pleased But this He speaks as taking it for granted that his Daughter would be guided by him that he that took it should have his Daughter Achsah to wife Hereupon Othniel the Son of Kenaz younger Brother to Caleb took it It was surely by some special instinct and direction of Gods Spirit that Caleb gave unto Othniel this occasion of innobling his Valour and Vertue in the sight of the people He intending afterwards to raise him up after Caleb's death to be their Judge and Deliverer see Judges 3.9 Othniel thus obtaining Achsah for his wife Caleb gave with her a good Dowry of Land 'T is true Caleb had Sons see 1 Chron. 4.13 and they might not give away any part of their Inheritance from their Sons to their Daughters see Numb 27.8 9. therefore the Land which Caleb now gave his Daughter was given her only as a Dowry for term of life or till the year of Jubilee But it seems she was not content with the portion her Father now gave her and therefore moved her Husband as they were riding away from her Father's house to make suit to her Father for another Field to be added to what he had already given her But when she perceived that he was loth to do it or perswaded her rather to do it her self she went back and alighting off from her Asse addressed her self to make that Request to her Father who ask'd her What she would have She answered Give me I pray thee a Blessing that is another Gift or Boon with thy fatherly blessing upon it Gen. 33.11 Thou hast given me a Southland give me also I pray thee Springs of Water intimating that the portion he had given her was dry and not well watered the Southern-parts of Judah's portion being dry and barren or at least the Southern parts of Caleb's portion were such And therefore she desires him to give her Springs of Water that is some portion of Land that was well watered Hereupon out of his great love to her He gave her some Springs or watered Grounds on each side of the Land he had before given her both above it and below it But though Caleb thus cleared his particular portion yet the Children of Judah though they took some part * The Northern and greatest part of the City of Jerusalem was in Benjamin's lot but the Southern wherein was the Fort Sion was in Judah's lot of the City of Jerusalem and burnt it Judg. 1.8 yet the Fort of Sion which was the chief strength of the City was not then taken by them but the Jebusites forced the Israelites to let them there dwell with them for a long time after and there they were when this story was written (r) Whereby it appears that this story was not written by Ezra seeing he lived many years after David and were not cast out till David's time 2 Sam. 5.6 7. Had the Children of Judah done their endeavour and not been wanting to themselves they might have cast them out sooner but failing in their duty and growing slothful and faint-hearted by these and their other sins they provoked God to withdraw his gracious assistance from them and so then indeed they could not drive them out according to that Judg. 2.20 21. because this people has transgressed my Covenant therefore I will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the Nations which Joshua left when he died And it was not only thus with the Children of Judah but the Ephraimites also did not drive out the Canaanites out of Gezer a City in their Tribe Josh 16.10 but suffered them to live there only paying them some Tribute expresly against God's Command Deut. 7.2 and there they continued till Solomons time when Pharaoh King of Egypt expelled them out and gave the City for a Present to his Daughter Solomon's wife 1 Kings 9.16 And thus it was also with the Manassites Ch. 17.12 13. who could not for the same Reasons drive out the Canaanites out of their lot but they would dwell with them yet they afterwards made them Tributary and with that they contented themselves through Sloth Cowardize and Covetousness as their Brethren the Ephraimites had done Josh Ch. 14. from 6. to the end Josh Ch. 10. vers 21 22. Josh Ch. 15. from vers 13. to 20. Josh Ch. 1. from vers 9. to 16. SECT CXI THe Israelites having drawn these three lots before-mentioned which fell upon Judah Ephraim and half the Tribe of Manasseh they drew no more at this time It seems the other seven Tribes that were yet to have their lots perceiving what a large circuit of Land was given to Judah they began to apprehend that there would not be left an equal share for them and therefore pretending there could not be any equal division made till the remote parts of the Land which were yet in the Enemies possession were better known to them they desired some stay of the Work till they had further prevailed and might know the Land they were to divide better then yet they could do SECT CXII THis Year being the seventh from the first wherein they began to till the Ground in Canaan was the first Sabbatical year which was kept among them they being by Joshua who was a Type of Christ now brought into this place of Rest which was a Type and Figure of that eternal Sabbath and Rest which the true Jesus was to bring the people of God into Heb. 4.9 And from hence also the Year of Jubilee which happened every fiftieth year is to be reckoned see Levit. 25. from 8. to 14. SECT CXIII UPon the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Israelites kept the Feast of Tabernacles in Booths made of boughs of Trees according to the Law Levit. 23.39 40. and much more solemnly than was afterwards used in the times of the Judges or Kings see Neh. 8.17 SECT CXIV HItherto both Camp and Tabernacle had remained at Gilgal Now by God's appointment they remove to Shiloth a City in the South of Ephraim's lot This was the Place that God chose to place his Name there Deut. 12.5 and from 8. to 12. Jer. 7.12 that is his Tabernacle where he would be worshipped and have his Name solemnly called upon And therefore marching to Shiloh there they fixed the Tabernacle of the Congregation after the Land thereabout was wholly subdued to them and the Canaanites that dwelt further off were so stricken with terrour from the Lord that they durst not molest them At Shiloth the Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant continued 328 years till the death of Eli 1 Sam. 1.3 9 24. Joshua Ch. 18. vers 1. SECT CXV THere remained now among the Israelites seven Tribes which had not yet received their Inheritance and as it seems being weary of the War which had lasted long and being full of Spoil and wanting nothing they did not press to have their Inheritances allotted to them which negligence Joshua reproves them for shewing them there was no
into his Treachery there fell sick Herod visits him and seeks help for him but he died within a few days after whose body was brought to Jerusalem and there honourably buryed by Herod Pheroras dying in this sickness after his death his Wife was accused as if she had poisoned him Herod inquiring into this matter by little and little began to find out a treasonable Conspiracy of his Son Antipater against himself namely how that he going to Rome had delivered a deadly poyson to Pheroras that was sent by Antiphilus one of his Friends out of Egypt to be given to the King in his absence and that it was kept by Pheroras his Wife She being examined confessed the same that it was committed to her charge but added also how that her husband when sick and when Herod came so kindly to visit him was so overcome with his love that he forbad her to give it him Among the accessaries of this Conspiracy was Herods own Wife the daughter of the High Priest Hereupon Herod put her away which was a great favour he put others to death for a lesser matter and deposed her Father from the Priesthood and preferred Matthias the Son of Theophilus to his place and put her Son Herod out of his Will whom he had appointed his Successor and put Doris also Antipaters Mother out of the Court taking her Jewels from her Not long after Bathillus the freed man of Antipater coming from Rome being tortured confessed that he had brought with him a poison to deliver to Pheroras wherewith the King might be certainly and speedily dispatched in case the other should fail Antipater got some to write from Rome to his Father how Archelaus and Philip Herods two younger Sons that were at Rome to study often rub'd up the Sore of the Murder of Alexander and Aristobulus pitying the misfortune of their innocent Brethren and he when he wrote to his Father about them as it were excusing them would impute their speeches to their age During these things JESVS CHRIST the Son of God is born two years after the Wise men came to Herod to Jerusalem and there are taught that the Birth-place of Christ was at Bethlehem they return no more to Herod being so directed by God in a Dream Herod being thus disappointed killed all the Children that were at Bethlehem and in all the Coasts thereof from two years old and under according to the time of the Stars being first seen in the East which he had learned from the Magi. Among which Children 't is said that a young Son of Herods was one which when Augustus heard of he said 'T was better to be Herods Hogg than his Son for under pretence of Religion he would not touch an Hogg or eat Swines flesh but made it no great difficulty to destroy his own Children See Macrob. lib. 2. ch 4. Antipater all this while hears nothing of the death of Pheroras or of those things that were ready to be alledged against him but returns to Jerusalem ignorant of all these Passages When he came thither he entred the Palace in his Purple Garment which he was wont to wear but the Guards at the Gates suffered none of his followers to enter in with him When he addressed himself to his Father he thrust him away from him with