Israelites home with them While David and his forces were here about Keilah Abiathar the Son of Ahimelech who only escaped of the Priests at Nob being now High-Priest in his Fathers room came to David and brought the Ephod with him which was a visible pledge that God had forsaken Saul and would be with David to direct him in all his ways So that David hath now the High-Priest and a Prophet in his army Abiathar relates to him the sad story of Saul's destroying Nob and the Priests that were there David replies I fear'd when I was at Nob that Doeg would acquaint Saul therewith Alas I must needs say to my great grief and sorrow that I have been the occasion though not intentionally of the death of thy Fathers family seeing they suffered these calamities not only for my sake but partly through my fault However abide thou under my protection and I shall take care of thee that I may as much as lyes in me make thee some amends Thou maist assure thy self that I will be as careful of thy safety as of my own for I know that he that seeks my life seeks thine also 1 Sam. Ch. 23. from 1 to 7. Ch. 22. from v. 20 to the end 7ly Saul now understanding that David with his forces had got into the City of Keilah which he had lately rescued from the Philistines he said God * Hypocritae semper praedicare solent Deum a se stare sibi esse propitium hath delivered him into my hands for he is shut in being entred into a Town that hath gates and bars He thought it seems he had him in such a trap that he could not escape Saul immediately therefore gathers a great army together to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men David by secret intelligence understood that Saul was contriving mischief against him therefore he call'd to Abiathar the High-Priest to bring the Ephod and to put it on and to inquire of the Lord for him by Vrim and Thummim and David joyning his request to the Lord said O Lord God of Israel thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul intendeth to come to Keilah to destroy the City for my sake I pray thee inform me by thine holy Oracle whither he will come or no and in case he do come whither the men of Keilah will be treacherous to me and endeavour to deliver me into his hands The Lord who by his Prescience * Deus â—erto praescit non solum quae re ipsa absoluâ—e futura sunt sâ—d etiam quae quavis conditione posita futura essent A Lap. knoweth future contingents which will come to pass in a course of natural causes if not prevented or crossed by other contingents he telleth him that Saul would come thither that is if he viz. David staid there and the men of Keilah would deliver him into Saul's hands that is if their intention and purpose were not prevented and crossed by his speedy departure from them David having received this answer he with his men which were now about six hundred †Semper in cruce crescit numerus pionum quod ex omnibus sacris Historiis facile possumus intelligere P. Martyr arose and departed out of Keilah and went whither soever they could go and sought up and down for some place to shelter themselves in and Saul hearing they were gone from Keilah forbear to go with his army thither 1 Sam. Ch. 23. from v. 7 to 14. 8ly David intending only to stand on his own defence and not to raise an offensive war betakes himself with his forces to the strong holds in the Wilderness of Ziph in the Tribe of Judah and particularly to Hachilah-Hill South of Jessimon And Saul continually sought his life but the Lord delivered him not into his hands Jonathan having as it 's probable secret intelligence from David where he was he went privately to him and strengthened his hands in God by putting him in mind of the promises of God and assuring him of his protection and favour and thereby strengthening his faith he filled his heart with comfort and courage He bad him be of good courage for the hand of Saul his Father should not find him to do him any hurt Thou shalt says he be King over Israel and that my Father knows very well from the words of Samuel Ch. 15.28 see also Ch. 20.30 31. and I shall be next unto thee Of this it seems he conceived some hope grounded on David's great love to him and possibly on some particular promise he had made to him and the firm Covenant that was between them though he had no assurance of it God having made no such promise to him but intending otherwise to dispose of him and to take him to a better Kingdom so that he lived not to see David sit on Israel's Throne Jonathan having spoken after this manner to David they renewed and confirmed their Covenant in the presence of the Lord which they had formerly made and Jonathan went to his own house David abiding still in the Wood. The Ziphites being terrified possibly with that severity Saul had used against Nob and the Priests of the Lord there Ch. 22.18 19. they come now and acquaint him that David did hide himself in the Wood near them and if he would please to come down with his forces thither they would do their utmost to deliver him into his hands Saul took their message very kindly Blessed be ye says he of the Lord for ye have compassion on me Go therefore and prepare or order the matter with care and diligence before hand and observe all his haunts and lurking places that we may not misse of him For I understand he is very cùnning and subtile in his proceedings when you have found out these things come to me again with certain intelligence of them and I will go along with you and will find him out if he be above ground though he lurks in the most secret corner of the land So these Ziphites went before to do as Saul had injoin'd them But David understanding that they had discovered him to Saul * Upon this occasion he composed the 54 Psalm as the Title doth shew and that Saul was coming with an army to take him he removed with his forces from that place which was near Hachilah-Hill to a Plain in the Wilderness of Maon which lay Southward from Jeshimon Saul pursues after him thither and at last there was only a hill between them and that not likely to keep them long asunder seeing Saul's men being many in number began to compass David and his men round about David was here in great fear of being surprized and therefore made all the hast he could to get further out of Saul's reach Just in this nick of time God so ordering it by his Providence news came to Saul that the Philistines had invaded the land which caused him speedily to draw off his
the Lord therefore was his sin highly aggravated and this brand and black mark set on him This is that King Ahaz viz. that trespassed so heinously against the Lord. When Ahaz had thus made himself a vassal and tributary to the King of Assyria which vassalage his Son soon shook off See 2 King 18.7 he quickly found that he had received more hurt than help from him as the Prophet had before intimated to him Isa 7.20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired namely by them beyond the River by the King of Assyria the head and the hair of the feet and it shall also consume the beard For though the King of Assyria to serve his own turn vanquished Damascus yet he impoverish'd Ahaz and did not restore to him any of those Cities which his enemies had taken from him nor did him any other good in recompence of those great treasures which he had given him and perhaps he did otherways distress him As Tiglath-pileser went up against Damascus and took it and slew Rezin as hath been said before so he shortly after as it seems invaded the land of Israel and made that great havock of which we read 2 King 15.29 In the days of Pekah King of Israel came Tiglath-pileser King of Assyria and took Ijon and Abel-beth-Maacah and Junoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee all the land of Naphtali and carried them captive to Assyria See more hereof in the life of Pekah Ahaz towards the latter end of his reign set up a stately Dial which afterwards afforded a miraculous sign to his Son Hezekiah though he himself refus'd to ask a sign In the last year of his reign he set up his Son Hezekiah with him in the Kingdom Ahaz now dying was buried in Jerusalem but not among the Kings he having been so great an Idolater The Prophet Isaiah this year forewarns the Moabites of a great calamity that would befall them within three years after See Isaiah 15.1 Ch. 16.14 2 King 16. wh Ch. 2 Chron. 28. whole Chapter Isai 7. from v. 1 to 17. The 13th that reigned in Judah HEZEKIAH HEZEKIAH being taken by his Father into the Government in the last year of his reign from that time being the latter end of the third year of Hoshea * Though Hoshea was confirmed King in the twelfth year of Ahaz and so is said then to begin to reign in Samaria yet because he reigned then only as Viceroy under the King of Assyria the nine years of his absolute reign are not reckoned till he cast off the Assyrian Yoke and took upon him to reign as absolute King which was it seems two years after viz. in the 14th year of Ahaz and so the third of Hoshea was indeed the first of Hezekiah's reign King of Israel he reigned twenty nine years in Jerusalem His Mother's name was Abi or Abijah the daughter of Zachariah If she was as 't is supposed the daughter of that Zachariah by whom so long as he lived Vzziah was kept in the way of truth 2 Chron. 26.5 we may well think that her piety manifested in this religious education of her Son was a chief means under God that he proved so zealous for the cause of true Religion though his Father was so extreamly wicked He was twenty five years old when he began to reign and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that David his Father had done and removed the high places which neither Jehoshaphat nor any of the good Kings of Judah had done before 2 K. 18. fr. 1 to 4. 2 Chr. 29.1 2. In the first year of his reign in the first month Abib he opened the doors of the Lords house which his Father had caused to be shut up 2 Chron. 