most of all enraged, Matth 24.20. or resolved. Lot was saved for Abraham's sake, when all the rest perished.
Vers. 23. And Abraham drew near ] A privilege proper to • uch, as have a true heart, full assurance of Faith and a good conscience, Heb. 10.22. The hypocrite shall not come before him, Job 13.16. He must stand without as a vagrant at the gate, that knows not whether the master is providing for him an alms, or a cudgel. But the upright comes into the • arlor; yea dwells in God's presence, Psal. 140.13. In the light of his countenance. [Wilt thou also destroy the righteous?] Single suites speed not: we must back them with sound Arguments, and Reason the case with God concerning his judgments, Jere. 12.1.
Vers. 24. Peradventure there be fifty righteous ] Charity presumes the best, hopes the best. The Disciples could not imagine that Judas was so very a Traitor: each one suspects himself sooner then him: And when our Savior said, What thou doest, do quickly; they thought he had meant of making provision, or giving something to the poor.
Vers. 25. Shall not the Judge, &c.] He fills his mouth with Arguments. Let us also: This will increase Faith and Fervency.
Vers. 26. If I find fifty righteous ] The Saints are the Salt of the earth, that keep the rest from rotting and putrefying.
Vers. 27. Which 〈◊〉 but dust and ashes ] G • aphar veephar, 〈◊〉 & cinis: None so humble as they that have nearest communion with God. The Angels that stand before him, cover the •• 〈◊〉 with two wings, as with a double scarie, Isaiah, Chap ••• 6. verse 2.
Vers 29. And he spake unto him yet again ] Cùm in colloquium descendimus cum Deo, replicemus licet, duplicemus, triplicemus, & quadruplicemus. The bolder we make, the better welcome.
Vers. 30. I will not do it, &c.] If God so yielded to Abraham interceding for wicked Sodom, will he not hear us for his laboring Church? Joa • never pleased David better, then when he sued to him for Absol • m. What shall we think of God in like case? How angry is he with those that help forward the anger? Zach. 1.15. How ready to answer those that speak to him for his Church, with good words, and comfortable words? Zach. 1.13. Yea, should there be no praying Christians amongst us (as there are many thousands,) yet there is hope, if any of another Kingdom make intercession for us, as Abraham here did for Sodom, to the which he was a stranger.
Vers. 32. Peradventure ten shall be found there ] Lo, all that slavery and misery they had sustained, hath not yet made ten good men in those five bad Cities. Till God strike the stroke, and work upon the heart, afflictions, God's hammers do but beat upon cold Iron. The wicked are no whit better by them, but much the worse, as water becomes more cold after a heat, and naughty boys more stubborn and stupid after a whipping.
Vers. 33. And the Lord went his way ] Abraham hucked with the Lord so long, till he had brought him down from fifty to ten: And mark, that he left begging are God left bating. Let us find praying hearts, and he will find a pitying heart.
CHAP. XIX. Verse 1. Lot sat in the gate ]
NOt as a Judge (as the Hebrews will have it,) nor as a Merchant; much less as a Noveller, but as a good householder, looking for his herds, and as a good house-keeper looking for guests.
Vers. 2. Nay, but we will abide in the street ] They would have done so, but for Lots importunity. So our Savior would have gone further, but that the two Disciples constrained him to stay. This was no simulation; or if so, yet it was only exploratory without deceit or hypocrisy. And if Solomon sinned not in making believe he would do that which was unlawful to be done. 1 King. 3.24. It can be no sin to do the like in things indifferent.
Vers. 4. Both old and young ] Nulla aetas erat culpae immunis, ideo nec exitii, Ambrose. Sin spreds as leaven, and is as catching as the plague; like the Jerusalem Artichoke, plant it where you will, it over runs the ground, and chokes the heart.
Vers. 5. That we may know them ] O faces hatched with impudency! They shroud not their sin in a mantle of secrecy, but hang out these sour Grapes to the Sun to ripen.
Vers. 6. Lot went out ] So he exposed himself, to save his strangers, hoping to save them from that abominable violence. The right of strangers is so holy, that there was scarce ever any nation so barbarous, that would violate the same. When Steven Gardener had in his power the Renowned Clark Peter Martyr, then teaching at Oxford, he would not keep him to punish him: but when he should go his way, as it is reported, gave him wherewith to bear his charges. But these Sodomites had not so much humanity left in them. They had put off the man, and were become dogs and worse, Deut. 23.18. The price of a dog, that is, of a buggerer, saith Ju • ius and Deodatus, on that Text. And, Am I a dog, saith Abuer; that is, so given as dogs be to lust?
Vers. 7. Do not so wickedly ] They were the first that fell into this foul sin, and were therefore worthily hanged up in gibbets by God for a terror to others; and besides, they suffer the vengeance of eternal fire, Jude 7. The Pope pretends to be Christ's Vicar, and presumes to assume the title of Holiness. But how far he is from expressing God to the World, appears by his (if not committing, yet conniving at) this detestable sin of Sodomy. To speak no more of that debauched villain Johannes a Casa (that Printed a Poem in commendation of this wickedness, being at the same time Dean of the Popes Chamber, and Bishop of Beneventum. ) One Petro Alvegi Faruesis committed an unspeakable violence on the person of Cosmus Chaerius, Bishop of Fanum, and then poisoned him. For which execrable action, he received no other chastisement of his father, Pope Paul the third, then Haec vitia, me non commonstratore, didicit; He never learned these tricks of his father. But whom did the Cardinal of Saint Lucia learn it of? To whom and his whole family Pope Sixtus quartus permited, by license, the free use of this fil • hiness, for the three hotter mo • eths of the year, June, July, and August; with that Apostilla of his, Fiat ut petitur. Lupanar etiam utriusque veneris Romae 〈◊〉 , saith Agrippa. In the time of Pope Nicolas the second (when Priests marriage was termed the heresy of the Nicolaitans ) Inva ••• s ••••• menter Sodomiticum scel •• , saith mine Author; Sodomy was held no sin (as at this day it is not among the Turks. ) In 〈◊〉 and those parts, Whoredom and Sodomy, those Spanish ver • u • s, are common without reproof. The Popes pardons being more rife there, then in any part of Europe, for these filthiness, whereout he sucketh no small advantage. Notwithstanding, the Indians abhor this most loathsome living; showing themselves in respect of the Spaniards, as the Scythians did in respect of the Grecians; whom they so far excelled in life and behavior, as they were short of them in learning and knowledge. God hath delivered up these Pagans (as he did those Pagans, Rom. 1.) to reprobate sense, to vile affections, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, for that they have worshipped, and served the creature more then the Creator, Vers. 24, 25, 26. Hence it is, that Rome is called Sodom in the Revelation.
Vers. 8. Behold now, I have two daughters ] This was an inconsiderate motion, such as the best minds easily yield, when once troubled. It was proper to the Lord Christ to be subject to natural passions and perturbations, yet without sin: as a Crystal Glass full of clear water remains still pure, howsoever it be shaken. The Hebrews think, That for this sinful offering to prostitute his daughters, he was given up by God, to commit incest with his daughters.
Vers. 9. Stand back, &c.] They set up the bristles at Lots admonition, a sure fore-runner of destruction, as in Eli's sons.
Vers. 10. But the men ] Thus Lot is rescued at a dead lift: that's God's opportunity, who knows how, &c. 2 Peter 2. verse. 9.
Vers. 11. With blindness ] Subite scotomate, saith Junius: With blindness both of body and mind, saith Ibn-Ezra: Such as tormented their eyes, as if they had been pricked with thorns, as the Hebrew word signifies. And yet they continue groping for the door, as if they were ambitious of destruction, which now was at next door by. Dous quem destruit dementat. So Pharaoh, when under that palpable three days darkness, rageth against God, and threateneth Moses with death. Though doomsday should be tomorrow next, wicked men must and will serve their lusts. Vale lumen amicum, said Theotimus in St. Ambrose, who chose rather to lose his sight then his sin.
Vers. 12. Hast thou here any, &c.] It is something for safety, to be Lots Kinsman. So the Kenites in Saul's time, receive life from Jethro 's dust, many ages after his death, and favor from his hospitality.
Vers. 13. For we will destroy this place ] Even the good Angels are God's executioners. And the first execution they did in the world, that we read of, was upon these filthy Sodomites. So will it be (likely) at the last day. And Saint Peter seems to say as much, 2 Pet. 2.9. The Lord reserves the unjust to the day of judgment, to be punished, But chiefly them that walk after the flesh, in the lust of uncleanness. Mark that (chiefly.)
Vers. 14. But he seemed as one that mocked ] Sed fuit habitus tanquam jo • abundus. Graceless hearts jear when they should fear, and are senseless and secure, as if they were out of the reach of God's rod, and needed not to fear his wrath. Lot here is counted but a Lob, of his own sons in law. Wonder not, if we meet with the same measure.
Vers. 15. Left thou be consumed ] So Revel. 18.4. Come out of her, that ye receive not of her plagues. Musculirui • is immin • ntibus pramigrant, & aranei cum telis primicadunt, saith Pliny. Swine live home, afore a storm.
Vers. 16. And while he lingered ] Or distracted himself with much business, which David did not, Psal. 119 60. [The Lord being merciful unto him] What is he then to us, in delivering us from the ••• th to come? 1 Thes. 1.10, Why save we not ourselves from this unto ward generation? Why see we not his mercy to us in our losses and crosses? His hand laying hold on us, when he takes away that, that may hinder us from Heaven?
Vers. 17. Look not behind thee ] As loath to depart. Non minùs difficulter à deliciis Sudemorum abstrabimur, quàm canis ab uncto cori • .
Vers. 18. O • not so my Lord ] But who shall, prescribe to the Almighty? Or limit the holy One of Israel? Are we wiser then he▪ Have we a trick bey • nd him? He lets us sometimes have our way but to our woe at last.
Vers. 19. Behold now thy servant, &c.] We can receive and commend God's favors, but be backward enough to obey him.
Vers. 20. Is it not a little one?] Let no man use this plea for his sin. Even the Philosopher tells us, That the smallest errors prove many times most dangerous. It is as much treason to coin pence, as bigger pieces.
Vers. 21. I will not overthrow this City ] Zoar, of all the five Cities, was preserved by Lots prayers, saith Jerome. See Deut. 29.23. Isai. 15.
Vers. 22. For I cannot do anything ] Not that the execution of the divine decree, depended simply upon Lots remove to Zoar; but upon another decree, for Lots remove ere Sodom were destroyed.
Vers. 23. The Sun was risen upon Sodom ] But ere night, there was a dismal change. Nescis quid serus vesper vehat.
Vers. 24. Then the Lord rained, &c.] Lot was no sooner taken out of Sodom, but Sodom was soon taken out of the world. The wicked are reprieved for the godly's sake; who, but for them, would suddenly be ruined. [Rained upon Sodom, &c.] Rained, not sprinkled; and not fire only, but brimstone and fire for increase of torment, and for an Hell above ground, and aforehand, Jude 7. Hot fire they had for their burning lusts; and stinking brimstone for their stinking brutishness. Charles the second, King of Navarre, was much given to sensual pleasures, which so wasted his spirits, that in his old age, he fell into a kind of Lethargy. To comfort his benumbed joints he was bound and sewed up naked in a sheet, steeped in boiling Aqua vitae: The Surgeon having made an end of sewing him, and wanting a knife to cut off the thread, took a wax candle that stood lighted by him. But the flame, running down by the thread, caught hold on the sheet; which, according to the nature of the Aqua vita, burned with that vehemency, that the miserable King ended his days in the fire.
Vers. 25. And he overthrew, &c.] Some footsteps of this overthrow, are to be read of in Solinus and Tacitus. Josephus tells us of the mock-apples of Sodom, and saith, That an Ox, having all his Legs bound, will not sink into the lake of Sodom, the water is so thick.
Vers. 26. But his wise looked back ] Whether out of curiosity, or foolish pity, or as loath to leave so sweet a Country, she turned her about, and she was turned. Some think she was a Sodomite, and some tell us her name was Tytea. Her sin, seem it never so light, was a compound of many sins. And her punishment was part of the plague of Sodom, which was Brimstone and Salt, so that it became a Sea of Salt, Deuter. 29.23. And all this to Season us, saith Augustine; to Caution us, saith our Savior, that we look not back. The Fable of Eurydice, lost by her husbands looking back upon her, was devised by the devil to elude this holy History.
Vers. 27. And Abraham gat up ] So solicitous he was for Sodom, that (as Luther thinks) he could not sleep all night. Lot was delivered by his prayers, though Abraham knew it not.
