of Israel doth not so trust his Prophets that hee dares trust himselfe in his owne clothes Thus shall he elude Michaiahs threat Iwis the iudgement of God the Syrian shafts cannot finde him out in this vnsuspected disguise How fondly doe vaine men imagine to shift off the iust reuenges of the Almightie The King of Syria giues charge to his Captaines to fight against none but the King of Israel Thus doth the vnthankfull Infidell repay the mercy of his late victor Ill was that Snake saued that requites the fauour of his life with a sting Thus still the greatest are the fairest marke to enuious eyes By how much more eminent any man is in the Israel of God so many more and more dangerous enemies must he expect Both earth and hell conspire in their opposition to the worthiest Those who are aduanced aboue others haue so much more need of the guard both of their owne vigilancy and others prayers Iehoshaphat had like to haue paid deare for his loue Hee is pursued for him in whose amity he offended His cries deliuer him his cries not to his pursuers but to his God whose mercy takes not aduantage of our infirmitie but rescues vs from those euils which we wilfully prouoke It is Ahab against whom not the Syrians onely but God himselfe intends this quarrell The enemy is taken off from Iehoshaphat Oh the iust and mightie hand of that diuine prouidence which directeth all our actions to his owne ends which takes order where euery shaft shall light and guides the arrow of the strong Archer into the ioynts of Ahabs harnesse It was shot at a venture fals by a destiny and there fals where it may carrie death to an hidden debtor In all actions both voluntary and casuall thy will O God shall bee done by vs with what euer intentions Little did the Syrian know whom he had striken no more than the arrow wherewith he stroke An inuisible hand disposed of both to the punishment of Ahab to the vindication of Michaiab How worthily O God art thou to bee adored in thy iustice and wisdome to bee feared in thy iudgements Too late doth Ahab now thinke of the faire warnings of Michaiah which hee vnwisely contemned of the painfull flatteries of Zedekiah which he stubbornly beleeued That guiltie bloud of his runnes downe out of his wound into the midst of his charet and paies Naboth his arerages O Ahab what art thou the better for thine Iuory house whiles thou hast a blacke soule What comfort hast thou now in those flattering Prophets which tickled thine eares and secured thee of victories What ioy is it to thee now that thou wast great Who had not rather be Michaiah in the Iayle than Ahab in the Charet Wicked men haue the aduantage of the way godly men of the end The Charet is washed in the poole of Samaria the dogges come to claime their due they licke vp the bloud of the great King of Israel The tongues of those brute creatures shall make good the tongue of Gods Prophet Michaiah is iustified Naboth is reuenged the Baalites confounded Ahab iudged Righteous art thou O God in all thy waies and holy in all thy workes AHAZIAH sicke and ELIJAH reuenged AHaziah succeeds his father Ahab both in his throne and in his sin Who could looke for better issue of those loines of those examples God followes him with a double iudgement of the reuolt of Moab and of his owne sicknes All the reigne of Ahab had Moab beene a quiet Tributarie and furnished Israel with rich flockes and fleeces now their subiection dies with that warlike King and will not be inherited This rebellion tooke aduantage as from the weaker spirits so from the sickly body of Ahaziah whose disease was not naturall but casuall Walking in his Palace of Samaria some grate in the floore of his Chamber breakes vnder him and giues way to that fall whereby he is bruised and languisheth The same hand that guided Ahabs shaft crackes Ahaziahs lattesse How infinite varietie of plagues hath the iust God for obstinate sinners whether in the field or in the chamber hee knowes to finde them out How fearelesly did Ahaziah walke on his wonted pauement The Lord hath laid a trap for him whereinto whiles he thinkes least he fals irrecouerably No place is safe for the man that is at variance with God The body of Ahaziah was not more sicke than his soule was gracelesse None but chance was his enemy none but the God of Ekron must be his friend He looks not vp to the Omnipotent hand of diuine iustice for the disease or of mercy for the remedy An Idoli is his refuge whether for cure or intelligence We heare not till now of Baal-zebub this new God of flies is perhaps of his making who now is a suter to his owne erection All these heathen deities were but a Deuill with change of appellations the influence of that euill spirit deluded those miserable clients else there was no flie so impotent as that out-side of the God of Ekron Who would think that any Israelite could so far dote vpon a stocke or a Fiend Time gathered much credit to this Idoll in so much as the Iewes afterwards stiled Beel-zebub the Prince of all the regions of darknesse Ahaziah is the first that brings his Oracle in request and paies him the tribute of his deuotion Hee sends messengers and saies Goe enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recouer of this disease The message was either idle or wicked idle if he sent it to a stocke if to a deuill both idle and wicked What can the most intelligent spirits know of future things but what they see either in their causes or in the light of participation What a madnesse was it in Abaziah to seeke to the posterne whiles the fore-gate stood open Could those euill spirits truly foretell euents no way pre-existent yet they might not without sinne be consulted the euill of their nature debarres all the benefit of their information If not as Intelligencers much lesse may they be sought to as gods who cannot blush to heare and see that euen the very Euangelicall Israel should yeeld Pilgrimes to the shrines of darknesse How many after this cleere light of the Gospel in their losses in their sicknesses send to these infernall Oracles and damne themselues wilfully in a vaine curiositie The message of the Iealous God intercepts them with a iust disdaine as heere by Elijah Is it not because there is not a God in Israel that ye goe to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron What can be a greater disparagement to the true God than to be neglected than to stand aside and see vs make loue to an hellish riuall were there no God in Israel in heauen what could we doe other what worse This affront of what euer Ahaziah cannot escape without a reuenge Therefore thus saith the Lord Thou shalt not come downe from that bed on which
