because of the misery and mischief which they bring Of all the three the Sword is the â—orest as appears by Davids choice 2 Sam. 24. 14. besides the Plague and Famine are the usual attendants of War where the Sword goes before there Famine and Pestilence usually attend Their Infants shall bee dashed in peeces 11 Obs. Little Infants are great sinners 1 That great Sin and Rebellion of Adam is impâ—ted to them for sin what hee did they did wee were all in the loyns of that one man Rom. 5. 12. 2 They have not onely original sin imputed but imparted also they have inherent original sin which is radically seminally fundamentally all sin The youngest childe carries an old man of sin within him Wee are no sooner born into the world but wee have a world of sin about us 3 The sad diseases pangs and dismal deaths which seize on Infants are strong proofs of this point their very dying speaks them sinners The wages of sin bee it original or actual is death Rom. 6. 23. Original sin which is the greatest sin in the world cleaves to their natures and makes them odious and abominable in Gods sight so that they are by nature children of wrath and obnoxious to all his judgements VVee are all daninati antequam nati and so might justly have been sent from the VVomb to the Tomb c. 12 Obs. Wicked parents bring judgements on their posterity Their poor little ones fare the worse for them Hos. 9. 12 13. Though they bring up children yet I will bereave them of them and they shall bring forth children to the murderer who is Gods executioner and so become Paricides rather than Parents Thus the old world was drowned and their children with them And the Sodomites were burnt and their children with them Achan was not onely stoned himself but his sons and daughters yea and his cattel perished with him The accusers of Daniel were slain by the Lions both they and their children Dan. 6. 24. The Iews that rejected and crucified Christ brought a curse not onely upon themselves but also upon their children Matth. 27. 25. His blood bee on â—s and on our children which hath lain on them above sixteen hundred years It is just with God to cut off the wicked and their seed as wee kill the VVolf vvith her VVhelps and the Fox vvith her Cubs though the young Toad hath not actually poysoned any yet because it hath a posonous nature in it vvee destroy it So doth God by the children of the vvicked Gen. 19. 25. Numb 16. 32 33. I Sam. 15. 3. Isa. 13. 16. Ier. 44. 7. Hos. 10. 14. When men rebel against God and reject his wayes hee vvill send against them a barbarous and cruel Nation that shall not regard the persons of the old nor have compassion on the young Deut. 28. 50. and 32. 25. Ezâ—k 9 6. Q. Are not Infants called Innocents Psal. 106. 38. Ier. 19. 4. how then can it stand with the justice of God thus severely to punish them Answ. They are not called so because they have no sin but I In respect of those cruel men who without any cause shed the blood of those little ones who had deserved no such thing at their hands So the Assyrians here were guilty of great inhumanity in killing those Infants and God in his due time did retaliate it to them Nahum 3. 10. 2 Though they may bee called Innocent in respect of any actual sin yet they are not so in respect of original sin which seminally and radically is every sin The guilt of that sin cleaves to their natures and makes them obnoxious to all tortures here and eternal torments hereafter 3 The sins of the Parents may bee also a moving cause and may provoke the Lord to smite the Parents with their children Exod. 20. 5. The Lord threatens to visit the sins of Idolatrous Parents upon their children because either they already walk in their fathers sins or else in time they would do so or it may bee worse which God onely knows 3 God hath a sovereign right and power over all his creatures hee is the Potter and wee are his clay hee may do with his own what hee pleaseth hee may make us or mar us raise us or ruine us and none may say unto him What doest thou Hee that giveth life may take it away how and when hee pleaseth his will is the rule of Justice yea Justice it self wee must therefore adore Gods Judgements when wee cannot comprehend them and know that though they may bee secret yet they are alwayes just 4 Children are parts of their Parents part of their Family and part of their substance and God may justly punish the sinful parent in his childe as wel as in his cattel and estate because they do not onely belong to him but also are a part of him 5 Sin committed by a particular man that is a member of a Politick body doth after a sort belong to the whole body Thus Achans sin though not known to the people yet made them all guilty till hee was put to death Iosh. 7. 