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
another stock reigns twelve years 8 Ahab his Son succeeds him who reigned two and twenty years and is slain by the Syrians 9 Ahaziah his Son succeeds him and reigned two years 10 Iehoram Ahaziahs Brother and a second Son of Ahab succeeds him hee reigned twelve years and is slain by Iehn 11 Iehu of another stock reigned eight and twenty years 12 Iehoahaz his Son succeeds him and reigns seventeen years 13 Iehoash or Ioash his Son succeeds him and reigns sixteen years 14 Ieroboam the second his Son succeeds him and reigns one and forty years 15 Zachariah his Son the last of Iehu's race succeeds him hee reigns six months and is slain by Shallum 16 Shallum of another stock reigns one month 17 Menahem of another stock having slain Shallum reigns ten years 18 Pekahiah his Son succeeds him hee reigns two years and is killed by Pekah 19 Pekah of another stock regins twenty years and is slain by Hoshea 20 Hoshea the last King of Isruel reigns nine years and is carried into captivity with his people by Salmaneser King of Assyria 1 Ieroboam their first King came in by Rebellion Israel rebelled against the house of David and chose Ieroboam for their King 1 King 12. 19. hence the Lord complains that they set up Kings viz. Ieroboam and his successors but not by him Hos. 8. 4 they did it without asking his advice or staying for his command for though hee had decreed to rent the ten Tribes from Solomons race yet because they did it not in an orderly way but tumultuously therefore hee calls it rebellion and saith that hee knew it not viz. so as to approve of it and though God had fore-told that Ieroboam should bee King yet because hee came to the Crown with a proud aspiring rebellions disposition hee is called a Rebel 2 Chron. 13. 6 7. This Ieroboam the Son of Nebat so called to distinguish him from Ieroboam the second the Son of Ioash 2 King 14. 23. was Solomons servant a valiant active subtil man and so more fit to bee the head of a faction Solomon hearing that the greatest part of his Kingdome was given to Ieroboam hee was offended with him and sought to kill him Kings cannot endure corrivals Upon this Ieroboam fled into Egypt where probably hee learnt the Idolatry of the Calves for the Egyptians were great Idolaters 1 King 11. 28 40. No sooner is hee in the Throne but hee sets up a new Religion in his new Kingdome Hee begins ill the very first step hee takes is out of the way hee sets up two golden Calves and draws all Israel to worship them This crafty Achitophel fore-saw that if the people should go up to Ierusalem to worship there the glory of the Temple might allure them and the true Priests of the Lord would bee drawing them to adhere to their lawful Prince of the house of David 1 King 12. 27. hee therefore useth all means to keep them from having any thoughts of Ierusalem though this fear was vain and needless for hee had Gods promise that if hee would cleave to him and worship him onely that then hee would preserve the Kingdome to him and his posterity 1 King 12. 38. To this end hee invents a more easie and plausible kind of worship pretending that it was too much cost and pains for them to go thrice a year up to Ierusalem they should have gods of their own at home Two golden Calves to represent God to their eyes These hee sets up one in Dan a City in the North and the other in Bethel a City in the South Hee sets not up Horses or Rams but Calves as the Israelites in Egypt had done before him though to their cost Exod. 32. 4 c. The Idol Apis is worshipped by the Egyptians in the shape of an Oxe or Calf and it should seem Ieroboam here imitates them and the rather peradventure out of a politick device to ingratiate himself with Shisac the King of Egypt that hee might the sooner help him against Rehoboam and as if this were not sufficient instead of Gods Temple at Ierusalem hee set up houses of pretended devotion wherein hee appointed God to bee worshipped in his own Idolatrous fashion Hee also ordeined new Priests men that were of base condition and not of the Tribe of Levi for the Levites had left him and his Calves and went to Ierusalem 2 Chron. 11. 13 14. men of his own party and such as joyned with him in carrying on his state-design Like Lettice like lips fit Chaplains for such Calves or rather Devils as they are called 2 Chron. 11. 15. Quest. But what saith the Lord to all this Answ. Why this became a sin to the house of Ieroboam even to destroy it from the Earth 1 King 13. ult It was a sin a sin with a witness a notorious hainous complicated sin that had many other sins in the belly of it it was a sin committed against great Light for hee had the Prophets Ahijah Semaja and Iddo to instruct him and against great Love for the Lord had raised him from a servant to be King and that over his own people Israel and had instructed him what hee should do and how hee should walk that hee might prosper yet hee most ungratefully forsakes the God of his mercies to follow Calves and Devils contrary to the express command of God that they should nor make any graven Image to worship it It was also against the Judgement of God on their Progenitors whom they knew God had cut off for making such an Idol as the golden Calf Besides hee changed the time the place the manner of Gods worship 1 King 12. 