my father the charet of Israel and the horse-men thereof Shaphat of Abel-meholah hath yeelded this title to Elijah the naturall father of Elisha to the spirituall neither of them may bee neglected but after the yoke of oxen killed at the farewell wee heare of no more greetings no more bewailings of his bodily parent and now that Elijah is taken from him hee cries out like a distressed Orphane My father my father and whē he hath lost the sight of him he rends his clothes in peeces according to the fashion of the most passionate mourners That Elisha sees his master halfe-way in heauen cannot take away the sorrow of his losse The departure of a faithfull Prophet of God is worthy of our lamentation Neither is it priuate affection that must sway our griefe but respects to the publike Elisha saies not onely My father but the charet and horse-men of Israel That wee haue forgone a father should not so much trouble vs as that Israel hath lost his guard Certainly the view of this heauenly charet and horses that came for Elijah puts Elisha in minde of that charet and horsemen which Elijah was to Israel These were Gods charet Elijah was theirs Gods charet and theirs are vpon the same wheeles mounted into heauen No forces are so strong as the spirituall the prayers of an Elijah are more powerfull than all the Armies of flesh The first thing that this Seer discernes after the separation of his master is the nakednesse of Israel in his losse If we muster Souldiers and leese zealous Prophets it is but a wofull exchange Elijahs Mantle fals from him in the rising there was no vse of that whither he was going there was whence he was taken Elisha iustly takes vp this deare monument of his glorified master A good supply for his rent garments This was it which in presage of his future right Elijah inuested him withall vpon the first sight when he was ploughing with the twelue yoke of oxen now it fals from heauen to his possession I doe not fee him adore so precious a relique I see him take it vp and cast it about him Pensiue and masterlesse doth hee now come backe to the bankes of Iordan whose streame he must passe in his returne to the Schooles of the Prophets Ere while he saw what way that riuer gaue to the mantle of Elijah he knew that power was not in the cloth but in the Spirit of him that wore it to trie therefore whether he were no lesse the heire of that spirit than of that garment he tooke the mantle of Elijah and smote the waters and said Where is the Lord God of Elijah Elisha doth not expostulate and challenge but pray As if he said Lord God it was thy promise to me by my departed master that if I should see him in his last passage a double portion of his Spirit should be vpon me I followed him with my eies in that fire and whirlewind now therefore O God make good thy gracious word to thy seruant shew some token vpon mee for good make this the first proofe of the miraculous power wherewith thou shalt indue me Let Iordan giue the same way to me that it gaue to my master Immediatly the streame as acknowledging the same Mantle though in another hand diuides it selfe and yeelds passage to the successor of Elijah The fifty sonnes of the Prophets hauing beene a farre off witnesses of these admirable euents doe well see that Elijah though translated in bodie hath yet left his Spirit behinde him they meet Elisha and bow themselues to the ground before him It was not the out-side of Elijah which they had wont to stoop vnto with so much veneration it was his Spirit which since they now finde in another subiect they intertaine with equall reuerence No enuy no emulation raiseth vp their stomackes against Elijahs seruant but where they see eminent graces they are willingly prostrate Those that are truly gracious doe no lesse reioyce in the riches of others gifts than humbly vnder-value their owne These men were trained vp in the schooles of the Prophets Elisha at the plough and cart yet now they stand not vpon termes of their worth and his meannesse but meekely fall downe before him whom God will honour It is not to be regarded who the man is but whom God would make him The more vnlikely the meanes is the more is the glory of the workman It is the praise of an holy ingenuitie to magnifie the graces of God where euer it finds them These yong Prophets are no lesse full of zeale than reuerence zeale to Elijah reuerence to Elisha They see Elijah carried vp into the ayre they knew this was not the first time of his supernaturall remouall Imagining it therefore possible that the Spirit of God had cast him vpon some remote mountaine or valley they profer he labour of their seruants to seeke him In some things euen professed Seers are blind Could they thinke God would send such a charet and horses for a lesse voyage thā heauē Elisha knowing his master beyond all the sphere of mortalitie forbids thē Good will makes them vnmānerly their importunity vrges him till he is ashamed not his approbation but their vehemence carries at last a