I JJ.: .bs f.,ltil. !- ! I I -------;he u.Chap.to -the He6r. . _ _ f tl9 - ~ .~ 1 grace: and bldfcd lhall thofc Father;bee witi1 :- -- tmgln\c: Kings of IJI·acl. . .. Where we may learnc, that God is the d!{..:. pofcr of honours and dignities in this world; he giucth tholC to whom he '"'ill, to tOme more, :tl!d to fomc· le!lC:, as plcaJCth him: yea fomctim!! )1c rai!C.th vp men of bale and lo\"' dcgrc"C ,.ro great dignitie; as Dmtid f.1ith_,Plal. J q. 7· flu r,t;fcrhrh:necdieotltofthcdt~j},vt.. lrft4·thtbc poorc<Nltof t;/:Jedongue. Now \•>hence comes this? Is their learning, their great llrensth, their beauric, or wonderfilllskill, & knowl~dgc, thecaufe of. their preferment? or the we;alth of their pare'nts, or any thing in then)? No.furcly:Jf,vc f]>eake ofthe firll cauie, 1 /ofrph,who had rather haue thci) children ~.·l~f. 1 / fed ofGod, then aduanced in thC\\'orldo }l1c:. I iCcond aCtion of luco6sfaHh,-i& !n thefcw,~r~s, i · we [cc in this c:xamplc, that the preferment of Epbrt~rm aboue Mmtt'.j]C1, was for "no caufe in EpiJmi1?J; for, what w-as _in Ephrl'timthat was not in .A·fa~tapes , ,.vhen ftl:zco6 blcffed them? I Surely, nothing: for,hewas but a child as ~he other,\o\•as, and ayongcr chilsi alfo; but he was referred by rea[un ofGods good \'\'il towards him. And fo it is \''ith all thofc that are aduan– ccd to preferment in,this worl<!. Wherefore, fecing honour and dignitic comrileth.not from And1vorjbipprd on t!u endofhi> Jl-'ffc: and iti>,/. l notable W9J·~c for the C:Ol-llp1cl)dation 1 pf i his faith. But befOre vve corne.vmo it, th<tr.'HJC\ l cerraine qncHicns '"'hieh 1i1ay profitai}Jy be• 1 1 confidcrcd: As fir!l,for the tranf1ation;how the words 010uld be read. The P.npills reade th~m f thus: And adored the topPf ofhis Rod ;,that ~ is (fay rhey) the toppe of Joiephs Secptcr wl\d I came to villt him.Fromwhence they woul<j ga.... thcr and ground their abominable Idolatric:., in the Ado[ationofcrcatures,and namely9(holy B ·things, as Crucifix,Rcliques, Imagcs,as aliOof God a! & before fuch holy tbings.But we mu it know that their rranfl:uion is falfe and 12HOJ},i~ ous, and cannot be iu!li.ficd, howfocucr th~v may bring fome mens wimcffcand t~fiioiPni~for the fame. For in re\ading it thus, and adQr.(d the top of his Rod; they lcaue out a (ubllant)~ll 'word ofthe tcxt,to wit,thisword vpon;~A~hmb.)' they corrupt the Text, & dcprauc the nicta·ning oftheholyGholl. . ·, . . ,: thernfclues, or any rhlng iri. them: therefore theymuLl not afcribe it to their O\Vnewit,lcar.. ning, {hength, or frci1fds; but '''·holly to the gift of God, as the fitll caufe: and fo mull la" hour tOvfe it to the honour of him that onely giucs it,ofhis good plcafure; clfe they facrlficc to their owne net:Hab.r .r(., 0!:Jf. Why doth the holy Gholl in tl1is C, place put lofophs name downe, who ·wasnot · bldfed,& conceale the names of the two chil– dren th:ix were blcffed? Anfwer, If wee reade the Hillorie in e>encrts, we !hall fee the reafoii hereof.For, when lofepbheard that his Father I.cobwas rtck; though he was amighty Prince and a noble Potentate among 'the Egyptians, and his Father but a poorc Pilgrime : yet bee comes tohis ficke Father before his death, :Lnd brings his two (onnes \\'ith hlm, to haue his fa– ther to b!cffe them before he died;andtherfore the holy Ghofl here nameth lofrph,to llwNvn to vs what refpeC\ hcc had of his F':nhers blcf– fing : he made more account thereof, and did more dlceme it, that fo bee might haue his (Oimes within the couenant, then of all the D Kingdomcs in the world: and tkcrcforc hee brings them both to his Father to bc_bleffed, a little before his death. Now lookc what minde and affection lo[rp!J bearcs; the f:1me ili.ould be in euery one ofvs. Whatfocuer our dlatc be, whether honoura– ble, or bafc and meanc; ·wee muft with lofeph cflccmc more of Gods couenant, and to bee members of Gods Church, then of all the ho– nour in the world befidcs;~nd we mufi dlecm our place and preferments that we haue, or our children 111ay hauc, to be nothing in compari– fon of the hleffing ofGod,and his fauour.Yea, we mull chulCwith lo[eph rather to lcauc our l~onours and dignities for a time, or (ifit were) forcuer; d:cn to loofc the _blrffing of Gods Againc, their obfcruation and coll~a:.lon hence, is moHabhominablc: for, to· ."vorfhip an Image or other holy thing,or Godbimfdfc in pr at the fame, is Aatly forbidden in.t)Jcf~£ond Com!1laundemcnt, Tho#}lullt not ~""ks to thyfelfcany grauen lmage,&c. Thou Jba!P not bow downe ro therFJ. But our Tranllation in this place is true-and tight, according to the words ?f ~he Text,and the meaning of the holy Ghoil,thathrJ;>9r[hp.– pcd7Jpon the cnduf hi>ftaffe. ; • . Yet further, there mayb~ a que!liortmooucd aboutthewords, for ifwe rcade the Hifioric in Gcnefis, it is there faid, that laacohworjhip~ ped towardsrhrende or toppe of hr1 bed, Gcn,4'7• 3'• . Now, there is oreat difference hctwcene thefe two, To wor'!hippr on the toppe ofhufttiffe: and on thetopprof hi> bed. How therfore can they !land together1 An f. They may lland \veil together, and bee both true: for when l~tcob \Vas about to giue vpthc Gholl, and was readie to die, heeraifed vp himfdfc vpon his pillowe towards the beds head, and thereon rclled his body. Nqw be– caufe his body was wral<c and feeblc,hc llaide himfclfe alfo vp'on his llaffe: and thus·compa• ring the places together, we fee therc_is no rc– pugnancie in thcm.Againe,this we mufi know, that the fame fcmence of Scripture rnay be di– uertly read in diuers place' of Script~re, ·with out any impe-:~.chmcut to the truth, Ccrtain!ie 1 or perfection of Scripture : for,when the holy Gholl fpeaketh the fame t!ung often, yet in diffcrcnttcarmes (as in this place) the di·uerfity of '"'ords doth enlarge or open the fenfc and meaning, but no way corrupt or dcprauc the fame. Aut! thus much fotthcwords. Now to come to the facl it fclfe: in lacohs ·~----~------------------------------------------------------------~w~o~:~-~----~
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