Vers. 28. And he looked ] Abraham might look upon the smoke of Sodom, Lot might not; because it would work more on Lots heart, then on Abraham's, who had more grace. [The smoke of the country] Nothing else was now to be seen of that fair and fruitful Plain. Sic transit gloria mundi. When we most greedily grasp earthly things, we embrace nothing but smoke, which wrings tears from our eyes, and soon vanisheth into nothing.
Vers. 29. God remembered Abraham, &c. ] And shall he forget us, who have Christ to intercede for us?
Vers. 30. Lot went up out of Zoar, &c.] So he should have done at first; and so he had obeyed God, saved his wife, and prevented that sin of incest with his daughters.
Vers. 31. And the first born, &c.] Its dangerous to live in a wicked place: For though thyself mayst escape infection, thy children may be tainted, as Lots were.
Vers, 32. Come let us make our father drink.] She knew too well, that Venus est in venis, ignis in igne furit. It is like they had wine from Zoar: they sinned against conscience; and therefore intoxicated their father, who now forgets that he is a father, and does that in a drunken pang, that Heaven and Earth were afterwards ashamed of.
Vers. 33. Nor when she arose ] There is a tittle extraordinary in the Hebrew, to note that this is a thing incredible, Coire quempiam nescientem. Cajetan and Pererius conclude it possible, and give Reasons for it. Calvin saith best, That it was not so much his wine, as a spirit of slumber sent upon him from God, for a scourge of his intemperance. Luther adds, No nos abeamus in securitatem, That we may watch against security.
Vers. 35. And they made, &c.] Decepit ebrietas Lotum, quem Sodoma non decepit, saith Origen. Well might Athenaeus call drunkenness the metropolis of mischief.
Vers. 37. Called his name Moab ] That is, the begotten of my father: So Benammi, that is, begotten of one of my near kindred, viz. her father. Thus they declared their sin as Sodom, they hid it not, but gloried in their shame. It is as hard to come from Sodom, and not taste of the sap of such a soil, as to walk barefac'd in the hot Sun, and not be tanned.
CHAP. XX. Vers. 1. And Abraham journeyed from thence, &c.]
EIther as grieved at the sight of Sodom; or annoyed by the ill air thereof; or as loathing Lots incest; or driven out by a famine; or desirous of doing good to many. Whatever it was that occasioned his remove, we find him ever and anon journeying from one place, and sojourning in another. God's people are a brood of travellers. This was Abram the Hebrew, of Heber, which signifieth, Pilgrim or stranger. They look toward Heaven in their home, as Ulysses is said to do toward Ithaca, as a bird looks to her nest on the highest Rocks.
Vers. 2. She is my sister ] This is the second time he thus sinned, both against Piety by distrust, and Charity, in exposing his wife to other men's pleasure, and his neighbor thereby to God's displeasure. So Jehoshaphat was twice taken tardy in Ahab's amity. Jonah twice reproved for Rebellion, and John for Angel worship. Sampson, twenty years after he had loved the Philistim -woman, goes down to Gaza, and went in to Delilah. Lot committed incest two nights together. Indeed the orifice of his lust was not yet stopped by repentance. But Jonas had surely repented of his former frowardness; and so had Sampson, Jehoshaphat, and Abraham too, of his former dissimulation; which made the Lord to move Pharaoh to deal kindly with him, so that he had sheep and oxen, &c. Gen. 12.16. But what shall we say to that example of the Apostles, Luke 22.24. Amongst whom there was a strife who should be accounted the greatest? And this was not the first, but the third time they had thus offended by ambition; and ever, after our Savior had discoursed unto them of his Cross. But this last time, most absurdly, and unseasonably, after that he had foretold his Passion to follow within two days; had taught them that he was anointed by the woman against the day of his burial; had administered to them the Sacrament, that Seal of Mutual Love; had washed their Feet, to teach them Humility and Charity, &c. Oh the incredible perverseness of corrupt Nature! How strongly do the best still smell of the old cask, taste of the old stock, though engrafted into Christ, and though poured from vessel to vessel? And this have ye done again, saith the Lord, Mal. 2.13. A great aggravation; as numbers added to numbers, are first ten times more, and then a hundred, and then a thousand. How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert? A regenerate man may fall into the same sin again that he hath truly repented of: Nor can we define how oft, and into how heinous; but surely, not oft into the same, that is heinous and scandalous. That's a graceless person that hath eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease to sin, 2 Peter 2.19. An enemy to God, that goeth on in his trespasses, Psal. 68.21. It is expressly noted of Judah, Gen. 38.26. that he knew Tamar again no more. [And Abimelech King of Gerar] A fit name for a King; and a common name to the Kings of this Country: It signifies Father-King. I was a father to the poor, saith Job. And Kings shall be nursing fathers to the Church, saith Isaiah. Augustus was styled ' Pater Patriae. And Trajan gloried most in his title Optimus. He desired more to be loved, then honored, and counted it a greater dignity, Prodesse quàm praeesse. He tare his own Garment to bind up therewith the wounds of his Soldiers; and professed, That he would so carry himself to private persons, now that he was Emperor, as he wished, when he was a private man, that the Emperors should carry themselves toward him. Titus, for his sweet nature and carriage, was called the Worlds darling. Scipio the Cities Sweet-heart. Julian the Apostate, as he came not short of the greatest Philosophers for learning; so neither of Titus for Lenity, of Antoninus for Clemency, of M. Aurelius for Moderation, setting aside his Satanical hatred of Christian Religion. Queen Elisabeth ever accounted Devotion and Mercy, the brightest Stars in the Sphere of Majesty. She always thought it more fit to offend a man, then to hate him, saith Master Camden. In the year 1579. a young man discharged a piece out of a Boat, and shot one of the Barge-men in the Queens Barge (where she was then) through both his arms; who was soon apprehended, and led to the Gallows for a terror to him. But whereas he religiously affirmed, That he did it unwittingly, and thought no hurt, he was discharged: The Queen many times, saying, That she could believe nothing of her people, that Parents would not believe of their children. This made her so beloved at home, and admired abroad. Queen Elisabeth was the most glorious and happy woman that ever ware a Crown, said that thrice Noble princess Anna Atestina, the Mother of the Dukes of Guise and Nemours, as Thuanus hath Recorded it. Her Subjects were ready to say to Her, as the Senate said to Severus, All is well with us, so long as thou rulest well over us.
Vers. 3. And God came to Abimelech in a dream ] Dreams are either natural, or supernatural. Natural dreams are not much to be regarded, Eccles. 5.7. Diviners and Dreamers we are forbid to hearken to, Jere. 27.9. Cicero confutes them that do, in his Books de Divinatione. That use there is of them, is in Physic, to discern our temperatures in Divinity, our beloved sins. Supernatural dreams are sent by God, and his Angels; and that either to comfort us, as Matth. 2.19. or to chasten us, Job 7.13, 14. And these are, first, usually repeated, till they are regarded, as Pharaohs, and young Samuel's dreams: Secondly, they do much affect us, and leave a certain persuasion, an inward sense of God's presence in the soul; as Daniel's, Josephs, and Pareus his dreams. In the Calends of April (saith he, in his domestical Diary or Day-Book, ) 1618. I had a terrible dream at four of the clock in the morning. For me thought, I saw all Heidelburg on a thick smoke, but the Prince his Palace all on a light fire. O Deus clementissime averte sinistrum omen, & serva Sareptam tuam a vastatione hostium intùs & foris. Thus that good man dreamed, and thus he prayed: but the decree was passed, and shortly after executed, according to his dream. There are also dreams diabolical. Eusebius tells us, that Simon Magus had his dream-haunting Devils, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , his familiars by whom he deluded men in their dreams, and drew them into the admiration of himself. These devilish dreams are either mere illusions, as that of Eliphaz is thought to be no better, Job 4.12, 16, 17. Or else they tend to sin, as nocturnal pollutions, and other evil dreams; whereby the devil sometimes fasteneth that sin upon the Saints when asleep, that he cannot prevail with them to commit whiles awake. As for Pilate's wives dream, some Divines think it was from the devil, seeking thereby to hinder the work of our Redemption. [For she is a man's wife] Adultery, even in Kings, is punishable by death. Emperors and Popes have been cut off by the just hand of God, in, and for this filthy sin. Society and the purity of posterity could not otherwise continue amongst men, if this crime were not capital. At Geneva they punish fornication with nine days fasting; Adultery with death. God appointed that such should be stoned. He stoneth them, howsoever, with the stone in the heart, Hos. 4.11. Prov. 7.22. Hetfer the Anabaptist was put to death for this sin at Constance: He being a learned man, and a Preacher, insinuated himself into the familiarity of many women of good rank and repute, and defiled them; when he came to execution, he confessed that he would many times have repented of that foul sin, but could not; so fast was he held in the devils bonds: and that now he was willing to die, and accept of the chastisement of his iniquity. Howbeit, it is an opinion held and maintained by the Anabaptists, that Adultery is not to be punished by men, because the Scripture saith, Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Others would prove the same from those words of our Savior ( Joh. 8.11.) to the woman taken in adultery, Neither do I condemn thee. But they may as well say, That inheritances are not to be divided betwixt brethren, because Christ would not divide them, when required thereto, Luke 12.14.
Vers. 4. But Abimelech had not come near her ] Being hindered by sickness, verse. 17. Well might St. Ambrose call siekness, The shop of virtues. When men are fastened to their beds, and their bones made to rattle in their skin, lust will be laid asleep, and little leisure left for luxury. This made King Alfred pray God to send him always some sickness, whereby his body might be tamed, and he the better disposed & affectioned to Godward. If it be painful to the vine to bleed, 'tis worse to wither. Better be pruned to grow, then cut up to burn. Otho tertius, Imperator, dictus miraculum mundi, amoribus periit. How much happier he that sang, Periissem nisi Periissem? [Lord wilt thou slay also a righteous Nation?] For he knew, that whole Nations had smarted for the sins of their Rulers; this sin of Adultery especially, as we read of Shechem, Troy, &c. How wore the Greeks plagued for the rape of Chrysis? and the Lacedaemonian Common wealth utterly overturned by Epaminendas in the battle of Leuctra, for a rape committed upon the two daughters of Scedasus by a couple of Spartan Gentlemen, traveling to Delphi: This might make Abimelech afraid, lest for his fault, wrath should fall upon his people also.
Vers. 5. Said he not unto me, She is my sister, &c.] Here Abraham and Sarah, though both famous, he for his faith, and she for not being afraid with any amazement, 1 Pet. 3.6. yet here they show some trepidation. Sense (saith One) fights sore against faith, when it is upon its own dunghill, I mean in a sensible danger. Natures retraction of itself from a visible fear, may cause the pulse of a Christian that beats truly and strongly in the main point, (the state of the soul) to intermit and faulter at such a time. [In the integrity of my heart] Great is the boldness of a clear conscience, be it but in someone particular, as here in Abimelech; a man that was magis extra vitia quàm cum virtutibus (as Tacitus saith of Galba ) rather not evil then good; one whose nature was not changed, but chained up only. Civil men are but Wolves chained up, tame Devils, Swine in a fair meadow; and yet these are the worlds honest men, and as high a price set upon them, as was once upon a cab of Doves-dung in the famine of Samaria. But these Abimelech's, these Catoes, these civil Justiciaries, they want sincerity in the first Table, and integrity in the Second; for they stand not upon the inward corruptions, nor lesser breaches of the Law. Abimelech (for all his confidence here) was to blame for his wandering rash lust. And Cato, that mirror of morality, was a griping Usurer, prostituted his wife, and slew himself. And yet Paterculus will tell you, that he was, Homo virtuti simillimus, & per omnia virtute Diis quàm hominibus propior, &c.
