The Case of Joram A SERMON Preached before the House of Peers IN THE Abby-Church at WESTMINSTER January 30. 1673 4. BY SETH Lord Bishop of SARUM LONDON Printed by Andrew Clark for James Collins at the King's Arms in Ludgate-street MDCLXXIV Die Jovis 5 o. Februarii 1673. Ordered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament that the Thanks of this House be and is hereby given to the Lord Bishop of Salisbury for his pains in Preaching before the Lords in the Abby Church at Westminster on Friday the thirtieth day of January last and that he be desired to Print and Publish his Sermon then Preached John Browne Cler. Parliam The CASE of JORAM 2 KINGS VI. and last Verse And he said This evil is of the Lord Wherefore should I wait upon the Lord any longer THE cause of this Solemn and most Honourable Assembly at this time is to humble our selves in consideration of a most grievous and horrible Calamity which was some years since as upon this day brought upon these Kingdoms by the Sacrilegious and Bloody Martyrdom of our late most Excellent Sovereign to afflict our souls in Contemplation of our sins which brought upon us that heavy Judgment with humble penitent broken and contrite Hearts to wait upon the Lord to implore his Mercy in removing from us the guilt of that innocent blood in pardoning our Offences and taking away his Plagues and Judgments from us To work our selves to such a frame or temper of spirit there are two ways or methods either by shewing the Necessity and Utility the Beauty and the Comeliness of such a temper and the Happiness which will follow thereupon by convincing us how much it is our Duty and our Interest and Concernment or else by having before our eyes the indecency and absurdity the folly and madness wickedness and misery how much it is against our Duty and against our Interest to be found in a contrary temper and disposition Of these two Methods we find that Solomon in his Book of the Preacher made choice of the later That to bring men to fear God and keep his Commandments he thought it best to convince the world of the vanity of all other courses That giving his mind to understand the reason of things he applied himself to know the folly of wickedness and the wickedness of folly and madness And to bring men to wisdom and virtue he thought it the best expedient to represent to them the absurdity and ugliness of folly and wickedness Something like to this I have proposed to my self at this time and to that end I have chosen to submit to your consideration this strange and extravagant instance in the Text. Where that I may the sooner arrive at what I aim at I shall not spend time in disputing the Author of the words but with the best Interpreters as I conceive suppose them to have been the words of Joram King of Israel and in some measure to collect and raise a true idea or character of him I must draw you a little back into the Story Our Author I say was Joram he was the Son of Ahab and Jezabel and King of the ten Tribes of Israel his capital City was Samaria his adjacent neighbour on the North was Benhadad King of Syria who now made War against him Joram not able to keep the Field was driven up into Samaria and there was obstinately besieged The City was a fenced or fortified City and Benhadad would not storm it but resolved to take it by Famine And the Famine here prevailed to a degree almost incredible the prices of commodities so great the diet to which they were reduced so vile an Asses head was sold for 80 pieces of silver a cab of Pigeons dung for 5. So vile nay so exceedingly monstrous and unnatural Can a woman saith the Prophet Isaiab forget her child Here two women conspire together and against the laws of God and nature enter into an engagement to act that which you will abhor to hear to devour their tender little ones and resume into their bodies that fruit whereof they had lately been delivered And because one of them repents of her engagement the other makes her appeal to Joram she spies him walking the rounds to view the Works and out of a complicated passion of hunger and sorrow envy and indignation in the agony and bitterness of her soul she cries out Help O King And now begin to take a character of this Joram He supposed she had cried for Victuals and he presently falls upon cursing the woman 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So Josephus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So the Septuagint Let not God help thee how should I help thee Well! this was indeed part of the womans grief but this was not all she had killed her child and her companion according to agreement had eaten part of him and now had withdrawn her own her spleen would now be satisfied as well as her stomach she therefore states her case and cries for Justice Indeed the case was lamentable enough to move the heart of any man and it put Joram's into motion but it was not into compassion but fury It had been reason that he should have rent his Heart and not his