11. 6 Yet these temporal Judgements may bee mingled with spiritual mercies as wee see in Ierobâ—ams childe who was taken away in mercy because there was some goodness found in him I King 14. 12 13. especially the Infants of Gods people that are in Covenant with their Parents there is great grounds of hope that they have changed their temporal life for an eternal and are freed from many sins sorrows and tentations which men that live to riper years are exposed to yea if they should bee cast away for their original sin yet their damnation will bee lighter than if they had lived longer It had been good for reprobates if they had not been born or that they had dyed as soon as they had been born for then they would not have had so many sins to answer for Quest. But hath not God said The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father Deut. 24. â—6 and 2 King 14. 16. Ezek. 18. 20. it seems then to bee cruelty to kill the children for the Parents sins especially such as are unborn and have not deserved such evils Answ. 1 It is true in respect of the Assyrians it was cruelty and horrid barbarousness in them to kill poor harmless little ones and God threatens to visit such sins upon the heads of such sinners 2 It is not cruelty in God for children are children of wrath as well as their Parents as all have sinned so hee may punish all without injustice Besides hee permits and orders the cruelty of wicked adversaries to his own glory and his peoples good As for that Deut. 24. 16. It speaks of Gods restraining of Magistrates who may not punish the children for the fathers offences True it is God findes cause enough in children themselves to punish them but when they imitate their wicked parents this hastens and
with the Prophets to intermingle comforts with their threatnings to keep Gods people from despaire So Hos. 1. and 2. and 11. Amos 9. 8 to 15. Before he had threatned destruction to the wicked now he comforts the Penitent In the words we have 1. The deep distress that Gods people were in they were in the hand of the grave and in the jaws of death i. e. they were as 't were dead and buried in captivity The word Sheol signifies both the grave and hell 1. 'T is taken for the grave so Gen. 37. 35. â—rov 30. 16. 2. For hell Metaphorical i. e. some deep distress Psal. 86. 13. 3. For the local hell Prov. 15. 11. Wee may take in all these for Christ hath Redeemed us from them all and triumphed over them on the Cross Colos. 2. 14. 2. Here is a Promise of their Redemption from this their misery I will ransom them from the power of the grave What is that why exegetically 't is added I will redeem them from death i. e. I will bring my Elect out of their captivity where they lay for dead as 't were and this deliverance shall bee to them a pledge of their Resurrection to eternal life 3. Here is the manner how this shall bee done set forth by a Prosopopeical Apostrophe to death and the grave whom he brings in as some living enemy and therefore calls to him saying O death I will bee thy death O grave I will bee thy destruction q. d. O death thou seemest to be mighty and powerful but I will disarm thee of it all I will not only bite thee but destroy thee 't is not morsus as the Vulgar but exitium an utter destruction of these enemies of our salvation 4. Here is the certainty of this deliverance drawn from the constancy of God in keeping his Promise and from the immutability of his decree Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes q. d. I will never repent of the mercy which I have promised them but my goodness to them shall be firm and unalterable This sense suits best with the Original and with the context wherein God promiseth a choice mercy to his people The Vulgar and the seventy render it consolation is hid from mine eyes 't is true the word in the Original signifies consolation as well as repentance but to render it as a threatning here as if God should say I am fully determined to destroy my people for consolation is hid from mine eyes This is very improper here for it confounds the context and the scope of the Verse which is to comfort and not to disquiet Gods people In it the Prophet the better to strengthen the faith of Gods people doth highly extol Gods Almighty power for when wee are in straights wee are very apt to question that Num. 11. 13 21 22 23. Psal. 78. 