indignation reproaching him with the murder of his Brethren and his intention to poison his Father It hapned that Quintillius Varus President of Syria was now at Jerusalem The next day therefore the King and Varus sitting in Judgment Antipater was brought before them and being not able to purge himself all things being made so clear and evident and the poison it self produced which being give to a condemned man dispatched him immediately hereupon he was committed to Prison and Herod signified to Cesar by Letters all these matters and also sent Ambassadors to him who by word of mouth might acquaint him more fully with this cursed Treason of Antipater Herod now falls sick and in his sickness was exceeding impatient but his Distemper was much encreased by this accident Judas the Son of Sariphaeus and Matthias the Son of Margalothus two of the most learned men among the Jews and the best Interpreters of their Law hearing that the Kings sickness was incurable perswaded some young men that were their Scholars to throw down the Golden Eagle that was set up by Herod over the great Gate of the Temple The young men accordingly went up at Noon-day and with Axes hewed down the Eagle a great multitude beholding it Immediately about forty of these young men were taken by the Captain of the Castle and together with their Masters brought before Herod where they confidently defending what they had done he calling the Rulers of the Jews together took away the High Priesthood from Matthias as not altogether a stranger to this business and put Joazar into his place the Brother of his Wife Mariamne the Daughter of Simon the High Priest But he burned alive the other Matthias that was a Promoter of this Sedition and his Companions Then Herods disease began to grow worse for he burned with an inward heat he was vexed with a ravenous and insatiable Appetite he was tortured with Vlcers in his Bowels and pains of the Cholick His Feet swelled and his Thighs his Body rotted and was full of crawling Worms to all which he was troubled with Convulsions and difficulty of breathing He used all means possible for his Recovery and was carried to the hot Baths beyond Jordan Thence he returned to Jericho Perceiving now that he must die and supposing that the Jews would much rejoyce in his death by Proclamation he calls together from every place to Jericho some of the most Noble of the Jews and shuts up those of them that came in the Hippodrome giving command to his Sister Salome and her husband Alexas that as soon as he was dead they should cause all those Jews to be killed that the people might have cause of Lamentation at his death which otherwise he thought they would rejoyce at Before his death he received Letters from Cesar that he might do with his Son Antipater as he pleased Being afresh tormented with his distemper he went to stab himself but was prevented by those about him Antipater thinking his Father had been dead began to tamper with his Keeper about his Liberty that he might seize upon the Kingdom But his Keeper went and revealed it to Herod who was thereupon so inraged that he commanded one of the Guard to go instantly and kill him and that he should be buried in the Castle of Hircanion without any honour which was done accordingly five days before Herod died To such an end came he who had wrought the ruine of his Brethren and had made such sad broils in his Fathers house Herod now makes a new Will in which he leaves the Kingdom to Archelaus his eldest Son by his second wife Mariamne Herod Antipas he makes Tetrarch of
(i) Qui perfecte legem impleverit adipiscetur vitam aeternam At quis hoc praestat non ergo vitam possumus consequi justitia operum seu legis sed fidei in them See Rom. 10.5 that is the man that doth all things prescribed in the Law exactly and perfectly without ever failing in any one particular shall live thereby that is shall obtain eternal life And on these and no other terms doth the Law promise eternal life which now are not possible to be performed by any meer man since Adam's Fall But this Obedience God required of them as a due debt and to direct them whether to have recourse viz. from the Law to the Messias (k) See Gal. 3.24 by whose Merits and Mediation they may be acquitted when by the Law they are condemned That therefore they may walk in the Statutes and Ordinances of God and not conform to Idolaters they are commanded first to beware of Incestuous Copulations and Marriages or approaching to such of their near Kindred as are here forbidden 1. A man must not marry or lie with with his Fathers wife his Mother in law or his own Mother Levit. 18. v. 7. See 1 Cor. 5.1 Gen. 35.22 Deut. 22.30 27.20 2. Nor with his Sister whether she be Daughter both of Father and Mother or of his Mother only and whether born in Marriage or out of Marriage i. e. by Fornication before Marriage v. 9. 3. Nor with his Grand-daughter by Son or Daughter v. 10. 4. Nor with the Daughter (l) Hoc probibitum erat v 9. Sed vel claritatis vel inculcandi gratia more Scripturae repetitur ut nota Aug. quaest 59. of his Fathers wife begotten by his Father for she is his Sister though begotten of a Mother in law but if his Father marry another wife and she hath a Daughter by another man that Daughter is lawful for him v. 11. 5. Nor with his Aunt the Sister of Father or Mother v. 12 13. 6. Nor with his Uncles wife (m) Wherefore it seems more unlawful for the Uncle and Neice to marry together v. 14. 7. Nor with his Daughter in law his Sons wife v. 15. 8. Nor with his Brothers wife From this Law was excepted (n) See the reasons for it Sect. 35. Ch. 3. afterwards the case of a Brothers dying without Male-Issue for then the next Brother or Kinsman was to marry the Widow of the deceased v. 16. Levit. 20.21 9. Nor with his wives Daughter viz. Step-Daughter nor Step-Sons Daughter or the Daughters descending from her vers 17. 10. A man ought not to take one wife to another (o) Polagamy seems here forbidden so Deut. 17.17 that is to have two wives together in marriage that the one may not be a vexation * See 1 Sam. 1. the case of Elkanah a Levite having two wives to the other which is like to be more where two Sisters are so conjoyned as may be seen in Jacob's case Gen. 30. And though some of the Fathers did practise Polygamy and God bore with them yet it was not so from the beginning as our Saviour tells us Mat. 19.8 out of Gen. 2.24 and in the N. T. it is quite abolished vers 18. 2. A man was not to lie with his own wife when she was to be separated by reason of her uncleanness vers 19. See Ch. 12.2 and Ch. 15.24 25. and Ch. 20.18 3. Adultery is forbidden or defiling another mans wife vers 20. 4. Offering their Children to Molech the Idol of the Ammonites called also Milcom 1 Kings 11.5 7. for whose honour and worship the besotted Parents caused their own Children to be burnt alive or as some write to pass betwixt two great Fires to be cleansed or purified thereby as they conceived and as a sign of their Consecration to that Idol And it was a horrible vilifying of the Lord thus to forsake him and to yield such honour to such a base Idol-god See Amos 5.26 'T is thought to be the same Idol that in Scripture is ordinarily called Baal as may appear by comparing 2 Kings 23.10 Jer. 19.5 together See Psal 106.37 38. Levit. 20.3 5. 5. All unnatural Lusts and Copulations From all which sins God dehorts them by telling them that these were the Abominations which He intended to visit upon the Land of Canaan and for which she should vomit and spew out her Inhabitants Therefore they must take heed to themselves that they do not provoke Him by the like sins See Levit. 20.22 23 24. Levit. 18. whole Chapter 4. Sundry Laws are repeated and reinforced Ch. 19. with directions how the Violators of them shall be punished Ch. 20. Some relating to the Moral Law as particularly to the 1. Com. Viz. Not to use Inchantments nor superstitiously to observe times counting some days lucky others unlucky Ch. 19. vers 26. Not to go after Wizards or such as have familiar Spirits Ch. 19.31 Ch. 20.6 for such were to be stoned to death Ch. 20.27 See Exod. 22.18 Not to offer their Children to Molech for such as did so were to be stoned Ch. 20.2 3 4 5. And those that connived at their Idolatry God threatens to set his Face against and to destroy those men and their Families 2. Com. Not to turn to Idols nor make to themselves molten Gods or any Images of Stone to bow down to them Ch. 19.4 See Ch. 26.1 3. Com. Not to swear by Gods Name falsly nor profane His holy Name Ch. 19.12 4. Com. To keep the Sabbath and reverence the Sanctuary that is to come thither with an inward awe and fear of Gods Presence and not to approach it in their uncleanness or any other way to pollute it Ch. 19.3 30. Ch. 26.2 5. Com. Ye shall fear and reverence every man his Mother (p) The Mother is set in the first place because Mothers are usually most despised and his Father Ch. 19.3 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary Head and honour the Face of the old Man Ch. 19.32 He that curseth Father or Mother shall surely be put to Death Ch. 20.9 See Exod. 21.17 Deut. 21.18 19 20 21. 6. Com. Thou shalt not curse or speak evil of the Deaf nor put a Stumbling-block before the Blind that is do Injuries to men in confidence that the injur'd persons shall not know who wrong'd them nor be able to right themselves Ch. 19.14 Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour and not suffer sin upon him Ch. 19.17 See 1 John 3.15 Thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy Neighbour that is stand up in Courts of Justice to take away his life either as a false Accuser or as a false Witness Ch. 19. v. 16. Thou shalt not avenge thy self nor bear any grudge against thy Brother but love thy Neighbour as thy self (q) That is in the same manner heartily sincerely constantly as thou lovest thy self though not