condescent Else he might perhaps haue seemed enuiously vnwilling to fetch backe so admired a master loth to forgoe that mantle Some things may be yeelded for the redeeming of our own vexatiō auoidāce of others mis-constuctiō which out of true iudgment we see no cause to affect The messengers tired with three dayes search turne backe as wise as they went some men are best satisfied when they haue wearied themselues in their owne waies nothing will teach them wit but disappointments Their painefull error leads them to a right conceit of Elijahs happier transportation Those that would finde Elijah let them aspire to the heauenly Paradise Let them follow the high steps of his sincere faithfulnesse strong patience vndaunted courage feruent zeale shortly let them walke in the waies of his holy constant obedience at last God shall send the fiery charet of death to fetch them vp to that heauen of heauens where they shall triumph in euerlasting ioyes ELISHA Healing the Waters Cursing the Children Releeuing the Kings IT is good making vse of a Prophet whiles wee haue him Elisha stayed some-while at Iericho the Citizens resort to him with a common suit Their structure was not more pleasant than their waters vnwholesome and their soyle by those corrupt waters They sue to Elisha for the remedy Why had they not all this while made their mone to Elijah was it that they were more awed with his greater austerity Or was it that they met not with so fit an opportunity of his commoration amongst them It was told them what power Elisha had exercised vpon the waters of Iordan now they ply him for theirs Examples of beneficence easily moue vs to a request expectation
turnes Rehoboams brasse into gold Some of these vessels it seemes Abijam Asaes father had dedicated to God but after his vow inquired yea with-held them Asa like a good son payes his fathers debts his owne It is a good signe of a well-meant deuotion when we can abide it chargeable as contrarily in the affaires of God a niggardly hand argues a cold and hollow heart All these were noble and excellent acts the extirpation of Sodomy the demolition of Idols the remouall of Maachah the bountious contribution to the Temple but that which giues true life vnto all these is a sound root Asaes heart was perfect with the Lord all his daies No lesse laudable workes than these haue proceeded from Hypocrisie which whiles they haue carried away applause from men haue lost their thankes with God All Asaes gold was but drosse to his pure intentions But oh what great and many infirmities may consist with vprightnesse What allayes of imperfection will there be found in the most refined soule Foure no small faults are found in true-hearted Asa First the high-places stood still vnremoued What high places There were some dedicated to the worship of false gods these Asa took away There were some mis-deuoted to the worship of the true God these he lets stand There was grosse Idolatry in the former there was a weake will-worship in the latter whiles he opposes impietie hee winkes at mistakings yet euen the varietie of altars was forbidden by an expresse charge from God who had confined his seruice to the Temple With one breath doth God report both these The high-places were not remoued yet neuerthelesse Asaes heart was persit God will not see weaknesses where he sees truth How pleasing a thing is sinceritie that in fauour thereof the mercy of our iust God digests many an error Oh God let our hearts goe vpright though our feet slide the fall cannot through thy grace be deadly how euer it may shame or paine vs. Besides to confront his riuall of Israel Baasha this religious King of Iudah fetches in Benhadad the King of Syria into Gods inheritance vpon too deare a rate the breach of his league the expilation of the Temple All the wealth wherewith Asa had endowed the house of the Lord was little enough to hire an Edomite to betray his fidelitie and to inuade Israel Leagues may be made with Infidels not at such a price vpon such termes There can bee no warrant for a wilfull subornation of perfidiousnesse In these cases of outward things the mercy of God dispenseth with our true necessities not with the affected O Asa where was thy pietie whiles thou robbest God to corrupt an Infidell for the slaughter of Israelites O Princes where is your pietie whiles yee hire Turkes to the slaughter of Christians to the spoile of Gods Church Yet which was worse Asa doth not onely imploy the Syrian but relies on him relies not on God A confidence lesse sinfull cost his Grandfather Dauid deare And when Hanani Gods Seer the Herald of heauen came to denounce war against him for these sinnes Asa in stead of penitence breakes into choler Fury sparkles in those eyes which should haue gushed out with water Those lips that should haue call'd for mercy command reuenge How ill doe these two agree The heart of Dauid the tongue of Ieroboam That holy Grandfather of his would not haue done so when Gods messenger reproued him for sin he condemned it and himselfe for it I see his teares I doe not heare his threats It ill becomes a faithfull heart to rage where it should sorrow and in stead of submission to persecute Sometimes no difference appeares betwixt a sonne of Dauid and the sonne of Nebat Any man may doe ill but to defend it to out-face it is for rebels yet euen vpright Asa imprisons the Prophet and crusheth his gainsayers It were pittie that the best man should be iudged by euery of his actions and not by all The course of our life must either allow or condemne vs not these sudden eruptions As the life so the Death-bed of Asa wanted not infirmities Long and prosperous had his reigne beene now after fortie yeares health and happinesse he that imprisoned the Prophet is imprisoned in his bed There is more paine in those fetters which God put