19. To an eye of sense Gods people lying in captiviy were as dead men and past all hope of recovery I but saith the Prophet though ye were dead yet God can raise you again for hee 's Lord of death and hell and hath a sovereign power over them all though death conquers all yet hee conquers death though it be mighty yet God is Almighty and there 's nothing too hard for him he will be the death of death and if none will redeem you thence yet he will Quest. The Question is of what Redemption and deliverance doth the Prophet here speak whether of a corporal or spiritual Redemption Ans. Of both 1. Literally the Lord promiseth to free his Elect and penitent people from the grave of their captivity Banisht men are counted as dead men especially in a civil sense and the place of their banishment is as the grave Now many of the remainders of Israel after the destruction of their Kingdom joyned themselves to the Jews and with them came out of Babylon Though for their Idolatry and ingratitude hee threatned perpetual banishment to them yet for the comfort of his people that then were and after should arise hee promiseth a Redemption for them Hos. 1. 10. which was fulfilled about two hundred years after that Samaria was taken when Cyrus proclaimed liberty to the Jews to go build the Temple Ezra 1. 2. Typically it alludes to our Spiritual and eternal Redemption by Christ and our conquest over death and hell by him By Adams sin death came upon all men Rom. 512. but Christ by his Resurrection hath freed us from the power of death and hath led it captive which formerly led us captive Ps. 68. 18. Eph. 4. 8. This is the Redemption saith Zanchy which is principally and properly here meant for though the people of Iudah after seventy years captivity in Babylon did return again out of it yet the people of Israel after that Samaria was taken never returned again to their own land for it was laid waste and inhabited by strangers 'T is usual with the Prophets to use such Metabases sudden digressions and passings from their history to Christ who was their scope delight and love so that every hint and shadow in the Old Testament brought him to their remembrance and then from Christ they fell to the continuance of their history again Thus 't is here and so Esay prophecying of Câ—rus who should deliver Israel out of Bâ—bylon in the same Chapter prophesieth of Christ the Redeemer of his Church Esay 45. So Ezekiel having enveyed against Idle and Idol Shepherds presently turns his speech to Christ who is the true Shepherd of his people Ezek. 34. 2 16. so Zach. 9. 9. and 13. â— 7. In this Verse the Prophet brings in death and the grave as it were two tyrannical enemies to whom he speaks in the Name of the Lord Christ as the Apostle expounds it 1 Cor. 15. 55. as a Conquerour saying O death I will be thy death Or as the Apostle from the Septuagint though in this Text the Apostle in some things varies from the present Septuagint and so do the allegations in the New Testament which shews the folly of those who do equalize it with the Original Hebrew O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The first Adam brought death into the world but the second Adam hath abolish'd it There is some difficulty in the words and therefore I shall open them particularly and break every clod that I may finde out the golden Oar. In these words we have a glorious triumph over death and a notable Enconâ—ium of the Resurrection of the dead Piscator and others read the words Interrogatively thus O death where are thy plagues O grave where is thy destruction 'T is an insulting and triumphing Interrogation q. d. They are no where to be found for Christ hath removed them and taken them out of the way of his people so that now there is no hurt in death This various reading comes from the ambiguous signification of the word Ehi which is rendred truly ero I
Angels it hath turned them into Devils and keeps them in chains of darkness to the Judgement of the great day Iude 6. 5 To Man 1 To good Men there is nothing so bitter to them as sin nothing grieves them like this that they have grieved the good Spirit of God All losses crosses reproaches are light with them in comparison of sin The Church of Ephesus could bear any affliction but not sin Rev. 2. 2. Good David oft complains of the burden of his sins seldome of his sufferings Psal. 38. 4. So bitter a thing is sin to them that it oft-times makes them weary of their lives and long to bee dissolved that they may sin no more Rom. 7. 24. 2 Cor. 5. 4. it makes them a burden to themselves Iob 7. 20. and causeth them to weep bitterly Matth. 26. 