it and prolong your days in it And further to press them to Obedience He tells them The Land they were going to possess was not like the Land of Egypt whence they came out which having but little rain Zach. 14.18 and being watered with the overflowing of Nilus occasioned the people to put their feet to the Spade to dig Trenches and Channels to derive water to their grounds when they had sown their Seed to which the overflowing of Nilus did not reach so that they took pains to water them as if a man should water a Garden of Herbs But they were going to a Land which was continually watered with rain from Heaven a Land of Hills and Vallies commodious healthful and fruitful and a Land not watered as Egypt by the art and industry of men but by the special Care and Providence of God whose eyes are upon it all the year long to send rain at all times when it needeth it And when they came into that good Land if they would be obedient unto God He * V. 14 15. Moses having hitherto spoken to the people in his own name here he speaks to them as in the person of God would give them rain in due season the (s) Sub quibus extremis omnis pluvia opportuna comprehenditur first rain after the sowing of their Seed to bring it out of the ground and the latter a little before Harvest for the plumping and ripening of the Corn and He will send grass in the Field for the Cattel that so they may have plenty and abundance Take heed therefore says he to your selves that your hearts be not deceived and that ye turn not aside and serve other gods and worship them and so the Lords wrath be kindled against you and he shut up the Heavens that there be no rain and make the Land not to yield her fruit and so you may perish quickly through scarcity from off the good Land which the Lord hath given you Further he exhorts them to lay up these his words in their hearts and to bind them as a sign upon their hands and set them as frontlets between their eyes to write them upon the door-posts of their Houses and upon their Gates (t) See particular 10. and Ch. 6.8 that is to use all due means to keep them in continual remembrance and to teach them diligently to their Children speaking of them when they sit in their house and when they walk by the way when they lie down and when they rise up that so their days and the days of their Children may be multiplied as the days of Heaven upon the Earth that is that they and their Posterity may continue in that good Land as long as the Heavens shall continue in their place over the Earth namely as long as the world shall last (u) Had not the Jews provoked God by their Disobedience to cast them out of that good land this Promise should have been made good to them And from this Promise some conceive and hope that upon the Repentance of the Jews and their embracing of Christ they shall be again re-established in this Land and therein continue with great glory to the end of the world see Psal 89.29 He tells them if they shall diligently keep the Commandments of the Lord and walk in his ways and cleave unto him then will He drive out all these Nations before them and they shall possess the Lands of greater and mightier Nations than themselves Every place within the compass of the promised Land whereon the soles of their feet shall tread shall be theirs from the Wilderness of Paran the Southern border unto Lebanon the Northern from the River Euphrates the Eastern to the outermost Sea or main Ocean the Western bound of the Inheritance promised them (x) See this Promise fulfilled 2 Chron. 9.26 in Solomon's Reign There shall none be able to stand before them for the Lord will put the fear and dread of them upon all the Inhabitants of the Land they shall tread upon as He hath promised Further he tells them He sets before them this day a Blessing and a Curse that is He shews them what are the Promises of God to them on the one hand if they will be Obedient and what are his Threatnings on the other hand in case they be Disobedient and follow after other gods which were Strangers to them and of whose god-head they never had any proof or experience And by shewing them both the one and the other he instructs them in the Choice which they should make Moreover he gives them in Charge that when they came into Canaan they should cause the blessings which the Lord had promised to them that keep his Laws to be pronounced on Mount Gerizim * Two Hills near together in the Tribe of Ephraim and the Curses which He had threatned against the Disobedient to be pronounced on (y) This is afterwards injoyn'd again Deut. 27.12 c. where 't is more fully express'd how it was to be done and Josh 8.33 how it was accordingly done And it seems from this Commandment given to Moses concerning Mount Gerizim the Samaritans many Ages after took occasion to build a Temple there as taking that Hill to be a blessed place compare Joh. 4.3 20. with Judg. 9.7 2 Macc. 6.2 Mount Ebal and so should make these two Mountains to be as it were continual Remembrancers to the people that when they see Mount Gerizim they may think of the Blessings set before them and when they see Mount Ebal may think of the Curses Those two Mountains he tells them are on the other side Jordan West-ward near unto Shechem see Gen. 12.6 7. 17. Having spoken so much by way of explanation of the First Commandment Chap. XII He comes now to expound and dilate upon the Second Second Commandment exhorting them to abolish all false Worship and all Monuments of Idolatry and to apply themselves to worship God only according to his own Will In order hereunto he informs them of some particular Statutes and Judgments which the Lord requir'd them to observe when they came into the Land of Canaan 1. They must utterly destroy all places wherein the Nations whose Lands they should possess served their Idol-gods viz. all places reared up and fitted for Idol-Temples and all places they used for their Idolatrous Worship either upon high Mountains and Hills or under green Trees and this was injoyn'd them to shew how God detested Idolatry and to prevent the Israelites from being tempted to worship Him in those places Further he tells them They must overthrow their Altars and break their Pillars or standing Statues and burn their Groves and hew down their Images and destroy their very Names and memory out of the Land Ye must remember says he that ye must not so serve the Lord your God as the Heathens served their gods who practic'd their Idolatry in all places where they lived
renew their Covenant which their Fathers made with God at Horeb and to bind themselves more firmly thereby unto the Lord. And possibly the same Ceremonies were observed now in this renewing of the Covenant which were before observed at Horeb see Exod. 24. when their Fathers first entred into it And to prepare them the better for it 1. He repeats the great and manifold Favours God had bestowed on them He tells them That many of them who were then young might remember what God did to Pharaoh and his Servants in Egypt and the great Plagues whereby He tempted and tried whither he would let Israel go or no. But though they had seen all those great Signs and Wonders with their bodily eyes yet by reason of their great perverseness and manifold Provocations it was not given * V. 4. God hath not given you a heart to perceive simul ostendit hic Moses sine adjutorio Dei eos intelligere obedire non posse tamen si illud adjutorium Dei desit non ideo esse excusabile hominis vitium suo enim demerito caret Augustin unto them to understand Gods meaning in them see Matth. 13.11 neither had those great Wonders and Deliverances made such Impressions upon them as they should have done nor inclin'd them to turn to God and yield sincere Obedience unto Him And so God punished the wickedness of their hearts with the blindness of their minds And the Lord by Moses further spake unto them saying I have led you forty years in the Wilderness your Clothes waxed not old upon your Backs nor your shoes upon your Feet see Deut. 8.4 Ye have not eaten common and ordinary bread for I have fed you with Manna †Doubtless ordinarily they had no other bread though at sometimes they might see Deut. 2.6 you have not drunk Wine or strong Drink for your drink has been as miraculous as your bread viz. water fetcht out of the Rock Numb 20.11 Psal 78.15 16. and these things I have done for you that you might know that I am the Lord your God and yet how little have you considered it Moses further tells them That they might remember how since they came hither they had conquered Sihon King of Heshbon and Og King of Bashan and how He had given their Land to the Reubenites Gadites and half the Tribe of Manasseh Therefore says he considering all these great Mercies God hath bestowed on you you ought to be very careful to observe the 〈◊〉 â—ditions and Articles of the Covenant which you are now to enter into and to confirm with an Oath that so it may go well with you and that you may prosper in all that you do Attend therefore all of you with all seriousness to this solemn business you are now about Behold you all stand this day before the Lord your God the Captains of your Tribes your Elders and Officers you your Wives and little Ones and the Strangers that are in your Camp even from the Hewer of Wood unto the Drawer of Water ye are all met together and stand here before the Lord your God to enter into Covenant with Him and to confirm it with an Oath whereby you bind your selves to perform it that so He may establish you for a people unto Himself and that He may be your God as He promised