Contemplations. LIB. XX. - "' '" againfi H•';(,_4el? Ifwe may notraigne, yet at leafi,lttuslive: Or if we mull: A dk; why will your hands be imbrucd in that blood, which yee had wont to terme royal!, and facred~ Why will.yeofT.utors turn murtherers ~ All pleas are in vainc ro them that are deafned wrth thm own feares. Perhaps thefe expofiulations might have fetched fome dewes ofpity from the eyes, and ki!fes from the lips of thefe unfaithfull Tutors, but cannot prevent thtt firokc ofdeath; Thefc Crocodiles weepuponthofe,whomthcymofikill: and iftheir own fonnes had beenc in the placeof c.AhAbs, doubde!fe they had been facrificcd to the will ofan ufurprr, to the parents fafety: It is ill rdyiog upon timorous natures; upon every occalion thofc crazy reeds will break,and runne into our hands. How worthy were ..Ahab and It· ' '{!bel offuch friends ? They had beenever falfe to God, how Cbould men be true to them~ They had fold themfdves to work wickedneffe,and now they are required B wirh amercenary fiddity: for afnv lines havethefe men fold all the heads of A/,•hs pollority: could everthe policy of /tube/have reacht fofarre, as to fufpett the poflibility ofthe <xtirpatioooffoample an i!fue in one night, by the hands of her tru. !lid\ fubjec!ls ~ Now fhe that by herletter fentto the Elders of!tzrttl, fhed the blood of N•- bllh and his fonnes , bath the blood ofall her fonnes fhed by a letter fent from let· rul to the Elders of S•m•ri•. At !aft, God \~ill be fure to come out of the debt of wicked linners, and will pay them wiih that coyne, which is both moll prcper,and leall: lookt for. Early in the morning, in that gate of Ieuul where Ah•b had palfed many an unjull feotence,is prefenred unto Iehu,the fearful! pledge ofhis fuveraigmy, feventy C gallly heads ofthefonnes of Ah•b. Some carnall eye that had feen fo many young and fmooth faces befmeared with blood,would have melted into compaffion, bemoaning their harmleffe age , their untimely end: It is not forth< jullice ofGod to !land at the barr< of our corrupted judgomenr. Except we indude fome grandchildren of Ah•b within this number, none ofthefedied before theywere feafoned with horrible Idolatry; or if they had; they were in the loynes of Ah•~ when he fold himfelfe to work wickedndfe 1 and now it is ju!l wi h God to puni{h t.Ahabs wickedneffe in this fruit of his loynes.The holy feverityof God inthe revenge oflinne fometimes go<s fo far th~t our igno· ranee is ready to mi!lake it for cruelty. The wonder and horror ofthofe two hoaps bath ealily drawne together the people of ltzrttl: lehu meets them in tbnt feat ofpublike judgemenr; and finding I) much amazedndfe and paffionate confufion in their faces1he cleares them, and fends ' them to the true originall ofthefe rudden and afionifhiog ma!facres. Bowever his own confpitacy,and the cowardly treachery of the Princes of If r4tl had beene (not without their hainous linne ) the vilible meanes of this jlldgement , yet bee dircc!ls their eyes to an higher authority; the jull: decree of th< Almighty, manif<!led by his fcrvant Elij•h; who even by the williog fins of men can moll wifdy,moft hofirkly fetch about his moll righteous and bldfcd purpoles. o If the Peerrs of SAmAri• out of a b1fe frare, if lehu out of an ambition of raigniog, !bed the foule blocdof eA ha6s pofierity ; the fin ne is their own, but in thr mean time the ac1 is no other then what the infinite jullice of God would I E jullly work by their mif-inrentions. Lrt thefe Ifwliles but .look up from earth tO heaven, thcfe tragical! changes cannot trouble tftrm ; thither It~u fends them : wiping off the envy ofall this blood , by the warrant of the divine preordination: In obedience whereunto he fends after thcfe heires of c.Ab•b, all his kiMfolks, f•· vorites, priefis that remained in lt'{!ttl : and now having cleared thefc coalls , he hallcs ro S4mArt4: whom fhonld he meet with, in the w~y, but the brethren of I Ahaziah King of IuJAh ~ they are going to vifit their couzens the fonnescf vJ h•b : I This young troupe W·as thinking of nothing but jollity, and coul'tly rmcl'tainmem, when they meet wirh death : So fuddenly, fo fecretly had lthn difpatched tthefe bold executions, that thefc Princes could imagine tr0 taufe of fufpition: How
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=