the acquaintance of wicked men the Prophet Micah will give you reason for it Chap. 7.4 The best of them is a brier the most upright is sharper then a thorne hedge You think some of them are faire men have good natures good parts great places and you may bee intimate with them lean upon them and get good by them if not doe good to them but you are deceived saith he the best of them for wit parts birth breeding place is a brier yea the most upright those that are civill What shall you what can you have frō a Scorpion but aculeum vulnus venenum clam palam insidiabuntur Somper lanam saepe vitam perdunt When one commended Julian the Cardinall to Sigismund the Emperour he answered Tamen Romanus est And so when any wicked man is commended to you answer Tamen sentis est that have a form of godlinesse and walk according to their light even they are sharper then a thorn hedge And because it is incident to the nature of man to minde great ones and seeke their acquaintance he speakes in the verse before of Princes Judges and great men and beats men off from looking after leaning upon them the sheep run to the hedge for shade in the heat and shelter in the storm but what 's the issue If they eseape with their lives yet they goe off with rent garments and if the best of them bee briers what are the worst of them When David was become a Courtier he met with a spear and found Saul sharper then a thorn hedge his spirit was vext with him and no marvell wicked men vex the spirit of God who hath more patience and wisdome then man who is without all corruption and altogether holy yet his spirit is vexed with them Isa 63.10 Therefore the Spirit of God counsels us what acquaintance to seek Job 22.21 Acquaint thy selfe with God and be at peace and thereby good shall come unto thee he will not be a brier or thorne to run into thy hand he will not vex thy spirit trust him he will not deceive or disappoint thee 5. See what fruit to look for from them fruits sutable to their nature 1 Sam. 24.13 Wickednesse proceedeth from the wicked it is a proverb and they have much truth and strength in them and it was ancient then and in all ages hath been made good observ'd that wickednesse comes from the wicked by it David cleares himselfe taxes his malicious enemies and confutes Saul himselfe As for me I am accused to be a seditious and traiterous fellow a man that seekes thy life O Saul thou hast followers and flatterers about thee to exasperate thee against me that put thee on to hunt me as a Partridge on the mountain and to spill my blood but I am no such man as they pretend and thou conceivest I had thee at advantage was counselled to take away thy life and could have done it but wickednesse was not in me I cut off the lap of thy Coat when I could have cut off thy Head I will make thee judge who is the wicked man those that accuse mee thou that pursutest the soule of an innocent man or my selfe that have spared thee having such advantage Wickednesse proceeds from the wicked if I had been a wicked subject as thou and others thought thy life had gone but thy Courtiers thy Counsellers are wicked yea and thou art wicked and nothing but wickednesse comes from you and that proceeds as light from the Sunne water from the fountaine breath from the nostrils Christ tells us wee must not look for good from them Matth. 7.16 Doe men gather grapes of thorns or figges of thistles If you looke for such fruit you will be deceived they may grow green as the vine and figge-tree but their fruit is different what fruit have Papists and Prelaticall ones brought forth in Church or State these many yeares corrupt trees cannot beare good fruit briers thornes brambles may bring fruit for Gadarens and swine not for Christ and his Disciples Judg. 9. The Olive tree had its fatnesse the Figge tree its sweetnesse and good fruit the Vine its pleasant wine they would not leave their places for promotion For usually when men are promoted they lose of their excellencie the Olive trees Figge trees Vines they lose of their fatnesse if not all their fatnesse of their sweetnesse if not all their sweetnesse but what had the bramble fire and fire to consume the Cedars of Lebanon brambles are of aspiring nature and when they are got up they fire States and Kingdomes 6. Then it 's no great losse when wicked men are taken away when briers and thorns are cut down and Scorpions killed who is damnified by it Spina sunt pestes terrae frugum morbi Plin. wicked men are the very plagues of the earth they suck away the sweet from the Vine the fat from the Olive It was said of Nero that he was venenum terrae and when that pitcher was broken it was gain not losse matter for praise not mourning the Husband-man is not grieved when the grieving thorn and pricking thistle are cut out of his corn Prov. 11.10 When the wicked perish there is