vpon Asa than those which Asa puts vpon Hanani And now behold he that in his warre seekes to Benhadad not to God in his sicknesse seekes not to God but to Physitians We cannot easily put vpon God a greater wrong than the alienation of our trust Earthly meanes are for vse not for confidence We may we must imploy them we may not relye vpon them Well may God challenge our trust as his peculiar which if we cast vpon any creature wee deifie it Whence haue herbs and drugs and Physitians their being and efficacy but from that diuine hand No maruell then if Asaes gout strucke to his heart and his feet carried him to his graue since his heart was miscarried carried for the cure of his feet to an iniurious mis-confidence in the meanes with neglect of his Maker ELIjAH with the SAREPTAN WHo should be match't with Moses in the hill of Tabor but Elijah Surely next after Moses there was neuer any Prophet of the old Testament more glorious than hee None more glorious none more obscure The other Prophets are not mentioned without the name of their parent for the mutuall honour both of the father and the sonne Elijah as if he had beene a sonne of the earth comes forth with the bare mention of the place of his birth Meanenesse of descent is no blocke in Gods way to the most honourable vocations It matters not whose sonne hee be whom God will grace with his seruice In the greatest honours that humane nature is capable of God forgets our parents As when we shall be raised vp to a glorious life there shall be no respect had to the loines whence we came so it is proportionally in these spirituall aduancements These times were fit for an Elijah an Elijah was fit for them The eminentest Prophet is reserued for the corruptest age Israel had neuer such a King as Ahab for impiety neuer so miraculous a Prophet as Elijah This Elijah is addressed to this Ahab The God of Spirits knowes how to proportion men to the occasions and to raise vp to himselfe such witnesses as may be most able to conuince the world A milde Moses was for the low estate of afflicted Israel milde of spirit but mighty in wonders milde of spirit because he had to doe with a persecuted and yet a techy and peruerse people mighty in wonders because he had to doe with a Pharaoh A graue and holy Samuel was for the quiet consistence of Israel A fierie-spirited Elijah was for the desperatest declination of Israel And if in the late times of the depraued condition of his Church God haue raised vp some spirits that haue beene more warme and
holy care of others but idly scrupulous The King of Israel could not chuse but see that onely Gods prohibition lay in the way of his designes not the stomacke of a froward subiect yet he goes away into his house heauy and displeased and casts himselfe downe vpon his bed and turnes away his face and refuses his meat Hee hath taken a surfet of Naboths grapes which marres his appetite and threats his life How ill can great hearts endure to be crossed though vpon the most reasonable iust grounds Ahabs place call'd him to the guardianship of Gods Law and now his heart is ready to breake that this parcell of that Law may not be broken No maruell if hee made not dainty to transgresse a locall statute of God who did so shamefully violate the eternall Law of both Tables I know not whether the splene or the gall of Ahab bee more affected Whether more of anger or griefe I cannot say but sicke hee is and keepes his bed and balkes his meat as if hee should die of no other death than the salads that hee would haue had O the impotent passions and insatiable desires of Couetousnesse Ahab is Lord and King of all the territories of Israel Naboth is the owner of one poore Vineyard Ahab cannot inioy Israel if Naboth inioy his Vineyard Besides Samaria Ahab was the great Lord Paramount of Damascus and all Syria the victor of him that was attended with two and thirty Kings Naboth was a plaine townsman of Iezreel the good husband of a little Vineyard Whether is the wealthier I doe not heare Naboth wish for any thing of Ahabs I heare Ahab wishing not without indignatiō of a repulse for somewhat of Naboths Riches and pouerty is more in the heart than in the hand He is wealthy that is contented hee is poore that wanteth more Oh rich Naboth that carest not for all the large possessions of Ahab so thou maist be the Lord of thine owne Vineyard Oh miserable Ahab that carest not for thine owne possessions whiles thou maiest not be the Lord of Naboths Vineyard He that caused the disease sends him a Physitian Satan knew of old how to make vse of such helpers Iezebel comes to Ahabs bed-side and casts cold water in his face and puts into him spirits of her owne extracting Dost thou now gouerne the Kingdome of Israel Arise eat bread and let thine heart be merry I will giue thee the Vineyard of Naboth Ahab wanted neither wit nor wickednesse Yet is hee in both a very nouice to this Zidonian dame There needs no other Deuill than Iezebel whether to proiect euill or to worke it Shee chides the pusillanimity of her deiected husband and perswades him his rule cannot be free vnlesse it belicentious that there should be no bounds for soueraignty but wil Already hath shee contriued to haue by fraud and force what was denied to intreaty Nothing needs but the name but the seale of Ahab let her alone with the rest How present are the wits of the weaker sex for the deuising of wickednes She frames a letter in Ahabs name to the Senatours of Iezreel wherein she requires them to proclaime a fast to suborne two false witnesses against Naboth to charge him with blasphemy against God and the King to stone him to death A ready payment for a rich Vineyard Whose indignation riseth not to heare Iezebel name a fast The great contemners of the most important Lawes of God yet can be content to make vse of some diuine