could say It is better that one man dye then that all the people should perish and here Haman can say It is better that all the people should perish then that one man should dye Thy mercy ô God by the willing death of one that had not sinned hath defrayed the iust death of a world of sinners Whiles the iniurious rigour of a man for the supposed fault of one would destroy a whole nation that had not offended It is true that by the sinne of one death raigned ouer all but it was because all sinned in that one had not all men beene in Adam all had not falne in him all had not dyed in him It was not the man but mankind that fell into sinne and by sinne into death No man can complaine of punishment whiles no man can exempt himselfe from the transgression Vnmercifull Haman would haue imbrued his hands in that blood which hee could not but confesse innocent It is a rare thing if the height of fauour cause not presumption Such is Hamans greatnesse that he takes his designe for granted ere it can receiue a motion The fittest dayes for this great massacre are determined by the lots of their common diuination according whereunto Haman chooseth the houre of this bloody suit and now waited on by opportunity he addresseth himselfe to King Ahasuerus There is a certaine people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the Prouinces of the Kingdome and their lawes are diuers from all people neither keepe they the Kings lawes therefore it is not for the Kings profit to suffer them If it please the King let it bee written that they may be destroyed and I will pay tenne thousand talents of siluer to the hands of the officers With what cunning hath this man couched his malice He doth not say There is a Iew that hath affronted mee let me be auenged of his nation this rancour was too monstrous to be confessed perhaps this suggestion might haue bred in the mind of Ahasuerus a conceit of Hamans ill nature and intolerable immanity but his precences are plausible and such as driue at no other then the publique good Euery word hath his insinuation It is a scattered people were the nation intire their maintenance could not but stand with the Kings honour but now since they are but straglers as their losse would be insensible so their continuance and mixture cannot but be preiudiciall It was not the fault it was the misery of these poore Iewes that they were dispersed and now their dispersion is made an argument of their extirpation therefore must they be destroyed from the earth because they were scattered ouer the earth As good so euils draw on each other That which should plead for pitty in the well-affected is a motiue to cruelty in sauage minds Seldome euer hath extremity of mischiefe seized where easier afflictions haue not beene billeted before All faith full Iewes had wont to say vnto God Haue mercy vpon vs O God and saue vs for our soule is full of contempt and we are scattered amongst the heathen and here this enemy can say of them to Ahasuerus Destroy them for they are scattered Root them out for they are contemned How much better is it to fall into the hands of God thē of men since that which whets the sword of men works commiseration in the Almighty Besides the dissipation of the persons Their lawes are diuers from all people All other people liue by thy lawes they onely by their owne and how can this singularity of their fashions but breed disorder and inconuenience Did they liue in some corner of the earth apart their difference in religion and gouernment could not import much now that they are dispersed amongst all thy subiects vvhat doe these vncouth formes of theirs but teach all the vvorld to bee irregular vvhy should they liue vnder thy protection that will not be gouerned by thy lawes Wicked Haman what were the lawes of Israel but the lawes of God if this be a quarrell what shall the death of the Iewes bee other then martyrdome The diuersity of iudgement and practice from the rest of the world hath beene an old and enuious imputation cast vpō Gods Church What if we be singled from others whiles wee walke with God In matters lawfull arbitrary indifferent wisedome teacheth vs to conforme our selues to all others but where God hath laid a speciall imposition vpon vs we must either vary or sinne The greatest glory of Israel was their lawes wherein they as far exceeded all other nations as heauen is aboue earth yet here their lawes are quarrelled and are made the inducements of their destruction It is not possible the Church of God should escape persecution whiles that which it hath good is maligned whiles that offēds which makes it happy Yet that they haue lawes of their owne were not so vnsufferable if withall they did obserue thine ô King but these Iewes as they are vnconformable so they are seditious They keepe not the King lawes Thou slanderest Haman they could not keepe their owne lawes if they kept not the Kings for their lawes call them to obedience vnto their soueraignes and adiudge hell to the rebellious In all those hundred and seuen and twenty prouinces King Ahasuerus hath no subiects but them They obey out of conscience others out of feare why are they charged with that which they doe most abhorre What can be the ground of this crimination Ahasuerus commanded all knees to bow to Haman A Iew onely refuses Malicious Haman He that refused to bow vnto thee had sufficiently approued his loyalty to Ahasuerus Ahasuerus had not been if Mordecai had not beene a good subiect Hath the King no lawes but what concerne thine adoration Set aside religion wherein the Iew is ready to present if not actiue yet passiue obedience and name that Persian law which a Iew dares break As I neuer yet read or heard of a conscionable Israelite that hath not passed vnder this calumniation so I cannot yeeld him a true Israelite that deserues it In vaine doth hee professe to acknowledge a God in heauen that denies homage to his deputy on earth It is not for the Kings profit to suffer thē Worldly hearts are not led by good or euill but by profit or losse neither haue they grace to know that nothing is profitable but what is honest nothing so desperately incommodious as wickednesse They must needs offend by rule that measure all things by profit measure profit by their imagination How easie is it to suggest strange vntruths when there is no body to giue an answer False Hamā hovv is it not for the Kings profit to suffer the Iewes If thou construe this profit for honor The Kings honor is in the multitude of subiects and what people more numerous then they If for gaine The Kings profit is in the largenesse of his Tributes and what people are more deepe in their payments If for
