Chapter IV (continued, part 2)
then fore -signified, by what I spake and acted toward Noah.
Then in the words after he doth in express terms call those promises of
ver. 7, 8, The covenant of my peace, or my covenant of peace, as
others ; because those promises contain (as I said) in them the principal substance of the covenant of grace arid peace ; and by expressing it thus
under the title and notion of his covenant, he gives us to understand what
he meant by Noah s waters, and sends us to the story of the things that
c This is the waters
passed then about it to know the meaning of his saying,
of Noah.
About which we shall find that he had established two covenants with
Noah, both before and after them waters ; whereof the first prefigured some
eminent pieces of the covenant of grace ; the other signified other particu
lars thereof, and in a special manner the stability of it ; and therefore it was
they were two in a figure, because no one figure is sufficient to signify the
whole ; and therefore God revealed it at those sundry times, by parts, but
yet so as in their tendency both served to be figures of that covenant ; for
so the covenant of grace is, which is but one, and is therefore styled in the
singular, the covenant of his peace, but typified forth by those two of Noah s, which in that respect do coalesce in one.
58 OF ELECTION. [B OK L
Now, 2dly, there be two eminent things contained in those promises,
verse 7, 8. . -
First, That whereas God had for some time (which in comparison ot
eternity he calls a moment, though it had been a space of two thousand
years) forsaken the Gentiles, as if he had rejected them from ever being a
church to him, that yet he had in his eternal purposes designed a gathering
of them observe that word, ver. 7 a taking of them into his bed, as an
husband his spouse (for he carries it under the metaphor of an husband
taking again his wife unto him : ver. 5, Thy Maker is thy husband ) ; so
that his forsaking and rejecting of them so long had been but to magnify
and greaten his own mercies towards them in the end the more ; and this
first piece of his prophetic covenant, to gather them, you have in ver. 7,
For a small moment have I forsaken thee ; but with great mercies will
gather thee; wherein observe also how he puts the attribute of great mercies
upon this their gathering, and great in two respects therein.
(1.) In relation to what they should be so long afore this grace breaks
forth upon them, which you exactly find set out, even then when accom
plished (as here it is promised and prophesied of), Eph. ii., where the
apostle impresseth this very consideration upon them ; ver. 11, Wherefore
remember, says he, that ye in times past, Gentiles in the flesh, that at
that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and
without God in the world. And in speaking this to the Ephesians, he
speaks the same to all the rest of the converted Gentiles, Romans, Colossians,
Philippians, &c. And he remembers them of this, to that end they might
thereby acknowledge that infinite great love and riches of mercy in electing them from everlasting ; and out of that electing love and grace freely first
set upon them, it was that he had now called and gathered them. The con
sideration of this he had promised, and forelaid into the apprehensions of
them, in chap. i. ver. 4, which he drives home in the same chap. ii. ver. 4, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us ;
his great love and mercy, that is his word, and it is God s own word in
Isaiah, you see, upon the very same consideration.
(2.) Observe, it is the grace and mercy of his first gathering and convert
ing them that God in Isaiah puts this greatness of mercy upon ; and the same doth the apostle there, in Eph. ii. 5, Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ ; by grace ye are saved ;
quickening here in the apostle s language, is gathering of them in God s here.
It was their first gathering then, and so on of their posterity, that God speaks of in that 7th verse in Isaiah.
The second eminent thing in God s prophetic promise in Isaiah to his
Gentile church, is in the other following, ver. 8, In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment ; but with everlasting kindness will I have
mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. In which the eminent thing to be superadded to the former is the everlastingness of the kindness, after
their being gathered. And otherwise the other words in both verses come unto one. The meaning of which is, that he would continue unto the persons of them, after he had gathered and converted them, an unchangeable kind ness with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee to last ; and that is, which shall not only not fail to follow them unto everlasting, and never be taken away or removed, but further, should be so rich a treasury as should last the spending upon them in ages to come, even to eternity (as in Eph. ii. 7, That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in kindness towards us through Christ Jesus ), and never be spent.
CHAP. IV.] OF ELECTION. 59
Now, answerably, there are two eminent distinct parts or pieces in God s
application of Noah s covenants, which in their principal scope do correspond, as in the figure, with the eminent matters of those two aforesaid promises of God s : the one more specially respecting the one ; the other, the other
of them. And, if you observe withal, there are two rational particles of
for, which (according to what our translation hath rendered) are distinctly placed and set afore each.
1. For this [isj the waters of Noah to me. There is the first for; and that
serves more especially as the reason or illustration of the matter of that first
promise in ver. 7, and likewise in further correspondency to that 7th verse, I take it, those words have a more special reference unto the first covenant of Noah s, made afore his entering into the ark, and whilst in the ark, to save him in and from the waters or flood ; for that bears a resemblance with God s promise to gather, of which by and by.
* For as I have sworn that the waters should no more go over the earth ; so have I sworn I
The second for, afore the second sentence that follows it :
will not be wroth with thee, &c. This passage doth evidently, and without
possibility of contradiction, refer to that second covenant made with Noah, after he was come forth of the ark, and had escaped the waters ; and unto
that alone doth that passage refer, as by comparing Gen. viii. 21, and Gen.
: And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said
ix. 11 appears
in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man s sake ; for the imagination of man s heart is evil from his youth
: neither will I
again smite any more every living thing, as I have done. And I will estab
lish my covenant with you : neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood ; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the
earth. And this latter passage hath a more peculiar and proper respect unto the matter of the promise in the 8th verse, namely, the everlasting continuance of that kindness of God s ; the unchangeable fixedness of his
mercy not to be removed or taken off from that Gentile church, or his elect
therein, after they are gathered. And for the confirmation and illustration
of this everlastingness, &c., it is that he refers unto that latter covenant of Noah s, whereof he speaks thus : For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth ; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. In which words he gives the greatest evidence and demonstration of that fixedness of his mercy that could be, in
that the matter of his oath sworn unto is, that from out of that mercy, and
the resolved everlastingness of it, he undertakes to have so watchful a care to
prevent whatever it be, might, and would otherwise provoke him unto ever
lasting wrath against them. And that must be supposed to be such sinnings as by the rules of his word should put them into a state of wrath again ; for
in that he says, I will not be wroth with thee, &c., there must be supposed,
yea, and intended, a preventing the cause of such a wrath in the person he
swears for ; for if they in such a manner sin, as unregenerate men do, which
the apostle terms doing sin, in a continued course, with full consent of will, then according to the rules of his word an eternal wrath must fall upon them, and they become children of wrath again after gathering, daad in sins and trespasses, as afore. Again, this effect and fruit of his everlasting kindness in the 10th verse answers to the figure of God s oath to Noah, to
see to it, and take order by his omnipotency, to still the rage of the waters, that they overflow the earth no more in wrath. And he here says he hath sworn he will do the like to the hearts of his elect, and thereby professeth himself to be as able to take order, and rule men s hearts and lusts, as he doth the waters ; and both are alike joined
: Ps. Ixv. 7, Who stilleth the
GQ OF ELECTION. [B OK L
noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.