28.24 and repaired and adorned them by overlaying them with Gold Then assembling the Priests and Levites together in the East-street * The Street before the entrance to the great gate of the House of the Lord. whom his Father had forced to abide in their Cities and suburbs shutting them out of the house of the Lord he like a pious and prudent Prince spake to them after this manner Hear now ye Priests and Levites and attend unto the words which I shall speak unto you I require you in the first place to sanctifie your selves and to sanctifie the house of the Lord God of your Fathers and to carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place that is to cleanse it of all Idols and all those things which Idolaters used in their worship For our Fathers both mine and yours have trespassed and done that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and have forsaken him and have turn'd away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs upon it that is have openly basely and opprobriously forsaken the worship appointed by him in his Temple see Jer. 2.27 and have shut up the doors of the Porch and not suffered the lamps to be lighted in the Temple nor the incense to be burnt neither have they offered the burnt-offerings unto the Lord in the holy place as they should have done therefore the wrath of God was upon Judah and Jerusalem and he hath delivered them up to great trouble even to the astonishment and hissing of strangers as you have seen with your eyes For lo our Fathers have fallen by the sword and our wives sons and daughters have been led into captivity for their great transgressions Now seeing Reformation is a special means to divert the wrath of God it is in my heart to make a Covenant with the Lord God of Israel and thereby to engage my self and my people to a real reformation that so his fierce wrath may turn away from us Wherefore my Sons stir up your selves be not ye negligent for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him and to burn incense unto him therefore be not wanting to your duties and to perform the ordinances of his house as he requires The King having ended his speech several of the Priests and Levites taking courage thereat sanctified themselves and according to the Kings command which they saw was agreeable to the word of God they came to cleanse the Temple and upon the eighth day of the first month entring in at the Porch they began to cleanse the house of the Lord and spent eight days in cleansing the Holy of Holies and the holy place and the Porch and then spent eight days more in cleansing the Courts appertaining to the house and having brought out all the uncleanness and filthiness and Idolatrous trash they found in the Temple the Levites carried it out and threw it into the brook Kidron Then they came to the King and told him what they had done viz. that they had cleansed the whole house of the Lord and the Altar of Burnt-offering with all the vessels thereto appertaining
Son Shallum having his name changed into Iehoahaz perhaps because of the ill fate of Shallum the Son of Iabesh King of Israel who reigned but one month and was murdered by Menahem 2 King 15.13 was anointed King by the people though he was the youngest of Iosiah's Sons either because he was best affected to the King of Babylon or most warlike and valiant and so most likely to defend them against Necho King of Egypt He was twenty three years old when he began to reign and reigned only three months He quickly fell to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and presently set up the Idolatry that his Father Iosiah had suppressed It seems he also grievously oppressed the people and therefore he is compared to a young lion which devoureth men Ezek. 19.2 3 4. The Prophet Ieremy is sent by the Lord to the new Kings Palace earnestly to exhort him and his Courtiers and all the people to repentance and amendment of their lives foretelling them that Shallum or Iehoahaz should be carried away captive into Egypt and bidding the people not to weep for him that is departed meaning Iosiah but for him that is to depart meaning Iehoahaz because he shall return no more to see his native soil Ier. 22. from 1 to 13. Pharoah Necho returning with victory from Charchemish where he vanquished the Babylonians was desirous to revenge the opposition he had received from Iosiah who sought to stop him in his passage through his Country and therefore making use of the dissention that was between Iehoahaz and Eliakim his Elder Brother and getting Iehoahaz or Shallum into his power he presently deposed him as if the Kingdom of Iudea had been at his diposal and set up his Eldest Brother Eliakim changing his name into Iehoiakim and then imposing upon the land a Tribute of an hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold he put Shallum or Iehoahaz into fetters at Riblah and carried him away with him prisoner into Egypt where he ended his life 2 King 23. from 30 to 36. 2 Chron. 36. from 1 to 5. The 18th that reigned in Judah JEHOIAKIM JEHOIAKIM was twenty five years old when he began to reign and reigned eleven years in Ierusalem He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord being an Idolater and a cruel oppresser of the people and possibly the more out of revenge because they had preferred his younger brother before him his oppressions are notably set forth Ier. 22. from 13 to 20. and Ezek. 19. from 5 to 10. But herein he manifested the greatness of his impiety that when the Prophets denounced the judgments of God against him and his people for their evil ways he would not endure it but persecuted them for it as we shall shew afterwards He pays the King of Egypt the hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold which he had imposed upon him but he taxed the land for it and exacted it of the people 2 King 23.35 36 37. 2 Chron. 36. v. 5. In the beginning of his reign Ieremy was commanded by God to stand in the Court of the Temple and there to exhort the people assembled together out of all the Cities of Iudah to repentance it being then the Feast of Tabernacles Thus saith the Lord stand in the Court of the Lords house and speak unto all the Cities of Iudah which come to worship in the Lords house all the words that I command thee to speak unto them diminish not a word If so be they will hearken and turn every man from his evil way that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings and thou shalt say unto them Thus saith the Lord if ye will not hearken to me to walk in my Law which I have set before you to hearken to the words of my servants the Prophets whom I sent unto you rising up early and sending them * That is continually and carefully sending them a Metaphor taken from careful housholders who with the soonest seek to redress mischiefs causing their servants for that end to rise betimes then will I make this house like Shiloh and will make this City a curse to all the Nations of the earth So the Priests and the Prophets and all the people heard Ieremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. And it came to pass when Ieremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto the people the Priests and the Prophets and the people took him saying thou shalt surely die Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord saying This house shall be like Shiloh and this City shall be desolate without an inhabitant And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. When the Princes of Judah heard these things they came up from the Kings house unto the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lords house to understand what the matter was Then spake the Priests and the Prophets unto the Princes and to all the people saying This man is worthy to die for he hath prophesied against this City and ye have heard it with your ears Then spake Jeremiah unto the Princes and to all the people saying The Lord sent me to prophesie against this house and against this City all the words that ye have heard Therefore now amend your ways and your doings and obey the voice of the Lord your God and the Lord will repent him of the evil he hath pronounced against you As for me behold I am in your hands do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you But know ye for certain that if ye put me to death ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon your selves and upon this City and upon the inhabitants thereof for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears Then said the Princes and the people unto the Priests and Prophets This man is not worthy to die for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God Then rose up certain of the Elders of the land and spake to all the assembly of the people saying Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah King of Judah and spake to all the people of Judah saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts Zion shall be plowed like a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forrest Did Hezekiah King of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death did he not fear the Lord and besought the Lord and the Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them Therefore if we should proceed with that rigour you would have us against Jeremy we might procure great evil against our own souls Vriah also about the same time Prophesied against
See Isa 53.6 And Moses himself who was a Levite till Aaron and his Sons were fully consecrated for the Service of the Priesthood was by extraordinary Warrant from God to perform the Work of the Priest in offering these Sacrifices See Psal 99.6 And he was to take of the bloud of the Bullock and put it upon the Horns of the Altar of Burnt-Offerings which stood in the Court of the Tabernacle to purifie consecrate and sanctifie the Altar it self and make it holy to the Lord and so to set it apart for holy Uses that whatsoever was offered thereon according to Gods Institution might be sanctified made holy and accepted as holy by the Lord. See Ch. 30.29 and Matth. 23.19 And the flesh of the Bullock and his skin and dung were to be burnt without the Camp to shew how destable the sin was that was laid as it were upon this Bullock and that the true Sacrifice for our Sins should suffer without the Gates of Jerusalem Heb. 13.11 12 13. 