will never repent of those gracious promises which I have made to them but will certaâ—nly fulfill them Let not therfore my chosen penâ—ent ones despair as if there were no hope nor help for them for I their saviour will redeem them from the power of all their enemies and cause them to rise from death which had power over them through sin unto the glory of eternal life So that now they may begin their Triumphant song O death where is thy sting c. OBSERVATIONS 1 Though the Lord bee terrible to the wicked yet hee is a Tower to the righteous Though plagues come suddenly and inevitably upon the wicked like pangs upon a woman in travel yet even then hath the Lord a tender respect to his people and will ransome them from the power of the grave Isa. 1. 24 25 26 27 and 3. 10 11. And though they should go into Captivity with the wicked yet God will set a distinguishing mark of mercy upon them Ezek. 9. 4. Rev. 7. 3. In the midst of his Judgements hee remembers mercy and hath a tender care over his people making them to bee pittied of all that lead them captive Psal. 106. 46. where ever they go they have his more especial presence with them to uphold and comfort them Isa. 43. 2 3. Ier. 16. 13 14 15. Micah 4. 10. Dan. 3. and 6. 22. When all forsake them yet I will not forsake them but will bee a sanctuary to them in their Captivity Ezek. 11. 16 17. God is ever mindful of his Covenant to his people and in the midst of all confusions hee hath an Ark for Noah a Zoar for Lot a Midian for Moses a Haran for Iacob a Cave for David a Grave for Methusalem and Iosiah and a Pella for Christians Elijah that was zealous and a man of fire for God in wicked times was carried in a fiery Chariot to heaven Ieremiah that witnessed against the corruptions of the times how renderly doth the king of Babylon deal with him when the King and his Nobles lay in misery Ier. 39. 1 12 13 14. 2 Obs. The Scripture of the Old Testamest is the Word of God The Apostle to shew the divine Authority of it even in Gospel-times refers us to this Text and another in Isa. 25. 8. to prove the divine mystery of the Resurrection About four hundred places are cited out of the Old Testament in the New Both Testaments are the sacred word of the great God and serve for the mutual illustration and explanation of each other 3. Obs. The Scripture lyeth not in the bare words and syllables but in the sense and meaning Hence it is that Christ and his Apostles citing Texts out of the Old Testament give us the sense and meaning of the place but not the very words so in a Text sometimes they omit a word and sometimes they adde something for explanation sake as Math. 2. 15 23. and 26. 31. Rom. 10. 15 18 19 20 21. So Gen. 2. 24. compared with Matth. 19. 5. Where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they two is added emphatically not they twenty shall bee one flesh So Deut. 6. 13. compared with Matth. 4. 10. where the exclusive particle Onely which was not expressed in Deuteronomy but tacitly and interpretatively understood is added by our Saviour very significantly So Isa. 64. 4. collated with I Cor. 2. 9. And hath not entred into the heart of man These words are added by way of illustration by the Apostle So Isa. 22. 13. Let us eat and drink for to morrow wee shall dye But the Apostle puts it in the present tense 1 Cor. 15. 32. To morrow wee dye and this hee doth for explication sake to express the desperate madness of those Epicures who would eat and drink securely although they were to dye presently This shews the folly of the Quaking Scripturists such there are in our dayes as well as Anti-scripturists who take the bare words and syllables and will not suffer any meaning or exposition to bee given of them Thus when they call for a proof of Infant-baptism you must shew them in so many words Thou shalt baptise Infants else they will not beleeve you Tell them that generals include particulars and that children are confederates and in Covenant with their Parents and therefore have right to the seal of the Covenant and that Infant-baptism now is as lawful as Infant-circumcision of old yet this doth not satisfe because they cannot read it in so many letters Thou shalt baptise Infants So the Papists they stick to the bare letter This is my body Whereas that bread could not bee his natural body for Christ was then alive when hee said This is my body and the Apostle calls it Bread Bread four of five times after conâ—ecration 1 Cor. 11. 23 to 28. The Scripture lyes not in the bare and naked words but in the scope and true interpretation of the words which is as it were the soul and life of the Scripture Hence Christ bids us not barely read but search for the sense and meaning of the Scriptures Ioh. 5. 39. The Lawyers have a saying Mens leg is est lex not the bare words but the meaning of the Law is the Law 3. Obs. Christ is the Lord. Hee that hath power over death and hell is the Lord but Christ hath this power Rev. 1. 18. and 20. 13. Death and hell gave up their dead to Christ their Judge It is hee that by the price of his own blood hath redeemed us from the hand of sin and Satan from death and hell what the Prophet spake of Jehovah the Apostle applies to Christ 1 Cor. 15. 54 55. But of this I have spoken at large elsewhere 4 Obs. There is an holy harmony and sweet consent in the Scripture There is no repugnancy no real contradiction there Like stones in an Arch they mutually uphold and strengthen each other The Doctrine of the Prophets gives light to the Apostles and the Apostles again illustrate and explain them In both there is one and the same Spirit of truth who at sundry times and in sundry manners hath published one and the same truth to his people Heb. 1. 1 2. They must not therefore bee opposed but composed Not made to contradict but to confirm each other Luke 24. 44. 5 Obs. Gods people whilest they are in this world may fall into deep distress and misery They may bee brought so low that to a carnal eye they may seem dead and buried past hope and help not onely in their own eyes but also in the eyes of others Wee have a notable instance for this Ezek. 37. 1. to 15. the desperate condition of Gods people in their Babylonish captivity is there set forth by dead dried bones to an eye of sense past all hope or possibility of recovery in so much that Gods own people whose faith should not fail cry out vers 11. Our bones are dried our hope is lost and
