That thus his sonnes might bee euer dying before him and himselfe in their death euer miserable Who doth not now wish that the blood of Hezekiah and Iosiah could haue beene seuered from these impure dregs of their lewd issue no man could pity the offenders were it not for the mixture of the interest of so holy progenitors No more sorrow can come in at the windowes of Zedekiah more shall come in at his doores his care shall receiue what more to rue for his Ierusalem Nebuzaradan the great Marshall of the King of Babylon comes vp against that deplored City and breakes downe the walls of it round about and burnes the Temple of the Lord and the Kings house and euery faire Pallace of Ierusalem with fire driues away the remainder of her inhabitants into Captiuity caries away the last spoiles of the glorious Temple Oh Ierusalem Ierusalem the wonder of all times the paragon of nations the glory of the earth the fauourite of heauen how art thou now become heapes of ashes hilles of rubbish a spectacle of desolation a monument of ruine Iflater yet no lesse deepe hast thou now pledged that bitter cup of Gods vengeance to thy sister Samaria How carefully had thy God forwarned thee Thogh Israel play the harlot yet let not Iudah sinne Loe now as thine iniquities so thy iudgements haue ouertaken her Both lye together in the dust both are made a curse to all posterities Oh God what place shall thy iustice spare if Ierusalem haue perished If that delight of thine were cut off for her wickednesse Let not vs bee high minded but feare What pity it was to see those goodly Cedars of the Temple flaming vp higher then they stood in Lebanon to see those curious marbles which neuer felt the dint of the pick-axe or hammer in the laying wounded with mattockes and wounding the earth in their fall to see the holy of holies whereinto none might enter but the high-priest once a yeare thronged with Pagans the vailes rent the sacred Arke of God vilated and defaced the Tables ouer-turned the altars broke down the pillars demolished the pauements digged vp yea the very groūd where that famous pile stood deformed O God thou woldst rather haue no visible house vpon earth then indure it defiled with Idolatries Foure hundred thirty and sixe yeares had that Temple stood and beautified the earth and honored heauen now it is turned into rude heapes There is no prescription to be pleaded for the fauour of the Almighty Onely that Temple not made with hands is eternall in the heauens Thither hee graciously bring vs that hath ordain'd vs thither for the sake of that glorious high-Priest that hath once for all entred into that holy of holies Amen Contemplations ON THE HISTORIE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT The 21th and last Booke Wherein are 1 Zerubbabel and Ezra 2 Nehemiah building the walls of Ierusalem 3 Nehemiah redressing the extortion of the Iewes 4 Abasuerus feasting Vashti cast off Esther chosen 5 Haman disrespected by Mordecai Mordecaies message to Esther 6 Esther suing to Ahasuerus 7 Mordecai honored by Haman 8 Haman hanged Mordecai aduanced ZERVBBABEL and EZRA THE first transportation into Babylon vnder Iehoiakim wherein Daniel Ezekiel and many other of the best note were driuen into captiuity was some eleuen yeares after followed with a second vnder Zedekiah wherin the remnant of the now-ruined Ierusalem and Iudah were swept away Seuenty yeares was the period of their longest seruitude whiles Babylō was a Queen Iudah was her vassall when that proud Tyrannesse fell Gods people began to rise againe The Babylonian Monarchie was no sooner swallowed vp of the Persian then the Iewes felt the comfort of libertie For Cyrus conquering Babylon and finding the Iewes groaning vnder that miserable captiuity straight releases them and sends them vnder the conduct of their Captaine Zorobabel backe to their almost-forgotten country The world stands vpon vicissitudes Euery Nation hath her turne and must make vp her measure Threescore and tenne yeares agoe it was the course of Iudah the iniquity of that rebellious people was full Some hundred and thirty yeares before that was the turne of Samaria and her Israelites Now the staffe is come to the doores of Babylon euen that wherewith Iudah was beaten and those Persians which are now victorious must haue their terme also It is in vaine for any earthly state to promise to it selfe an immutable cōdition At last the rod that scourged Gods children is cast into the fire Thou hast remembred O Lord the Children of Edom in the day of Ierusalem how they said Downe with it downe with it euen to the ground O daughter of Babylon wasted with misery how happy is hee that rewardeth thee as thou hast serued them It is Cyrus that hath wrought this reuenge this rescue Doubtlesse it did not a little moue Cyrus to this fauour that he found himselfe honorably fore-named in these Iewish prophesies and fore appointed to this glorious seruice no lesse then an hundred and seuenty yeares before he was Who would not be glad to make good so noble and happy a destiny O God if wee heare that thou hast ordained vs to life how gladly how carefullie should we worke out our saluation if to good workes how should we abound In the first yeare of his Monarchy doth Cyrus both make proclamations and publish them in writing through all his Kingdome wherein he both professeth his zealous resolutions and desires to build vp Gods house in Ierusalem and inioynes and incourages all the Iewes through his dominions to addresse themselues to that sacred worke and incites all his subiects to ayd them with siluer and gold and goods and beasts How gracious was the command of that whereof the very allowance was a fauour Was it Cyrus that did this was it not thou O God in whose hands are the harts of Kings that stirredst vp the spirit of this Persian as if he had beene more then a sonne of thy Church a father How easie is it for thee to make very Pagans protectors to thy Church enemies benefactors Not with an empty grace doth this great King dismisse the Iewes but with a royall bountie Hee brings forth the vessels of the house of the Lord which Nehuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Ierusalem and had put them in the house of his gods and causes them to be numbred by his Treasurer to the hands of Sheshbazzar the Prince of Iudah for the vse of the Temple no fewer then fiue thousand and foure hundred vessels of gold and siluer Certainly this great Monarch wanted not wit to thinke It is a rich booty that I find in the Temples of Babylon by the law of conquest it is mine hauing vanquisht their gods I may well challenge their spile how seasonably doth it now fall into my hands vpon this victorie to reward my souldiers to settle my new Empire what if this treasure came from Ierusalem the proprietie is now altered the very