2ly The Sacrifice for Sin being thus first offered he was to offer one Ram for a Burnt-Offering (y) By the Burnt-Offering some understand the ardent love of Christ quo totus in cruce conflagravit and as the Burnt-Offering ascended up in fire so Christ ascended into heaven to make Intercession for us as a savour of rest that is that God being thereby appeased might cease from his anger Not as though the Lord was affected with Smells but it is said to be an acceptable Savour to Him in regard of their Obedience and willing mind and God is is said to be delighted with it when they offered it with Faith and true devotion 3ly He was to take another Ram for a Peace-Offering These were to be offered either to obtain some Blessing or to give thanks for some Blessing already received In both these respects this was offered at the Priests Consecration both by way of thankfulness for the honour done them in calling them to this Dignity and Office as also by way of Supplication humbly to intreat the Lord that he would prosper them in the execution of it Thus at the Consecration of Aaron and his Sons divers sorts of Sacrifices were to be offered because they were ordained to offer them all In this Eucharistical Sacrifice that was now to be offered Moses was only to have the Breast Exod. 29.26 but the right Shoulder and the fat and one loaf of Bread and one Cake of oiled Bread and one Wafer out of the Basket vers 3. were to be waved or shaken towards all the four Quarters of the World to signifie that God is the Lord of the whole Earth and then to be burnt by Him upon the Altar of Burnt-Offering for a sweet savour before the Lord. And upon this occasion an Ordinance is inserted that in Eucharistical Sacrifices namely such as these whereby Aaron and his Sons were to be consecrated for the future the Priests were to have the shaken Breast and the right Shoulder (z) Hinc humerus pectusque populo destinent Sacerdotes Anonym that was lifted up * The rest of the Peace-Offering besides what was the Priests belonged to the Offerer namely to God as his Right and assigned by Him as a Portion to the Priests Levit. 7.31 whereby possibly they were taught that with all their Heart and all their Strength they should give themselves to the Service of the Lord. Another Ordinance is also inserted That the holy Garments of Aaron shall be his Sons after him that He may be anointed and consecrated in them Thus though the High Priest died yet his Son was to appear before the Lord in the same Garments And as the Consecration of Aaron and his Sons continued seven days vers 35. during which time they were to abide at the door of the Tabernacle day and night to keep the Watch of the Lord Levit. 8.33 35. and as on each day of the seven the same Sacrifices and Ceremonies were to be observed as had been on the first day So this Order of Consecration was to be practised towards their Successors when they came into the Land of Canaan and had a setled state there Lastly It is appointed that that part of the Ram of Consecration which should be left after part had been burnt and Moses had had his portion should be sodden in the Court of the Sanctuary and should be eaten there by Aaron and his Sons with the bread that was left in the Basket vers 2 3. Levit. 8.31 And no Stranger viz. None but a Priest was to eat of it whereas in other Peace-Offerings the Offerer did partake And if any part of the Bread or Flesh remained until the Morning they were to burn it with fire This was required lest by reserving any part thereof either they might grow into contempt of holy things making no difference between them and their ordinary Food which they might reserve at their pleasure or lest that which remained might be abused to Superstition And whereas in ordinary Peace-Offerings they might eat of them the next day but not upon the third day see Levit. 7.18 no part of this must be eaten the second day This was to shew that this Ram of Consecration was a more holy thing than their ordinary Peace-Offerings Exod. 29. from 1. to 38. 13ly Touching the holy anointing Oil and the Ingredients of which it was to be made viz. of principal Spices Myrrh Cynamon sweet Calamus (a) Those sweet Odours signified the joyful Graces of Gods Spirit and the anointing therewith the powring out of the holy Spirit upon Christ his Church and Ministers and Cassia and of Oil-Olive And the things to be anointed therewith to Consecrate them to Gods Service and to separate them from common uses were the Tabernacle the Ark the Table the Candlestick with all their Vtensils the Altar of Incense the Laver the Altar of Burnt-Offerings so that whatsoever was brought as an Oblation if it touched any of the hallowed things of the Sanctuary it should be holy to the Lord. Aaron also and his Sons and Successors were to be anointed with this holy Oil but upon no mans flesh else was it to be powred It was not to be used for any civil use as for delight or the like even by the Priests themselves nor any of it to be powred upon Strangers nor any to be made like unto it for any such purposes under penalty of being cut off Exod. 30. from vers 22. to 34. 14ly Touching the half Shekel that all the Children of Israel from 20 years old and upwards when they were numbred were to pay for the ransom of their Souls acknowledging thereby that they held their lives of God and that he had redeemed them out of the House of Bondage And this they were to do that so the Lord might not be provoked for their Ingratitude to send a Plague among them This Didrachma or half Shekel * The Standard of all
it is this day And it shall be that if thou do forget the Lord thy God and walk after other Gods and serve them and worship them I testifie against you this day that you shall surely perish because ye would not be obedient to the Voice of the Lord your God 13. He admonishes them to walk humbly with God laying aside all conceits of Chap. IX their own worth and righteousness To this end they should remember their many rebellions against God Hear O Israel says He thou art now shortly to pass over this Jordan to go in and possess the Lands of Nations greater and mightier than thy self whose Cities are great and fenced up to Heaven Ch. 1.28 and the people great and tall the Children of the Anakims of whom thou hast heard it spoken by way of Proverb Who can stand before the Children of Anak understand this therefore thou must not expect to Conquer these great and potent Nations by thy own strength or power but the Lord thy God will go over before thee as a consuming fire to destroy them before thy face and thou shalt drive out quickly and destroy those people whom thou shalt fight with immediately upon thy entrance into Canaan though all the Inhabitants of the Land shall not be quickly destroyed but by little and little see Deut. 7.22 And when thou hast by the miraculous power and assistance of God thus cast them out take heed of saying in thy heart for my Righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this good Land For know that not for thy righteousness or the uprightness of thy heart the Lord will do this but to punish the wickedness of the Inhabitants of the Land and that he may perform his Word which he sware unto thy Fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Remember thou art a stiff-necked people and didst highly provoke the Lord thy God in the Wilderness yea from the day you came out of Egypt even unto this place ye have in many things been rebellious against the Lord. Remember how in Horeb ye provoked the Lord your God so that he was ready to have destroyed you when I was gone up into the Mount to receive the Tables of Stone even the Tables of the Covenant which the Lord made with you I abode there 40 days and 40 nights and did neither eat bread nor drink water And the Lord delivered to me two Tables of Stone on which were written with his own Finger the ten Commandments word for word as he spake them from the Mount out of the midst of the fire on the day when ye assembled at the foot of the Mount to hear the Law from his mouth At the end of 40 days and 40 nights God gave me these two Tables and said unto me Arise get thee down quickly from hence for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them They have made unto themselves a molten Image Further the Lord said unto me I have seen this people that they are a stiff-necked people Let me alone that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under Heaven Intercede no more for them and I will make of thee a Nation mightier and greater than they Then I prayed unto the Lord for you that ye might not be destroyed Exod. 32.11 14. And I came down from the Mount with two Tables in my hands and the Mount burned with fire the terrour of which sight one would think might have kept you from Idolatry but I beheld and lo you had made you a molten Calf and I took the two Tables and cast them out of my hands and brake them before your eyes And I took your Sin that is the Calf wherein you had so hainously sinned Idolatrously worshipping it instead of the true God and burnt it with fire and stamped it and ground it very small even until it was as small as dust and I cast the dust thereof into the Brook that descended out of the Mount and made the people to drink thereof to make them loath and detest so great an abomination And I went up into the Mountain a second time and fasted 40 days and 40 nights more by reason of this great sin of the people and I fell down before the Lord as at first and interceeded for them being much afraid of the great anger which the Lord had conceived against them And I prayed unto the Lord and said O Lord God destroy not thy people and thine Inheritance which thou hast redeemed by thy great Power and brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand Remember thy Servants Abraham Isaac and Jacob look not unto the stubbornness of this people nor unto their wickedness nor to their sin Lest the Land whence thou broughtest us out say because the Lord was not able to bring them into the Land which he promised them and because he hated them he hath brought them out to slay them in the Wilderness Remember O Lord they are thy people and thine Inheritance which thou broughtest out of Egypt by thy mighty Power and by thy stretched-out Arm. The Lord was pleased to hearken unto me at that time also And the Lord was very angry with Aaron who made the Calf for them and was ready to have destroyed him but I interceded for him also and prevailed But though I insist chiefly on this sin at Horeb because it was a most transcendent and grievous Transgression yet alas many other Rebellions of yours I might reckon up as particularly at Taberah Numb 11.1 3. at Massah Exod. 17.7 at Kibroth-Hattaavah Numb 11.34 likewise at Kadesh-Barnea when the Lord commanded you to go and take possession of the Land that He had given you you would first send Spies to search the Land and ten of them discouraged you from entring into it Whereupon you rebelled against the Lord your God and believed him not nor hearkned to his Voice see Numb Ch. 13. Ch. 14. You have been a rebellious people all along since I had the Charge and Government of you Chap. X 14. Having mentioned their many Rebellions he comes now to shew them Gods great Kindness to them notwithstanding and especially in renewing the two Tables of the Law In leading them on towards Canaan in continuing the Priesthood in separating the Tribe of Levi and in hearkening unto his Prayer not to destroy them He further tells them How upon his earnest intercession for them the Lord was pleased to be reconciled to them and this he proves to them by several instances As 1. That the Lord gave him charge to hew out two new Tables of Stone (p) Herein they differed from the first Tables which were the work of God Exod. 32.16 and to come up with them into the Mount and He would write on them the words of the first Tables which he had broken and He commanded him also to make an Ark or
