them, amongst men so enfeebled by roots, was bred up that man, who had both malicious courage, and bodily strength, to kill the last king, who was killed amongst them*) they will be above others in their fasts, fish, and roots will they eat, all the days of their life, but their Master will be above them in his fast, (Dust must he eat all the days of his life.)

It is Luther's observation upon this place, that in all Moses his books, God never spoke so long, so much together, as here, upon this occasion. Indeed the occasion was great; it was the arrangement of all the world, and more; of mankind, and of angels too; of Adam, and Eve, (and there were no more of them) and then of the serpent, and of Satan in that, and of all the fallen angels in him. For the sentence which God, as judge gave upon them, upon all these malefactors, of that part which fell upon the woman, all our mothers are experimental witnesses, they brought forth us in sorrow and in travail. Of that part of the sentence which fell upon man, every one of us is an experimental witness, for in every calling, in the sweat of our face, we eat our bread. And of that part of the judgment, which was inflicted upon the serpent, and Satan in him, this dead brother of ours who lies in this consecrated earth, is an experimental witness, who being by death reduced to the state of dust, for so much of him, as is dust, that is, for his dead body, and then, for so long time, as he is to remain in that state of dust, is in the portion, and jurisdiction, and possession of the serpent, that is, in the state which the serpent hath induced upon man, and dust must he eat all the days of his life.

In passing through these words, we shall make but these two steps; first, what the serpent lost, by this judgment inflicted upon him; and secondly, what man gained by it; for these two considerations embrace much, involve much; first, that God's anger is so intensive, and so extensive, so spreading, and so vehement, as that in his justice, he would not spare the serpent, who had no voluntary, no innate, no natural ill disposition towards man, but was only made the instrument of Satan, in the overthrow of man. And then, that God's mercy is so large, so overflowing, so superabundant, as that even in his judgment upon the serpent, I suppose this alludes to Ravaillac; Henry IV. was assasinated in 1610.-ED.

he would provide mercy for man. For, as it is a great weight of judgment upon the serpent, that the serpent must eat dust, so is it a great degree of mercy to man, that the serpent must eat but dust, because man's best part is not subject to be served in at his table, the soul cannot become dust, (and dust must he eat all the days of his life.) O, in what little sin, though but a sin of omission, though but a sin of ignorance, in what circumstance of sin, may I hope to escape judgment, if God punished the serpent who was violently, and involuntarily transported in this action? And in what depth, in what height, in what heinousness, in what multiplicity of sin can I doubt of the mercy of my God, who makes judgment itself the instrument, the engine, the chariot of his mercy? What room is there left for presumption, if the serpent, the passive serpent were punished? What room for desperation, if in the punishment, there be a manifestation of mercy? The serpent must eat dust, that is his condemnation, but he shall eat no better meat, he shall eat but dust, there is man's consolation.

First then, as it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God', so is it an impossible thing to escape it. God is not ashamed of being jealous; he does not only pronounce that he is a jealous God, but he desires to be known by none other name, (The Lord whose name is jealous, is a jealous God2) so jealous, as that he will not have his name uttered in vain; not only not blasphemed, not sworn by, but not used indifferently, transitorily, not proverbially, occasionally, not in vain. And if it be, what then? Even for this, he will visit to the third, and fourth generation; and three and four are seven, and seven is infinite. So jealous, as that in the case of the angels, not for looking upon any other creatures, or trusting in them, (for, when they fell, as it is ordinarily received there were no other creatures made) but for not looking immediately, directly upon God, but reflecting upon themselves, and trusting in their own natural parts, God threw those angels into so irrecoverable, and bottomless a depth, as that the merits of Christ Jesus, though of infinite, superinfinite value, do not buoy them up; so jealous a God, is God, so jealous, as that in Adam's case, for over-loving his own wife,