Vers 6. Yea I know that thou didst this, &c.] God takes his excuse, and yet chastiseth him; to teach us, saith Calvin, Non prorsus vacare culpâ qui human modo puri sunt. He can find flaws in that, for which we may look for thanks. This makes Nehemiah. crave pardon of his zealous reformations; and David cry • s out, Enter not into judgment, &c. Sordet in conspect • judicis, quod fulget in conspectu operantis, saith Gregory. Ye are they that justify yourselves before men (saith Christ to the Pharisees) but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed amongst men is abomination in the sight of God, Luke 16.15. A thing which I see in the night may shine, and that shining proceed from nothing but rottenness. But be not deceived (or if ye be, yet) God is not mocked. When he comes to turn the bottom of the bag upwards (as the Steward did Benjamins ) all our secret thefts will out, all our collusions come to light. His Law is a Law of fire, Deut. 33.2. His tribunal of fire, Ezek. 1.27. His pleading with sinners, in flames of fire, Esa. 60.15, 16. The trial of our works shall be by fire; and God before whom is a consuming fire, Heb. 12.29. Happy are they that are here purged by that Spirit of judgment and burning, Esa. 4.4. These shall stand in judgment, yea dwell with everlasting burnings, Esa. 33.14. [For I also with held thee] Either by sickness, as aforesaid, or by a spirit of restraint, a gift that God gives to men, yea to the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell amongst them, Psal. 68.18. in his Religion and worshippers; which else the wicked would never suffer. Thus God chained up Laban, and made Saul to melt over David, &c. Now many take this poor counter, (that is, I am not as some others are, so bad as the worst) and set it down for a thousand pound. Our Savior indeed is said to have looked upon the young Pharisee, and to have loved him, because he saw him to be a tame man, free from foul crimes, and fit to live in a Commonwealth: But no otherwise then as we love pictures, which are pretty things to look on, and that's all they are good for. A better nature, if rested in, is but a beautiful abomination, a smooth way to hell. And yet, say what we can, this kind of men grow crooked and aged with good opinions of themselves, and can seldom or never be set straight again. They will trust in Moses, Job. 5.45. and when they have sick fits and qualms of conscience, lick themselves whole by their repentance, and so rest in it: Which made Austin say, that Repentance damneth more then sin. They seek not to be saved by the righteousness of faith, neither see they any necessity of growing from faith to faith. No, they are set, they are as good as ever they mean to be; they that outstrip them are too forward, they that fall short of them, are deeply censured.
Vers. 7. Now therefore restore ] Let knowledge reform what ignorance offended in. The times of ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, Act. 17.30. As a Master, when he sets up his servant a double light, expects more work and better. We have a privilege not only above the blind Ethnics, but above the Church of the Old Testament. The sea about the Altar was brazen, 1 King. 7.23. And what eyes could pierce thorough it? Now our sea about the Throne is glassie, Rom. 4.6. like to Crystal, clearly conveying the light and sight of God to our eyes. God hath destroyed the face of the covering cast over all people, Esa. 25.7. And we all with ope • face beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, must see to it, that we be changed into the same image from glory to glory, 2 Cor. 3.18. If those good souls passed from strength to strength, travelling many a weary step, to see the face of God in Zion, in the obscure glass of the Ceremonies; vae torpori nostro, woe to us, if now, that such a light is sprung up, we walk not as children of that light! To know heavenly things, is to ascend into heaven, Prov. 30.3, 4. And to know our masters will is a great talent; of all other, there is a much in that, Luke 12.48. But then, not to do his will so known, is to be beaten with many stripes. None so deep in hell, as your knowing men, because they imprisoned the truth (which is as a Prophet from God) in unrighteousness, Rom 1.18. they kept it in their heads, as rain in the middle region, not suffering it to warm their hearts, or work upon their affections; therefore came wrath upon them to the utmost. None are oftener drowned then they that are most skillful in swimming. So none sooner miscarry then men of greatest parts. [For he is a Prophet, and he shall pray for thee] The proper work of a Prophet, Jer. 27.18. If they be Prophets, let them entreat the Lord; they shall be heard, when others shall not, as the fathers blessing is most effectual; as the child could not be raised till Elisha came himself, nor the sick be healed, till the Elders of the Church be called for, Jam. 5.14. The Apostles divided their time betwixt praying and preaching, Act. 6.4. So did the Priests of the Old Testament, Deut. 33.10. They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, they shall put incense before thee. As with every sacrifice there was incense, so should every Ministerial duty be performed with prayer. St. Paul begins his Epistles with prayer, and proceeds and ends in like manner. What is it that he would have every of his Epistles stamped with by his own hand, but prayer for all his people? 2 Thess. 3.17, 18. [Thou shalt surely die] So dear to God are his Saints, that he grievously punisheth, even Kings for their sakes; as Jehoram in his bowels with an incurable disease, the two Herod's by the lousie malady. Maximinus the Emperor, a cruel persecutor, cast upon his bed of sickness by God, was glad to crave the prayers of the Church, as Eusebius relates it. Valens being to subscribe an Order for the banishment of Basil, was smitten with a sudden trembling of his hand, that he could not: Afterward he was burned to death by the Goths, whom he had corrupted, by sending them Arian teachers. The putting out of that French Kings eyes, which promised before with his eyes to see Anne du Bourg (one of God's true servants) burned, who seeth not to be the stroke of God's own hand? Then, his son Francis not regarding his fathers stripe, would needs yet proceed in the burning the same man. And did not the same God, give him such a blow on the ear, as cost him his life? As for Charles the ninth, author of the French massacre, though he were wittily warned by Beza to beware (upon occasion, of that new Star appearing in Cassiopeia, Novem 1572. which he applied to that Star at Christ's birth, and to the infanticide then) with, Tu vero, Herodes sanguinolente, time; yet because he repented not, God gave him blood to drink, as he was worthy; for the fifth month after the vanishing of this Star▪ Constance fama est illum, dum e variis corporis partibus sanguis emanaret, in lecto saepe volutatum, inter terribilium blasphemiarum diras tantam sanguinis vim projecisse ut, paucas post horas, mortuus fuerit. This Charles the ninth, in the massacre of Paris, beholding the bloody bodies of the butchered Protestants, and feeding his eye upon that woeful spectacle, is said to have breathed out this bloody speech, Quam bonus est odor hostis mortui! Another great Queen, seeing the ground covered with the naked carcasses of her Protestant Subjects said, that it was the bravest piece of Tapestry that ever she beheld; but it was not long that she beheld it. Our Queen Mary, though non naturâ sed Ponti • iciorum art ferox (Ipsa solùm nomen regium ferebat, caterùm • mnem reg • i potestatem Pharisaei possidebant ) died of a Tympany, or as some (by her much sighing before her death) supposed, she died of thought and sorrow, either for the loss of Calais, or for the departure of King Phillip. This King going from the Low-countries into Spain by Sea, with resolution never to remove thence, fell into a storm, in which almost all the Fleet was wracked, his household-stuff of very great value lost, and himself hardly escaped. He said he was delivered by the singular providence of God, to root out Lutheranism, which he presently began to do; protesting that he had rather have no Subjects, then Lutheran Subjects. Whether it was this Phillip or his successor▪ I cannot certainly tell. But Carolus Sexiba ••• tells a lamentable story of one of those two Phillips: Hear him else, Ulcerum magnitudinem, multitudinem, acorbitatem, fatorem, lecto tanquam durae cruc • , ••• o integra, affixionem, ut in nullam prope commoveri partem possit, acres continuosque ann • r um sex podagrae dolores, febrim 〈◊〉 cum dup • ici per an • os 〈…〉 intima, adeoque & ossi ••• medullas depascentem gravissimam 22. dierum dysenteriam, qu • n • c moram dar • t, nec detersion • m admitteret, perpetua stoma • hifastidia, nullo po • u sitim medicandam, capitis & oculorum insanos dolores, ingentom puris ex ulcaribus redundanti •• ▪ quae binas indie • scutellat divite padere impleret: Inter her, malignissimi oder is gravitat 〈◊〉 , quae om •• em illi sou •• um ademerat; hac, inquam▪ Rex potentissimus longo tempore perpessus est. So true is that of an Ancient. Potentes pot • uter torquebuntur. Be wise now therefore▪ O ye Kings: Kiss the son, lest he be angry. He can soon break men with his iron Mace, and dash them in pieces as a potters vessel. Ingentla, heresicia, ingentia slagitia, ingentia supplicia, as the Centurists have it. Christ shall reign, when Kings and Kesars shall lie in the dust. His name is King of Kings, and Lord of Lord's; and this name is written upon his Vesture (that all creatures may see his power) and upon his Thigh, to show the eternity of his Monarchy, in his children and posterity. This everlasting Father shall have an endless government, Esa. 6.6,7. He shall see his seed (the fruit of his thigh;) he shall prolong his day • , and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands, Esa. 53.10. I shut up this Discourse with the story of Ladislaus King of Bohemiae and Hungary, who most unjustly had caused Ladislaut, son to Hunniade • , to be beheaded; and together with many other Popish Princes, had conspired to root out the true Christians in Bobemia; which should have been put in execution at the time of hi • ma • riage: immediately before, in the midst of his great preparation • he sell sick, and within thirty six hours died of a postilent sore in his gro •• . Like as Attila • that King of Huns, and scourge of Christendom, had died before, being suffocated in his own blood, at such time as he celebrated his wedding, having distempered his body with excess in wine and venery, adeo ut proverbio deeo dictam fit, eum per eandem partem animam profudisse, per quam accepera • . He went out of the world the same way that he came into it, and sent his soul, as a harbinger to the devil, to provide room for his body
Vers. 8. Therefore Abimelech rose early, &c.] He made hast • , and delayed not to keep God's Commandments, Psal. 119.60. This is check to out dullness, whom so many exhortations and menaces of God's month move not to amend. Some are semper victur, as Seneca saith, they defer so long till the Draw bridge be taken up, till the gale of Grace be blown over, till the Bridegroom go by, and so are shut out with the foolish Virgins, for their lingering and futhring. Nol • te vero tempus in •• gis ter •• e, vel Crus, ut ill, Seria, rejectis in hilari compotatione, literis indiciis hodie 〈…〉 , proteliere. At the next pu •• e of breath thou mayst blow away thy life; or, by not discerning thy time, thou mayst lose thy soul, as Saul did his Kingdom. Opportunities are headlong. [And culled all his servants] Nature taught Infidels to take •• re of their own famillies. Socrates is said to have called Philosophy down from heaven to earth; that is, to have directed men to be good at home, and setting aside other studies, chiefly to mind,
Vers. 9. 'What hast thou done unto us, &c.] Some warmth must be in a reproof, but it must not be scalding hot. Words of reviling and disgrace, they scald as it were; but words that tend to stir up the conscience to a due consideration of the fault (as here) they be duly warm, and tend to make the physic work more kindly. How could Abraham resist this sweet and sovereign reprehension? How could he but be much ashamed, that he should give occasion to it? No oratory is so powerful with good natures as that of mildness. Remember to reprove with modesty and moderation.
Vers. 11. Surely the fear of God, &c.] The only best curb to restrain from evil, and spur to incite to good. All honesty flows from this holy fear. It is a problem in Aristotle, why men are credited more then other creatures? The answer is, On 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Man only reverenceth God, therefore you may trust him, therefore you may commit yourself to him. He that truly feareth God is like unto Cato, of whom it is said, He never did well that he might appear to do so, but because he could do no otherwise. You need not fear me, said Joseph to his brethren, for I fear God, and so dare do you no hurt. Ought ye not to have feared God, said Nehemiah to those usurious Jews?
Vers. 12. And yet indeed ] See the Notes on Chapt. 11.29.
Vers. 13. When God caused me to wander] Cum facerent Dii, when they, even God, caused me. The mystery of the Trinity, though Calvin interpret it of the Angels; as Cartwright likewise doth that of Solomon, which Junius conceiveth to be spoken of the blessed Trinity, There be higher then they, Eccles. 5.8. sc. That Three in One, and One in Three.
Vers. 14. And Abimelech took oxen ] Great men should be bountiful to good men. Aeneas Sylvius was wont to say of learning (how much more may it be said of grace?) Popular men should esteem it as silver, Noblemen as gold, Princes prize it as pearls. Arcadius the Emperor gave his Schoolmaster Arsenes, (a holy man) the revenues of all Egypt, desiring him to pray for him. Arsenes promised him his prayers, but refused his rich offer; saying, that he wanted no money, as being long since dead to the world.
Vers. 16. I have given thy brother ] Not thee, to avoid suspicion. Provide, we must, things honest in the sight of all men: and not only keep a good conscience, but a good name as much as may be; learning this of the unjust Steward, by lawful (though he did it by unlawful) means. For our Savior noted this defect, when he said, The children of this world, &c. Luke 16.8. It was good counsel that Livia gave her husband Augustus, It behooveth thee not only, not to do wrong, but not to seem to do so, &c. We must shun, and be shy of the very show and shadow of sin, if either we tender our credit abroad, or comfort at home. The Church took it ill, that her veil was pulled off, and that she was judged to be a dishonest woman, Cant. 5.7. As in the first Chapter, She prays her Spouse to tell her where she may come to him: for why should she be as one that turneth aside, or as one that was veiled or covered, a sign of lightness and dishonesty, Gen. 38.14, 15. She was willing to eschew all appearance of evil. Some sense the Text thus: I have given thy husband money to buy thee a veil, to cover thy face that all may know thee to be a married woman
Vers. 17. So Abraham prayed, and God healed Abimelech ] Here was that of Saint James verified. The prayer of faith shall save the sick; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgotten him. So he is healed on both sides. The story of Luther is well known, how by his prayers he recovered Theodorus Vitus of a Consumption, after the Physicians had given him up for dead. The Saints are God's favorites, they may have anything of him. Sejanus found Tiberius so facile, that he needed only to ask, and give thanks. He never denied him anything, and ofttimes prevented his request. What shall we think of God's good-will to his faithful servants and suppliants?