your Fathers Neither do I bind only you who are here present to the observance of this Covenant but your Posterity also who are not yet born And there is great reason you should now enter into this Covenant because having dwelt in the Land of Egypt at least many of you in your younger years and having gone thorow the Confines of some Idolatrous Nations in your Journey towards Canaan and seen their several Idolatries and Abominations there is some cause to fear lest some of you may be tainted with their evil Manners And therefore to prevent this it is fit that ye should all solemnly enter into Covenant with God lest there be found among you any Man Woman Family or Tribe whose hearts are inclined to serve the gods of these Nations and lest there be found among you any Root that beareth Wormwood that is any root of Idolatry or Rebellion against God which is as displeasing and distastful to Him as Gall and Wormwood is to us and which will prove to the Sinner and who ever is infected therewith bitterness in the latter end see Heb. 12.15 c. And he tells them If there shall be found any such evil-spirited and infectious persons among them who when they shall hear the words of this Curse yet shall bless themselves in their own hearts saying They shall have peace though they walk in the evil imaginations of their own hearts and so add drunkenness to thirst that is being wicked already do yet encourage themselves to be more wicked as Drunkenness increases thirst and so draws on another Drunkenness the Lord will not spare such persons but his anger and jealousie will smoke against them and all the Curses in this Book will light upon them and the Lord will blot out their names from under Heaven and will separate them out of all the Tribes of Israel unto punishment mischief and destruction answerably to the threatnings that are denounced against the Breakers of this Covenant and are written in this Book of the Law So that when your Children that shall be born hereafter and the Strangers that come from a far Country shall see the Plagues and Sicknesses that the Lord will bring upon the Inhabitants of the Land for these Transgressions and how the Land by Gods just Curse is so defaced and altered that it is become in a manner like Sodom and Gomorrah Admah and Zeboim which Cities the Lord overthrew in his wrath and anger they and other Nations also that shall hear of it shall say Wherefore hath the Lord thus punished this Land what meaneth the heat of his great anger against it Then men shall answer It is because they have forsaken the Covenant of the God of their Fathers which He made with them when he brought them forth out of Egypt For they went and served other gods and worshipped them viz. gods of Gold and Silver Wood and Stone whom they knew to be no gods nor to have given them any thing nor could or would do them any good And they knew also that the Lord had forbidden them to worship Him by such Idols and Images and thereupon his anger was kindled against them and he was provoked to bring upon them all the Curses denounced in his Law against the Violators of his Covenant And hence it was that after those great Judgments He had sent upon them in their own Nation He was provoked to root them out of their own Land in wrath anger and indignation and to scatter them into other Nations as you see it is now come to pass But says he if you shall ask me When will these
things be when will our Posterity by their Rebellions thus provoke God and bring such heavy Judgments on themselves and the Land I answer That is only known to God Himself secret things belong to Him but things revealed belong to us and our Children and therefore we may safely conclude That if they do thus provoke God then all this Misery and Calamity will certainly befal them except by true and timely repentance and turning unto God they prevent this ruine This says He God hath revealed and what he hath revealed it becomes us and our Câ—â—ldren always to consider and lay to heart that we may not provoke Him by transgressing any of his Commandments Ch. XXXI Moses now calling the people together He tells them He was at this time an 120 years old and therefore by the course of Nature it could not be expected that he should be able much longer to go in and out before them and to lead and govern them as before he had done And besides the Lord had told him He should not go over Jordan However he bids them be of good courage for the Lord Himself would go before them and by the Conduct of his Servant Joshua would subdue their Enemies for them as he had already done Sihon and Og Kings of the Amorites and they should destroy them as he had commanded and therefore he bids them not to be afraid of them for the Lord would go along with them and would not fail them nor forsake them Then he addresses his Speech to Joshua and in the sight of them all bids him be strong and of a good courage trusting in Gods Providence and Assistance who would not fail him nor forsake him He tells him He must lead the people over into Canaan and cause them to inherit it Then Moses having put into writing (x) Videtur Scripsisse tuâ—â— Deuteronomium tum Canticum sequens antequam ea populo pronunciaret this Law that is this Book of Deuteronomy he delivered it solemnly unto the Priests who upon some extraordinary occasions did carry the Ark as well as the Levites see Joshua 3.17 Josh 6.12 and unto all the Elders of Israel thereby giving them to understand that they were the men to whom it did especially belong to see that this Original Copy of the Law were safely kept and that the Laws therein commanded were duly observed both by themselves and the people And Moses commanded the Priests to read this Book this Original Copy of the Law every seventh year which was the year of Release among the people at the Feast of Tabernacles 'T is like some part of the Book of the Law was read among them by the Levites every Sabbath-day see Acts 15.21 and 't is like the people had Copies of the Law for their own private use in the reading whereof they did daily exercise themselves (y) If this were required of their Kings Ch. 17 18 19. much more may we think it was required of them But yet once in seven years God would have this Book to be read by the Priests from the beginning to the end among the people both that it might make the deeper impression on them and cause them to fear the Lord their God and to observe and do all the words of this Law and that it might appear to them that those Copies of the Law which they had among them and were read to them every Sabbath-day did agree with this Original Copy which Moses had given them And God appointed this to be done in the year of Release because then they had most liberty to mind and attend that Service the Land lying that year at rest themselves being freed from the danger of having their Debts exacted of them It was also an holy year the Sabbath of years and so the fitter for this extraordinary duty And it was appointed to be done at the Feast of Tabernacles because all Israel used then to appear before the Lord. For though the Males only were bound to appear at the three solemn Feasts Exod. 23.17 yet at this Feast it seems they carried their Wives and Children and the Strangers within their Gates along with them as appears vers 12. Neh. 8.3 And hereby their Children who had not seen the Wonders and Miracles that God had wrought for them as their Fathers had done might by hearing this Original Book of the Law read openly among them learn to fear the Lord their God and to serve him faithfully as long as they lived Then the Lord tells Moses That the day of his death did now approach and therefore he should call Joshua and they two should present themselves before Him in the Tabernacle of the Congregation that there he might give Joshua his Charge They accordingly went to the Tabernacle and the Pillar of Cloud stood over the door of it and the Lord said unto Moses Behold thou shalt lie down to sleep in the dust as did thy Fathers but I know that after thy death this people will go a whoring after the gods of the Canaanites and will forsake me and break my Covenant Then my anger will be kindled against them and I will forsake them and hide my Face from them and withdraw my Favour Blessing and Help and then they shall be devoured by their Enemies as by wild Beasts and many evils and troubles shall befal them so that they will say in that day Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us The Lord therefore commands Moses to write this following Song set down in the next Chapter containing a Prophesie of their falling off from God and his just Judgment upon them for it And the Lord was pleased to give it to them in the form of a Song that it might be the better remembred by them and might work more upon their affections and the Israelites were to learn it and sing it that in time to come when they should so provoke God by their sins as is there set forth and God should thereupon punish them with those very evils that are there foretold this Song as out of their own mouths might be a Witness for God against them viz. that He had given them sufficient warning and yet notwithstanding by their willful and hainous Provocations they had brought these Miseries on themselves For says the Lord I know their secret Imaginations and the base apostatizing thoughts and purposes which some of them already have in their hearts even now before I have brought them into the Land which I sware unto their Fathers to give them see Amos 5.25 and Acts 7.43 and I do foresee what they will do hereafter Moses accordingly wrote this Song the same day and taught it the Children of Israel God then gives Joshua his Charge saying to him Be strong and of a good courage for thou shalt bring this people into the Land of Canaan V. 23. Hoc loco primum alloquitur Dominus Joshuam ut