wee are cut off Yea the Prophet himself staggered and was non-plust verse 3. the Lord asked him Son of man can these bones live Is it possible that ever such dry bones should live again The Prophet answers Lord thou knowest q. d. it passeth my apprehension to conceive how this should bee I know not how it should bee effected but Lord thou knowest what thou hast to do and to thee nothing thing is impossible This the Lord doth in his wisdome to out us of our selves and all creature-confidences that in an holy desperation wee may say with repenting Israel Ashur shall Not save us neither will wee ride upon horses nor say any more to the work of our hands Yee are our gods for with thee the fatherless finde mercy Hos. 14. 3. 6 Obs. God in his due time will deliver his people out of the deepest distress Hee is Omnipotent hee can and will redeem Israel not out of one or two but out of all his troubles Psal. 25. ult Art thou weak Hee can strengthen thee Art thou sick Hee can heal thee Art thou dark Hee can insighten thee Art thou dead Hee can inliven thee Hast thou lain in thy grave till thou stinkest again so did Lazarus Hast thou lain till thou art rotten so did Israel in their Babylonish Captivity and yet were restored Ezek. 37. 11 12. So in desertions wee are apt to bee despondent when wee walk in darkness and can see no light neither Sun-light nor Moon-light neither Star-light nor Candle-light but are like unto dry bones in a Sepulchre without life without spirit without strength without comfort and see no way of deliverance Aye but now is a time to live by faith and not by sense Isa. 40. 27 28 29 30 31 and 50. 10. Such is our weakness that wee are apt to limit the holy one of Israel and to think that hee can help us in lesser trials and bring us out of petty crosses but when some fluctus decumanus some great waves of Tentation come then wee are apt to question Gods power and promises and to say with David I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul 1 Sam. 27. 1. Wee are apt to say with Martha If Christ had come a little sooner hee might have raised Lazarus but now saith she he stinks and is past help Ioh. 11. 39. Aye but it is the better for that for now Christs power will bee the more manifested and his Father the more glorified The more grievous thy disease the greater will the praise of thy Physitian bee in thy cure and wee shall love much when wee see how much is forgiven and therefore David makes it an argument to move the Lord to pitty him because his sins were great Psal. 25 11. Remember it is Gods usual course to let men bee dead and buried as it were in misery and to bring things to extremity and then appear Gen. 22. 14. Psal. 461. when trouble comes then hee comes too Wee read of three persons that Christ raised from the dead One was dead but not carried out Maâ—k 5. 41 A second was dead and carried out Luke 7. 14. A third was dead carried out buried and lay till hee stunk in his grave and that was Lazarus Christ speaks but the word Lazarus come forth and hee lives God is never nearer to his people than when to a carnal eye hee seems furthest off As wee see in the three young men that were cast into a fiery Furnace and Daniel into the Lions den Sense and carnal reason would have said God had now forsaken them and there was no help yet even then did they finde the greatest help so good it is to trust in God 7 Obs. Death in it self is a formidable enemy and considered as a curse due to impenitent sinners it is very terrible even the terriblest of all terribles as Aristotle calls it It is armed with stings and plagues and is therefore called an Enemy 1 Cor. 15. 26. And the King of terrours even such a terrour as is the chiefest and greatest of terrours Iob 18. 14. Hence dreadful calamities are set forth by the shadow of deaâ—h Job 10. 21 22. and 16. 16. and 24. 17. Psal. 23. 4. Ier. 13. 16. and the messengers of death Prov. 16. 14. and the snares sorrows and terrours of death Psal. 18. 4 5. and 55. 4. It is this that snatcheth men when they least think of it from their dear Relations Pleasures Riches Recreations Mansions Honours c. which they love as their lives and this must needs bee terrible to a natural man who hath no assurance of better things when he dyes Hence such are said to be in bond age and a slavish fear of death all their life long Heb. 2. 15. whilst wicked men look upon death at a distance and think it far off they fear it not but when God shall open their eyes by sickness and summon them to appear before him then like Pashur they are Magar-missabib a terrour to themselves and all that are â—ound about them Ier. 20. 3 4. Saul though a King and a 〈◊〉 man yet when hee heard that death was at the door and hee must dye to morrow was so dis-spirited with this dismal news that hee fell into a deadly trance and was not able to bear it the fear of death had well nigh ended him before his death came 1 Sam. 9. 19 20. So Belâ—hazzar a mighty Monarch in the height of his mirth is all amort his countenance is changed his thoughts trouble him and his joynts are loosed but whence came all this terrour and amazement why it is for fear of this King of fears Death which suddenly after surprized him Dan. 5. 1 2. c. This puts an end to all a wicked mans comforts and hopes conscience shall now bee awakened and hee must give an account of his Stewardship This made Lewis the eleventh King of France to command his servants in his sickness that they should not once mention that bitter word Death in his hearing Yea even the godly in a temptation for fear of death have not acted like themselves at other times as wee see in three of the greatest-Worthies that wee read of in the Scriptures first Abraham famous for faith Gen. 12. 12 13. 20. 2. 11. And David famous for valour 1 Sam. 22. 12 13. And Peter for courage yet to save his life denied his Lord. 8 Obs. Death is a conquered Enemy Christ hâ—th disarmed him and taken away his sting Hee hath redeemed his from the power of the grave and swallowed up death in Victory Christ by his death hath destroyed death and him that had the power of death the Devil Heb. 2. 14. by suffering of that death which was due to us for our sins hee hath destroyed the power of Satan and taken away that advantage which hee had against us by reason of sin whose wages is death Satan thought by death to destroy Christ