75. Hence Iob 13. 26. calls sins bitter things Thou writest bitter things against mee what is that Why thou makest mee to possess the sins of my youth 2 It is bitter to wicked men Though whilst conscience sleeps they may think it a light matter yet to an inlightned and an awakened conscience nothing is more bitter This made Adam to hide himself and Cain to complain that his sin was a burden too heavy for him to bear Iudas could not indure the bitterness of it but went forth and hanged himself Nothing so bitter as sin when it is once charged by God upon the conscience of all heavy things this is the most heavy A wounded spirit who can bear Those that will not now beleeve it yet shall one day finde it that it is an evil and bitter thing that they have sinned against God Ier. 2. 19. and 4. 18. Lam. 3. 15. Amos 8. 10. Prov. 9. 17 18. and 14. 13. and 23. 32. Gal. 5. 19 21. Act. 8. 23. Solomon who had found sweetness in the wayes of the flesh yet at last felt and acknowledged the bitterness of such courses Prov. 5. 3 4. Eccles. 7. 26. Though sin may for a time seem sweet to the sinner and it bee a pastime to them to do wickedly yet it will bee bitterness in the end the poyson of Aspes is in it Iob 20. 12 13 14. Quest. If sin bee so bitter how comâ—s it pass that wicked men are no more sensible of it Answ. I Their consciences are â—eared with the custome of sinning which hath taken away the sense of sin so that now it is become connatural and pleasant to them and so is not grievous Poyson in a Toad is not troublesome hee is never sick of it nor sensible of it because it is natural to him but poyson in a Man a Sheep a Dove is deadly because it is not in its proper place 2 It is a spiritual bitterness now wicked men have no spiritual life in them they are dead in sin and so are insensible of it 3 The Devil that Prince of darkness keeps wicked men in darkness and ignorance so that they know not the terrours of the Lord nor what a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of an angry God and this makes men so fearless of sin As wee cannot desire what we know not nihil volitum nisi prius cognitum so wee cannot fear it A childe that knows not what a terrible thing a Lion or a Bear is will venture to provoke them but a man of understanding will run from them It is fools who make a mock of sin who never knew the danger of it but the godly who know its bitterness will rather chuse any misery than the least iniquity any affliction rather than sin 6 Sin is bitter to States and Kingdomes and provokes the Lord to send bitter enemies against them Hab. 1. 6. the very land where wicked men dwell is sick of them and cannot have ease till it hath spewed them out As a man that hath poyson in his stomach is not well till hee bee rid of it and as the Sea would not bee quiet till Ionah was thrown over-board so Nations can have no rest till they have vomited up such wicked men which like corrupt humours oppress and burden them Lev. 18. 25 28. and 20. 22. This is that bitter water which causeth the curse to seize on persons and Nations Num. 5. 18. and brings upon them bitter destruction Deâ—t 32. 24. Thus the ten Tribes here were spewed out for their Idolatry when they were carried captive by Salmaneser into the Land of the Medes from whence they never returned 2 King 17 18. And the Iews were vomited up when they were carried captive into Babylon for the space of seventy years 2 Chron. 36. 21. 7 It is bitter to the Creatures They all groan under the burden and as a woman in travel longs to bee disburdened and eased of her birth so the whole Creation travels in pain and longs to bee delivered by reason of that bondage vanity and corruption that it is subject to by reason of the sin of man Rom. 8. 20 21 22. 8 It is bitter in the effects of it which are twofold I Privative 2 Positive The Privative effects of â—in are sevenfold 1 It deprives us of the favour of God which is the very life of our souls Psal. 30. 5. In his favour is life 2 It deprives us of Gods fatherly care and protection over us Gen. 4. 14. Exod. 32. 25. 3 It deprives us of the guard of the Angels Every godly man hath not one Angel but a guard of Angels about him to keep him whilst hee keeps Gods wayes Psal. 34. 7. and 9â— 11 12. Heb. 1. 13. 4 It deprives us of Peace of conscience A Jewel of more worth than all the world Adam when hee had sinned hee was affraid and hid himself David after his sin complained of broken bones his sight and sense of sin was as bitter to him as if hee had broken all his bones Psal. 51. 8. 