32 33. and to incourage the people the more in these exorbitant waies hee himself usurps the Priests Office and offers upon the Altar which none but such as God had set apart for that work might do Yet more this sin was a scandal and ruine to all Israel it drew them from God and made the Lord to divorce them Hos. 2. 2. Yea some of Iudah also were infected with this Idolatry 2 King 17. 19. and therefore Ieroboam is so often famed with that infamous Title and branded to posterity with a This is that Jeroboam the Son of Nebat that made Israel to sin This is hee that by his Example Precepts and Power drew the people from God Hee was the first Author of this Idolatry others were but Accessaries This was that indelible sin which could never bee removed from him nor his house nor from Israel till it brought them all into captivity OBSERVATIONS 1 Idolatry rents a Kingdome in peeces Solomon fell to Idolatry and now ten Tribes fall from his immediate Successor Rehoboam his Son to Ieroboam his Servant 2 God is most true in his Threatnings Hee threatned to rend ten Tribes from Solomon for his Idolatry and here hee performs it 1 King 11. 31 33 â—5 3 A mutinous body cannot long
are thought to bee Pekah's partners who aided him in the murder of their soveraign Others conceive they were on the Kings side and slain with him But the first opinion is conceived to bee most genuine Obs. 1 God many times visits the sins of the Fathers upon the children especially when they walk in their steps Menahem killed his King and now God raiseth up one to kill his Son Thus wicked men that get riches and Kingdome for their children by indirect means get a cuâ—se for them and bring them into many straights and miseries which otherwise they might have avoided 2 If God bee against us no place can secure us Let Pekahiah get into Samaria the City Royal and bee guarded in his Palace there yet God hath a Pekah that shall finde him out and slay him in his own Palace for his sin and the sins of his bloody Father 3 If wee take the fifty Gileadites for the Kings friends and assistants then observe That such as side with great men in their sins must look to suffer with them No doubt but these Gileadites gloried that they were admitted to bee Courtiers and Assistant to the King but as it proved they had better have been Carters for then they had not perisht as they did It is dangerous living in Princeâ— Courts they live safely who live privately especially it is dangerous to have communion and fellowship with the wicked Good Iehosaphat joyning with wicked Ahab against the Syrians had like to have lost his life into the bargain The Geese in the Fable that joyned with the Cranes in preying upon the fields were killed for company 19 Pekah having killed Pekahiah reigns twenty years in his stead Hee also did evil in the sigâ—t of the Lord and hath the common brand 2 King 15. 27 28. Hee was born of obscure Parents his Father Remaliah was a private person and therefore by way of contempt hee is called Remaliah's Son and the tail of a fire-â—rand Isa. 7. 4. and 8. 6. Hee is punisht for his obstinacy and Idolatry I With the loss of â— great part of his Kingdome All the people of the Land of Napthali were lead into captiviâ—y by Tiglath-Pileser King of Assyria 2 King 15. 29. Two Tribes and a half beyond Iordan with Napthali and Zebulun on this sidâ— Iordan were now carried all away and this was the beginning of Israels sorrow 2 With the loss of his life Hoshea conspired against him and slew him Vers. 30. Tyrants oft come to violent ends and those that slay their Soveraigns shall have some that will slay them If Pekah kill Pekahiah Hoshea shall kill him As hee came to the Kingdome by murder so by murder hee loseth it Obs. 1 Idolatry from â—irst to last is still attended with misery Pekâ—h peâ—sists in the Idolatrous steps of his predecessors and now see how many Cities and Regions are lost 2 King 15. 29. Ijon and Abel-beth-maachah and Ianoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee and all the Land of Napthali so that upon the point five Tribes of Israel were lost This was the first captivity of Israel 2 The troubiers of Gods people many times are men of sordid and obscure Originâ—ls Pekah here Remaâ—iahs Son and the tail end of a brand which retains not fire long but after a little smoaking vanisheth it is hee that molests Iudah the people of God Isa. 7 4 5 6. It was Alexander a Smith not a Gold-Smith or a Silver-Smith but a Copper-Smith that molested Paul 2 Tim. 4. 14. David complains that the abjects and dreggs of men gathered themselves against him Psal. 35. 