Contemplations VPON THE HISTORICALL Part of the Old Testament THE EIGHTH and LAST VOLVME In two Bookes By I. H. Deane of Worcester LONDON Printed by M. Flesher for Nath. Butter 1626. TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY MONARCH CHARLES BY The Grace of God KING of Great Britaine France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. My dread Soueraigne Lord and Master May it please your Maiesty NOw at last thankes be to my good God I haue finished the long-taske of my Meditations vpon the historicall part of the Old Testament A Worke that I foresaw must be the issue both of time and thoughts It presumed to intitle it selfe at first to your Gracious name in succession to your immortall Brothers and now it brings to your Royall hands a due account of an happy dispatch Besides my owne publique ingagement the incouragements of many worthy Diuines both at home and abroad drew me on in this pleasing though busie labour and made mee beleeue the seruice would not be of more paine then vse I humbly present it to your Maiestie not fearing to say that in regard of the subiect it is not so fit for any eies as Princely For what doth it else but comment vpon that which God hath thought good to say of Kings what they haue done what they should haue done how they sped in good in euill Certainly there can be none such miroir of Princes vnder heauen as this which God hath made for the faces of his Deputies on earth Neither can the eyes of Soueraigne Greatnesse be better taken vp then with this sacred reflection If my defects haue not been notorious the matter shall enough commend the worke which together with the vnworthy Author humbly casts it selfe at the feet of your Maiesty with the best vowes of fidelity and obseruance from him that prides himselfe in nothing more then in the style of Your Maiesties most faithfully deuoted seruant IOS HALL Contemplations The 20th Booke 1 The Shunamite suing to Iehoram Elisha conferring with Hazael 2 Iehu with Iehoram and Iezebel 3 Iehu killing the sonnes of Abab and the Priests of Baal 4 Athaliah and Ioash 5 Ioash with Elisha dying 6 Vzziah leprous 7 Ahaz with his new Altar 8 The vtter destruction of the Kingdome of Israel 9 Hezekiah and Senacherib 10 Hezekiah sicke recouered visited 11 Manasseh 12 Iosiahs reformation 13 Iosiahs death with the desolation of the Temple and Ierusalem Contemplations The SHVNAMITE suing to IEHORAM ELISHA conferring with HAZAEL HOw royally hath Elisha paid the Shunamite for his lodging To him already she owes the life of her sonne both giuen and restored and now againe after so many yeares as might well haue worne out the memory of so small a courtesie her selfe her sonne her family owe their liues to so thankfull a guest That table and bed and stoole and candlesticke was well bestowed That candlesticke repaid her the light of her future life and condition that table the meanes of maintenance that stoole a seat of safe abode that bed a quiet rest from the common calamities of her nation Hee is a niggard to himselfe that scants his beneficence to a Prophet whose very cold water shall not go vnrewarded Elijah preserued the Sareptan from famine Elisha the Shunamite he by prouision of oyle and meale this by premonition Arise and goe thou and thine houshold and soiourne wheresoeuer thou canst soiourne The Sareptan was poore and driuen to extremes therefore the Prophet prouides for her from hand to mouth The Shunamite was wealthy and therfore the Prophet sends her to prouide for her selfe The same goodnes that relieues our necessity leaues our competency to the hand of our owne counsell in the one he will make vse of his owne power in the other of our prouidence The very Prophet aduises this holy Client to leaue the bounds of the Church and to seeke life where she should not finde religion Extremity is for the time a iust dispensation with some common rules of our outward demeanure and motions euen from better to worse All Israel and Iudah shall be affamished The body can be preserued no where but where the soule shall want Somtimes the conueniences of the soule must yeeld to bodily necessities Wantonnesse and curiosity can finde no aduantage from that which is done out of the power of need It is a long famine that shall afflict Israel Hee vpon whom the spirit of Elijah was doubled doubled the iudgement inflicted by his Master Three yeares and an halfe did Israel gaspe vnder the drought of Elijah seauen yeares dearth shall it suffer vnder Elisha The tryals of God are many times not more grieuous for their sharpnesse then for their continuance This scarcity shall not come alone God shall call for it what euer be the second cause he is the first The executioners of the Almighty such are his iudgments stand ready waiting vpon his iust Throne and doe no sooner receiue the watch-word then they flye vpon the world and plague it for sinne Onely the cry of our sinnes moues God to call for vengeance And if God once call it must come How oft how earnestly are we called to repentance and stir not the messengers of Gods