before them the Lords great goodness to them and the several gracious manifestations of his favour towards them as he conducted them along from Egypt to Canaan First He came and appeared to them from Sinai where he gave them his Law 2ly He further manifested Himself to them from Mount Seir when He commanded the brasen Serpent to be set up by which those among them were cured that were mortally bitten with fiery Serpents and thereby He gave them a notable Type of the promised Messiah 3ly He shined forth from Mount Paran that is repeated and explained the Law to them by the Ministry of Moses in the Wilderness of Paran who exhorted them to yield Obedience to it And when the Lord gave them his Law at Sinai He tells them He came attended with Royal Majesty with an infinite number of glorious Angels who are here called Saints because of their purity and holiness see Acts 7.53 From his right hand went a fiery Law for them that is He spake it to them out of the midst of the fire Deut. 5.22 And yet that giving them his Law was a singular effect of his special love to them He thereby testified his great kindness to them and so he did also in His protecting of them from their Enemies and therefore we may truly say All Israels Saints are under thy Care and Protection O Lord. They sat at thy feet they attended upon thee at the foot of Mount Sinai as Scholars at the feet of their Master and all that are true Israelites will receive instruction from thy words And such Israelites will readily declare That God gave them his Law by the ministry of Moses even the Inheritance of the Congregation of Jacob that is which is as dear to them as an Inheritance is to any man They will declare That He gave it them as a rare and precious Treasure and not for their use only but for the use and instruction also of their Posterity after them And they do acknowledge that Moses was King in Jeshurun that is chief King and Magistrate in Israel by Gods own appointment when the Heads of the people and the Tribes were gathered together to receive the Law at Mount Sinai And they acknowledging Him to be a person so extraordinarily favoured guided and assisted by God could not but receive what he delivered unto them as spoken by God himself from vers 1. to 6. He comes now to bless the Tribes particularly He begins with Reuben Let Reuben live and not die and let not his men be few Jacob had prophesied of this Tribe that they should lose the Dignity of the Birth-right and should never come to any eminency among the Tribes either for number of people or any other excellency and that because of Reuben's Incest with his Fathers Concubine see Gen. 49.4 Now therefore for the comfort of this Tribe Moses pronounces this blessing upon them Let Reuben live that is though Reuben by his Incest brough that Curse upon him pronounced by his Father yea though by the sin of the Reubenites in adhering to Corah they deserved that God should utterly destroy them yet says he the Name and Tribe of Reuben shall still continue among the people of God and though for his sin he lost the glory of excelling the other Tribes in number of men which as the first-born he might otherwise have expected however he shall continue a numerous Tribe 2ly He comes next to Judah because the honour of the Birth-right was partly given from Reuben to Judah and in his Tribe the Regal Power was afterwards setled Hear Lord says he the voice of Judah * Audi Domine preces Jehudae scil cum egressus fuerit ad bellum reduc eum scil a bello incolumem ad fratres suos Oleaster that is the Prayers that this Tribe shall make to thee particularly that the promised Messiah may according to thy Promise come of their stock and that they may have Victory over their Enemies and grant them O Lord sufficient strength to stand in the day of battel thou being their Helper and when thou shalt suffer this Tribe with that of Benjamin to be carried by the Babylonians into Captivity bring them back again in thy due time to their people that is to the poor that were left in Judea to husband the Land Jer. 39.10 40.7 52.16 3ly He blesses Levi Let thy Vrim and thy Thummim be with thy holy one that is let the High Priesthood to which appertained the Breast-plate in which was the Vrim and Thummim Exod. 28.30 be continued in Aaron's Posterity and let them be furnished with those Gifts and Graces with that Knowledge and Piety which is requisite for their high Calling and signified by Vrim and Thummim Whom thou didst prove at Massah and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah that is whose Faith thou didst try at Meribah-Kadesh see Numb 20. and sharply reprove both Moses and Him for their Infidelity Who said to his Father and his Mother I have not seen him This may have reference either to the Law forbidding the High Priest to defile himself by mourning for the dead see Levit. 21.11 Neither shall he go into any dead body nor defile himself for his Father or Mother Or else to that notable fact of the Levites Exod. 32. who were so impartial in Gods Cause as not to spare any though nearly related to them who they found had worshipped the golden Calf For they observed thy Word and kept the Covenant which they made with thee Exod. 24.8 Let them therefore teach Jacob that is the Posterity of Jacob thy Judgments or Statutes and Israel thy Laws Let them put Incense before and whole Burnt-Offerings upon thy Altar Bless Lord their substance and accept the work of their hands that is bless them in their outward Estate and accept in good part the Work and Service they do for thee and thy people Smite thorow the loins of those that rise up against them and hate them that is break the Power of those that oppose them in the faithful discharge of their Duty and Office see Jer. 15.10 4ly He comes to Benjamin of whom he saith The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him that is as Benjamin was his Fathers darling when Joseph was supposed to be dead so he is much beloved of the Lord and therefore shall dwell safely by him that is near his Temple which was built in his portion and the Lord shall cover him all the day long that is protect and defend him and he shall dwell between his shoulders that is God will chuse for Himself an Habitation in the chief City of this Tribe For though the South part of Jerusalem where was Mount Sion * God is said to dwell in Mount Sion and thence some conceive his Temple was situate upon it but where it is so said the word Sion must not be taken strictly for the hill Sion but
old heavy and corpulent and falling down backward he broke his neck and died having judged Israel forty years Samuel the 14th Judg. His daughter-in-law Phinehas's wife was with child and ready to be delivered who when she heard those dismal tidings of the taking of the Ark the death of her father-in-law and husband she bowed her self and the pains of travel came upon her and being delivered yet so as she was ready to expire the women about her sought to comfort her telling her that she had borne a Son but she regarded it not only named the child Iehabod that is where is the glory (c) v. 22. Quod capta esset Arca Dei illud imprimis eam cruciabat nam domesticam calamitatem publicae postponebat Eliciamus hinc documentum lamentandi potius spiritualia dona quam temporalia Mendoz. intimating that the Ark being taken b which was the sign of Gods presence the glory was departed from Israel and so she gave up the Ghost 1 Sam. Ch. 4. whole Chapter SECT CLVI THE Philistines having taken the Ark they carried (a) Illa lex de non tangenda Area ad solos Israelitas spectavit unde Philistini Arcam tangentes non dederunt poenas quia culpam non contraxerunt Mendoz. it undoubtedly with great Triumph to Ashdod since call'd Azotus Act. 8.40 and placed it in the Temple of Dagon their God presenting it as a captive before their Idol by whose help possibly they perswaded themselves they had overcome the Hebrews and their God yet possibly they had some kind of reverence for it and therefore feared to offer any violence to it or to open it or take forth the Tables of the Law that were in it but however that was they placed it near unto Dagon The Priests of Dagon rising early the next morning and coming to see how the Ark and their Idol had agreed together they found that Dagon was fallen on his face to the earth before the Ark whereby the Lord did discover to them what a vain Idol their Dagon was and that the God of Israel was the only true Almighty God and that he had cast down their Idol-god in his own Temple The Priests took their Idol and set it up again and no doubt used all their skill to fasten it and make it sure from falling any more But coming again the next morning they found their Dagon fallen again upon his face to the ground before the Ark and his head and both the palmes of his hands (e) Gravius secunda vice mutilatur Dagon ut sic intelligerent Azotii veri Numinis potentiam Idoli sui vanitatem Fag cut off and cast at the threshold of the House only the stump and lower part of him was left intire Their Dagon being thus broken to pieces the Priests could not set him up again nor conceal his ruin from the people as possibly before they had done they might see now that it was not by any Casualty but by the will and power of God that he was thus thrown down But though God had cast the head and hands of Dagon to the threshold that so they might as it were be despised and trodden upon by those that came into that house yet the Priests and the people of Ashdod were so superstitious (d) Nulla Miracula satis magna sunt ad animum impium emendandum citra Dei spiritum P. Martyr even to the time when this History was written that they would not so much as tread on the threshold of that Temple accounting it sanctified by the touch of the head and hands of their Idol And thus by the over-ruling Providence of God even their superstition became a means to perpetuate the memory of this wonderful work of God in confounding their Idol which otherwise might in some short time have been forgotten The Lord having thus clearly discovered to the men of Ashdod that their Dagon was a