r6o Chap. 5. An Expofition upon theBookof J O B. Vert", 22. carry away gold and filver,but they cannot dettroy.faith & hope they cannot carry away, graceor holinefs They may burne your writings, and the evidences ofyour Lands and Tenements, but they cannot burne your evidences for Heaven, or weaken your te- nure and interett in Jefus Chriti. Upon the wings of this afllu- rance the Saints are carried beyond the borders of feare when de- ftrudion comes into their borders,or death is breakingopen their doores;and climbing up unto their windows. Yea this affurance ( which carries them beyond the confines offear) fets them down in a very comfortable place,in the Land ofjoy,or upon the moun- tains of delight. It is too little to fay, Ibey(hall not be afraid when deftrullion comes,for at deftruilion they¡hall laugh : As Eli. phaz undertakes with his next breath. Verf. defirullion and famine, thou /halt laugh ; neitherfhalt thou be afraid of the Beafis of the Earth. 23. For thou(halt be in league with theftones ofthe field ; and the Beafts of thefield(hall be atpeace with thee. In the former words, we had a promife of redemption fromfa- mine and from'feare at the coming ofdeftruóion. Here both the mercy and the promife are heightened,or tlae promife is made yet more merciful, At deftrulion andfamine thou¡halt laugh. It is a high priviledge to be redeem'd from famine, and not to be afraid ofdettruc` ion;but to laugh at thefe is the higheft priviledge.But is it not a fin to laugh at thefe ? And if fo, howwill it be any privi- ledge at all? I(faith the wife man,Eccl.2.z. ) faidoflaughter it is madd, andofmirth, what doth it ? And is not this madd laugh- ter, to laugh at deftruEfion, and to be merry in famine ? The Pro- phet vehemently reproves joy in fad times,( Ifa. 22. 12, 13.) and brands it for an iaiquity, that (hall not be purged from them, till they die , And can it then be commendable to rejoyce in famine, &c. It is comely for man to be merry, when God is angry ? Arid tobe rejoycing,when the Lord is deftroying?To cleare this I (hall a17í open the fence ofthe Text, and (hew, that this Langhter k nei- rdcçuód 7rY ther finite nor madnefs, but holiztefa and fob'riety of the Sumiturrn ba Saints. numvelíttma- lam partcuypro , At, 4nd famine thou (halt laugh. doc: ratone: rt The word is ordinarily ufed laughing; for whence Ifaac hash fregaudi=açtfd onrempttss his name. The fon of the promife was called Ifaac, becaufe 4- brabam
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