shouting shouting on earth that justice is done his wickednesse at an end the Church and State eas'd of such a burthen rid of such a thorn and shouting in hell Isa 14.9 When Jehoiakim died there was no lamentation made for him hee was a wicked and worthlesse King his carkasse was no better then the body of an Asse and hee had the buriall of an Asse drawn and cast out in the high-way or ditches Jer. 22.18 19. hee had an infamous buriall and such saith Olimpiodorus is the end of every Magistrate or Minister that teaches and governs well but lives ill his end is infamous hee is buried in infamy but godly men are of great worth Heb. 11.38 the world was not worthy of them those precious ones mentioned there and those are living now God valued and values above the world godly men are the Pillars of the earth they are the marrow blood and soul of the world the world languishes and lies adying when they are pull'd away Moses Exod. 32.10 held Gods hands Moses is a man that hath power in earth and in heaven hee is a man that when there is a danger can go up to the heavens and so put the Lord to it that he saith Let mee alone that I may destroy this wicked people and I will make thee a great nation he would have hired him to have come to an accommodation men are now upon accommodating but a Moses will not accommodate no not with God himself when his people are in danger but he will have a blessing upon good terms hee will have Gods wrath removed and a reconciliation between heaven and earth or else Moses will never be quiet with God what a losse is such a man after his death if God had not
depart from Israel Trausiit prophetia ab Israele Shind which was the saddest blow one of them that ever Israel had All the rest were Prophets of the first Temple and among them was our Prophet Ezekiel and Daniel though they were in the captivity for the first Temple was not yet destoyed and they had lived at Jerusalem among the Prophets and the Prophets of the former Temple it is observed had the largest visions and the fullest discoveries of the minde of God more was discovered in the first Temple then in the second till Christ his comming for the second Temple had Prophets but forty yeers after it was built and the first Temple had Prophets for four hundred and thirty yeeres The Prophets to speak for the honour of this our Prophet were all honourable men men of great esteem and worth they were men of God as it is said 1 King 17.24 I know thou art a man of God Ish Elohim a man of the Gods a man of God the Father a man of God the Son a man of God the Holy Ghost hee had to do with all a man of Gods counsell a man of Gods protection a man of Gods countenancing a man of God that stood for God a man of God that would plead the cause of God in the corruptest times against the desperate enemies A Prophet was a man of God That they were very honourable you shall find by that passage 1 Sam. 10.11 Is Saul also among the Prophets It is a Proverbiall speech and noteth a thing that is very rare and unusuall What is Saul that was a man of mean condition Saul that was erewhile seeking his fathers Asses is Saul now come to so high and honourable a condition as to be a mong the Prophets This was matter of wonder The Prophets they were so honourable and in so high an esteem that it was counted a strange thing for any to come to that dignity and preferment that were not of the Propheticall race the Tribe of Levi or such as were in order to those holy functions They were likewise men priviledged Psal 105.15 Touch not mine Anointed and do my Prophets no harm Anointed is the same with Prophet as Expositors observe though it is carryed otherwise in the generall apprehension of men for Kings but anointed here is the same with Prophet They were anointed when the Holy Ghost was given unto them and they were called unto their Office this was their anointing of God and they must not be touched nor harmed Gen. 20.7 saith God to Abimelech Give the man his wife for he is a Prophet he is an honourable man he is a man of high account in mine eyes Princes must not wrong a Prophet God spake to a Prince Give him his wife for he is a Prophet the greatest person in the world should not dare to touch a Prophet that is a man so honourable a man of God and so gifted and sent of him to such great imployments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Further a Prophet was called in Scripture a Seer 1 Sam. 9.9 Let us go to the Seer for he is now called a Prophet that was before time called a Seer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that i from the Hebrew word to see and not barely to see but to see exactly curiously throughly into things The Prophets saw through the clouds they saw into the heavens they saw into the very counsell of God Isa 30.10 Which say to the Seers See not you see too much the meaning is you see too acurately why do you see so and tell us such things So Abraham he was a Prophet you heard before he was likewise a Seer Joh. 8.56 Abraham rejoyced to see my day he saw it distinctly he saw it so as it affected him he saw it and was glad There is besides this word another name in the Hebrew which the Prophets had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that was Chozeh Isa 30.10 That say to the Prophets Prophecie not the Hebrew is La chozim to those that foresee and foretell things you have a conjuncture of these three in one verse 1 Chron. 