An evil

father

nor con

trary; and

evil child; for many good fathers have had evil children, and maketh not evil fathers good children. Adam had good Abel and wicked Cain: Noe had good Sem and evil Cham: Abraham had so the good. both the carnal Ismael and the spiritual Isaac: Isaac had the beloved Jacob and the hated Esau: David had both proud Absalon and wise Salomon: so that the soul of the father Ezek. xviii. is the Lord's, as well as the soul of the son; and the soul that sins shall perish, and not the father for the son, nor the son for the father, as the prophet says: but every one shall die in his own sins. So has there been from the beginning, in the house and children of one father, both good and evil, both carnal and spiritual, where the one has persecuted the other: as there is now in the outward church of Christ and company of them that call themselves Christians, both true people and faithful, and also hypocrites, dissemblers and cruel persecutors of their brethren, as these late days well declared, where the father persecuted the son, and the son the father; the man the wife, and the wife the man which all and such other our Saviour Christ declares to be consequents to the gospel. Therefore can none doubt of the truth of the gospel now taught, and who be the true followers of the same, but he that is wilfully blind, seeing all these and many other true tokens fulfilled in our days.

And where he says, "We heard a saying from the Lord, and a message was sent to the heathen, that they should go fight against Edom;" he declares by what authority these people came to destroy the Edomites: not sent by any kings or the high priest, but it was the Lord God, which would use Nabuchodonozor and his people for a scourge of his justice, to the punishing of these wicked people. It must not be thought strange that God lets one people plague another, seeing the scriptures is so full of it: for as God shews his mercy unto his people by the help and means of other men, (for God works nothing without means,) so he does not plague 1 Kings xii. other without some means, and lets one people destroy another. When Roboam would have fought against JeroAll plagues boam, for withdrawing ten tribes from him, the Lord spake unto him, and bad him he should not fight with him; for the thing was his deed, and he willed it should be so. All God's one another creatures be but his servants to do his pleasure; to help and

be from

God, yet only man sins in plaguing

comfort where it please him, and to punish, correct, try, and destroy where it please him.

But all other creatures, except man, do not sin in destroying or hurting man, because they have no evil affection of mind in doing it: only man sins in his doings, because he adds to his doings some evil affection of his own mind, or else is stirred to it of the devil. So Job says, "The Lord has Job i. given, and the Lord has taken away; the Lord's name be praised." He calls it not the deed of the Sabees or Chaldees that robbed him, but the Lord's; and yet they sore offended God in so doing for they did it not to try Job, as God would have had it, but of a greedy covetousness to rob him, and a malicious mind, because he was so wealthy, which thing they disdained. Joseph says that his brethren, which sold him to Gen. xlv. the Ismaelites, were not the cause of his coming into Egypt, but the good will of God; for the Lord turned the malice of his brethren both to the promotion of Joseph and all their comforts.

The Lord therefore now, when the sin of this people was ripe, and when he had tried long enough for the amendment of them, and they would not turn unto God, but abused his patience and long-suffering; he sends forth his messenger to the heathen about, to come and justly to punish these obstinate people for their long disobedience. It is as well the property of God to shew justice and punish sin, as mercifully to help the weak and repentant heart; and mercy is not so in God, that justice is banished. As the Lord said, he would whistle and with hissing call for Nabuchodonozor, to Isai. v. vii. come and destroy Jerusalem; so now he sends messengers to come bid them fight against Edom. Yet Nabuchodonozor, in justly punishing the Jews and Edomites, and that by the commandment of God, sore offendeth God, because he was proud of the victory, cruel in murder, and covetous of spoiling, ambitious in raveing [ravening], and never thought he had enough and therefore was his kingdom afterwards destroyed by the justice of God. So the deed, as it is of God, is good, pure and just but being defiled of us, with adding our evil affections to it, as when good wine is put into an evil vessel, it is sin and damnable; and yet is God free from all our sin and wickedness, and no causer thereof, but a hater and revenger of all wickedness.

1 Cor. ix.

But here is doubted, who these be that heard this voice of the Lord, and how this message was sent to the gentiles. To the first part I had rather say, that the prophet speaks of himself in the plural number, as though they were many that heard it which kind of speaking is common in the scripture; as Paul says, "If we have sown you spiritual things, is it much?"—or else, that the other prophets, which prophesy against Edom, heard the same saying from God as well as he did, and they all together, or Abdias alone in their names says, "We heard a saying from the Lord, &c." And so this saying should be true and the rather believed, because so many did agree in one saying. Against Edom Who heard prophesied Esay, xxi. xxxiv. Jere. xlix. Ezech. xxxv. Amos i. But most plainly, earnestly, and orderly agreeing with this Abdias, and almost word for word, does Jere. xlix., whose words if ye compare with this present prophecy, ye shall see the agreeing truth of God's Spirit in his scripture, and a great light shall be ministered to this place thereby.

this voice.

How the message was sent.

Jer. xxv.

