And v. 17. Spare thy people O Lord and give not thine heritage to reproach that the heathen should rule over them And v. 20. But I will remove far off from you the northern Army and will drive him into a land barren and desolate These places make it probable that this Day of the Lord was a Judgment and Destruction upon their Land by the Assyrians and Chaldeans And it seems probable to me that both the Captivity of the ten Tribes and also of the Kingdom of Judah were hereby threatned if they were not the chief things here intended by this day of the Lord the Prophet Joel as most affirm living before them both And this was a very sore and terrible day of the Lord to them indeed when they were invaded and domineer'd over by foreign Armies when they were driven from their own Habitations and rooted out of their own Land and their whole Polity and Government was destroyed when they were driven from Jerusalem their beloved City and the City of the great King the Lord of Hosts and their magnificent Worship at the Temple was quite extinguished and the Temple it self burnt down and destroyed when they were carried away like Slaves into a strange Land from whence the greater Part of them never returned again and the other Part underwent a Servitude of seventy Years before they returned and came back into their own Land again This was a very sore and terrible day of the Lord to them indeed And some do refer this Prophecy of Joel to all the Miseries and Destructions that were brought upon them by the Chaldeans Persians Grecians Syrians and Romans And it seems clear to me that the Prophet's great and terrible Day of the Lord Joel 2.31 is to be understood of that dreadful destruction of the Jewish Nation by the Romans about 38 or 39 years after the Death of our Saviour when they were most miserably destroyed when Sword and Famine both raged horribly among them The great effusion of the Spirit was to be before this day as we may see here in Joel 2.28 And this S. Peter tells us was fulfilled upon the day of Pentecost and afterwards Acts 2.16 which makes it more than probable that by this terrrible day was meant that heavy destruction by the Romans From hence then I shall farther shew that God doth often threaten and inflict very sore and terrible Judgments and Calamities upon Cities and Nations for the great Wickedness of them when it is grown ripe for such a temporal Punishment First We may see that God doth often threaten to send very terrible and grievous Judgments and Destructions upon Cities and Nations for the great Wickedness and Provocations of the Inhabitants of them when they are guilty of such With Sword Famine and Pestilence evil and noisome Beasts and the removing of his Word and Gospel and other such Plagues and Judgments doth God threaten those that abuse his Mercies and rebel against him and the light of his Word and wax bold and presumptuous in Sin and Wickedness Moses hath spent the greatest part of Deut. 28. in telling the Jews what plagues and judgments of God should light upon them if they should forsake God and fall to Idolatry and such grievous Wickedness how they should be cursed every way till they were consumed Deut. 28.20 The Lord shall send upon thee cursing vexation and rebuke in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do until thou be destroyed and until thou perish quickly because of the wickedness of thy doings whereby thou hast forsaken me The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee until he have consumed thee from off the land whether thou goest to possess it The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption and with a fever and with an inflammation and with an extream burning and with the sword and with blasting and with mildew and they shall pursue thee until thou perish And much more to this purpose as you may see there The Prophet Samuel tells them after that if they went on in Wickedness they should be consumed 1 Sam. 12.23 But if ye shall still do wickedly ye shall be consumed both ye and your King And the Prophets do often warn the Jews and others that a day of the Lord's Vengeance was coming upon them in their days Isa 13.6 saith the Prophet concerning the Burthen of Babylon Howl ye for the day of the Lord is at hand it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty And saith God to the Prophet Ezekiel 14.13 Son of man when a land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously then will I stretch out my hand upon it and will break the staff of the bread thereof and will send famine upon it and will cut off man and Beast from it And Sword and Pestilence are threatned too as we may see in the following Verses And Ezek. 30.2 Son of man prophesie and say thus saith the Lord Howl ye wo worth the day For the day is near even the day of the Lord is near a cloudy day it shall be the time of the beathen And the sword shall come upon Egypt and great pain shall be in Ethiopia when the slain shall fall in Egypt and they shall take away her multitude and her foundations shall be broken down And saith the Prophet Zephaniah 1.7 8. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God for the day of the Lord is at hand for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice he hath bid his guests And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice that I will punish the Princes and the Kings children and all such as are cloathed with strange apparel And v. 14. The great day of the Lord is near it is near and hasteth greatly even the voice of the day of the Lord the mighty man shall cry there bitterly And saith the Prophet Zechariah 14.1 Behold the day of the Lord cometh and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee For I will gather all Nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city shall be taken and the houses rifled and the Women ravished Then shall the Lord go forth and sight against those Nations as when he fought in the day of battel By these and such places we may see that God hath oft threatned to bring a Day of Vengeance and Wrath upon the Jews and others and to visit them with some Judgment or other for their Wickedness when it was grown great We may see that such Judgments and Plagues and Calamities are not meerly casual and come not upon Men by blind Chance that they are not the Effects of an inevitable Fate farther than Men make them so themselves and that they are not to be ascribed to such Causes as worldly and carnal Men are too ready to ascribe them But that they are the Orderings and Disposals of divine Providence and the Rods and Scourges of the Just and Righteous Governour of all the World who
THE Watch-man's Voice Giving Warning to all Men OF THE Dreadful Day of the Lord Which he apprehends to be at hand That they may take a due Care to save their Souls and Lives that they Perish not therein and that their Blood may not be required at his hand Written by DIGBY BULL M. A. and late Rector of Sheldon in Warwick-shire LONDON Printed for the AUTHOR And are to be Sold by J. Whitlock near Stationers-Hall 1695. JOEL ii 1. Blow ye the Trumpet in Zion and sound an Alarm in my Holy Mountain let all the Inhabitants of the Land tremble for the Day of the Lord cometh for it is nigh at hand I Being set up as a Spiritual Watchman over you tho' unworthy of so high and sacred a Calling do conceive that it is my duty to give Warning whensoever I shall apprehend that any great Danger is at hand or that any great Evil is ready to light upon us And also that it is your duty to hearken to the voice of your Spiritual Watchman and to take warning by him And now I conceive that it is high time or more than time that I give you Warning That I give you Warning That I apprehend that the Enemy is at hand That the days of Darkness are coming upon us That the Romish Religion like a violent Flood is ready to overflow us And that that great Stream if we have not a very great care is like to carry us to Destruction and Perdition in the end I conceive that all the humane Power that can be used at this time is not able to stop it and that nothing but a general Repentance and Reformation of our Lives can prevent and turn away this Judgment of God from us which we by our Sins and great Wickedness have brought upon our selves And because such a general Repentance and Reformation of our Lives is now alas to be despaired of therefore I have thought good to make choice of these words of the Prophet for the Subject of my ensuing Discourse that from them I might warn you of this Judgment which I apprehend and am fully persuaded is coming upon us That we may prepare our selves against it and may be able thro' Divine Assistance in some measure to stand in the Evil Day and not be carried away with the violence of Temptation to the ruin of both Body and Soul in the end But before I proceed to these words of the Text perhaps it may not be amiss to premise this to you viz. That I have not made choice of these words thereby intending to blow up any sparks of Rebellion or to give any encouragement to rise up against Government It is not my Province nor my desire to sound any Classicum for the Field but to give Exhortations and some Instructions for the Closet and for a Spiritual Preparation against this Day of the Lord and to dissuade Men from taking up and medling with any carnal Weapons at this time I have always born a Loyal Mind and never entertained any Rebellious Thoughts so far as I am conscious to my self and thro' Divine help Loyal I intend to be in the blackest of Times And I would have no one to entertain any Prejudice and Jealousie against me for I am in Charity with all the World as I hope and thirst after no ones Blood