Practical Reflections on the Late Earthquakes, Chapter 2
CHAP. II.
Such Inſtances of Divine Severity ſhould teach us to reverence and adore the Divine Power, and Providence; ſhould awaken us to Repentance, excite most earnest Prayer, occaſion Thankfulneſs for our Preſervation hitherto, and call upon us to truſt in God as our only Refuge, and to ſecure his Favour.
LET us further conſider, that under ſuch Appearances of God, it becomes us to be thus affected, as matter of Duty. If we have any becoming Apprehenſions of the Divine Power, and the Terrors of his Wrath; If we have any Concern at his Diſpleaſure, and the Manifeſtations of it; If we have any thing of that Tenderneſs of Spirit, that Heart of Fleſh, which is the great Bleſſing of the New Covenant, we ought to evidence it on ſuch Occaſions, by ſutable Affections, in order to the Improvement of theſe Providences for our own Advantage. For inſtance,
1. To reverence the Divine Power, and Providence; to confirm our Minds in the Belief of it; That verily there is a God that judgeth in the Earth; That we may ſee, and know, and underſtand together, that the Hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Iſrael hath created it: That God hath not forſaken the Earth, but makes himſelf known by the Judgments that he executes. And when they are thus manifeſt, it is ſaid, All Nations ſhall worſhip before thee, O Lord, Rev. 15.4. & 19.2. So when God executes Judgment on the Wicked, by ſudden Calamity, Pſal. 58.7, 8, 9. it is added at the 11th Verſe, that thereupon a Man ſhall ſay, Verily there is a Reward for the Righteous, verily there is a God that judgeth in the Earth. If he did not ſometimes appear in ſuch Acts of Juſtice, Men would be ready to ſay, Where is the God of Judgment? Mal. 2.17. or with them, Job 9.24. The Earth is given into the Hand of the Wicked; if not, where, or who is he? Where is he, who ſhould puniſh them? Who is he, that calls them to an Account? And the wiſe Man hath told us, that becauſe Sentence againſt an evil Doer is not ſpeedily executed, therefore the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully ſet in them to do Evil, Eccleſ. 8.11.
But when he looketh on the Earth, and makes it tremble; when he toucheth the Hills, and they ſmoke, Pſal. 104.32. When he ſhows himſelf to be wiſe in Heart, and mighty in Strength, he removeth Mountains, and they know it not; he overturneth them in his Anger. Who would not then reverence his Power, and Providence? Read Numb. 16. for an Inſtance of it.
Even the Heathens have condemn'd thoſe for mad Men, and diſtracted, who would fear nothing, no not an Earthquake, as it is *Petri Victor. Comment. in Ariſt. de Moribus, lib. 3. p. 160.obſerved by Ariſtotle concerning the Celtae, a barbarous People: Which makes it the more ſtrange that Seneca †Seneca Quaeſt. nat. lib. 6. cap. 3.ſhould be ſo much at a loſs, about the Divine Agency in ſuch things, and aſcribe them only to natural Cauſes. Whereas Cicero ‖Cicero de Nat. Deorum, l. 2. §. 13. mentions Cleanthes, and other of the Stoicks to be of the ſame Opinion. See Leſcoloper, in Cic. de Nat. Deorum, p. 227.reckons Earthquakes, with Thunder, Tempeſts, &c. to be one of the four Ways by which the Notion of a God is preſerv'd in the World, and the Minds of Men awed with the Apprehenſion of the Divine Being.
By ſuch Acts of Judgment and Vengeance God is ſaid to ſhow himſelf, Pſal. 94.1, 2. to confute the Atheiſm of the World, and make Men acknowledg his Being and Providence. By ſuch things Men are made to know, that God ruleth in Jacob, unto the Ends of the Earth, Pſal. 58.13. Thus was Pharaoh brought to acknowledg God, who at firſt deſpiſed him, ſaying, VVho is the Lord, that I ſhould obey him?
