An Exposition of Hosea 11-13, Exposition · Chapter 11 · Verse 6
VER. 6.
And the Sword ſhall abide on his Cities, &c.
THey relied upon their Cities and therefore refuſed Expoſ. 1. Caepit vulg. & Hierom. of foreign in Hiphil.to return; but ſaith the Lord here, The Sword ſhall abide on his Cities; The old Latin hath it, The Sword hath begun: and Hierom in his Tranſlation takes it ſo.
If we ſhould take it thus, we might have a hint of a very profitable meditation.
It's time for a people to return, when God doth but wher his Obſ. 1.Sword, or draw out his Sword; in Jer. 18. 7, 8. At what Jer. 18. 7, 8.iuſtant I ſhall ſpeak concerning a Nation, and concerning a Kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to deſtray it; if that Nation againſt whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil I thought to do unto them. Oh! England.happie had it been for us, if when the Sword begun with us we had turned from our evil.
But we muſt rather take it as it is in our Books, and ſo the words are more proper, for, The Sword ſhall abide on Expoſ. 2.their Cities.
As for the evil of the Sword, that I have already opened in the latter end of the former Chapter. But that which I here would note, is; The abiding of the Sword upon their Cities; From whence obſerve; That the abiding Obſ. 2.of the Sword it is a ſore Judgment. So it was here, for afterwards in the reign of Hoſhea then was this Propheſie fulfilled, when Samaria was beſieged for three years together. When God threatens fearfully, he threatens the abiding of the Sword; when he doth not only threaten the Sword, but Bathing his Sword, and being filled with blood, and made fat with fatneſs, and devour, and ſhall be made Satiate, and made Drunk with blood. All theſe expreſſions we have in Scripture, theſe ſix expreſſions, in two Scriptures you have them all. Iſa. 34. 5. 6. and Iſa. 34. 5. 6. Jer. …6. 1….then Jer. 46. 10. Oh! this is a dreadful thing, for the Sword to abide. It hath abode long upon Germany, the Lord hath been angry with them for almoſt this thirty years: we think three or four years long for the abiding of the Sword.
But if it be ſuch a fearful judgment for the Sword to Uſe. Againſt protractors of the War.Abide; how vile are they that ſeek to prolong the abiding of the Sword upon a people, and that for their own advantage? Oh! that is a curſed thing, theſe men live upon blood, every draught they drink they drink blood, that have endeavored the prolonging of the Sword upon this Kingdom for their private advantages.
My Brethren, we have cauſe to bleſs God, that God The War taken by the great.hath raiſed up inſtruments for us, who have hazarded the ſhortening of their own lives for the ſhortening of the War, who have done their work of late this year, as The New-Model of the Army. Anno 1645, 1646.if they took it by the great; there is a froward and envious Generation of men that will ſay of ſome kind of men becauſe they differ from them in ſomethings, they would be glad that theſe troubles might continue becauſe they might have the more libertie. But we ſee that men, though of different judgments, they do not take a courſe to have the trouble continue, you ſee how they hazard themſelves to make all the haſt poſſibly they can, and that to admiration, and doing things in the winter ſeaſon, that is not ordinarilie heard of among other Nations, and all this, that the Sword may not abide upon A bleſſing for thoſe that haſten peace.their Country, but that peace may be haſtened, ſo that the bleſſing of God be upon ſuch.
Again further, The Sword ſhall abide as long as God will have it; he that is the Lord of Hoſts, he gives the Obſ. 3.Commiſſion to the Sword, and till he calls for his Commiſſion back again, the Sword it ſhall go on: We may think the wars may be at an end, Oh! let us look to it that we make up our peace with God, and then we may Uſe for Engl.hope it, but otherwaies the Lord may cauſe a Serpent to come out of the Cockatrice Eg, the Lord may kindle fires otherwiſe than we can imagin; therefore ſaith God, The Sword ſhall abide. It may be they thought, that indeed if the enemy come he will not ſtay long: Oh! but he ſhall abide.
I verily perſwade my ſelf, that there were many, yea, and the wiſeſt in this Kingdom, that did perſwade themſelves How men were deceived at the begining of this war.at the begining of the taking up of the Sword, that it would ſcarce have held twelve months together, it was impoſſible to have foreſeen the abiding of the Sword ſo long upon us as it hath. Yea, but if God gives Commiſſion it muſt abide: There's a notable text for that in Jer. Jer. 47. 6, 7.47. 6, 7. O thou Sword of the Lord, How long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thy ſelf into thy ſcabbard, reſt and be ſtill. Mark the anſwer there: How can it be quiet, ſeeing the Lord hath given it a charge? It muſt go on, it muſt abide, ſeeing the Lord hath given it charge.
And then, The Sword ſhall abide on his Cities.]Obſ. A ſad thing for the ſword to be in a City.