insensible preparation Nehemiah moues his suit to the King not yet at once but by meet degrees first hee craues leaue for his iourney and for the building then he craues ayd for both Both are granted Nehemiah departs furnished with letters to the gouernours for a conuoy with letters to the keeper of the Kings forrest for timber Not more full of desire then hope Who euer put his hand to any great worke for the behoofe of Gods Church without opposition As the wals of the Temple found busie enemies so shall the walls of the City and these so much more as they promise more security and strength to Ierusalem Sanballat the Deputie-Lieutenant of the Moabites and Tobiab the like officer to the Ammonites and Geshem to the Arabians are galled with enuy at the ariuall of a man authorized to seek the welfare of the children of Israel There cannot bee a greater vexation to wicked hearts then to see the spiritual Ierusalem in any likelihood of prosperity Euill spirits and men need no other torment then their owne despight This wise Courtier hath learnt that secrecy is the surest way of any important dispatch His errand could not but be known to the gouernors their furtherance was inioyned for the prouision of materialls else the walls of Ierusalem had ouer-lookt the first notice of their heathē-neighbors Without any noise doth Nehemiah arise in the dead of night and taking some few into his companie none into his counsaile hee secretly rounds the decayed wals of Ierusalem and viewes the breaches and obserues the gates and returnes home in silence ioying in himselfe to fore-see those reparations which none of the inhabitants did once dreame of At last when hee had fully digested this great worke in his owne brest hee cals the rulers and Citizens together and hauing condoled with them the common distresse and reproach hee tells them of the hand of his God which was good vpon him hee shewes them the gracious commission of the King his master for that good worke They answer him with a zealous incouragement of each other Let vs rise vp and build Such an hearty inuitation countenanced by authority hath easily strengthened the hands of the multitude with what obseruance and dearnesse doe they now looke vpon their vnexpected patron how do they honour him as a man fent from heauen for the welfare of Ierusalem Euery man flyes to his hodde and trowell and reioyces to second so noble a leader in laying a stone in that wall of their common defence Those emulous neighbours of theirs Sanballat Tobiah Geshem the cheife commanders of Moab Ammon Arabia haue soone espyed the first morter that is laid vpon that old foundation Enuy is vsually more quicke-sighted then loue And now they scornfully apply themselues to these despised Iewes and thinke to scoffe them out of their worke The fauourablest persecution of any good cause is the lash of lewd tongues whether by bitter taunts or by scurrilous inuectiues which it is as impossible to auoyd as necessary to contemne The barking of these dogs doth not hinder Nehemiah from walking on his way professing his confidence in the God of heauen whose work that was he shakes off their impotent malice and goes on cheerfully to build Euery Israelite knowes his station Eliashib the high Priest and the rest of that sacred tribe put the first hand to this worke they build the sheep-gate and sanctifie it and in it all the rest As the first fruits of the field so the first stones of the wall are hallowed to God by the consecration of those deuout agents That businesse is like to prosper which beginnes with God No man was idle no part was intermitted All Ierusalem was at once encompassed with busie labourers It cannot bee but the ioynt-indeauors of faithfull harts must raise the walles of the Church Now Sanballat and his brethren find some matter to spend their scoffes vpon What doe these feeble Iewes will they fortifie themselues will they sacrifice will they make an end in a day will they reuiue the stones out of the heapes of rubbish which are burnt How basely do carnall minds thinke of the proiects and actions of Gods children therefore vilifying them because they measure them by no other line then outward probability Oh foolish Moabites this worke is Gods and therefore in despight of all your tonges and hands it shall prosper He heares you whom yee haue blasphemed and shall turne your reproach vpon your own heads And thou proud Ammonite that couldst say If a Foxe goe vpon their stone-wall hee shall breake it downe shalt well find that all the woluish troopes of your confederats shall not bee able to remoue one stone of this sure fortification Whiles Moab and Ammon repine and bluster in vaine this wal shal rise when Moab Ammon shal lye in the dust this wall shall stand The morter that hath beene tempered with so many teares and layed with so many prayers cannot but out-last all the flints and marbles of humane confidence Now the growth of this wall hath turned the mirth of the aduersaries into rage These Moabites Ammonites Arabians Ashdodites conspire all together to fight against Ierusalem and whiles the morter is yet greene to demolish those enuied heapes What hath this City offended in desiring to be defenced what wrong could it be to wish a freedome from wrongs Were this people so mighty that there could be danger in ouer-powring their neighbours or in resisting a common soueraign there might haue appeared some colour for this hostile opposition but alas what could a despised handfull doe to the preiudice of either It is quarrell enough to Ierusalem that it would not be miserable Neither is it otherwise with the head of these hellish complices there needs no other cause of his vtmost fury then to see a poor soule strugling to get out of the reach of his tyrannie So doe sauage beasts bristle vp themselues and make the most fierce assaults when they are in danger of loosing the prey which they had once seized on In the meane while what doth Nehemiah with his Iewes for their common safety They pray and watch they pray vnto God they watch against the enemy Thus thus shall wee happily preuaile against those spirituall wickednesses which war against our soules No euill can surprize vs if we watch no euill can hurt vs if we pray This is the victory that ouercomes the world euen our faith There was need of a continued vigilancy the enemy was not more malicious then subtle and had said They shall not know neither see till wee come in the midst among them and slay them Open force is not so dangerous as close dissimulation They meant to seeme Iewes whiles they were Moabites and Ammonites and in the clothes of brethren purposed to hide murderers Neuer is Satan so preuailent as when hee comes transformed into an Angell of light It was a mercifull prouidence of God that made these mens tongues