2. Let us take heed of the like Sins, that others have been guilty of, with whom God has dealt in ſuch Severity. Let us remember, He is a holy God, and jealous of his Honour, and will not ſuffer high Provocations always to go unpuniſhed. Others have ſmarted, who were guilty of ſuch and ſuch Tranſgreſſions, as are found amongſt us: Why ſhould we expect to eſcape, if we continue under the like Guilt? By Judgments upon one Nation, God warns Another, that except they repent, they may expect to periſh. Thus Tyrus ſhall be devoured with Fire, Aſhkelon (ſays God) ſhall ſee it and fear; Gaza and Ekron ſhall be very ſorrowful, Zech. 9.3, 4, 5. When Jonah was thrown over-board, and the Storm quell'd, the Men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered Sacrifices, in the ſenſe of their own Sins. Much more, when God executes Remarkable Judgments on ſuch as are notoriouſly wicked. All Men will fear, and declare theſe Works of God, if they wiſely conſider of his Doings, Pſal. 64.9. If we will not be warned by the Examples of Others, we may expect to be made Examples our ſelves. Sodom, and Gomorrah, and the Cities of the Plain, are ſet forth as an Example unto us, Jud. 7. The Man that will do preſumptuouſly, even that Man ſhall die, Deut. 17.12, 13. And all the People ſhall hear, and fear, and do no more preſumptuouſly. God ſingled out the Galileans, whoſe Blood Pilate mingled with their Sacrifices, and thoſe on whom the Tower of Siloam fell, to tell the Jews, except they did repent, they ſhould alſo periſh: And within a few Years, upon their neglect of theſe inſtructive Examples, Thouſands and ten Thouſands of them had their Blood, as it were, mingled with their Sacrifices; being ſlain by Multitudes in the Temple, the Place of their Offerings; and no leſs Number periſhing in the Fall and Ruine of their Walls, and Buildings battered down by the Romans. When the Iſraelites round about ſaw Corah and his Company devoured of the Earth, they ran away at the Cry of them, and ſaid, Leſt the Earth ſwallow us alſo.
By what we have ſeen of God's Severity on Others, we ſhould run away trembling from the Gulph of God's deſerved Judgments, by running from thoſe Sins, which may bring the like on us, which Others have felt. 'Twas the great Aggravation of Belſhazzar's Pride, that he humbled not himſelf, tho he knew the Judgment God had executed on his Father for that very Sin. He that will run into a Bog, wherein Others have plunged themſelves in his view, is guilty of double Folly, of adventuring raſhly, and of not taking warning. Herodotus tells us, that upon the Statue of Zenacherib, after the Angel of the Lord had ſlain an hundred and eighty five thouſand of his Army, Iſa. 37.36. it was engraven, Diſcite Juſtitiam moniti, & non temnere Divos: Let him that looks on me, learn to fear God. He hath a thouſand other Judgments in reſerve, if the ſame we ſee inflicted on Others, do not overtake Us. Not only ſtormy Winds and Tempeſts are in his Treaſury, that he can rain Snares, and Fire and Brimſtone, and an horrible Tempeſt on the Wicked; but he has Arrows of Judgment in his Quiver of various ſorts, or is able to repeat the ſame, when he pleaſeth. God will never want Ways and Methods to puniſh a wicked People. All Creatures in the Earth, and Air, and Sea, are his Servants. He hath Hoſts and Armies of them, above and under Ground, to be the Inſtruments of his Juſtice.
3. Let it excite our more earneſt Prayers for Preſervation, and Deliverance from ſuch Judgments, as others have ſuffered by. We ſee, if God be not for us, but againſt us, how ſuddenly, how dreadfully he can puniſh, and deſtroy any People. How earneſtly ſhould we pray, Lord, ſpare thy People, and deliver us from ſudden Death. The louder, and the more repeated our Warnings are, and the juſter our Fears of approaching Calamity, the more importunately ſhould we pray, as that Captain, 2 Kings 1.13, 14. When two before him, with their Fifties, had been deſtroyed, fell upon his Knees before the Prophet, ſaying, O Man of God, let my Life, and the Lives of theſe fifty of thy Servants be precious in thy ſight: Behold, there came Fire from Heaven, and burnt up the two Captains with the former Fifties; O let my Life be precious in thy ſight.
