Eliiha with Naaman. I J..,rB. XIX. A · reUagainft me?lfGod have vouchfafed to call Kings,Gods;it well becomes Kings tocallthemfelves,men1& wconfelfethe diftance whereinthey !land totheir Maker:Man may kil,man cannorkil and make alive:yea ofhimfclfhe candoeneither: with C,od, aWorme,or a fly may kill a man;without God no potentate oan doe it: much leifc can any created powerboth kill, and revive: finceto reftore life ismore then tO bereave it,more thento cominue1t,morethen togive it: And ifleprofie be a death,whot humane power caneither inflid,or cure it?It is a trouble to awel-affeaed hean: to receive impollible commands:To require that ofaninferiourwhich is proper to the higheft,is a derogation from that fupreame power whofe property it is: Had Ichoram been truly religious, the injury done to his Maker in this motion,(ashe tookeit) had moreaffiicted him, then thedangetofhis ownquarrell. B Belike, f!/ifoa was not inthe thoughts ofthe King oflfrael: He might have heard that this Prophet had made alive one,whom he killed not : Himfelfe withthe two other Kings had beene eye-witnelfes of what Elifoa could doe ' yet now, the Calves of Danand Btthclhave fo often taken up hishean:, that there is no roome for the memory of Elifoa; whom he fued to in his extremity, now hisprofperity hathJ"orgotten: Carnal! heam(when need drives thcm)can thinke ofG 0 D, and hisProphet, when th<ir turne is ferved, can as utterly neglect them, as if they were not. Yet cannot good Elifba repay neglect, & forgetfulnelfe:He liftens what is done at the Coun:,and finding thediftrelfe ofhis Soveraigne,profersthatfervice,which !hould have been required; Wherefore haft thou rent tby cloathts ~ Let hi~n comenow r. mee, ana he[hall knoJV tha11here iuprophtt in Ifrael. It was no fmall fr ight,from C which Elip,a dolivers his King : Iehoram was in a\veoftheSyrians,ever fince their latevittory, wherein his father .Ahab was flaine, Ifrael and Judah difcomfited: nothing was more dreadful! to him then the frownes of thefe .Aramitts : The quarrel! which he fufpected to be hatchedby them,iscleared by Elijha :theirLeper !hall be healed; boththey, and Ifrael !hall know they have negleded a God, whofe Prophet can doewonders : Many eyes,doubtleffe, are faftened upon the iffue ofthis melfage.But what !late isthistbat Elifba takes upon him; he doth not fay, I will come lo him; but, Let himcome now to met : The th~ee Kings camedowne once to his Tent, it is no marvel!, if he prevent not the journey of a Syrian Counier: It well befeemes him that will bea futot for favour, to be obfequiD ous: We may not ftandupon tearmes ofour labour,or dignity, where we expect a benefit: Naaman comes richly attended with his t.roupes offervants and ltorfes, &nd waits in his Charet at the doore ofa Prophet: I doe not heare Eli{ha call him in; for though he were great, yet hewas leprous :neither doe I fee E/ifba come fon:h to him,and receive himwith fuch outward courtefies, as might be fit for an honourable ftranger;for inthoferichcloathes the Prophet faw an .Aramitt)and perhaps fome tinctureofthe late-ihedbloodoflfrael:Rather,thathe might make a perfed trial! ofthe humijlty of that man,whom he meanes togratifie and honor,after fom: !hort attendance-at his door,he fends his fervant withanieffagcto that Peer, who could not but think the meaneft ofhis retinue, a better man than Gehez ies MaRer. What could the Prophet have done other to the Lacquy of Naamans man~ He E that would be a meet fubjett of mercy, mull be throughly abafed in his owne conceit:and mullbe willingly pliable to :Ul the conditions ofhis humiliation:Yet, had themelfage caried in it eitherrefpect to the perfon, or probability ofeffect, it could not have been unwelcome, but now it founded ofnothing, but fullennelfe, and unlikeli,hood:Goe,and wap, in Jordanf ewn times, andthyflefb}halt come againe to thee,& thou (halt becleane:What wife mancould take this for any otherthenameer fcorne,and mockery l Goe, 10a[b~ Alas,what can water doe~ It can cleanfe from 61thinelfe,notfromleprofie: And why in Jordan~ What differs that fromother fireames~ & why juft feven times~ What ven:ue is either inthat channcl,or inthat number ~ Naamancan nomore put offnaturethenleprofie: In what achafedid he flingaway from the prophetsdoore;and faics, Am I cornne thusfar to fetch a flout _ Mmmmm 3 from.
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