seruices what people are more officious How can it stand with the Kings profit to bereaue himselfe of subiects his subiects of their liues his Exchequer of their tributes his state of their defence Hee is a weake polititian that knowes not to guild ouer the worst proiect with a pretence of publike vtility No name vnder heauen hath made so many fooles so many villaines as this of profit Lastly as Ahasuerus reapes nothing but disprofit by the liues of the Iewes so hee shall reape no small profit by their deaths I will pay tenne thousand talents of siluer to the Kings treasuries for this execution If reuenge were not very sweet to the malicious man hee could not be content to purchase it at so high a rate How doe we see daily that the thirst hereof caries men to a riotous prodigality of estate body soule Cruell Haman if thou couldst haue swim'd in a whole Sea of Iewish blood if thou couldst haue raised mountaines of their carcasses if thou couldst haue made all Persia thy shambles who would haue giuen thee one farthing for all those piles of flesh for all those streames of blood yea who would not rather haue beene at charge for the auoyding of the annoyances of those slaughtered bodies which thou offerest to buy at ten thousand talents It were an happy thing if charitie could inlarge it selfe but so much as malice if the preseruation of mankinde could be so much beholden to our bountie as the destruction Now when all these are laid together the basenesse and dispersednesse of the people the diuersitie of their lawes the irregularitie of their gouernment the rebellion of their practice the inconuenience of their toleration the gaine of their extirpation what could the wit or art of man deuise more insinuatiue more likely to perswade How could it bee but Ahasuerus must needs thinke since he could not suspect the ground of this suit What a zealous patriot haue I raised that can be content to buy off the incōmodity of the state at his own charge How worthy is hee rather of the aide both of my power and purse why should I be fee'd to ease my Kingdomes of rebels The siluer is giuen to thee the people also to doe with them as seemeth good to thee Without all delay the secretaries are call'd to write the warrants the Kings ring is giuen to seale them the posts are sent out to cary them into all Prouinces The day is set wherein all Iewes of all ages of both sexes through the hundred and seuen and twenty prouinces of the King shall be sacrificed to the wrath of Haman In all the cariage of Ahasuerus who sees not too much heddinesse of passion Vashti is cast off for a trifle the Iewes are giuen to the slaughter for nothing his rage in the one his fauour in the other is too impotent Hee is not a worse husband then a King the bare word of Haman is enough to kill so many subiects No disposition can bee more dangerous in great persons then violence of affectiō mixed with credulity Oh the seeming inequality of humane condicions The King and Haman sate down to drink but the City of Shushan was perplexed It is a wofull thing to see great ones quaffe the teares of the oppressed to heare them make musick of shriekes With what lamentation doe we thinke all the Synagogues of Iewes through the world receiued this fatall message of their proclaimed destruction How doe they bemone themselues each to other How doe their conioyned cries fill heauen and earth But aboue all what sack-cloth and ashes could suffise wofull Mordecai that found in himselfe the occasion of all this slaughter What soule could bee capable of more bitternesse then he felt Whiles he could not but think Wretched man that I am It is I that haue brought all this calamity vpon my nation It is I that haue beene the ruine of my people wo is me that euer I put my selfe into the Court into the seruice of a Pagan how vnhappy was I to cast my selfe into these straits that I must either honour an Agagite or draw a vengeance vpon Israel Yet how could I imagine that the flame of Hamans rage would haue broken out so farre might that reuenge haue determined in my blood how happy should I haue been now I haue brought death vpon many thousands of innocents that cannot know wherefore they dye Why did I not hide my selfe rather frō the face of that proud Amalekite Why did I stand out in contestation with so ouer-powerfull an enemy Alas no man of Israel shall so much as liue to curse me onely mine enemies shall record my name with ignominy and say Mordecai was the bane of his nation Oh that my zeale should haue reserued mee for so heauie a seruice Where now are those vaine ambitions wherewith I pleased my selfe in this great match of Esther How fondly did I hope by this vndue meanes to raise my selfe and my people Yea is not this carnall presumption the quarrell that God hath against me Doe I not therefore smart from these Pagans for that I secretly affected this vncircumcised alliance Howsoeuer it bee yet ô God what haue thy people done Oh let it be thy iust mercy that I may perish alone In these sad thoughts did Mordecai spend his hart vvhiles hee vvalked mournfully in sackcloth before that gate wherein he vvas wont to sit now his habit bars his approach no sackcloth might come vvithin the Court Lo that vvhich is vvelcomest in the court of heauen is here excluded from the presence of this earthly royaltie A broken and a contrite hart O God thou wilt not despise Neither did it a little adde to the sorrow of Mordecai to heare the bitter insultations of his former monitors Did wee not aduise thee better Did we not foreadmonish thee of thy danger see now the issue of thine obstinacy now see what it is for thine earthen pitcher to knock vvith brasse now vvhere is the man that vvould needs contest vvith Haman hast thou not now brought thy matters to a fair pass Thy stomacke had long owed thee a spight and now it hath paid thee vvho can pitty thy wilfulnesse since thou vvouldest needs deride our counsell vvee vvill take leaue to laugh at thy sackcloth Nothing but scornes and griefes and terrors present themselues to miserable Mordecai All the externall buffets of aduersaries were sleight to the vvounds that he both made and felt in his owne heart The perpetuall intelligences that were closely held betwixt Esther and Mordecai could not suffer his publique sorrow to bee long concealed from her The newes of his sackcloth afflicts her ere she can suspect the cause her crowne doth but clog her head vvhiles shee heares of his ashes True friendship transformes vs into the condicion of those vvee loue and if it cannot raise them to our cheerfulnesse drawes vs downe to their deiection Faine vvould shee vncase her foster-father of these mournfull
