And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land [that is] not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Ver. 13. Know of a surety, that thy seed.] Must first suffer, before they can enter; and so be conformed to Christ their Captain, who was "perfected by sufferings," Heb 2:10 and came not to the Crown but by the Cross. Difficile est ut praesentibus bonis quis fruatur et futuris; ut hic ventrem, illic mentem reficiat, ut de deliciis ad delicias transeat; ut in coelo et in terra gloriosus appareat, saith St Jerome. Through many tribulations we must enter into heaven. He that will go any other way, let him (as the emperor said to the heretic) erect a ladder, and go up alone a
a Erigito tibi scalam, et solus ascendito. - Const. Mag.