wrath flye forth at the least becke and fulfill the will of his reuenge vpon those whose obedience would not fulfill the will of his command After so many proofes of fidelitie the Shunamite cannot distrust the Prophet not staying therfore to be conuicted by the euent she remoues her family into the Land of the Philistims No nation was more opposite to Israel none more worthily odious yet there doth the Shunamite seeke finde shelter Euen the shade of those trees that are vnwholsome may keepe vs from a storme Euery where will God finde roome for his owne The fields of Philistins flourish whiles the soyle of Israel yeelds nothing but weeds and barrennesse Not that Israel was more sinfull but that the sin of Israel is more intolerable The offers of grace are so many aggrauations of wickednesse In equall offences those doe iustly smart more who are more obliged No pestilence is so contagious as that which hath taken the purest ayre These Philistine neighbours would neuer haue endured themselues to be pestered with forrainers especially Israelites whom they hated besides religion for their vsurpation neyther were they in all likelihood pressed with multitude The rest of Israel were led on with hopes presuming vpon the amends of the next haruest till their want grew desperate and irremediable onely the forwarned Shunamite preuents the mischiefe now she findes what it is to haue a Prophet her friend Happy are those soules that vpon all occasions consult with Gods Seers they shall be freed from the plagues wherein the secure blindnesse of others is heedlesly ouertaken Seauen yeares had this Shunamite soiourned in Palestine now she returnes to her owne and is excluded She that found harbour among Philistines findes oppression and violence among Israelites Those of her
father my father the charets of Israel and the horsemen thereof The words were good the teares were pious but where are the actions O Ioash if the Prophet were thy father wher was thy filiall obedience he cry'd downe thy Calues thou vpheldst them he counsell'd thee to good thou didst euill in the sight of the Lord. If the Prophet were the charets and horsemen of Israel why didst thou fight against his holy doctrine If thou weepest for his losse why didst thou not weepe for those sinnes of thine that procured it Had thine hand answered thy tongue Israel had been happy in Elisha Elisha had beene happy in Israel and thee Words are no good tryall of profession The worst men may speake well Actions haue onely the power to descry hypocrites Yet euen a Ioash thus complying shall not goe away vnblessed This outward kindnesse shall receiue an outward retribution These few drops of warme water shed vpon the face of a Prophet shall not lose their reward The spirit of prophesie forsakes not the death-bed of Elisha Hee calls for bow and arrowes and puts them into the hand of Ioash and putting his hands vpon the Kings hand hee bids to shoot Eastward and whiles the shaft flyes and lights he sayes The arrow of the Lords deliuerance from Syria for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek till thou haue consumed them If the weake and withered hand of the Prophet had not beene vpon the youthfull and vigorous hand of the King this bow had been drawn in vaine the strength was from the hand of the King the blessing from the hand of the Prophet He whose reall parable hath made the earth to be Syria the arrow reuenge the archer Ioash hath obtained for his last boone from God to Israel that this archer shall shoot this arrow of reuenge into the heart of Syria and wound it to death When the hand of the King and of the Prophet drawes together there cannot choose but successe must follow How readily doth Elisha now make good the words of Ioash How truly is he the Charets and Horsemen of Israel Israel had not fought without him much lesse had been victorious If theirs be the indeuour the successe is his Euen the dying Prophet puts life and speed into the Forces of Israel and whiles hee is digging his owne graue is raising Trophees to Gods people Hee had receiued kindnesse from the Syrians amongst them was hee harbour'd in the dearth and from some of their Nobles was presented with rich gifts but their enmity to Israel drowns all his priuate respects he cannot but professe hostility to the publique enemies of the Church Neither can he content himselfe with a single prediction of their ruine Hee bids Ioash to take the arrowes and smite vpon the ground hee sets no number of those strokes as supposing the frequēce of those blowes which Ioash might well vpon his former parabolicall act vnderstand to bee significant The slacke hand of the King smites but thrise So apt we are to be wanting to our selues so coldly doe wee execute the commands of God The sick Prophet is not more greeued then angry at this dull negligence Doubtlesse God had reuealed to him for his last gratification that vpon his feruent prayers so oft as Ioash should voluntarily after his generall charge smite the earth so oft should Israel smite Syria Elishaes zeale doth not languish with his body with a fatherly authoritie hee chides him who had styled him father not fearing to spend some of his last winde in a myld reproofe Thou shouldst haue smitten fiue or six times then thou hadst smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrise Not that the vnchangeable decree of the Almighty meant to suspend it selfe vpon the vncertaine issue of Ioashes will but hee that put this word into the mouth of his Prophet puts this motion into the hand of the King which did not more willingly stay then necessarily obey that prouidence wherby it was stirred Euen whiles wee haue our freest choyce wee fall vpon those actions and circumstances whereby the iust and holy will of our God is brought about Our very neglects our ignorances shall fulfill his eternall councells