vain Idol and that the God of Israel whose Ark they had boldly surprized was the only true God which he had sufficiently demonstrated first by casting down their Idol before his Ark and at last by breaking it in pieces yet notwithstanding they continued as superstitiously devoted to their Idol as they were before and were not afraid still to detain the Ark of God in captivity Therefore the Lord resolved to punish them severely for it and accordingly his hand was heavy upon the City of Ashdod and upon the Coasts thereof and he destroyed and wasted their land by sending multitudes of Mice among them Ch. 6.5 and smote them with the Emerods a disease not only painful but as the Psalmist intimates Psal 78.66 disgraceful also and to many of them mortal as appears from v. 10. The men of Ashdod seeing in what a sad condition they were they openly said the Ark of the God of Israel should not abide among them for they plainly saw that his hand was heavy upon themselves by inflicting this strange disease upon them and that it had been heavy also upon Dagon their God wherefore they convened the Lords of the Philistines to consult together what course was fit to be taken in this case These Lords agreed that the Ark should be carried from thence to Gath another of their five principal Cities situate upon an hill near unto the Sea see Amos 6.2 resolving thereby to try whither it was the presence of the Ark that had caused those plagues or whither they came by any other accident The Ark being brought to Gath God smote the inhabitants thereof both small and great with Emerods in their secret parts hereupon they sent away the Ark to Ekron another of the principal Cities of the Philistines when it was come thither the Ekronites cry'd out they have brought the Ark of the God of Israel to us to bring upon us the same plagues that they have been plagued with because of it And it fell out accordingly for immediately there was a deadly destruction throughout the City possibly some mortal contagion reigned among them and the men that died not of that plague were yet smitten with the Emerods so that the cry of the city went up to heaven hereupon they also convened the Lords of the Philistines and desired them to send away the Ark to its own place viz. to the land of the Israelites that they might not be destroyed by reason of it But these Lords being very loth to part with so glorious a Trophie of their victory desired yet to try a little further and therefore sent it after this to Gaza and Askelon as appears Ch. 6.4 17. which Cities felt the same plagues by reason of the Ark which the other had done Thus the Ark of the Lord was in the Country of the Philistines seven months (a) Miruâ— hic stupor quod tam diu in suo consilio pertinaces haereant tot hominum funere suam insaniam tueri vellent Sanctius but they being at last
Son David David answers It is my voice my Lord O King And I pray thee wherefore doth my Lord thus pursue after his servant What have I done or what evil is in my hand Now therefore let my Lord the King vouchsafe to hear the words of his servant If the Lord hath stirred thee up against me let him receive an offering * Placato iram ejus Sacrificio munere Chald. Paraph. suspiciat oblationem meam cum voluntate that is let him be appeased with a sacrifice and oblation which I will offer for the sin whereby I have provoked him But if they be Court-Sycophants and malicious persons that by their lyes and slanders have incensed thee against me I leave them as cursed creatures to Gods just vengeance who will plead my cause against them For they have endeavoured to drive me out from abiding in the Inheritance of the Lord and from enjoying his Ordinances and by forcing me as an exile to flee into Idolatrous Countries They have in effect said to me Go and serve other Gods And now seeing thou knowest my innocency let not my blood I pray thee be shed without cause for the Lord will see it and will not let it go unpunished Besides it is not honourable for the King of Israel to pursue me with so many men who have so little power to hurt him For I am but as a flea forced to skip hither and thither to save my self or a partridge on the mountains forced to flee from place to place to escape thy hands Then said Saul I have sinned Return my Son David to thy former condition for I will no more do thee harm seeing my life was precious in thine eyes this day and thou hast spared me when it was in thy power to kill me Behold I have played the fool and erred exceedingly I do acknowledg my fault and folly and openly take shame to my self for it in the hearing of all that are about me David desires him to send one of his young men to fetch his Spear having taken it from him only to evidence his innocence and that he had no evil intention in his heart against him And therefore says he let the Lord recompence every man according to his righteousness and faithfulness Thy life was indeed in my power this day but I would not stretch forth my hand against the Lords anointed And as thy life was precious in mine eyes so let my life be precious in the eyes of the Lord my God and let it please him to preserve it though thou shouldst fail of thy promises made to me and shouldst seek again to take it away Then Saul said unto David Blessed be thou my Son David thou shalt do great things and shalt at last prevail maugre all the malice of thine enemies Then David retired and betook himself to some place of safety not trusting Saul for all his goodly words and promises having formerly found him so false and malicious And Saul returned to Gibeah where he kept his Court. 1 Sam. Ch. 26. whole Chapter 12ly David now seriously considering the condition of his affairs began through the weakness of his faith to think that he should at one time or other notwithstanding all his former deliverances perish by the hand of Saul if he did not speedily get himself out of his reach therefore he thought there was nothing more adviseable in his present circumstances than that he should send to the King of the Philistines and try if he could be received with his forces into his protection This indeed was no warrantable course that he now pitched upon for his preservation For first God had once before commanded him by the Prophet Gad to abide in the land of Judah see Chap. 22.5 2ly He having before been such a formidable enemy to the Philistines and having so hardly escaped with his life once before when he sought privately to shelter himself among them there was no likelihood he should be entertained by them on any other terms than that he and his Souldiers should turn to the Philistines and declare themselves enemies to Saul and the people of Israel 3ly This must needs tend to the great grief of those that were righteous in the land and would give his enemies occasion exceedingly to triumph and to say that now he discovered what he was seeing he had deserted his own people and religion and had joined himself to their uncircumcised enemies But thus it is when mens hearts sink through distrust of God as it seems Davids now did they seek to help themselves by any means they can David therefore having as 't is probable sent his Agents before hand to the King of the Philistines and having obtained assurance from him under the publick faith that he and his Souldiers should live safely in his land which 't is like out of meer policy he consented unto knowing the hatred that Saul bear him and believing that David and his forces would be ready to join with him and his subjects against Saul he passed over with six hundred men that followed him to Achish King of Gath. He carried also his two wives along with him Ahinoam and Abigail and his followers likewise carried their wives and families not thinking it safe to leave them behind them in the land of Israel and for some time by Achish's permission they dwelt in Gath or about it When it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath he gave over any further thoughts of seeking after him he being in the land of his enemies and so out of his reach David being desirous to dwell apart by himself with those that followed him that he might have the more freedom for the exercise of his Religion and might keep his Souldiers from being corrupted with the Vices and Idolatries of the Philistines and that he might from thence go out and prey the more secretly upon the enemies of Gods people without having any notice taken of it he humbly desired Achish that his Officers might assign him and his followers some place in the Country to live in it not being fit for him a stranger to live with the King in the Royal City especially having so many people with him who must needs be burdensome and might sometimes prove offensive to him and the inhabitants of his City Achish consents thereunto and accordingly gave him Ziklag which being allotted to the Tribe of Judah Josh 15.31 was afterwards given to Simeon Josh 19.5 but the Philistines having gotten possession of it had kept it to this day and now Achish giveth it unto David and so it was not only joined to Judah's portion * Hac donatione justos ad Heredes rediit Achish dedit Davidi non solum ad inhabitandum sed ut in illius dominium cederet but was also upon this occasion designed to be ever after a part of the Crown-land of the Kings of Judah Here David dwelt a full year and four months
