the Land and our own Oaths and God himself by his Authority in his Vicegerents by whom these Laws are enacted laies upon us But it is said g. 12. That it makes no difference in this case to distinguish between what God permits and what he does for this distinction does not relate to the events of things but to the wickedness of Men which is the only reason for this Distinction for the Scripture never speaks of God's bare permission of any events but makes him the Author of all the good or evil which happens either to private Persons or publick Societies The events of all things are in his Hands and are ordered and disposed by his Will and Counsel as they must be if God go verns the World but God cannot be the Author of any wickedness cannot inspire Men with any wicked Counsels or Designs nor incline their Wills to the commission of it and therefore this we say God only permits but when it comes to Action he over-rules their wicked Designs to accomplish his own Counsels and Decrees and either disappoints what they intended or gives success to them when he can serve the ends of his Providence by their wickedness and herein consists the unsearchable Wisdom of Providence that God brings about his own Counsels by the free Ministries of Men He permits Men to do wickedly but all events which are for the good or evil of private Men or publick Societies are ordered by him as the Prophet declares Amos 3.6 Shall there be evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it 1. I answer There is no Reason why we should distinguish in this case between the Counsels and Designs of wicked Men and their Actions in the execution of them for God concurs as much to the Physical Operations of the Mind in purposing and contriving Evil as he does to the corporal acts in the bringing it to effect for the Mind is as little capable of thinking as the Body is of moving without God's continual concourse both having a necessary dependance upon him in the exercise of their proper Faculties And the Resolution and Contrivance to do Evil is the event or result of Thought and Consideration as the success in the performance and accomplishment of the Evil designed and resolved upon is the event of the several outward Actions which are done in order to it so that God concerns himself no more in the events which proceed from the exercise of the bodily Powers in bringing about ill Designs than in those which proceed from the Operations of the Mind in the projects and contrivances of Evil he permits both and concurs with both as they are the acts of Natural Causes in the production of their effects but as they have a tendency to Evil he concurs with neither He leaves Men a Liberty of Acting and Thinking and concurs with them accordingly he suffers them to sin and does not take from them the use of their Natural Faculties of Body or Mind though they employ them to ill Purposes and about wrong Objects 2. Evil whether considered Physically or Morally that is as it signifies Affliction or as it signifies Sin is in the Action as well as in the Event and therefore the words of the Prophet Amos are applicable to both alike For not only the Events of all things but the Actions of all Creatures are in Gods hands and are ordained and disposed by his Will and Counsel and by the Doctors arguing in all Actions as well as in all Events there is no distinction between what God permits and what he does which he says relates only to the wickedness of Men and therefore it does not relate to the Actions of Men but only to the wickedness of humane Actions For God gives success he says to wicked Designs when they come to Action he sets up Kings he advances them to the Throne he gives them the Throne Pag. 12 13. that is he goes along with them and assists them in the attainment of the Supreme Power and at last puts it into their hands So that they have his concurrence and assistance as much before the settlement as after it and he that at last gives them the Plenitude of Power gave them all along the opportunity and the means of attaining it For God makes no immediate Donation of it but bestows it upon them by his Providence that is by affording them ways and means to come by it The plain consequence of which must be that God not only suffers Men by wicked means to get into Power and then bestows his Authority upon them but he conduct them in every step they take and at last when they arrive at the Throne he places them in it For what God gives by Providence he does not give all at once but by the several degrees of success by which it is attained and the success of every particular action must be his Gift as much as the event it self And if every Event be of Gods doing every Action must be so too because Events proceed from Actions and are no otherwise done or brought about than by the performance of those Actions which are requisite to produce them and to say that God is the Author of the Event but not of the Action is to say that he is the Author of the Effect but not of the Causes Acting whereas he cannot appoint the Effect without appointing the Cause to Act unless the Effect could be produced without its Cause 3. End and Event are both but relative Terms the end of one sort or series of Actions may be but the begining of another and the Event or Effect of one Enterprise the Cause of another For that which is an Effect in respect of its Cause is a Cause in respect of its Effect and that which in respect of the means is the Event is the means in respect of another Event If then the Event of all things is from God and therefore gives a Right a Rebel or Usurper would have a Right to every Fort or Castle he gets into his Possession in order to his Thorough Settlement in the whole Kingdom for that in its kind is as truly an Event as a Thorough Settlement it self is in a different kind for he that possesses himself of a Castle has gained his end as much for that time and in that particular design as he that is possessed of a Kingdom has gained his end in the full accomplishment of his desires and designs And when he has his wishes in this perhaps he stops not here but makes this End and Event only a step to another Enterprise upon a Neighbour Kingdom and then the obtaining the first Kingdom is but a means to gain the latter as the several degrees of success were the means of obtaining the first But all other Events whatsoever are as means in Gods Hands and are made use of by him for the bringing about the final Events of things God therefore does not