5 It deprives us of our Excellency Purity is our excellency it is sin and onely sin that robs us of our glory and makes us like other men As Iacob said of Reuben when hee had defiled his Fathers bed Thou shalt not excel Gen. 49. 4. 6 It deprives us of all true right to the creature A wicked man is an usurper though hee may have a civil right in foro soli yet in foro poli hee hath a sanctified right to nothing When men are in Christ then and not till then All is theirs I Cor. 3. 22. 7 It deprives us of heaven and eternal happiness Rev. 21 ult 2 The Positive effects of sin are more especially thâ—ee It exposeth us to all miseries External Internal Eternal 1 Sin exposeth us to miseries External in body goods good name wee may thank sin for all our sicknesses sorrows sores losses plagues poverty c. Deut. 28. 16. to the end of the Chapter Lam. 3. 39. 2 Internal It brings hardness of heart the â—oreft of plagues all the plagues of Pharoah
heightens wrath by adding sin to sin 3 The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father if hee depart from the fathers iniquity and do not walk in his steps Ezek. 18. 14 17. If a man beget a son that seeth all his fathers sin and feareth and doth not the like hee shall not dye for his fathers iniquity But if the son tread in his fathers steps hee shall bear his own iniquity and becomes accessary to his fathers sin by imitation and approbation of it Matth. 23. 32. Luke 11. 48 50. the blood of former generations had not been required of that generation if they had not been as bloody as the former But where old sins are continued and approved of by new acting of them there the old sins as well as the new are justly punished So that the threatning is not to bee understood absolutely but conditionally viz. If the children do persist in their fathers sins and walk in their wicked wayes 4 The son shall not bear the personal iniquities of the father in reference to eternal punishment God will not damn a son simply for the sin of his father it is a mans own sin which is his everlasting ruine yet hee may lay many temporal chafâ—isements upon a good son for the sin of his father The Lord in Ezek. 18. 20 23 32. seems to speak of eternal and not of temporal punishment 1 This should make Parents fearful of displeasing God lest they bring miseries not only on themselves but also on their children their Idolatry may bring a curse upon their childrens children to many generations No children in Scripture are threatned like the children of Idolaters In none of the Commandements doth God threaten to visit the sin of the fathers upon the children but onely in the second Exod. 20. 5. It is well observed by a pious and precious Divine that there are eight sins which do more especially bring Judgements on a mans Posterity whereof the first is Idolatry 2 Adultery 2 Sam. 12. 14. 3 Covenant-breaking 2 Sam. 21. 13. 4 Persecution of the godly Matth. 23. 31. to 36. Psal. 137. 7. 5 Murder 1 King 21. 21. Jer. 15. 4. 6 Oppression Job 20. 19 26. Hab. 2. 9. 7 Contempt of Magistracy and Ministry Num. 16. 32. 41. 49. 1 King 13. 33 34. 8 When men pretend Reformation and intend themselves as Iehu did Hos. 1. 4. God is very pittiful and tender over Infants as appears in that hee would not destroy Nineveh for the Infants sakes that were in ti Ionah 4 11. and in the sacking of Cities hee commands them to spare Infants Deut. 20. 14. but it is the sin of Parents which many times hardens Gods heart against them and makes him to delight in the destruction both of them and theirs yea and it hardens mens hearts against them so that they cannot but act such cruelty against them as they never intended as wee see in Hazael 2 King 8. 11 12 13. when the Prophet Elisha wept and told him what mischief hee should do to Israel viz. that hee should kill the young men and dash the Infants against the stones and rend in peeces the women with childe Am I a dog saith Hazael that I should do such things as these Hee then thought it a base and barbarous thing when hee was King Benhadads servant to act such inhumane villany upon the mothers with their infants the Prophet onely tell him that hee shall bee a King vers 13. and then when hee had changed his condition hee would also change his manners and commit all the abominations which hee mentioned Let Parents then labour for grace that they may leave a blessing and not a curse to their posterity Gen. 17. 7. Exod. 20. 6. Psal. 112. 2. If you will not pitty your selves yet pitty your little ones let not them fare the worse for you It is ill-being a wicked mans childe yea their very beasts faâ—e the worse for them Iosh. 7. 