Vers. 18. For the Lord had fast closed up all, &c.] In quibus peccamus, in iisdem plectimur. God oft takes notice of the offending member. Dives was tormented most in his tongue, Quià linguâ plus peccaverat, saith Cyprian. Nestorii lingua vermibus exesa. Archbishop Arundel was so smitten in his tongue, that he could neither swallow nor speak, for divers days before his death. Atque id multi tum fieri putabant, quod verbum Dei alligasset, ne suo tempore praedicaretur, saith the Historian. The like is reported of Steven Gardener, Fertur Heraclius Imp. inguine sursùm converso faciem suam perminxisse, nisi urina (tabellâ imo ventri appositâ) averteretur. Idei accidisse creditum, ob incestum cum fratris filia coitum.
CHAP. XXI. Verse 1. And the Lord visited Sarah ]
GOd pays not his people with words only, as Sertorius did his Soldiers. He fools them not off with fair promises, as Ptolemy (surnamed therefore 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ) did his favorites. But is real, yea, royal in his promises and perfomances. Of many promisers it may be said, as Tertullian of the Peacock, All in changeable colors; as oft changed as moved. Italians all; as Aeneas Sylvius said of Italy, Novitate quadam, nihil habet stabile. Not so their Ancestors, the Romans. They had a great care always to perform their word. Insomuch, that the first Temple built in Rome, was dedicated to the godess Fidelity. Great men's words, saith One, are like dead men's shoes: he may go barefoot that waits for them. Not so good men, they will stand to their oath, though it tend to their loss, Psal. 15.4. They are children that will not lie, Isai. 63.8. Their Father is a God, that cannot lie. He is the God of Amen, as Isaiah calleth him; and all his promises, are Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus, the faithful and true witness, 2 Cor. 1.20. Revel. 3.14. Judah would not break promise with the Harlot, lest he should be shamed, Gen. 38.23. One of the laws of the Knights of the band in Spain was, That if any of them broke his promise, he went alone by himself, and nobody spake to him, nor he to any. When God serves any so, let him be so served. But the promises are ancient, Tit. 1.2. And not any tittle of them, as yet, ever fell to the ground. Wherefore, gird up the loins of your minds, and trust perfectly on the Grace that is brought unto you, 1 Peter 1.13. Faithful is he that hath promised, who also will do it. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5. verse. 24.
Vers. 2. For Sarah conceived ] By the force of her Faith, though at first she faltered, Heb. 11.11. [And bare Abraham a son, in his old age] Beatae senectutis & emeritae fidei filium, as One well calleth Isaac. St. Paul for this saith, he was born after the Spirit, Gal. 4.29.
Vers. 3. And Abraham called the name, &c. ] A ridiculous name, but such as God had imposed. All God's ways are foolishness to the World, Christ and all. But (as old men use to say to young) They think us fools; we know them to be so. It will not be long ere they shall wail and howl out; Nos insensati, we fools held their life madness, &c. Say therefore with David, If this be to be vile, we'l be more vile. God hath a barren womb for mocking Michal. He is a fool, we say, that would be laughed out of his coat; but he is a double fool that would be laughed out of his skin, that would hazard his soul, because loath to be laughed at. Caligula socerum Scyllanum, molestum ei propter virtutem & affinitatem, ad mortem sibi consciscendam ludibriis adegit. More fool him.
Vers. 4. And Abraham circumcised his Son ] At Circumcision (so as now at Baptism) names were given. Let them be such as are significant, and may immind us of some good, either person or thing; all will be found little enough, Optima nomina, non appellando, mala fieri, Alphius foenerator dixisse verissime fertur. We read of a good woman, that had named her three daughters, Faith, Hope, and Charity. And when she was to be condemned by Bonner; My Lord, said she, If you burn me, I hope you will keep Faith, Hope, and Charity; no by my troth, will I not, quoth the Bishop; keep them who will, I will take no charge of them. We read also of another, that courting an harlot, asked her name: she answered, Mary; whereupon, remembering Mary Magdalene that penitent harlot, he repented him of his evil purpose; and advising the curtisan, to repent by her example, departed, and lived honestly. We cannot have too many monitors to mind us of our duty.
Vers. 5. And Abraham was an hundred years old ] After twenty years praying, and waiting the fulfilling of the promise; besides, thirteen of those years silence, for ought we read, after the promise of a child. This was a sore trial; but God knew him to be armor of proof, and therefore tried him thus with Musket-shot. Well might the Apostle say, Ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God (and suffered it too) ye might receive the promise. The spoiling of their goods required patience: but this waiting much more. Good men find it casier to bear evil, then to wait till the promised good be enjoyed. This waiting is nothing, but hope and trust lengthened. Which they that cannot do, like children, they pull Apples afore they are ripe, and have Worms bred of them; as those hasty Ephraimites, that set upon the Philistines, and were slain in Gath. They had indeed a promise of the Land, but the time was not yet come: They were weary of the Egyptian bondage, and would have thus got out; but they were too hasty. Fugientes erg • fumum, incidebant in ignem, 1 Chronicles 7.21, 2 • . Psalm 78. v. 9.
Vers. 6. God hath made me to laugh ] A wise son maketh a glad father. Monstri autem simile est, quando pro risu sunt fletus, sunt flagellum. And yet this is many a good man's case. How many parents are put to wish Moses his wish, Num. 11.11. Lord, If I have found favor in thy sight, kill me, that I behold not my misery. Had he lived to have seen, what ways his grand-child Jonathan took, what a grief would it have been unto him! Judge. 18.30. Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, &c. In the best Hebrew Copies, Nun is suspended in that name: whereupon the Hebrews descant, that this Gershom was the son of Moses; but because he and his posterity walked not in the ways of Moses, but rather of Manasseh, 2 King. 21. and did his works; therefore the Penman of this Book, would not so far disgrace Moses, as to make him his son, as indeed he was, Exod. 2.1 Chron. 23.14. but rather of Manasseh, whom he imitated and resembled. How much better and happier had it been for them both, if they had expressed their fathers manners, as Constantine's sons did: of whom it is said, That they had put on whole Constantine, and in all good things did exactly resemble him.
Vers. 7. That Sarah should have given children suck ] So she had a double blessing, of the belly, and of the breasts. Milk she had at those years, and great store of it too: whence she is said to give children suck, not a child only. She could have nursed another for a need, besides her own. Note, that though she were a great Lady, yet, she was a nurse. Let it not be niceness, but necessity that hinders any mother from so doing; lest she be found more monstrous then the sea-monsters, that draw out their breast, and give suck to their young, Lam. 4.3. If the child must be set out, let a fit nurse be looked after. Quidam scrofae lacte nutritus cum esset, in coeno sese identidem volutabar.
Vers. 8. And Abraham made a great feast ] A laudable custom, saith Cajetan, That the beginning of the eating of the first-born, should be celebrated with a feast. St. Augustine observeth here, That this solemnity at the weaning of Isaac, was a type of our spiritual regeneration: at, and after which, the faithful keep a continual feast. Let us keep the festivity, or holy-day, saith Paul, that feast of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined, Isai. 25.6. proceeding from milk to stronger meat, Heb. 5.12. and being to the world, as a weaned child. His mouth doth not water after homely provisions, that hath lately tasted of delicate sustenance.
Vers. 9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar mocking ] At that mystical name Isaac, as a gaud, or laughing-stock. At the feast also, made upon such a frivolous occasion. As who should say, What care I, though this ado be made now about Isaac's weaning? I am the first-born, and beloved of my Father, who will not deny me the inheritance. This Sarah had soon spied, or over-heard, Liberorum curiosi sunt parents. The mother especially observeth the wrong done to the child. And besides, Dislike soon spies a fault. A fault it was no doubt, and a great one too. Otherwise, the Apostle would not have called it persecution: nor God have punished it with ejection. Machiavel, that scoffing Atheist, rotted in the prison at Florence. Jearing Julian had his payment from Heaven. Sir Thomas Moor (qui scoptice & scabiose de Luthero & Religion Reformata loquebatur) lost his head. Another lost his wits for mocking at James Abbes Martyr, as a mad man; for that, having no money, he gave his apparel to the poor; some to one, some to another, as he went to the stake. What's truth? said Pilate to our Savior, in a scornful profane manner. Not long after which, he became his own deaths-man. Appian scoffed at Circumcision, and had an Ulcer at the same time, and in the same place. Surely, God is the avenger of all such: he calls it blasphemy in the second Table, and shows his wrath from Heaven against it, as that which proceeds from the very superfluity of malice (as here in Ishmael ) and tends to murder. The Hebrew word here used, signifies, that he not only mocked Isaac, but also made others to mock him.
Vers. 10. Cast out this bondwoman ] Who had been (likely) either an Author or Abbettor of her sons sin, in ambitiously seeking the inheritance. Out they must therefore together: as all Hypocrites one day must be cast out of God's Kingdom. Heaven is an undefiled inheritance: no dirty dog ever trampled on that Golden pavement. There is no passing e coeno in coelum. Heaven would be no Heaven to the unregenerate. Beetles love dunghills better then ointments; and Swine love mud, better then a garden. Paris ut vivat, regnetque beatus Cogi posse negat. —
Vers. 11. And the thing was very grievous, &c.] See; there's grief sometimes betwixt the best couples, as abovesaid, Chap. 16.5. But why was it so grievous to cast out Ishmael, when in the next Chapter, it seems no such grief to him, to slay Isaac? Surely for that, here, he hears only his wives voice: there he well understood it to be the will of God. Veniat, veniat verbum Domini, & submittem •• illi, sexcenta si nobis essent colla, said that Reverend Dutchman. When Abraham came to know is was God's will, as well as Sarah's, he soon yielded.
Vers. 12. In all that Sarah hath said unto thee, &c.] The wife then is to be hearkened to, when she speaks reason. Samson's mother had more faith then her husband: And Priscilla is sometimes set before Aquila. Paul's hearers at Philippi, were only women at first, Acts 16.13. And Saint Peter tells Christian wives, that they may win their husbands to Christ, by their chaste conversation coupled with fear. The Scripture is said to say, what Sarah here saith, Gal. 4.30.
Vers. 13. Because he is thy seed ] So bountiful a master is God, so liberal a Lord; that he blesseth his servants in their seed too. We count it a great favor, if an earthly lord give an old servant a country cottage, with some small annuity for life; but God's love extends beyond life: as David's love to Jonathan preserves Mephib • sheth from the Gallows, yea, promoteth him to a princely allowance, and respect at court. Your children shall find and feel it, double and treble, (said that Martyr) whatsoever you do or suffer for the Lord's sake.
V. 14. And Abraham rose up early ] He was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but set upon the execution of God's will with expedition. Voluntas Dei, necessitas rei. A godly man says Amen to God's Amen, go it never so much against the hair with him: He puts his Fiat, his Placet to God's; and saith, as Acts 21.14. The will of the Lord be done, which was Vox vere Christianorum, as One saith.
Vers. 15. And the water was spent in the bottle ] All creaturecomforts will fade and fail us; as the brook Cherith dried up whiles the Prophet was drinking of it; as those pools about Jerusalem, that might be dried up, with the tramplings of horse and horsemen, 2 King. 19.24. But they that drink of Christ's water, shall never thirst: For it shall be in them (as the widows oil, or Aaron's ointment) a well springing up to eternal life, Joh. 4.14. [She cast the child, &c.] Whom till then, she had led in her hand, faint, and ready to die for thirst; who erst lived at the full in his fathers house, but could not be contented. God loves to let us see the worth of his favors by the want of them: To chasten men's insolency with indigency, as he did the prodigal in the Gospel.
Vers. 16. Let me not see the death of the child ] This, saith an Interpreter, was but poor love. Give me a friend that will not leave in the instant of death, Gen. 46.4. [She lift up her voice and wept] As Hinds by calving, so we by weeping cast out our sorrows, Job 39.3.
Expletur lathrymis, egeriturque dolor.