with the Prophets to intermingle comforts with their threatnings to keep Gods people from despaire So Hos. 1. and 2. and 11. Amos 9. 8 to 15. Before he had threatned destruction to the wicked now he comforts the Penitent In the words we have 1. The deep distress that Gods people were in they were in the hand of the grave and in the jaws of death i. e. they were as 't were dead and buried in captivity The word Sheol signifies both the grave and hell 1. 'T is taken for the grave so Gen. 37. 35. â—rov 30. 16. 2. For hell Metaphorical i. e. some deep distress Psal. 86. 13. 3. For the local hell Prov. 15. 11. Wee may take in all these for Christ hath Redeemed us from them all and triumphed over them on the Cross Colos. 2. 14. 2. Here is a Promise of their Redemption from this their misery I will ransom them from the power of the grave What is that why exegetically 't is added I will redeem them from death i. e. I will bring my Elect out of their captivity where they lay for dead as 't were and this deliverance shall bee to them a pledge of their Resurrection to eternal life 3. Here is the manner how this shall bee done set forth by a Prosopopeical Apostrophe to death and the grave whom he brings in as some living enemy and therefore calls to him saying O death I will bee thy death O grave I will bee thy destruction q. d. O death thou seemest to be mighty and powerful but I will disarm thee of it all I will not only bite thee but destroy thee 't is not morsus as the Vulgar but exitium an utter destruction of these enemies of our salvation 4. Here is the certainty of this deliverance drawn from the constancy of God in keeping his Promise and from the immutability of his decree Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes q. d. I will never repent of the mercy which I have promised them but my goodness to them shall be firm and unalterable This sense suits best with the Original and with the context wherein God promiseth a choice mercy to his people The Vulgar and the seventy render it consolation is hid from mine eyes 't is true the word in the Original signifies consolation as well as repentance but to render it as a threatning here as if God should say I am fully determined to destroy my people for consolation is hid from mine eyes This is very improper here for it confounds the context and the scope of the Verse which is to comfort and not to disquiet Gods people In it the Prophet the better to strengthen the faith of Gods people doth highly extol Gods Almighty power for when wee are in straights wee are very apt to question that Num. 11. 13 21 22 23. Psal. 78. 19. To an eye of sense Gods people lying in captiviy were as dead men and past all hope of recovery I but saith the Prophet though ye were dead yet God can raise you again for hee 's Lord of death and hell and hath a sovereign power over them all though death conquers all yet hee conquers death though it be mighty yet God is Almighty and there 's nothing too hard for him he will be the death of death and if none will redeem you thence yet he will Quest. The Question is of what Redemption and deliverance doth the Prophet here speak whether of a corporal or spiritual Redemption Ans. Of both 1. Literally the Lord promiseth to free his Elect and penitent people from the grave of their captivity Banisht men are counted as dead men especially in a civil sense and the place of their banishment is as the grave Now many of the remainders of Israel after the destruction of their Kingdom joyned themselves to the Jews and with them came out of Babylon Though for their Idolatry and ingratitude hee threatned perpetual banishment to them yet for the comfort of his people that then were and after should arise hee promiseth a Redemption for them Hos. 1. 10. which was fulfilled about two hundred years after that Samaria was taken when Cyrus proclaimed liberty to the Jews to go build the Temple Ezra 1. 2. Typically it alludes to our Spiritual and eternal Redemption by Christ and our conquest over death and hell by him By Adams sin death came upon all men Rom. 512. but Christ by his Resurrection hath freed us from the power of death and hath led it captive which formerly led us captive Ps. 68. 18. Eph. 4. 8. This is the Redemption saith Zanchy which is principally and properly here meant for though the people of Iudah after seventy years captivity in Babylon did return again out of it yet the people of Israel after that Samaria was taken never returned again to their own land for it was laid waste and inhabited by strangers 'T is usual with the Prophets to use such Metabases sudden digressions and passings from their history to Christ who was their scope delight and love so that every hint and shadow in the Old Testament brought him to their remembrance and then from Christ they fell to the continuance of their history again Thus 't is here and so Esay prophecying of Câ—rus who should deliver Israel out of Bâ—bylon in the same Chapter prophesieth of Christ the Redeemer of his Church Esay 45. So Ezekiel having enveyed against Idle and Idol Shepherds presently turns his speech to Christ who is the true Shepherd of his people Ezek. 34. 2 16. so Zach. 9. 9. and 13. â— 7. In this Verse the Prophet brings in death and the grave as it were two tyrannical enemies to whom he speaks in the Name of the Lord Christ as the Apostle expounds it 1 Cor. 15. 55. as a Conquerour saying O death I will be thy death Or as the Apostle from the Septuagint though in this Text the Apostle in some things varies from the present Septuagint and so do the allegations in the New Testament which shews the folly of those who do equalize it with the Original Hebrew O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The first Adam brought death into the world but the second Adam hath abolish'd it There is some difficulty in the words and therefore I shall open them particularly and break every clod that I may finde out the golden Oar. In these words we have a glorious triumph over death and a notable Enconâ—ium of the Resurrection of the dead Piscator and others read the words Interrogatively thus O death where are thy plagues O grave where is thy destruction 'T is an insulting and triumphing Interrogation q. d. They are no where to be found for Christ hath removed them and taken them out of the way of his people so that now there is no hurt in death This various reading comes from the ambiguous signification of the word Ehi which is rendred truly ero I