out to war David sent Joab with a great Army to perfect their begu◠conquest of them and accordingly he laid siege to Rabbah their chief City afterwards called Philadelphia David staying at home at his house during this siege and giving himself to ease and idleness * Quaeritur Aegistus quare sit factus Adulter In promptu causa est desidiosus erat Ovid. contrary to his former practice and having spent some part of a day in stretching himself upon his bed in the evening he arose and walked upon the roof of his house houses being among the Jews flat roofed from whence he saw a woman washing her self to purifie her self from her menstrual uncleanness according to the Law Levit. 15.27 28. Some think she washed her self in her Garden near adjoining to the Palace which if she did she was not free from fault and blame in not taking care to wash her self more privately Others think she washed her self in her Chamber which was opposite to the Kings Palace and some window or casement being accidently open David with the quick sight of his lustful eye gazed upon her and so was insnared with her beauty His heart being thus inflam'd with lust the first sparks whereof he should have resolutely quenched he sends and inquires after the woman and was told her name was Bathsheba †Call'd Bathshua 1 Chron. 3.5 the wife of Vriah the Hittite (d) Some think he was call'd an Hittite because born at Heth a place near Abrahams burial place see Gen. 23.3 who was so by Nation but now a sincere Proselyte to the Jewish Religion and one of Davids Worthies as we may see 2 Sam. 23.39 David sends for her notwithstanding he understood she was another mans wife and he had so many wives of his own What is man if left to himself She being come to him he us'd such allurements and perswasions to her that not having the fear of God before her eyes nor that conjugal love and faithfulness which she should have had to her brave and worthy husband she consented unto him and so she became the Harlot of a King instead of being the loyal wife of an honest subject and she who had newly cleansed her self from her legal uncleanness now defileth her soul and body with moral filthiness However she having now conceived by him shortly after when she perceiv'd it wrote unto him that she was with child This she did its likely that he might consider of some way how their sin and shame might be covered and concealed and that she might escape the rage of her husband at his coming home and also the punishment by Law due unto her which was no less than death David upon this instead of repenting of his sin and humbly seeking pardon of God for it sets himself in the hardness of his heart to contrive and plot how it might be concealed from the knowledg of man not considering the all-seeing eye of God which beheld all his close actings nor his severe threatnings against all such great and heinous transgressions Therefore he immediately sendeth for Vriah from the Camp to come to him that so he coming home might go to his wife and lye with her as 't was likely he would do and so cloak and cover the business Vriah accordingly is sent by Joab from the Army to him When he was come David asked him how Joab did and how the people did and how the war went on 'T is like Vriah wondred that he should be sent for in all hast from his service in the Army only to answer such questions as these which every Messenger that came from the Army might easily have satisfied the King in And thereupon possibly he did suspect that there was some other cause of his sending for and began to have some jealousie of his beautiful wife and to think that all was not right with her and that might be the true reason why he would not be perswaded to go home and accompany with her However when he had answered these questions the King kindly dismissed him telling him that it was fit for him after such a journey to go home and refresh himself and wash his feet as in those hot Countries after a journey they used to do And presently after he was gone out there followed him a mess of meat from the King which 't is like was so ordered that Vriah might the more willingly go home to his wife and feast with her thereupon But he would not go home for all this by this time we may suppose that his fair but false wife heard of his being come to Court and seeing he did not come to her that she came her self and with great importunity besought him to come home seeing it did so much concern her to enjoy his company to cover her fault and hide her shame but notwithstanding he would not but slept that night with the Kings Guard at the Palace-gate David understanding this sent for him next morning and asked him why he did not go to his own house being weary with his journey Vriah replied the Ark (c) It is probable that the Ark was at this time with Joab in the Camp seeing in great and dangerous Wars they used to carry it along with them it being a visible sign of Gods presence with them and by it they might receive directions from God speaking to them from between the Cherubims in their difficulties see 1 Sam 4.4 and Israel and Judah and my Lord Joab abide in Tents in the open fields how unfitting then is it for me to go home to my house and there solace my self with my wife and other delights this I think not fit in a time of publick danger and calamity as thou livest and as thy soul liveth I will not do it Which words one would think might have been sufficient to have awaked David out of his deep sleep of sin and security who wallowed in unlawful lust and pleasure when Vriah would not enjoy honest and lawful delights at such a time of calamity as this was David also might have taken notice of the Providence of God crossing him in his intended design and thereupon have humbled himself for his heinous sin but instead thereof he resolves to practise another stratagem upon Vriah for the attaining his end He tells him he shall stay one day longer with him and then he shall return to the Army That day he invites him to his Table resolving to make him drunk that being heated with wine he might forget his Oath and go home to his wife which hitherto he refused to do And here behold a sad example of humane frailty Vriah being now entertain'd at the Kings Table where 't is like David took order to have him ply'd with good store of wine by degrees he is overtaken and made drunk but that would not do neither for notwithstanding all David's devices and practices he remained firm and constant in his resolution
manner and in the sight only of a few who did it hastily to prevent Adonijah from making himself King and therefore this second anointing was done more publickly and more solemnly in the sight of the Princes and Rulers and in a great Assembly of the people And they anointed him unto the Lord that is devoted him solemnly unto the Lord and to be the Ruler of his people under him Then they anointed Zadok to be High-Priest instead of Abiathar who had joined with Adonijah and this was the rather done as we may suppose because the High-Priesthood was now translated into another Family For Abiathar was of the race of Eli and descended from Ithamar second Son of Aaron and Zadok was descended from Phineas who was descended from Eleazar his eldest Son and so the High-Priesthood reverted from the family of Ithamar to that of Eleazar as was foretold by God it should come to pass 1 Sam. 2.33 35. After this Solomon sat on the Throne of the Lord viz. on that Throne to which God had by his especial Providence advanced him and the disposal of which the Lord in a more peculiar manner challenged to himself See Deut. 17.15 And Solomon after this was very prosperous and all Israel obeyed him and all the Princes and mighty men and all the rest of David's Sons submitted themselves unto him And the Lord magnified him exceedingly in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty and greatness as no King of Israel either before him or after him ever had 1 Chron. Ch. 28. whole Chapter 1 Chron. Ch. 29. from v. 1 to 26. SECT CCXII. NOW the days of David's departure out of this life drew nigh therefore calling for his Son Solomon he said to him I am going the way that all men living upon the earth must go Be thou therefore couragious and though thou be young in years yet shew thy self a man in understanding and keep the charge of the Lord thy God to wit the commandments which he hath given in charge to be kept and walk in his ways and keep his statutes his judgments and testimonies whereby he testifies what he would have done and observed according as they are written and prescribed in the Laws given by Moses that so thou maist prosper in all that thou dost and in all businesses thou settest thy self unto And so the Lord may be pleased to confirm his word which he spake unto me saying If thy children take heed to their way to walk before me in truth and sincerity with all their heart and all their soul there shall not fail thee a man on the Throne of Israel that is there shall not fail a man of thy posterity to sit upon thy Throne (a) Notandum duo fuisse Davidi promissa Primum absolutè nempe Messiam ex ipso oriturum licet filii ejus mali fuerint Secundum conditionale scil regnum in ejus familia conservandum si posteri se sancte gerant P. Martyr I have now only three things more to give thee in charge before I die The first is concerning Joab thou knowest how insolently he carried himself towards me and how treacherously he slew those two great Capteins Abner and Amasa after I had engaged my faith to them both that they should be safe which wicked practice of his was enough to make the people think that I had secretly an hand in it though I can truly say my soul abhorred it Nay he shed the blood of war in peace that is when there was peace made with these two great men he slew them as if they had been in open hostility against me And he put the blood of war upon his girdle that is He put up his sword all bloody into its scabbard that hung at his girdle and the very shoos on his feet were stained with their blood so impudently he carried out those base murders therefore I charge thee wisely to observe him He is of a turbulent spirit and in all likelihood thou wilt have at one time or other just occasion against him And though he hath been General of my Army almost all my reign yet let not his hoary head go down to the grave in peace but when thou findest just occasion against him cut him off by the sword of justice and so let the blood of Abner and Amasa be revenged upon him 2ly I would have thee to shew kindness to the Sons of Barzillai the Gileadite for they came and brought provisions for me and my followers when I was forced to fly from thy brother Absalom and therefore let them be of the number of those that eat at thy Table 2 Sam. 17.28 29. 