Bidkar his Captaine that the bleeding carkasse of Iehoram should be cast vpon that very platt of Naboth Oh Naboths blood well paid for Ahabs blood is licked by dogs in the very place where those dogs lickt Naboths Iehorams blood shall manure that ground which was wrung from Naboth and Iezebel shall adde to this compost Oh garden of hearbes dearly bought royally dunged What a resemblance there is betwixt the death of the father and the sonne Ahab and Iehoram Both are slaine in their charet Both with an arrow Both repay their blood to Naboth and how perfit is this retaliation Not only Naboth miscaried in that cruell iniustice but his sonnes also else the inheritance of the vineyard had descended to his heires notwithstanding his pretended offence and now not onely Ahab forfaits his blood to this field but his sonne Iehoram also Face doth not more answer to face then punishment to sinne It was time for Ahaziah King of Iuda to flee Nay it had beene time long before to haue fled from the sins yea from the house of Ahab That brand is fearfull which God sets vpon him Hee did euill in the sight of the Lord as did the house of Ahab for he was the sonne in law of the house of Ahab Affinity is too often guilty of corruption The son of good Iehosaphat is lost in Ahabs daughter Now hee payes for his kinde alliance accompanying the son of Ahab in his death whom hee consorted with in his Idolatry Yong Ahaziah was scarce warme in his throne when the mis-matched blood of Athaliah is required from him Nothing is more dangerous then to be imped in a wicked family this relation too often drawes in a share both of sin and punishment Who would not haue lookt that Iezebel hearing of this bloody end of her son and pursuit of her allye and the fearfull proceedings of this prosperous conspiracy should haue put her selfe into sack-cloth and ashes and now finding no meanes either of defence or escape should haue cast her selfe into such a posture of humiliation as might haue moued the compassion of Iehu Her proud heart could not suddenly learne to stoope rather she recollects her high spirits and in stead of humbling her soule by repentance and addressing her selfe for an imminent death she pranks vp her old carkasse and paints her wrinkled face and as one that vainly hopes to daunt the courage of an vsurper by the sudden beames of Maiesty she lookes out and thinks to fright him with the challenge of a traitor whose either mercy or iustice could not be auoided Extremitie findes vs such as our peace leaues vs Our last thoughts are spent vpon that wee care most for those that haue regarded their face more then their soule in their latter end are more taken vp with desire of seeming faire then being happy It is no maruell if an heart obdured with the custome of sinne shut vp gracelesly Counterfait beauty agrees well with inward vncleannesse Iebues resolution was too strongly setled to bee remoued with a painted face or an opprobrious tongue He lookes vp to the window and sayes Who is on my side who There want not those euery where which will be ready to obserue preuailing greatnesse Two or three Eunuchs looke out He bids them Throw her downe They instantly lay hold on their lately adored Mistris and notwithstanding all her shrieks and prayers cast her downe headlong into the street What heed is to be taken of the deepe professed seruices of hollow harted followers All this while they haue with humble smiles and officious deuotions fawned vpon their great Queene now vpon the call of a prosperous enemy they forget their respects her royalty and cast her downe as willing executioners into the iawes of a fearfull death It is hard for greatnesse to know them whom it may trust Perhaps the fairest semblance is from the falsest heart It was a iust plague of God vpon wicked Iezebel that shee was inwardly hated of her owne He whose seruants she persecuted raised vp enemies to her from her owne elbow Thus must pride fall Insolent idolatrous cruell Iezebel besprinkles the walls and pauement with her blood and now those braines that deuised mischiefe against the seruants of God are strawed vpon the stones and she that insulted vpon the Prophets is trampled vpon by the horses heeles The wicked is kept for the day of destruction and shall be brought forth to the day of wrath Death puts an end commonly to the hyest displeasure He that was seuere in the execution of the liuing is mercifull in the sepulture of the dead Goe see now this cursed woman and bury her for she is a Kings daughter She that vpbrayded Iehu with the name of Zimri shall be interred by Iehu as Omries daughter in law as a Sydonian Princesse Somewhat must bee yeelded to humanity somewhat to State The dogs haue preuented Iehu in this purpose and haue giuen her a liuing toomb more ignoble then the worst of the earth Onely the scull hands and feet of that vanished carkasse yet remaine The scull which was the roofe of all her wicked deuices the hands and feet which were the executioners these shall remaine as the monuments of those shamefull exequies that future times seeing these fragments of a body might say The dogges were worthy of the rest Thus Iezebel is turned to dung and dogs-meat Elijah is verified Naboth is reuenged Izreel is purged Iehu is zealous and in all God is iust IEHV killing the sonnes of AHAB and the Priests of BAAL THere were two prime Cities of the Ten Tribes which were the set Courts of the Kingdome of Israel Samaria and Iezreel The chiefe palace of the King was Iezreel the mother City of the Kingdome was Samaria Iehu is possessed of the one without any sword drawne against him Iezreel willingly changes the master yeelding it selfe to the victor of two Kings to the auenger of Iezebel the next care is Samaria Either policy or force shall fetch in that head of the Tribes The plentifull issue of Princes is no small assurance to the people Ahab had sonnes enough to furnish the Thrones of all the neighbour nations to maintaine the hopes of succession to all times How secure did he think the perpetuation of his posterity when he saw seuenty sons from his owne loynes Neither was this Royall issue trusted either to weake walls or to one roofe but to the strong bulwarkes of Samaria and therein to the seuerall guards of the chiefe Peeres It was the wise care of their parents not to haue them obnoxious to the danger of a common mis-cariage or of those emulations which wait vpon the cloyednesse of an vndiuided conuersation but to order their separation so as one may rescue other from the perill of assault as one may respect other out of a familiar strangenesse Had Ahab and Iezebel beene as wise for their soules as they were for their seed both had prospered Iehu is
