342 4 Sermon on Occafaon of a public Fafi. SERM. * that under the apprehenfion of divine ven- XIII. geance becaufe of his fins, for which he had at that time fome remorfe, he rent his cloaths, and put on fackcloth, and failed, whereupon the Lord faid to the prophet Elijah, -f. Seefi thou how Ahab humbleth him /elf ? I will there- fore not bring the evil in his days. And when 'fonah was fent to Niniveh with a deter- minate meffage that within forty days the city íhould be def}royed, yet upon the deep hu- miliations of the people and folemn profef- fions of forrow, it was fpared. The methods are various by which divine providence expreffes its difpleafure againft the finful inhabitants of a land, or ftretches out his hand upon it. The prophet, in the fequel of this chapter, mentions fome of them par- ticularly, fuch as famine, noifome beafts, the fword, and the peftilence, which are joined to- gether 11, and calledGod's four fore judgments. Other plagues there have been recorded in the fcripture hiftory, of a yet more extraor- dinary and aftonifhing nature, whereby God has punifhed particular guilty cities and coun- tries ; as thofe inflided on the land of Egypt, fires, inundations, earthquakes, and many more ; but thefe are the molt common, and t Kings xxi. 27. 1- Ver. 29. u Ver. 21. this
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