It is a ſad thing for the Sword to be in the Field, but for the Sword to be in the Cities it is ſadder; for in the Cities there is the ſtrength of the Kingdom: when the Sword comes into the Cities, Oh! the fearful ſights of houſes fired, of ſtreets running with blood, the hideous noiſe of ſhreeking and cryings out of women and children: I remember Joſeph us in his ſtory of the Jewiſh Wars, reports of Jeruſalem when the Romans came againſt it and took it, Ioſeph de, Bello Iudaic. lib. 7, cap. 7.that the narrow ſtreets of the City of Jeruſalem was ſo filled with dead bodies, that there was no paſſage, and he ſaith, That the ſtreets ran with the blood of men, and there were many things ſet on fire, that were quenched with the blood of men and women that ran in the ſtreets, ſo dreadful was the Sword there; and the number of thoſe that were ſlain, & died in that time that the ſword was ſtretch'd out againſt that one City, he ſaith was, Eleven hundred thouſand, becauſe it was that time that 1100000. ſlain in the ſiege at Jeruſalem.the people came-up to the Paſſeover, and then he ſaith it was that they were ſurrounded. Oh! for the Sword to come to populous Cities is very dreadful.
And the dreadfuller it is, the greater is the merciemercy of The mercy of God to London all this War.God to our Citie, the Lord hath wholly delivered it from the Sword that it hath not come at all upon it; If the Sword ſhould have come to this City, Oh! it would have raged indeed: for this was the But of the malice of the Adverſaries, their furie it was reſerved for this City, The Butt the enemy aimed at.Oh! but the Lord hath protected it, it hath been the Citie of the Lord of Hoſts, the Lord hath commanded that no Army ſhould meddle with it for hurt: Iſa. 37. 33. 34. Iſa. 37. 33. 34. 35.35. I will defend this City (ſaith God) and I will ſave it for mine own ſake. Yea, it is for Gods own ſake indeed that he hath ſaid to the Sword, Go through the Land; and indeed quite through the Land except this City, and a few Counties about it: as in Ezek. 14. 17. Or if I bring a Ezek. 14. 17.Sword upon that Land, and ſay, Sword, go through the Land, &c. The Sword hath even devoured from one end of the Land to another, Jer. 25. 15. And yet this Citie Jer. 25. 15.preſerved, Oh! not only preſerved, but made a refuge and a ſuccour for all the godly partie flying from the Not only preſerved, but made the City of Refuge for the kingdom.rage of the Sword, great is the Lord, and greatly to be praiſed in this City preſerved by the Lord, Except it had been preſerved by the Lord, the Watch-men certainly had watch'd in vain. It follows. And ſhall couſume his branches, and devour them.
The Branches] that is, The Towns and Villages about the City; for the Cities in a Kingdom are like the Root, Expoſ.or the Bodie of a Tree, and the Villages or the Towns are as the Branches of the Tree; and here's threatned both Citie and Branches.
And this Citie hath been as a great Body of a Tree that hath ſent out juice, and ſap, and ſuccor to all the Towns and Villages in the Kingdom. When the Sword is upon the Citie there is little hope that the Villages ſhall eſcape, Iſa. 14. 31. Howl, O gaie; Cry O City, thou whol Paleſtina Iſa. 14. 31.art diſſolved. When the City cries, then whol Paleſtina is diſſolved; no mervail then though there hath been ſuch This the cauſ why London hath been ſo aimed at.plotting in this City, by making diviſions, beſides other treacherous and villanous waies, to ſpoil this City, to bring the Sword upon it, What laboring hath there been to betray us, one plot upon another, aſſoon as one is broke preſently another, and all againſt this Citie? Oh! what a pleaſant ſight would it have been to our Adverſaries to have ſeen this City in confuſion, & wallowing in its own blood! But the more there is depending upon this Citie, the more careful ſhould all that love peace, and the welfare of the Kingdom, labor for the good of Every good patriot, ought to labor the the good of London.this Citie, everie one ſhould labor for the peace of it, that it may be a Citie compacted with unitie within its ſelf, that all that are godly and faithful may joyn in one, that every one may bear the infirmities of his Brother, that there may be no grating upon one anothers Spirits, no exaſperation, no ſtirrings up violence one againſt another, eſpecially againſt thoſe that are gracious and peaceable. The more plotting, and falſneſs, and treacherie there is againſt this Citie, the more ſhould we be faithful and labor By prayer and all good endeavors.for the good of it, yea, and the more ſhould we encreaſe our prayers for it. You have a notable Scripture in Pſal. 55. 9. I have ſeen violence and ſtrife in the City, Pſal. 55. 9. 17. explained.day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof, miſchief alſo and ſorrow are in midſt of it. What then? in the 17. verſe, Evening, and morning, and at noon will I pray and cry aloud, and he ſhall hear my voice. What ſaith the Pſalmiſt? I have ſeen violence and ſtrife in the Citie, yea, and deceit and guile do not depart from their ſtreets. What ſhall I do then? Evening, and morning, and at noon will I pray. We complain of contentions and diviſions, and ſtrifes in the Citie, and that there are ſo many plots and treacheries againſt the Citie; Oh! let not us only talk of theſe things, but encreaſe our prayers in the frequencie, and fervency of them, Oh! let there be no family, but let there be praying to God in the family, Evening and Morning at leaſt; and if you prayed twice a day before, then thrice a day now, becauſe of the ſtrife in the City, and the treachery and deceipt that is here, and the Lord wil hear our voice; and he concludes the Pſalm thus, Bloody and deceitful men ſhall not live out half their daies; but I will truſt in the Lord. Let them be never ſo bloody minded, and deſire to imbrue the City in blood, yet ſaith the text, The bloudy and deceiptful man ſhall not live out half his daies: but I will truſt in the Lord. Becauſe of their own Counſels.