both statutes and customs for their owne aduantage Shee knew the Israelites had so much remainder of grace as to hold blasphemy worthy of death Shee knew their manner was to expiate those crying sinnes with pulike humiliation She knew that two witnesses at least must cast the offender all these shee vrges to her owne purpose There is no mischiefe so deuillish as that which is cloked with piety Simulation of holinesse doubleth a villany This murder had not beene halfe so foule if it had not beene thus masked with a religious obseruation Besides deuotion what a faire pretence of legality is heere Blasphemy against God and his anointed may not passe vnreuenged The offender is conuented before the sad and seuere bench of Magistracie the iustice of Israel allowes not to condemne an absent an vnheard malefactor Witnesses come forth and agree in the intentation of the crime the Iudges rend their garments and strike their breasts as grieued not more for the sin than the punishment their very countenance must say Naboth should not die if his offence did not force our iustice and now he is no good subiect no true Israelite that hath not a stone for Naboth Iezebel knew well to whom she wrote Had not those letters fallen vpon the times of a wofull degeneration of Israel they had receiued no lesse strong denials from the Elders than Ahab had from Naboth God forbid that the Senate of Iezreel should forge a periurie belye truth condemne innocency broke corruption Command iust things we are readie to dye in the zeale of our obedience we dare not embrue our hands in the bloud of an innocent But she knew whom shee had engaged whom she had marred by making conscious It were strange if they who can countenance euill with greatnesse should want factors for the vniustest designes Miserable is that people whose Rulers in stead of punishing plot and incourage wickednesse when a distillation of euill fals from the head vpon the lungs of any State there must needs follow a deadly consumption Yet perhaps there wanted not some colour of pretence for this proceeding They could not but heare that some words had passed betwixt the King and Naboth Haply it was suggested that Naboth had secretly ouer-lashed into saucie and contemptuous termes to his Soueraigne such as neither might be well borne nor yet by reason of their priuacy legally conuinced the bench of Iezreel should but supply a forme to the iust matter desert of condemnation What was it for them to giue their hand to this obscure midwifery of Iustice It is enough that their King is an accuser and witnesse of that wrong which onely their sentence can formally reuenge All this cannot wash their hands from the guilt of bloud If iustice be blinde in respect of partialitie she may not be blinde in respect of the grounds of execution Had Naboth beene a blasphemer or a traitor yet these men were no better than murtherers What difference is there betwixt the stroke of Magistracie and of man-slaughter but due conuiction Wickednesse neuer spake out of a throne and complained of the defect of instruments Naboth was it seemes strictly conscionable his fellow Citizens loose and lawlesse they are glad to haue gotten such an opportunitie of his dispatch No clause of Ahabs letter is not obserued A fast is warned the Citie is assembled Naboth is conuented accused confronted sentenced stoned His vineyard is escheated to the Crowne Ahab takes speedy and
thou art gone vp but shalt surely die It is an high indignitie to the true God not to be sought to in our necessities but so to be cashiered from our deuotions as to haue a false god thrust in his roome is such a scorne as it is well if it can escape with one death Let now the famous god of Ekron take off that brand of feared mortalitie which the liuing God hath set vpon Ahaziah Let Baal-zebub make good some better newes to his distressed suppliant Rather the King of Israel is himselfe without his repentance hasting to Beel-zebub This errand is soone done The messengers are returned ere they goe Not a little were they amazed to heare their secret message from anothers mouth neither could chuse but thinke He that can tell what Ahaziah said what he thought can foretell how he shal speed We haue met with a greater God than wee went to seeke what need we inquire for another answer With this conceit with this report they returne to their sicke Lord and astonish him with so short so sad a relation No maruell if the King inquired curiously of the habit and fashion of the man that could know this that durst say this They describe him a man whether of an hairy skinne or of rough course carelesse attire thus drest thus girded Ahaziah readily apprehends it to bee Elijah the old friend of his father Ahab of his mother Iezebel More than once had he seene him an vnwelcome guest in the Court of Israel The times had beene such that the Prophet could not at once speake true and please Nothing but reproofes and menaces founded from the mouth of Elijah Michaiah and he were still as welcome to the eyes of that guiltie Prince as the Syrian arrow was into his flesh Too well therefore had Ahaziah noted that querulous Seer and now is not a little troubled to see himselfe in succession haunted with that bold and ill-boding spirit Behold the true sonne of Iezebel the anguish of his disease the expectation of death cannot take off the edge of his persecution of Elijah It is against his will that his death-bed is not bloudy Had Ahaziah meant any other than a cruell violence to Elijah hee had sent a peaceable messenger to call him to the Court he had not sent a Captaine with a band of Souldiers to fetch him the instruments which hee vseth carrie reuenge in their face If he had not thought Elijah more than a man what needed a band of fiftie to apprehend one and if hee did thinke him such why