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Show 308. The fecond Bookeofthefar part : Cuwarais.§a, Cauaray§.3. facrament,or reprefentation whichwasthe Atke,thenin God him feltc, they would haue vfing thefe words: So yee fhallgtue glory tothe God of Irael, that he may take hisbandfrom vs dbferued his Lawes, and {erued him onely : whichsyhen{ocuertheydid, they were then I SAMS... ' of the Hiftorie ofthe World. yon, andfrom yourgods, andfrom your lad. And what can be a more excellent witnefling than where an ehemie dotlvapproue ourcaufe' according to 4riffotle . Palehram of bes fiimoninm, quo nostra probantur ab hoftibus.' So did Pharao confefle the living God, when fie was plagued in Beyprsatid Wabachodonofor, and Darins, when they had feene his miracles by Daviel. ‘ ha ' i This counfell therefore ofthe Priefts being imbraced, and the golden Hxmorthoides victorious.. For after the captiuitic they,had no Arkeatall, nor in the times oftheMac. chabees: and yet for their pictie it pleafed God to makethat familie as vi@orjous as any that guarded themfelues by the fignein fteadiofthe fubftence. And that the Arke was not made tothe end to be carried intothe field asanenfigne,. Daaid witnelIed when hee fled from _-4b/alon, For whenthe Priefts would haue carried the Arke with him; heeforbad it,and caufed it to be turned into the Citie,vfing thefe words + /f //ballfinde. fanourin the eyes ofthe Lord,he willbring me againe : if not,let him doc tome as Jeemethgood in.bis eyes; The Troians beleeued that while their Palledinm.or the image of Adinerua was kept in yg Troy,the Citie fhould neuer be ouerturned: .fo'did the Chriftians in the lait fatall bat. tellagainft Sefadine carry intothe field, as they were made beleeue, the very..Crofle and the golden Miceprepared, they caufed two milch kineto be chofen, fuchas had not beene yoked, andanew Caitor carriagétobe framed: but they.durft rot drive or dijo fectitto anyplace cettaine, thereby to make tryall whetherit were indeed the hand 6f Godthat had ftrucken thom. For ifthe Arke of God were catried'towards Beththemeth and into thetetritorie of Ifrzel : then theyfhouldrefolue that from God only came heir whereon Chriftdied ; and yet they loft the battell, their bodyes and the wood. But Chryfoflome vpon Saint Adatthew (if that be his worke) giuetha good iudgement,{peas king of thofe thar worea part ofSaint Johws Gofpell about their neckes, for an amulet Orpreferuatine : Si+ibica mon profunt in auribus, quomodd proderunt in Colle? If thie words doe not profit men in their cares, (to wit, the hearing of the G ofpell preached ) haw Shouldit profit them by hanging it about their neckes? Fovit wasneither the woodof the Arke, nor the woodofthe Croffe, but the reuerence ofthe Father,that gauethe onefor 4 memorie of his Couenant ; and the Faith in his Sonne, which, fhed his blood on the? otherfor redemption,thatcould or can profit them andvs, either in this life or afterit The Philiftims returning with the greateft vi@orieand glory which cuer they obtai, late defttuétion.For the Philiftimsknew that the milch Kine which drewthe Arke. could notbeforced fromtheir Calues, butthat they would haue followed thern wherefoeucr - muchlefle when they wereleft to themfelues would they tranell acontrary way. Pecks the darkeft night in the world, ifcaluesbe rerhoued ftomtheir dammes,the kiae will fol. lowthiem throigh woods; and defarts by the foote,till they. finde them: ‘Bur the kine trauclleddireétly towards Bethfhemefh : and when they came intothe fieldes thereof. to wit, of one /o/wa ofthe fame Citie, they ftood ftill there ; which when the Princes ofthe 20 Philiftims perceiued,they returnedtoEkron. After which, God {pared not his owne peoplethe Bethfhemites, in that they pref{umedto !ooke into the Atke. And becanfe they knew Godand his commandements, and had beene taughtaccordingly :he ftrook then ned, carried theArkeof God with themto U4zorws, and fetit vp in the houle of Dagox their Idoll : but that night the Idollfell out ofhis place, from aboueto the ground, and lay vnderthe Arke. The morningfollowing they tookeit vp, and fer it vp,.aad fet it againein his place. Andit fell the fecond time, and the head brake fromthe body; and more grieuoutly than he didthe Heathen, forthere perifhed of themfiftié rhoufand and feuentie:From hence the Arke was carried to Kiriath-iearim, and placedin thie houfe of Abinadab ; whereit is writcen that it remained twentie yearesin the chargé of Eleazarhis prefence of God ; for the headfell off, whichis thefeatof reafon and knowledge, and | -* Now whereasit is faid, ‘that in the meane whilethe Arke was in Nob, Mifpah, and Galgala,it wasthe Tabernacle, which wasat this time feuered from the Arke: oF Atl Sco fonne; vntill Dawid brought itto Hierufalem: the hands