The Evil, Folly and Danger of mens own Counſels, we have ſpoken to, in the 10th Chapter, 6th Verſe, They ſhall be aſhamed of their own Counſels. Now only a word of that, in reference unto the abiding of the Sword upon them.
The Sword hath abode upon us divers years; the wiſeſt amongſt us did not think the Sword would have continued ſo long as it hath don; And yet who can tel when there will be an end of theſe things?
Among other evils, certainly this evil of our own Counſels is a great evil, that hath made the Sword to abide Our own Counſels a cauſe of Englands laſting war.upon us: Every man follows his own Counſel, one man for his friend, and another for his friend: Mens own Counſels, both in Parliament, in City, in the Army, in the Country, throughout the Kingdom hath been a great cauſe of the abiding of the Sword ſo long a time upon us. Their own Counſels.
The old Latin hath it, Shall eat up, or deſtroy their heads, thoſe men that had heads amongſt them, that ſeem'd to Expoſ. Com…det capita torum. Vulg.be the wiſeſt, the chief Heads that were the wiſeſt and moſt full of Counſel, they were the cauſe of the continuance of this evil upon them. So Montanus hath it, Their Counſellors. And ſo Vatablus. Becauſe of thoſe that put them upon thoſe Counſels were the cauſe of the abiding Propter conſilia eorum. Pagn. Ezek. 11. 2.of the Sword, in Ezek. 11. 2. Jaazaniah, and Pelatiah, Theſe are men that give evil Counſels in the City; God hath an eye upon them, upon ſuch as give evil Counſel in the City, as the men that are cauſes of the evil that is upon the City: There is nothing more uſeful in troubleſom times, than Counſel, if ſet aright; and nothing more dangerous in troubleſom times, than Counſel, if it be wrong. The Lord deliver us, both Parliament, Army, City and Kingdom from their own Counſels; This wil ever be, men will ever follow their own Counſels, till When Parliament, Army, City, and Kingdom wil give over their own Counſels. Good intentions may be ſeduced.they be taken off from their own deſigns, their own ends, till they can truſt God with his work, and be willing to be ſwallowed up in the Publick. Squint-eyed, and ſelviſh Counſel will deſtroy us, if God be not infinitly merciful unto us, yea, and it may be there are ſome that have good aims for God, and yet in their Counſels they may be led aſide by carnal principles: As for inſtance, only in this own thing: That there is no ſuch way for the furtherance A falſe religious and State principle.of the Kingdom of Chriſt, but by the coreſpondancy of it with the Kingdoms of the world. Certainly this Counſel is very dangerous in ſuch times as theſe are, this principle upon which many that have good intentions do go, they deſire the furtherance of the Kingdom of Chriſt, they can …ppeal to God of the ſincerity of their hearts, and their …earts are ſincere in their deſires of the furtherance of the …ingdom of Chriſt, and they think this principle is a very good one. That the beſt way to further it is, to do that that may ſtand with peace in a way of coreſpondan…y wth the Kingdoms of the world, it wil be the beſt way … ſet it up, and if they did not think that were the beſt …ay to ſet up the Kingdom of Chriſt they would not do i… But certainly they are miſtaken in their Counſels h…e; For as the Kingdom of Chriſt is not of this world, ſo he way of the promoting of the Kingdom of Chriſt it is not by endeavoring the correſpondencie of it with this world; God hath laid the great work of mans ſalvation, Gods waies not our waiesthe greateſt work that concerns the glorie of his Name, in that which is fooliſhneſs to men, and almoſt all the great works of God, eſpecially thoſe that have a more immediate ſubſervencie unto the Kingdom of his Son, he brings thoſe works about, not by mans counſel, but by waies and means that ſeems folly to the counſels of wiſe men, of men carnally wiſe. But we come now unto the Seventh Verſe.