29.29 They are written in the book of Samuel Haroah the Seer and in the book of Nathan Hannabi the Prophet and in the book of Gad Hachozeh the Seer The word cometh of Chazah to contemplate to see from which root comes our English word to gaze and so it is interpreted Isa 47.13 Star-gazers this only by the way Our Prophet had the honour to be a Seer as well as a Prophet therefore verse 1. it is said I saw visions I had the honour to see visions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and visions of a God These Titles of Seer and Prophet as they set out the dignity so likewise they point out the duty of the person As they were Seers they were the eyes of the Church Oculi Ecclesiae to see good coming or evill that they might incourage them upon the one and draw them to repentance upon the other As they were Prophets they were os Domini the mouth of the Lord to speak to the people whatsoever the Lord himself did make known to them All this then doth but serve to breed in you an honourable esteem of this our Prophet hee is a man of God hee is a man honourable among the rest of the Prophets hee is a Seer he is the eye of the Church he is the mouth of God Having thus opened unto you the Title I shall now shew to you 1. The scope and occasion of this Prophet 2. The nature and condition of it 3. The seasonableness of this Prophecie for this time 4. What benefit you are like to have by this Prophet and then divide the Prophecie in generall and fall into the Chapter 1. For the scope and occasion of this Prophecy In generall it is to shew the certainty of Jerusalems destruction and the seventy yeers captivity which were now in question and so to confirm the Prophecy of Jeremy being of the same argument Jeremy having prophecied of the captivity of Jerusalem for seventy yeers the utter ruine of the City and Temple many both in Jerusalem and Babylon the captivity being begun for now Ezekiel and divers were in Babylon murmured and complained of Jeremy that he was a false Prophet that hee had not the Spirit of God that hee had misled the people that he had brought them into bondage by his fair words put them upon yeelding unto the King of Babylon and betrayed them You shall finde false Prophets bestirred themselves and opposed his prophecy both in Sion and in Babylon as Jer. 28.1 2 3. Hananiah being at Jerusalem when Jeremiah was in the house of the Lord in the presence of the Priests and of all the people saith he Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel saying I have broken the yoak of the King of Babylon within two full yeers will I bring again into this place all the vessels
hee would not go into the Temple to save his life he knew the glory of God the cause work and people of God should suffer by it and therefore he would venture his life So Basil when threaten'd with cruell usuage and death said to him had the power in his hand This body thou art Lord of only not of our faith or the cause we stand for and whereas swords wild beasts cutting of our flesh Potius nobis deliciae quam tormenta sunt c. are threaten'd these things are rather pleasures then terrors to us we look at better things then the world hath for which we are not unwilling to lay out our lives Rev. 12.11 the Worthies of those times loved not their lives unto the death they stood bled dyed for Christ and his Cause who had stood bled dyed for them Another observation is That it 's the lot of the righteous to dwell amongst the wicked the Prophet here dwelt amongst Scorpions and was amidst Briers and Thorns a sad habitation yet such as is common to the Saints Lot dwelt in Sodome and his righteous soul was vexed 2 Pet. 2.8 it was pained tormented as a man upon the rack and David dwelt among those were enemies to peace and it made him cry out Woe is me that I so journ in Mesech and dwell in the Tents of Kedar Psal 120.5 6. that is with ungodly and barbarous people and it 's not the condition of some few but the Church it self Cant. 2.2 which is as a Lilly among Thorns so was the Church in Egypt in Babylon in the Primitive times amongst the persecuting Emperours and their officers so in the time of Antichrist and at this day it is among Thorns and Scorpions but here is the comfort of it God takes notice thereof