Let us pray for the Diverſion of ſuch Judgments, but endeavour to form our Spirits to a Preparedneſs for the whole good Pleaſure of God; and bring them to a conditional Submiſſion to the Divine Will, as to our own Share in any National Deliverance we pray for. We muſt own that we deſerve, that the overflowing Scourge ſhould not paſs away from us, and that we know not whether it ſhall or no; but we ought to pray alway, Father, glorify thine own Name, and help us to glorify it; and let us be pleaſed that thou ſhouldſt do ſo, in thine own Way; which we are not competent Judges of. We lie at thy Foot, and own that thou art Juſt, and Wiſe, and Holy, and infinitely ſo: Lord, ſave us, if it be conſiſtent with thy Glory to ſave ſuch a People: And help us to adore thee in the way of thy unſearchable Judgments, if by that Method thou wilt glorify thy ſelf. We are not fit to judg of God's Works of Providence; nor can we comprehend how far his Glory, in the Accompliſhment of his Great and Eternal Purpoſes, may be ſubſerv'd, and promoted by ſuch Temporal Calamities, as we would deprecate.
4. Let us thankfully own our preſent Safety, our Preſervation hitherto, that when others have been deſtroyed, we are yet ſpared. God manifeſted glorious Power in making the Earth to ſhake; but it was free Mercy that it did but ſhake and tremble in our Iſland. His ſovereign Mercy has hitherto made a Difference between Us and other People: we are ſpared, when other Countries are deſtroyed. Let us ſtand, and behold the Severity of God on them; but adore his Goodneſs unto us, that we are not ſurprized in our Sins. He is Righteous in all his Ways, and Holy in all his Works. He is a God of Truth, and without Iniquity; Juſt and Right is he. So we muſt own him in his moſt terrible Judgments on Others. But to Us he is a God of Patience and Long-ſuffering, and ſo we muſt acknowledg and adore him. How did the Iſraelites triumph in the God of their Salvation, when they eſcaped, and the Egyptians were drowned? Why might not thoſe of Jamaica and Sicily, have been warned by our Example, as we are admoniſhed by theirs? How is it, that God has not inlarged, or repeated the Commiſſion of the Earthquake amongſt us, that did but gently give us notice of what he might have done? Let us bleſs God, that he did not ſhake the Earth, ſo as to open and ſwallow us up quick; and that he has not repeated it, becauſe of our provoking Security ſince: Let us be thankful, that when our Houſes rolled, they did not tumble.
To ſome Countries, and ſome People, he is known by the Judgments that he executes; but to us and ours by the Judgments that he diverts. To us he is known by his adorable Long-ſuffering, by his manifold Deliverances, notwithſtanding our repeated, aggravated Crimes, ſo as to make us even the Wonder of the World: for ſo we are, in that, having ſuch Enemies, and ſuch National Guilt, we have yet ſo many National Bleſſings, to commemorate from time to time; and the Liberty of doing ſo in publick Aſſemblies. God makes himſelf known to our Neighbours round about, by the Calamities of War, by the Barbarity of Souldiers, and the Fury of the Oppreſſor; and to others in remote Countries, by deſolating Earthquakes: But to Us, by merciful Preſervations, and many of the Bleſſings of Peace. To Amalek, and Edom, and Babylon, he is known by deſtructive Judgments; but in Judah, and in Jeruſalem, and in Sion his Dwelling-place, he makes himſelf known in another manner. Tho the Profeſſion of the Truth, and the Knowledg and Worſhip of the True God in any Place, is no ſufficient Security againſt ſuch a Judgment: for how terribly was Antioch (where the Diſciples were firſt called Chriſtians) afflicted with Earthquakes; and ſome of the famous ſeven Cities, whence the Aſian Churches are denominated, deſtroyed by Earthquakes?