24 25. Achan was stoned and his cattel with him Wicked Egyptians bring a Murrain upon their cattel Exod. 9. 3. As a good man is a publick good the Family City Kingdome fare the better for him yea his cattel are spared for his sake Exod. 9. 4. The Lord shall sever between the cattel of Egypt and the cattel of Israel there shall nothing dye of all that is the children of Israels God blesseth the very cattel of his people and if the creature could speak it would desire to serve those that serve God Most Parents provide Inheritances for their children but oft-times they leave their sins with them too It was a sad Legacy that Ioab left to his children that one should bee a Leper another a weakling a third beg his bread 2 Sam. 3. 29. So many a man to one childe hee leaves his Murder to another his Adultery to a third his Usury to a fourth his Swearing Gehazi left a Talent of silver behinde him to his posterity but hee left the Leprosie with it Better want such mens lands and inheritances than thus to inherit their sins too 2 Let children bee humbled then for their forefathers sins that they bee not imputed to them Lâ—v. 26. 41. So did Nehemia ch 1. 6. and David Psal. 79. 8. Remember not against us iniquitates praecedentium saith the Original the sins of our forefathers Hee that sees the sins of his Predecessors and is not humbled for them approves of them and so becomes accessary to them Hence the Lord blames Belshazzar for not humbling himself for his fathers sin and punishment which hee knew of Dan. 5. 22. Let us therefore acknowledge our selves to bee the children of sinful parents and say with him Deut. 26. 5. A Syrian was my father ready to perish and with David Wee have sinned with our fathers Psal. 106. 6. and with Daniel ch 9. 8. Deprecate the punishment which is due to uâ— for their sins So Ier. 14. 20. 3 Admire the patience of the Lord that hath born so long with us who have been sinners from the womb If little ones who never sinned against the patience of God as wee have done indure such pangs sorrows sickness and death what may men of years look for who have added to original corruption a numberless number of actual transgressions If this bee done to the green tree what shall bee done to the dry If Infants who are Innocents and righteous comparatively shall scarcely bee saved where shall the ungodly and rebellious sinner appear If hee spare not little ones that lye in their mothers bowels but suffer wicked men to drag them thence where oh where shall those wicked parents appear that have been the primary cause of all this mischief and sorrow to them and have been the authors and actors of that wickedness which hath brought this misery on them It should therefore bee matter of great humiliation to us all when wee see the sharp and sore judgements that oft light upon little ones
is frequently acted in the world in one degree or other Psal. 10. 4. The wicked in the pride of his heart will not seek after God i. e. hee thinks hee hath no need of him but hath enough in himself and therefore hee will not go to God God is not in all his thoughts i. e. hee is in none of his thoughts no not in one of his thoughts or wayes It is an Hebraism The Devil would fain make men not beleeve that which himself cannot but beleeve viz. that there is a God This is one of the highest degrees of wickedness in the world To deny God is so high a sin that it takes away all at once the Devil needs not come a second time This is to sin against the greatest light it is not onely a sin against the light of Christianity but against the light of nature against the witness of the creature and the whole Creation Such sin against the Providence of God and against the common consent of all Nations Tully could say There was never any Nation so barbarous as to deny that there was a God I have seen â— City without walls but never any City but acknowledged a God I have heard of some that have denied that there was a God yet never knew the man but when hee was sick hee would seek unto God for help Therefore saith Seneca They do but lye that say there is no God they sin against the light of their own consciences they who most studiously go about to deny God yet cannot do it but some check of conscience will flye in their faces hence Heathens have condemned some to death that denied there was a God This is a Mother-sin and the root of all abominations yea In every sin there is a virtual tacit interpretative Atheism they say as it were in their hearts that God doth not see Psal. 14. 1 2 3. 73. 11 12. 94. 