3ly Thou hast with thee Shimei the Benjamite who reviled me and cursed me with a bitter curse when I was in great distress flying towards Mahanaim and called me a bloody man and did in effect say I had been the cause of the death of Saul and all his Sons and charged me with crimes I never was guilty of yet afterwards he met me at Jordan and humbled himself and acknowledged his fault and I sware to him by the Lord that I would not put him to death But though I for my time pardoned him yet if he shall attempt any thing against thee after my decease hold him not guiltless Thou art a wise man and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him and if he trespass again and thou findest any other just occasion against him bring down his hoary head to the grave with blood and cut him off by the sword of justice * See 2 Sam. 19.23 David having thus instructed his Son in a short time after departed this life and slept with his fathers that is died as his fathers and predecessors had done before him having reigned in Hebron seven years and six months and thirty three years in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years in all and having made his Son Solomon King in his stead about half a year before his death He died in a good old age full of days riches and honour he died in the seventieth year of his age no King in Israel or Judah after him attaining to his age †Only Uzziah and Manasseh came very nigh it He was buried in his own City of Zion viz. in that part of Jerusalem where he had built a Palace for himself 2 Sam. 1.2 and kept his Court and which he had taken out of the hands of the Jebusites and had built and enlarged and from thence was called after his name the city of David His Sepulcher it seems was made of such durable materials and so well kept and repair'd time after time by his posterity that it was strangely preserved notwithstanding Jerusalem was so often sackt and burnt for it continued unto the Apostles times as the Apostle Peter tells us Act. 2.24 Men and Brethren let me freely speak to you of the Patriarch David that he is both dead and buried and his
first fitted for that glorious state and there shall live with God in everlasting bliss and glory Elisha seeing his Master thus ascend to heaven he cried out My father my father the Chariot of Israel and the Horsemen thereof so he stiles him in allusion to the present manner of his triumphant ascending in a fiery chariot into heaven as also in allusion to his former course of life who by his prayers and other good endeavours to bring men unto God had been a better defence to Israel than visible Chariots and Horsemen could possibly be Elijah thus vanishing out of his sight Elisha took hold of his own clothes and rent them in testimony of his great grief for the loss of his Master Elijah's mantle as he went up to heaven fell from him which Elisha readily took up and as 't is probable afterwards wore it as a token that God had design'd him to succeed in his place * Elisha began to be a famous Prophet in the second year of Jehoram and continued so about sixty years and died in the days of Joash Grandson of Jehu Elisha having now seen this glorious translation of Elijah he returned to Jordan and with Elijah's mantle in his hand standing on the bank of the river he said Where is the Spirit of the Lord God of Elijah O that the Lord would now please to work by me as he did by him So that his words are not to be lookt upon as words of distrust but as words of invocation As if he should have said O Lord who by thy servant Elijah didst divide these waters make it now manifest by inabling me to work the same miracle that thou hast given me the spirit of Elijah my Master Then smiting the waters with Elijah's mantle the waters immediately parted asunder and so he went over and this was the first miracle that he wrought When the fifty Prophets before mentioned who were come come out to see Elijah's assumption and dwelt at Jericho saw him come through Jordan they said the spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha that is such gifts of the Spirit as were bestowed on Elijah are now conferred on Elisha for like miracles argue a like spirit Then they went to meet him and bowing themselves to the ground before him congratulated the gift the Lord had bestowed on him It had been revealed to them as we shewed before that Elijah should be carried up to Heaven but whither he should be so taken up as there to remain for ever or only for a certain time that it seems they knew not wherefore they had a mind to go and see whither they could not find him set down some where or other on the earth again accordingly they said to Elisha Behold there are with us thy servants no less than fifty strong men fit to undertake a journey let us go we pray thee and seek thy Master for possibly he is not taken away from thee for ever but for a certain time only possibly the Spirit * What was done by the supernatural power and working of God they us'd to say was done by the Spirit of God of God hath carried him to some remote place as he used sometimes to be carried see 1 King 18.12 †The like we read concerning Philip when he had baptiz'd the Ethiopian Eunuch Act. 8.39 and hath set him down upon some mountain or some valley and there we may find him He tells them that he knew that Elijah was carried up both in soul and body to heaven and was there to remain for ever and it would be in vain to seek him on the earth any more But they urged him still to let them go insomuch that he was ashamed they should be so importunate without any reason however seeing they were so bent upon it he let them go that they might by their own experience see their error and folly and might be the more fully assured of Elijah's ascent into heaven ever after They accordingly went out and sought Elijah very diligently three days Elisha tarrying at Jericho till their return but they found him not and so through their error and mistake the ascension of Elijah to heaven was the more confirmed as was our Saviours Resurrection by Thomas's doubting The men of Jericho now possibly to try whither Elisha had indeed the Spirit of Elijah told him the situation of their City was pleasant as he knew very well but the water was naught and the ground about it barren The sins of the inhabitants and perhaps the presumptuous reedifying of Jericho by Hiel the Bethelite in the days of Ahab 1 King 26.34 had brought this curse upon the place Elisha being willing to exercise the power of that Spirit the Lord had given him bad them bring him a new cruse and putting salt therein he went to the spring-head and cast salt thereinto being directed by God to use that means and he said thus saith the Lord I have healed these waters there shall not be henceforth any deadly or poysonous quality in them neither shall the land here about be barren Accordingly the waters were healed and made good and so continued even to the time that this History was written And this was Elisha's second miracle Then from Jericho he went to Bethel to visit the Colledg of the Prophets there and to confirm them in the truth by his counsel and exhortations As he was going up to the City some young children that were as 't is like the children of Idolaters or other wicked men that lived there who it seems had by their example taught their children to scoff at the Lords Prophets and to laugh at the report spread abroad of Elijah's being carried up to Heaven cried after Elisha and said Go up thou bald-head Go up thou bald-head as if they should have said You that report your Master is gone up to heaven why do not you follow him and go up after him Elisha turn'd and lookt upon them and by a special instinct and commission from God He cursed them in the name of the Lord who now intended to punish the wickedness of the Parents in the death of their ill nurtured children and to shew how severely he would revenge the reproaching of his servants the Prophets and immediately there came forth two she-bears out of the wood that was hard by and tore two and forty of them to pieces And this was Elisha's third miracle Then he went into the City 'T is strange he durst go into Bethel after he had brought such a death upon so many of their children But he went under Gods protection who he knew was able to defend him as he had done his Master against the fury of Ahaziah And accordingly neither the Parents of these children thus destroyed nor any other Idolatrous persons in that City durst set upon him God so over-awed their spirits From Bethel he went to mount Carmel whither Elijah often resorted having as 't is probable an