It is no less doubt how this message was sent, and who was the minister that carried it: for some think that Abdias was sent with this embassage himself to stir up Nabuchodonozor and his people to destroy these Edomites; but other, to whom I had rather agree, think that the devil by God's sufferance put into the mind of them to work his will and justice upon them. God calls Nabuchodonozor his servant for such causes, although the devil moved him to it, and says that he did him good service in executing his judgment; as the hangman serves the king in punishing offenders, and the jailor in prisoning them, as well as other do in their kind and office: yet is God no more the cause of their sin and evil doing, than the king is of the offences and robberies of the people but God, like a righteous judge, of justice must needs punish such faults as other magistrates do in their commonwealth. But like as this voice of the Lord was not heard by the ears of the body of the prophets, but put into their minds by the work of God, as he thought good; so I think this message was not sent by any man: but as when embassadors be sent, or rumours of war be certainly spread, kings prepare themselves to war; so these people, stirred up of God by justice to punish their sin, and set forward

of the devil to satisfy their wicked desires, rise up all together to fight against Edom, and destroyed it. So the Lord used the devil as his jailor and hangman to be a lying spirit in 1 Kings xxii. the mouth of Achab's prophets, and sent him to war that he might there perish, and God's righteous sentence be executed, where he said that the dogs should lick his blood where they did lick up Naboth's. Thus God in his scripture, speaking to men, uses to speak as men: for as men by messages or rumours of robberies are stirred up to war; so the Lord by some meet mean, as though it were by messengers, would stir up the Chaldees to destroy Edom.

of this war.

The cause of this war and destruction was, as Ezechiel The cause says, xxxv, because the Edomites, which should have been helpers unto the Israelites in their trouble, (because they were not only neighbours, their kingdoms joining together, but also they came of two brethren, Jacob and Esau, which thing should have knit them in brotherly love,) they did not only not help them, but cruelly persecute them continually: "I will destroy thee," says the Lord, "and make thee desolate, because thou hast had a continual hate against the Israelites, and didst fear them with the sword in the time of their trouble." Amos tells the same cause likewise, and almost with the same word.

causes near

to be ex

So this is the case of God's people, that for their reli- Religion gion they shall have enemies of their own house, kinsfolk est friends and friends, as this day well declares. And our Saviour treme foes. Christ said, "He came not to set peace, but to divide the father against the son, &c." Where hatred falls betwixt brethren and friends, and specially for religion, it is the cruelest hate that can be. This hate began betwixt Jacob and Esau for losing his blessing; but it continued and increased with the time in their children and posterity. The eldest son, as the Hebrews write, had their privileges afore The privithe younger, as they have commonly now. The eldest then elder succeeded in his father's authority, was reverenced of his brethren: he had also double portion of his father's goods, as other say, and also enjoyed the priesthood. Where worldlings, that care for nothing so much as the world, have lost their worldly honour and authority, how do they rage and sin! Esau, when he had lost and sold these things, he sought

lege of the

brother.

God refuses.

the elder

his brother's death: as our papists, that would be counted the elder brethren, losing their worldly estimation, their belly cheer and lordliness, their wealth and proud priesthood, they fret and fume, burn and kill all that gainsay them, as the Edomites did.

But as then for Cain the wicked and his seed, although and glorious the elder brother, God chose Abel, the younger, Seth and Enos; for Ismael the elder, Isaac the younger; for Esau and abjects. Jacob; for Ruben Juda and Levi; and David, the youngest

in the world to choose

the younger

shall not

ever prosper, nor the

misery.

of seven brethren, and as of no reputation in respect of his other brethren, but set to keep sheep; so God, to pull down the pride of man in these days, also chooses the abjects to set forth his glory, refusing the proud Pharisees, and disdaining holy hypocrites, and at the length will deThe wicked stroy them, as he threatens here the Edomites. For God, to comfort his people, that the wicked should not ever prosper, godly be in and the chosen people live in continual misery, lest they fall away from God through over great adversities, threatens to destroy their enemies, and deliver them, if they will abide his leisure. But as destruction is here prophesied to Edom for their cruelty; so shall all haters of God's people perish at the length. Where as difference is in religion, there can be no true ligion dif- heart nor stedfast love. For seeing God is love itself, that enemies will love which is not in God, but raised of carnal and worldly reasons, when the world turns, must needs change, and shew itself what a love it was, and where it was grounded: but that which is builded on God will continue, because he changes not, and all their' change with time. These Edomites joined themselves with Nabuchodonozor, when he came to destroy Jerusalem; as Pilate and Herod, which afore were enemies, agreed to crucify Christ our Lord, and as our papists did now with the Spaniards, to destroy the gospel and his professors.

No true love

is where re

fers; but

join to overthrow it.

The Text.

v. 2. Behold, I will make thee a little one among the heathen; thou shalt be very much despised.

3. The pride of thy heart has deceived thee, because thou dwellest in the open places of the rock, and in the height is thy dwelling, and says in thy heart, Who shall draw me to the earth?

[Qu. other. ED.]