Chap. 5. An Expofitiewt upon the Book of J O B. Verf. ;. 191 evil untoanother : And fecondly to fore-tei, to pronounce or ¿e- flounce evil againfi another. Often in the Pfalmes, David: cur- ies upon his enemies, are predi&ions from the Spirit of God,nat maledi 'tions or ill willies from his own fpirit ; Good men know not how to with evil ; their curEngsare Propheties not prayers : they fore -tel or fore -feeevils,but they delire them not. Ihave not defired the woeful day, Lord thou lnowefi, Paid that Prophet,who Int d: dg* had denounced many woeful daies, ;ter. 17. 16. In Scripture,many are faid to do that which they declare to be, Id fieri ab°li- or fore-tel that it thall be As (to give an intlauce or two) quo dicùur in Levi: . 13. in the cafe of.the Leper, the Text faith, That when s'criprd" ra qz °d the Prieti makes up his judgment concerning the Leper (havingnwñ` r de- found the tokensof Leprofie upon him) he 'hall defile him ver. 3; and ver. 8.) or make him unclean, fo the Original gives it which we translate, The Prieft'ball pronounce him unclean. In that fente the minitiers of the Gofpel (whole butinefs is to cleanfe) defile many ; yea, one wayto cicanfe men, is thus to defile and pronounce them Lepers. So Ifa. 6, 8, the Lord tends the Prophet againff that people, and faith to him, Make the heart of thispeoplefat, andmake their eares heavy; and Jkut their eyes; t'r.cdic exce. Now, the Prophet did not aft this himfelfhedid not deafen their raw" oculor, ears, or blind their eyes,but onlyfore-told or denounced that this ' °ureragdrrt. variant. judgment thould fall upon them becaufe they had fo long flop- ped: their ears, at latt-theirears thould be flopt and made heavy enough ; and becaufe they had fo long winked and fhut their eyes, atláti they thould be blind, and their eyes Phut fati enough ; Howfall are thofè eyes andears lockt up, which are thus double locke. Once more, f er. I. so. The Lord gives the Prophet a tlrange commibìon, Sce (faith he) I have this day Jet thee over the Na- tions and over Kingdoms, to root out, and topull down, and to de- ffroy, and to through down,and to build and to plant. One would think this commithon more fitting for a Cejar or an Alexander, for great Commandersattended with numerous Armies, than for an unarmed Prophet ; what could hedo ? could he root out Kingdoms, and detiroy Nations ? Yes, by denouncing the de- ftroying judgments and confuming wrathof God,due unto them for their rebellions and provocations : Thus a poor weak Pro- phet can overturn a whole Kingdom, and root up the flrongeut Nations. And the truth is, that, never was any Nation or King- dome rooted up by the fmord, but it was ftrJl rooted up by the word; áîrtï,
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