will be others render it ubi where So the Septuagint render it by 〈◊〉 ubi and the Apostle following the Septuagint speaking to Greeks and that in Greece alledgeth a Greek text as being most familiar and best known to them The Apostle gives the sense and meaning but not the words which is frequent in Scripture the Pen-men being intent on the matter were not curious in the words but did adde and alter what might explain and clear them yet the Prophet and the Apostle are easily reconciled thus O death I will be thy Plagues i. e. I will pull out thy Pestilent sting O grave I will be thy destruction i. e. I will get the victory over thee q. d. I the Lord Christ for to him the Apostle applies this text will redeem them from death by paying a valuable price for their Redemption this none could do but I yea I will bee the death of death I will bee its plagues and destruction it shall never prevail against my people for I will restore them to life again 1 Cor. 15. 26 54 55. 'T is not I am or I have been but 't is Ehi I will bee thy destruction Now in Hebrew the Future Tense doth oft express both the Present Tense and the Preterperfect Tense it implies not only the time to come but also the time present and the time past q. d. I am I have been and shall bee for ever deaths destroyer Christ was Virtually the Lamb â—lain from the beginning of the world and so was deaths destroyer but actually he conquered death and the grave by lying dead in the grave and by his Almighty power raising himself thence again so that death hath now no more dominion over him and his Act. 2. 24. O death I will bee thy plagues not one or two but many plagues even so many as shall destroy thee Thou didst destroy my people but now I will destroy thee thou didst triumph over them but now I will triumph over thee and lead thee and all the enemies of my people in triumph at my Chariot wheeles Psal. 68. 18. Ephes. 4. 8. for under death and the grave is Synecdâ—chically comprehended the conquest of all the enemies of our salvation as sin death heâ—â— Satan banishment prisonment poverty sickness tribulation persecution famine sword c. over all these wee are more then conquerours even triumphers through Christ that loved us Rom. 8. 35 37. Hee names only death because death is the last enemy that shall bee destroyed 1 Cor. 15. 26. yet by an Argument a Majore ad minus from the greater to the less he comforts his people thus If I can deliver you from death and the grave then much more from banishment and captivity O grave I will bee thy destruction or I le bee thy rooting out and cutting off The same word is used Deut. 32. 24. Psal. 91. 6. I say 28. 2. q. d. Thou didst destroy my people but now I will destroy thee so that they may now sing triumphantly O death where is thy pestilent sting wherewith thou wast wont to torture and torment us 't is gone 't is destroyed by Christ who is thy death O death and thy utter destruction As a man that drinks a cup of poyson drinks that which will bee his ruine so the grave by swallowing and devouring Christ was conquered and killed by him Of old they did celebrate the Victories and Triumphs of Achilles Hercules Alexander Iulius Caesar and the rest of the great conquerours of the world but alas alâ— those dyed and were conquered by death Only Christ the King and Saviour of his Church and people by his death hath conquered sin Satan and death and hath made full satisfaction for us to the Law and Justice of God So that what the Prophet speaks here of the restauration of the Jews in particular the Apostle applies to the general Resurrection of the dead when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptioâ— and this mortality shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in Victory O death where is thy sting c. 1 Cor. 15. 54 55. Where the Apostle alledgeth two Texts and 't is usual with the Pen-men of the New Testament to alledge divers Texts out of the Old Testament and compose them into one in the New So doth Peter speaking against Iudas Act. 1. 20. 't is written in the book of the Psalms let his habitation be desolate and his Bishoprick let another take the former part is taken out of Psal. 69. 26. and the latter part out of Psal. 109. 7. So Mark 1. 2 3. the former part is taken out of Mal. 3. 1. the latter part from Esay 28. 16. So Christ himself Mat. 21. 13. alludes to Esay 56. 7. and Ier. 7. 11. So here the Apostle cites one text out of Esay 25. 8. he will swallow up death in Victory The other is Hos. 14. 13. The seventy render it thus devorabit mors praevalens Death devours all but this is contrary both to the sense of the Prophet and the Apostle who speak not of the prevailing power of death but of the power of Christ over death Death is swallowed up in Victory and that great devourer of all is by Christ devoured This promile is now fulfilled in the death of Christ who hath already destroyed the power of death for his people and shall bee compleatly fulfilled at the Resurrection of the dead when all corruption and mortality shall bee totally taken away and death shall bee swallowed up in Victory for ever In the sense of this mercy the Apostle breaks forth ravished as it were with the contemplation of this conquest over death into a triumphant song which all the Saints shall sing at the last day when they shall bee totally freed from the captivity of death and the grave then shall they insult over subdued death and say O death where is thy sting wherewith thou hadst wont to wound all creatures O grave where is thy victory by which thou hast hitherto kept the dead under by force which now thou must render again as not being able any longer to hold them under thy power Rev. 20. 13 14. It is onely sin by which death hath power over us and it is the just rigor of the Law which inflicts death upon us for sin But thanks bee to God who hath given us the victory over sin which is the cause of death and over death which is inflicted for sin through Jesus Christ our Lord by whom wee obtain an immortal and incorruptible life Thus the Apostle hath faithfully given us the sense of the Prophet though not his very words The summe and substance of all is this Though Ephraim hath been an unwise Son and hath delayed his returning unto mee yet his impenitency and security shall not retard or disanul my faithfulness and truth unto my people I