would he send to apprehend him by fiftie Surely Ahaziah knew of old how miraculous a Prophet Elijah was what power that man had ouer all their base Deities what command of the Elements of the heauens and yet he sends to attache him It is a strange thing to see how wilfully godlesse men striue against the streame of their owne hearts hating that which they know good fighting against that which they know diuine What a grosse disagreement is in the message of this Israelitish Captaine Thou man of God the King bath said Come downe If he were a man of God how hath he offended and if he haue iustly offended the annointed of God how is he a man of God And if he bee a man of God and haue not offended why should he come downe to punishment Here is a kinde confession with a false heart with bloudie hands The world is full of these windy curtesies reall cruelties Deadly malice lurkes vnder faire complements and whiles it flatters killeth The Prophet hides not himselfe from the pursuit of Ahaziah rather he sits where hee may be most conspicuous on the top of an hill this band knowes well where to finde him and climbes vp in the sight of Elijah for his arrest The steepnesse of the ascent when they drew neere to the highest reach yeelded a conuenience both of respiration and parle thence doth the Captaine imperiously call downe the Prophet Who would not tremble at the dreadfull answer of Elijah If I be a man of God then let fire come downe from heauen and consume thee and thy fiftie What shall we say That a Prophet is reuengefull that Souldiers suffer whiles a Prophet strikes that a Princes command is answered with imprecation words with fire that an vnarmed Seer should kill one and fiftie at a blow There are few tracks of Elijah that are ordinary and fit for common feet His actions are more for wonder than for precedent Not in his owne defence would the Prophet haue beene the death of so many if God had not by a peculiar instinct made him an instrument of this iust vengeance The diuine iustice findes it meer to doe this for the terror of Israel that he might teach them what it was to contemne to persecute a Prophet that they might learne to feare him whom they had forsaken and confesse that heauen was sensible of their insolencies and impieties If not as visibly yet as certainly doth God punish the violations of his ordinances the affronts offered to his messengers still and euer Not euer with the same speed sometimes the punishment ouertakes the act sometimes dogs it afarre off and seizeth vpon the offender when his crime is forgotten Here no sooner is the word out of Elijahs mouth than the fire is out of heauen Oh the wonderfull power of a Prophet There sits Elijah in his course mantle on the top of the hill and commands the heauens and they obey him Let fire fall downe from heauen Hee needs no more but say what he would haue done The fire fals downe as before vpon the sacrifice in Carmel so now vpon the Souldiers of Ahaziah What is man in the hands of his Maker One flash of lightning hath consumed these one and fiftie And if all the hosts of Israel yea of the world had beene in their roomes there had needed no other force What madnesse is it for him whose breath is in his nosthrils to contend with the Almightie The time was when two zealous Disciples would faine haue imitated this fiery reuenge of Elijah and were repelled with a checke The very place puts them in minde of the iudgement Not farre from Samaria was this done by Elijah and wisht to bee done by the Disciples So churlish a reiection of a Sauiour seemed no lesse hainous than the endeuour of apprehending a Prophet Lord wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heauen and consume them as Elias did The world yeelded but one Elias That which was zeale in him might he fury in another the least variation of circumstance may make an example dangerous presently therefore doe they heare Ye know not of what spirit ye are It is the calling that varies the spirit Elijah was Gods minister for the execution of so seuere a iudgement they were but the Seruants of their owne impotent anger there was fire in their breasts which God neuer kindled farre was it from
so did not they sticke to reproue Kings for his sake Thus much freedome they must leaue to their successors that wee may not spare the vices of them whose persons we must spare Iustly is Iehoram turn'd off to the Prophets of his father and the Prophets of his mother It is but right and equall that those which we haue made the comfort and stay of our peace should be the refuge of our extremitie If our prosperitie haue made the world our God how worthily shall our death-bed be choaked with this exprobration Neither would the case beare an Apologie nor the time an expostulation Iehoram cannot excuse he can complaine he findes that now three Kings three Kingdomes are at the mercy of one Prophet it was time for him to speak faire nothing sounds from him but lamentations and intreaties Nay for the Lord hath called these three Kings together to deliuer them into the hand of Moab Iehoram hath so much grace as to confesse the impotencie of those hee had trusted and the power of that God whom hee had neglected Euery sinner cannot see and acknowledge the hand of God in his sufferings Already hath the distressed Prince gained something by this misery None complaines so much as he none feeles so much as he All the rest suffer for him therefore he suffers in them all The man of God who well sees the in-sufficiency of Iehorams humiliation layes on yet more load As the Lord liueth before whom I stand Surely were it not that I regard the presence of Iehoshaphat the King of Iudah I would not looke toward thee nor see thee Behold the double Spirit of Elijah the master was not more bold with the father than the seruant was with the sonne