< lusts that war in ^-member
TumuUs are from the raging of men s
James iv 1 2. And this everlasting kindness, and the firmness and faxed-
n "of it, and the unchangeableness, unalterableness of the covenant fcat
proceeded from it, he further amplifies and enargeth upon ver 11 upon
Occasion of this oath : For the mountains shall depart, and the h Is shall
be removed, hut my kindness shall not depart from thee ; neither shall the
covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee
If any be not satisfied in this order and disposement of these two several
sentences in ver. 9, both in these two references to the 7th and 8th verses
respectively, and then also concerning that other unto Noah s two covenants
respectively, under so distinct and different an allusion peculiar to each, 1
shall further add this account touching either of them.
1. As to the first sentence, this is the waters, &c., its special reference to
Noah s first covenant, about his salvation in the waters, there is this reason
to induce me, which ariseth from putting these few considerations together.
(1 ) A fresh remembrance is had and uttered by God of Noah s covenant,
in this 9th verse, to confirm his covenant of grace, that appears by what
hath been said. ,,
(2.) That in the pursuit of this allegory, from the mention made of Noah s
waters ver. 9, we meet with a most passionate exclamation, proceeding from
God s deepest affection, uttered in ver. 11, thou afflicted and tossed with
tempest, but with and under so manifest an allusion unto the like com
passionate bowels towards Noah and his doleful condition, whilst he was
a-saving him in the waters and in the ark,* as no man that will look to
and again upon the aspect which the words, ver. 9, and of these ver. 11, do
cast one upon the other, can be able rationally to deny. Now those affec
tions towards Noah, as considered in that condition, and whilst in that con
dition, were as manifestly stirred up in God s heart upon the remembrance
of that first covenant made with Noah when he was to enter into the ark,
and which in the letter of it concerned God s saving him in the waters,
which punctually ngrees with what we read in the story of Noah s waters in
Genesis, where, after the continuance of so many days tempests, by flood
gates of waters from heaven, and prevailing of waters from beneath, related
chap, vii., it is thereupon said, chap. viii. 1, that God remembered Noah, and
those with him, &c. It was a remembrance, that, of tenderest compas
sions, as we know that word remembrance useth to connotate and import. And in allusion unto this, you have his passions and compassions break
forth towards his church, and uttered with a most pathetic outcry, thou
tossed, &c., proceeding from the remembrance of his covenant towards his
elect, which had been the main subject of the fore-part of the chapter ; and
you know bow frequently in Scriptures it is spoken, God did this or that,
remembering his holy covenant. And so it was here.
(3.) Hence, thirdly, there being first a memoir, a mention, or remem
brance of Noah s waters, as notifying (by a metonymy) God s covenant with Noah about his waters, ver. 9, whereby to set out this his covenant to his
7 occasion thereof, and in coherence there
church, and then afterwards b}
with, these sympathising expressions break out in ver. 11. Certainly, then,
that covenant with Noah, the remembrance of which was it that is said to
have caused that commiseration in God towards him at that time, that must
be found somewhere in the 9th verse, at the bottom of those words, if we
* Videtur Dens adhuc respicere tempora Nose, quando totum imindum generalis inundatio delevit: appellat ecclosiara, respiciens arcam, quoe cum octo tan turn animabus juctabatur in fluctibus. Sanctius in verla.
CHAP. IV.] OF ELECTION. 61
will dive unto the bottom of the scope of the mention of them. Now that
covenant was (of his two) the first of them, touching God s saving him in
the waters, as by the story is undeniable. And therefore that covenant must
necessarily have been alluded unto ; for otherwise the correspondence in the
allusion between the two parts of it, had fallen quite besides, and had been
disproportioned. For Noah s second covenant was to secure him against the waters any more to return upon him and his posterity. And that cannot
* thou
in any reason be supposed that such this passionate exclamation,
tossed, &c., should be referred unto; for it looks upon Noah as viewed in
the height of those waters and tempests, and supposeth him in the midst of
those waters ; so as between Noah s first covenant, and such an exclamation
as that which was occasioned by it, there is a full congruity and proper coherence. The first part, giving just occasion for the latter, these suit as
cause and effect ; but not so at all doth Noah s second covenant and this condolement match and correspond. But that alone considered gives not an occasion for it, and cannot comprehend in it the whole scope of Noah s
waters, which yet generally interpreters would have it do. So then, here being these two sentences or speeches in the 9th verse, For this is the waters of Noah to me, the first ;
* For as I have sworn the
waters of Noah shall go no more over the earth, which is the second, and
there being two covenants made with Noah about his waters (as they are
called), differing in this, that the first was with promise to save him in the
waters which were inevitably decreed to come upon the world for their
destruction ; the other only to secure him, that they should not any more
return to drown him and the earth ; it seems most probable, if there were no more reason on our side, that the first of those speeches should cast its
eye of allusion and aspect upon the first of those covenants, as its pretended
correspondent, and the second sentence upon the second covenant. The
latter is apparent in the words, and was it that drew interpreters eyes
wholly thereupon, to attend that, and overlook the first.
