94 P R 0 S 0 P 0 P E I A. Book I. huma nCllfl:om we may exprefs the AfleClions of Things infenlible: It is infatiable be– caufe it can never be filled with the Multitude of the Dead. See more Examples, !fa. xxiv. 4· and xxxiii. 9· ']er. iv. 28. and xii. 4- Lam. ii. 8. Hoftn iv. 3• 'joel i. 10. Amos i. 2 , &c. !fa. xxiv. 2 3. 'l'hm jha/1 the Moon blujh, fo the Hebrew, and the Srm jha/1be a foamed, when the Lord of Hofts Jba/1 reig11 in !Vfonnt Sion, &c. This Profopopeia intimates the Light of Divine Grace in the Church, as if he had faid, the G lory of the Sun or Moo11 will be nothing, if compared with the Glory of him that rules in the Church of God, !fa. lv. 12. 'I' he Mountains and the Hills jha/1 break forth before you into jinging, and all the 'l'rees of the Fteld foal! clap their Hands. By this mofl: elegant Profopopeia Iikewife fpiritual J oy in the Kingdom of Chrifl: is figured, as Chap. xlix. '3· where the H eavens and Mountains are excited to Jinging, by the fame prophetical Voice. And Jer. li. 48. 'I' hen the Heaven and the Earth, and all that's therein, jhall./iiig for Baby/on, &c. by which hyperbolical Profopopeia, an immenfity of J oy for the Defl:ruction ofBaby/on and the Deliverance of all true lfraelites is fer forth . Lam. i. +· 'Ihe Ways of Sion do mourn, becaufc none come to the folemn Feaft. This intimates a forfaking of tiJ,e folemn Worlhip of God. Hofta i. 2 t, 22. A11d it jhall come to pafl in that Day, I will hear, faith the Lord, 1 will hear the Heavens, and they jhall hear the Earth. And the Earthjha/1 hear the Corn, and the Wille and the Oil; and they jha/1 bear 'jezreel. Befides the gracious Blelling of God, the Connexion of firf1: and fecond Caufes is fairly intimated by this Speech. Jez– ree!, that is, the Congregation of the Faithful (which according to this Name, is the Seed of God) does as it were cry, that is, expects Corn, Wine, and Oil; and thefe, as it were, cry to the Earth, that they may receive J nice and Nourirhment from it, for their Nourifi1ment and lncreafe. And the Earth, as it were, invokes Heaven for Heat, Rain, Showers, Dew, Snow, Winds, and celefl:ial Influences: And the Heavens, as it were, invoke God, the chief Caufe of all Things, without whom no fecond Caufes can effect or produce any Thing, and who when he hath a Mind to punilh, can make the Heavens as Brafl, and the Earth as Iron, Deut. xxviii. 2 '5· and detain the fructifying R ain, ]er. xiv. 22. but here being gracious and propitious to M en he is pleafed t\) hear, giving Power to Heaven, that by Clouds made of collected Vapors, and b.y various fru<'lir'ying Ways ft lhould influence the Earth; arrd the Heaven/hall hear the Earth, b y giving Rain and other Things neediul to make it fruitful-And the Earth (hall hear the Corn, the 11/ine, and the Oil, and other Thmgs growmg upon the Earth, whilf1: moiltened from Heaven it gives them Juice and Vigor: And thefe !hall hear Jezreel, that is, they !hall anfwer the Prayers or Defires of the Godly, and fo !hall Divine Blef– fing be conveyed to them, &c. 'jonah i. 4· But the Lord ca.ft forth a gYcat Wi;zd illto the Sea, and there was a mighty 'Iempejl in the Sea, fo that the Ship thought to be brokm, fo the Hebrew, that is, it was like to be broken, as if the Ship had a Mi11d. Some explain this by a Metohpny of t he Thing containing; that is, they that were in the Ship thought that they mufl: fpeedily fuffer Shipwreck. ]oh11 iii. 8. 'I' be Wind bloweth wb<re it liftetb, and thou beare.ft the Sound tbereof, but canft not tell whence it cometb, nor whitber it goetb, &c. A Will and Walking is attri– buted. to the JVind and Air, to fignify its various, wonderful Viciffitudes unknown to Man; upon which Erafmus in his Paraphrafe excellenty f<1ys, This Air by which we are vegetated, and whofe Power and Utility we only feel, is very fubtilc, and is calie<l a Spirit, or vVind; and this Spirit is not refl:rained at the P leafure of Men, but is carried by its own Force, by which it is known to diffufe itfelf through all Things, having a wonderful Power over all corporeal Things : Sometimes giving Life, fame– times Death. Now calm and filent, then more violent, iOmerimes blo•.ving from the. Eafl:, fo:netime• from theWclr, and fometimes from other di!Terent Quarters of the vVorld. And difcovers itfclf by the Effect: You hear its Voice, when you fee no·body, neither can it be grafped by Hands; you feel it prcfent, but you fee it not co:11ing, neither can you tell whither it goes at its Departure. The new Birth is like it. The Minds of Men by the Spirit of God are carried away and transformed by fecret llreathings. The ineffabk Power and Effect of it is fdr, but what is done is not difcerned
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