[ontemplations. L 1 a.llll. I ~~~----~----~~~~~~~~~~--~------------' binding then cruelties: yetthe fooliih Algyptian had rather have impotemjfervants A then able frtends.Fortheir welfarealonc,Ph4ra<>howes Ifracla mifchiefe .:and ho1~ will he pay it~ , . ' (Comt let m work ..ifely; ) Lewd men call wicked policies wifdome,and their fuccelfe happiReffc:Herein Satan iswifer then they;who both laies rhe plot and makes them fuch fooks,as t.O millake villany and madneffe,for the !;>ell vertuc.' Injullice is upheldby violence,whereas jull governments are maint:lined by love: Task-mallers mull be fet over lfratl; rhey_010uld not be the true feedof Jjrul, if they were not llill fer towrellle w1th God m affi1chons: Heavy burdensmull be laid upon rhem:/{ratl is never butloaded,thedelliny of oneof/4Cobs fans is common to a!l;To liedown betwixt their burdens. Iftheyhad feemed ro breathe them in Gofhm fometimes,yet even there it was no fmall mifery to be forainers,and to live among B Idolaters;but now the mme ofa llave is added to the name ofa llranger.ifratl had gathered fame rull in Idolatrous Egypt,and now he mull be fcowred:they had born the burden ofGods anger, ifthey had not borne the burdensofrhe Algyptiam. As God affiitted them with another minde then the Algyptians;( God ro exercife them,the /Egyptians to fuppre!fe them;)fo caufes he the event to differ.Who would not have thought with theleiEgyftt•m,that fo extrememifery fhould not havemade the lfratliw unfit bothfor generation and refillance!Moderateexercife llrengthens, extreme dellroyes nature: ThatGod which many times works by conn-.ry means, caufed them to grow with deprellion,wirh perfecution to multiply;How can Gods Churchbut fare well,fincethe very malice oftheir enemies benefits them~ Oh the foveraigne goodnelfe ofour God that turnes all our poifonsinro cordials ! Gods C Viae beares the better withbleeding. And now thelEgypti.ms could be angry with their ownemalicioufnelfe, thatthis was the occafion of mu!oiplying themwhomthey hated,and feared ;to fee that this fervice gained mor~ to the workmen, then to their Mall:ers; the llronger therefore .the Jfratlitts grew, the more impotent grew the maliceoftheir perfecurors. And lince their own labour llrengthens them,now tyranny will try wliatcanbedone by the violence oforhers : fince the prefent llrengrh cannot be fubdued, the hopes of fuccdlion mull be ptevented:women mull be fuborned to be murderers;, and thofe whofe office isto help the birrh,mull dellroyit. There was lelfe fufpicion ofcrueltyin that fexe,and more opportunity of doing mifchiefe.The male children mull heborn,and die at once-,what can bemore inno- D cent;then the child rhat harh nor lived fo much as to cry,or to fee light f It is fJult enough to be the fonne ofan Jfratliu : thedaughters may live for bondage,for lull; a condition fo much(at the leaft)worferhen death,as theufex wasweaker.O,marvelous cruelry,thar amanfhould kill aman,for hisfexes fake!Whofoeverharh loofed the reynes unto cruelty,is eafily carried into incredibleextremities. From burdensthey proceed ro bondage,and from booda§" to bloud:froman unjuft vexation oftheir body,to an inhumanedellrutlion oftbe fruit oftheirbody.As the fins ofthe concupifcible parr,from flight motions,growon to foule executions, fo doe rhofe ofrhe irafcible;therc is no linne,whofe harbour is more unfafe, thenof that ofmalice:Bur oft-times the power oftyrants anfwers not their will: evil! commanders canooralwaies meet with equallymifchievous agents. E The feare ofGod reaches theMidwives ro difobey an unjull:.command;they well knew howno excufe it is for evil!,I was bidden. God faid ro their hearrs, Thoufbalt not kiU:this voic~ was lowdec rh;n Pharaohs .I commend their obedience in difobeying; I dare nor commend their excufe; there was.asmuch weaknelfe in their anfwer, as llrengrh in their pratlice:as they feared Godmnot k1llmg,fo they feared Phawh in dilfembling;oft-rimes rhofethat make confnence ofgreater linn<;s,are?vemken with leffe.It is well and rare,ifwe cancome forth ofa dangerous atbon w1thour any foyle- and ifwe have efcaped the llorme,rhatfome after drops wet us not. who would not have expetled thattheMid1yives fhould be murdered, for ~ot murrherin"'! ph.raoh could not be fo fimple to thmk thefe womentrully; yet hiS mdignation had no power to reach to their puni!bmem. God profpered the Mtd· wtves, ~
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