But that so emphatical an indigitation, or pointing so as with the finger in the first,
* This is the waters of Noah to me, which are in the first uttered, seem to me to point rather to those waters which we read, de facto, did come
upon the earth, and which Noah escaped, than to speak of another flood which did not come upon him, and which is yet termed the waters of Noah
in the sentence following, meaning only that not the like waters, to those
that did come upon Noah, should any more go over, &c., yea, that not
another such ; whereas in this first instance he points to the flood itself that
did come, from which the other not to come hath its denomination of Noah s
waters, but tralatitiously, or at a second derivative hand, taken from the
waters that had foregone, supposeth that positively such a flood had been. And that is it which properly and originally bears the name of Noah s waters, which is all one as we use to say Noah s flood, meaning that flood which de
facto did come, and the latter mention of it is but the promise of a negative,
a preventive promise, namely, that God would not again overflow the earth
a second time with the like, and supposeth the danger of the flood already
past, or at least Noah saved in it. Is it not, then, more proper and direct
(may we not think) for that first speech, This is the waters, &c., to intend
rather that positive salvation which Noah then was to have, and had, upon the first covenant, and which must necessarily be first supposed he should have ere the latter could be so much as spoken of, and which the promise of it necessarily implies in that word, no more go over the earth, that this
first flood to have gone over is afore, yea, and that salvation of Noah s from
that flood being that great salvation of which the Scripture speaks ? Can we
62 OF ELECTION. [B OK L
think that God, in making a remembrance of his covenant about
v and so of his promise to save him in them, should omit and pass that over
altogether in silence ? Now, and if it be to be found at all in this 9th verse,
it must be in these first words, This is the waters of Noah to me as pomt-
ing to those then present waters that came upon the whole earth which Noah
was saved out of by virtue of that first covenant with him, and therefore mus
be supposed to have been intended.
If any object, and say, Yea, but the second sentence, and the very expli
cation he gives why and for what purpose he had spoken the first, as nrst
proposing the mention of Noah s waters in general, this is the waters ol
Noah but with a purpose, and no otherwise but to bring m and declare this
alone, that as he swore of those waters, they should no more return, so nor
his wrath, &c., and so that this is the sole and whole intent of his mention
of them. And to this do the generality of interpreters narrow it, and make
both sentences to be in the scope of them, all one, and adequate, and only
to serve to express God s faithfulness in not casting off his people, or in not
givincr them up to wrath again, after he hath taken them to be his people.
3 I answer, 1, That it often falls out in alleging of a type more generally,
that but some one particular part or branch of what it typifies proves to be
instanced in, when yet there may be many other particulars of as great moment that are not explicitly mentioned. As when Christ says to the
Pharisees, Mat. xii. 39, 40, as his after words shew, in indignation for asking
of him a sign, who had given them so many, to testify invincibly that he was
* An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign ; and
their Messiah,
there shall be no sign given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas : for as
Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale s belly, so shall the Son
of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The sign
of the prophet Jonas ; that is, who was an iutended sign by way of type of
me to come, and that in more respects than one. Yet our Saviour seems
expressly to instance but in that one particular of his being three days and
three nights in the whale s belly ; as which signified (as Christ explains it)
his own being in the grave, or the heart of the earth three days, so is it
here. The like might be instanced in the case of many other types, as in
that of Noah s salvation in the ark, to be the figure of baptism, 1 Peter
iii. 20, 21, which yet contains many other parallels not mentioned. ? Am. 2. It is true that the mention of Noah s waters here doth serve fitly
to usher in, leads on unto that one particular that follows ; but yet if any
will allow me but that this speech, This is the waters of Noah, is a general
proposal of them first made, as notifying in general God s covenanting with Noah about those waters, whereof that one that succeeds is a particular com
prehended in it, I should not much contend ; but to confine the scope of God s allegation of it unto that one branch instanced in, and thereupon so
to exclude altogether its aspect, or any reference to the waters or flood of Noah that de facto came upon the earth, and in which, though Noah was
saved, yet was tossed with tempests, this cannot be allowed ; for that in the remembrance of God s covenant made with him, God did commensurate* him in those waters, as a type of our great initial salvation from a state of
wrath, which those that would make the scope to concern only God s oath, that the waters should return no more, do and must thereby includef it. This I do and must contend for to be included and intended (yet with pro fession to submit to cogent reason, that shall be made to the contrary) ;
having this further to be added as a reason for it, that if this part of Noah s
first covenant and salvation from the waters be excluded here, then is the * Qu. commiserate ? ED. t Qu. exclude ? ED.
CHAP. IV.] OP ELECTION. 63
great type of our main, great, and first salvation by Christ excluded, to be meant here also, whilst yet his purpose is to illustrate and set out to his church his covenant of grace for the whole of their salvation, which in this
chapter, yea, and in the two following chapters, he insists on, by way of
promising and prophesying thereof, and inviting men to come under it as
offered. See chap. Iv. and Ivi.
* for
If any shall yet object that the second for, set afore the said speech,
* This is
as I have sworn, &c., is apparently the reason why he said first,
the waters of Noah, and therefore it is to be restrained unto that one
particular,
I answer, I do as yet rather incline to think that there being two of these
causal conjunctions of for, the one set before the first speech, for this is the waters of Noah, another afore the second speech, as I have sworn. And although the latter for is otherwise rendered by some interpreters, yet I take the version of the word as our translation and most others have turned it ; for, warranted by the same use of the word in the Hebrew so
signifying, in 1 Sam. xv. 15, as Mr Gataker hath observed ; and so I under stand the two/ors as partitively to notify two distinct reasons of two several matters or things about these waters, in the sense before explained, and not
that jointly they fall into one and the same thing only. I take the latter
for not to denote a subordinate reason of the former for, or reason, but each
to be distinct and co-ordinate, and to stand alone in their connection with
the matter in the former verses ; and that the first should be a reason
specially of that part of the covenant mentioned in the 7th verse foregone ; the latter specially as the reason and confirmation of that part of the cove nant in ver. 8. And the like distinct references made by causal particles, though immediately following one another, yet the first to relate as a reason
of some matter foregone that is further off, and another later to somewhat
that went more immediately afore, you meet so ordinarily withal in the
Scriptures, specially in Paul s discourses, as I need not give instances
of them.
