chaUenge ougbt to himfellii: efore,when he fhould divide the waters of I.rda.,,he did not fay, whe1'e is the power of Eli{ha,bur, Where is rhe Lord God of E/ijah~ & now, when he fhould cure the wtrers of Iericho, hefaies not, thus faith Elijba,but, rhus faith the Lord ,I h4vt healtdtbtfowattrs. HowGarefull is theman ofGod that no part ofGods glory fhould 1\ick to his own fingers. Itrich• fhall know to whom rhey owe the bleffing, that they may duly retume rhe rhanks. Elifoa profeffes he can doe nomore ofhimfelfe then tharSalr,then that Crufe;onlyGod fhall work by him,by it:and whatever that Almighty hand undertakes,cannot faile, yea is already done:neitherdoth he fay,! wiOh..te,but, I havt ht4/td: Even fo,O God, ifthou cafl: intorhe founraine ofour hearrs, but one Crufe-full ofthe Salt of rhy Spirit, weare whole,no thought can paffe between the receit and the remedy. As thegenerall vifitor ofthe Schooles of the Prophets, Eli{h;, pafferh fromftB richo to that other Colledge ar Btthtl. Btthtl was a place of llrange compofition: there was at once the golden Calfe of ltrohoam; and the Schoole ofGod:true religion and Idolatry found a free harbour withinthofe walls: I doe not marvell that Gods Prophets would plant there;there was the moll needoftheir prefence,where they found the fpring-head ofcorruption:Phyfitians are ofmoll ufe where difeafes doe abound :Asht wast•ing up by tht w•y,thtrt camt forth littluhildren DUI oftht City,an d mocktd him, a"d{aid ID him, Gee up thou ba/d.head, Goeup thoubald-ht~d. Even the very boys ofBethtl have learned to fcoffe at a Prophet;The fpight of their Id olacrous parentsis eafi ly propagated ; Children are fuch asrheir inflitution; C butinf.tncy is led altogetherby imitation, it bath neither words nor aCiions,infufed byothers; Ifithave good or illlanguage,it is but borrowed; and the fhame or thank is due tothofe thatlent it them. What was it that thefe ill-taught children upbraided to the Prophet, but a fleight nawrall defeCI1notworthy the name of ablemifh,the w•nt ofa little haire; at the befl: a comely excrement, no part of the body; Had there been deformity in that fmoothne(fe ofthe head,which fome great wits b,ave honoured with praifes, a fau\tlelfe and remedileffe eye-fore had been no fit matter for a taunt:How fmall occafions vvil! bctaken todifgracea Prophet ?Ifthey could have faid ought worfe, Elifo• bad not.heardofthis1God had crowned that head with honor,whichtheBethelitijb children loaded with fcorne. Who would have though< the rude termes D ofwaggiili boyes worthy of any thing but negleCt~ Elijba looks atthem with fevere brows,and (like the heire ofhim that cald downe fire upon the two Captaines and their fifties)curfes them in the name oftheLord; Two fhe-heares out of the Wood hailen to be his executioners, and teare two and fatty of them in peec· es.O fearefull example ofdivineJufl:ice! This was not the revenge of an angry Propher, it was the punifhmenr ofa righteous Judge : God and his Seer lookt through thefe children, at the parents, at all Ifrael; he would punifh the parents mil-nunuringtheir children,(to the contemptuous ufageofa Prophet) with the death oftho(e children, which they had mif-taught : He would teach Ijrael what it wastomif-ufe a Prophet: & ifhe would not indure thefe conrumelics unrevenE ged inthe mouths ofchildren, what vengeance was enough for aged perfecutors ~ Doubtlelfe fome of the children efcaped to tell the newes oftheir fellowes; what lamentation doewe think there was in the llreets of Btthtl? how did the dillreffed moth et~ wring theirhands for this wofull orbation ~And now when they came fonh to fetch the remnants of their own fle01, what a fad fpeClac\e it was to finde the fields llrawed with thofe mangled carkalfes? It is'•nunprofitable farrow that followes a judgement;Had thde Parents beene as careful to train up theirchildren in good difcipline,and to correCt their diforders,as they are now paffionate in bemoaning their Ioire, this flaughrer hadneverbeen: In vain doe we look for good of thofe children whofe education we have negleCted: In vaindoe we grieve for thofe mifcariages, whichourcare might have prevented. Elifh• knew the fuccelfe, yet doth he not balke the City of Bet he/; Doe we not wonder thatthe furious impatience ofthofe parents,whom the curfe of Elifo• rob· bed oftheir childreR, did nor breake forth to fome malicious puCiice againfl:the Pro het?
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