had not beene so lauish in counselling so pompous a shew of excessiue magnificence Now the Kings owne royall apparell and his owne Steed is not sufficient except the royall Crowne also make vp the glory of him who shall thus triumph in the kings fauour Yet all this were nothing in base hands The actor shall be the best part of this great pageant Let this apparell and this horse be deliuered to one of the Kings most noble Princes that they may aray the man withall whom the King delighteth to honour and bring him on horse backe through the streets of the City and proclaime before him Thus shall it be done to the man whom the King delighteth to honour Honour is more in him that giues then him that receiues it To be honoured by the vnworthy is little better then disgrace No meaner person will serue to attend this Agagite in his supposed greatnesse then one of the noblest Princes The ambition is too high flowne that seekes glory in the seruility of equals The place addes much to the act There is small hart in a concealed honour It is nothing vnlesse the streets of the city Shushan be witnesses of this pompe and ring with that gracious acclamation The vaine harts of proud men can easily deuise those meanes whereby they may best set out themselues Oh that wee could equally affect the meanes of true and immortall glory The heart of man is neuer so cold within him as when from the height of the expectation of good it falls into a sudden sense of euill So did this Agagites Then the King sayd to Haman make hast and take the apparell and the horse as thou hast said and doe euen so to Mordecai the Iew that sitteth at the Kings gate Let nothing faile of all that thou hast said How was Haman thunder-stricken with this killing word Doe thou so to Mordecai I dare say all the honors that Ahasuerus had heaped vpon Haman cannot counteruaile this one vexation Doubtlesse at first he distrusts his eare and then muzes whether the King be in earnest at last when he heares the charge so seriously doubled and findes himselfe forced to beleeue it hee beginnes to thinke What meanes this vnconceiuable alteration Is there no man in all the Court of Persia to bee pickt out for extraordinary honor but Mordecai Is there no man to bee pickt out for the performance of this honour to him but Haman haue I but one proud enemie in all the world and am I singled out to grace him Did it gall me to the heart and make all my happinesse tedious vnto mee to see that this Iew would not bow to me must I now bow to him That which he would rather dye and forfait the life of all his nation then doe to mee notwithstanding the Kings command shall I bee forced by the Kings command to doe vnto him Yea did hee refuse to giue but a cap and a knee to my greatnesse and must I lacquay so base a fellow through the streets must I be his herald to proclaime his honour through all Shushan Why doe I not let the King know the insolent affronts that hee hath offered me Why doe I not signifie to my Soueraigne that my errand now was for another kinde of aduancement to Mordecai If I obtaine not my desired reuenge yet at least I shall preuaile so far as to exempt my selfe from this officious attendance vpon so vnequall an enemy And yet that motiō cānot be now safe I see the Kings heart is vpon what groūd so euer bent vpon this action should I flye off neuer so little after my word so directly passed perhaps my coldnesse or opposition might be construed as some wayward contestation with my master Especially since the seruice that Mordecai hath done to the King is of an higher nature then the despight which he hath done to mee I will I must giue way for the time mine humble yeeldance when all the cariage of this businesse shall bee vnderderstood shal I doubt not make way for mine intended reuenge Mordecai I will honor thee now that by these steps I may ere long raise thee many cubits higher I will obey the command of my soueraigne in obseruing thee that he may reward the merit of my loyalty in thine execution Thus resolued Haman goes forth with a face and heart full of distraction full of confusion and addresses himselfe to the attyring to the attending of his old aduersary and new master Mordecai What lookes doe we now think were cast vpō each other at their first greeting their eyes had not forgotten their old language Certainly when Mordecai saw Haman come into the roome where he was he could not but thinke This man hath long thirsted for my blood and now hee comes to fetch it I shall not liue to see the successe of Esther or the fatall day of my nation It was knowne that morning in the Court what a lofty gibbet Haman had prouided for Mordecai and why might it not haue comne to Mordecaies eare What could he therefore now imagine other then that he was called out to that execution But when he saw the royall robe that Haman brought to him he thinks Is it not enough for this man to kill mee but he must mock me too What an addition is this to the former cruelty thus to insult and play vpon my last distresse But when he yet saw the royall crowne ready to be set on his head and the Kings owne horse richly furnished at his gate and found himselfe raised by Princely hands into that royall seat he thinks what may all this meane Is it the purpose of mine aduersary that I shal dye in state Would he haue me hangd in triumph At last when hee sees such a traine of Persian Peeres attending him with a graue reuerence and heares Haman proclaime before him Thus shall it bee done to the man whom the King delighteth to honour finding this pompe to be serious well meant hee imagines in all likelihood that this inexpected chāge proceeds from the suit of his Esther now he begins to lift vp his head and to hope well of himselfe and his people and could not but say within himselfe that he had not fasted for nothing O the wondrous alteration that one morning hath made in the court of Persia he that was yesternight despised by Hamans footmen is now waited on by Haman and all his fellow-Princes Hee that yester-night had the homage of all knees but one and was ready to burst for the lacke of that now doth obeysance to that one by whom hee was wilfully neglected It was not Ahasuerus that wrought this strange mutation it was the ouer-ruling power of the Almighty whose immediate hād would thus preuent Esthers suit that he might challenge all the thanke to himselfe Whiles Princes haue their owne wills they must doe his and shall either exalt or depresse according to diuine appointment I should commend Hamans obedience in
