Selected quad for the lemma: fire_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
fire_n	cloud_n	night_n	pillar_n	4,723	5	10.5941	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70158	Gods eye on His Israel, or, A passage of Balaam, out of Numb. 23, 21 containing matter very seasonable and suitable to the times : expounded and cleared from antinomian abuse, with application to the present estate of things with us / by Tho. Gataker ...	Gataker, Thomas, 1574-1654.	1645 (1645)	Wing G321; ESTC R7798	128,608	144

servants for their sinnes and makes use of wicked men as of scourges to chastise his children with for their excesses In which his dealing he hath an eye not to them alone whom he doth so chastise nor to those alone whose good also in such his chastisements he intendeth while he maketh those whom he so chastiseth examples of more cautious and circumspect cariage to others but he hath an eye also to himself and to his own credit For howsoever it is true indeed as hath been said that wicked men take occasion to question his power and his providence over his when they see them so to suffer yet it would redound much more to his dishonour another way if he should suffer those that are esteemed his people his servants his children to go unpunished or unchastised when they sinne for should he so doe he would be deemed to be a patron of impiety of impurity of iniquity a maintainer of his in the practise of such things And surely as Gods name is oft dishonoured by the suffrings of his servants so much more also by their sinnes Because saith Nathan to David thou hast set light by Gods word in taking the wife of Uriah and slaying him by the sword of the children of Ammon therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house and I will raise up one out of thine own bowels that shall abuse thy wives in the sight of all Israel and again because thou hast hereby given the enemies of God occasion to blaspheme the child that was born in adultery shall surely die Neither could David with all his fasting and prayer and more then ordinary humiliation get that heavy doome revoked Howbeit tho for such and other the like causes God gave the wicked sometime power over his yet the cruelty that in such cases they exercise on his people is not in regard thereof any whit the lesse odious and offensive in Gods sight as himself also expressely avoweth O Assur saith he or Wo to Assur the rod of my wrath the rod wherewith in my wrath I have chastised my people tho the staf of mine indignation be in their hand albeit I make use of him at present as an instrument for mine own ends and purposes in the execution of my wrath yet wo be to him for all that I shall send him indeed aga●nst a prophane Nation a people whom I am displ●ased with furnished with a commission to take the spoil and the prey and to trea● them down like mire in the street but he meaneth not so he minds nothing lesse but it is in his heart to destroy and to cut off Nations not a few his entendement is onely to advance himself and to enlarge his dominions by the ruines of other people he little dreameth of doing God any service herein and when God therefore hath by him wrought his own work upon Sion he will then punish him also for his proud and stout heart and his high looks when he hath done chastising his children by him he will throw the rod wherewith he chastised them into the fire And of Babel I was wroth with my people and gave them into thine hands and thou shewedst them no mercy but even upon the aged not regarding their age didst thou lay an heavy yoke Thus Israel became as a scattered sheep the Lions chased him first Assur wasted him and after that the King of Babel brake his very bones But what followeth Therefore th●● saith the Lord ●f hoasts the God of Israel even he that delivered them into the hands of either Behold as I punished the King of Assur so will I punish the King of Babel and Wo then to him that spoiled when himself was not spoiled for when he shall cease to spoil others others shall spoil him and as Babel hath served her self on other nations and Gods people among the rest so ma●y nations shall serve themselves on Babel when as God hath used them for executioners of his wrath and indignation upon others so will he use others as instruments of his just judgement upon them even for those things that by his just judgement tho to them unknown they have done nor could God with approbation see that done by them for which he will in due time execute just judgement upon them Secondly God leaveth his sometime to the malice and cruelty of the enemy for the triall and exercise of his grace in them For sundry graces of Gods children as their faith their patience their courage their confidence are as the stars that lie hid in the day but shine forth in the night appear not to speak of in times of prosperity but have their cheif luster in times of adversity and trouble doe most appear when they are most opposed The light of fire is least seen by day and the pillar therefore that conducted the Israelites in their march appeared as a cloud by day as fire by night and the fire burneth dimmest when the sunne shineth most upon it Nor is the Physitians skill known in time of health nor the Mariners skill seen in a calm nor the Souldiers valour and worth in times of peace when he is out of action nor any mans patience unlesse he be crossed nor his courage untill he meet with some strong opposition untill he be put to some straight Ye have heard of Jobs patience saith the Apostle but we had never heard of it had Job alwayes continued in the same constant tenour of a quiet and comfortable estate had he never been laid so low so afflicted as he was by the malice of Satan and the unkind cariage of his friends But on the other side the darker the room is the clearer the candle burneth and the brighter the fire the more dangerous and desperate the disease is the more is the Physitians art manifested in the cure of it the more violent and impetuous the storm is the more is the Mariners skill shewed in carrying his ship through it with safety the hotter the fight or service is the more will the valour of the souldier appear in his standing constantly and undauntedly to it whatsoever the issue be the heavier the crosse and the greater the danger the more is the patience and courage of that man seen that shall quietly bear and undergo the one and that shall cheerfully and confidently carry himself in the other the greater Jobs suffrings and distresses were the more evidently and eminently did the excellency of his heroik spirit shine and shew it self forth in them Again as the spirits of men are not seen so much as in such cases so nor are they tried so thoroughly as by occasions of this kind There is no triall of a souldier whether he be couragious or a coward but in the field and in fight the veriest dastard can at court and in company word it and brave it as well as the stoutest and valiantest champion that is but bring them to action and that will soon