Vers. 17. And God heard the voice of the lad ] Weeping hath a voice, Psal. 6.8. And as Music upon the Waters sounds farther and more harmoniously then upon the Land, so Prayers join'd with Tears. These, if they proceed from Faith, are showers quenching the devils cannon-shot; a second Baptism of the soul, wherein it is rinsed anew, nay, perfectly cured: As the tears of Vines cure the Leprosy, as the lame were healed in the troubled waters. Whether Hagar's and Ishmael's tears were for sin, or for the present pressure only, I have not to say. But God is so pitiful, that he hears and helps our affliction, as he had done Hagar's once afore, Gen. 16.11. And as our Savior raised the young man of Nains, though none sought to him, merely because he was the only son of his mother, a widow, the stay of her life, and staff of her old age. See a sweet place, 2 King. 14.26, 27.
Vers. 18. For I will make him a great nation ] A Nation by himself, as he had promised to Abraham. This had not come to pass, had not she missed of her way to Egypt, and wandered in this wilderness. God, by his providence, ordereth our disorders to his own glory. Divinum consilium dum devitatur, impletur: Humana sapien • ia dum reluctatur, comprehenditur.
Vers. 19. God opened her eyes▪ &c.] The well was there before; but she saw it not till her eye, were opened. So till God irradiate both the Organ and the Object, we neither see nor suck those breasts of consolation, Isai. 66.11. We turn the back, and not the palm of the hand, to the staff of the promises.
Vers. 20 And God was with the lad, &c.] The fountain of Hagar (saith a Divine) lying between Bared and Kadesh-barnea, was afterward called the well of the living God; and seemeth my •• ically to represent Baptism, the laver of regeneration. For the Church like Hagar, with her son Ishmael, travelling through the wilderness of this world, is pressed with a multitude of sins and miseries, &c. Wherefore they joining together in Prayer, crave to be refreshed with the water of life. For Hagar signifieth a Pilgrim. Ishmael, a man whom the Lord heareth; who travelling together with her Mother the Church in this World, fighteth against the enemies thereof, and shooteth the Arrows of Faith against all infernal and cruel beasts and lusts. Thus he.
Vers. 21. And his mother took him a wife ] Adeo est juris non gentium, sed ipsius naturae, ut parents matrimonia liberis procurent. Children are a chief part of their parents goods; therefore to be disposed of by them in marriage. When Satan had commission to afflict Job in his goods, he fell upon his children: Yet in the Church of Rome, Parents consent is not much regarded.
Vers. 22. God is with thee in all that thou doest] Natural conscience cannot choose but stoop to the Image of God stamped upon the Natures and Works of the godly. When they see in them that which is above ordinary, they are afraid of the name of God called upon by them. Their hearts even ache and quake within them.
Vers. 23. Swear unto me here by God, &c.] This visit, we see, was more of fear then of love (there can be no hearty love indeed, but between true Christians.) Kings then have their cares, Crowns their crosses: Thistles in their arms, and Thorns in their sides. This made one cry out of his Diadem, O vilis pannus, &c And Canutus set his Crown upon the Crucifix. Frederick, the Elector of Saxony, is said to have been born with the sign of a Cross upon his back: and the next night after that, Rodulphus Rufus was crowned Emperor of Germany, An. Dom. 1273. over the Temple, where the Crown was set upon his head, a golden Cross was seen to shine, like a Star, to the admiration of all that beheld it. These were the same Emperors Verses concerning his Crown Imperia • ,
Vers. 24. I will swear ] Abraham quickly consents to so reasonable a request, from so honorable a person. The wisdom from above is easy to be entreated. The churl Nabal holds it a goodly thing, to hold off. It is but manners to reciprocate: very Publicans can find in their hearts, to do good to those that have been good to them.
Vers. 25. And Abraham reproved Abimelech ] Inferiors may reprove their superiors, so they do it wisely and modestly.
Vers. 26. I wot not who hath done this thing] A fault it might be in Abraham, not to complain to the King. For many a good Prince, is even bought and sold by his Officers and Counselors, as it was said of Aurelian the Emperor; who might know nothing but as they informed him. As of another German Prince it was said, Esset alius, si esset apud alios.
V. 27. Abraham took sheep and oxen ] In token of true and hearty reconciliation. Reconciliatio • es, saith Menander, sunt lupina amicitiae Let it be so among heathens. But we have not so learned Christ.
Vers. 31. They sware both of them ] Or, they were sworn. The Hebrew is passive: To show, that an oath is not rashly to be undertaken, but by a kind of necessity imposed. It comes of a root that signifies to satisfy; because he, to whom we swear, must therewith be contented. An oath is an end of strife, saith the Apostle: The Greeks call it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 quasi 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a hedge, which a man may not break.
Vers. 32. A Covenant ] Foed • s 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .
Vers. 33. Abraham planted a grove ] That he might have a private place, for prayer and meditation. And thus he improved and employed that late place, he had made with Abimele • h. Oh that God would once more try us, and trust us with the blessing of peace! How should we now prize it, and praise him for it. Bona à tergo formosissima.
Vers. 34. Many days ] Twenty five years at least: for so old was Isaac when he went to be sacrificed. Some Halcyons God vouchsafes to his afflicted, and tossed with tempest: Some rest and repose to his poor Pilgrims. Laus Deo.
CHAP. XXII. Vers. 1. God did tempt Abraham ]
TEmptation is twofold; 1. Probationis. 2. Perditionis. The former is of God, the latter of the devil. God is said to tempt, when he puts us upon the trial of our faith and obedience, that he may do us good in the latter end, Deut. 8.26. Satan ever seeks to do us hurt. He, when he comes to tempt, comes with his sieve as to Peter. Christ with his fan, Matth. 3.12. Now a Fan casteth out the worst, and keepeth in the best; a Sieve keepeth in the worst, and casteth out the best. Right so Christ (and histrials) purgeth out corruption, and increaseth grace: contrarily the Devil, if there be any ill thing in us, confirmeth it; if faith, or any good thing in us, he weakeneth it. Now the temptations of Satan are either, 1. Of seducement, Jam. 1.15. • r 2. of buffeting and grievance, 2 Cor. 12.7. In seducement we are pressed with some lesser or darling corruption, whereto our appetites by nature are most propense. And here Satan hath his machinations, 2 Cor. 2.11. methods, Eph. 6.11. depths, Rev. 2.24. darts, Eph. 6.16. fiery darts pointed and poisoned with the venom of Serpents, which set the heart on fire from one lust to another. In buffetings we are dog'd with foulest lusts of Atheism, self-murder, &c. such as Nature startleth at, and abhorreth; and these, if we resist, and be merely passive, are only our crosses, Satan's sins. For before a temptation can be a sin, it must have somewhat of coveting in it. And trials are only taps to give vent to corruption.
Vers. 2. Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, &c. ] This was the last of Abraham's ten trials, and the forest. All our troubles to this, are but as the slivers and chips of that cross, upon which this good Patriarch was crucified. Origen hence persuades parents to bear patiently the loss of their children. Laetus offer filium Deo, esto sacerdos animae filii tui, &c. Abraham was not only to kill his only son (which yet was more then to have tome out his own heart, with his own hands) but to cut him in pieces, to lay him orderly on the Altar, after the manner of a sacrifice, and to burn him to ashes; himself making and tending the fire, and putting him in, piece after piece, when any was out. A hard and heavy task; especially, since it directly crossed the promise, that in Isaac all nations of the earth should be blessed; and seemed to involve the utter ruin of all mankind. Here Reason was at a stand: It was faith only that could extricate the perplexed Patriarch, by giving him to know that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, Heb. 11.19. Hoc, Abrahamum fecit, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . This was it that kept him from tripping. [Get thee into the Land of Moriah] Both Abraham's great temptations began with one strain vade tibi, Get thee gone, Gen. 12.1. Gen. 22.2 Here God led Abraham into temptation, but delivered him from evil. Have you not been tempted (saith a Holy man) in this or that kind? It is because God in mercy would not lead you into temptation. Yea this is in some sort more to be acknowledged then victory, when you are tempted. For not to be tempted is more immediately from God, and less in man's power then to prevail against temptation: Since nothing doth overcome us against our will: but without our will God doth lead us into trial: for he knoweth we would taste little of these if we might be our own carvers.
Vers. 3. And Abraham rose up early, &c.] To show his prompt and present obedience. He neither consulted with his wife, nor with his own reason. She might have haply hung upon him and hindered him, as Zipporah did Moses to the hazarding of his life. He captivates all the powers of the soul to his Creator, goes after him without sciscitation, and so shows himself to be renewed in the spirit of his mind; that is, in his natural reason: for that like an old Beldam, is the mother and nurse of all our distempers and outstrayes. Cassianus tells us of a young man that had given himself up to a Christian life: And his parents, misliking that way, wrote letters to dissuade him from it; which when he knew, he would not once open them, but threw them in the fire. Let us do so, by the suggestions of flesh and blood, and the counsel of carnal friends, or we shall never rest and feast in Abraham's bosom. I know not by what reason (said Borthwick the Scotch Martyr) they so called them my friends, which so greatly labored to convert me (as they called it:) neither will I more esteem them, then the Midianites, which in time past called the children of Israel to do sacrifice to their Idols.
Vers. 4. Then on the third day ] A great while for him to be plodding, ere he came to the place. But we must conceive that his brains were better busied, then many of ours would have been therewhile. We must not weigh the cross, for then it will proveheavy: we must not chew the pill, but swallow it whole, else it will prove bitter. We must not plod too much, but ply the Throne of Grace for a good use and a good issue of all our trials and tribulations.
Vers. 5. Abide you here with the Ass ] This the Hebrews use for a proverb, against such as are dull and uncapable. Zophar saith, That man is born as a wild-asses-colt. As an Asses foal for rudeness, and a wild-asses for unruliness. It imports that he is untamed and intractable, till a new heart be put into him. Agur had not the understanding of a man, till he spake to Ithiel and Ucall for it, Prov. 30.1, 2. He wants the totum hominis, that doth not fear God and keep his Commandments. Eccles. 12.13. Tu & Asinus unum estote, will not do it, which was the counsel given to a young Novice, entering a Monastery. [And come again to you] Nesciens formam rei futurae, prophetavit sciens de eventu, prophetavit quod ignoravit, saith Amb.
Vers. 6. And laid it upon Isaac his son ] Who was herein a lively type of Christ, bearing the cross, whereon he was offered up. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , saith Plutarch, speaking of the Roman fashion of crucifying malefactors. And surely it was by a wonderful providence of God, that the Jews brought our Savior to Pilate to be put to death; since they hated nothing more then to confirm or countenance the Roman tyranny among them, by any means. Hence Gamaliel gave counsel to dismiss the Apostles, Act. 5.38. And hence the chief Priests and Rulers took it so exceeding heinously, that Paul was taken out of their hands, by the chief Captain, Act. 23. But God had a hand in it, that this and other types and Scriptures might be fulfilled, that foretold the very manner of his death on a tree. Let the Jews stumble now at the cross, and fall backward. Let the Gentiles jear us, as Luci • n doth, for that we deny the multitude of their gods, and yet believe in a crucified God. Let us desire to know nothing but Christ, and him crucified; and if ever we desire to be Kings in heaven (and every man must be aut Caesar, aut nullus, a King, or a caytiffe.) Let us seek by the eye of faith to see the Sun of righteousness in the West (as Stratoes servant taught him:) Let us look upon Christ hanging on the cross, dying on that Altar, and we shall live forever.
Vers. 7. Where is the Lamb, for a burnt offering ] Isaac was not to be told now, what belonged to a sacrifice. He had been long since taught by his father, what was to be done in the service of God. When I was young, my father taught me, saith Solomon, Prov. 4.4. so did his mother also, Prov. 31. in her Lemuels lesson. Plantas tenellas frequentius adaquare proderit, saith Primasius.
Vers. 8. God will provide himself a Lamb ] A pious and precious Proverb; much to be mused on, and made use of, when we are in an exigent, and see not whither to turn us. Then say, Deus viderit▪ God will with the temptation also give an issue, 1 Cor. 10.13. Necesse est adesse divinum, ubi humanum cessat auxilium, saith Philo. Sciat etiam Celsitudo vestra (saith Luther in a letter to the Prince Elector of Saxony; ) I would your Highness should well know, that businesses are far otherwise carried, and concluded in heaven then at the Diet at Norinberg, &c. And to Phillip Melancthon he writes thus: Si nos ruemus, ruet Christus unà, ill regnator mundi: & esto ruat, &c. Sed scribo haec frustrà, quia tu, secundùm philosophiam vestram, has res ration regere▪ hoc est, ut ait ill, cum ration insanire pergis, & occidis teipsum; nec vides prorsus extra manum tuam & consilium positam esse causam, etiam extra curam tuam velle agi.