but Christ by his death destroyed his Kingdome and became more glorious by dying like another Sampson hee slew more at his death than in his life So that now wee are more than Conquerers even Triumphers through Christ that loved us Hee hath triumphed over death and all the enemies of our salvation and wee in him our head triumph 2 Cor. 2. 14. Col. 2. 14 15. by lying in the grave hee hath sweetned our graves for us so that now wee may sleep in it as in a bed of down Isa. 57. 2. and our flesh may rest in hope of a glorious Resurrection Psal. 16. 9. Now if ever wee may sing that Triumphant song O death where is thy sting It is destroyed abolished gone This strong man armed is overcome by a stronger than hee It is not the pleasures of life nor the pains of death neither the height of prosperity nor the depth of adversity nothing now can separate us from Christ Iob 5. 20 21 22. Rom. 8. 35 c. Death may dissolve our corporal marriage but it is so far from abolishing that it perfects our spiritual marriage killed we may bee but conquered we can never be Christs victory is our victory and all his Conquests ours Quest. If Christ by his death hath destroyed death why then do the godly dye Answ. Christ did not dye to deliver us from sickness and death but to free us from the curse that is in these By his death hee hath pulled out the sting of death the death of the body still remains but the sting and that which is penal is taken away so that it cannot hurt us and therefore the Text doth not say I will free you from death sedâ—è manu mortis but from the destructive power of death so as it shall have no dominion over you to hurt you nor bee able to separate you from Christ. As the Apostle saith of sin it is in us but it doth not reign in us so dye wee must but death hath no dominion over beleevers as it hath over wicked men it gets the victory over them they dye and dye eternally but a beleevers death is neither Total Penal nor Perpetual 1 It is not Total it seizeth onely on the body the carcass the outside it goeth to its dust but the spirit returns to God that gave it Eccles. 12. 7. 2 It is not Penal but profitable in the grave wee put off our filth deformities defects infirmities and mortality it self It is our attiring house to fit us for immortality and glory 3 It is not perpetual it is but a sleeping till the general Resurrection Rom. 8. 10 11. our conquest over death is inchoate in fieri and partly fulfilled in this life but it shall bee consummate in facto and fully compleated at the Resurrection Then shall they awake and sing that dwell in the dust Isa. 26. 19. This upheld Iob in the midst of all his sorrows I know that my Redeemer lives my comfort is though I dye yet I have one to right mee that lives for ever Iob 19. 25. David comforts himself with this that God would redeem him from the power of the grave and from the hand of hell though riches cannot redeem the rich yet God would redeem him Psal. 49. 15. Object I must part with Wife Children Friends Pleasures Answ. All these losses will bee made up in a better kinde as you may see at large in Mr. Byfields Cure of the fear of death p. 745. it is in the end of his Marrow And B. Halls Balm of Gilead p. 141. Use. Fear not death with a slavish fear Christ dyed to free us from such a fear of death Heb. 2. 15. A religious prudential fear doth well fear it so as to arm your selves and prepare for it but not so as to bee dejected under it No wise man will fear a conquered enemy if you truly beleeve in Christ the Conquerour of death you need not fear death Think on Christ when you think on death and then you may in a holy sarcasm and contempt say O death where is thy sting Christ hath unstinged it and as it were disarmed it so that now wee may safely put it in our bosomes buz it may about our ears as a drone Bee but sting it cannot for Christ hath taken away the guilt of sin and hath made that which was sometimes a curse to become a blessing of a foe hee hath made it a friend of a poyson a medicine of a punishment an advantage Phil. 1. 21. of the gate of hell a passage to heaven It is now like the valley of Achor a door of hope that which was sometimes the King of Terrours is now become the King of Comforts as making way for the enjoyment of the highest comforts Wee part with a life of misery to enjoy a life of glory Wee use to say Change is no Robbery but such a change is our great advantage Hence it is that the Apostle summing up a Christians priviledges and riches sets down Death as part of it 1 Cor. 3. 22. not onely life but Death is yours hee that can truly say I am Christs subject and servant may as truly say Death will bee my preferment and high advancement So true is that of Solomon Eccles. 7. 1. The day of a mans death is better in many respects than the day of his birth Then and never till then shall wee rest from our labours Iob 3. 17. Rev. 14. 13. and bee perfectly freed from sin and all its concomitants Look not therefore on death with Philosophical eyes as if it were the end of all our comforts but look on it with Christian eyes as the year of Jubilee the day of our Coronation and consummation of the Marriage between Christ and our souls A natural man that looks upon death with an eye of sense sees nothing but horror and terror in it but a gracious soul that looks on it with an eye of faith seeth life in death light in darkness and comfort in discomfort though for a time hee must lye in the grave and death seems to have dominion over him yet hee as certainly sees a Resurrection as if hee were already in possession of it and therefore hee triumphs already in assurance of a total conquest through Christ death is already swallowed up by him in victory Isa. 25. 8. Christ was his life and therefore now death is his gain Hee lived holily and now hee dyes happily hee lived unto the Lord and therefore hee now dyes unto him Rom. 14. 7 8. 2 Cor. 5. 15. His care was to keep a good conscience and now hee hath the comfort of it 2 Cor. 1. 12. Let Atheists then and worldlings and wicked men fear death who know no better life but let the righteous who hath hope in his death Prov. 14. 32. imbrace it and bid it welcome as the Martyrs did who went as joyfully to their stakes as