17.21 Then going to her husband but not acquainting him with the death of the child she desired him to let her have one of the servants out of the field to attend her and one of the asses that she might make hast to the man of God and she would speedily come again Her husband not imagining as it seems that the child had been so sick much less that he had been dead asks her why she would go then it was neither New-Moon nor Sabboth on which days they usually went as it seems to the Prophets to be instructed and not often on other days She replied It will be well enough the Prophet will take no offence at my coming Then she ordered her asse to be immediately sadled and getting up spake to her servant that rode on another asse before her that he should ride apace and not slack except she called to him to do it When they came near to mount Carmel where Elisha dwelt he it seems was sitting at his door talking with his servant and seeing her coming at some distance said to Gehazi Behold yonder comes the Shunamite who hath shewed us so much kindness run and meet her and ask her if all be well with her and with her husband and the child Gehazi accordingly meeting her and asking her that question she answered him very briefly It is well as not being willing by talking to him to be hindred from going to the Prophet his Master and her answer must be understood as directed to the two former questions concerning her self and her husband as for the last she reserved her answer to that till she should come to speak with the Prophet himself When she was come to him being transported with the vehemency of her passion she kneeled down and caught hold of his legs intimating she would not leave him till she had some comfortable answer from him Gehazi apprehending her to be too troublesome to his Master came near to thrust her away But Elisha bad him let her alone for says he I perceive her spirit is much grieved within her and the Lord hath not revealed unto me what the matter is Then she told him Her Son was dead And says she if I had been like Rachel Gen. 30.1 inordinately desirous of a Son I might justly think that to be the reason that I was so soon deprived of him But this Son being freely given me without any request of mine and of thy own motion without my asking Why am I now so soon bereft of him I hope thou wilt by thy prayers endeavour to have him restored to me again And this was a great evidence of her faith by which she received her dead raised to life again Heb. 11.35 Then Elisha spake to his servant saying Gird up thy loins and take my staff in thine hand and go with all hast to the house where the dead child is not staying by the way to offer or answer any courtesies or civilities and when thou art come thithither lay my staff on the face of the child But the mother said as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth I will not leave thee till thou go with me thy self The Prophet thereupon arose and went with her but Gehazi got thither before them and laid the staff on the face of the child but no evidence of life followed thereupon for the child neither spake nor heard any noise Possibly had not Elisha yielded to go himself the staff might have been effectual but now the Lord was pleased to withhold his power and help till the Prophet himself came Wherefore Gehazi seeing he could not raise the child to life again went to meet his master and told him the child was not restored to life by the means he had used Elisha coming to the house found the child dead and laid upon his bed shutting therefore the door to himself he prayed unto the Lord and then laid himself upon the child putting his mouth to the childs mouth and his eyes and hands upon the childs eyes and hands as near as he could in imitation possibly of his Master Elijah 1 King 17.21 and stretching himself upon the child his flesh began to be warm this was the first sign that life began to come into him then taking two or three turns in his Chamber he stretched himself upon the child again then the child neesed seven times and opened his eyes which was a sign that he was perfectly restored to life Then he bad his servant call the Shunamite who being come he bad her take up her Son who was now alive again She transported with joy fell at his feet in token of her reverence and thankfulness and taking up her Son and hugging him in her arms brought him down into the house This was Elisha's seventh Miracle 2 King 4. from v. 8 to 38. Elisha not long after tells this Gentlewoman that God for the sins of the people had called for a famine to come upon the land which would last seven years and therefore bad her go with her family where she could be best accommodated till the famine was over and accordingly she believing the Prophet went with her family her husband as 't is probable being now dead and sojourned in the land of the Philistines there being peace as it seems at this time between them and the Israelites and no famine in their Country For though they were a wicked people yet God was more provoked by the Idolatry and other wickednesses of his own people than by them who had not the means of grace which his own people enjoyed 2 King 8.1 2. The famine being now in the land Elisha goes to Gilgal to visit the colledg of the Prophets there and they sat before him to be instructed by him He bad his servant set on the great pot and seeth pottage for the Sons of the Prophets It happened that one going forth to gather herbs for the pottage chanced to light upon Coloquintida somewhat like a vine the gourds that is the leaves and branches thereof being bitter and poysonous and gathering a lap-full of them not knowing their nature shred them into the pottage When the Sons of the Prophets came to eat of it finding it of so bitter and of so unsavoury a tast they cried out to Elisha O thou man of God death is in the pot we fear our broth is poysoned and will poyson all of us that eat of it The Prophet bad them cast meal into the pot Not that meal had in it self any vertue to draw out bitterness or poyson but that it might appear that the virtue of healing their pottage came from God alone the Prophet commanded them to use that means They doing as he bid them and he knowing that all danger was now over said to them Pour out now for the Sons of the Prophets and they did eat thereof and found no harm thereby This was Elisha's eighth Miracle 2 King 4. from 38 to 42. About this time
Joram to fly drew a bow with his full strength and smote him in the back between his shoulders and the arrow went out at his heart and he sank down in his Chariot and died Jehu â—hen call'd to Bidkar his Captain to take and cast his body in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite for remember says he when thou and I being Commanders under his Father and following him as his attendants at that time when he took possession of Naboths vineyard * Which was the day after his death heard this dreadful judgment (c) The Lord laid this burden on him v. 25. Onus Vocat Prophetiam gravem onerosam denounced against him by Elijah from the Lord Surely I have seen the blood of Naboth and the blood of his Sons who it seems were put to death with him that none of them might afterwards challenge the inheritance †Filii ejus contra legem Deut. 24. una interfecti erant licet nulla hujus caedis mentio facta est 1 Reg. 21.13 Sic multa a sacâ—is historicis omissa videmus que ab aliis per occasionem dicta sunt Sanctius and I will requite thee in this plat now therefore cast him into that portion of ground according to the word of the Lord that the dogs may lick his blood see 1 King 21.19 When Ahaziah King of Judah saw this he fled but they pursuing him first wounded him and afterwards killed him in Megiddo as may be seen more fully in his life Then Jehu march'd into Jezreel and Jezebel hearing of his coming painted her face and tired her head thinking possibly by her Majestick bravery to daunt him and looking out of the window when Jehu entred the Gate of her Palace she cried out Had Zimri peace who slew his Master see 1 King 16.10 as if she should have said Remember what he did and fear the like event Jehu looking up to the window askt who is there on my side who Two or three Eunuchs (a) Such were Chamberlains of Queens and Princesses for the most part in those times attendants on the Queen looking out he call'd to them to throw her down which they God so working upon their hearts and possibly fearing Jehu immediately did And he and his followers trod her under their horses feet and so pash'd her to pieces that some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses Jehu having done this great work and having taken much pains in this expedition from Ramoth to Jezreel and seeing all was quiet in the City and that none oppos'd him he went now to refresh himself After a little time he bad some about him to go look after the body of that cursed woman Jezebel and to take it up and bury it for says he she was a Kings daughter viz. the King of Zidon's This order 't is like he gave on the sudden not remembring the Prophecy of Elijah nor what the Prophet that anointed him said unto him ver 10. but they bringing him back word that the dogs had eaten all but her scull and feet and the palms of her hands then he said this is the word of the Lord which he spake by Elijah saying Near * â— Reg. 21.23 In pro juxta In eo territorio in quo injuste damnatus est Naboth the portion of Naboth in Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel and so much of her body as is left by the dogs shall be as dung upon the face of the field and shall lye and rot in the open air so that none shall be able to say of it this is Jezebel 2 King 8.28 29. 