for his over-tender compassion of her, for eating the forbidden fruit, ne constristaretur delicias suas, (as St. Hierome lays his fault) lest he should deject her into an inordinate and desperate melancholy, and so make her incapable of God's mercy, God threw the first man, and in him, all, out of paradise, out of both paradises, out of that of rest, and plenty here, and that of joy, and glory hereafter. Consider Balaam's sin about cursing God's people, or Moses' sin about striking the rock, and wouldst not thou be glad to change sins, with either of them? Are not thy sins greater, heavier sins; and yet, wouldst thou not be sorry, to undergo their punishments? Are not thy punishments less? Hast thou found honey, says the Holy Ghost in Solomon'; and, he says it promiscuously, and universally, to everybody; eat, as much as is sufficient. Every man may. And then, Jonathan found that honey, and knew not that it was forbidden by Saul's proclamation, and did but taste it, and that in a case of extreme necessity, and Jonathan must die. Any man might eat enough, he did but taste, and he must die. If the angels, if Adam, if Balaam, if Moses, if Jonathan did, if the serpent in the text, could consider this, how much cheaper God hath made sin to thee, than to them, might they not have colour in the eye of a natural man, to expostulate with God? Might not Ananias, and Sapphira, who only withheld a little of that, which, but a little before, was all their own, and now must die for that, have been excusable if they had said at the last gasp, How many direct sacrileges hath God forborne, in such and such, and we must die? Might not Er, and Onan", after their unclean act upon themselves only, for which they died, have been excusable, if they had said at the last gasp, How many direct adulteries, how many unnatural incests hath God forborne in such and such, and we must die? How many loads of miserable wretches mayest thou have seen suffer at ordinary executions, when thou mightest have said with David, Lord I have done wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done? What had this serpent done?

The serpent was more subtle than any other beast. It is a

dangerous thing to have a capacity to do evil; to be fit to be wrought upon, is a dangerous thing. How many men have been drawn into danger, because they were too rich? How many women into solicitation, and temptation, because they were too beautiful? Content thyself with such a mediocrity in these things, as may make thee fit to serve God, and to assist thy neighbour, in a calling, and be not ambitious of extraordinary excellency in any kind; it is a dangerous thing, to have a capacity to do evil. God would do a great work; and he used the simplicity of the ass; he made Balaam's ass speak'; but the devil makes use of the subtlety, of the craft of the serpent; the serpent is his instrument; no more but so, but so much he is, his instrument. And then, says St. Chrysostom, Pater noster execratur gladium, As a natural father would, so our heavenly Father does hate, that which was the instrument of the ruin of his children. Wherein hath he expressed that hate? Not to bind ourselves to Josephus his opinion, (though some of the ancients in the Christian church have seconded that opinion too) that at that time the serpent could go upright, and speak, and understand, and knew what he did, and so concurred actually and willingly to the temptation and destruction of man, though he were but another's instrument, he became odious to God. Our bodies, of themselves, if they had no souls, have no disposition to any evil; yet, these bodies which are but instruments, must burn in hell. The earth was accursed for man's sin, though the earth had not been so much as an instrument of his sin; only because it was, after, to conduce to the punishment of his children, it was accursed, God withdrew his love from it. And in the law, those beasts with which men committed bestiality, were to be stoned, as well as the men'. How poor a plea will it be, to say, at the last day, I got nothing by such an extortion, to mine own purse, it was for my master; I made no use of that woman whom I had corrupted, it was for a friend. Miserable instrument of sin, that hadst not the profit, nor the pleasure, and must have the damnation! As the prophet calls them, that help us towards heaven, Saviours, (Saviours shall come up on Mount

Sion) so are all that concur instrumentally to the damnation of others, devils. And, at the last day, we shall see many sinners saved, and their instruments perish. Adam, and Eve, both God interrogated, and gave them time, to meditate and to deprecate; to Adam, he says, Where art thou, and, who told thee that thou wast naked? And to Eve, What is this that thou hast done? But to the serpent no such breathing; the first word is, Quia fecisti; no calling for evidence whether he had done it or no, but, Because thou hast done it, thou art accursed. Sin is treason against God; and in treason there is no accessory; the instrument is the principal.

We pass from that first part, the consideration of heavy judgments upon faults, in appearance but small, derived from the punishment of the serpent, though but an instrument. Let no man set a low value upon any sin; let no man think it a little matter to sin some one sin, and no more; or that one sin but once, and no oftener; or that once but a little way in that sin, and no farther; or all this, to do another a pleasure, though he take none in it himself, (as though there were charity in the society of sin, and that it were an alms to help a man to the means of sinning.) The least sin cost the blood of the Son of God, and the least sinner may lose the benefit of it, if he presume of it. No man may cast himself from a pinnacle, because an angel may support him; no man may kill himself, because there is a resurrection of the body; nor wound his soul to death by sin, because there may be a resurrection of that, by grace. Here is no room for presumption upon God; but, as little for desperation in God; for, in the punishment of the serpent, we shall see, that his mercy, and justice are inseparable; that, as all the attributes of God, make up but one God (goodness, and wisdom, and power are but one God) so mercy and justice make up but one act; they do not only duly succeed, and second one another, they do not only accompany one another, they are not only together, but they are all one. As manna, though it tasted to one man like one thing, to another like another, (for it tasted to every man like that, that that man liked best) yet still was the same

11 Obad. 21.