15 16. and Iob complains of such Iob 19. 18. and 30. 1. 20 Hoshea the last King of Israel having slain Pekah reigns nine years in his stead and though hee were the last of all the Kings of Israel yet hee also is branded for one that did evil in the sight of the Lord though hee was not altogether so bad as the other Kings of Israel that were before him 2 King 17. 1 2. Where there is any goodness God takes notice of it and commends it as I have shewed before This will appear 1 In that hee did not worship Baal nor serve the Host of Heaven as sâ—me of his predecessors had done before him Hee abandoned the grosser Idolatry of many of his Predecessors and secondly Hee suffered such of his subjects as would to go up to worship in the Temple of Ierusalem which the former Kings of Israel would not permit but laid snares for them Hos. 5. 1. But when Hezekiah proclaimed a Passeover many of the ten Tribes went up to keep it in Jerusalem 2 Chron. 30. 11. Yet see how judgement still attends upon Idolatry Murder and Treachery 1 Gods hand lies heavy upon King Hoshea himself hee is subdued and made tributary to Salmaneser King of Assyria 2 King 17. 3. See the unconstancy of worldly honours Hoshea to day a King to morrow a prisoner hence hee is called a bubble or foam that soon vanisheth Hos. 10. 7. 2 Hee breaks Covenant with the King of Assyria conspires against him and seeks to So the King of Egypt for aid refusing to pay the annual Tribute which hee had covenanted to pay Upon this Salmaneser shuts him up and bindes him in prison Vers. 4. This was done saith Sanctius after the City was taken though by a Prolepsis it is mentioned before This is the fruit of Treachery and Impatience when men seek by indirect means to get out of troubles they do but double them and multiply sorrows to themselves 3 This is not all for judgement doth not onely light on the King but on his Kingdome also Samaria the Metropolis and chief City is taken by Salmaneser King of Assyria after three years siege and the whole Kingdome overthrown The Israelites are carried captive out of their own Land into Assyria and a mixt people of forraign Nations are planted in their Land who made up a Mongrel Religion consisting of Paganism and Judaism fearing the Lord and serving their Idols too 2 King 17. 33. ult Seeing all these twenty Kings of Israel were so wicked wee may Observe 1 That few great men are good men From the division of the ten Tribes to the captivity of Israel there was not one good King of Israel that Kingdome remained Idolatrous from first to last There was a continued Series of Idolatry that did run thorow the whole race of their Rulers They should have seen to their people that they had lived in godliness and honesty and they were a means to lead them in paths of ungodliness and Idolatry They sinned directly against their office for God sets up Magistrates to rule for him but these lead their people from him All other creatures observe the word of Gods command and fulfil the end of their Creation and are therefore called Gods servants Psal. 119. 9â— All are thy servants The Sun Moon Stars Plants Brutes all act in their
his cause his people and the spiritual good of you and yours This is to lay up treasures in heaven Get grace that is durable riches which will never leave you and that better part which shall never bee taken from you VERSE 16. Samaria shall become desolate â—or shee hath rebelled against her God they shall fall by the sword their Infants shall bee dashed in peeces and their women with childe shall bee ripped up THis Verse contains the end of the Sermon and ends the Chapter and therefore those Interpreters do ill who make it to begin the next Chapter when this Verse fitly coheres with the precedent Verse there the Prophet shewed how they should bee plundred and lose their goods here hee tells them how they should bee butchered and lose their lives So that the Prophet doth not here begin any new Sermon but onely confirms what hee had spoken before of the destruction of Samaria and the overthrow of the whole Kingdome So that the words are a clear exposition of the former similies and a conclusion of the Sermon Wherein wee have 1 The dismal downfall of Samaria Samaria shall bee made desolate The Prophet labours to awaken them by fore-telling the greatness of their punishment 2 Here is the meritorious cause of this sad destruction viz. her rebellion For shee hath rebelled against her God So that shee hath no cause to complain of God as if hee dealt hardly with her for her own rebellion is the true cause of her destruction and her great provocation hath brought this upon her as the Church in the like case complains Lam. 1. 18. The Lord is righteous in sending sword plague and famine upon us for wee have rebelled against him 3 Here is the Accent or Aggravation of this their Rebellion it was not against man but it was against God yea against her God in Covenant who had been so good and gracious to her both in Temporals and Spirituals yet â—ee most ignominiously casts off him and prefers the Calves before him Hos. 13. 