Thus much for the account of the first branch proposed, why these first
words, For this is the waters of Noah to me, should have, and especially have respect to Noah s first covenant to save him in the waters ; and as for
* as I have sworn, that they respect his second cove nant there is no question ; I must further add the second branch proposed, and so I shall make this head complete ; viz., The special analogy that is between Noah s first covenant and waters, and the matter of the promise in the 7th verse ; and for the other, the corres
the words that follow,
pondency between the matter of the 8th verse (in what it differs from that
in the 7th verse) with Noah s second covenant, namely, the everlastingness and stability of the covenant to be the thing aimed at in both ; this doth more clearly upon first sight appear, that there needs no large discourse more than in order to clear the first.
1. In general, as touching both. Noah s two covenants were both of them for his salvation from the waters, but with this difference : the first was with this promise, to save him from those present waters that did drown the rest of the earth ; the second, to
preserve him, and the earth for his sake, from any more such a flood of waters its coming upon the earth, and so to secure him from all fears of destruction thence ; which considering the danger of their so doing, and sin ners desert of it, might truly be called a salvation preventive ; and a secur
ing to him that great salvation positive, which God had vouchsafed him in and from the waters past ; and that second promise for the future, made that
64 OF ELECTION. [BOOK I.
first salvation in the waters to be salvation indeed, and without which it had
only been but a reservation of him and his unto a second destruction from another flood. Thus you see in Noah s case, that these two are distinct, and
yet both concur to make that his salvation perfect and complete.
Answerably unto the type of these in general, the like difference may be
discerned, and must be acknowledged to be in the matter or point of our
eternal salvation, to perfect it ; and so both of which are distinctly provided in that one covenant of his grace, whereof those his two covenants were
imperfect shadows, Gal. i. ; first, our being called out of this evil world, or the rest of mankind, and by faith put into Christ, and thereby into a state of
salvation, or the grace wherein we stand. This is everywhere in Scripture termed salvation, as in Eph. ii., By faith ye are saved, even upon their
first believing ; and by grace ye are saved. Ye are at present, both from the wrath that is inevitably coming upon all the world of ungodly, and by having the inheritance of eternal salvation (as to the jus, or right, or title to
it) settled and established upon you ; but there being an interstition or space between this of the right and entering into the full enjoyment and posses sion, there are therefore promises for perseverance, to keep and preserve you safe unto that possession, which is termed also salvation : 1 Pet. i.,
* Being the end and final period of your faith, the salvation of your souls. And unto this possession of salvation we are said to be kept by the power of God, 1 Pet. i. 5 ; and to that end the promises are for perseverance : 1 Thes. v. 23, 24, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly
: and I pray God that your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of
^our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it ; as also, sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are under
grace, or in the covenant of grace ; and both these are promised together in the covenant of grace, as to
give a new heart and a new spirit, Jer. xxxi., whereby we are first wrought upon, so to put his fear within us, that we shall not depart from him. In the succeeding chapter of the same pro phet, Jer. xxxii. 40, I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good ; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me ; and again, you have both together as parts of his covenant (as it is here called) Luke i. 60-72 whereof one main part is, ver. 74, 75, That he would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all our days. Now it is the first salvation that puts us into the state thereof in the right of it, which is Noah s first covenant, to be saved in the waters, which the apostle Peter makes the figure of our baptism. Now the promise to put us into the state of salvation in the whole right thereof, is that which answers to God s promise to Noah, to save him from and in the waters ; and it is the main and great promise of the two, and which the promise afterwards to keep us doth and necessarily first suppose to
<
^ have existed. And this salvation we call initial salvation; that of our being kept to persevere, and that sin shall never have dominion over us totally and finally, is but the continuation of us in that state of first salva tion until we come to the full possession, even as providence is of creation ; m them is continuance, and we shall be saved. And God s estating us at nrst therein is the performance of his covenant, and from out of the same grace out of which he after continues and preserves us in that estate ; and it is the whole covenant, for the performance of it, which God calls to remem brance with himself, the waters of Noah to me ; and as a witness and attes tation thereof, here produced unto us : so as we must either wholly cut off
CHAP. IV.] OF ELECTION. 65
that great first performance of it in calling us, as no way here intended, or we must take it into the figure, Noah s waters, here remembered upon occa
sion of it. These things in general. As for the particular analogies between Noah s first covenant for his sal vation in the waters ; and this of our salvation at first.
1. As that was made in order, Noah s first covenant, &c., so this initial
salvation is also the first, and foundation for perseverance.
2. We may be certain that our first initial salvation was typified out by Noah s first covenant ; for the Holy Ghost so applies it : 1 Pet. iii. 20, 21. Noah was saved in the waters, which is a figure of our baptism, which now saves us. Now baptism is first the sacrament which seals up initial salva
tion ; our being put into Christ, and born again ; and seals up the whole of salvation as in the right thereof unto us. And most pertinently doth the
apostle make Noah s waters the figure ; for as Ainsworth* has fully, though
briefly, expressed it : Noah was baptized into Christ s death and burial (in the ark), but raised up again with him also.
And 3dly, How congruous a correspondency and affinity doth the first part of the covenant, for gathering his church at first, and calling them by grace, and their first being put into union with Christ (and this to do is certainly the performance of his covenant, and the first part thereof also) ; hold with both these, as the 7th verse doth utter it : For a little moment have I for saken thee ; and left thee to thy natural darkness and deadness ; but with
great mercies will I gather thee. This denotes his first making of the Gen
tiles his church, and bringing of them unto, and uniting of them to his Son ; for the first and second verses tell us, that they had been barren, and had
brought forth no children for a long time. And as it denotes their being gathered out of the world, so especially unto Christ, and their union with him. And under that word Jacob prophesied of him : Gen. xlix. 10,
* Unto him shall the gathering be.
4. And how fitly doth Noah and his family, their being called out from the whole world, Come thou, and all thy house, into the ark, saith God, Gen. vii. 1, yea, and the beasts, which bear the resemblance of the fore
gone state of the Gentiles that were newly gathering, made a church unto
him, as I shall after shew ; gathered out of the rest, and by special instinct coming unto Noah, and into the ark. And how great a correspond ency doth the working by God upon Noah s spirit upon the fore-belief of the
flood (and he fearing the wrath of God therein, prepared the ark), hold with the work of conversion and gathering souls into Christ, whereby men save themselves from the rest of a froward generation, as Peter s word is, Acts ii., will afterwards be shewn in the uses. And though Noah was a godly man
afore, yet that high dispensation of God s saving him in the ark was as new conversion to him, and bore the lively resemblance of a soul s first gathering to Christ.