and Destruction and my Office and desire is to be a Messenger of Peace hereby to all Men without any exception that will hearken to my Voice and take Warning by me I am sensible that the sacred Scriptures do strictly enjoin Obedience to Superiors and Governors and do sharply threaten all such as do rise up against their Lawful Rulers and I would have all others to be so too The great Reason that any may be apt to think that there is at some times to rise up against Authority and Lawful Government will by no means tolerate and make it Lawful so to do but those that do so are like to be sharply punished in the end for such a work Our Lord hath told us Matt. 26.52 That all they that take the Sword shall perish with the Sword And this was spoken when Peter had drawn his Sword to defend his Lord and Master and to save his Life John 18.26 And if our blessed Lord would not suffer him to use his Sword upon this account to save his life but bid him put it up into its place again we may be sure that we ought at no time to rise up against Government If those then that should take up the Sword were like to perish with it we may well expect the same now And St. Paul doth tell us Rom. 13.2 That they that resist the Power resist the Ordinance of God and that they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation And I would not have this to be any of our portion And if this was true Doctrine in Nero's time we may be sure that it is so in ours And saith St. John Rev. 13.9 10. If any man have an ear let him hear He that leadeth into Captivity shall go into Captivity He that killeth with the Sword must be killed with the Sword And so I fear it will be now He that shall unlawfully and unjustly use this Weapon must expect to have it returned upon himself and to have his own blood spilt with it if he use it in an unrighteous way to the shedding of the blood of others From these places we may see what those are to expect that rise up against their Lawful Authority and Government And we may see that we are commanded to be Subject to Kings and all in Authority and that there is no such Exception annexed to such Commands that any time or circumstances will exempt Men from their Obedience to them Rom. 13.1 saith St. Paul Let every soul be subject unto the Higher Powers for there is no Power but of God the Powers that be are ordained of God We are to be Subject and Obedient to these in all things that are good and lawful because they are ordained of God and in so doing we are subject in a remoter degree to God himself From these and other places we may see how clearly our subjection to Kings and Governors is set down and that we cannot resist and rise up against them without transgressing the Divine Commands of Almighty God It is not to promote any sin and wickedness or any disorder in the Nation but to exhort us all to a general Repentance and amendment of our sinful lives and to implore help and assistance against the Evil Time which I am convinced is coming upon us that I have made choice of these words of the Prophet Joel That we all from hence may be warned to call all our Sins and Iniquities to mind and to be deeply humbled for them and for the manifold and great Provocations and Transgressions of the whole Kingdom That we may make our hearty and earnest Addresses to
Almighty God that he of his great Goodness and for the sake of our dear Lord and Saviour would be pleased freely to pardon and forgive us our great Wickedness that makes such a great separation and distance between us and our God That we may call for and seek to procure a supernatural Assistance from above to keep us from being born away with such a black Stream and Tide of Wickedness as is now ready to break in upon us That we may all be awakened out of our carnal and vain Security and prepare for such an extraordinary coming of Almighty God among us That every one may make clean his own Door against this signal Approach that no Wickedness which is so loathsom to God may be found thereat That Warning may be given and such a Preparation made do I purpose by God's help to say something upon these words of the Prophet wherein this Warning was to be given to the Jews of the Day of the Lord being at hand to them Blow ye the Trumpet in Zion and sound an Alarm in my holy Mountain Let all the Inhabitants of the Land Tremble for the Day of the Lord cometh for it is nigh at hand In these words we may observe these three Particulars First That the Trumpet was to be blown and an Alarm to be sounded in God's Church and among his People Blow ye the Trumpet in Zion and sound an Alarm in my holy Mountain Secondly That all were to hearken to and regard the sound thereof and to be moved to fear and trembling upon it Let all the Inhabitants of the Land Tremble And Thirdly The Reason of it because a great Visit and Judgment