Elisha dyes and is buried his miracles doe not cease with his life Who can maruell that his liuing prayers raised the sonne of the Shunamite when his dead bones raise the carkasse that touched them God will bee free in his works he that must dye himselfe yet shall reuiue another the same power might haue continued life to him that gaue it by his bones Israel shall well see that he liues by whose vertue Elisha was both in life and death miraculous Whiles the Prophet was aliue the impetration might seeme to be his though the power were Gods now that he is dead the bones can challenge nothing but send the wondring Israelites to that almighty Agent to whom it is all one to worke by the quicke or dead Were not the men of Israel more dead then the carkasse thus buryed how could they choose but see in this reuiued corps an embleme of their owne cōdition how could they choose but thinke If wee adhere to the God of Elisha he shall raise our decayed estates and restore our nation to the former glory The Sadduces had as yet no being in Israel with what face could that heresie euer after looke into the world when before the birth of it it was so palpably conuinced with an example of the resurrection Intermission of time and degrees of corruption adde nothing to the impossibilitie of our rising The body that is once cold in death hath no more aptitude to a reanimation then that which is moldred into dust Onely the diuine power of the Maker must restore eyther can restore both When wee are dead and buryed in the graue of our sinne it is only the touch of Gods Prophets applying vnto vs the death and resurrection of the Sonne of God that can put new life into vs No lesse true though spirituall is the miracle of our raising vp from an estate of inward corruption to a life of grace Yet all this preuailes not with Israel No bones of Elisha could raise them from their wicked Idolatry and notwithstanding their grosse sins Ioash their King prospers Whether it were for the sake of Iehu whose grand-chyld he was or for the sake of Elisha whose face hee wept vpon his hand is notably successfull not onely against the son of Hazael King of Syria whom hee beates out of the Cities of Israel but against Amaziah King of Iudah whom he tooke Prisoner beating downe the very walls of Ierusalem and returning laden with the sacred and rich spoyle both of the Temple and Court to his Samaria Oh the depth of the diuine Iustice and wisedome in these outward administrations The best cause the best man doth not euer fare best Amaziah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord Ioash
Hezekiah what is it that thy teares craue whiles thy lips expresse not O let me liue and I shall praise thee O God In a naturall man none could wonder at this passionate request who can but wonder at it in a Saint whose happinesse doth but then begin when his life ceaseth whose misery doth but then end when his death enters the word of faith is Oh let me dye that I may inioy thee How then doth the good King crye at the newes of that death which some resolute Pagans haue intertained with smiles Certainly the best man cānot strip himselfe of some flesh and whiles nature hath an vndeniable share in him he cannot but retaine some smatch of the sweetnesse of life of the horror of dissolution Both these were in Hezekiah neither of them could transport him into this passion they were higher respects that swayed with so holy a Prince a tender care of the glory of God a carefull pitty of the Church of God His very teares said ô God thou knowest that the eyes of the world are bent vpon me as one that hath abandoned their idolatry and restored thy sincere worship I stand alone in the midst of a wicked and idolatrous generation that lookes thorough all my actions all my euents If now they shall see me snatcht away in the midst of my dayes what will these Heathen say how can thy great name but suffer in this mine vntimely extinction Besides what will become of thy poore Church which I shall leaue feebly religious and as yet scarce warme in the course of a pious reformation how soone shall it be miserably ouer growne with superstition and heathenisme how soone shall the wild Boare of Assyria root vp this little vineyard of thine What need I beseech thee ô Lord to regard thy name to regard thine inheritance What one teare of Hezekiah can run wast What can that good King pray for vnheard vnanswered Senacherib came in a proud confidence to swallow vp his citie and people prayers and teares send him away confounded Death comes to swallow vp his person and that not without authority prayers and teares send him away disappointed Before Isaiah was gone out into the midle Court the word of the Lord came to him saying Turne againe and tell Hezekiah the Captaine of my people Thus saith the Lord the God of Dauid thy father I haue heard thy prayer I haue seene thy teares behold I will heale thee On the third day thou shalt goe vp to the house of the Lord and I will adde to thy dayes fifteene yeares What shall we say then ô God hast thou thus soone changed thy purpose Was it not thy true message which thy Prophet euen now deliuered to Ezekiah Is some what falne out that thou fore-sawst not or doest thou now decree somewhat thou meantst not The very thought of any of these were no better then blasphemous impiety Certainly Hezekiah could not liue one day longer then was eternally decreed The decree of Gods eternall counsell had from euerlasting determined him fifteene yeeres yet longer Why then doth God say by his Prophet Thou shalt dye and not liue He is not as man that he should repent the message is changed the will is not changed yea rather the message is explicated not changed For the signified will of God though it sound absolutely yet must bee vnderstood with condition that tells Hezekiah what hee must expect frō the nature of his disease