approve of every Event so as to command us to acquiess in it any more than of every Means but he approves or disallows of them as they are either just or unjust good or evil and because the last Events of things will be perfectly good therefore they are approved of by him and in the mean time he orders and disposes all lesser and precedent Events whether they be good or evil to the attainment of these The evil Events God neither approves in themselves nor gives any Right or Authority to the Persons whom he suffers to bring them about but whilst the Authors of them are disliked and disowned by him he permits the Events for the sake of that good which he has decreed to produce out of them and for that relation and subserviency which they have to the last Events of things which he has determined and ordained from Eternity 4. If there be no difference between what God permits and what he does as to the Events of things this will justifie all Events whatsoever as being of God's doing and therefore Robberies and all the Wickedness in the World besides that is successful and ends in the desired issue must be ascribed to him for these are as properly Events as any besides can be and the success of things respect not their Nature but their End and Actions attain their End not as they are of less or greater moment of publick or private Concernment but because they answer the Designs of the men that perform them And this will make it impossible as the Doctor says expresly That there should be any King who is not Rightful with respect to God which overthrows the Distinction he makes between the Kingdom of Judah and other Kingdoms For Athaliah must have been as Rightful Queen as Joash was Rightful King and both must have had God's Authority alike and so the Subjects must have been obliged to Contradictions that is to assist Athaliah against Joash and Joash against Athaliah at the same time because she had God's Authority by Providence and he by Promise and therefore both must have been obeyed and yet both resisted and the Subjects must have owed Allegiance to both and yet they must have owed Allegiance to neither of them Thus it would have been likewise in the Case of David himself to whom God first assigned the Kingdom of Judah and Ishbosheth who was possest of the greatest part of it for Two Years For either Ishbosheth and Athaliah had God's Authority or they had not if they had not then it is possible there may be a King who has not God's Authority and that there may be some Events which are only by his permission If they had then God must bestow Two Opposite Sovereign Authorities and Rights at once to Two several Princes over the same People and to the same Kingdom and both must be equally valid and obligatory upon the Subjects Consciences For by what way soever God conveys the Authority it is his Authority and God's Authority is always the same to whomsoever and in what manner soever it be conveyed 5. Since therefore God concurs with the Thoughts and Actions of Men in the Means and Causes as well as in the Ends and Events of Things and disposes all alike it follows that he can be no more the Author of Evil Events than of Evil Means or Actions or Thoughts But God may be said to do all that is done in the world because nothing can be done without him for his Providence concurs with Men in the performance of the worst Actions though not in the Wickedness of them Men contrive and practice Evil and God concurs with them in their Actions but only permits the Evil of them for every Action being a positive thing necessarily requires God's Concurrence and could not be done without it and every Action as such is Good But Evil is an Accident it is a Defect or a privation of Good and therefore this proceeds from the Imperfection and Wickedness of Man only and needs no Cause to produce it since it has no other Being but the want of Rectitude and Goodness in the depraved minds of men Thus to think is always the same Action of the mind whatever it be that we think about And Evil Thoughts differ from Good ones not in the Nature of the Act but only in the Object which employs the Thoughts and therefore though God never suggests Evil Thoughts yet he leaves the Will free to determine it self in the choice of the Evil Object and sustains the Mind in the Exercise of its Faculty of Thinking whatever the Object be about which it is conversant And so in all other Actions of the Body or Mind God concurs to the Action not as it has such or such an Object but as it is produced by its proper Faculty that is he concurs to it as it is a Natural not as it is a Moral Action 6. As God permits Wickedness to come to pass so he orders it for the Good or Evil that is for the Beward or Punishment of private Men or publick Societies yet still he does not approve of the Event but of the Consequences and Effects which his Infinite Wisdom and Power produces out of it And the Event gives no Right to the Persons who are permitted to bring it about For then a Thief would have a Right to stol'n Goods because it may be a just Punishment from God upon the Person from whom they are stol'n to suster him to have the possession of them I shall not venture to say That though God permits Wickedness in the Counsels or Designs of Men yet when it comes to Action he either disappoints what they intended or gives Success to them when he can serve the Ends of his Providence by their Wickedness For I believe there is no wickedness either in Thought or Action but God's Infinite Power and Wisdom can over-rule it to accomplish his own Counsels and Decrees And the difference between Evil in the Action and in the Design seems to be this That whilst it is designed and contrived in the minds of Men it can have no such Influence towards the Production of that Good which God causes to proceed from Evil as it certainly shall have one way or other when it is reduced to practice For though Evil Thoughts are over-ruled by God as well as Evil Actions and either suffered to proceed to Action or hindred and if suffered then upon this or that Occasion at this or that Time with respect to certain Persons and Accidents yet Thoughts as such have no Effect but upon the Mind it self whereas Actions have a further Effect upon divers Objects for the tryal of Good Men for their Admonition or Amendment or for the prevention of that Sin which they would otherwise run into or else perhaps for the Punishment and Correction of wicked men And therefore there can be no Evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it He concurs