5. And, as upon his entering into the ark, there ensued storms and tem
pests, and rains from above, and waters from beneath, and this for some months, so the time of souls first conversion and gathering into Christ,
is usually accompanied with violent temptations, doubts whether in the state of grace or no ; fears at every cast that comes, lest they should be over whelmed, split upon rocks, and overturned by mountains ; which occasioneth God to cry out in pity to them, thou afflicted and tossed with tem
! though viewing them in a safe condition in their ark, Christ. This Peter gives notice of to his converted brethren, 1st Epistle, chap, v., ver. 10,
pest
1 The God of all grace, after you have suffered awhile, make you perfect : * Ainsworth on the 16th verse of Genesis vii. VOL. IX. E
66 OF ELECTION. [BOOK I.
stablisb, strengthen, settle you! The suffering here is not chiefly those
outward, of persecutions, for they were not freed from them all their days ; but these were such as arose from the special malice of the devil, who is a
roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, ver. 8. But these are such
afflictions as they are settled against, and yet common, more or less, unto
all converts throughout the world, ver. 9, after their conversion, and whilst
they are weak : the issue of which is some better strength and rest unto their souls.
These parallels you see between Noah and his first covenant and salva
tion, &c., and our first gathering, &c., in the 7th verse.
As for the second part of the 9th verse, which contains the promise of
preservation, and a security against the return of that curse of these waters any more, that this alludes unto Noah s second covenant, after he came out of the ark, as none can deny that reads the words ; so the parallel between them is more obvious, and that the scope thereof is to confirm us of the
everlastingness of God s kindness that shall follow us all our days after con
version, which is promised, ver. 8. This I partly have shewed afore, and shall furthermore, in the explication of the words that follow that passage, in
declaring and engaging an everlasting unchangeable kindness and mercy, and that by oath, against all such fears of sins in our hearts that threaten to over flow again ; and that sin should never have dominion over us, because we are under grace. This I need not largely insist upon. But instead of an enlargement that way, it will be more behoveful to answer some objections that may be made against this latter part, to have been intended as a type, but at all only brought in by God, as a mere allu sion and bare similitude, by which God illustrates only and confirms the
stability of his covenant of grace. And the objection is this, That that covenant with Noah, Gen, ix., was but a covenant of common providence, and the concerns thereof, as that summer and winter, day and night, should not cease ; yea, and was made with every living thing, as well as with Noah ; and answerably had but an outward natural sign to confirm
it, the waters should no more destroy the earth ; and hath nothing to do with the covenant of grace, nor can be supposed to be a figure of that cove nant under gospel times.
For answer, 1. As to that, that it is but a providential promise of conti nuance of the world from the judgment of waters any more ; outwardly it was no more; but this hinders not from its being in the mystery a typical promise to Noah, and those of his seed elect that were to succeed, to sonify the perpeluity of the covenant of grace to them, and that God would never suffer his loving-kindness to depart ; this, I say, no more hinders, than that that promise under that other former covenant to Noah, to preserve him and the beasts in the ark, should not be the covenant of grace (in the figure), as yet we have for certain heard out of Peter that it was ; for both were but for outward salvation in the letter.
2 To that next part of the objection, that it was made with the very beasts.
Nor doth this rationally prejudge it from bearing this figure. 1 No more than that because the beasts and cattle came forth of Egypt re thelr redemPtion to^a not f^th redempbyhrist 2 Nor no more, than that because the cattle drank of the rock, as well as ^^ I ^5
thf^
re tbat r ck Was not Christ %rativelv and sacramentally ; which yet the apostle expressly telleth us it was 1 Cor x
CHAP. IV.] OF ELECTION. 67
Nor, 3dly, was that covenant made primarily, or in a direct and principal
respect, with the beasts, but with Noah and his sons ; and with the beasts but secondarily for his sake, and as appurtenances to man, and belonging to him ; otherwise they are not capable of a covenant, because no way to be made sensible of it ; and, therefore, but as an accidental appendix of man s
charter, or lease granted, it is that they are put in. And, again, look as for man s sake the earth, and all things in it, were accursed, Gen. iii., and then
they were destroyed for man s sake by this flood, as God professeth, Gen.
vi. 6, 7 ; so, on the contrary, God declareth, that when he saw* those crea
tures in the ark, that it was for his sake ; and therefore this clause is twice
added, Gen. vi. 19, 20, to keep them alive with thee ; that is, for thy sake. And in like manner it is said, Gen. ix. 1, 2, 8, And God blessed Noah and
his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth. And the fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the
earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea : into your hands are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you
: even as the green herb have I given you all things. So as it was to preserve mankind that these creatures were preserved, and that they might have subjects to have dominion over.
4. Yet further; all the creatures may well be said to come under this our covenant by Christ ; for we profess and believe, not only that Christ, by his death, made a purchase of all, and by his sacrifice procured the standing of the world, in order to the elect for their good, and so their preservation comes to be included in the elects covenant and promises ; but there is by Christ a liberty one day to be conferred upon the whole creation, in their
being delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God : so as in their capacity they have a share in the privileges of the new world, that world to come, typified forth by Noah s new world, and promised upon his having offered his sacrifice, wherein he was Christ s
type. So that this is so far from being an objection, that it serves, on the
contrary, to render the analogy more complete.
But as to this of the beasts and the rainbow, there is another notion yet to be cast in, of a figurative representation, that these beasts in the ark did hold with the elect themselves to be converted under the gospel, as will put a farther end to this or any other objection of this sort ; but I reserve it to a greater advantage, to bring it in the particular parallels between these of Noah s covenants and our covenant of grace.
SECTION III.
A more particular explication, both of the phraseology, manner of speech, and
matter in the 2th verse, confirming the foregoing interpretation.
This is, he says it of the promises he was speaking of, and of his covenant
to his church, ver. 7, 8.
But you will ask, how is it such promises, and the matter of them, should be called the waters of Noah ?
The waters of Noah are in this first sentence metonymically used to signify all those passages at and about the flood, concerning Noah s salvation,
figuratively applied to promises of God s covenant ; it being usual in all
languages, by mentioning one circumstance or eminent occurrence, as the * Qu. saved ? ED.