2. 4 Here is set forth the kinde of their destruction or what manner of death they shall dye and that is by the Sword They shall fall by the Sword They shall not onely lose their Treasure and their Land but their Lives also Hee sayes not All shall fall but indefinitly Yee shall fall i. e. many of the Inhabitants of Samaria and of the Kingdome of Israel shall bee slain by the Assyrian 5 The better yet to awaken them out of their security hee sets forth the rage of the Assyrian with its Aggravations and tells them yet further That their children should bee dashed in peeces against the walls and stones and their women with childe should bee ripped up They should not onely dye themselves but their little ones also should perish with them Samaria shall become desolate Samaria was a first a City of Syria built by Oâ—ri King of Israel who bought the hill thereof from Shemer and so from him it was called Samaria 1 King 16. 24. It was the Royal City even the chief City of the Kings of Israel where they kept their Court and had their special residence there they reigned and there they were buried This was the Metropolis and Mother-City All the other Cities of the Kingdome of Israel were called the Daughters of Samaria Ezek. 16. 46 55 In Augustus Caesars time it was called Sebâ—ste and not long after it was totally ruined And here let it bee noted once for all that when the Prophets speak of the ten Tribes onely sometimes they call them Samaria sometimes Ephraim and sometimes Israel Ioseph Iezreel Bethely Beth-aven but when they speak of the two Tribes they usually do it under the name of Iudah Ierusalem Benjamin and the house of David 2 Samaria was a populous strong well fenced fortified furnished City there were Horses Charrets Arms and Ammunition all things for defence 2 King 10. 1 2. It was every way well prepared to hold out against an enemy as appears by the three years â—iege of that potent enemy which lay against it yet notwithstanding all her fortifications Samaria shall bee made desolate because of her sin Samaria is here put for the Inhabitants of Samaria viz. the Israelites and synecdochically it is put for the whole Kingdome of Israel as distinct from the Kingdome of Iudah The Prophet names onely Samaria because it was the prime City and all the rest were taken before there was none left but Samaria and sin brings down that also This City was twice besieged first by the Syrians in Ahabs time 1 King 20. 1. and 2. 6. 24. and now by the Assyrians Phul and Tiglath-pileser had before molested Israel 2 King 15. 19 29. and now comes Salma neser a third King of Assyria the Church shall never want enemies especially when shee rebels against God hee besieges Samaria in the dayes of Hoshâ—a the last King of Israel hee takes it and carries the inhabitants into Captivity from which they never returned but were totally rooted up having continued from Ieroboam their first King about two hundred and sixty years about the year of the World 3230 and before Christ about seven hundred years Because shee hath rebelled against her God The Lord had used all means to reclaim them his Spirit had long striven with them in the Ministry of those Prophets which hee had in compassion sent amongst them as Iehu Semaiah Azariah with Elijah Elisha Ioel sonah Amos Micah and specially this our Prophet Hosea how plainly doth hee tell them throughout his Prophecie of their Idolatry Apostacy Ingratitude and of those judgements which were coming on them for those sins yet nothing will work upon them but they persist obstinately in their sins and therefore the Lord resolves to pour out his fury on them Since they had imbittered his soul with their sins Hos. 12. 14. and given him gall who had given them honey and gave him wormwood for his milk therefore he now resolves to send on them bitter punishments They shall fall by the Sword i. e. They shall dye by the Sword so the phrase is frequently taken in Scripture as Lev. 26. 7 8. Numb 14. 3 43. 2 Sam. 1. 12. Psal. 78. 64. Ezek. 5. 12. Hos. 7. 16. Their Infants shall bee dashed in peeces This sets forth the great rage and fury of the barbarous Assyrâ—ans and withall implies the greatness of Samariaes sin which provoked God to so great wrarh They should spare neither old nor young no mercy should bee shewed to women or children no sex no age should escape unpunished Their little infants and sucklings which usually are spared for their innocency and ignoscency yet now shall bee dashed in peeces Souldiers use to shew mercy to women and children unless they bee sorely provoked the Assyrians had besieged Samaria three years and therefore they dealt the more severely with them Fenced Cities use to hold out long but
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