what would befall him without his deprecations There was nothing but death in the second causes what euer secret purpose there was in the first and that purpose shall lye hid for a time vnder a reserued condition The same decree that sayes Niniue shall be destroyed meanes if Niniue repent it shall not be destroyed hee that finds good reason to say Hezekiah shall dye yet still meanes if the quickned deuotion of Hezekiah shall importune mee for life it shall be protracted And the same God that hath decreed this addition of fifteene years had decreed to stirre vp the spirit of Hezekiah to that vehement and weeping importunity which should obtaine it O God thou workest thy good pleasure in vs and with vs and by thy reuealed will mouest vs in those wayes whereby thou effectest thy secret will How wonderfull is this mercy Hezekiahs teares are not dry vpon his cheekes yea his breath is not passed his lips when God sends him a comfortable answer How carefull is the God of compassions that his holy seruant should not languish one houre in the expectation of his denounced death What speed was here as in the errand so in the act of recouery within three daies shall Hezekiah be vpon his feet yea his feet shall stand in the Courts of Gods house he that now in his bed sighes and grones weeps out a petition shall then sing out a thanksgiuing in the Temple Oh thou that hearest the prayer vnto thee shall all flesh come With what cheerfull assurance shold we approach to the throne of that grace which neuer fayled any suppliant Neither was this grant more speedie then bountifull wee are wont to reckon seuen yeares for the life of a man and now behold more then two liues hath God added to the age of Hezekiah How vnexampled a fauour is this who euer but Hezekiah knew his period so long before the fixednesse of his terme is no lesse mercy then the protraction we must be content to liue or die at vncertainties we are not worthy to calculate the date of our owne times Teach vs O Lord so to number our dayes that we may apply our hearts to wisedome There is little ioy in many daies if they be euill Ezekiah shall not be blessed onely with life but with peace The proud Assyrian threatens an inuasiō his late foyle still stickes in his stomacke and stirs him to a reuenge the hooke is in his nosthrils hee cannot moue whither he lists The God of heauen will maintaine his owne quarrell I will defend this City for mine owne sake and for my seruant Dauids sake Loe for his life Ezekiah is beholden next vnder the infinite goodnes of God to his prayers for his protection to the deare memory of his father Dauid surely for ought we find Ezekiah was no lesse vpright and lesse offensiue then Dauid yet both Ezekiah and Ierusalem shall fare the better for Dauids sake aboue three hundred yeares after To that man after his owne heart had God ingaged himselfe by his gracious promise to preserue his throne his seed God loues to remember his ancient mercies How happy a thing it is to be faithfull with God this is the way to oblige those which are yet vnborne and to intayle blessings vpon the successions of future generations It seemes it was some pestilent vlcer that thus indangered the life of Hezekiah Isaiah is not a Prophet only but a Physician And Isaiah said Take a lump of figs Hee that gaue an assurance of recouery giues
That thus his sonnes might bee euer dying before him and himselfe in their death euer miserable Who doth not now wish that the blood of Hezekiah and Iosiah could haue beene seuered from these impure dregs of their lewd issue no man could pity the offenders were it not for the mixture of the interest of so holy progenitors No more sorrow can come in at the windowes of Zedekiah more shall come in at his doores his care shall receiue what more to rue for his Ierusalem Nebuzaradan the great Marshall of the King of Babylon comes vp against that deplored City and breakes downe the walls of it round about and burnes the Temple of the Lord and the Kings house and euery faire Pallace of Ierusalem with fire driues away the remainder of her inhabitants into Captiuity caries away the last spoiles of the glorious Temple Oh Ierusalem Ierusalem the wonder of all times the paragon of nations the glory of the earth the fauourite of heauen how art thou now become heapes of ashes hilles of rubbish a spectacle of desolation a monument of ruine Iflater yet no lesse deepe hast thou now pledged that bitter cup of Gods vengeance to thy sister Samaria How carefully had thy God forwarned thee Thogh Israel play the harlot yet let not Iudah sinne Loe now as thine iniquities so thy iudgements haue ouertaken her Both lye together in the dust both are made a curse to all posterities Oh God what place shall thy iustice spare if Ierusalem haue perished If that delight of thine were cut off for her wickednesse Let not vs bee high minded but feare What pity it was to see those goodly Cedars of the Temple flaming vp higher then they stood in Lebanon to see those curious marbles which neuer felt the dint of the pick-axe or hammer in the laying wounded with mattockes and wounding the earth in their fall to see the holy of holies whereinto none might enter but the high-priest once a yeare thronged with Pagans the vailes rent the sacred Arke of God vilated and defaced the Tables ouer-turned the altars broke down the pillars demolished the pauements digged vp yea the very groūd where that famous pile stood deformed O God thou woldst rather haue no visible house vpon earth then indure it defiled with Idolatries Foure hundred thirty and sixe yeares had that Temple stood and beautified the earth and honored heauen now it is turned into rude heapes There is no prescription to be pleaded for the fauour of the Almighty Onely that Temple not made with hands is eternall in the heauens Thither hee graciously bring vs that hath ordain'd