of God upon them was then at hand for the Day of the Lord cometh for it is nigh at hand I purpose to say something to every one of these Particulars but to begin with the last first I. For the Day of the Lord cometh for it is nigh at hand I intend not to trouble my self nor you with any deep Inquiry what Day of the Lord this was which the Prophet here declared to be coming and nigh at hand The Day of the Lord as it is a day and season of Terror and to be prepared for doth signifie several Days and Times 1. The Day of the Lord doth point at the great and final Day of Judgment when our Lord and Saviour shall come in a most glorious manner to judge the whole World and to reward every one according to his works when the Heavens shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat when the Earth and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up as St. Peter saith 2 Pet. 3.10 And when all sinners that repent not of their wickedness shall be given up to that everlasting Fire that was prepared for the Devil and his Angels Matt. 25.41 This is the most eminent and dreadful Day of the Lord of all 2. The Day of the Lord in the Scriptures doth often respect some Temporal Judgment and Calamity that God doth bring or is bringing upon a Land or Nation for the great sin and wickedness thereof And such doth this Day of the Lord here seem to be 3. The Day of the Lord may be referred to particular Men tho' the Scripture doth not seem often to use the Day of the Lord with respect to single Persons only When God doth send some great Judgment and Calamity upon single Persons it may be looked upon as a Day of the Lord's wrath to them And the day of their Death may well be accounted as such And indeed a terrible day of the wrath of God will it be to them if they be surprised and snatch'd away in their sins without Repentance We may see what a miserable case the Fool in the Parable was in who was snatch'd away in the midst of his Jollity when he was singing Requiems to his Soul and promising himself great joy and happiness to come Luke 12.20 But God said unto him Thou fool this night thy Soul shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided Like a Dream and a Vapor will all such Worldly confidence and trust leave Men and into this Fool 's Paradise will such be brought The things wherein they trust like the Morning Cloud will soon vanish away and they from their high confidence will drop into the Pit of Destruction We read of the Rich Man Luke 16.22 That he died and was buried and immediately after it follows That in Hell he lift up his eyes being in Torments We may see that the day of Death especially to sinners that die without Repentance may well be looked upon as a day of the Lord and a dreadful one too to them But here the words of the Prophet do seem to respect some temporal and publick Judgment and Calamity of God upon the Jewish Land and Nation and are to be ranked in the second place But what kind of Judgment and Calamity this was which the Prophet here gives this Warning of is not agreed Some do conceive that this day of the Lord here in the Text was a sore and grievous Famine and Calamity brought upon the Jews by Locusts Catterpillers and the like Creatures And some places in this Prophecy of Joel do seem to give testimony this way Joel 1.4 saith the Prophet That which the Palmer-worm hath left hath the Locust eaten and that which the Locust hath left hath the Canker-worm eaten and that which the Canker-worm hath left hath the Catterpiller eaten And v. 18. How do the Beasts groan The Herds of Cattel are perplexed because they have no Pasture And Joel 2.25 And I will restore to you the years that the Locust hath eaten the Canker-worm and the Catterpiller and the Palmer-worm my great Army which I sent among you These and such places do give countenance to this Interpretation that this day of the Lord was a sore judgment of Famine upon the Land of the Jews occasioned by Locusts Catterpillers and such Creatures and that by Famine and other ways they were sorely afflicted by them And we may see in the Book of Exodus chap. 10. That Locusts were one of the great Plagues and Judgments that God sent upon the Egyptians And with a plague of Locusts doth God threaten to scourge his People the Jews if they should revolt and fall from him to Idolatry Deut. 28.38 42. Again some do conceive that this day of the Lord might be some great Destruction and Waste that was to be brought upon them by the Armies of the Assyrians and Chaldeans c. that they were to be plagued and scourged by them And some places in this Prophecy do agree herewith Joel 1.6 For a Nation is come up upon my land strong and without number whose teeth are as the teeth of a lion and he hath the cheek-teeth of a great lion And Joel 2.2 A great people and a strong there hath not been ever the like