when Noah a juft man curteth Canaan, Gen. 9. And when Elifba curfed the Children that called him baldhead, 2 Reg. 24. they were curled indeed, for when it is a juft curfe, and hath root in maledictus es, then it takes place, for we fee there was a maledictio in those perlons whom Noah and Elifba curled; they had spoken evill before,and therefore evill is fpoken of them, for one evill is a loadstone or jet stone to draw another evill; It is that which Ferome notes upon, 1 Sam. 2.29. thofe that honor me I will honor; their own evil shall bring forth this crop, it fhall be the fparks of their own sinne. The other poynt is this, That God fhews us plainly that there are in curfes many and diverse degrees, in that he faith not only, he is curfed, but curfed above all Cattel and every Beast of the field; there are curfes in leffer degrees and in greater degrees; for as the Fathers note, there is ftillans maledictio, a curfe that comes by drops, as Dan. 9. 11. And there is a curfe that is powred upon us by whole buckets full, as it were, whole Seas full of curfes; And in the next Chapter God pronounceth Cain accurfed, as here the Serpent, but not in the fame degree that the Serpent is curfed. Now for as much as no beaft is venomous and hath poyfon but the Serpent, thereby we fee he hath received a curfe above all other beafts. Now we fee how it is verefied both of the naturall and fpirituall Serpent, Nullum naturale malum jufti venenum, faith the Philofophers, for all other things had and may have and use, and were good for fome purpoles; fo that if we goe to nature, naturally there is no evill but in the Serpent. Touching which evill, we fay in the Creation, as we make no queftion but that the body of Man, being natural, was fubject to mortality, except it had been preferved by Grace; but being united to the foul, a fpiritual substance, though it were naturall it fhould have been preferved by Grace from being mortall; fo we make no queftion but the venom and poyfon of the Serpent was made fo, but it should have been preserved in the Serpent, that it fhould have been no curfe, and no hurt should have come thereby, and fo being evil maledictus it draws evil confequently,as evil fpeech and evill reports, it can be no otherwife faid of them, then as Chrift fpeaks, Matth. 23. 33. The Serpents, the generation of Vipers, how Should they escape the damnation of Hell? Thirdly, we fay he is fo in refpect of every beast, both wilde and tame, they doc both averfart &reverfari ferpenti, not only man, but all beafts are adverfaries to the Serpent, and abhor and flic his focictie; fo there is in him that natural curfe above all other, but that is not fo much to enquire as the other, the verefying of it in the myfticall and fpiritual Sere pent, in whom is fuch evil and mischief thar Chrift often calls him evil it felf, and having evil in him every man fpeaks evil of him, in fo much as the wicked and ungodly doe curfe him, Ecclef. 21. even they that are the children of the curfe, as Fude calls them there is none, be he never fo the Devils child, but will fpeak evil of him ; as the children of wisdome are juftified of her enemies, fo the children of folly and the Devils will not stick to curfe him. Thirdly, Thirdly, Maledictus pra, this curse takes deeper root in him than in any other Creature, as his evill is in a further manner in him than in any other; there is no beast doth that which he causeth man to doc; for there is no wrath in wilde beasts so malicious as in man, fubmitting himself to the pleasures of drunkenneffe and whatfoever finne elle; no beast will drink more than shall dọc him good, nor be drunk as man, nay it is a shame to speak the things that are done of them in fecret, by the inftigation of Sathan and malice of the Devils wrath, Ephef. 5. 12. and the beasts never banded themselves together with weaponsto fight as men doe, and they fight but with thofe weapons which nature yeelds them, but man hath devised Guns and Spears one to goare another; neither doe they give them felves wholy to all exceffe, as man doth. This evil wherewith man is infected by the Serpent is above that which is in bruit beasts, yea above all evil of Creatures, both wilde and tame : And it is faid in that refpect only, but in this a'so, that there is no beast of the field, nor Creature in Heaven or Earth, but keeps and continues in his first condition and estate wherein he was firft created, but the Devill hath left his, and man, by the feducing of the Devil, hath loft his state also, and keepeth not his courfe in obeying his Maker, as all other Creatures doe, as Pfal. 110. where a realen is rendred of it, and Pfal. 32. Man is compared to the Beasts, yea like Horse and Mule which understand not: If it be thus with beafts, then much more may man be afhamed, that hath reafon and