Rev. 2.13 The Church of Pergamus dwelt where Satans throne was where he bare most sway had most honour a multitude of servants where was great uncleannesse hot persecution there did the Church of Pergamus dwell and what saith the Text I know thy works and where thou dwellest I know that is I take speciall notice of all thy works wrongs how the Thorns do scratch the Scorpions sting thee and I will reward thee for all 2 Pet. 2.9 After mention being made of Lots being vexed with the Sodomites it 's said The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation he observes who they are among how they are tempted and knowes wayes of deliverance for them and appeares amongst them VER 7. And thou shalt speak my words unto them whether they will beare or whether they will forbeare for they are most rebellious THere is nothing difficult in this Verse the words they are most rebellious in the originall are they are rebellion in the abstract noting the strength and growth of their sin of which hath been spoken in the 5th Verse only observe from hence 1. That the Messengers of God must speak the word of God Thou shalt speak my words unto them not thine own not other mens but my words Gods words are divine verba vitae mortis and they must be spoken unto the people not our chaffy powerlesse words Matth. 28.20 Teach them to observe what ever I have commanded you they must speak only that and all that nothing must they dissemble or hide away 2. That God cares not whether wicked vile sinners hear or no it 's sufficient to him that they refuse offers of grace that 's enough to justifie him and condemne them whether they will heare or forbeare it matters not I shall have my glory and thou thy reward what ever becomes of them And God deals roundly with them so Christ in Mark 16.16 He that believeth shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned yea Joh. 3.18 He that believes not is condemned already and when Christ sent out his Disciples see how quick and round hee is with those should not receive them and their word Matth. 10.14 Whosoever shall not receive you and your words when yee depart out of that house or city shake off the dust of your feet as a testimony against them Mark 6.11 It shall be more easie for Sodome or Gomorrah then for that house or city VER 8 9 10. But thou Son of man heare what I say unto thee be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house open thy mouth and eat that I give thee 9 And when I looked behold a hand was sent unto mee and lo a roul of a booke was therein 10 And he spread it before mee and it was written within and without and there was written therein lamentations and mourning and woe IN these Verses besides Christ instructing of the Prophet you have his farther confirmation in his propheticall Office and that by a visible sign by which hee conveys the gift of prophecying unto Ezekiel and it 's by a roul of a book concerning which wee have these things considerable 1. The efficient cause or whence it came a hand was sent unto mee 2. The materiall cause a roul of a book 3. The opening of it it was spread before mee 4. The contents of it lamentations mourning and woe But before we come to this roul and the particulars of it wee must speak of Christs instructions to the Prophet In the 8th Verse where wee have First an exhortation Son of man heare what I say unto thee Secondy a prohibition be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house Thirdly a command open thy mouth and eat that I give thee The summe of the Verse is this Ezekiel saith Christ see thou hearken unto my voyce whatsoever I say to thee let that be acceptable regard not what men what thine heart and carnall reason say to thee but remember I am God and King I sit upon the Throne my counsels and words must stand be not thou rebellious as the Jewes are let not their example power relation to thee make thee refuse to heare what I say or to eat this visible and sacramentall sign which I give thee There is nothing difficult in the Verse to cleare up unto you only these words Open thy mouth you may think superfluous and that the word Eat had been enough but there is nothing idle in the Scripture all is of weight and such weight that heaven and earth shall passe away before one iota of Gods Word it 's a rule among the learned Vox qua videtur otiosa plurimum facit ad effectum it notes the ardent desire of Christ that the Prophet should have the benefit of this sacramentall sign and that hee should be forward and ready unto it do any thing conduced that way Obser 1. That those are to teach others must first heare and be taught themselves they must heare Christ and learne of him Ezekiel must heare what Christ saith unto him and then he would be fit to speak unto others when the Lord Christ sent out his Disciples he instructed them first Matth.