5. to 9. This sin ruined Ierusalem Ezek. 9. 9. and if it spread in England as it hath done of late years it will certainly ruine us also Wee all carry the root of this Prolifical sin about us and in every sin there is a grain a least of Atheism when wee are charged with it wee are apt to say as Hazael Am I a Dogg hee would not beleeve that there was so much wickedness in him Thou shalt bee a King saith the Prophet and then thy corruptions will soon appear when thou hast power and opportunity to act them So say I thou art a Son of Adam lapsed and fallen in him thou hast the seed of this sin within thee and when a temptation comes it will quickly discover it self to the world 2 Take heed of Polytheism which is the ready way to Atheism the having of many gods is the ready way to have no God An Omni-Religion is the ready way to no Religion The world abounds with false gods 1 Whatsoever wee have more than God that is our God Amor tuus Deus tuus 2 Whatsoever wee confide in more than God that is our God Iob 31. 24. 3 Whatever wee glory and rejoyce in more than God Ier 9. 23. Phil. 3. 19. 4 Whatever wee ascribe efficiency to Hab. 1. 16. God will have all power ascribed to himself Deuteronomy 8. 12 13 17 18. 5 Whatever wee obey against the mind of God bee it friend or foe men or Devils that wee make our God Against Atheism See Capel on Tentat p. 2. ch 2. p. 153. Edit ult Mr. Henry Smith his Arrow against Atheists amongst his Ser. 2. p. p. 1 to 96. Mr. Trapp at the end of his Comment on the Epistles p. 1103. Robinsons Essaies Obs. 11. D. Clâ—rks Ser. on Psal. 14. 1. p. 319. Weemse 4th Vol. p. 1. Church his Miscel. p. 154. Taffin on Amendment p. 4 to 25. B. Andrews Catechisme p. 25. Fullers Holy State p. 378. Mr. Clerks Mirrour chap. 9. Edit 3. 20 Their sin was full and they ripe for ruine God had born with their provocations about two hundred and sixty years even till they had filled up the measure of their sins and then hee brought destruction on them Now Ephraims sin was full 1 In respect of Multitude 2 Magnitude 3 Strength 4 Growth 5 Impudency 6 Obstinacy 1 There was a fulness of Number and Multitude 1 All sorts of sin abounded both in Doctrine and Manners there was Idolatry Adultery Murder Witchcraft Lying Sâ—ealing Oppression 2 King 17. 9 10 11. Hos. 4. 1 2 7. 7. Amos 2. 6. 2 All sorts of Sinners abounded high and low Princes Priests and People all were Idolaters and delighted in false worship Hos. 5. 1. Micah 7. 3 4 5 6. This universality of sinning is ever a fore-runner of judgement when All the old world had corrupted themselves then came the flood when All Sodom was wicked and All Ierusalem rebelled when the mean man bowed to Idols and the great man humbled himself then God will not forgive Isa. 1. 5 6. 2. 9. Ier. 5. 1 4 5 6 7. 7. 18 19. 2 There is a fulness of Magnitude which is a fore-runner of destruction When the sins in themselves are great as Idolatry Witchcraft Hypocrisie Apostacy c. and these sins are heightened by circumstances being committed against great Light Love Patience c. and this was Ephraims I wish it were not also Englands case 3 A fulness of Sâ—rength when men do wickedly with both hands i. e. Earnestly and actively Micah 7. 3. When men draw iniquity with the cords of Vanity and study how they may do mischief with all their might Isa. 5. 18. Ezek. 22. 6. 4 A fulness of Growth when men sin more and more as Epâ—m did Hos. 13. 2. and grow worse and worse 2 Tim. 3. 13. persevering in their sin without end or measure this also prognosticates ruine to a Nation The Lord did not presently destroy the Amorites but suffered their sin to come to its fulness that hee might pour upon them the fulness of his fury Gen. 15. 16. The sins of the Amorites is not yet full Though they were notoriously wicked yet hee bears with them till their sins were ripe for ruine A woman must go her forty weeks till the childe bee come to perfection and then comes her travel suddenly and surely So sin hath its conception rise reign and ruine Psal. 7. 14. Iames 1. 15. 5 A fulness of Impudency when men declare their sins like Sodom and openly profess their wickedness with Whores fore-heads that cannot blush Isa. 3. 9. Ier. 3. 3. 6. 15. Zeph. 3. 5. 6 A fulness of Obstinacy when nothing can reclaim a People but they are resolvedly wicked as Ephraim here who was married to Idols and would not return being deeply rooted in iniquity Hos. 4. 17. 5. 14. 9. 9. They sold themselves to do wickedly 2 King 17. 17. they would not bee warned by the falls of others whom God had punished before them for the same sins 2 King