Garments but he rends his cloaths and falls into cursing and raving and into a wild extravagant resolution God do so to me and more also if the head of Elisha the Son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day What is the coherence or where is the Logick of this cursing and damning resolution How was Elisha concerned in what had happened Before he cursed the woman now he curses himself with a grievous curse God do so to me that is take away my life and more also that is in the language of our times God damn me if the head of Elisha But why must Elisha suffer what had he done had he devoured the child that was dead or hid the living child or brougt the Famine upon Samaria As if rage did submit to reason or from the wrath of man we were to expect the righteousness of God! that he should swear and curse there was no reason nevertheless for his Oaths sake he sends his Messenger to Elisha's house and presently follows to see the Execution Where to make up the hiatus betwixt his coming and uttering the words of the text we may conceive that Joram has there blustered out the Story of the woman That he hath raved at Elisha and blasphemed against the Lord himself and that in reply the Prophet and endeavoured to allay the passion and calm the storm of rage that was upon him That he had put him in mind of looking up to God the sender of all Publique Calamities exhorted him to humble himself under his mighty hand to wait upon him for deliverance to pray to him for succour and the like To all which he ungratiously rejoyns according to the tenor of the text You tell me of the Lord
prescribed by the Prophets is to blow the trumpet in Sion to proclaim a Fast and call a solemn Assembly For the Priests to weep betwixt the Porch and the Altar That men turn unto the Lord with all their hearts and with Fasting and with Weeping and with Mourning But as for Joram's way the ranting cursing swearing blaspheming way God hath declared That because of Swearing and of Cursing the Land mourns He loved not blessing and it shall be far from him he delighted in cursing and it shall happen unto him it shall come into his bowels like water and like oyl into his bones And for the blasphemy wherewith mine Enemies have blasphemed me I will up saith God and I will ease me of mine Enemies and avenge me of mine Adversaries 2. As to Elisha's way of meekness and humiliation God hath declared That he will have respect unto the lowly and give grace and favour to the humble And though he dwells in the high and holy place he will dwell also with him that is of an humble and contrite heart More particularly as to the case in hand he hath expresly promised If I bring upon the land Famine or Pestilence or Sword or any other plague and my people humble themselves then will I hear from heaven and will remove their plague But in reference to Joram's way he had declared that he hateth the proud looks and will destroy the sturdy sinner That he will pull down the stoutness of their hearts and the haughtiness of the haughty shall be humbled 3. Lastly he hath declared on one hand that the patient abiding of the meek shall not perish for ever but on the other that the frowardness of the froward is an abomination to him And now the case being clearly stated one would think certainly that Joram without any haesitation should submit to the proposals of the Prophet and come to a quick and a speedy resolution to pursue them But now behold and wonder stand amazed all ye that pretend to sense and reason He cannot deny any one of Elisha's premisses yet he adheres and sticks to his own conclusion and roundly resolves that he will neither fast nor pray much less betake himself to whining he will not humble nor submit himself he will not attend or wait upon the Lord any longer Very well and wisely But what then becomes of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And how shall this same calamity be removed To remove the calamity there are but two ways imaginable 1. The way of Address or Accommodation or 2. The way of force and compulsion and the former of these he hath declined and will he therefore betake himself to the later What King being to make War sits not down first and considers whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand The Lord is a Lord of Hosts and a Man of War thousand thousands minister unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stand before him We see him coop'd up by the King of Syria and will he now make War with the King of Heaven Let the potsheard strive with the potsheards of the earth But who art thou O Joram that strivest against God what is the hope wherein thou trustest or wherein lies thy confidence that thou rebellest Did ever any man exalt himself against God and hath prevailed Call to remembrance things lately past and of ancient days how he hath formed it The success of the Giants of old the modern Fate of Ahab thy Father the Destiny of Jezabel thy Mother for the wickedness of the Father Ahab the