and upon this thy people and let thine ears be attentive unto the supplications we shall make unto thee and hearken to us in all that we shall pray unto thee for according to thy will For thou didst separate us unto thy self from among all the Nations of the earth to be thy peculiar people and inheritance as thou spakest by thy servant Moses Solomon having ended this his devout prayer rose up from his knees and standing with his face toward the Temple he repeated part of the 132 Psalm saying Arise O Lord and take possession of this house which I have built for thee as a resting place and fixt habitation and not an ambulatory and moving one as the Tabernacle was And let thy Ark whereon thou dost manifest thy glory (e) Psal 78.61 He delivereth his strength into captivity and his glory into the enemies hands strength and power for the good of thy people be here setled and constantly abide Let thy Priests O Lord God be clothed and adorned with such graces as may bring salvation to themselves (f) Psal 132.9 This clause is thus expressed Let thy Priests be clothed with righteousness and may enable them to be instrumental in the saving of others and let thy Saints rejoice in thy goodness and favour manifested unto them O Lord God hear me I pray thee and turn not away the face of thine anointed with shame and confusion by denying me my request but remember the promises thy mercy moved thee to make to David my Father and to his posterity Solomon having ended his prayers the Sacrifices were brought in and laid upon the Altar and immediately fire came down from Heaven and consumed them and the glory of the Lord probably covered with a cloud filled the house and such an orient splendour shone through it that the Priests could by no means enter into the Temple The people seeing the fire came down from Heaven and the glory of the Lord upon the house they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground and worshipped and praised God and sang as 't is probable the 136 Psalm as the Singers had done before the burthen or foot whereof was For he is good for his mercy endureth for ever Then Solomon turned his face and blessed all the Congregation of Israel again as he had done at the beginning and said Blessed be the Lord God who hath given rest to his people Israel as he promised of old And indeed he hath not failed of performing any of his gracious promises which he made to his people by the ministry of his servant Moses Now therefore the Lord our God be with us as he was with our Fathers and let him not leave us nor forsake us but let him incline our hearts to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments * Viz. The Moral Ceremonial and Judicial Laws statutes and judgments which he commanded our Fathers And let my words wherewith I have made supplication to the Lord this day be in his mind and memory continually that he may maintain the cause of me his servant and the cause of his people Israel at all times as the matter shall require and as it shall appear just and equal to him that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord he is the only true God from whom all blessings come and that there is no other God besides him Let your heart therefore be upright and sincere before the Lord and walk in his statutes and keep his commandments as now you do Then the King the Princes and people offered abundance of Peace-offerings (a) They were call'd Peace-offerings because God having bestowed some benefit upon them seemed to be appeased towards them and they were offered as a kind of retribution and to return thanks to God for it And in offering the same they also testified their hope that God was reconciled towards them to the Lord and kept this feast of Dedication seven days During which time they offered unto the Lord two and twenty thousand oxen and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep By a multitude of Sacrifices the pious Jews were wont to testifie their zealous and grateful affection towards God and we never read of any Sacrifice like this And thus Solomon the Princes and people by their joint prayers praises and sacrifices dedicated the house of God and set it apart for his worship and service And they rejoiced before the Lord seven days and seven that is they kept the first seven days as the Feast of Dedication and the next seven as the Feast of Tabernacles And the day after Solomon dismissed the people to their own homes and they blessed the King and prayed unto the Lord for him and went home with joyful and glad hearts rejoicing in the goodness which the Lord had manifested to the house of David and to Solomon and to all the people of Israel 1 King Ch. 8. whole Chapter 1 Chron. Ch. 5. whole Chapter 1 Chron. Ch. 6. whole Chapter 2 Chron. Ch. 7. from v. 1 to 11. SECT III. SHortly after * Some read 1 King 9.1 And it came to pass when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord and afterwards finished the Kings house and all his desire which he was pleased to do that the Lord appeared to him the second time c. Solomon had made that devout prayer before mentioned the Lord as it seems appeared to him in a dream (b) Ch. 6.11 We read that the word of the Lord came to Solomon but that was by some messenger or Prophet sent unto him but this was the second time that the Lord appeared to him in a Vision as he had done before at Gibeon 1 King 3.4 5. and the Lord said I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication which thou hast made before me and I have hallowed this house and set it apart to those holy uses which thou didst intend it for and it shall be called by my name as long as it shall last and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually I will always be ready to take notice of the prayers there made and the services there performed and will graciously accept them And if I shall shut up heaven at any time so that there be no rain or send the locusts or pestilence among my people that are called by my name if they shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear in heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land And if thou wilt walk before me in integrity and uprightness as thy Father David did and keep my statutes and judgments then I will establish the Throne of thy Kingdom for ever that is thou and thy posterity shall continue time after time to be Kings over Israel so as no other stock but thine shall sit on that Throne so long as the Kingdom of Judah shall remain as I
be taken out of the offerings which were laid up in the Treasuries of the Temple and those being much exhausted by Ahaz and the people being much impoverished by inrodes of enemies Hezekiah for the ease of the people appointed a portion for and towards these sacrifices out of his own revenue He commanded also the people that dwelt at Jerusalem to give to the Priests and Levites the portion and maintenance that by the Law belonged to them that so being freed from distracting worldly cares they might the better attend to their work and might search into and study and meditate on the Law of God and faithfully expound it to the people teaching them to perform the duties therein commanded And the children of Israel in and about Jerusalem when this command was first given brought in abundance of the first-fruits of corn wine and oyl and honey and of the things that grew out of the earth and the tythe of all things that were by the Law injoined And those that dwelt in the Cities of Judah brought in the tythe of oxen and sheep and all other things which were ordained to be set apart from the rest of their goods as being consecrated unto God and given to the Priests and Levites And they brought in so abundantly that they laid them by heaps and they began to make those heaps and to bring in their tythes to the house of the Lord in the third month which was the beginning of their harvest and finished them in the seventh month when they gathered all other fruits of the land and which was counted the last of their harvest And therefore the Feast of Tabernacles which was in that month was called the feast of ingathering in the end of the year Exod. 23.16 When Hezekiah and the Princes came and saw those heaps which were many and great ones they blessed the Lord for stirring up the people to bring in their tythes so chearfully and so plentifully and blessed the people for their forwardness therein Then the King asked the Priests and Levites how it came to pass seeing there were many of them that they had spent no more of the provisions brought in for them Azariah the chief Priest of the house of Zadock made this answer Be Be pleas'd to understand O King that since the people began to bring in their first-fruits and tythes into the house of the Lord we have had enough to eat and have left a great deal besides For God hath so abundantly blessed his people that their offerings have not only yeilded us sufficient provision but this overplus which thou seest here is also left Then the King commanded that they should prepare Chambers and storehouses wherein to lay up what remained for the future and ordered that the tythes and offerings and dedicate things should be laid up in them and appointed Cononiah the Levite and Shimei his brother to be Treasurers and to keep an account of what was brought in and what was delivered out according to the order established 1 Chron. 26.20 Then there are ten set down by name who were overseers under them by the command of the King and the high Priest who had the chief rule over those that belonged to the house of the Lord. And Core who was Porter at the East-gate and six under him had charge to distribute the oblations and tythes to the Priests and Levites and that to all sorts of them as they were set in their several courses both great and small viz. to every one what was sufficient for him And they were to distribute them also to the young ones who were in their Genealogies of males from three years old and upward and to those that were registred in the Genealogies of Priests and Levites from twenty years old and upward who came in their particular courses to do service in the house of the Lord. Nay further they were to distribute them to all their little ones that were registred though under three years and to their wives sons and daughters throughout the whole multitude or congregation of Priests and Levites for they having sanctified themselves in their distinct offices for the holy service of the Temple they had not time or leisure to provide temporal things for themselves their wives and children as others had And besides those persons before mentioned that were to distribute the holy things to those that dwelt at Jerusalem or came up thither in their several courses to perform their service at the Temple there were others also of the Priests chosen that dwelt in the other Cities of the Kingdom that were to give portions to the Priests and Levites whose names were registred according to their Families who were then abiding in those places and not attending at the Temple This care did Hezekiah take throughout all Judah and he did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord and he did it in truth and sincerity And in every work that he began relating to the service of the house of the Lord and to the observance of the Moral Law and the ordinances about Divine worship by all which he took care that God might be duly sought unto and honoured and obeyed he did it uprightly and with a fervent zeal and the Lord prospered him therein 2 Chron. 31. from v. 2 to the end About this time as 't is supposed that Copy of Solomon's Proverbs mentioned Prov. 25.1 was found and transcribed by some of Hezekiah's servants out of the old Manuscript which was as 't is like much spotted and soiled with time and neglect Further we are to observe what an excellent character is given of Hezekiah 2 King 18.5 6. viz. that he trusted in the Lord God of Israel so that after him there was none like him among all the Kings of Judah since the rent of the Kingdoms nor before him He excelled those that went before him in removing the high places which neither Jehoshaphat nor any of the good Kings of Judah had hitherto done But as for those that were after him some may object that which is said of Josiah 2 King 23.25 viz. that there was no King before him like unto him But to this we may answer that though Josiah excelled Hezekiah in some things yet in other things Hezekiah excelled him For Hezekiah was the first that removed the high places but when Josiah removed them he had Hezekiah's example to encourage him therein and Hezekiah was more successful in war than Josiah They were indeed both excellent Princes though in some things the one might excell the other 'T is further said of Hezekiah that he clave to the Lord and departed not from following him but kept his commandments And the Lord was with him and he prospered him in all his enterprizes As in particular in his wars against the Philistines against whom he mightily prevailed and took all those Cities from them which they had taken from his father Ahaz see 2 Chron. 28.18 But we
