346 Chap. 5. AnExpefition upon the Bookof J O B. Vert 2 r. bread in his belly, more than by the flap in his hand ; Except bread hold us up by thearme,and flay us up,down we fall. Famine is fo like, or fo near, or fo certain a harbinger ofdeath, that the text puts them together. In famine hefball redeem thee from death. Fa- mine is numbred among the fore judgements ofGod, if it be not the forth judgement, Ezek 6. xi. Jer. 24.10 . And therefore re. demption from i t,is one ofhis choycefl outward mercies.We may collect how fore a judgement famine is by the effects ofit. Firo, It caufeth faintnefs and madnefs,Gen. 47. i;. Secondly, Hunger burneth, Deut. 32.24. That word is not u- fed in the Hebrew, except here. Famine kindles a fire in the bow. cis ; when the natural beat bath no fewel put to it to feed upon, it feedsupon nature. Suitable to this is the defcription of lamenting. Jeremiah in the famineofJerufalem, Theirfaces are blacker then a cole,Lam. 4. 8. and Chap.5.io. Our skinwas blacklilçean Oven becaufe ofthe terriblefamine. Both the coal and the ovencontrae their blacknefs from burning heat. Thirdly, It caufeth pining and ianguifhment, Lam. 4 9. Fourthly, Shame and howling, Joel, Lit. Fifthly, Rage and curfing,Ifa, 8. 21. Laílly, It breaks all the bonds ofnature,and eats up all relati- ons : Read that dreadful threatning, Dent. 25. 53, 54 and that dreadful example, Lam. 4. t o. Tender mothers eating their chil- dren. Famine eats up our bowels ofcompailion, and then it eats our bowels by relation : And which cones yet nearer, Famine is inch a devourer, that it caufeth man todevour himfelf. The Pro- phet defcribes a man in a fit ofFamin,fnatching on the right hand and yet hungry, eating on the left, and yet unfatisfied ; when he cannot fill his belly abroad, he comes home to himfelf,and makes bold with his own flefhfor food, Every man eating the liege of his oWn arme, I/a, 9. 20. We readofmany great Famines in Scripture, and withall of Gods care toredeem his people from them. Abraham, Gen, 42. who (at the call ofGod)deniedhimfelf,and carneout of his own, into a firange Land,was prefently.entertainedwith Famine. One wouldhave thought, God fhould have made him good chear, and have fpread a plentiful table for him,caufinghis cup to over flow while he was in the firangeLand, and ameeroranger there;yet he met with a famine,but the Lord redeemed himfrom that famine by dire inghim to 1Egypt,.that famous flore-houfe for. his people. Jacob
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