vs thither for the sake of that glorious high-Priest that hath once for all entred into that holy of holies Amen Contemplations ON THE HISTORIE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT The 21th and last Booke Wherein are 1 Zerubbabel and Ezra 2 Nehemiah building the walls of Ierusalem 3 Nehemiah redressing the extortion of the Iewes 4 Abasuerus feasting Vashti cast off Esther chosen 5 Haman disrespected by Mordecai Mordecaies message to Esther 6 Esther suing to Ahasuerus 7 Mordecai honored by Haman 8 Haman hanged Mordecai aduanced ZERVBBABEL and EZRA THE first transportation into Babylon vnder Iehoiakim wherein Daniel Ezekiel and many other of the best note were driuen into captiuity was some eleuen yeares after followed with a second vnder Zedekiah wherin the remnant of the now-ruined Ierusalem and Iudah were swept away Seuenty yeares was the period of their longest seruitude whiles Babylō was a Queen Iudah was her vassall when that proud Tyrannesse fell Gods people began to rise againe The Babylonian Monarchie was no sooner swallowed vp of the Persian then the Iewes felt the comfort of libertie For Cyrus conquering Babylon and finding the Iewes groaning vnder that miserable captiuity straight releases them and sends them vnder the conduct of their Captaine Zorobabel backe to their almost-forgotten country The world stands vpon vicissitudes Euery Nation hath her turne and must make vp her measure Threescore and tenne yeares agoe it was the course of Iudah the iniquity of that rebellious people was full Some hundred and thirty yeares before that was the turne of Samaria and her Israelites Now the staffe is come to the doores of Babylon euen that wherewith Iudah was beaten and those Persians which are now victorious must haue their terme also It is in vaine for any earthly state to promise to it selfe an immutable cōdition At last the rod that scourged Gods children is cast into the fire Thou hast remembred O Lord the Children of Edom in the day of Ierusalem how they said Downe with it downe with it euen to the ground O daughter of Babylon wasted with misery how happy is hee that rewardeth thee as thou hast serued them It is Cyrus that hath wrought this reuenge this rescue Doubtlesse it did not a little moue Cyrus to this fauour that he found himselfe honorably fore-named in these Iewish prophesies and fore appointed to this glorious seruice no lesse then an hundred and seuenty yeares before he was Who would not be glad to make good so noble and happy a destiny O God if wee heare that thou hast ordained vs to life how gladly how carefullie should we worke out our saluation if to good workes how should we abound In the first yeare of his Monarchy doth Cyrus both make proclamations and publish them in writing through all his Kingdome wherein he both professeth his zealous resolutions and desires to build vp Gods house in Ierusalem and inioynes and incourages all the Iewes through his dominions to addresse themselues to that sacred worke and incites all his subiects to ayd them with siluer and gold and goods and beasts How gracious was the command of that whereof the very allowance was a fauour Was it Cyrus that did this was it not thou O God in whose hands are the harts of Kings that stirredst vp the spirit of this Persian as if he had beene more then a sonne of thy Church a father How easie is it for thee to make very Pagans protectors to thy Church enemies benefactors Not with an empty grace doth this great King dismisse the Iewes but with a royall bountie Hee brings forth the vessels of the house of the Lord which Nehuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Ierusalem and had put them in the house of his gods and causes them to be numbred by his Treasurer to the hands of Sheshbazzar the Prince of Iudah for the vse of the Temple no fewer then fiue thousand and foure hundred vessels of gold and siluer Certainly this great Monarch wanted not wit to thinke It is a rich booty that I find in the Temples of Babylon by the law of conquest it is mine hauing vanquisht their gods I may well challenge their spile how seasonably doth it now fall into my hands vpon this victorie to reward my souldiers to settle my new Empire what if this treasure came from Ierusalem the proprietie is now altered the very
vveeds and change his sackcloth for tissue that yet at least his cloathes might not hinder his accesse to her presence for the free opening of his griefes It is but a sleight sorrow that abides to take in outward comforts Mordecai refuses that kinde offer and vvould haue Esther see that his afflictiō was such as that hee might well resolue to put off his sackcloth and his skin at once that he must mourne to death rather then see her face to liue The good Queene is astonisht with this constāt humiliatiō of so deare a friend and now she sends Hatach a trusty though a Pagan attendant to inquire into the occasion of this so irremediable heauinesse It should seeme Esther inquired not greatly into matters of state that which perplexed all Shushan was not yet knowne to her her followers not knowing her to be a Iewesse conceiued not how the newes might concerne her and therefore had forborne the relation Mordecai first informes her by her messenger of the decree that was gone out against all her nation of the day wherein they must all prepare to bleed of the summe which Haman had profered for their heads deliuers the copy of that bloody Edict charging her now if euer to bestirre her selfe and to improue all her loue all her power with King Ahasuerus in a speedy and humble supplication for the sauing of the life not of himselfe so much as of her people It was tydings able to confound a weake heart and hers so much the more as shee could apprehēd nothing but impossibility of redresse she needs but to put Mordecai in mind of that which all the Kings seruants and