Elisha was a subiect and a Prophet Hee must say that as a Prophet which hee might not as a subiect As a Prophet he would not haue lookt at him whom as a subiect hee would haue bowed to It is one thing when God speakes by him another when he speakes of himselfe That it might well appeare his dislike of sinne stood with his honour of Soueraigntie Iehoshaphat goes away with that respect which Iehoram missed No lesse doth God and his Prophet regard religious sinceritie than they abhorre Idolatry and profanenesse What shall not be done for a Iehoshaphat For his sake shall those two other Princes and their vast Armies liue and preuaile Edom and Israel whether single or conioyned had perished by the drought of the desert by the sword of Moah One Iehoshaphat giues them both life victory It is in the power of one good man to oblige a world wee receiue true though insensible fauours from the presence of the righteous Next to being good it is happy to conuerse with them that are so if we bee not bettered by their example wee are blest by their protection Who wonders not to heare a Prophet call for a Minstrell in the midst of that mournfull distresse of Israel and Iudah Who would not haue expected his charge of teares and prayers rather than of Musicke How vnseasonable are songs to an heauy heart It was not for their eares it was for his owne bosome that Elisha called for Musicke that his spirits after their zealous agitation might be sweetly composed and put into a meet temper for receiuing the calme visions of God Perhaps it was some holy Leuite that followed the Campe of Iehoshaphat whose minstrelsie was required for so sacred a purpose None but a quiet breast is capable of diuine Reuelations Nothing is more powerfull to settle a troubled heart than a melodious harmony The Spirit of prophesie was not the more inuited the Prophets Spirit was the better disposed by pleasing sounds The same God that will reueale his will to the Prophet suggests this demand Bring me a Minstrell How many say thus when they would put God from them Profane mirth wanton musicke debauches the soule and makes no lesse roome for the vncleane Spirit than spirituall melodie doth for the Diuine No Prophet had euer the Spirit at command The hand of the Minstrell can do nothing without the hand of the Lord Whiles the Musicke sounds in the eare God speakes to the heart of Elisha Thus saith the Lord Make this valley full of ditches Ye shall not see wind neither shall ye see raine yet that valley shall be full of water c. To see wind and raine in the height of that drought would haue seemed as wonderfull as pleasing but to see abundance of water without wind or raine was yet more miraculous I know not how the sight of the meanes abates our admiration of the effect Where no causes can be found out we are forced to confesse omnipotency Elijah releeued Israel with water but it was out of the cloudes and those cloudes rose from the sea but whence Elisha shall fetch it is not more maruellous than secret All that euening all that night must the faith of Israel and Iudah be exercised with expectation At the houre of the morning sacrifice no sooner did the bloud of that Oblation gush forth than the streames of waters gushed forth into their new channels and filled the Countrey with a refreshing moisture Elijah fetcht downe his fire at the houre of the euening sacrifice Elisha fetcht vp his water at the houre of the morning sacrifice God giues respect to his owne houres for the encouragement of our obseruation If his wisdome hath set vs any peculiar times we cannot keepe them without a blessing The deuotions of all true Iewes all the world ouer were in that houre combined How seasonably doth the wisdome of God picke out that instant wherein he might at once answer both Elishaes prophesie and his peoples prayers The Prophet hath assured the Kings not of water onely but of victory Moab heares of enemies and is addressed to warre Their owne error shall cut their throats they rise soone enough to beguile themselues the beames of the rising Sunne glistering vpon those vaporous and vnexpected waters carried in the eies of some Moabites a semblance of bloud a few eies were enough to fill all eares with a false noise the deceiued sense mis-carries the imagination This is bloud the Kings are surely slaine and they haue smitten one another now therefore Moab to the spoile Ciuill broyles giue iust aduantage to a common enemy Therefore must the Camps be spoiled because the Kings haue smitten each other Those that shall bee deceiued are giuen ouer to credulitie The Moabites doe not examine either the conceit or the report but flie in confusedly vpon the Camp of Israel whom they finde too late to haue no enemies but themselues As if death would not haue hastened enough to them they come to fetch it they come to challenge it It seizeth vpon them vnauoidably they are smitten their Cities razed their Lands marred their Wells stopped their trees felled as if God meant to waste them but once No onsets are so furious as the