Whoredoms and Witchcrafts of Jezabel thy Mother What doth this man intend to do and what doth this resolution signifie Will he arise in the power of his might and make a gallant sally and so scatter and confound his adversaries Will he cause the earth to open and swallow up this Benhadad and cover the Congregation of the Syrians Or will he cause Quails or Manna to fall from heaven and remove the Famine wherewith himself and people are distressed Judge in your selves Brethren were not this a foolish imagination an instance of stupidity and madness Well then Because the Lord hath vexed him by his plagues will he endeavour to plague the Lord by his wickedness Alas his wickedness extendeth not to him Is not this the folly and madness of wickedness But he will revenge himself upon the Church and wreak his spleen upon the Prophet God do so to him and more also if the head of Elisha the Son of Shaphat shall stand upon him Is not this the wickedness of folly and madness Briefly is not this case of Joram a monstrous and a prodigious case Doth he not deserve to be punished and tormented with many stripes To be tormented as it were in Bedlam for the madness of his wickedness In the Valley of Hinnom for the wickedness of his madness There it was that Tophet was prepared of old for the King it was prepared and certainly this seems to be the very King for whom it was prepared IS this now your Judgment and Determination Is this the sentence of this great and noble this wise and honorable Assembly Come then in the name of God I humbly pray you and let us reason a while together Hath this only been the case of that person of whom we have been speaking and is it not also the case of us that have all this while been speaking and hearing censuring and judging of him Plainly Was it only the case of that King of Israel and is it not the case of this Kingdom of England And we that have judged another have we not condemned our selves Is not this I say Englands case 1. In respect of Publique Calamities which have been brought upon us 2. Of our Behaviour in reference to those Calamities 1. How great and manifold have been the Calamities of this poor sinful Kingdom 2. And how plain and conspicuous have been the signatures and impressions of the hand of God upon those Calamities To look no further back than we are obliged by the occasion of this our meeting together What sort of Plague or Judgment hath not within the space of 20 or 30 years been inflicted upon this Kingdom What sort I say of Spiritual Judgment or Temporal Calamity The Judgment which we are here met to commemorate and lament had in it a complication of all manner of Spiritual Judgments of Injustice and impiety of carnal and spiritual Wickedness as well as Misery and Calamity It was a Calamity pregnant and productive of innumerable others wherewith it hath been succeeded and which are perpetually pullulating from it For this the Land hath mourned well-nigh 30 years and for all that God's anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still His Judgments have followed us and grown more and more upon us to this very moment still eating into our bowels and corroding into
our bones And if we be not more mad than Joram we cannot but acknowledge them to have proceeded from the hand of God This would evidently appear if I might be permitted to insist and animadvert upon the evils which have befallen us and trace them backward to that great and prodigious Judgment which was the cause of this days observation I shall not need to spend time to prove that our threatning and growing Famine our present Murrein or late Pestilence have proceeded from the hand of God Such plagues as these are so plainly and confessedly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that David being left to his choice betwixt the Sword the Famine and the Pestilence thought it a plain expression of his mind when he only desired he might fall into the hand of God I shall therefore proceed to a few particulars of another nature That a novel and upstart Commonwealth of a Nation lately feeble and poor whining and submissive should in the space of not many years arrive at the ungrateful boldness to provoke a powerful and mighty Kingdom a Kingdom to which they had been in their weakness and minority so much obliged That they should be permitted to disappoint and baffle their strongest Preparations and come to such an height as to attempt and endeavour to fix upon them marks and characters of perpetual ignominy and dishonour That a fire should proceed out of the Bramble which should consume the Cedars of Lebanon That a spark should kindle in a corner and should be permitted to destroy all the stately Palaces publick Buildings and venerable Churches in one of the most considerable Cities of the World besides 12000 private habitations This certainly is Digitus Dei This evil is from the Lord. When after the miseries of 20 years the Lord had caused Light to spring out of Darkness and Order out of