himselfe to worke wickednesse now it is iust vvith God to punish Ahabs vvickednesse in this fruit of his loynes The holy seuerity of God in the reuenge of sinne sometimes goes so farre that our ignorance is ready to mistake it for cruelty The vvonder and horror of those two heapes hath easily drawne together the people of Iezreel Iehu meets them in that seat of publique iudgment and finding much amazednes passionate confusion in their faces he cleares them and sends them to the true originall of these sudden and astonishing massacres Howeuer his owne conspiracy and the cowardly trechery of the Princes of Israel had been not vvithout their hainous sinne the visible meanes of this iudgment yet he directs their eyes to an hyer authoritie the iust decree of the Almighty manifested by his seruant Elijah vvho euen by the vvilling sinnes of men can most wisely most hostilely fetch about his most righteous and blessed purposes If the Peers of Samaria out of a base feare if Iehu out of an ambition of raigning shed the foule blood of Ahabs posterity the sin is their owne but in the meane time the act is no other then what the infinite iustice of God would iustly worke by their mis-intentions Let these Israelites but looke vp from earth to heauen these tragicall changes cannot trouble thē thither Iehu sends them wiping off the enuy of all this blood by the warrant of the diuine preordination In obedience whereunto he sends after these heyres of Ahab all his kinsfolkes fauourites priests that remained in Iezreel and now hauing cleared these coasts he hasts to Samaria whom should he meet with in the way but the brethren of Ahaziah King of Iudah they are going to visit their cozens the sonnes of Ahab This young troupe was thinking of nothing but iollity and courtly intertainment when they meet with death So suddenly so secretly had Iehu dispatched these bold executions that these Princes could imagine no cause of suspition How could they thinke it might be dāgerous to be knowne for the brethren of Ahaziah or friends to the brethren of Iehoram The iust prouidence of the Almightie hath brought all this covie vnder one net Iehu thinkes it not safe to let goe so many auengers of Ahaziahs blood so many corriuals of his Soueraignty The vnhappy affinitie of Iehosaphat with Ahab is no lesse guilty of this slaughter then Iehues ambition This match by the inoculation of one bud hath tainted all the sap of the house of Iudah The two fourtie brethren of Ahaziah are therefore sent after the seuentie sonnes of Ahab that they may ouertake them in death whom they came to visit God will much lesse brooke Idolatry from the loines of a Iehosaphat Our intirenesse with wicked men feoffs vs both in their sinnes and iudgments Doubtlesse many Israelites that were deuoted to the family and allies of Ahab lookt what they durst awry at this cōmon effusion of royal blood yet in the worst of the deprauednes of Israel there were some which both drouped vnder the deplored Idolatry of the times and congratulated to Iehu this seuere vindication of Gods inheritance Amongst the rest Ionadab the son of Rechab was most eminent That man was by descent deriued from Iethro a Midianite by nation but incorporated into Israel a man whose piety and strict conuersation did both teach and shame those twelue Tribes to which he was ioyned He was the author of an austere rule of ciuility to his posterity to whom he debarred the vse of wine cities possessions This old and rough friend of Iehu out of his mouing habitations meets him and applauds his successe He that allowed not wine to his seed allowes the blood of Ahabs seed poured out by the hand of Iehu He that shun'd the city is caryed in Iehues charet to the palace of Samaria How easily might Iehu haue beene deceiued Many a one professes vprightnesse who yet is all guile Ionadabs cariage hath been such that his word merits trust It is a blessing vpon the plaine-hearted that they can be beleeued Honest Ionadab is admitted to the honor of Iehues seat and called in stead of many to witnesse the zeale of the new-anointed King of Israel Whiles Iehu had to doe with Kings his cunning and his courage held equal pace together but now that he is to deale with idolatrous priests his wile goes alone and preuailes He calls the people together and dissembling his intentions sayes Ahad serued Baal a little but Iehu shall serue him much Now therefore call vnto me all the Prophets of Baal all his seruants and all his priests let none be wanting for I haue a great sacrifice to doe to Baal whosoeuer shall be wanting he shall not liue What a dead palenesse was there now in the faces of those few true-harted Israelites that looked for an happy restauration of the religion of God How could they choose but think Alas how are we fallen from our hopes Is this the change we lookt for was it only ambition that hath set this edge vpon the sword of Iehu It was not the person of Ahab that we disliked but the sins If those must still succeed what haue we gained Woe be to vs if onely the author of our misery be changed not the condition not the cause of our misery On the other side what insultations and triumphs sounded euery where of the ioyfull Baalites What glorying of the truth of their profession because of the successe what scornes of their deiected opposites what exprobrations of the disappointed hopes and predictions of their aduerse Prophets what promises to thēselues of a perpetuity of Baalisme How did the dispersed priests of Baal now flock together and applaud each others happinesse and magnifie the deuotions of their new Soueraigne Neuer had that Idoll so glorious a day as this for the pompe of his seruice Before he was adored singlely in corners now solemne sacrifices shall bee offered to him by all his clients in the great Temple of the mother Citie of Israel I can commend the zeale of Iehu I cannot commend the fraud of Iehu We may come to our end euen by crooked wayes He that bad him to smite for him did not bid him to lie for him Falshood though it be but tentatiue is neither needed nor approued by the God of truth If policy haue allowed officious vntruths Religion neuer By this deuice the house of Baal is well furnished well filled not one of his Chemarim eyther might or would be absent not one of those which were present might be vnrobed False Gods haue euer affected to imitate the true Euen Baal hath Temples Altars Priests vestments All religions haue allotted peculiar habits to their hyest deuotions Those Vestments which they mis-called sacred are brought forth and put on for the glory of this seruice Iehu and Ionadab are first carefull that this separation be exact they search and see that no seruant of the Lord be crept into that