understanding, and yet committeth these things which bruit beasts refrain; and therefore when there is a comparison between man and the beafts, as Chrifoftome faith, Pejus eft comparare beftiis quam nafci de beftiis; and that man that shall live fo like a beast, is worse than he that is turned into a beaft, as Nebucodonofer. In these three refpe&ts he is curfed above all other. The last point is that which the ancient Fathers fet down upon this divifion, that God puts down and names both these beafts that man hath fervice of; and in beafts, thofe that he hath no use of, wilde beafts, as Tygres and Lyons, and fuch; and this degree faith Auguftine, that the Devil tranflates himself into both names both shapes, which fhews that the Devil can take either shape,and as we know in his livelie temples wherein he dwells, as Sorcerers and fuch, he fhews himself sometime in them Fumentum, a tame beaft to help and serve man, as Acts 16. in the Maids poffeffed with a spirit of Divination; and fometime he will be in them a roaring Lyon, to fear us: But in whether fhape he appears, whether in Maids or Boyes, he is maledictus in both, for his intent in both is accurfed, namely to feck our ruine and deftruction; fo that whether we refpe&t the condition or comparison, it is verefied in the Serpent above all other beafts. Mulieri Mulieri dixit, Admodum multiplico dolorem tuum, etiam concep- Gen 3.16. HE breefe of his divifions upon the Text were, August 27. ment rêre & parere, that thee fhould bring forth with Parere & payne, and obey; in the firft is an apt correfpon- Parere. dence to her offence: her pleasure is punished with paine, her delight with forrow, according to the old Proverb, fweet meate and lower fawce, and fo likewife is there an apt correfpondence in the other part of the punishment; for whereas thee tooke upon her to have more knowledg than her husband, and by her meanes hee was seduced from his obedience, fhee fhall bee obedient to her husband; fhee is punished firft in the law of Nature and of Nations, for all that beareth young doeth it with a groane, and by all lawes of Nations, the husband is above the wife. Touching the particulars of the Text. First, hee will greatly increase her forrowes; befides the forrowes in conception and bringing forth children, her forrow is afterwards increased; many a woman breedeth and beareth her owne forrow; the inay beare her childe to mifery, if fhee fee it beg it increaseth her forrow; hee may beare it to execution, as wee have too many lamentable cxamples but the forrow of a mother is much more increased if it live fo wickedly that shee beare it to hell fire. For the forrow of Child-bearing, in the Pfalmes, and throughout the Prophets, the greatest forrow is compared to a womans laboring with childe, which is fo great that many a one dyeth of it, as did Rachell, Gen. 25. 18. never was childe borne without pain, according to that old verfe, Nafcitur haud fine va, fuerit qui filius Evæ. But here God fheweth even in judgement his mercy, for fhee finned in foule, is punished but in body, and that punishment is temporary, though the finne deferved death eternall, and which is further, there is a bleffing even in this Sentence; for to have children (though with pain) is a great bleffing, and by the ancient Fathers is called the bleffing of the womb and brefts; and barrenneffe of woman is held a greater forrow and payne, than to have children with much griefe and payne; for when the childe is once borne, the payne is forgotten, but barrenne ffe is to her a continual grief, in the 300f Genefis verf. 1. When Rachell faw thee was barren, and Leah fruitfull, thee envied her fifter, and fo great was her defire of children that unleffe fhe had children fhee would die: So it is a Sentence of Justice mingled with Lenity, the punishment is not with Sf rigor Her Sorrow. Her fubje&tion Rule of Women. rigor but with indulgence, it is tanquam franum, non flagellum, as a bridle rather to check, thana fcourge to bruife, it is but a chaftizing of finne in Eve, non eft quafi Coluber, as a Serpent to fting, but an cafie correction. The fecond part of her punishment is, That thee fhall bee subject to her Husband, and there is mercy in this alfo, for the best are of opinion, that in time of integritie there was order and fubordination, for order is the mother of perfection, here is a fubordination of af#fections, the womans to the husbands, and of occonomicall goThe two ends vernment, for generation and cohabitation are the two ends of marof mariage riage, and in both fhee is to bee ruled by her husband: fome idleheaded fellowes gather hence, That feeing women are to bee fubject to men, therefore men ought not to bee fubje& to women; Touching the but marke, hee faith viro tuo, to thy husband: now the rule of women as in moft Common-wealths hath beene allowed, even fo in Scripture, for Candace Queene of the caft, and Sabaes Queene are commended, nay it is Gods owne Law, Numb. 27. 