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
vvhen we are throughly empty A short hunger doth but whet the appetite but so long an abstinence meets death halfe way to preuent it Well may they inioyne sharp penances vnto others who practise it vpon themselues It was the face of Esther that must hope to win Ahasuerus yet that shall be macerated with fasting that she may preuaile A carnall heart would haue pampered the flesh that it might allure those wanton eyes shee pines it that she may please God and not she must work the hart of the King Faith teaches her rather to trust her deuotions then her beauty ESTHER suing to AHASVERVS THE Iewes are easily intreated to fast who had receiued in themselues the sentence of death what pleasure could they take in meat that knew what day they must eate their last The three dayes of abstinence are expired now Esther changes her spirits no lesse then her clothes Who that sees that face and that habit can say she had mourned she had fasted Neuer did her royall apparell become her so well That God before whom she had humbled her selfe made her so much more beautifull as she had beene more deiected And now with a winning confidence she walks into the inner court of the King and puts her selfe into that forbidden presence as if she said Here I am with my life in my hand if it please the King to take it it is ready for him Vashti my predecessor forfaited her place for not comming when she was called Esther shall now hazard the forfaiture of her life for comming when she is not called It is necessity not disobedience that hath put me vpon this bold approch according to thy construction O King I doe either liue or dye either shall be welcome The inexpectednesse of pleasing obiects makes them many times the more acceptable the beautifull countenance the gracefull demeanure and goodly presence of Esther haue no sooner taken the eyes then they haue rauished the hart of King Ahasuerus Loue hath soone banished all dreadfulnesse And the King held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand Moderate intermission is so farre from cooling the affection that it inflames it had Esther been seene euery day perhaps that satiety had abated of the height of her welcome now three and thirty dayes retirednesse hath indeared her more to the surfeted eyes of Ahasuerus Had not the golden Scepter been held out where had Queen Esther beene The Persian Kings affected a stern awfulnesse to their subiects It was death to solicit them vncalled How safe how easie how happy a thing it is to haue to doe with the King of heauen who is so pleased with our accesse that he solicits sutors who as he is vnweariable with our requests so is infinite in his beneficences How gladly doth Esther touch the top of that Scepter by which shee holds her life and now whiles she thinks it well that she may liue she receiues besides pardon fauour What wilt thou Queene Esther and what is thy request it shall be giuen thee euen to the halfe of the Kingdome Commonly when wee feare most wee speed best God then most of all magnifies his bounty to vs when we haue most afflicted our selues Ouer-confident expectations are seldome but disappointed whiles humble suspicions goe laughing away It was the benefit and safety of but one peece of the Kingdome that Esther comes to sue for and behold Ahasuerus offers her the free power of the halfe He that gaue Haman at the first word the liues of all his Iewish subiects is ready to giue Esther halfe his Kingdome ere she aske Now shee is no lesse amazed at the louing munificence of Ahasuerus then she was before afraid of his austerity The Kings hart is in the hand of the Lord as the riuers of water hee turneth it whithersoeuer hee will It is not good to swallow fauours too greedily lest they either choke vs in the passage or proue hard of digestion The wise Queene howeuer shee might seeme to haue a faire opportunity offered to her suit findes it not good to apprehend it too suddenly as desiring by this small dilation to prepare the eare and hart of the King for so important a request Now all her petition ends in a banquet If it seeme good vnto the King let the King and Haman come this day vnto the banquet that I haue prepared for him It is an easie fauor to receiue a small courtesie where we offer to giue great Haman is called the King comes to Esthers table and now highly pleased with his entertainment hee himselfe solicits her to propound that suit for which her modesty would but durst not solicit him Bashfulnesse shall leese nothing at the hand of wel-gouerned greatnesse Yet still Esthers suit stickes in her teeth and dares not come forth without a further preface of time and expectation Another banquet must passe ere this reckning can be giuen in Other suitors wait long for the deliuerie of their petition longer for the receit of their answer Here the King is faine to wait for his suit Whether Esthers hart would not yet serue her to contest with so strong an aduersary as Haman without further recollection or whether she desired to get better hold of the King by indearing him with so pleasing entertainments or whether shee would thus ripen her hopes by working in the mind of king Ahasuerus a fore-conceit of the greatnesse and difficulty of that suit which was so loath to come forth or whether she meant thus to giue scope to the pride and malice of Haman for his more certaine ruine Howsoeuer it were to morrow is a new day set for Esthers second banquet third petition The King is not inuited without Haman Fauors are sometimes done to men with a purpose of displeasure Doubtlesse Haman tasted of the same cates with his master neither could hee in the forehead of Esther read any other characters then of respect and kind applause yet had shee then in her hopes disigned him to a iust reuenge Little do we know by outward cariages in what termes we stand with either God or men Euery little winde raiseth vp a bubble How is Haman now exalted in himselfe with the singular grace of Queene Esther and begins to value himselfe so much more as hee sees himselfe higher in the rate of others opinion Only surly and sullen Mordecai is an allay to his happinesse No edict of death can bow the knees of that stout Iew yea the notice of that bloody cruelty of this Agagite haue stiffned them so much the more Before he lookt at Haman as an Amalekite now as a persecutor Disdaine and anger looke out at those eyes and bid that proud enemy doe his worst No doubt Mordecai had beene listening after the speed of Queen Esther how shee came in to the King how she was welcom'd with the golden scepter and with the more precious words of Ahasuerus how shee had intertained the King how