As to Antioch, we read, that in the Emperor *Howel's General Hiſt. Vol. 2. p. 883. Dion. Caſſ. Trajan. cap. 18. Dio Xiphilin. Le Sieur Hiſt. del' Egliſe, An. de N. S. 115.Trajan's time, A. D. 115. or according to others, An. 111. who ſucceeded Nerva in the Roman Empire, after his Conqueſts in Armenia, and his obtaining the Title of Optimus, he returned to Antioch, and there made ſome ſtay, but was affrighted with a moſt terrible Earthquake, which afflicted other Cities, but eſpecially this, in an unheard-of manner. By the Fall of Houſes, and Rubbiſh, and other means, a vaſt number of People periſh'd; ſo that the Town being full of Strangers, who came thither for Law-ſuits, upon Meſſages, or other Buſineſs, the Court being then there all the Winter; there was no Nation that receiv'd not Loſs from ſo great a Calamity. Trajan himſelf eſcaped out of a Window, being it's ſaid, drawn out by one of a more than humane Proportion. And though the Earthquakes ceaſed, he continued in the open Air for many Days. The Hill Coraſius was ſo ſhaken, that its higher Parts fell down, and it look'd as if it would tumble on the City. Other Mountains were levelled: Waters broke out where none before appeared; and Fountains which formerly poured out Water, were ſtopped up.
About the ſame time, in Trajan's time, Oroſius ‖P. Oroſii Hiſt. l. 7. cap. 12.mentions 103 Cities of Aſia overturn'd by Earthquakes. And afterwards, in Juſtinian's time, *Cluverius ad An. Dom. 528.Cluverius mentions another Earthquake at Antioch, that deſtroyed above forty thouſand. And by †Ib. ad An. Dom. 602.another Earthquake there, 61 Years after the former, in the time of the Emperor Mauritius, ſixty thouſand periſhed.
The Preſervation of our City and Nation, while others are deſtroyed by this Judgment formerly, and of late, ſhould make us thankful. The like may be amplified as to particular Families and Perſons: the bright Side of the Cloud is to thee, while the dark one is to others: As a God of Juſtice and Severity he appears to others, as a God of Grace and Compaſſion to thee.
How many Salvations has God wrought for us of late, for this Nation, and for this City; prolonging our Tranquillity and Peace, and keeping off publick Calamities from us! How often has he diſappointed and defeated our Enemies Deſigns and Attempts againſt us! It is well if our Ingratitude do not at laſt provoke him to ſay, as to his ancient People; Judg. 10.11, 12, 13. Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians? &c. Yet you have forſaken me, therefore will I deliver you no more.
5. Let it awaken us, to clear up our Intereſt in God, as our only Refuge and Shelter. If he be our God in Covenant, we need not fear, though the Earth be removed, and the Mountains be caſt into the Sea; though the VVaters thereof roar and be troubled, though the Mountains ſhake with the ſwelling thereof, Pſal. 46.1. Our Hearts may be eſtabliſhed and fixed, truſting in the Lord, ſo as not to fear any evil Tidings, Pſal. 112.7, 8. We may poſſeſs our Souls in Peace; for God will keep them in perfect Peace, whoſe Minds are ſtayed on the Lord, Iſa. 26.3. They may ſay when it thunders, It is the Voice of my Father; and when the Earth trembles, It is the Tread of his Foot: or with David, The Lord is my Refuge, the Lord is my Habitation, what need I be afraid? Pſal. 91.9. A Refuge is a Place of Retreat and Safety in a time of VVar: An Habitation is a Place of Abode in a time of Peace: At all Times and in all Conditions ſuch are provided for: The Lord is my hiding-Place and my Shield, therefore will I hope in his VVord, Pſal. 119.114. He will either keep me out of Danger, or defend me when I am expoſed to it: either what I fear ſhall not overtake me, God will be my hiding-Place; or if it do come, it ſhall not hurt me, God will be my Shield.