Vers. 9. And they came to the place ] Mount Moriah where the Temple was afterwards built. This was a little from Salem, as Mount Calvary also, was a little from Jerusalem. [And bound Isaac his son] Who struggled not, neither resisted, though able for his age (being twenty five year old, as Josephus makes him; others thirty three) to have overmastered his old father. He was acquainted with God's counsel, saith Luther, wherein he rested. Yet he was bound, 1. For that the rite of sacrifices so required. ( • ee 2 King. 10.12.) 2. Lest any involuntary motion by pangs of death, should be procured. Whence divers of the Martyrs, as Ridley, Rawlins, &c. desired to be bound fast to the stake, lest the flesh should play its part. R ••• ins )▪ when the Smith cast a chain about him at the stake, I pray you, good friend, said he, Knock in the chain fast; for it may be, that the flesh would strive mightily. But God of thy great mercy give me strength and patience, to abide the extremity. N • ture at death will have a bout with the best, whether he die as Eli’s • a, slowly, or as Elijah, suddenly.
Vers. 10. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, &c.] What Painter in the world can possibly express the affection of Abraham, when thus he bound his son, and bent his sword? Surely that Painter that set forth the sacrificing of Iphigenia, would here also have drawn Abraham, as he did Agamemnon, with his face veiled; as not able to delineate his inconceivable grief. But a man in Christ is more then a man, and can do that that other men, cannot reach unto. It was a matter of blame to the carnal Corinthians, that they walked as men: And our Savior looks for some singular thing to be done by those that pretend to him, Matth. 6.47. Abraham had denied himself in his beloved Isaac, and therefore went an end with his work, hard though it were. Another that hath not done so, shall find a heavy business of it, an unsupportable burden. Sozomen tells of a certain Merchant, whose two sons being taken captives, and adjudged to die, he offered himself to die for them; and withal promised to give the Soldiers all the gold he had. They pitying the poor man's calamity, admitted of his request for one of his sons (which he would) but let them both scape they could not, because such a number must be put to death. The miserable man therefore, looking at and lamenting both his sons, could not find in his heart to make choice of either (as overcome with an equal love to them both) but stood doubting and deliberating, till they were both slain. At the siege of Buda in Hungary there was among the German Captains a Noble-man, called Erkius Raschachius, whose son a valiant young Gentleman being got out of the Army without his fathers knowledge, bore himself so gallantly in fight against the enemy, in the sight of his father and the Army, that he was highly commended of all men, and especially of his father that knew him not at all. Yet before he could clear himself, he was compassed in with the Enemy, and valiantly fighting, slain. Raschachius exceedingly moved with the death of so brave a man, ignorant how near he touched himself, turning about to the other Captains, said, This noble Gentleman, whatsoever he be, is worthy of eternal commendation, and to be most honourably buried by the whole Army. As the rest of the Captains were with like compassion approving his speech, the dead body of the unfortunate son rescued, was presented to the most miserable father; which caused all them that were there present, to shed tears. But such a sudden and inward grief surprised the aged father, and struck so to his heart, that after he had stood a while speechless, with his eyes set in his head, he suddenly fell down dead, Anno Dom. 1541. [And took the knife to slay his son] The Apostle saith▪ He did offer him up a slain sacrifice. God took it in as good part as if indeed he had done it, because he would have done it. Every man is so good before God, are he truly desires to be. In vitae libro scribuntur omnes, qui quod possunt faciunt, etsi quod debent, non possunt, saith one Father. And another, Tota vita boni Christiani sanctum desiderium est. Ambulas, siamas. Non enim passibus and Deum sed affectibus currimus. Tantùm velis, & Deus tibi praeoccurret, saith a Third.
Vers. 11. And said, Abraham, Abraham ] Twice for hastesake: yet not at all, till the very instant. When the knife was up, the Lord came. God delights to bring his people to the Mount, yea to the very brow of the hill, till their feet slip, and then delivers them. He reserves his holy hand for a dead lift. Only be sure you look to your calling; for it was otherwise with Jepthta, Judge. 11. whom St. Augustine calls facinorosum & improbum, a lewd and naughty man, in his questions upon the Old Testament. What then would he have said to Thomas the Anabaptist, who beheaded his brother Leonard, in the sight of his parents, at Sangall in France, Anno 1526. pretending the example of Abraham? As did likewise those odious Idolaters of old, that offered their children in sacrifice to Moloch, in the valley of Hinnom; which was so called because the poor child put into the arms of the red-hot image, was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 nohem that is roaring; or because the Priests comforting the parents said, Jeheun • h Lach. It shall be profitable or pleasant to thee, as Kimchi hath it. So because Abraham planted a grove to serve God in, Gen. 21.33. the Devil, God's Ape, set the blind Heathens a work to plant a thicket near the altar of their god ' Priapus, whereinto his worshippers stepped, when the sacrifice was ended, and there, like brute beasts promiscuously satisfied their lusts, thereby, as they conceived, best pleasing their God; which was the true cause, as it seems, that the true God commanded, that no Groves should be planted near the place of his worship; and if any were, they should be cut down.
Vers. 12. Lay not thine hand upon the Lad ] As he was about to do, having armed his pious hand, not only with the knife, but with faith that works by love; as had likewise David, when going against the Giant, he slyes upon him, perinde ac si fundae suae tunicis non lapillum, sed Deum ipsum induisset a • implicuisset. [Now I know that thou fearest me] With a fear of love, Hos. 3.5. And here that of Fulgentius is true, and taketh place. Deum siquis parùm metuit, valde contemnit; hujus qui non memorat beneficentiam, auget injuriam. God knew Abraham's fear before, but now he made experience of it. Nunc expertus sum, saith Junius. Nune omnibus declarasti, saith Chrysost.
Vers. 13. Behold behind him a Ram ] Belike the Angel called behind him; which when he turned to listen▪ to, he spied the Ram caught in a thicket, Heb. Sab • ech; which signifies the perplexity, winding or binding of a bush or briar. And to this both David seems to allude, Psal. 94.19. and the son of David in that famous Lammah Sabachtani of his, Mark. 15.24. [And Abraham went and took the Ram, &c.] How likely is it, saith One, that we will offer to God Isaac our joy, which will not sacrifice the Ram; that is, mortify our sinful lusts, and the desires of our flesh? God tempteth us now (saith Mr. Philpot Martyr) as he did our Father Abraham, commanding him to slay his son Isaac, which by interpretation signifieth mirth and joy; who by his obedience preserved Isaac unto life, and offered a Ram in his stead. Semblably, we are to sacrifice to God, our Isaac; that is, our joy and consolation; which if we be ready to do, our joy shall not perish, but live and be increased: although our Ram be sacrificed; that is, the pride and concupiscence of our flesh entangled, through sin, with the cares of this stinging world, for the preservation and perfect augmentation of our mirth and joy, sealed up for us in Christ. Thus he. And as God provided another sacrifice (saith a Third) for Abraham, that so he might save his Son, which was a Ram tied and entangled in thorns: so God provided a sacrifice for the salvation of the world, Christ that immaculate Lamb; whose head being crowned with thorns, and hanging on the Cross, by his death opened unto us the door of life, and made us capable of eternal happiness. It is probable, saith Bucholcerus, that Abraham, when he slew and sacrificed the Ram, looked up to heaven with new eyes full of divine light; and that being filled with the Spirit of God, and carried beyond himself, he thought of more things, he felt more, he seemed to see and hear more then was possible to be uttered. Ipse Deus quodammodo expositurus, & declaraturus Abrahae actionis praesentis augustam significationem, & manu eum ducturus ad introspicienda hujus sacrificii sui adyta, promissionem de Christo repetit, & jurejurando confirmat.
Vers. 14. In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen ] God will be found of his in fit time and place. To him belong the issues of death, Psal. 68.20. None can take us out of his hands. He knows how to deliver his, and when, as Peter spake feelingly, 2 Pet. 2.9. with Act. 12.11. [And Abraham called the name of that place, Jehovah Jireh] To perpetuate the memory of God's mercy, not of his own obedience, which yet was notable, and not to be matched again. If we honor God, we shall have honor; that's a bargain of God's own making, 1 Sam. 2.31.
Vers. 16. By myself have I sworn ] God swears for the further confirmation of our faith. For here he swore, not more for Abraham's sake, then ours, as the Apostle shows, Heb. 6.13, 14, 17, 18. As when he spake with Jacob at Penuel, there he spake with us, Hos. 12.4. and what he said to Joshua, he said to all, I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee, Heb. 13.5. [And hast not withheld thy son, thine only son] And yet what was this to that sic without a sicut, that hyperbole, that excess of love in God, that moved him to send his Son to die for our sins? He loved Christ far better then Abraham could love Isaac; and yet he gave him up freely, which Abraham would never have done without a command: and to die as a malefactor, and by the hands of barbarous and bloody enemies; whereas Isaac was to die as a holy sacrifice, and by the hand of a tender father. How much more cause have we to say, Now I know the Lord loves me; and to swear as David did, to keep his righteous judgments?
Vers. 18. Because thou hast obeyed ] This (because) is not so much causal, as rational. Significat non causam meritoriam, sed subalternam, & sine qua non.
Vers. 19. Went together to Beersheba ] The Hebrews conceive, because here's no mention of Isaac's return, that he was sent by his father to Shem, or that he remained for certain years in Mount Moriah. But this is uncertain.
Vers. 20. It was told Abraham ] Good news out of a far Country; God usually cheers up his children after sharpest trials; brings them, as once from M • rah to Elim, &c.
Vers. 23. And Bethuel begat Rebekah ] Rebekah is born, Sarah dies: Thus one generation passeth, and another cometh. Our children are the Danes that drive us out of the Country.
CHAP. XXIII. Vers. 1. And Sarah was an hundred, &c.]
IT is observed by Divines, that God thought not fit to tell us of the length of the life of any woman in Script •• e, but Sarah, to humble that sex, that because they were first in bringing in death, deserved not to have the continuance of their lives recorded by God's Pen.
Vers. 2. And Sarah died ] The Jews would persuade us that the Devil represented to her the offering of Isaac, whereat she took a conceit and died. This is but a mere conceit of theirs; for Abraham then dwelt at B • orsheb • , now at Hebron. [And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah,] So she was the first, that we read of, mourned for at death; and it is mentioned as an honor to her. Solons Mors m • a ne carea • luchrymis, is to be preferred before, Ennius his Nemo me decoret lachrymis. It is one of the dues of the dead, to be lamented at their funerals; and the want of it is threatened as a curse in many Scriptures. It is a practice warranted by the best in all ages; and mourn we may in death of friends, so we mourn 1. In truth, and not feinedly. 2. In measure, and not as men without hope. For the first, how grossly did Tiberius dissemble at the death of Augustus, and at the funeral of Drusus? Whereupon Tacitus makes this note, Vana & irris • vero & honesto fidem adimunt. So when Julius Caesar wept over Pompey's head presented to him in Egypt, they that saw it, laughed in their sleeves, and held them no better then Crocodiles tears. So the mourning that Nero and his mother made over the Emperor Claudius, whose death they had conspired and effected, was deep dissimulation. This is no less hateful, then to mourn heartily, but yet immoderately, is unlawful. Here Jacob forgot himself, when so overgrown with grief for his Joseph, and Rachel for the rest of their children, that they would not be comforted. So David for his Absalom: Alexander the Great for his friend Hephesti • n; when he not only clipped his horse and mules hair, but plucked down also the battlements of the walls of the City, &c. The Soldiers of Pelopidas were no less excessive, when for grief of his death they would neither unbridle their horses, nor untie their armor, nor dress their wounds. Something here may be yielded to nature, nothing to impatiency. Immoderate sorrow for losses past hope of recovery, is more sullen then useful: Our stomach may be bewrayed by it, not our wisdom. The Egyptians mourned seventy days for Jacob: Joseph (who had more cause, but withal more grace) mourned but twenty days. God flatly forbad his people those heathenish customs, of shaving their heads, and cutting their flesh, Lev. 21. intoken of mourning for the dead. We read in the Gospel of minstrels and people making a noise at the terming-house, as they call it, Matth. 9.23. And the Jews that were comforting Mary, when they saw her rise up hastily, and go forth, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there, Joh. 11.31. Such customs, it seems, they had in those days amongst them, to provoke themselves to weeping and lamentation; which was (saith One) as if they that have the dropsy, should eat salt meats. How much better Father Abraham here, who came indeed from his own tent to Sarah's, to mourn for her (as good reason he had) but exceeded not, as the Jews think is signified by that one letter less then ordinary in the Hebrew word for weep (Libcothah) used here in the text. Baal-turim gives but a bald reason of it, parùm flevit; erat enim vetula. Abraham wept not much for her, she being but an old-wife, and past her best. Buxtorfe gives a better, p • tiùs quià luctus ejus fuit moderatus. And therefore also in the next verse it is said, that he stood up from before his dead (where in likelihood he had sitten a while on the earth, as was the manner of mourners to do, Job 2.12, 13. Esa. 47.1.) to take order for her burial, as having good hopes of a glorious resurrection. Excellent for our purpose is that of St. Jerome, Lugeatur mortuus, sed ill quem Gehenna suscipit, quem Tartarus devorat, in cujus poenam aeternus ignis aestuat. Nos, quorum exitum Angelorum turba comitatur, quibus obviam Christus occurret, &c. gravemur magis, si diutiùs in tabernacul • ist • habitemus. Mourn for none, but such as are dead in their sins, killed with death, as those, Rev. 2.23.