heightens wrath by adding sin to sin 3 The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father if hee depart from the fathers iniquity and do not walk in his steps Ezek. 18. 14 17. If a man beget a son that seeth all his fathers sin and feareth and doth not the like hee shall not dye for his fathers iniquity But if the son tread in his fathers steps hee shall bear his own iniquity and becomes accessary to his fathers sin by imitation and approbation of it Matth. 23. 32. Luke 11. 48 50. the blood of former generations had not been required of that generation if they had not been as bloody as the former But where old sins are continued and approved of by new acting of them there the old sins as well as the new are justly punished So that the threatning is not to bee understood absolutely but conditionally viz. If the children do persist in their fathers sins and walk in their wicked wayes 4 The son shall not bear the personal iniquities of the father in reference to eternal punishment God will not damn a son simply for the sin of his father it is a mans own sin which is his everlasting ruine yet hee may lay many temporal chafâ—isements upon a good son for the sin of his father The Lord in Ezek. 18. 20 23 32. seems to speak of eternal and not of temporal punishment 1 This should make Parents fearful of displeasing God lest they bring miseries not only on themselves but also on their children their Idolatry may bring a curse upon their childrens children to many generations No children in Scripture are threatned like the children of Idolaters In none of the Commandements doth God threaten to visit the sin of the fathers upon the children but onely in the second Exod. 20. 5. It is well observed by a pious and precious Divine that there are eight sins which do more especially bring Judgements on a mans Posterity whereof the first is Idolatry 2 Adultery 2 Sam. 12. 14. 3 Covenant-breaking 2 Sam. 21. 13. 4 Persecution of the godly Matth. 23. 31. to 36. Psal. 137. 7. 5 Murder 1 King 21. 21. Jer. 15. 4. 6 Oppression Job 20. 19 26. Hab. 2. 9. 7 Contempt of Magistracy and Ministry Num. 16. 32. 41. 49. 1 King 13. 33 34. 8 When men pretend Reformation and intend themselves as Iehu did Hos. 1. 4. God is very pittiful and tender over Infants as appears in that hee would not destroy Nineveh for the Infants sakes that were in ti Ionah 4 11. and in the sacking of Cities hee commands them to spare Infants Deut. 20. 14. but it is the sin of Parents which many times hardens Gods heart against them and makes him to delight in the destruction both of them and theirs yea and it hardens mens hearts against them so that they cannot but act such cruelty against them as they never intended as wee see in Hazael 2 King 8. 11 12 13. when the Prophet Elisha wept and told him what mischief hee should do to Israel viz. that hee should kill the young men and dash the Infants against the stones and rend in peeces the women with childe Am I a dog saith Hazael that I should do such things as these Hee then thought it a base and barbarous thing when hee was King Benhadads servant to act such inhumane villany upon the mothers with their infants the Prophet onely tell him that hee shall bee a King vers 13. and then when hee had changed his condition hee would also change his manners and commit all the abominations which hee mentioned Let Parents then labour for grace that they may leave a blessing and not a curse to their posterity Gen. 17. 7. Exod. 20. 6. Psal. 112. 2. If you will not pitty your selves yet pitty your little ones let not them fare the worse for you It is ill-being a wicked mans childe yea their very beasts faâ—e the worse for them Iosh. 7. 24 25. Achan was stoned and his cattel with him Wicked Egyptians bring a Murrain upon their cattel Exod. 9. 3. As a good man is a publick good the Family City Kingdome fare the better for him yea his cattel are spared for his sake Exod. 9. 4. The Lord shall sever between the cattel of Egypt and the cattel of Israel there shall nothing dye of all that is the children of Israels God blesseth the very cattel of his people and if the creature could speak it would desire to serve those that serve God Most Parents provide Inheritances for their children but oft-times they leave their sins with them too It was a sad Legacy that Ioab left to his children that one should bee a Leper another a weakling a third beg his bread 2 Sam. 3. 29. So many a man to one childe hee leaves his Murder to another his Adultery to a third his Usury to a fourth his Swearing Gehazi left a Talent of silver behinde him to his posterity but hee left the Leprosie with it Better want such mens lands and inheritances than thus to inherit their sins too 2 Let children bee humbled then for their forefathers sins that they bee not imputed to them Lâ—v. 26. 41. So did Nehemia ch 1. 6. and David Psal. 79. 8. Remember not against us iniquitates praecedentium saith the Original the sins of our forefathers Hee that sees the sins of his Predecessors and is not humbled for them approves of them and so becomes accessary to them Hence the Lord blames Belshazzar for not humbling himself for his fathers sin and punishment which hee knew of Dan. 5. 22. Let us therefore acknowledge our selves to bee the children of sinful parents and say with him Deut. 26. 5. A Syrian was my father ready to perish and with David Wee have sinned with our fathers Psal. 106. 6. and with Daniel ch 9. 8. Deprecate the punishment which is due to uâ— for their sins So Ier. 14. 20. 3 Admire the patience of the Lord that hath born so long with us who have been sinners from the womb If little ones who never sinned against the patience of God as wee have done indure such pangs sorrows sickness and death what may men of years look for who have added to original corruption a numberless number of actual transgressions If this bee done to the green tree what shall bee done to the dry If Infants who are Innocents and righteous comparatively shall scarcely bee saved where shall the ungodly and rebellious sinner appear If hee spare not little ones that lye in their mothers bowels but suffer wicked men to drag them thence where oh where shall those wicked parents appear that have been the primary cause of all this mischief and sorrow to them and have been the authors and actors of that wickedness which hath brought this misery on them It should therefore bee matter of great humiliation to us all when wee see the sharp and sore judgements that oft light upon little ones