fromthearmes, fhewing, that it had. nor power nor vnderftanding in the the hands ( by which weexecute ftrength) were fundred fromthe armes, For God and | the diuell inhabite not in onehoufe, norin one heart, And if this Idol\ could not endure 3 | the reprefentation ofthe true God, itis nottobe maruailed,that at fuch timeasit plea- tong obfeured by Idolatric, all thofe fouleand ftinking vapours vanifhed, Plutarch te aiiaea accidentin that age concerning the death of thegreat god Pas, a ethhim;w prelas ignorantofthe true caufe)hefearchethhis braines for manyrea meemaga Aa Aayayany yet findes he none outbutfriuolous. For not onely thisol uel did ther ;4vePoles i : butallthe geft, as Apollo, Iepiter,Diana, ebbicharsae ; ; andthe whole4o =Nowwhile the Philiftims i triumphed after r thithis i the gticuousdifeafe.of the Hemorrhoidesof which aioe, Rac pipoke epcee ,with : itis ae y perifhedin great numbers. For vi east the Lard defrayed them. It was therefore by generall.confent ordered, that eae t o ‘: fPheomazones toty ar Gath, anotherofrv the fiue grat: "f 3 28 leemeth, whetherthis difeafe were fallen on t by accident, or by the hand of God immediatly : but whenit was broughtto Gathan inesiord by them, the plaguewasyetmoregrieuousand mortall. For the hand of sh pom wasanh this Citiewith averygreat deflruction, and he Jute the men of the cuit oth fall and§reatrc, And being not yetfatisfied,they of Gath fentthe Arketo Ekrons a or AAccaron,athird Citieof the Philiftims : but the cefeltthe fame fimart, and cry¢ out, thatthemfelues {lai ; ie Ni a and theit people co fhould be ellainethereby ; For aaa there was 4 defirnitefirilt on ana Rats throughont In theend, by the aduice of cheir Priefts, the Print of the Philiftims did notalltheCitic, onely refolue to Saeed A ke. b os ff gifts voto the i ofYrael, remembring the plague which had conse ug Pan when theit Gane eeharseoenigBold the people ofGodfrom their inheritance,and eee } a creletsconfeling the power ofthe God ofi/raeltofrom bisiet bee almighFowncAdoss were fubie® thereunto, they agreed to offer a finne fe . m i : inthis. leaft, ir was forthe * prefent occafion broughtto thefe places, and anon returned to booksb. 2 BoXériath-icarim. ' gin the margente fed him to couer his onely begotten with flefh,and fent him into the world. that all the Oracles, wherein the Diuell derided and betrayed mortall men, loft power, fpeech and Operation atthe inftant. For whenthatoer truelight which neuer had beginning eginning of of brightDig nefic, brakethrough the clouds ofa Virgins body, fhining vpon the earthwhich had bia i: §. HII. ' Of Samuel, azd ofhis Gauerument. Hefe Tragedies ouerpaft andended, semue/,to whom Godappeared while he y xe wasyetachilde, became now Iudgeand Gouernour of Iftael. He was defcen- ' ey ded ofthe familie of © Chore orKorach, For-Leni had three fonnes; Gerfan, 1 ¢brs.6.22: Saws Cheath,and Merarj: Cheath had Amram,and Izaar 3 0fAmram came ALofes and Aaron; of lzaar, Chore: and ofthe familie of Chore, Samuel. His father Elcava a Leuite, 40 wascalled an Ephratean;not that the Leuites had any proper inheritance,b 3 ut becaufe he c Which wasof * Mount Ephraim, likeas "/e, Dauédsfather was called an Epliratwan, becauyfe on was'calleds borne atEphrata,or Bethleem. Hannah his mother being long fruitleffe, obtained hig £757254Pof Godby prayers andteares : it being an exceeding fhameto the Iewifh women, to: bé Eetece| called barren,in refpect of the blefling of God bothto Abraham that his feed thould mul; diftinéion we tiply asthe Starres of Heauen,andthe Sands of the Sea ;. as inthe‘beginning to. Adam, "°™ ene Increafe andmultiply,éyc.and in Deuteronomie the feucnth; There (ball beneither wale ae Betbleehem® female barren among you. ; Tebuda; the Samuel was no foonerborne, but that his mother, according to her formery Renratat vow, aededi-thawhiehis for ng 3° > : é cated him to God,and hisferuice, to whichfhe deliuered him euen fromthe dugge. For epee od Soasthefirft borne of. all that werecalled Nazarites,might be redeemedtill they were fiue Wd , Gen. 3 56 yeares old for fue fheckles , and between fitte yeares and twentie for twentie thecklés;.o poohe: the Was itnotiequired by the Law that anyofthe race of the Leuites. fhould bee called to f7#% hic ferueabout the Tabernacle, till they were fiue and twentic yeares., i Rieetee: Saint Peter reckons inthe _4és the Prophets from! amue/, who was the firlt. of the 2/#.1326. %aaes whom oe this name of a Prophetwas giuen, & yet did fersil, ma ch ot elfeluchaone;as in the 18. of Deuteronomie, The Lordthy God willswasinthe 74S Up Vatothee a Prophet like untemee,crc. Buthee is.diftinguifhed from thofe thar tee! Ephraim. ji . ‘ . preceded hi xy preceded him, who were called Seers ; asbeforetime in Iracl, when aman went tofeeke anyerfe , ig. anager 56 |