of Israel packing into a miserable captiuity the proud Assyrians Lording in their Cities yet euen then when hee stood alone in a corner of Iudah durst Hezekiah draw his necke out of the yoke of the great and victorious Monarch of Assyria and as if one enemy had not beene enough at the same time hee falls vpon the incroaching Philistims and preuailes It is not to be asked what powers a man can make but in what termes he stands with heauen The vnworthy father of Hezekiah had clogged Iudah with this seruile fealty to the Assyrian what the conditions of that subiection were it is too late and needlesse for vs to inquire If this payment were limited to a period of time the expiration acquitted him If vpon couenants of ayd the cessation thereof acquitted him If the reforming of religion banishment of Idolatry ran vnder the censure of rebellion the quarrell on Ezekiahs part was holy on Senacheribs vniust but if the restipulation were absolute and the withdrawing of this homage vpon none but ciuill grounds I cannot excuse the good King from a iust offence It was an humane frailty in an obliged Prince by force to affect a free and independant soueraignty What doe we mince that fact which holy Ezekiah himselfe censures I haue offended returne from mee what thou putst on mee will I beare The comfort of liberty may not be had with an vnwarranted violence Holinesse cannot free vs from infirmity It was a weaknes to doe that act which must bee soone vndone with much repentance and more losse This reuolt shall cost Ezekiah besides much humiliation three hundred yearely talents of siluer thirty talents of gold How much better had it beene for the Cities of Iudah to haue purchased their peace with an easie tribute then warre with an intolerable taxation Fourteene years had good Hezekiah fed vpon a sweet peace sauced only with a set pension now he must prepare his pallat for the bitter morsels of warre The King of Assyria is comne vp against all the defenced Cities of Iudah and hath taken them Ezekiah is faine to buy him out with too many talents The poore Kingdome of Iudah is exhaust with so deepe a payment in so much as the King is forced to borrow of God himselfe for Hezekiah gaue him all the siluer that was found in the house of the Lord yea at that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doores of the temple of the Lord and from the pillars which he had ouer-laid and gaue it to the King of Assyria How hard was good Hezekiah driuen ere he would bee thus bold with his God Surely if the mines or cofers of Iudah could haue yeelded any supply this shift had beene hatefull to fetch back for an enemy that which hee had giuen to his Maker Onely necessity excuses that from sacriledge in the sonne which will made sacriledge in the father That which is once deuoted to a sacred vse may not be called backe to a profane But he whose the earth is and the fulnesse of it is not so taken with our metals that hee should more regard our gold then our welfare His goodnes cannot grudge any outward thing for the price of our peace To rob God out of couetousnesse or wantonnesse or neglect is iustly damnable wee cannot robbe him out of our need for then he giues vs all we take and bids vs ransome our liues our liberties The treasures of Gods house were precious for his sake to whom they were consecrated but more precious in the sight of the Lord was the life of any one of his Saints Euery true Israelite was the spirituall house of God why should not the doore of the materiall tēple be willingly stripped to saue the whole frame of the spirituall Temple Take therefore ô Hezekiah what thou hast giuen no gold is too holy to redeeme thy vexation It matters not so much how bare the doores of the Temple bee in a case of necessity as how wel the insides be furnished with sincere deuotion O the cruell hard hartednesse of those men which will rather suffer the liuing Temples of God to be ruined then they will ransome their life with farthings It could not bee but that the store of needy Iudah must soone be drawne dry with so deepe an exaction that sum cannot be sent because it cannot be raised The cruell Tyran calls for his brickes whiles he allowes no straw His anger is kindled because Ezekiahs cofers haue a bottome with amighty host doth he come vp a gainst Ierusalem therefore shal that City be destroyed by him because by him it hath bin impouerished the inhabitants must bee slaues because they are beggers Oh lamentable and in sight desperate condition of distressed Ierusalem wealth it had none strength it had but a little all the Country round about was subdued to the Assyrian that proud victor hath begirt the wals of it with an innumerable army scorning that such a shouell-full of earth should stand out but one day Poore Ierusalem stands alone block't vp with a world of enemies helplesse friendlesse comfortlesse looking for the worst of an hostile fury when Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh the great Captaines of the Assyrians call to a parlee Hezekiah sends to them three of his prime officers his Steward his Secretary his Recorder Lord What insolent blasphemies doth that foule mouth of Rabshakeh belch out against the liuing God against his anointed seruant How plausibly doth hee discourage the subiects of Ezekiah how proudly doth hee insult vpon their impotency how doth he braue them with base offers of aduantage and lastly how cunningly doth he fore-lay their confidence which was onely left them in the Almighty protesting not to bee comne vp hither without the Lord The Lord said to me Goe vp to this land and destroy it How fearfull a word was this The rest were but vaine crackes this was a thunderbolt to strike dead the heart of Ezekiah If Rabshakeh could haue been beleeued Ierusalem could not but haue flowne open How could it think to stand out no lesse against God then men Euen thus doth the great enemy of mankinde if hee can dis-hearten the soule from a dependance vpon the God of mercies the day is his Lewd miscreants care not how they be-lye God for their owne purposes Eliakim the steward of Hezekiah well knew how much the people must needes bee affected with this pernicious suggestion and faine would therefore if not stop that wicked mouth yet diuert these blasphemies into a forraigne expression I wonder that any wise man should looke for fauour from an enemy Speak I pray thee to thy seruants in the Syrian language What was this but to teach an aduersary hovv to doe mischiefe Wherfore came Rabshakeh thither but to gall Ezekiah to vvith-dravv his subiects That tongue is properest for him vvhich may hurt most Deprecations of euill to a malicious man are no better then aduices An vnknowne idiome is fit