17. 8 13 14 15. but rejected the counsel of his Prophets till the wrath of the Lord broke forth and there was no remedy as you may see 2 King 17 7 to 24 where you have Ephraims sins and Ephraims punishment fully set forth Now what could the Lord do less than root up such a people so obstinate under reproofs so unthankful for mercies so incorrigible under judgements so uncapable of repentance so impatient of remedies so impenitent under all the means of grace which God had afforded them Let us now reflect upon our selves and see whether Ephraims sins bee not Englands sins if so parity of sins will bring parity of judgements if our sins run parallel with those of Ephraim wee may justly expect Ephraims downfall It is said of Lot that his righteoussoul was vexed with the sins of Sodome 2 Pet. 2. 7 8. the word is in the original his soul was wracked and tormented when hee saw the abominations of the Sodomites These twenty sins which abound in England and abode some judgement approaching should even wrack and torment our souls with grief that so wee may bee marked for mercy when judgement comes Ezek. 9. 4. Hab. 3. 16. The counsel which the Lord gave to Ephraim shall I give to England Hos. 14. 1 2 3. Return O back-sliding England from thy Atheism Apostasie Heresie Blâ—sphemy Hypocrisie Formality Ingratitude Witchcraft Security Anarchy c. and take with you words of sincere confession and turn unfeignedly to the Lord so will hee receive you graciously and accept both of your persons and performances If any would see more Land-destroying sins let him peruse D. Corn. Burges on Ier 4. 14. p. 38 39. preached 1642. Perkins 3. Vol. p. 420. D. Gouge his Arrows on Numb 16. 46. Sect. 46. p. 79. and 139. Mr. Case his Sermon on Exod. 5. 22. p. 11 12. preached 1646. D. Peter Smiths Fast Sermon on Psal. 107 6. p. 30 31. preached 1644. Lastly their Rulers were corrupt their Kings Princes Judges were Idolaters Revolters Violaters of the Law Bribers c. Hos. 4. 18 19. and 5. 10. and 9. 15. and the people were corrupted by them for where the head is rotten the members cannot bee sound Of all the twenty Kings of Israel after the division of the State there was not one good from first to last they were all Idolaters which serves to clear and vindicate the Justice of God in the utter overthrow of those Kings and their Kingdome who had for the space of two hundred thirty seven or two hundred and sixty years say some abused the goodness and patience of the Lord and since there is none that I know of that hath distinctly described these twenty Kings of Israel in any set Treatise I shall briefly describe the men and their manners and give some useful and seasonable Observations from them A brief History of the twenty Kings of ISRAEL AFter the death of Solomon the twelve Tribes were divided into two Kingdomes under Rehoboam and Ieroboam Rehoboam Solomons son reigned over two Tribes viz. Iudah and Benjamin and this was called the Kingdome of Iudah because the Tribe of Iudah was the principal part of it A parte praestantiori fit denominatio This Kingdome continued in Rehoboam and his successours the posterity of David three hundred seventy two years even till the time of the Babylonish Captivity which was about six hundred years before Christ. In which space nineteen Kings of the same stock succeeded each other All their Acts and wayes are succinctly but fully published by a very good hand I shall therefore give you onely their names and the Texts with Stars on the good Kings and Daggers on the Hypocrites the rest were wicked Samuel was the last Judge of Israel and Saul the first King Note that Saul David Solomon reigned before the Kingdome was divided between Iudah and Israel 1 Saul hee reigned ten years 1 Sam. 13. 1. c. and slew himself 1 Sam. 31. 4. 2 * David reigned forty years 2 Sam 2. 4. c. 3 * Solomon reigned forty years I King 11. 42. 4 * Rehoboam reigned seventeen years I King 14. 21. 5 * Abijah reigned two years 1 King 15. 6 * Asa reigned one and forty years 1 King 15. 9 10. 7 * Ieâ—osaphat reigned five and twenty years 1 King 22. 42. 8 Iehoram reigned eight years 2 King 8. 17. Q. Athâ—liâ—h Ahabs daughter and Iehorams widow usurped the Kingdome for six years 2 King 11. 1 3. 9 †Ioash reigned forty years and was slain 2 King 11. 4 c. 10 †Amaziah reigns nine and twenty years and is slain 2 King 14. 2. 11 Uzziah alias Azâ—riah was slain 2 King 15. 1 2 13. 2 Chron. 26. 3. hee reigned two and fifty years 12 * Iotham reigned sixteen years 2 King 15. 33. 2 Chron. 27. 13 Ahaz reigned sixteen years 2 King 16. 2. 14 * Hezekiah reigned nine and twenty years 2 King 18. 2. 15 * Manasseh reigned five and fifty years 2 King 21. 1. 16 Amon reigns two years and is slain 2 King 21. 19. 17 * Iosiah reigns two and thirty years and in slain 2 Kings 22. 1. 18 Iehoahaz reigned three months 2 King 23. 31. 19 Iehojakim reigned eleven years 2 King 24. 1. 20 Iehojachin three months 2 King 24. 8. 21 Zedekiah reigned eleven years 2 King 25. 1. The other ten Tribes over which Ieroboam reigned was called The Kingdome of Israel which continued about two hundred thirty and seven years till they were carried into captivity by the Assyrian about the sixth year of Hezekiah when Hoshea the last King of Israel was carried away captive So that the Kingdome of Israel ended one hundred thirty and three years before that of Iudah In this time there were twenty Kings of Israel of ten several stocks whereof one destroyed another Ieroboams stock was cut off by Baasha and Baasha's by Zimri and Tibni's by Omri and Omri's by Iehu and Iehu's by Shallum and Shallum's by Menahem and Menahem's by Pekah and Pekah's by Hoshea and Hoshea with his were captives to Salmaneser King of Assyria The most of these Kings were cruel Tyrants and Persecutors which bred sad commotions and transported the Kingdome from one family to another Whereas in Iudah where purity of worship was preserved and the godly Kings joyned with the Prophets there were nineteen Kings of the same stock orderly succeeding each other So good it is walk in Gods waies and to take in his Ministers with us A CATALOGUE of the KINGS of ISRAEL 1 Ieroboam reigned two and twenty years 2 Nadab his Son succeeds him hee reigned two years and is slain 3 Baasha of another stock succeeds him and reigns four and twenty years 4 Elah his Son succeeds him and hee reigns two years and is slain by Zimri 5 Zimri of another stock reigns seven daies and burnt himself 6 Tibni of another stock reigns about four years and dies as it is conceived a violent death 7 Omri of