68 OF ELECTION. [BOOK I.
day or the place whereon or wherein such memorable things were done or
spoken, to denote the things or facts done on that day or place, together with that eminent occurrence ; as when it is said, The day of provocation in the wilderness, it serves to mind and notify all the singular provocations of that day or time; so in like manner, as when our Saviour said, The days of Noah, he intends thereby to notify the things done in those days, Mat.
xxiv. 37 and 38 verses compared. In like manner, by the days of Lot, Luke
xvii. 28, he intends to notify the things then done : They did eat, they did
drink, says he, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded, &c. In like manner it is usual to mention some one eminent occurrence instead of all the rest, to hint all the rest that were at the same time acted together with it or that belonged thereto. Thus here, the waters of Noah ; that is, all the occurrences, passages then, or things done ; and the remembrance of those things being so like, yea, in many things the same, occasioneth him in the midst of his declaration of those promises of grace to cry out, This is the waters of Noah to me, the very same I did then. Now the things that were then done at those waters, were an uttering a covenant by God for Noah s salvation in those waters ; likewise God s secret purposes and intendments, then only known to himself, by those transactions with Noah as in a type did fore-signify his like gracious pur poses towards his church, which he utters and declares ; also Noah, his tossing and trials in the waters, and God s remembrance of him then in the midst of them.
And thus, in saying this is the waters of Noah to me, it is as if God had there said, the promises and covenant I have but now declared towards my church make me call to mind what I said to Noah at the flood, when the waters would have destroyed him ; and also to remember what my grace, my intentions, purposes, my affections, my heart was then, and at that time ; and those my transactions with him then, I intended, and aimed to prefigure, and portray out these my like gracious purposes to my church, to come out of his loins, which I meant in after ages and in due time to declare and open the mystery of; and accordingly I now upon this occasion do declare it m my prophet Isaiah :
< This is the waters of Noah to me ; I then had them all in contemplation afore; I had all my elect church to come in my view ; all my promises of grace, all my promises of salvation were alore me then ; I intended them all in the figure and type of Noah s salva tion, and of his sons; and when the time of the accomplishment shall come, 1 shall further and more amply declare this to have been in my heart and design by my apostles.
To me. There is a great deal of emphasis in that adjection, and serves for confirmation of these things which have now been spoken. 1. It imports that God so looked at it, and intended it as such. A man usetn to say of a thing that we account to be such and such, it is so to me : To us there is but one God, &<,., says the apostle in the name of Christians, so we judge and believe; these waters were my covenant; so it stood in my^ thoughts, and so it should stand in yours. 2 It imports that a thing is privately and secretly, and within one s breast, so or so intended and esteemed. It is to me, who am privy to my own intentions; so to God between God and himself. And this imports the next sentence suggested
< For as I have sworn, the waters of Noalf shall no Tr tf Tl ? T f i N W lo k Ver a11 that sto^ in ^nesis, then
mat on of %*&? Testament
> * 7 find not the leasi intiEd2fi? i
od had taken about this matter - And if G d had kept his own counsel, we could never have challenged him with this
CHAP. IV.] OF ELECTION. 69
parallel of an oath to both his covenant and ours ; his intentions therein
were known only to himself ; but himself knowing his own mind utters it
here ; for it is to me that the waters of Noah are my covenant of grace.
3. Lastly, This to me imports God s acknowledging himself obliged to
fulfil his covenant of grace to the elect ; for though none did know this to have
been his intentions in it, yet it was enough for him, within himself to have
intended it so. And it is enough to us for him to say, This is to me the waters
of Noah ; and as I performed that then, so I hold myself obliged now. My own purposes had then, are my bonds between me and myself ; and I
can no more alter my purposes in it than I did recall my covenant made
to Noah then, when I made it. This being the true intent and meaning of these words ; further, as for
the form of speech itself, to say of the promises of his covenant of grace, This is the waters of Noah ; this form or manner of speech is usual. As,
1. When we would parallel two things that are alike, we use to say, this
is such or such a thing, namely, to which it is like. Thus Christ speaks of John Baptist : Mat. xi. 15, This is Elias ; he speaks it of John in coher
ency with ver. 13. And why, but because he was such another man in his
course of life, zeal, office, and way of ministry as Elias was, and living in
like corrupt and depraved times ; as the angels described him, and foretold
against his birth : Luke i. 17, In the power and spirit of Elias, to turn the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just. Thus here, God paralleling his
covenant with Noah, &c., with that to his elect church, and upon the remem
brance of the likeness and sameness, says, This is the waters of Noah. Even
as Christ calls Jonah s being in the whale s belly three days and three nights,
the sign of Jonah ; that is, of being in the grave, and rising then up again.
2. But specially this is and may be used when one thing is the prophetic
figure, type, or sign of another, that they are mutually and indifferently named the one the other, That rock was Christ, the figure hath the name
of Christ that was intended and prefigured in it, 1 Cor. x. 2. And vice versa, or on the other way, Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, 1 Cor. v. 7. There Christ, the thing prefigured, is styled the figure ; and in this case it
is not by way of simple metaphor, in that the things are like one the other, but there is this further special foundation for it, that when one thing is
intended for the type of another it is all one, and to be a fore-running pro phecy of the other, which must therefore necessarily be fulfilled, and come
to pass. If Adam be the type or figure of Christ, then what follows, but as
the apostle argues it, that Christ is he that is to come ? Rom. v. 14.
Adam, says he, was the figure of him that was to come. And so the
things prefigured by any type must of necessity be things to come, and to come to pass ; for they are prophecies, and prophecies must have their
accomplishment.