subiects knew well enough that the Persian law made it no lesse then death for whom soeuer man or woman that should presse into the inner court of the king vncalled Nothing but the royall scepter extended could keepe that presumptuous offender from the graue For her thirty dayes were now passed since shee was called in to the King an intermission that might bee iustly suspicious Whether the heate of his first affection were thus soone of it selfe allayed towards her or whether some suggestions of a secret enemie perhaps his Agagite may haue set him off or whether some more pleasing obiect may haue laid hold on his eyes what euer it might be this absēce could not but argue some strangenesse and this strangenesse must needs imply a danger in her bold intrusion Shee could bewaile therfore she could not hope to remedy this dismallday of her people This answer in the eares of Mordecai sounded truth but weaknesse neither can he take vp with so feeble a returne These occasions require other spirits other resplutions which must bee quickened by a more stirring reply Thinke not with thy selfe that thou shalt escape in the Kings house more then all the Iewes For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time then shall their inlargement deliuerance arise to the Iewes from another place but thou and thy fathers house shall bee destroyed And who knoweth whether thou art comne to the Kingdome for such a time as this The expectation of death had not quailed the strong heart of faithfull Mordecai euen whiles hee mournes his zeale droupes not there could haue beene no life in that brest which this message could not haue rouzed What then is it death that thou fearest in this attempt of thy supplication what other thē death awaits thee in the neglect of it there is but this difference sue thou maist die sue not and thou must dye what blood hast thou but Iewish and if these vnalterable edicts exempt no liuing soule what shall become of thine and canst thou be so vainly timerous as to die for feare of death to preferre certaintie of danger before a possibility of hopes Away with this weake cowardise vnworthy of an Israelite vnworthy of a Queene But if faint heartednesse or priuate respects shall seale vp thy lippes or with-hold thine hand from the ayde of thy people if thou canst so farre neglect Gods Church know thou that God will not neglect it it shall not be in the power of Tyrans to root out his chosen seed that holy one of Israel shall rather worke miracles from heauen thē his inheritance shall perish vpon earth and how iust shall it then be for that iealous God to take vengeance vpon thee and thy fathers house for this cold vnhelpfulnesse to his distressed Church Suffer me therefore to adiure thee by all that tendernesse of loue wherewith I haue trained vp thine orphane infancie by all those deare and thankfull respects which thou hast vowed to mee againe by the name of the God of Israel whom wee serue that thou awaken and stirre vp thine holy courage and dare to aduenture thy life for the sauing of many It hath pleased the Almighty to raise thee vp to that height of honor which our progenitors could little expect why shouldst thou bee wanting to him that hath beene so bountifull to thee yea why should I not thinke that God hath put this very act into the intendement of thine exaltation hauing on purpose thus seasonably hoysed thee vp to the throne that thou maist rescue his poore Church from an vtter ruine Oh the admirable faith of Mordecai that shines through all these cloudes and in the thickest of these fogges descries a cheerfull glimpse of deliuerance Hee saw the day of their common destruction enacted he knew the Persian decrees to be vnalterable but withall hee knew there was a Messias to come he was so well acquainted with Gods couenanted assurances to his Church that he can through the midst of those bloody resolutions foresee indemnity to Israel rather trusting the promises of God then the threats of men This is the victory that ouercomes all the feares and fury of the world euen our faith It is quarrell enough against any person or community not to haue been aidfull to the distresses of Gods people Not to ward the blow if wee may is construed for little better then striking Till we haue tryed our vtmost wee know not whether wee haue done that we came for Mordecai hath said enough These words haue so put a new life into Esther that she is resolute to hazard the old Goe gather together all the Iewes that are present in Shushan and fast ye for me and neither eate nor drinke three daies night or day I also and my maidens will fast likewise and so will I goe in vnto the King which is not according to the law and if I perish I perish Heroicall thoughts doe well befit great actions Life can neuer be better aduentured then where it shall begaine to leese it There can bee no law against the humble deprecation of euils where the necessity of Gods Church calls to vs no danger should with-hold vs from all honest meanes of releife Deepe humiliations must make way for the successe of great enterprises wee are most capable of mercy
