Verf. 3z. eon Expo f Lion upon the Book of J o B. Chap, 3 6. was prohibited both to thePeople and to the Prophets; The flopof it CO the People, we have (Amos 8,9.) I caufe the Sun togo downat noon, and Iwill darken the earth in the clear day, The Pro- phet (peaks not here at all of the flop of natural light, nor Both he only intend the flop of that metaphorical light, Profperitÿ in out- ward chings,which the Lord doth often eclipfe and darken, when men dream leaf( of it, or have no more fear about it, than they have that the Sun will go down atnoon day ; but he, at lera, in- tends, if it be not his principal intendment, to fhew that a grie- vous judgment was hafining upon them, as to their fpiritual en- joyments ; that the light of divine knowledge, what to believe, and what to pradiife, was declìning,and ready to go don,though they thought at was but noonwith them, and the day very clear. For as the famine threatned (verf, r r.) is expounded upon the place, by the Prophet himfeif, not to be a famine ofbread, and a tbirft for water, bat of hearing the ward of the Lord ; fo the dark refs threatened in this 9th verfe,isnot to be refrained to the lofs of their worldly liberties and comforts, but extended to thofe whichwere fpiritual and divine, the failing of vifion, and the re- moving of the light of the Vsford. Andas in this Prophet we find the light departing from the People, fo in the third of Ui cab (verf. 6, 7.) we find God commanding the light not to thine to the Prophets (the falle prophets he nseanesthere, for fo he de fcribech them, verf. 5.) Therefore (halt night be untoyou (the prophets who deceive mypeople,who teach them vanity,and lead them to Idolatry and fuperfiition; therefore, I fay, (hall night be unto you) that ye (hall have no vifon, and it fhàll be dark toyese that youfloe not divine and theSun (hall go down over the Prophets, and the day (kilt be dark. over them. What the Lordmeans byall this, you have exprefi in the clofe of the 7th verfe, There is no anf,ver of God, that is, God Both nor now anymore manifefi his mind and will by theProphets, that they might manifeti his v ill unto the People. I tole this point with the renewal of my former admonition ; Let us therefore take heed we provoke not the Lord to command this light not to !line, either to Prophets or People, in our Horizon. Thirdly, He conamandeth it not to Jkine by the Cloud that corn- eth between. Though (as I faid) the wordClönd, be not exprefi in the text,yet weknow 'tis a Cloud that ufioallycometh between the light and us. Hence
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