And in this case, the figure and thing figured do both bear the same name ;
therefore Christ being the prefigured, in and by the first Adam, is termed
the last Adam, 1 Cor. xv. But you shall find the very same form of
speech used, and the same indigitation made in the like case, Gal. iv., when
the apostle would prove the different conditions of two sorts of persons, into one of which all mankind do fall, namely, either to be under the covenant of
works, or the law, or of grace, that is, the gospel ; having for the proof of
these (for types rightly applied are argumentative) alleged how Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond woman, the other by a free woman, and
dilated thereupon, he claps his hand down upon it, and with the like indigi tation cries, For these are the two covenants ; terming the intended types or figures under the Old, by the name of the substance, or things signified
70 OF ELECTION. [BoOK L
under the New. So in like manner, Rev. xi. 4, of the two witnesses under
the New Testament, typified out by Zechariah s two olive-trees under the
OldThese are the olive trees, &c. Again, Eph. v., when the apostle
had related the passages at Adam and Eve;s marriage as they are found in
Genesis, of a man s being joined to his wife, and they two being one flesh,
he in a like form of speech, quasi digito monstrans, instantly subjoins, this
is a great mystery, as being intended of Christ and his church God m his
secret intention had that aim in it. So here, whilst God had begun to
express his loving-kindness, and was going on to do it, he as it were,
< Inis is
suddenly struck with the remembrance of it, claps down his hand,
the waters of Noah to me. This ; there is indeed this difference, that
whereas in that of Adam s marriage he takes, as I may say, his finger oil
from his relating the thing signifying, and lays it upon the thing signified
This is a great mystery ; but here, vice versa, on the contrary, as Jacob his
hands, he takes off his speech from the thing signified (namely, his covenant
: This is no other than the
of grace), and lays it upon the thing signifying
waters of Noah. But it is all one (as I observed) for the thing figured to be
denominated by the name of the figure, as e contra, the figure by the title of the
thing figured. And so the paraphrase upon the words may run thus, as if
God had said : In the passages of the waters of Noah I was a-drawing a
model, a shadow of what I meant to form up, and make a substance and
reality of in after ages, in my covenant of grace.
This to be the import of that weighty addition, to me, the paraphrase of
some doth concur in, Tale quid concept apud me. I was in my thoughts con
: that is, whilst I was
ceiving, and forming such a like thing within myself
making those transactions with Noah. Others thus : Videor mild esse in
diebus Noe ; that is, whilst I am declaring, and speaking, talking of, and
resolving to perform my covenant of grace, I think with myself, I am at the
flood, as in the days of Noah ; and doing the same things over again, which
I did then about Noah s salvation, and with the same heart, and out of the
same gracious resolutions ; and being privy to his own intentions, he tells
us plainly, This to me was the waters of Noah. And now I utter my
secret purposes therein, that were as then private to myself.
; SECTION IV.
Some special particular parallels between what is found in Noah s covenant
and the covenant of grace.
1. Absoluteness ; which, how, and what it will appear by comparing
things with things spoken of in that history, and the order of their being spoken of first in chapter vi. When God s counsel or intention within him
self about saving Noah and destroying the world is held, and there laid open, God s grace towards him is in the first place solely and abstractly mentioned
as the cause thereof, whilst no mention at all, not the least, is made of Noah
his holiness as mingled therewith ; as for which, and upon which, God did
cast that grace upon him, in ver. 8, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. But pure and unmixed grace, which* works, by being alone
mentioned, is made the total and only cause of that matter : ver. 8, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And then, indeed, in the story of his generation which follows, ver. 9, &c., there comes to be recorded Noah s holiness, These are the generations of Noah : Noah was a just man, * Qu. without ? ED.
CHAP. IV. j OF ELECTION. 71
and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God/ So as Noah s
personal righteousness follows as the effect of that grace which God bore to
his person, and is no way connected with that grace, as that for which God
cast that grace upon him. He was first found the object of God s grace and
favour, and not grace first found in him ; thereby plainly to insinuate, that
for no righteousness in him it was that God did first absolutely pitch his
grace upon him, abstractly from the consideration of his holiness, and that was the fruit of that grace of God s; as was also the case of the blessed
virgin, Oh thou that art graciously accepted or graced. That thou of all
other women shouldest be the mother of the Messiah, the Son of God, says the angel, Luke i. 28, 32. To be sure this privilege could by no worthi ness in herself come to be bestowed upon her, so nor this of Noah.* Nor
is anything of his inserted as a condition of that grace. Again, at the 18th
* But with thee will I stablish my covenant. Hence again, there is no mention of condition on Noah s part, but only of what God by covenant would do on his ; and therefore absolutely declareth himself, that he not
verse,
only makes a covenant, but established it ; and under this word undertakes
to perform it, and bring it to a full perfection, so as whatever should be neces
sary and requisite on Noah s part, God at once undertakes to work in him
as part of his own covenant. If you read over the whole covenant of grace, as it is prophesied of by Jeremiah, chap, xxxi., and quoted by the apostle, Heb. viii., you will find that all that is requisite to salvation on man s part, God undertakes to work it in them, and causeth effectually their hearts to concur therein.
But it may be said (which also the Eomanists object), that in chap. vii. 1, when God did put Noah into the ark, he said, Come thou into the ark : for thee have I seen righteous afore me in this generation.
I answer, That the performance of promises, when they are to come to
execution, do require such and such qualifications in the persons to whom
they are performed, when yet the decree and purpose of those promises, and
the making of those promises, depend wholly and immediately upon God s
grace as the spring and fountain of them. Thus heaven and glory, as they are in God s purpose designed, are merely of grace, when yet God executively bestows them not, nor brings us to salvation [but] by and through faith and
holiness. As 2 Thes. ii. 13, God hath chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth. Now, observe how this was spoken of Noah, when the thing came to be done, and he was to set his
foot into the ark. And it comes in order after the declaration which God s
grace utters of his counsel and purpose, which we read in the aforesaid
chapter vi. 8, 18. God considered not Noah s being first righteous ere he did cast his grace upon him, and thereupon did it. The like language unto
this of God s to Noah will Christ use to his saints when they are at latter
day to enter into heaven, but shewing withal how his grace hath put a differ ence between them and others, and had made them meet for that inheritance : Mat. xxv. 34, 85, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world : for I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I was a
stranger, and ye took me in. So first, and it imports God the Father s
first choosing of them to have been the cause of all they inherit.
For any man to interpret the absoluteness of the covenant to be that God saves men absolutely without any requisite qualifications wrought in them, is
manifestly to cast a reproach upon the grace of God itself in the doctrine of
f Hoc enim habent a gratia, qua Deo fuerunt accept! , priusquam aliquid ab iis
acceptaret. Rivet, in locum.
