History of the Old Testament Volume 7, Part 14
ELISHA
Healing the Waters.
Curſing the Children.
Releeuing the Kings.
IT is good making vſe of a Prophet whiles wee hauehave him. Eliſha ſtayed ſome-while at Iericho; the Citizens reſort to him with a common ſuit; Their ſtructure was not more pleaſant, than their waters vnwholeſome, and their ſoyle, by thoſe corrupt waters; They ſue to Eliſha for the remedy. Why had they not all this while, made their mone to Elijah? was it that they were more awed with his greater auſterity? Or was it that they met not with ſo fit an opportunity of his commoration amongſt them? It was told them what power Eliſha had exerciſed vponupon the waters of Iordan, & now they ply him for theirs; Examples of beneficence eaſily moue vsus to a requeſt, & expectation of fauours.
What ailed the waters of Iericho? Surely, originally they were not ill affected; No men could be ſo fooliſh as to build a citie, where neither earth, nor water could be vſefull; Meere proſpect could not carrie men to the neglect of health, & profit. Hiel the Bethelite would neuer hauehave reedified it with the dāger of a curſe, ſo lately as in the daies of Ahab, if it had bin of old notorious for ſo foule an annoyance: Not therefore the ancient malediction of Ioſhua, not the neighborhood of that noyſome lake of Sodome, was guilty of this diſeaſe of the ſoyle, & waters, but the late ſinnes of the inhabitants. He turneth the riuers into a wilderneſſe, and water-ſprings into a drie ground; a fruitfull land into barrenneſſe, for the wickedneſſe of them that dwell therein; How oft hauehave we ſeene the ſame field both full and famiſhing? How oft the ſame waters both ſafe, and by ſome irruption, or new tincture, hurtfull? Howſoeuer naturall cauſes may concurre, heauen and earth, and ayre, and waters follow the temper of our ſoules, of our liues; & are therfore indiſpoſed becauſe we are ſo: Iericho began now to make it ſelfe capable of a better ſtate, ſince it was now become a receptacle of Prophets; Eliſha is willing to gratifie his hoſts; it is reaſon that any place ſhould fare the better for the preſence of Diuines: The medicine is more ſtrange than the diſeaſe. Bring me a new Cruſe and put ſalt therein: Why a Cruſe? why new? why Salt in that new Cruſe? How ſhould Salt make water potable? Or, if there were any ſuch vertue in it, what could a Cruſe full doe to a whole current? Or, if that meaſure were ſufficient, what was the age of the Cruſe to the force of the Salt? Yet Eliſha calls for Salt in a new Cruſe. God (who wrought this by his Prophet) is a free agent; as he will not binde his power to meanes; ſo will he by his power binde vnlikely meanes to performe his will.
Naturall proprieties hauehave no place in miraculous workes: No leſſe eaſie is it for God to worke by contrary, than ſubordinate powers.
The Prophet doth not caſt the Salt into the channell, but into the ſpring of the waters: If the fountaine be redreſſed, the ſtreames cannot be faultie; as contrarily, the purity and ſoundnes of the ſtreame auailes nothing to the redreſſe of the fountaine: Reformation muſt begin at the well-head of the abuſe; The order of being is a good guide to the methode of amending: Vertue doth not run backward; Had Eliſha caſt the Salt into the brooks and ditches, the remedy muſt hauehave ſtriuen againſt the ſtreame, to reach vp to the ſpring; now it is but one labour to cure the fountaine; Our heart is a well of bitter and venomous water, our actions are the ſtreames; In vaine ſhall we cleanſe our hands, whiles our hearts are euill.
The Cruſe and the Salt muſt be their owne; The act muſt be his; the power, Gods; He caſt the Salt into the ſpring, and ſaid, Thus ſaith the Lord, I hauehave healed theſe waters; there ſhall not be from thence any more death, or barrenneſſe. Farre was it from Eliſha to challenge ought to himſelfe; Before, when he ſhould diuide the waters of Iordan, he did not ſay, Where is the power of Eliſha, but, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and now, when he ſhould cure the waters of Iericho, he ſaies not, Thus ſaies Eliſha, but thus ſaith the Lord, I hauehave healed theſe waters. How carefull is the man of God that no part of Gods glory ſhould ſticke to his owne fingers. Iericho ſhal know to whom they owe the bleſſing, that they may duly returne the thankes; Eliſha profeſſes he can do no more of himſelfe than that Salt, than that Cruſe; onelyonly God ſhall worke by him, by it: and what euer that almighty hand vndertakes, cannot faile, yea is already done; neither doth he ſay, I wil heale, but I hauehave healed; Euen ſo, O God, if thou caſt into the fountaine of our hearts, but one Cruſe-full of the Salt of thy Spirit, we are whole, no thought can paſſe betweene the receit and the remedie.
