5. But since God, Who maketh poor and maketh
rich, Who killeth and maketh alive; 1 Sam. ii. 6 sqq. Who maketh and
transformeth all things; Who turneth night into day, Amos v. 8. winter into spring, storm into calm, drought
into abundance of rain; and often for the sake of the prayers 1 Kings xviii. 42. of one righteous man S. James v. 16, 17.
sorely persecuted; Who lifteth up the meek on high, and bringeth the
ungodly down to the ground; Ps. cxlvii. 6. since God said to
Himself, I have surely seen the affliction of Israel; Exod. iii. 7. and they shall no longer be further vexed
with clay and brick-making; and when He spake He visited, and in His
visitation He saved, and led forth His people with a mighty hand and
outstretched arm, Ps. cxxxvi. 12. by the hand of
Moses and Aaron, Ib. lxxvii.
20. His
chosen—what is the result, and what wonders have been
wrought? Those which books and monuments contain. For
besides all the wonders by the way, and that mighty roar, to speak most
concisely, Joseph came into Egypt alone, Gen. xxxvii. 28.
and soon after six hundred thousand depart from Egypt. Exod. xii. 37. What more marvellous than this?
What greater proof of the generosity of God, when from men without
means He wills to supply the means for public affairs? And the
land of promise is distributed through one who was hated, and he who
was sold Gen. xlix. 22. dispossesses
nations, and is himself made a great nation, and that small offshoot
becomes a luxuriant vine, Hos. x. 1. so great that it
reaches to the river, and is stretched out to the sea, Ps. lxxx. 8 et seq. and spreads from border to border, and hides
the mountains with the height of its glory and is exalted above the
cedars, even the cedars of God, whatever we are to take these mountains
and cedars to be.