iz:t METAPHORS >ROM WATER. Book I. Secondly, That he f110uld live cha!l:ely and continently with h:s own Wife, and ab!1ain from othe.rs, Verfe 18, rg, &c. Frauzius fays, Drink Water out of thiue own Cy1ern, &c. that ts, Keep thy Goods to thyfelf, and thine, and to help Objerts of Cbarii)', but do not confume them upon Whores, &c. · A 14/ELL is fometimes taken in a bad Senfe, as great Perils and Mifchief, Pfai. lv. 23. And thou, 0 Lord, foal! bring them into the Well, fo the Hebrew, of Dejlru[iion. The Chaldee [into a deep Hell] ?fa!. lxix. t6. Let not the Well, fo the Hebrew, fhut its Mouth upon me; Chaldee [Hell]. Chri!l: fpeaks there of his mofl bitter Paffion. Jer. ii. 13. Broken Cijlerns that will hold no Water (out of which FraCtions the Wa– ter goes out, as it comes in, failing the ExpeCtation of M en that want Water) this fignifies the ldolatries or Apoll:acy of the People, to which God the Fountain of livina Water is oppofed. " 3· The ff<!:alities of Water, of thefe we will note two. (1.) It is f/r<id and liquid, and ii congealed by Cold, it is refol ved and liquified again by H eat. Hence a Metaphor is taken, for when to melt, or to be liquid, is fpoke of Men, it !ignifies Fear, Confiernarion, Anxiety, and Griefs, Exod. xv. 15. Deut. i. 28. and xx. 8. Jofh. vii. 5· (where liquid Water is added), Job vii. 5· and ix. 23. Pfal.lxxv. 3· and cvii. 26. !fa. x. 18. xiii. 7· and xxxi. 8. (where DD fignifies meltina, the Chaldee, breaking: Con!l:ernation for Fear. Others render it Tribute, which Is the other Signification of the Word), lfa. vi. 4, 7· Ezek. xxi. 15. Job xxx. 22. So Ocid de Panto. Sic mea pcrpetuis liquefcant pertora curis. So IIM)' nry Breafl with conflant Sorrows melt. See Pfal.lviii. 7, 8. and xxii. !4, 15. Where there is an exprefs Comparifon. Pfal. cix. 28. 111j Soul melteth, in the H ebrew, [droppeth]for Heavinefs, that is, confurnes as if it were liquid-the Chaldee, [My Soul is fad for Sorrow]. Some fay that this is an h)'perbolical Defcription of his Tears, as if his Soul was liquid and refolved into Weep– ing. See Job vi. 14, 15. Judg. xv. 14. (z .)Water is capable of Coldand I-Ieat, Rom. xii. I 1. Tw 7rY!U 1 tA.ctn ~Eo:,.1l~,fer·-..:ent in Spirit, by which fpiritual Ardor and the Zeal of Faith and Piety is denoted-the S)'l'iac exprelfes it by a Word, ;un, which fignifies boiling Water, Job xli. 22. Ezek. xxiv. 3, 5· See Job xxx. 27. Rev. iii. 15. 1 know th)' Works that thou art neither cold nor bot, 1 would thou wert cold or hot, Verfe 16. So that then becaufe thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, 1 will.fPue thee out of m)' Mouth.- In this Text there is a manife!l: TrnnOation from the Qualities o( Water. He calls the Cold fuch as are without any lntereil in Chri!l:, or the U nconverted; and the Hot he calls fuch as are endued with the true Knowledge of Chri!l: in an eminent Degree; and the Lukewarm are fuch as would be called Chrif– tians, but do not ferioufly ll:and by, or plead the Caufe of Religion, nor lead a Life conformable to their holy Profeffion, Z''"'' that is, God loves fuch as are hot or fer– vent with the Zeal of Piety: But the Lukewarm, who are only Chrill:ians in Name, and not in Reality, he hates, nor will he reck0n them among his, which by a metaphorical Allufion to warm Water, is here exprelfed- For by that a Man is eafily provoked to vomit; [o that Chri!l: by the Term vomiting exprelfes that he will reprobate fuch. ObjeCt. But what means this, where he wifhes that he were cold ? Does that Frame of .Spirit a!fo pleafe God? An(wer. This is to be under!l:ood*re.fPertive!y, or by Way of Comparifon, in that .fuXP"• the Cold, with RefpeCt to the Lukewarm, are more praife-worthy, becaufe they openly profefs what they are, not counterfeiting that SanC\ity which they have not, pretending one Thing and doing another, but being under the Blindnefs of a natural State, if they are taught, tfiey trequently amend, and prove good Men; whereas the Lukewarm, making a fpeciousShew ofGodlinefs, but denying the Power, are in a far more hopelels Condition. The Senfe therefore is, it is fit that thou be put inro the extreme Degrees, that thou mayell: be judged, &c. Prov. xvii. z7. A ll'ian of Underjlanding is of an e11cellmt Spirit, the Hebrew is, [of a cool Spirit] that is, of a fedate and quiet Mmd who
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=