2 King 9. wh Ch. JEHV being thus come to the Crown The 10th King of Israel JEHU and having already executed his Commission on Jehoram Ahaziah and Jezebel he now proceeds on to root out the house of Ahab It seems Ahab had many Sons born to him of several wives and many grand-children in all about seventy who were bred up under several great men and some of them Rulers in Jezreel who upon these distractions fled with them to Samaria a well fortified City to secure them there Jehu understanding this wrote a Letter to those who had the tuition of these children and to the Elders of Samaria which spake after this manner Seeing your Masters Sons are with you and there are with you chariots and horses and you are in a fenced City and have arms look out therefore the best and meetest of your Masters Sons and set him on his Fathers Throne and fight for your Masters house This he wrote in an Ironical way but gave them thereby an intimation that if they stood out against him or offered to oppose him he doubted not but he should easily subdue them And indeed the Lord having appointed him to destroy the whole stock of Ahab did in order thereÌ„unto put such a fear into the hearts of these Rulers that they said among themselves Behold two Kings could not stand before him how then shall we be able to deal with him Hereupon he that was chief over all those that appertained to Ahabs house and the chief Magistrate of Samaria and the Senators of the City and the Governours of the Kings childreâ— returned this tame answer to Jehu we are thy servants and will do whatever thou commandest us they interpose no such condition as this if the thing be honest and just or the like so slavish does fear make men we will make no King nor set up any to oppose thee thou maist do what thou pleasest as for us we are ready to obey thee in every thing Jehu then wrote another Letter wherein he told them that if they were his servants in reality and would be obedient to him as they professed then he required them forthwith to cut off the heads of those seventy Sons and Grandchildren of Ahab and to bring them to him to Jezreel the next day This was indeed a very severe command and 't is strange they did not utterly refuse to obey it but they â—â—garding more their own safety then either humanity or the charge and trust committed to them without any more ado complied with it and cutting off the heads of these young Princes put them in baskets and sent them to Jezreel and followed after them themselves When they were come thither a messenger acquainted Jehu that these Rulers of Samaria had brought the heads of the Kings Sons unto him according to his command It being as it seems late Jehu ordered that they should be laid in two heaps at the entring of the Gate till the morning certainly a most sad and ruful spectacle it was to see so many young Princes heads lying on heaps together but this seems so ordered by Providence that all the people might see the dreadful judgment of God upon the house of Ahab for his cruelty and Idolatry and might be deterred from going on in it In the morning Jehu went out
in execution he tells him there were a certain people scattered * For though some were returned out of captivity into the land of Judah yet many of them especially of the Ten Tribes did remain dispersed here and there not embracing the liberty proffered them up and down his dominions whose laws were diverse from the laws of his Kingdom and who observ'd not his laws 'T is true in matters of divine worship they did not observe them nor could they do it with a good conscience but otherwise they did observe the laws of the land as which concerned the peace and tranquility thereof See Jer. 29.7 Haman further suggests that it was not for the Kings profit to suffer those Jews to live among his own subjects lest they should draw them from their obedience to him Therefore he intreats the King that his subjects among whom the Jews lived might fall upon them and destroy them And whereas it might be objected that the Jews paid a great tribute which the King would lose if they were destroyed therefore in recompence of that loss he proffers to pay ten thousand talents of silver himself into the hands of the Kings receivers Haman had at this time such an ascendent over the King being his chief favourite that he took off his ring from his hand and gave it unto him therewith impowering him to seal what decree he thought fit to make touching this matter and as for the money he proffered the King bad him keep it to himself telling him that that sum was freely given to him and the people of the Jews also to do with them what seemed good unto him 'T is like the King did not yet understand that his Queen was of the Jewish Nation for that Mordecai advised her to conceal So on the 13th day of the first month the Kings Secretaries were called and the decree concerning the destruction of the Jews was written and sealed and Haman took care to have it presently published and sent to all the Lord Lieutenants and Governours of Provinces authorizing them that they should destroy and kill all the Jews both young and old little children and women in one day viz. the 13th of the last or twelfth month and to take the spoil of them to themselves for a prey And 't is like Haman did expedite the sending out of this decree lest the King by the counsel of others or from some relenting in himself or by some means or other should alter his mind The bloody decree being sent forth the King and Haman sit down to drink so far were they from any remorse or touch of conscience for what they had done but the inhabitants of the City of Shushan were greatly perplexed at it Chap. 3. whole Chapter Mordecai understanding what was done rent his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes on his head and went into the midst of the City and cried with a loud and bitter cry and in this mournful posture came before the Kings Gate for into it clothed with sackcloth he might not enter the Persian Kings not allowing their Court-pleasures to be interrupted with any thing that had an appearance of sorrow or sadness And in every Province where the decree came there was great mourning among the Jews and fasting weeping and wailing and many lay in sackcloth and ashes Queen Esther understanding the great mourning of Mordecai and his being in sackcloth was much surprized at it and sent to know the reason of it and withal sent him new raiment to cloth him but that raiment being unsuitable to his present condition he would not receive it Mordecai coming to her informed her what Haman had done and what a sum of money he had proffered to the King for liberty to destroy the Jews and what a decree he had obtained of him for their destruction And soon after he sent her a copy of that bloody decree and charged her to go to the King to make supplication to him for her people He now thought it necessary she should make known to him of what stock and Nation she was though before he thought it not convenient that she should do it The Queen sends him word that he could not be ignorant that whosoever whither man or woman came unto the King into the inner Court where was his apartment without being called for was to be put to death except the King shall of his Royal favour hold out his golden scepter to them And she had not been called to come unto the King these thirty days last past and therefore she did not know whither the Kings affection towards her might not be somewhat abated and if so her going to him uncalled might be very hazardous to her But Mordecai the people of God being in so great danger would accept of no excuse but sent her word that she her self must not think to escape more than the rest of the Jews the Kings house could be no protection to her against this bloody decree and Hamans malice For the decree being general against all the Jews without any exception it might reach her as well as others He further tells her that if she altogether held her peace at such a time as this and would not venture her self when all her people were in such extream danger he doubted not but deliverance would arise to them from another place and some other way but as for her and such of her kindred as were about her he believed they would be destroyed for their faint heartedness and cowardize and not affording what help they could to the people of God in their great extremity And lastly he tells her that she should consider that possibly she came to the Kingdom for such a time as this and that the preservation of Gods people was the end God aimed at in advancing her to be Queen Mordecai's words wrought so powerfully on Esther that she resolved to do what he required yet like a pious and prudent Lady she resolved first to use due means for the obtaining the blessing of God upon her endeavours and to that purpose she sends to all the Jews in Shushan desiring them to keep a solemn fast three days together and neither to eat (a) That is not to take their ordinary repasts but to eat sparingly and to afflict their souls by true repentance and humiliation nor drink night nor day and earnestly to seek to the Lord for her And says she I and my maids (b) 'T is like her maids were Jews or such as she had instructed in the true Religion will fast also and so I will go unto the King though it be not according to law and if I perish I perish (c) That is I will embrace my death quietly and contentedly seeing I could not avoid it without failing in my duty Mordecai and the Jews at Shushan did as Esther desired Esth Ch. 4. whole Chapter This being done Queen Esther on the third day having put on her