The Iewes are busie at worke not more full of ioy then hopes and now that the wals begin to ouerlook the earth their thoughts seeme to ouerlooke the walls But what great enterprise was euer set on foot for God which found not some crosses There was a mungrell brood of Samarit-Assyrians which euer since the daies of Senacherib dwelt in the land of Israel whose religion was a patched coate of seuerall shreds some little part Iewish the rest Pagan not without much variety of idolatry These hollow neighbours profer their assistance to the children of the captiuity Let vs build with you for we seeke your God as ye doe and doe sacrifice to him Might men be their owne iudges there would bee no heresie in the world no mis-worship It is true these men did sacrifice to the true God The Lyons taught them to seeke and the Israelitish Priest taught them to find the fashions of the God of the land Some of these Iewes knew their deuotion of old They serued Israels God but with their owne As good no God as too many In a iust indignation therefore do these Iewish gouernours repell the partnership of such helpers You haue nothing to doe with vs to build an house to our God but we our selues together will build vnto the Lord God of Israel The hand of an idolater is contagious Yet had it beene to the building of some fortresse or common-hall perhaps their ayd had not beene refused but when the wals of Gods house are to be raised this society had beene piacular Those that may not be allowed to helpe the worke will aske no leaue to hinder it their malicious suggestions weaken the hands of the people of Iudah and stirre vp authoritie to suppresse them Cyrus was farre off neither liued he long after that gracious commission and besides was so taken vp the while with his wars that he could not haue leasure to sift those querulous accusations Now therefore during the last yeares of Cyrus and the raigne of his sonne Cambyses and the long gouernment of Darius Hystaspides and of his sonne Xerxes or Ahasuerus and lastly of his sonne Artaxerxes vntill the daies of Darius Nothus which was no lesse then fiue successions of Kings besides Cyrus doe the wals of the Temple stand still yea lye waste subiect to the wrongs of time and wether the fit matter of sorrow to the Iewes insultation to the enemies derision to passengers What a wide gap of time was here betwixt the foundation of Gods house and the battlements How large a triall doth God now secondly take of the faith of the patience of his people How large a proofe doth he giue of his own long-suffering Oh God when thou hadst but one house vpon earth thou wert content to put vp delayes yea affronts in the building of it now thou hast many it is no maruell if thy longanimity and iustice abide some of them to lie desolate They are not stones or mettals or men that can make thee more glorious thou best knowest when to serue thy selfe of all these when to honour these with thy seruice A small matter hinders the worthiest action as a little fish they say stayes the greatest ship Before the Iewes were discouraged with words but now they are stopped by commands These enuious Samaritans haue corrupted the gouernours which the Persian Kings set ouer those parts and from their hands haue obtained letters of deepe calumniation to Ahasuerus the King and after him to his sonne Artaxerxes wherein Ierusalem is charged with old rebellion to Kings and for proofe appellation is made to the records frō which euidence is spightfully inferred that if these wals bee once built the King shall receiue no tribute on this side the riuer Neuer was Gods Church but subiect to reproaches Princes haue reason to bee iealous of their rights The records are searcht It soone appeares that within one Century of yeares Ierusalem had rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and held out two yeares siege of that great Babylonian The scandall of disloyaltie is perpetuall although indeed they held him rather a preuailing enemie then a lawfull Soueraine One act disparages either place or person to all posterities Therefore shall the wals of Ierusalem lie waste because it had once beene trecherous After an hundred yeares doth that Citie rue one perfidious act of Zedekiah Fidelitie to our gouernours is euer both safe and honourable Command is now sent out from Artaxerxes euen the son of Queene Esther to restrain the worke All respects must cease with carnall minds when their honors or profits are in question Rehum the Chancellor and Shimshai the Scribe come now armed with authoritie The sword hath easily preuailed against the trowell Still do the Iewes find themselues as it were captiues at home and in silence and sorrow cease from their labors vntill the dayes of the next successour Darius Nothus As those that had learn'd to sow after a bad crop these Iewes vpon the change of the Prince by the incouragement of the Prophets of God Haggai and Zechariah take new heart to build againe If others power hinder vs in the worke of God our will may not be guilty Their new gouernors come as before to expostulate Who hath commanded you to build this house and to make vp this wall and what are your names They wisely and modestly plead the seruice of the God of heauen the decree of Cyrus still persisting to build as if the prohibition of Artaxerxes had dyed with the author The vnpartiall Gouernours doe neither claw nor exasperate but relating the humble and iust answer of the Iewes moue the King that search may be made in the rolles of Babylon whether such an Edict were made by Cyrus and require his royall pleasure concerning the validity of such pretended decree Darius searches findes ratifies inlargeth it not onely charging his officers not to hinder the worke but commanding to leuie summes of his own Tribute beyond the riuer for the expences of the building for the furnishing of sacrifices threatning vtter ruine to the house of that man and death to his person who shold offer to impeach this bounty and shutting vp with a zealous imprecation The God of heauen that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all Kings and people that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Ierusalem I Darius haue made a decree let it be done with speed Who would haue lookt for such an edict from a Persian No Salomon no Dauid could haue said more The ruler of all hearts makes choyce of his owne instruments and when hee pleaseth can glorifie himselfe by those meanes which are least expected That sacred work which the husband and son of an Esther crossed shall bee happily accomplished by a Darius In the sixt yeare of his raigne is the Temple of God fully finished and now the Dedication of it is celebrated by a ioyfull feast An hundred