of Nature Oh God how easie is it for thee when this hard and heauy heart of mine is sunke downe into the mud of the world to fetch it vp againe by thy mighty word and cause it to float vpon the streames of life and to see the face of heauen againe Yet still doe the sides of Israel complaine of the thornes of Aram The children of Ahab rue their fathers vniust mercy From an enemy it is no making question whether of strength or wile The King of Syria consults with his seruants where to encampe for his greatest aduantage their opinion is not more required than their secrecie Elisha is a thousand Scouts hee sends word to the King of Israel of the proiects of the remoues of his enemy More than once hath Iehoram saued both his life and his hoast by these close admonitions It is well that in something yet a Prophet may bee obeyed What strange State-seruice was this which Elisha did besides the spirituall The King the people of Israel owe themselues and their safetie to a despised Prophet The man of God knew and felt them Idolaters yet how carefull and vigilant is he for their rescue If they were bad yet they were his owne If they were bad yet not all God had his number amongst their worst If they were bad yet the Syrians were worse The Israelites mis-worshipped the true God the Syrians worshipped a false That if it were possible he might win them he will preserue them and if they will needs bee wanting to God yet Elisha will not bee wanting to them their impietie shall not make him vndutifull There cannot be a iuster cause of displeasure than the disclosing of those secret counsels which are laid vp in our eare in our breast The King of Syria not without reason stomackes this supposed treacherie What Prince can beare that an aduerse power should haue a partie a Pensionarie in his owne Court How famous was Elisha euen in forraine Regions Besides Naaman others of the Syrian Nobilitie take notice of the miraculous faculties of this Prophet of Israel He is accused for this secret intelligence No words can escape him though spoken in the bed-chamber O Syrian whosoeuer thou wert thou saidst not enough If thy master doe but whisper in thine eare if he smother his words within his owne lips if he do but speake within his owne bosome Elisha knowes it from an infallible information What counsell is it O God that can be hid from thee What counsell is it that thou wilt hide from thy Seer Euen this very word that accuseth the Prophet is knowne to the accused Hee heares this tale whiles it is in telling he heares the plot for his apprehension How ill doe the proiects of wicked men hang together They that confesse Elisha knowes their secretest words doe yet conferre to take him There are Spies vpon him whose espials haue moued their anger and admiration He is descried to bee in Dothan a small Towne of Manasses A whole Armie is sent thither to surprise him The opportunitie of the night is chosen for the exploit There shall bee no want either in the number or valour or secrecie of these conspired troups now when they haue fully girt in the village with a strong exquisite siege they make themselues sure of Elisha and please themselues to think how they haue incaged the miserable Prophet how they should take him at vnawares in his bed in the midst of a secure dreame how they should carrie him fettered to their King what thankes they should haue for so welcome a prisoner The successour of Gehezi riseth early in the morning and sees all the Citie encompassed with a fearefull hoast of foot horse charets His eye could meet with nothing but woods of pikes and walls of harnesse and lustre of metals and now he runs in affrighted to his master Alas my master what shall we doe He had day enough to see they were enemies that inuironed them to see himselfe helplesse and desperate and hath only so much life left in him as to lament himselfe to the partner of his miserie He cannot flee from his new master if he would he runs to him with a wofull clamour Alas my master what shall we doe Oh the vndaunted courage of faith Elisha sees all this and sits in his chamber so secure as if these had onely beene the guard of Israel for his safe protection It is an hard precept that he giues his seruant Feare not As well might hee haue bid him not to see when he saw as not to feare when hee saw so dreadfull a spectacle The operations of the senses are not lesse certaine than those of the affections where the obiects are no lesse proper But the taske is easie if the next word may finde beleefe For there are moe with vs than with them Multitude and other outward probabilities doe both leade the confidence of naturall hearts and fix it It is for none but a Dauid to say I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that haue set themselues against mee round about Flesh and bloud riseth and falleth according to the proportion of the strength or weaknesse of apparent meanes Elishaes man lookt about him yet his master praies Lord open his eyes that they may see Naturally we see not whiles we doe see Euery thing is so seene as it is Bodily eies discerne bodily obiects onely spirituall can see the things of God Some men want both eyes and light Elishaes seruant had eyes wanted illumination No sooner were his eies open than he saw the mountaine full of horses and charets of fire round about Elisha They were there before neither doth Elisha pray that those troupes may be gathered but that they may bee seene not till now were they descried Inuisible Armies guard the seruants of God whiles they seeme most forsaken of earthly aide most exposed to certaine dangers If the eies of our Faith be as open as those of our sense to see Angels as well as Syrians wee cannot be appalled with the most vnequall termes of hostilitie Those blessed Spirits are ready either to rescue our bodies or to carrie vp our soules to blessednesse whether euer shall be inioyned of their Maker there is iust comfort in both in either Both those charets that came to fetch Elijah and those that came to defend Elisha were fiery God is not lesse louely to his owne in the midst of his iudgements than hee is terrible to his enemies in the demonstrations of his mercies Thus guarded it is no maruell if Elisha dare walke forth into the midst of the Syrians Not one of those heauenly Presidiaries strucke a stroke for the Prophet neither doth he require their blowes only he turnes his prayer to his God and sayes Smite this people I pray thee with blindnesse With no other than deadly intentions did these Aramites come downe to Elisha yet doth not hee say Smite them with the sword but Smite