my request Epectation is either a friend or an enemy according to the occasion Ahasuerus lookt for some high and difficult boon now that he heares his Queene beg for her life it could not bee but that the surplusage of his loue to her must be turned into fury against her aduersary and his zeale must bee so much more to her as her suit was more meek humble For we are sold I and my people to be destroyed to be slaine and to perish but if we had beene sold for bondmen bondwome I had held my tongue although the enemy could not counteruaile the Kings damage Crafty men are sometimes choaked with their owne plots It was the profer of ten thousand talents wherewith Haman hoped both to purchase his intended reuenge and the reputation of a worthy patriot that summe is now laid in his dish for a iust argument of malicious corruption for well might Esther plead If wee Iewes deserued death what needed our slaughter to be bought out and if we deserued it not what horrible cruelty was it to set a price vpon innocent blood It is not any offence of ours it is the only despight of an enemy that hath wrought our destruction Besides now it appeares the King was abused by mis-information the aduersary suggested that the life of the Iewes could not stand with the Kings profit whereas their very bondage should bee more damage to the state thē all Hamans worth could counteruaile Truth may bee smothered but it cannot dye it may be disguised but it will bee knowne it may bee suppressed but it will triumph But what shall wee say to so harsh an aggrauation Could Esther haue beene silent in a case of decreed bondage who is now so vehement in a case of death Certainly to a generous nature death is farre more easie then bondage why would she haue indured the greater and yet so abhorres the lesse Was it for that the Iewes were already too well inured to captiuity and those euils are more tolerable wherewith wee are acquainted Or was it for that there may be hopes in bondage none in death Surely either of them were lamentable and such as might deserue her humblest deprecation The Queene was going on to haue said But alas nothing will satisfie our bloody enemie saue the vtter extirpation of mee and my nation when the impatient rage of the King interrupts her sentence in the midst and as if he had heard too much already and could too easily supply the residue of her cōplaint snatches the word out of her mouth with a furious demand Who is he and where is he that durst presume in his heart to doe so It was the interest of Queene Esthers person that raised this storme in Ahasuerus set that aside how quietly how merily was the determined massacre of the Iewes formerly digested Actions haue not the same face when we looke vpon them with contrary affections Now Queene Esther musters vp her inward forces and with an vndaunted courage fixing her angry eyes vpon that hated Agagite shee saies The aduersary and enemy is this wicked Haman The word was loath to come forth but it strikes home at the last Neuer till now did Haman heare his true title Before some had stiled him noble others great some magnificent and some perhaps vertuous onely Esther giues him his owne wicked Haman Ill-deseruing greatnesse doth in vaine promise to it selfe a perpetuitie of applause If our waies be foule the time shall come when after all vaine flattery after all our momentanie glory our sins shall be ript vp and our iniquities laid before vs to our vtter confusion With what consternation did Haman now stand How doe we thinke he lookt to heare himselfe thus enstyled thus accused yea thus condemned Certainly death was in his face and horror in euery of his ioynts no sense no limme knowes his office Faine would he speake but his tongue falters and his lips tremble faine would he make apologies vpon his knees but his hart failes him and tells him the euidence is too great and the offence aboue all pardon Onely guiltinesse and feare look through his eyes vpon the enraged countenance of his master which now bodes nothing to him but reuenge and death In what a passionate distemper doth this banquet shut vp King Ahasuerus flyes from the table as if hee had beene hurried away with a tempest His wrath is too great to come forth at his mouth onely his eye tels Haman that he hates to see him vowes to see his dispatch For solitarinesse and not for pleasure doth hee now walke into his garden and thinkes with himselfe What a monster haue I fauoured Is it possible that so much cruelty and presumption should harbour in a brest that I thought ingenuous Could I bee so bewitched as to passe so bloody a decree Is my credulity thus abused by the trecherous subtilty of a miscreant whom I trusted I confesse it was my weake rashnesse to yeeld vnto so prodigious a motion but it was the villany of this Agagite to circumuent me by false suggestions He shall pay for my error the world shall see that as I exceeded in grace so I wil not come short in iustice Haman thy guilty blood shall expiate that innocent blood which thy malice might haue shed In the meane time Haman so soone as euer he could recouer the qualme of his astonishment finding himselfe left alone with Queene Esther looseth no time spareth no breath to mitigate her anger which had made way to his destruction Doubtlesse with many vowes and teares and deierations he labours to cleare his intentions to her person bewailing his danger imploring her mercy confessing the vniust extent of his malice profering indeauors of satisfaction Wretched man that I am I am condemned before I speake and when I haue spoken I am condemned Vpon thy sentence O Queene I see death awaits for me in vaine shall I seeke to auoid it It is thy will that I should perish but let that little breath I haue left acquit me so farre with thee as to call heauen and earth to record that in regard of thee I dye innocent It is true that mine impetuous malice miscarried me against the nation of the Iewes for the sake of one stubborne offender but did I know there was the least drop of Israelitish blood in thy sacred person could I suspect that Mordecai or that people did ought concerne thee Let not one death be enough for me if I would euer haue entertained any thought of euill against nation or man that should haue cost but a frowne from thee All the court of Persia can sufficiently witnesse how I haue magnified and adored thee euer since the royall crowne was set on thy head neither did I euer faile to doe thee all good offices vnto that my Soueraigne Master whom thou hast now mortally incensed against me O Queene no hand can saue my life but thine that hath as good as