Confusion Reduced all things to that state and position out of which they had been distorted Had Restored our Religion our Laws and Liberties Had Established the King the Church the Nobility Gentry Populacy in their ancient Rights and legal Stations Had fortified all these by new additional Laws and a Loyal and worthy Parliament That after all this without any disturbance by Foreign Invasion or intestine Rebellion meerly by the application of our own wisdom and policy and our most industrious endeavours in the short space of about a dozen years the same Parliament still continuing This goodly Fabrick should be shattered and all things e'ne ready to drop into Disorder and Confusion That out of Depth of Policy and Mystery of State the foundations of Government should be subverted and the Ligaments of it dissolved That for the establishment of Government every one should be permitted to do that which is right in his own eyes as if there were no King in Israel That for the Advancement of the Established Religion there should be permitted to assume to themselves a Toleration of all Religions or rather irreligions Schisms Heresies and Blasphemies in the world That out of Indulgence to tender Consciences the Principles of Atheism and Anarchy should be permitted to be disseminated countenanced watered cherished and fostered and all means used that conscience it self should be eradicated out of the Souls of men WIth fear and trembling horror and amazement to come up to the prodigious instance of this day That the vilest and the worst of men should be permitted in the most horrible and most impious the most impudent and brazen-faced manner under a form of Godliness and Justice in the sight of this Sun in contempt and defiance of Providence and of God himself to shed the Royal Blood and take away the Sacred Life of the Lord 's Anointed and of him that was the most Harmless and Innocent the most Meek and Gentle the most Virtuous and Religious the most Sober and Prudent Prince that ever sate upon the English Throne Lastly That after all this and all the rest that our eyes have seen After the Massacre and Rebellion in Ireland The Covenant contrived in Scotland The Bloody Wars and Sacrilegious Judgment and Execution made here in England That after we have seen the end of the Lord the Vengeance of God so signally executed upon the Principal Authors Actors and Promoters the Judges and Executioners of all those things Matters should in so short a time be brought to that pass that according to the various Inclinations of men some should Fear and others Hope that the Monarchy of England and that Religion and those Laws and the very persons which uphold it should now be abandoned And that the great Interests of Religion and Government should be delivered up into the hands of the Irish or English Papists the Scottish or English Covenanters or other Sectaries and Fanaticks Are not all these things strange and wonderful are they not marvellous in our eyes In all this is not the hand of God clearly to be seen certainly we cannot but acknowledge that This evil is from the Lord. So that in respect of Judgments and Calamities you have seen the correspondence of our Case with the Case of Joram 2. Let us now reflect upon the National behaviour and examine Whether hath this been ordered according to the way of Elisha or the way of Joram When the Judgments of God have been so many so grievous so visible amongst us have the Inhabitants of the Land learned righteousness or unrighteousness Have they prevailed upon us to break off our sins by Repentance or to continue in them and increase them with a brisker and sturdier resolution As the Lord's hand hath been more and more lifted up have not we endeavoured with an higher and higher hand to sin against him As he hath smitten us more and more have not we revolted more and more Instead of being made a Religious and a Praying People are we not become an Atheistical and a Scoffing and Blaspheming People Instead of being a Sober and Fasting People are we not become a Riotous and Drunken People Instead of being made a Chast and Modest a Meek and Humble a Gentle and Composed People are we not become a Shameless and Immodest a Ranting and Tearing a Hectoring and God-damning People Briefly Instead of turning to the Lord with all our hearts and with Fasting and with Weeping and with Mourning for our Sins Have we not turned from him with all our hearts and with laughing and with scoffing and with jeering at all Humiliation and Devotion and Religion It is not here my intention to charge every individual Person with these things No doubt there are thousands in this our Israel who have not bowed themselves to these enormities And it is well for them and happy for the Kingdom that there are so for Except the Lord had left us such a remnant we should have been as Sodom and made like unto Gomorrha Yet the exception of this remnant notwithstanding may it not be fit to consider whether we be not truly and properly