his Armies bee routed his plots defeated the loss of his Kingdome and utter destruction of him and his be foretold yet hee is Jeroboam still and persists in his wickedness after all this 1 King 13. 3 4 5 33. Besides hee could not bee ignorant how severely God punished the Israelites for the very same sin of worshipping the golden Calf But wilful sinners are judgement proof no plagues upon themselves or others can work upon them It is this that aggravated Jeroboams sin and made it out of measure sinful that hee did not through infirmity but wilfully hee sets up Idolatry and therefore hee is said to devise a worship of his own head the better to destroy the worship of God and draw men from his Temple at Jerusalem 1 King 12. 28 33. Now the more contrivement there is in sin the worse it is as wee see in David the kilsing of Vriah lyes as a blot upon him more than all his other sins because there was more deliberation and contrivement in that than in any of his other sins 1 King 15. 5. 15 The tolerating of such contemptible men as are neither called nor qualified for the work of the Ministry to usurp the Ministry is a God-provoking sin Ieroboam makes Priests of the lowest of the people and this provokes the Lord to root up both him and his posterity 1 King 13. 33 34. 16 Wicked men bring a curse on their posterity The poor children many times fare the worse for the fathers wickedness not onely is Ieroboam cut off but all his posterity perish with him 1 King 15. 29 30. Of this see more before on vers 16. Obs. 12. 17 Carnal policy is meer folly One grain of sincerity and real honesty will outweigh many mountains of shisting subtilty It is hee onely that walks uprightly that walks surely It is ill when Rulers are more careful of the State than of the Church of civil policy than the matters of God When they dare not promote Religion for fear of troubling the State God oft punisheth such selfishness with the loss of all Ieroboam for politick respects and self-ends sets up Calves as suiting better with his carnal projects than the pure worship of God hereby hee thought to get the hearts of the people and settle the Crown faster on his head and thereby hee lost all His Calves deceived him and cast him off Hos. 8. 5 14. hee need not to have used such indirect courses for hee had Gods hand for it that hee should bee King 1 King 11. 31 35 37. But hee like a Machiavellian trusted more to his own policy than to Gods promise and hee prospered accordingly for hee had war all his dayes 1 King 14. 30. And many of the Priests and people forsook him and went to Ierusalem and joyned with Iudah where they might worship God in purity 2 Chron. 11. 13 16. When men make Religion ftoop to their politick ends and use it no further than it may either obtain retain or augment a Kingdome such self-seekers are self-destroyers their end is miserable 1 King 14. 9 10 11. Carnal plots and projects may bee kindled with hope kept up with miserable shifts but their end is doleful 18 Idolatry brings war When men chuse New Gods then war is in their gates Iudg. 5. 8. If Ieroboam forsake God and set up Idols hee shall have war continually 1 King 14. 30. So had Bâ—asha his Idolatrous Successor 1 King 15. 32. 19 It will not excuse wicked men in the day of wrath to say their Rulers lead them in wicked paths Such Ieroboams shall bee punisht and Israel shall suffer with them 1 King 14. 15 16. Wee may not follow great men nor any men further than they follow Christ unless wee mean to perish with them See more in my Comment on 2 Tim. 3. 9. Obs. 1. p. 190 191. 20 When the enemies of the Church are most high then God cuts them off When Ieroboam is lifted up trusting in his Idols and in the multitude of his armies hee sets upon Iudah both by force and fraud intending to destroy him but in the Mount the Lord appears hee affrights the Israelites and makes them fly so that Iudah slew five hundred thousand of them and the Lord struck Ieroboam that hee died not an ordinary death but hee died by a special hand of God 2 Chron. 13. per totum Wicked men shall not alwaies escape their sin at last will finde them out 2 Ieroboam being dead Nadab his Son succeeds him both in the Throne and in his sin and therefore in the second year of his reign hee was slain 1 King 14. 20. 15. 25 to 29. Obs. 1 That wicked Parents many times have wicked children Usually like Father like Son malus corvus malum ovum As they inherit their Fathers Lands so many times their vices too God often visits the sins of the Fathers upon their Children because they are apt to imitate their sin and to plead the example of their Ancestors and Fore-fathers especially in Idolatry Ier. 11. 9 10. As a good man may have a wicked childe but the promise is for him that God will bee his God and the God of his seed So a wicked man may have a good son as Ieroboam here hath a good Abijah 1 King 14. 13. but the curse is due to him and his seed hee hath no promise of such a blessing 2 Wicked Rulers reign not long They have many temptations to wickedness and have more opportunities to vent it than inferiour persons have and so are sooner ripe for ruine as wee shall see in the following Kings 3 Baasha having slain Nadab gets into the Throne himself and to make sure work hee first cuts off all the house of Ieroboam as the Lord had threatned yet because hee had no command from God to do it as Iehu had nor was inwardly incited by his Spirit to do it as Ehud was but traiterously for base self-ends to get the Kingdome to himself hee slew him and therefore God chargeth him with murder and saith hee killed him 1 King 15. 7. yet God is said to raise Baasha from the dust for though the treachery and murder was Baasha's yet the power and disposing of the Kingdome was from God In his daies lived the Prophet Iehu Hanani and Azariah yet hee hath the common But and Blot put upon him That hee also did evil in the sight of the Lord and walkt in the way of Ieroboam and made Israel sin 1 King 15. 29 30 33 34. Hee overthrew the house of Ieroboam and God over-threw his house according to the Prophecy of Iehu 1 King 16. 1 2 3 4. Hee reigned four and twenty years Obs. 1. God wants not instruments to punish wicked men If Ieroboams posterity must bee rooted up hee hath a Baasha at hand ready to do it Though this wicked man had ambitious ends of his own yet hee doth Gods work 1