He has promiſed to be with me in the Fire, and in the VVater: He has bid me not to be diſmayed; for I am with thee, I am thy God, I will ſtrengthen and help thee, and uphold thee with the right Hand of my Righteouſneſs, Iſa. 41.10. and 42.2. He will cover me with his Feathers, and under his VVings I ſhall be ſafe: I may abide under his Shadow, and dwell ſafely from the Fear of Evil. Now it is one great End of ſuch extraordinary Appearances of God, to bring Men to adore and ſeek after God: Joel 2.30. I will ſhew VVonders in the Heavens, and in the Earth, &c. before the great and terrible Day of the Lord; and whoſoever ſhall call on his Name, ſhall be ſaved.
Our Buſineſs therefore is to make Peace with God; to acquaint our ſelves with God, and be at Peace with him; and then Good ſhall come unto us, and the Almighty himſelf ſhall be our Defence, ſo as we need not fear, Job 22.21. Let what will come to paſs, ſuch ſhall be ſafe who are under the Covenant-Love and Care of God. And it is his Preſence alone is able to ſecure us. Good Men have always thought ſo, even when they had the greateſt Aſſiſtance for outward Security: O Lord, we rest on thee alone, ſays Aſa, 2 Chron. 14.8. When he had an Army that bare Targets and Spears out of Judah, to the number of three hundred thouſand, and near as many out of Benjamin, that bare Shields and drew Bows, viz. two hundred and fourſcore thouſand; yet he overlooks all this, and reſts on God alone. So did Jehoſaphat, 2 Chron. 17.14, 15, 16. with an Army of eleven hundred & threeſcore thouſand fighting Men, beſides his Gariſons; and yet Chap. 20.12. he ſays, VVe have no Might againſt thoſe that come against us, but our Eyes are unto thee. Eleven hundred and threeſcore thouſand fighting Men in the Field, and yet had no Might but what he expected from the Preſence of God. All our Stability and Safety depends upon God as our Keeper. If it be asked, Is it in your Armies, and Officers, and Commanders? they muſt ſay, No, it is not in us. Is it in your Fleets, and Navies, and Admirals? It muſt be ſaid, It is not in them. Is it in your Allies and Confederates? It muſt be ſaid ſtill, It is not in them. In your Caſtles, and Gariſons, and Fortifications, in the Situation of your Country, or the Numbers of your People? &c. It is not in them. In no humane Power, Policy, Cunning, Correſpondencies abroad, or Councils at home; nothing but in God, who is the Keeper of Iſrael: and therefore to be at Peace with him is our only Safety.
If he be our Rock and Refuge, we may depend on him, and find Security; all other Foundations and Buildings are weak and tottering; but the Foundation of God ſtands ſure: The Lord knoweth who are his, and he can and will take Care of them, though the Earth tremble under your Feet, or you ſink into the Bowels of it. He can own and diſtinguiſh you even in ſuch a Calamity, by a temporal Salvation, as An. 1584. when a certain Hill near Berne in Switzerland, was violently removed by an Earthquake, and covered a whole Village that had ninety Families in it, one half Houſe only excepted, wherein the Maſter of the Family was praying, with his Wife and Children: *Polani Syntagma, p. 841.Polanus relates it, who lived in thoſe Parts. By an Earthquake at Conſtantinople, wherein thirteen thouſand Men periſh'd, An. 1509. many of the Turkiſh Moſques fell, but the Chriſtian Temples ſtood firm. ‖An. 1663. in Inſula Canada horrendi Terrae motus ſentiuntur. Haec Tempeſtas ingentem Terrarum tractum infeſtavit: & Barbaros, Chriſtianis interim incolumibus, gravi damno affecit. Cluverius, p. 868.And other Inſtances may be given of the like.
God is an unchangeable Refuge, and by Intereſt in him we are ſure of a Building not made with Hands, Eternal in the Heavens. Though our earthly Dwellings ſhould be ſwallowed up, our Souls are ſafe, our Portion is ſecure: for when this earthly Tabernacle is diſſolved into Duſt, by that or any other Calamity, yet ſhall we not miſs of eternal Bleſſedneſs in the Heavenly Manſions: And there are no Storms or Tempeſts, no Commotions or Tremblings there.