Vers. 3. And Abraham stood up from before his dead ] So she is called eight several times in this Chapter; to note that death makes not any such divorce between godly couples and friends, but that there remains still a blessed conjunction betwixt them, which is founded in the hope of a happy resurrection. Jobs children were still his, even after they were dead and buried. How else could it be said, that God gave Job twice as much of everything as he had before, since he had afterwards but his first number of children, viz. Seven Sons, and three daughters?
Vers. 4. That I may bury my dead out of my sight ] She that had been the desire of his eyes, Ezek. 24.16. the sweet companion of his life, is by death so defaced, that he loathed to look on her. This we are to think on in our mourning for the dead; to bewail the common curse of mankind, the defacing of God's image by death through sin, &c. And yet to comfort ourselves in this, that these vile bodies of ours, shall once be conformed to Christ's glorious body (the standard) in incorruption, agility, beauty, brightness, and other most blessed and inconceivable parts and properties.
Vers. 6. Thou art a Prince of God amongst us ] That is, excellent or prosperous, as Gen. 21.22. and it was their ingenuity and candor to acknowledge it. God's people are Princes in all lands, Psal. 45. Kings they are in righteousness and peace: but somewhat obscure ones, as was Melchizedek, and therefore little set by, 1 Joh. 3.1, 2. Unkent, unkist, as the Northern Proverb is. So was Christ the heir of all. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; that's enough for us. In the mean space, the righteous is more excellent then his neighbor (let him dwell by whomsoever) and shall be more prosperous, if it may be for his good.
Vers. 7. Abraham stood up and bowed himself, &c.] It is very comely in Christians to salute willingly; and in words and gestures to show civil respect even to wicked men. Abraham's behavior to these Hittites may shame the most Christians; yea the very Hittites themselves, may teach them good manners. Even the savage Cannibals (saith a grave Divine) may receive an answer of outward courtesy. If a very dog fawn upon us, we stroke him on the head, and clap him on the side. Much less is the common band of humanity untied by grace. If Elisha bad his man, or our Savior his Disciples, salute no man by the way, that was for haste sake; they should not hinder themselves in their journey by overmuch courtesy. Our Savior was sweet and sociable in his whole conversation, and the proud Pharisees upbraided him with it. He never refused to go to any man's table when invited, yea to Zacchaeus he invited himself: Not for the pleasure of the dishes, but for the benefit of so winning a conversation. Courtesie allureth men's minds, as fair flowers do their eyes. Pomponius Atticus so carried himself at Athens, ut communis infimis, par principibus videretur. Alexander the Great, got the hearts of his Foot-soldiers, by calling them 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , his fellow-footmen. Aristotle, the better to insinuate into his hearers, read not to them (as other Philosophers used to do) from a lofty seat or desk, but walking and talking with them familiarly, as with his friends, in Apollo's porch, he made them great Philosophers. Vespasian was as highly esteemed by the people for his courtesy, as Coriolanus contemned and condemned of all for his rusticity. With one churlish breath Rehoboam lost ten tribes, whom he would, and might not recover with his blood. But whatsoever David did, pleased the people. What a deal of courtesy passed betwixt Boaz and his reapers? The Lord be with you, said he; The Lord bless • thee, said they, Ruth 2.4. The Turks salutation at this day is, Salaum all • ek Peace be to thee; the reply is, Aleek sal • um, Peace be to thee also. The Romans had their 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and their 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , answerable to our Good-morrow, and Good even. That finger next to the thumb they called Salutaris, because they put that finger to their mouth (as at this day the Roman Dames do) when they saluted any. Charles the fifth is renowned for his courtesy: when he passed by John Frederick the Elector of Saxony, he ever put off his hat and bowed to him, though he were his prisoner, and had been taken by him in battle. And when he had in his power. Melancthon, Po • eran and other Divines of the Reformed Religion, he courteously dismissed them. As he's the best Christian that's most humble; so is he the truest Gentleman, that's most courteous. Your haughty upstarts, the French call Gentle▪ villains.
Vers. 8. If it be your mind that I should bury my dead ] Alexander the Great, lay unburied thirty days together. His conquests above ground purchased him no title for habitation under ground. So Pompey the Great,
Ut cui modo ad victoriam terra defuerat, d • esset ad sepulturam, saith Paterculus. So Will. the Conquerors corps lay unburied for three days; his interment being hindered by one that claimed the ground to be his. Abraham therefore doth well to make sure of a place of Sepulture for him and his; and this at Hebr • n, which signifieth society or conjunction▪ for the • e lay those reverend couples, Abraham and Sara, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, &c. These died upon the promised Land, and being there buried, kept possession, as it were, for their posterity; as those that are dead in Christ do of heaven, for the Saints that survive them. Sepulchr • s are symbols of the communion of Saints, and of the Resurrection of the dead. Hence the Hebrews call Churchyards Beth-chajim the • ouse of the living. Job also calls the grave the Congregation house of all living, Job 30.23. As the Apostle, after him, calleth Heaven the Congregation-house of the first-born, Heb. 12.23. The Hebrews call it gu • lam hammàliachim, the world of Angels; and the Author to the Hebrews saith that the Saints are come by Christ to an in • umerable company of Angels. When godly mo • die they are said to be gathered to their people. They do no more then repatriasse, as Bernard hath it; they are not put out of service, but removed only out of one room into another, out of the out houses into the Presence-chamber; They change their place, but not their company, as that good Doctor said upon his death-bed: they are gathered by Christ's hand, as Lilies, Cant. 6.2. and transplanted into the Paradise of God. And this, Plotinus the Philosopher had a notion of, when breathing his last, he said; That in me, that is Divine. I resign up to the first Divine, that i • to God. As for the body it is but the case, the cabinet, the suit, the slough, the sheath of the soul, as Daniel calleth it, Scaligeri quodr • liquum est, was Julius Scaligers Epitaph. It returns to its original dust. and is sown as seed in the ground till the Resurrection▪ 1 Cor. 15.35.Vers. 9. For a possession of a burying-place ] It is remarkable, that the first purchase of possession mentioned in Scripture, was a place to bury in, not to build in. The Jews also had their Sepulchr •• h • wn out long before their deaths, to mind them of their mortality. Joseph of Arimathea had his tomb in his garden, to season his delights with the meditation of his end. The Egyptians had a deaths-head carried about the table at their feasts. The Emperors of Constantinople had a Mason came to them on their Coronation day with choice of Tomb-stones, and these Verses in his mouth,
Vers. 11. The field give I thee, &c. ] A brave speech of a bountiful spirit, to a stranger especially; and in that respect beyond that of Araunah the noble Jebusite to David his liege Lord, All these things did Araunah as a King give to the King, 2 Sam. 24.23. Indeed, to give is a Kingly employment; making men like, to the Father of lights, from whom comes every good gift and perfect giving. Kings are styled Benefactors; and of the ancient Kings of Egypt, it is recorded, and was rehearsed amongst other of their praises, that they were, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , willing to distribute, ready to communicate, which are the Apostles two words, 1 Tim. 6.18. Gyrus took more delight in giving then possessing, as his Soldiers could say of him in Xenophon. It is not only better, but sweeter to do good, then to receive good, said Epicurus. It is a more blessed thing, saith our Savior. Titus would say, when he had done none good, he had lost a day, & molesti • s erat Severo Imperatori nihil peti, quam dare. Our General Norrice, like that Bishop of Lincoln, never thought he had that thing, which he did not give. Few such nowadays.
Vers. 13. I will give thee money ] Full money, as he had said, verse. 7. or as much money as it is worth. Such is the care of the conscientious, that they had rather lose of their own, then usurp of another's. And that he gives a just price for the field, was an act of great wisdom; for hereby he provided that his posterity might not hereafter be put beside it.
Vers. 16. In the audience of the sons of Heth ] Whom he takes to witness, and so provideth for his security and quietness afterwards; as did also Jeremy in the purchase of his Uncles field. Wisdom and circumspection is to be used in Contracts and Covenants. [Currant with the Merchant] It may well be said of Money-hoarders, they have no Quick-silver, no currant money.
Vers. 19. And Abraham buried Sarah his wife ] The last office of love to bring the deceased Saints honourably to their long home, to lay them in their last bed, to put them into the grave as into a haven and harbor, where they may rest from their labors, till their change shall come. This is to deal kindly with the dead, Ruth. 1.8. To show mercy to them, 2 Sam. 2.5. especially when the mourners go about the streets, Eccles 12.5. when there is a great mourning made over them, as for Steven, Act. 8.2. and a great burning for them, as for Asa, 2 Chron. 16.14. Of whom also it is further added, as an honor, that he was buried in his own. Sepulcher which he had digged for himself among the Kings of Israel in the City of David, and laid in the bed that was filled with sweet odors, &c. Of Joram, Joas, and Ahaz, it is expressly noted in the Chronicles, that they were buried in the City of David, but not in the Sepulchers of the Kings of Judah. A worse place was thought good enough for them, unless they had been better. As of Tiberius the Emperor it is storied, that he was so hated for his tyranny, that when he was dead▪ some of the people would have had him thrown into the River Tiber; some, hanged up at such another place as Tiburn. Others also made prayer to mother Earth, to grant him, now dead, no place but among the wicked. Contrarily when Dio died, the people of Syracuse would have gladly redeemed his life with their own blood; which because they could not, they buried him very honourably in an eminent place of their City. Whereas anciently (as Lambinus well noteth) Kings and Princes, in Homer and other Poets, are not read to have been buried, but without the gates, somewhere in the fields and gardens; as the Patriarchs also were, looking for the return of that everlasting Spring.
CHAP. XXIV. Vers. 1. And Abraham was old ]
NOn tam canis & annis, quàm virtutibus & sapientiâ gravis, as One saith of Atticus. Abraham had a good gray head, as it is elsewhere said of him: Hence, so honored not only at home, but of the Hittites, Chap. 23. Cognata sunt 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ( ut 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 & 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ) old-age and honor are near a kin in the Greek tongue. And God bids, honor the face of the old man, Levite. 19.32. for the hoary-head is a crown, so that it be found in the way of righteousness. God is called the Ancient of days: and, because holy, therefore reverend is his name, as saith the Psalmist. But it is a poor praise to Nectarius, who succeeded Nazianzen in the Church of Antioch, that he was venerandâ canitie & vultu sacerdote digno, a comely old man, and of a Bishop-like visage, and that was all that could be said for him.
Vers. 2. Put I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh ] Either as a token of subjection, or for the honor of circumcision, Quae erat in parte femoris. q. d. I adjure thee by the Lord of the Covenant, whereof Circumcision is a sign. Or (which is most likely) in reference to Christ, who was to come of Abraham, according to that phrase, Gea. 46.26. The souls that came out of Jacob's thigh.
Vers. 3. I will make thee swear by the Lord ] Who alone is the proper object of an oath, Isaiah 65.16. Jere. 12.6. Howbeit, in lawful contracts with an Infidel or Idolater, we may admit of such oaths, whereby they swear by false gods; as those of old, that swore by God and Malcom; and the Turks great oath nowadayes is, By the immortal God, and by the four hundred Prophets, by Mahomet, by his Fathers soul, by his own children, and by the sword wherewith he is girt, &c. [That thou shalt not take a wife unto my son, &c.] Lest they should turn away his heart from following God, Deut. 7.3, 4. as those Outlandish wives did Solomon, Neh. 13.26. whom therefore God Almighty punished both in himself and his successor Rehoboam, his only son (that we read of) by so many Wives and Concubines; and he was none of the wisest, nor happiest: tam auspicata sunt conjugia contra Dei legem contracta, saith the Divine Chronologer. Be not unequally yoked therefore, with any untamed heifer that bears not Christ's yoke. If Religion be any other then a cipher, how dare we not regard it in our most important choice? I wish Manoah could speak so loud (saith a Reverend Divine) that all our Israelites might hear him: Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all God's people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? What's the reason, the Pope will not dispense in Spain or Italy, if a Papist marry a Protestant (yet here they will;) but in hope to draw more to them? For they well know what power wives many times get over their husbands, as Jezebel did over Ahab; the Hen was suffered to crow, and all went as she would have it. And therefore the Legates in the Council of Trent, were blamed for suffering the Article of Priests-marriage to be disputed, as dangerous; because it is plain, that married Priests will turn their affections and love to wife and children; and by consequence to their house and Country. So that the strict dependence that the Clergy hath upon the Apostolic See, would cease: And to grant Marriage to Priests, would destroy the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and make the Pope to be Bishop of Rome only.