the Posterity of Jehu 2. For Baasha who slew Nabab was set up by God himself according as God had threatned Jeroboam by the Prophet Ahijah Moreover the Lord shall raise him up a King over Israel who shall cut off the House of Jeroboam that day 1 Kings 14.14 The Lord shall raise up to himself a King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thereby entitleing him in a more especial manner to his Authority and stiling him his King the King whom he would raise up to himself to vindicate his Honour and to execute his Judgments upon Jeroboam which Prophecy is expresly said to be fulfilled in Baasha when he killed Nadab and destroyed all the House of Jeroboam 1 Kings 15.29 So that though Baasha were not directly nominated yet he was immediately appointed by God himself and the beginning of his Reign in the destruction of Jeroboam's Family was exactly foretold and therefore God's exalting him out of the dust and making him Prince over his People Israel 1 Kings 16.1 cannot be understood of his Providence but of his Appointment It may be objected That God did not authorise Baasha to slay Nadab because this is alledged against him as the Cause of his own Destruction 1 Kings 16.7 And also by the hand of the Prophet Jehn the Son of Hanani came the word of the Lord against Baasha and against his house even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord in provoking him to anger with the work of his hands in being like the house of Jeroboam and because he killed him To which I answer That by him in this Verse cannot probably be meant Nadab of whom there is no mention after the 31st Verse of the foregoing Chapter Nor can it be meant of Jeroboam who was not killed by Baasha unless Jeroboam be said to be slain by him not in his own Person but because he had destroyed all the Family of Jeroboam Which kind of Interpretation seems never to be admitted where there is no evident Necessity for it or not however when there is another more easie and natural The words then are a Repetition of what had been before related in the first and second Verses God had raised up Baasha and so blessed him that he reigned Twenty Four Years but he was guilty of great Ingratitude towards God and did that which was evil in his sight which is expressed twice before by his walking in the ways of Jeroboam 1 Kings 15.34 and 16.2 and here by his being like the house of Jeroboam for this God threatens That he will take away the Posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house and will make his house like the house of Jeroboam the Son of Nebat ver 3. Which implies That God designed to continue Baasha and his Posterity after him in the Throne of Israel if he had not thus provoked God with his sins Bat in neither of the Two other Verses is there the least intimation that the killing of Nadab was imputed to Baasha as a sin and here after the Death of Baasha God's Message formerly sent to him by his Propher is again repeated and the mention of Jeroboam is added as it had been twice before for the further aggravation of his Guilt It is said the word of the Lord came against Baasha and against his house even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord in provoking him to an ger with the work of his hands and because he killed him or as it may be translated for which he smote him that is God smote Baasha for his sins The Prophet was sent to denounce God's Judgments against him and God at last took away his Life and his sins were the Cause of it So that the words are not to be understood with relation to Nadab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as slain by Baasha but to Bausha himself as killed by God's just Judgment upon him for his sins And with this agrees the Version of the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and concerning the smiting him And thus Malvenda says most understand this place of Baasha's being slain of God for his sins Plerique eum Bahasam propter quod percussit eum Dominus id est propter sua prava opera Malvend in loc Ob hanc causam occidit eum hoc est filium Hanani Prophetam The Vulgar Latin renders it ob hanc causam occidit eum that is God slew Baasha for the Cause abovementioned viz. for provoking God with his sins as Jeroboam had done though there is a Clause added which applies the words to the Prophet Jehu as if Baasha had killed him for delivering the Message but this is omitted in some Copies Sixt. Senens Biblioth lib. 2. in Jehu and Sixtus Senensis thinks that it was only an Annotation put by some body at first in the Margin which afterwards got into the Text. Cajetan says Ob hanc causam occidit eum Juxta Hebraeum habetur pro quo percussit eum Pronomen eum demonstrat Jeroboham cum domo ejus Narratur enim quod Jehu Propheta manifestavit Regi Bahasae pro quâ causâ percussit Deus Domum Jeroboam ut vel ab exemplo disceret recipiscere Cajet in loc the Prophet declared to Baasha the Cause for which Jeroboam's House was destroyed that Baasha might take warning by his Example and for which he smote him that is the Evil of the House of Jeroboam for which God destroyed it But if we should grant that this Verse is to be understood of Baasha's killing Nadab the meaning seems then to be not that he sinned in killing Nadab but that his having killed him proved the aggravation of all his other sins that when he had been raised up by God purposely to destroy the House of Jeroboam he should notwithstanding be guilty himself of the same sins for which it was destroyed and therefore no mention is made of Nadab but of Jeroboam the Prophet having declared That God's Auger was kindled against him because he walked in the way of Jeroboam which yet he knew to be so abominable before God that he was exalted out of the Dust and had the Kingdom given him to reduce Israel from that sin which Jeroboam had led them into and therefore this is added at last as the most aggravating Circumstance that he should follow the Wickedness of that very Man whom he had by God's appointment slain And the Word of the Lord came against him for all the Evil that he did in being like the house of Jeroboam and because he killed him that is because he was the Man who had killed him for the same sins which he now became guilty of himself But if we should further grant That Baasha was raised up by God's Permission only and that he sinned in killing Nadab yet when he had destroyed the House of Jeroboam and there was none left who had a Right to the Kingdom he then became Rightful King and