225000 l. of our money as some compute Hezekiah to raise this sum was forced to take the treasures of the Lords house and cut off the Gold even from the doors of the Temple and from the pillars which himself had overlaid But the King of Assyria having gotten the Gold and Silver into his hands notwithstanding most perfidiously went forward in his enterprize of subduing them And therefore he not only continued the siege of Lachish but sent a great Army under the command of three of his Captains whereof Rhabsheka was chief and therefore only mentioned by Isaiah Ch. 36.2 to besiege Jerusalem Rhabsheka at his first coming before the City desired a Treaty with the King and three of the Kings Officers of State viz. Eliakim Joah and Shebna being sent out to him in a proud imperious and braggadocian manner he spake thus to them Tell your King Hezekiah thus saith the great King the King of Assyria what confidence is this wherein thou trustest Thou saist possibly but they are but vain words I have counsel and strength for the war whereas alas thou hast neither Or it may be thou trustest in some foreign aid or else surely thou never durst have rebelled against me And the aid thou expectest I suppose is from Egypt but alas therein thou trustest but upon a staff or stalk of a broken reed on which if a man lean it will not support him but run into his hands and pierce him even such and no other is the King of Egypt to all that trust on him But possibly thou wilt say we trust in the Lord our God but this is a vain confidence also for 't is he whose high places and altars thou hast taken away and therein highly offended him †Vitio illi vertit quod erat laudandum and hast said to the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem ye shall perform your solemn worship before this Altar in Jerusalem and not in other places therefore thou hast little reason to trust in thy God And as for thy own strength it is meer weakness I will deliver thee two thousand horses which thou shalt keep if thou art able to set riders on them provided thou wilt give hostages to my Master to return them again if thou canst not as I am confident thou canst not how then canst thou think to turn away the face of the least of my Masters Captains Possibly thou puttest thy trust in Egypt †Hezekiah sought not at all to Egypt at this time for chariots and horsemen but alas they will miserably fail thee And as for thy confidence in thy God that also is vain for I am not come up without commission from him to destroy this City 'T is he that hath sent me against this land to destroy it Thus spake this bold presumpouous wretch grounding his confidence only on their former success Then turning his speech to the people on the wall and speaking to them aloud in the Hebrew tongue Wherein says he do ye trust that ye think to abide and subsist in the siege of Jerusalem Doth not Hezekiah perswade you when he perswades you to hold out to give over your selves to die by famine and by thirst telling you that the Lord your God will deliver you out of the hand of the King of Assyria Hear you what my Master now speaks to you by me his servant Know you not what I and my Fathers have done unto all the people of other lands Were the Gods of those Nations able to deliver them out of my hands who was there of all the Gods of those Nations which my Fathers destroyed that could deliver their people out of our hands how much less shall your God deliver you Thus blasphemously spake Rabsheka against the Lord and against his servant Hezekiah speaking of the God of Israel as of the gods of the Nations which were wood and stones and the work of mens hands Then Hezekiah's Messengers desired him to speak in the Syrian language for that they understood and not in the Hebrew tongue to affright the people on the wall else they would be gone and break off the Treaty Rabsheka hereupon said to one of them What hath my Master sent me to speak to thy Master only hath he not sent me to speak to them on the wall also that they may know they shall eat their own dung and drink their own piss if they do not yield So he lifted up his voice louder and said to the Souldiers that were on the wall Hearken not unto Hezekiah but unto the King of Assyria who says thus to you by me his servant make an agreement with me by a present and come forth to me and deliver this City into my hands and then ye shall eat every man of his own vine and of his own figtree and shall drink every one waters out of his own cistern And this happiness ye shall enjoy till I come and carry you to a land like your own a land of corn and wine a land of bread and vineyards a land of oyl olive and honey and so ye may live plentifully otherwise ye must expect nothing but desolation and death And do not let Hezekiah deceive you by telling you the Lord will deliver you Hath any of the gods of the Nations delivered his land out of the hands of the Kings of Assyria Where are the gods of Hamath or Arpad Cities of the Syrians or of Sepharvaim Hena and Ivah have they delivered Samaria out of my hands though those gods were there worshipped Thus this Blasphemer went on venting his rage and blasphemies but the people as the King commanded answered him not a word Then the Kings Messengers return'd to him with their clothes rent and told him the words of Rabshekah Hezekiah deeply perplexed hereat being clothed in sackcloth went to the Temple there humbly to seek unto the Lord for help in this woful distress and withal sent Eliakim and Shebna and the Elders and the Priests clothed also in sackcloth to the Prophet Isaiah who said unto him This is a day of great trouble unto us and a day of sad rebuke and a day of blasphemy for Rabshakeh hath blasphemed the living God Therefore we beseech thee pray earnestly to the Lord for us for the children are come to the birth and there is no strength to bring forth that is our sorrow is extream our danger desperate we are brought into such extremities that except help come presently from the Lord and he be pleased miraculously to save us we are sure to perish It may be the Lord will manifest that he hath heard the blasphemous words of Rabshakeh by punishing him for them wherefore lift up thy prayer and pray earnestly for the remnant of the people that are left thou seest the Ten Tribes have been carried away captive and only Judah and Benjamin are left and of them great havock hath been made by the Assyrians in many of their Cities therefore pray earnestly
for us Isaiah bids them return this answer to Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard wherewith the servants of the King of Assyria have blasphemed behold I will send a blast upon him which shall blow him out of this land as the dust or chaff is blown before the wind and he shall hear a rumour of the destruction of a vast number of his Souldiers and Commanders in one night and shall return to Nineveh his chief City and there I will cause him to fall by the sword 2 King 18. from v. 13. to the end 2 King 19. from v. 1 to 8. Isai 36. whole Chapter Isai 37. from v. 1 to 8. Rabshakeh finding that he could neither threaten nor flatter the inhabitants of Jerusalem into a surrender leaving his Army before the City he went presently to Sennacherib whom he found risen from before Lachish and besieging Libna to inform him of the state of things at Jerusalem as also perhaps to confer with him about opposing Tirhakah King of Ethiopia who as he understood was now coming with his Army against them Sennacherib therefore that he might use all possible means to terrifie Hezekiah into a speedy surrender that so he might the better attend the motion of Tirhakah's Army he sends other messengers to him who brought a threatning message by word of mouth and spake to him after the same rate that Rabshakeh had done before they did not indeed mention the persidiousness of Egypt nor the weakness of Hezekiab's Army as Rabshakeh had done but understanding that Hezekiah relyed wholly on God therefore they endeavour to affright him from that confidence by telling him with what ill success other Nations had relyed on their gods instancing in Gozan and Haran Rezeph and the people of Eden all as 't is like regions of Mesopotamia and several other people and therefore they would have perswaded him that he had little reason to trust and relye on his God They also brought with them a blasphemous and threatning Letter from the King of Assyria which Hezekiah having received and read he went up to the Temple and there spread it before the Lord and poured forth unto him a most fervent prayer with many tears humbly and earnestly begging his help in this his great extremity He humbly intreats the Lord to take notice of and to revenge the horrible blasphemies of that daring wretch the King of Assyria against his great and glorious Majesty His prayer was after this manner O Lord of hosts God of Israel who dwellest between the Cherubims on the Mercy-seat and thence art wont to manifest thy gracious presence and thy power to thy poor people Thou art God even thou alone and all the Kingdoms of the earth are thine Thou hast made heaven and earth and all things therein are subject unto thee Incline thine ear O Lord and hear the blasphemous words of Sennacherib's Letter which I