Vers. 4. But thou shalt go unto my Country, &c.] N • hors stock were neither pure in Religion, nor precise in life, Josh. 24.2. Gen. 31.30. yet far better in both, then those cursed Canaanites. Some knowledge they retained of the true God, of whom they speak much in this Chapter, and concerning whom they hear Eleazar here relating, how he had answered his prayer, and prospered his journey. And for their manners, we find them hospitable, and their daughter, though fair, yet a pure Virgin. Now,
Vers. 5. Peradventure the woman, &c.] He swears cautelously, he doth not rashly rush upon his oath; he swears not in jest, but in judgment; so must we, Jer. 4.2. duly considering the conditions and circumstances, as the nature of an oath, the matter whereabout, the person by whom, and before whom, the time, the place, our calling, and warrant thereunto, Eccles. 5.2. Be not rash; the best that can come of that, is repentance, that fair and happy daughter of an ugly and odious mother. Swear not in heat and choller, as David did when he was going against Nabal; but soon after blessed Abigail for better counsel. Swear not in jest, lest ye go to hell in earnest, Jam. 5.12. Swear not petty oaths, those civilified complements, and interjections of common talk, Faith and Troth, &c. Thou must not swear by thy hairs, thou canst not make one of them white or black; much less by Faith and Troth, that is more worth then hairs. Remember that large roll, ten yards long, and five yards broad, full of curses against the swearer, Zach. 5.2. And it re •• s upon his house, where he thinks himself most secure. When we are called to take a lawful oath, we must be reverently affected (as this good servant in the text) according to the excellency of the duty, and greatness of the person, whom we attest and invocate. The ancient form of taking and imposing an oath was, Give glory to God, Josh. 7.19. Joh. 9.24. And he that took the oath was said, to confess to God, Esa. 45.23. with Rom. 14.11. Therefore also St. Paul in swearing, useth a word of attention, and saith, Behold I speak it before God. Gal. 1.20. Lewis the French King was taken prisoner by Meletisaka the Sultan; and conditions of peace being concluded between them, for more assurance thereof, the Sultan offered to swear, that if he failed in performance of anything, to renounce his Mahomet; requiring likewise of the King to swear, if he failed in anything that he had promised, to deny his Christ to be God: which profane oath the King detesting, and wishing rather to die then to give the same, the Sultan wondering at his constancy, took his word without any oath at all, and so published the League. As o'tother side, King John of England, being overlaid in his Barons Wars, when he sent Ambassadors to the Monarch of Morocco for aid, offering to swear fealty unto him, and to receive the law of Mahomet, he grew into such dislike of our King, that ever after he abhorred the mention of him.
Vers. 6. That thou bring not my son thither again ] Where yet he had never been, but in his fathers loins. He would not, his son should part with the promised Land for any out ward accommodations. Let us fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into God's rest, any of us should seem to come short, to fall back. or be l • ft behind. Take we all heed, lest for our lingering and hankering after the flesh-pots of Egypt, God carry us back again into Egypt, which was the last & greatest curse, threatened against the people of Israel, and is the greatest misery can come upon this Nation, Deut. 28.68.
Vers. 7. He shall send his Angel ] There are myriads of Angels, and all sent out for the solace and safe conduct of the Saints. Oh the dignity and safety of a child of God! [Thou shalt take a wife] He argues from what God hath done for him, to what he will do. Every former favor, is a pledge of a future. Thou hast, thou wilt, is a Scripture demonstration. See Psal. 86.1, 2, 3, 4 Six Thou-hasts, whereupon he infers and enforceth his, Turn us O God of our salvation, &c.
Vers. 8. Only bring not my son thither again ] This second time he lays charge on his servant not to do it. Better no wife, then displease God, then violate conscience. He purchaseth his pleasure at too dear a rate, that pays his hones • y to get it. He hath less of the ballast, and more of the sail, makes more haste then good speed, that thus speeds himself.
Vers. 9. And the servant put his hand, &c ] That, and the lifting up of the hand to heaven, was the ceremony of old, as now it is, laying the hand upon the book. Let it be what it will, if not wicked, we need not struple it. Henry the Third of England undertaking the croysade, in taking his oath laid his right hand on his breast (according to the manner of a Priest, saith the History;) and after on the book, and kissed it as a Lay-man. The Moors, when they swear to be faithful to any, they put their sword to their own throats. At the siege of Norwich by Ket and his complices in Edward the sixths time, the Earl of Warwick General for the King, drew his sword, and caused others to do the like; and (according to a Souldery custom in cases of extremity) by enterchange of a kiss by every of them upon the swords of others, they bound themselves, as by an oath, to maintain the place.
Vers. 10. Took ten Camels ] Creatures that are famous for their swiftness, strength, hardiness; for they will travel, they say, three days together, without water; which, in those hot Countries, is in many places hard to come by. Sir Francis Drake in his Travels tells us of certain Sheep in America as big as a Cow, and supplying the room of Horses for burden or travel. The Mule, they say, must have the bag hang by his mouth; so must some, the pipe or the pot at their elbows.
Vers. 11. And he made his Camels kneel down ] Or, rest themselves, as the Greek interprets it. A good man is merciful to his beast; but the poor creature groaneth and travelleth in pain under our abuses.
Vers. 12. And he said, O Lord God ] Begin we all our enterprises with prayer. God may give good success without, but it will be nothing so sweet: See therefore that.
Vers. 13. And the daughters, &c.] So did Rachel, and those in Deborahs Song, that rehearsed the Acts of the Lord at the places of drawing water, Judge 5.11. and Jethro's daughters, though he were Prince of Midian: Oh the simplicity and plainness of those times! They that plead Rebecca's ornaments for their garish attire, would be loath to take her office, be at the pains that she was.
Vers. 14. Drink, and I will give thy Camels, &c.] This argued a good nature, a kind courteous disposition; which therefore it may be he singled out, as a token of a meet wife, as a thing especially to be looked at in a wife. Good dispositions sanctified, become more useful, because more amiable; and so more graceful to the Gospel, and powerful with others. As if not yet sanctified, yet there is more hopes they may be. For where a good nature is, the Soul is a plain smooth board, whereon a Painter may more easily draw a Picture: and a harsh crabbed nature, is as a board full of knots, and rugged, whereon the Artificer cannot so well show his workmanship. And though the power of God will show itself, wheresoever he intends to make a vessel of Mercy, yet it is with more ado; and will cost a man the more sorrow, and him that hath the working of it, the more pains.
Vers. 15. Before he had done speaking ] So quick is God, many times, in the answer of prayers, Isai. 65.24. Dan. 9.23. The Angel had even tired himself with flight, to tell Daniel, that his prayers were heard. David did but say, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and before he could do it, God forgave the iniquity of his sin, Psal. 32.5. [Rebekah came out] She took her name, saith One, as it may seem, from the expectation of eternal life. For Rebecca denoteth a woman, which expecteth a free delivery from all calamity, and an inheritance of eternal life. Therefore, she is a notable type of the Church, which is the Spouse of Christ shadowed in Isaac.
Vers. 16. And the damosel was very fair ] 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Fair and wise, as it was said of Aspasia Milesia. Here beauty was not ill bestowed, as a Gold-Ring in a Swines Snout, but (as the History reports of the Lady Jane Gray ) adorned with all variety of moral Virtues, as a clear Sky with Stars, as a princely Diadem with Jewels. Beauty is of itself very attractive, as the Poet hath it. For which cause, Heraclonas the young Emperor of Constantinople, being sent into banishment, together with Martina his mother, had his nose cut off, lest his beauty should move the people to pity. And Angli tanquàm Angeli, said Gregory the Great, of the English boys presented to him. How much more when accompanied and accomplished with Chastity, as in this Damosel? [A Virgin, neither had any man known her] This latter clause is added, because many pass for Virgins that are not so; if that of the Poet be true, especially
Vers. 20. And ran again to the Well ] In the City of Haran, at this day, (saith One) there is to be seen a Well of very clear water, where Rebecca gave drink to Eleazar, and his Camels; there likewise, Rachel Laban's daughter, first spake to Jacob, &c. It is called by the Townsmen Abraham's Well. This water hath a very pleasant taste, and is a notable type of holy Baptism. For as the Patriarchs took their Wives by this Well; so Christ receiveth his Spouse the Church, by that Sacrament; which is, Beersheba, the Well of an Oath, where we pass into the Covenant, and are betrothed unto Christ in faithfulness, Hos. 2.20. the Thistle to the Cedar, 2 King. 19.4.
Vers. 22. The man took a golden Ear-ring ] Abiliment or Jewel, Ut imponeret naso ejus, saith Junius, to hang upon her nose, or forehead, as verse. 47. Each Country hath their fashions, and garnishes. In very many places of America, they have their lower lips bored through; as likewise, the upper parts of their ears, and something put into them. Which, as it seems to themselves to be a point of beauty; so it makes them appear to others, to be wondrous ugly.
Vers. 25. She said moreover unto him, &c.] It is well observed by an Interpreter, that in the Narration of this story (which yet seemeth to be of light and trivial matters) the Spirit of God is very exact and large; whereas other things wherein great Mysteries are infolded (as the History of Melchizedek, &c. ) are set down in few words. That men might consider God's Wisdom, and Providence in things of least esteem amongst men. I add, that all may see what delight he takes in the meanest actions and speeches of his dearest children; when the great acts and exploits of Nimrod, Ninus, and other Grandees of the world are not once mentioned, but lie shrouded in the sheet of oblivion or shame.
Vers. 26. And the man bowed down his head ] See how he relisheth of his masters house, and showeth a gracious heart, ready to offer up a sacrifice of praise, where ever God shall please to set it up an Altar. The same word in Greek signifieth, Grace and Thanks; to show, that as any man hath more grace, he is more grateful to God and man. It is observable also, that our Savior sets these two together, the unthankful, and the evil, Luke 6.35. He is kind to the unthankful, and the evil.
Vers. 30. When he saw the ear-ring and bracel • ts ] These were the bones that Laban looked after; these drew the churl forth, and made him so courteous. Worldlings in serving God, serve themselves of God; they follow him for loaves, more then for love. Vix diligitur Jesus propter Jesum. Hypocrites would use Christ as a bridg to get to Heaven by; which if they could compass, let Christ fink or swim for them, they would not much care: Their love is meretricious, their obedience mercenary; they work only for wages. Fac me pontificem & ero Christianus, said one Pammachius a Heathen, to the Pope. Those degenerate Priests would fain have had Pri • sts places, when something was to be got, but might not.
Vers. 33. I will not eat, till I have told mine errand.] He preferred his work before his food. So did our Savior at the Well of Samaria, John 4. And another time, when he thought to have slaked his hunger at the barren fig-tree, and found nothing but leaves, he went on to Jerusalem; and forgetting his hunger, as he had before forgot his break-fust, he turned not into a victualing-house, but went to the Temple, and taught the people; and confuted the Elders all that day long, till the evening. Job esteemed God's word more then his necessary food; not only more then his dainties or supers • uities.
Vers. 35. And the Lord hath blessed my master ] Ministers, Christ's Paranymphs, must likewise woe for Christ, by setting forth his great wealth; and not speak one word for Christ, and two for themselves, as those did, Phil. 1.15. John the Baptist was no such spokesman, Joh. 3.29. It is the special office of the Ministry, to lay Christ open, to hold up the Tapistry, and let men see him as he is set forth, Heb. 1.2, 3. that they may be sick of love; for otherwise, Christ is like to have but a cold suit of it.
Vers. 39. Peradventure the woman will not ] Here he leaveth out, in his discretion, Abraham's charge, verse. 6. For that would but have offended and irritated. Part of the truth may be concealed sometimes, as Jer. 38.27.
Vers. 44. The woman, whom the Lord hath appointed ] God is the Match-maker, and Marriages are made in Heaven, as very Heathens have yielded. The Governor of Eski-chisar hearing Othomans relation of a fair Lady, with whom he was in love, seemed greatly to like of his choice; saying, that she was by the Divine Providence (for so the Turks religiously use to speak) appointed only for him to have.
Vers. 47. And I put the ear ring upon her face