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A37275 A sermon preach'd at the parish-church of St. Chad's in Shrewsbury, March 5, 1694/5 being the funeral day of our most gracious sovereign Queen Mary / by Thomas Dawes. Dawes, Thomas, 1652?-1715. 1695 (1695) Wing D451; ESTC R24877 12,749 32

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Town and Countrey as I said from the High Places of Idolatrous Worship he brake down the Altars of Baalam in the plural signifying the many False Gods they Worshipp'd and in the 26 year of his Life and the 18 of his Reign He and Hilkiah the High Priest with other of his Friends and Servants whom he trusted purges and repairs the Temple It appears they had Built an Heathen Altar there as also many other in the Royal City and Regions adjoyning as you will read here in their story which he visited personally for the greatest part and utterly Destroy'd not omitting the search even of their private Houses so to root out effectually all Heathen Abominations out of the Land the accursed object of God's otherwise implacable Hatred and Displeasure Hilkiah hy a special order from the King searching into the Ruines of the Temple not totally Destroy'd till afterward in Zedekiah's time but too sadly Decay'd by the many Sacrilegious abuses of the Idol-Priests he chances to light upon an old Authentick Copy of the Law which he found Buried in the Rubbish in some close part of the Building which was neglected 't is like that was the only true Copy they had left probably all the rest being forced out of their hands and Burnt or otherwise effectually Destroy'd by a cruel Inquisition it being usual with the Heathen so to do as since with a Religion as Heathenish for so much as they tho' call'd Christian and Catholick 'T was so before and in the Empire of Julian th' Apostate when the Holy Books were gathered with all imaginable Industry of the Heathen and Destroy'd to make room for the Lying Oracles of Apollo and their Idol Gods But not so totally Destroy'd then nor here in Josiah's time nowithstanding the Dotage of Haman and Manasseh Hilkiah having thus found the Book and shew'd it to the good King He entertains it with great Reverence and causes it to be read in the ears of the People to teach 'em what they had forgot be sure in too great a measure the true Worship of God By this and other such his Religious pious Arts he brought back again the Holy Worship and the People the Worshippers to the Temple which they with their Forefathers had so long forsaken having already notoriously disgrac'd their Profane Altars by Burning the Bones of their Idolatrous Priests upon 'em some of 'em that were Dead all the rest but those he slew having fled and and made their escape 't is like upon this signal Revolution and left thus ingloriously their Temples and their Gods all a Sacrifice to the Zeal of good Josiah who put a fatal period to their sensless tho' cruel Devotion Manasseh and Amon now dead their great Patrons it having been till then the Kings Religion behold The Idol stoops and tamely resign'd it's feign'd Omnipotency and owns a Conqueror Nor was this any suddain start and heat of Passion in Josiah as Zeal is too apt to extravagance in unwary hands for we find here after He had purg'd and restor'd the Temple He deliberately with the joynt advise and consent of his People who were by this time return'd to their right Vnderstandings in the 18 year of his Happy Reign already named Josiah sends and proclaims a Passover to the Lord which he celebrates on such a splendid manner with so much magnificence in honour of the true God that the Tale and number of the Sacrifice is almost incredible which made such an extraordinary solemn figure in the Worship of the Jews that never was the like Festivity in such Glorious Preparation seen among them 'T is describ'd at large here Cap. 35. there was never held such a Passover from the Days of the Judges which judged Israel c. i. e. never such an one before since the Beginning of their Government which was a joyful sight we may well think at Jerusalem where 'till that time the Worship of the Temple had lain so long neglected 't was so magnificent that I observe Josephus their Antiquary seems somewhat concerned at it as tho' it reflected upon the Poverty of the Devotion of the Antient Church and excuses it thus Lib. 10. c. 5. Ant. the reason says he why there was no such Festivity from the days of Samuel mention'd here 2 Chron. 35.18 was because in those early Times all things were perform'd in exact complyance to Moses Ritual and the Customs then on foot tho' the Levitical Law left place for Free-will-Offerings and such according to Josephus was a great part of this Celebrated Passover of Josiah Which therefore is a singular argument of this Good Kings more than ordinary Devotion and his Zeal in promoting the Worship and the Honour of God And hence 't is we read 2 Kings 23.25 And like unto him there was no King before him that turn'd to the Lord with all his heart c. neither after him arose there any like him The truth is Josiah was one purposely raised up of God for this Noble Design It was Prophetically foretold 360 years and more says the Jew in the Reign of Jeroboam that thus it should be 1 Kings 13.2 Behold a Child shall be born to the House of David Josiah by name and upon Thee i. e. the Altar at Bethel which the Son of Nehat had then newly set up shall he offer the Priests of the High-Places c. and it fell out exactly 2 Kings 23.15 16. You see then how for this very end in a long course of Providence Josiah was raised of God to Root out by his means and to Destroy Idolatry from out of Judah and Israel as much as was left of the foregoing Captivity Such and so remarkable was this Pious Kings singular Devotion and to the great joy and satisfaction of all his Subjects but some who had little or no Religion and others that hanker'd after that He had Destroy'd by the will of God He Reigned 31 years and Liv'd in the whole 40 bating one prosperous in Wealth and Glory and then very unfortunately by the incessant Provocation of the Crying sins of Judah as Huldah the Prophetess at that time foretold God was finally resolv'd to punish very grievously as He did in the ensuing Captivity which lasted no less while than 70 long years under the King of Babylon as Jeremy Prophesy'd 22 years after Josiah's Death unfortunately I say He makes War against Necho the Aegyptian King who was upon his March against th' Assyrian denies him passage thro● his Country imagining 't is like he was a going up against Judah when it seems as he signify'd by his Embassaders He intended no such thing But Josiah listned not and rashly opposes Himself upon the Borders in the Valley of Megiddon where He is mortally wounded by an Aegyptian Archer as He rode in his Chariot thereupon carry'd back to Jerusalem where He Dyes This Good King so necessary to the Happiness of his People which Dyes together with Him Their Dreadful Calamity was only