664 Tbe badand thégoodUfe of ïi Voi. II. of all controverfre, if afterwards a Judgment befal that Perlon which carries the very fignature of the fin upon it ; as when the Dog's lick'd olhab'a blood, in the very fame place where he had fhed the blood of Naboth ; in thefe and the like ca- fes, a Man may without rafhnefs and uncharitablenefs fix the caufe of fuch aJúdg, ment upon fuch a fin , but then , as I Paid before , the fin mutt be very evident and out ofdifpute ; and thePunifhment muffcarry foplain a mark and fignature up- on it , as without (training, and the help of fancy, is obvious to every one's Ob- fervation. And yet, even in thefe cafes, the Party himfelfupon whom the judgment falls may better make the interpretation, than a by-Hander; and therefore the Scri- pture, as it is in all other things very inftruftive, fo particularly in this matter it obferves this decorum not to bring in others making interpretations oftheJudg ments ofGod, but the Perfons themfelves, upon whom theJudgments fall. Thus Adonibezek , Judges I. 6, 7. when the men ofjudah had taken him , and cut off his Thumbs and his great Toes , the Scripture does not bring in Others making a cenfere and interpretationof this judgment 'of God upon him ; but brings him in making this refle'tion upon himfelf, Threefcore and ten Kings , having their thumbs, and their great toes cut of, gathered their meat under my Table : as I have done, fo God bath, requited me. So likewife Jacob's Sons, when they were brought into trouble in Eygypt, about their Brother Benjamin, they prefently refleft upon their fin againft their Brother Jofepb, Gen. 42. 2 i, 2 2. Theyfaid One to another, We are verilyguilty concerning our brother, in that we fam the anguifh of bis foul, when he befought us, andwe would not hear á therefore is this d/refs come upon us. There- forebeholdafo his blood is required. They took notice of the refemblance betwixt the fin and the punifhment5 they had finned concerning their Brother, and they were punifh'd in aBrother 4. It is rafh likewife to determine any thing concerning the endand confequence of God's Judgments. Commonly all Parties that are down are apt to footh and flatter themfelves, that God intends by fuch and fuchJudgments upon their Adver- faries, to make way for the reftauration of their own felt, and the reftitutionof thole things which they defire. Others who are mote melancholy and concerned, areapt to look upon the wort fide of things, and to imagine dreadful and difmal confequences. But it is a fond thing for us to pretend to know the fecret endsand deigns of the Divine Providence : for fomenmes God makes one calamity the forerunner of another ; and fometimes again his omnipotent wifdom forceth good out of evil , and makes a great Judgment in the `iffue to turn to a mighty Blefling. Jacob thought thelofs of his Son7ofeph, one of thegreateft calamities thatcould have befallen him , when it was the greateft mercy to his Family that could be : for in truth the Providence ofGod fent him as an HarbingerintoEgypt, to provide for his Father and his Family, 'Tis obferved byt the wife Author of the Hiftory of the Council of Trent, that when Zuingliits and OEcolampadius, the two chief Proteftant Minifters among the Sw?/fes dyed, within few days ofone another, the Papifts interpreted this to figni- fie God's deign to reftore their former Religion to them, in that he had taken away at once the two great Pillars and Supports of the Proteftant Caufe ; upon which the Author makes this wife Obfervation, Certainly, fays,-tfe, it is apious thought to attribute the difpofal ofall Events to the Providence of God: but to determine to what end thofe Events are direfledby that highwifdom, is notfar fromprefumption. Men are fo religiouflly wedded to their own opinions, that they areperfuaded, that Godloves and favours them, as much as they themfelves do. But, Pays he, the'things which happen'd afterwards, did confute this prefumption ; for the Proteflant Doctrine made a much fpeedier, progrefs after their death, than it had done before. We think that a caufe muff needs fink, when fome great fupports of it are taken away: but God hands in need of noMari 5 he can raife up new Inflrúments, or carry on his own deign by the weakefi and moft unlikely means. 5. And laßly, It israfhnefs, to determine that thofe Perfons, or that part of the Communityupon which thejudgments of God do particularlyfall, are greaterin- ners
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