LIB· XVIII. JE !tO B 0 A M. A thdr fidelity, will fight againll their brethren for their Prine<1 and will hazard their lives to reduce the crowne to the fon of S•lomon: An hundredand fourefcore thoufand of them are upinarmes, ready to force Ifrael to their denied Jubjedion : No noifc founded on both pans but military; no man thought ofany thing butblood ; when fuddenly God fends his Prophet to forbid tb: bottle: shemal•h comes with a meffage ofc•ffation: Te foal/ nil go up, nor fight ag•injl 7"" 6rerhr"', the children of I{rA<I,returne every,,., to hu h6tif',j>r thu thing il from me,foilh the Lord: fhe word ofone filly Prophet difmiffes thefe mighty armies: He that would not lay down the threats ofhis rigour, opon the advice ofhis ancient Counfellors, will lay downe his fword, upon the word of a Seer : Shall wee envy,orfhamero fecho1v much the Prophets of the old Tellament could doe; how little thofe ofthe new? Ifour commifiion be no leffe from the fame God, the difference of fucceffe cannotgoe away B unreveng<d. There was yet fame grace in Kehohsam, that bee would not fpurne again I! that which God challenged as his owne worke.Some Godldfc Ruffian would have faid; Whofoever is the Author,! will be revenged on the inllruments:Reho6w, bath learned this leffon ofhis Grandfather,! heldmy pem,hu.•fethou Lortlhafld•n< il:!fhe might llrive with the multitude, he knew it was no llriving with his Maker: quietly therefore doth he laydowne his armes, not daring after that prohibition, to feel the recoveryofhis kiogdome by blood. Where Gods purpofcs are hid from us, wee mull take the fairell wayes of all lawfull remedies; but where God hathrevealcd his detcrminations, wee mull fit down in an humble fubmifiioa 1 our llruggling may aggravate, cannot redrelfc our C miferies. JEROBOAM• • S therewasno publikc and uniYerfall conAitl betwixt the ten Tribes, and the two, fo nopeace : E1ther King tJund realon to fortifie the borders ofhis owne territories: Shechem was worthyto be deare to zmhOAm;a City as ofold feafoned with many treafnns,fo now aufpicious to his new ufurpation.The civilldcfetlion was foone followed by the fpirituall : As there arc neerc rdp<ds betwixt God, :rod his D Anointed,fo there is great affinity betwixt Treafon and Idolatry:therc is a connexi· on betwixt,Fure God,and Homr tbe Ki,g; and no Jeffe betwixtche neglects ofboth: Ill vaine fhall aman looke for faith in a mif· religious heart. Next to Achillphei,I do not find that Ifrael yedded acraftier head then Itroho•ms, fo bath he plotted this confpiracie, that (what ever fall) there is no place for achaJ. Ienge,not his owne intrufion, but Ifraels Election hath raifed him to their Throne: neither is his cunning lefie in holding allolne Scepterr Thns he thiokcs in himfelfe: Iflfrael have made me their King; it is but apangofdifcomentmcnt; thefe violent thoughts will notlatl: alwaies: fudden fits have commonly fudden recoveries; their returne to their loyalty /hall forfeit my head together with my Crown:Theycannot E retume to God,and hold offfrom their lawfull Soveuigne; They cannot returneto Jerufalem,and keep offfrom God,fromtheir loyalty:Thrice a yeare wil their d<Vo.' tion call them up thither; betides the exigence of their frequent vowes: How can they be mine, whiles that gloriousTemple is in their eye; whiles the magnificence ofthe royallPalaceofDavidand S•l•m•n, fhall admonifh them oftheir native allegeance;whiles(befides the follicication oftheir brethr<n)the Priefls and Levires flu! preach to them the neceflity oftheir due obedience,and the abomination oftheir fa. crifices in their wilfull difobedience; whiles they fh•ll (by their prefeace) put themfelves upon the mercy, or jufliceof their hl'l'full,and forfaken Prince: Either therefore I mull divert them from Jerufalem, or elfe I cannot live and raigne. It is nodivw ing them by adiretl rellraint; fuch prohibition would both endanger their utter I dillafle,and whet their deftre to moreeagerncffc: I may changeReligion,I mayMt inhibit
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