8. That if a man die without a foxne, his inheritance shall fall to his daughter, then the daughter of a King is not barred government, which is her inheritance; but oeconomicall fübjection here is chiefly understood, that made Sara call her husband Lord. In the first of Efter you fee Vafbti the Queene punished because thee would not obey Abafbuerus the great King of Perfia, a great Monarch, fhee came not when hee fent for her, advice was taken how thee fhould bee punished for her difobedience, this offence was not only against the King, but by example against the Princes and People, for in the seventeenth verfe of that Chapter, This example among other women shall make them defpife their husbands, and therefore a folemne Sentence was pronounced against her That shee fhould bee divorced and depofed, the end of which Decree was, as appeareth in the end of that Chapter, That all the women through that huge Monarchy fhould doe their husband's henor both great and small, and further the King fent forth his Letters to every People after their language That every man should beare rule in his own houfe: Efther her felfe was example of this, who worshipped with reverence her King, shee must bee fubject unto man in regard of her weakenesse and infirmities, as Paul fpeaketh in the Corinthians, Woman is not her felfe, her own, for at marriage fhe giveth not her felf, but is given to her husband by a man, and after marriage fhee lofeth her own name and beareth her husbands; bee the husband wife or fimple hee muft beare rule over her, for fubjection is the condition of all Wives, to all Husbands. Abigaiell, in the first chapter of Samuel and the twenty fith verse, must as well obey Naball her husband, as David, even of Religion this obedience is; this is the Mercy, that though hec fhall rule her, yet they both fhall rule their houfhold, hee shall rule her not as a King his fubject or a Lord his flave,not in feare but in love. Adamo do 19. Adamo verò dixit, Quia aufcultavifti voci uxoris tuæ, & come Gen. 3 17.18. difti de fructu arboris illius quo interdixeram tibi, dicendo, ne comedas exifto: maledicta efto terra propter te; cum do lore comedito proventum ejus omnibus diebus vitæ tuæ: Eaque fpinam & carduum proferto tihi, tu verò comedito herbam agri. In fudore vultus tui vefcitor cibo, donec revertaris in humum, cum ex eâ defumptus fueris: nam pulvis es, in pulverem reverteris. S Adam two things. Aint Chrifoftome writing upon this place, faith fedet Septemb. 17. Fudex, non furgit, God who is the Judge fitteth 1598. ftill and rifeth not, he continueth his Court and Adams punishment. giveth not over till he hath given judgement upon all the offenders: This is as it were the third O yes faith that Father upon Adam's offence: which fentence is conteined in the 17. 18. and 19. ver. In the Senfes: In which fentence are conteined two parts, the one is the tence upon fault contained in the beginning of this verfe, the other is the penal tie contained in the end of the 17. verfe to the end of the 19. verse. Of both thefe in generall, thefe are the proceedings of God First the Fault. whence the rule and patern of all Juftice is grounded; for God eth here to fentence upon a caufe; because thou hast heard the voice of thy Wife, and eaten the forbidden fruit and upon a Cause not alledged by an Accufer, but confeffed by the Offender, the 12. verfe before; fo that in juftice God will fay to Adam ex ore tuo tejudico, I will judge thee even out of thine own mouth thou evill Servant, Luke 19.22. Secondly, the go- Penalty. Particularly, In the fault are two parts or branches, firft there In the Fanle is an inordinate confent, the other a difordinate act: The fift is two things. the hearing the voyce of his wife, The fecond is his eating t Touching the fift, The giving eare to the voyce of his wife, it is no- Inordinate thing unleffe it bee accompanied with another circumftance, hee Confent. may heare the voyce of his wife, if thee speak that is reason, and so the fuperior may heare the voice of the inferior. In the second of the Kings the fift chapter and thirteenth verfe, the Mafter muft hear the voyce of the Servant, in reason, If the Prophet (faith Naamans fervant to Naaman) had commanded thee a great thing wouldst thou not have done it? how much rather when hee faith to thee but thu, Wash and be cleane? and there Naaman heard the voyce of his fervant; fo that licet audire vocem rationis, the words of reafon are to be heard from our Inferiour, be it Wife, Child, or Servant; for reafon ruleth all out of the mouth of whomfoever it commeth; but we must not hear words noysome and of wicked de fire,but when they are brutish, 1 Sfa fenfelefs, |
