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Shall horses runne vpon the rocke? or will one plowe there with Oxen? For ye haue turned iudgement into gall, and the fruit of righteousnes into wormewood.
* 1.1A Nargument or reason whereby God proueth that hee is iustly auenged on them, and doth punish them. For this must hee needs doe, except he will be counted vniust. Therefore God pro∣ueth
by two similitudes, that there cannot, or could not bee any more agreement betweene their most lewd and wicked manen 〈◊〉〈◊〉 his iustice, then there is agreement between a most rugged rock•• horses rūning or Oxen plowing therupō. For a stony rock is no•• 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to be plowed, nor for a course to be made vpon it with horses. T•••• countrey of Ithaca (sayth one) is not fit for a race with horses, b••¦cause it is stony and rockie: neither do men vse to sow in a ban•• soyle, such as is a rocke. And therefore in Mat. cap. 13. ver. 5. Chri•••• in the parable of the seede sayth, That it that fell on stonie gro•••• where it had not much earth, sprung vp anon, because it had not d•••••• of earth, and when the sunne rose vp,* 1.2 it was parched, and for lacke 〈◊〉〈◊〉 rooting, withered away. Therefore as these things agree not toge∣ther, To plow in a barren soyle, To runne with horses in a ro•••••• place: so is it neither conuenient nor meete that God (who is 〈◊〉〈◊〉 should cherish most wicked persons, such as are the Israel•••••••• There is a like place Isai 28. ver. 24, 25. where things appertaini••g vnto husbandry are compared with the iudgement and natu•••••• God. Doth the plow man (saith the Prophet) plowe all the da•••••• sowe? Doth he open and breake the clots of his ground? When he h•••••• made it plaine, will he not then sowe the fitches, and sowe cummin, and cast in wheat by measure, & the appointed barley and rie in their place▪
* 1.3Now concerning the foundation and ground of this argume•• and reason, (to wit, that it is not meete that God should spare the wicked) it appeareth by many places of scripture to bee most true Psal. 94. ver. 20. Hath the throne of iniquitie (saith Dauid to Go••) any fellowship with thee, which forgeth wrong for a law? And Paul•• Cor. cap. 6. ver. 16. Hath the Temple of GOD any agreement with I∣dols? whereby consequently he sheweth that there is no agreem•••••• between God and between any thing that is euil. And Isai 32. v. 1•• the Prophet teacheth, That the worke of iustice is peace, euen the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of iustice and quietnes, and assurance for euer. Whereby he meaneth that as the fruits of God his spirit in the faythfull are iustice, p••••••••, and ioy, so God both liketh and loueth, and rewardeth the same: and on the other side that his iustice requireth, that he should pu∣nis•• the contrary.
* 1.4The assumption, or minor proposition of this argument fol∣lo••eth in these words (ye haue chaunged iudgement into gall) that is to say, ye are most lewd and wicked. Therefore by the course of their whole life God doth argue and proue them guilty of horrible iniquitie. For God speaketh generally (ye haue changed) so tha••
whether the magistrates, or p••iuat persons be looked vpon, they are both here proued guiltie. Further he saith, (Iudgement and the fruite of righteousnes) that is, whatsoeuer you doe owe vnto God or men, the same you haue corrupted, ouerthrowne, changed into co∣uetous••es and cueltie, abusing vnto that your iniquitie and wic∣kednes all the dueties and partes of man his life and societie. So th••t 〈◊〉〈◊〉 were more tolerable to drinke and eate gall and wormewood, then to be iudged by your iudgements, to liue among you, and to haue de••l••ng with you. Behold what maner of life the life of those men is, the which despise the truth and worship of God, and how lamentable and miserable it is to haue conuersation and liuing with them.
God by argu∣ment proueth that he doth iustly punish them.
The applicatiō of the two sims¦litudes.
The Maior. It standeth with the iustice of God to pu∣nish the wicked
The Minor. I••e I••ra••lites are most wic∣••ed.