72 OF ELECTION. [BOOK I.
it. Whilst it is professed that his grace covenanted to work in them, and
accordingly worketh both the will and the deed, according to his good plea
sure, where he means to save, and never saved any without they be wrought
in them ; nor doth that doctrine (if not perverted by men s presumptuous-
ness) encourage men to use no endeavours, because God covenants to work
all ; for God, when he will save, setteth men s will a-work to use all endea
vours in a subordination to his grace ; as in that exhortation you find it, Work out your salvation ; for it is God works the will and the deed, yet
still, according to his good pleasure. And this absoluteness of electing
grace the apostle sets forth, Rom. ix., It is not of him that wills, nor of
him that runs, that useth means and endeavours, but of God that sheweth
mercy. Yet without men s willing and running (such as wherewith souls
trust not therein, or think to obtain by their endeavours), God that sheweth
mercy saveth no man ; yea, shews his mercy in causing so to will and to
run as to obtain. According to his abundant mercy he begetteth us,
1 Peter i. 3. He shews the mercy in working that ; and being savingly
wrought on, keeps us through the same mercy ; so says my text here in
Isaiah, My kindness shall not depart from thee, nor the covenant of my
peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
Nor indeed are those we call conditions of the covenant on our part, as
believing on Christ, turning from sin, other than necessary means of being made partakers of Christ and salvation. As if one should say to an hungry man, there is meat which shall be yours, to live by it, if you will eat it and
digest it, else not. In this case, who will say this is barely a condition, for
it is the very partaking of the meat itself whereby a man makes it his own. So for a father to say to one he bestows his daughter upon in marriage, Lo, she is your wife, take her and marry her. This is not a condition of her
being his wife, as external to it, but it is that very intrinsecal and essential
act whereby she becomes his, and he her husband. Take the instance in hmd. Noah s preparing the ark, and his entering into it to be saved, are not so properly to be styled conditions which God took from him, and so
thereupon to save him, but they were necessary means for Noah to save
himself; yea, his entering into the ark and abiding therein (whereunto the
act of our faith on Christ answereth) was his salvation itself. God himself
* Come, enter thou, Gen. vii. 1, and he was safe and saved by so doing. Unto which that of Christ s answers, Whoever sees the Son, and comes to him, John vi. 85 ; And he that cometh I will raise up at the latter day, ver. 87, which is interpreted, he that believeth, ver. 40, 44, 45. All Noah s holiness would not have saved him from the waters, but his being in the ark saved him from the waters. And that salvation as so considered, is that which bears the figure of our salvation. And when he was in the ark all the while, although his meat and drink kept his bodily spirits alive as a man, yet his salvation, considered as it was a salvation in the waters and from the flood, was his being in the ark ; and that salvation, precisely as such, is that which is in the figure. This for the first absolute ness of this grace and covenant.
says to him,
2. The second parallel is the everlasting stability, snreness, fixedness, and constancy of the grace of the covenant, which, ver. 8, is termed, everlasting kindness ; and the covenant itself as unmoveable as are the mountains ; Then may the covenant of my peace be removed, ver. 10, and this signi fied by the stability of Noah s covenants, both first and second. And there fore the word, I will establish my covenant, is used of the first, Gen. vi. 18, and of the second, Gen. ix. 11. And the same word is repeated here in Isa. liv., In righteousness shall be established, ver. 14. And to
CHAP. IV.] OF ELECTION. 73
typify forth this stability of the covenant did Noah s second covenant in a
special manner serve ; and therefore the very words thereof are to this very
purpose rehearsed in this verse of my text. And to this very purpose I
shewed how many of the words and passages thereof are referred unto and
transposed into the grand charter of the covenant of grace, to confirm the
perpetuity thereof, as in three several chapters set together of Jeremiah you
find them, which I must remit the reader unto. And for this purpose it is
that God produceth his oath in the text, as that which he professeth to have
intended in this covenant with Noah, As I have sworn, &c. And the like
parallel oath, in correspondency thereunto, he amxeth to his covenant of
* So have I sworn I will not be wroth with thee ; that is, with
grace here,
a wrath to destruction ; even as he had sworn the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth to destroy it. And an oath, we know, is immut
able, as Heb. vi. 18. Yea, moreover, God professeth himself resolute and
peremptory in it, concluding, Thus saith the Lord that hath mercy on
thee ; that is, that God who is set in his heart, and purposes to exercise
nothing else but mercy towards thee, even as God, to express his peremptoriness in shewing mercy to Moses, I will be merciful to whom I will be merci
ful. And truly there is this considerable about God s alleging his oath to
Noah, that if God had not said that he intended an oath, in that he intended
an oath in that his covenant with Noah, we could never have challenged him
of it if he had kept his own counsel. For read the whole story there, and
there is no mention of an oath, or any words that tend that way, only that God should have said in his heart, I will not curse the ground any more, Gen. viii. 21. But God was privy to his own intention, and so upon this
occasion declares it ; and his manner of speaking here secretly imports it, This is the waters of Noah to me ; that is, between me and myself, who knew my own intentions.
But you will say, will not men s sins break this covenant, though God
will not ?
I answer, They would infallibly break between God and us, if God should
not take order to keep us from such ways of sinning as would bring ever
lasting wrath upon us. Promissis se curaturum (saith Piscator well). He
will have a watchful eye and powerful hand to prevent such sinnings. As
upon occasion of his like oath to the perpetuity of his covenant of grace, he
declares to David, in Ps. Ixxxix. 30-32, If his children forsake my law, and
walk not in my judgments ; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments ; then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their
iniquity with stripes. And by those chastisements I will reduce them
again. But, as ver. 34, My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing
that is gone out of my lips. And that God had all our sins before him, and
well considered what they would be, when he takes this deliberate oath, the
very parallel instance (afore us) of what is inserted by God in Noah s cove
nant, may inform us. The words in Gen. viii. 21 are, God said in his
heart, I will not curse the ground any more for man s sake ; for the imagination of man s heart is evil from his youth
: neither will I again smite any more
every living thing, as I have done. Thus the oath in the figure speaks. And that which answers it in the covenant of grace is, that God foresees
what our sins will be ; and yet he knows what he hath to do, obliges him
self with a non obstante, thus everlastingly to save us ; for he views them afore-