here present before thee and open thine eyes and see the blasphemies he hath written therein Hear I pray thee and take notice of all these blasphemous railings wherewith he hath blasphemed and reproached thee the living God Of a truth O Lord the Kings of Assyria have laid wast the Nations they warred against and have cast their gods into the fire for they were no gods but the works of mens hands wood and stone and therefore 't is no wonder they destroyed them But thou art the ever living and true God a God of infinite power and might Therefore we pray thee save us save us out of the hands of the King of Assyria that all the Kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art God and thou only Hezekiah having ended his prayer Isaiah sent unto him this message Thus saith the Lord God of Israel whereas thou hast prayed unto me against Sennacherib King of Assyria this is the word which I have spoken concerning him The virgin-daughter of Sion * The inhabitants of any City or Country are call'd the virgin-daughter of it because delicately and tenderly brought up by their mother as a virgin-daughter and because Jerusalem was fair beautiful and comely as a virgin useâ—h to be in regard of the Temple and other excellencies thereof shall (a) Isaiah Ch. 37.22 Hath despised thee Enallage temporis a praeterperfect Tense for a future despise and laugh thee to scorn O King of Assyria and shake her head at thee to wit when she shall see thine Army destroyed And consider O thou blasphemous wretch who it is whom thou hast reproached and blasphemed and against whom thou hast lifted up thine eyes so high and carried thy self so proudly is it not against the holy one of Israel By Rabshakeh and his companions thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord and hast said By the multitude of my Chariots am I come up to the heigth of the mountains as if thou shouldest have said the strongest places of the Kingdom have I subdued and passed through as a conquerour even those that seemed most inaccessible and am come to the sides of * From the famous Forrest of Lebanon Jerusalem is here call'd Lebanon by a Metaphor Lebanon that is to their chief City and strength the City of Jerusalem where the King his Nobles and Princes dwell are like tall cedars and firr-trees in Lebanon and will cut down the tall-cedars and the choice firr-trees thereof that is I will destroy the Nobles and Princes of Jerusalem and will enter into the lodgings of his border that is will possess my self of his frontier-Towns and will enter into the forrest of his Carmel or by an hypallage into the Carmel of his forrest that is his most excellent and pleasant hill viz. mount Sion on which the most pleasant objects in Jerusalem were seated Thou further sayest I have digged and drunk strange waters and with the soles of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places that is when I have come to places destitute of water even there have I digged up new fountains where none were before and where Cities have been invironed with great and deep waters no sooner have I set my foot there to besiege them but with the multitude of my Souldiers I have dried them up †Hereby an intimation is given that he laughed to scorn Hezekiah's policy in cutting off the waters about Jerusalem and in Thrasonical manner seems to boast that there was nothing he could not do by his own strength nor any places he could not subdue by his own power But though thou boastest so much of thy power in subduing Cities and Countries hast thou not heard that I the Lord of Heaven and Earth long ago contriv'd and determin'd what thou shouldst do viz. that thou shouldst lay wast defenced Cities and turn them into ruinous heaps see Isa 10.5 c. And accordingly I have now brought it to pass And thence it was that the inhabitants of those places were of so small
first Month in the presence of the people of Judah and Israel and the inhabitants of Jerusalem he kept the Feast of the Passover And he set the Priests in their charges and encouraged them to perform the service of the house of the Lord. And he said to the Levites that is to the Priests of the Tribe of Levi who prepared the holy things of the Lord Put the holy Ark in the house of the Lord. It seems the Ark in Amon's reign had been carried out of the most holy place possibly that some Idol might be set up in its room Or else it had been purposely carried out by some pious Priests that it might not stand there among those heathenish Idols that were brought into the Temple and now Josiah orders it to be restored to its proper place again telling the Priests that it would not now be a burden unto them it must abide in the Temple and not be carried from place to place upon their shoulders as formerly it had been before the Temple was built and they being now delivered from that burden should serve the Lord their God more faithfully and cheerfully and should serve his people also by diligently instructing them and performing those services for them that tended to their spiritual good And because several families of the Levites were appointed to attend upon the sacrifices and offerings of several families of each Tribe some being to be imploy'd in that holy service for such and such families V. 6. Prepare for your brethren Praeparate agnos pro fratribus vestris J. T. and others for others therefore he appoints them to stand in the holy place and to attend the service that was to be done according to the divisions of the families of the people and according to the division of their own families He exhorts them also to sanctifie themselves and to prepare the sacrifices for the Priests to offer that they might do their duty as God had enjoyn'd them Then Josiah gave to the people for Passover offerings viz. of lambs and kids for either of these kinds might be offered thirty thousand and for other offerings three thousand bullocks all of the herds and flocks that belonged to the King see 2 Chron. 30.24 and his Princes gave also willingly and liberally to the Priests Levites and the people and Hilkiah the High Priest and Zachariah and Jehiel who with the High Priest were Rulers over other Priests and Levites in the house of God gave to the inferiour Priests two thousand and six hundred small cattle and three hundred oxen And six eminent Levites who were Fathers and Rulers over the rest of the Levites gave unto the inferiour Levites for Passover-offerings five thousand small cattel and for other offerings five hundred oxen So all things fit and requisite for a solemn Passover were provided and made ready and the Priests stood in their place and the Levites in their order according to the Kings Commandment So they kill'd the Passover every father of a family for himself and his family and the Levites for themselves and for other Levites who were otherwise imployed and the Priests sprinkled the blood on the Altar which they received from their hands and the Levites flayed the sacrifices and they separated such sacrifices as were to be eaten from the burnt-offerings which were wholly to be consumed on the Altar that so of the rest they might give to the people partly for Paschal lambs partly for peace-offerings whereof both Priests and people were to have a share And they rosted the Passover with fire but so much of the peace-offerings as was to be prepar'd for the offerers to eat before the Lord they sod in pots and chaldrons and pans and so divided them among the people Afterwards the Levites made ready for themselves V. 15. Jeduthun is call'd the Kings Ster Heman Asaph also had this Title the reason of which see 2 King 17.13 and for the Priests who being imployed even until night in offering the burnt-offerings and the fat c. had no time to provide for themselves And the Singers stood in their places to perform their service according to the commandment of David The Porters also attended at the Gates and did not depart from their service during that solemnity and thereupon the Levites prepared for them as they had done for the Priests Thus all things that appertained to the service and worship of God and to the keeping the Passover and the offering of the burnt-offerings were duly performed that day according to the Kings command And so they kept the Passover at that time and the feast of unleavened bread seven days after And there was no Passover like to this kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the Prophet neither did any of the Kings of Israel either David or Solomon or any of the Kings of Judah since the division of the Kingdom keep such a Passover as Josiah now kept if we consider the multitude of sacrifices that were offered and freely given by the King Princes Priests and Levites and the exceeding joy of the good people that Religion was restored again to its purity among them Furthermore Josiah took away all witches and sooth-sayers all images and dunghil-gods and all abominations which were found in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem that he might perform all the words that were written in the Book that was found by Hilkiah the Priest in the house of the Lord. And there was no King that was before him in the Throne of Judah like unto him or that followed after him if we consider the fervency of his zeal for the rooting out of Idolatry and other abominations which had prevailed before his time and if we consider the innocence and integrity of his life and his diligent heeding the law of the Lord. We have indeed observed upon 2 King 18.5 that in some particulars Hezekiah excelled him but in others Josiah excelled Hezekiah as in his contrition and deep humiliation for the wickedness that prevailed before his time see 2 King 22.19 His solemn making a Covenant with the Lord and engaging his subjects therein to reform their ways his solemn keeping of the Passover his zealous purging not only Judah and Benjamin from Idolatry but the Cities of Israel under his power besides he was not puft up with pride as Hezekiah was But though Josiah was in his own person so excellent a Prince yet it seems the people though they yielded to his reformation out of awe and respect to him yet in their hearts many of them did still approve Manasseh's wicked ways * 2 Reg. 23.26 Proptet irritationes Manassis quia is Idololatriae ingentem saevitiam addiderat approbante magna parte populi and this soon appear'd after Josiah's death for all his children did quickly return to Manasseh's Idolatry and followed him in his abominations but not in his repentance and conversion The Lord thereupon said I will remove Judah out