the blabs of their owne counsell Many a fearfull designe had prospered if wickednesse could haue beene silent Warning is a lawfull gard to a wise aduersary Now doth Nehemiah arme his people and for the time changes their trowels into swords speares and bowes raising vp their courage with a vehement exhortation to remember the Lord which is great and terrible and to fight for their brethren their sonnes their daughters their wiues and their houses Nothing can so harten vs to the encountring of any euill as the remembrance of that infinite power and wisdome which can either auert or mittigate or sanctifie it wee could not faint if wee did not forget God Necessity vrges a man to fight for himself loue inables his hand to fight for those which challēge a part in him where loue meets with necessity there can want no indeuor of victory Necessity can make euen cowards valiant loue makes the valiant vnresistable Nehemiah doth not therefore perswade these Iewes to fight for themselues but for theirs The inlargement of the interest and danger cannot but quicken the dullest spirits Discouered counsels are alreadie preuented These serpents dye by being first seene When the enemies heard that it was knowne vnto vs they let fall their plot Could wee descry the enterprises of Satan that tempter would returne ashamed It is a safe point of wisedome to carrie a iealous eye ouer those whom we haue once found hollow and hostile From that time forth Nehemiah diuided the taske betwixt the trowell and the sword so disposing of euery Israelite that whiles one hand was a Mason the other was a souldier one is for worke the other for defence Oh liuely image of the Church militant wherein euery one labours weaponed wherein there is neither an idle souldier nor a secure workman euery one so builds as that he is ready to ward temptations euerie one so wields the sword of the spirit for defence that withall hee builds vp himselfe in his most holy faith here is neither a fruitlesse valour nor an vnsafe diligence But what can our weapons auaile vs if there be not meanes to warne vs of an enemie Without a Trumpet we are armed in vain The worke is great and large and we are separated vpon the wall one farre from another Yea so farre as the vtmost bounds of the earth are wee separated one from another vpon the wals of the spirituall Ierusalem onely the sacred Trumpets of God call vs who are distant in place to a combination in profession And who are those Trumpets but the publike messengers of God of whom God hath said If the Watchmen see the sword come and blow not the trumpet and the people be not warned if the sword come and take any person from among them hee is taken away in his iniquitie but his blood will I require at the watchmans hand Wo bee to vs if we sound not if the sound we giue be vncertaine wo be to our people if when we premonish them of enemies of iudgements they sit still vnmoued not buckling themselues to a resistance to a preuention It is a mutuall ayd to which these Trumpets inuite vs wee might fight apart without the signals of warre In what place yee heare the sound of the Trumpet resort ye thither vnto vs. There can bee no safety to the Church but wher euery man thinkes his life and welfare consists in his fellowes Conioyned forces may prosper single oppositions are desperare All hearts and hands must meet in the common quarrell NEHEMIAH redressing the extortion of the Iewes WIth what difficultie doe these miserable Iewes settle in their Ierusalem The feare of foraine enemies doth not more afflict them then the extortion of their owne Dearth is added vnto warre Miseries doe not stay for a mannerly succession to each other but in a rude importunity throng in at once Babel may be built with ease but whosoeuer goes about to raise the walls of Gods Citie shall haue his hands full The incursion of publike enemies may be preuented with vigilancy and power but there is no defence against the secret gripes of oppression There is no remedy the Iewes are so taken vp with their trowel and sword for the time that they cannot attend their trades so as whiles the wall did rise their estates must needs impayre Euen in the cheapest season they must needs be poore that earned nothing but the publike safetie how much more in a common scarcity their houses lands vineyards are therefore morgaged yea their very skins are sold for corn to their brethren Necessity forces them to sell that which it was cruelty to buy What will we not what must we not part with for life The couetous rulers did not consider the occasions of this want but the aduantage Sometimes a bargaine may bee as vnmercifull as a robbery Charity must be the rule in all contracts the violation whereof whether in the matter or the price cannot but be sinfull There could not bee a iuster ground of expostulation then this of the oppressed Iewes Our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren our children as their children and loe we bring into bondage our sonnes and our daughters whiles there is no difference in nature why should there bee such an iniurious disproportion in condition Euen the same flesh may beare a iust inequality Some may be rulers whiles others are subiect Some wealthy others poore but why those wealthy rulers should tyrannize ouer those poore inferiours and turne brotherhood into bondage no reason can be giuen but lawlesse ambition If there were one flesh of Peeres another of Peasants there should be some colour for the proud impositions of the great as because the flesh of beasts is in a lower ranke then ours we kill we deuoure it at pleasure but now since the large body of mankinde consists of the same flesh why should the hand strike the foot And if one flesh may challenge meet respects from vs how much more one spirit The spirit is more noble then the flesh is base the flesh is dead without the spirit the spirit without the flesh actiue and immortall Our soule though shapelesse and immateriall is more apparently one then the flesh And if the vnity of our humane spirit call vs to a mutuall care and tendernesse in our cariage each to other how much more of the diuine by that we are men by this we are Christians As the soule animates vs to a naturall life so doth Gods Spirit animate the soule to an heauenly which is so one that it cannot bee deuided How should that one spirit cause vs so farre to forget all naturall and ciuill differences as not to contemne not to oppresse any whom it informeth They are not Christians not men that can inioy the miseries of their brethren whether in the flesh or spirit Good Nehemiah cannot choose but bee much moued at the barbarous extortion of the people and now like an vnpartiall gouernour hee