As the generall viſitor of the Schooles of the Prophets, Eliſha paſſeth from Iericho to that other colledge at Bethel. Bethel was a place of ſtrange compoſition; there was at once the golden Calfe of Ieroboam; and the Schoole of God: True religion and idolatrie found a free harbour within thoſe walls; I doe not maruell that Gods Prophets would plant there; there was the moſt need of their preſence, where they found the ſpring head of corruption; Phyſitians are of moſt vſe where diſeaſes abound: As he was going vp by the way, there came forth little children out of the cittie, and mocked him, and ſaid to him, Goe vp thou bald-head; Goe vp thou bald-head. Euen the very boyes of Bethel hauehave learned to ſcoffe at a Prophet; The ſpight of their idolatrous parents is eaſily propagated; Children are ſuch as their inſtitution; Infancy is led altogether by imitation, it hath neither words, nor actions, but infuſed by others; If it hauehave good or ill language, it is but borrowed; and the ſhame or thanke is due to thoſe that lent it.
What was it that theſe ill-taught children vpbraided to the Prophet, but a ſleight naturall defect, not worthy the name of a blemiſh, the want of a little haire; at the beſt, a comely excrement, no part of the body; Had there beene deformitie in that ſmoothneſſe of the head, which ſome great wits hauehave honored with praiſes, a faultleſſe and remedileſſe eye-ſore had beene no fit matter for a taunt: How ſmall occaſions will be taken to diſgrace a Prophet? If they could hauehave ſaid ought worſe, Eliſha had not heard of this; God had crowned that head with honor, which the Bethelitiſh children loaded with ſcorne: Who would hauehave thought the rude termes of waggiſh boyes worthy of any thing but neglect? Eliſha lookes at them with ſeuere browes, and (like the heire of him that cald downe fire vponupon the two Captaines and their fifties) curſes them in the name of the Lord; Two ſhe-Beares out of the wood haſten to be his executioners, and teare two and fortie of them in peeces. O fearefull example of diuine Iuſtice! This was not the reuenge of an angry Prophet, it was the puniſhment of a righteous Iudge: God and his Seer lookt through theſe children, at the Parents, at all Iſrael; he would puniſh the parents miſ-nurturing their children (to the contemptuous vſage of a Prophet) with the death of thoſe children, which they had miſ-taught: He would teach Iſrael what it was to miſ-uſe a Prophet: And if he would not endure theſe contumelies vnreuenged in the mouthes of children, what vengeance was enough for aged perſecutors?
Doubtleſſe ſome of the childrē eſcaped to tell the newes of their fellowes; what lamentation doe we think there was in the ſtreets of Bethel? how did the diſtreſſed mothers wring their hands for this wofull orbation? And now when they came forth to fetch the remnants of their owne fleſh, what a ſad ſpectacle it was to finde the fields ſtrawed with thoſe mangled carkeiſes? It is an vnprofitable ſorrow that followes a iudgement; Had theſe Parents beene as carefull to traine vp their children in good diſcipline, and to correct their diſorders, as they are now paſſionate in bemoaning their loſſe, this ſlaughter had neuer been; In vaine doe wee looke for good of thoſe children, whoſe education wee hauehave neglected; In vaine doe wee grieue for thoſe miſcarriages which our care might hauehave preuented.
Eliſha knew the ſucceſſe, yet doth he not balke the Citie of Bethel; Doe we not wonder that the furious impatience of thoſe parents, whom the curſe of Eliſha robbed of their children, did not breake forth to ſome malicious practiſe againſt the Prophet? Would wee not thinke the Prophet might miſdoubt ſome hard meaſure from thoſe exaſperated Citizens? There lay his way; he followes God, without feare of men; as well knowing that either they durſt not, or they could not act violence. They knew there were Beares in the wood, and fires in heauen; and if their malice would hauehave ventured aboue their courage, they could hauehave no more power ouer Eliſha in the ſtreets, than thoſe hungry beaſts had in the way. Whither dare not a Prophet goe when God cals him? Hauing viſited the ſchooles of the Prophets, Eliſha retires to mount Carmel, and after ſome holy ſolitarineſſe, returnes to the Citie of Samaria; He can neuer be a profitable Seer, that is either alwaies, or neuer alone; Carmel ſhall fit him for Samaria; contemplation for action; That mother Citie of Iſrael muſt needs affoord him moſt worke: Yet is the throne of Ahaziah ſucceeded by a brother leſſe ill than himſelfe, than the parents of both: Ahabs impietie hath not a perfect heire of Iehoram: That ſonne of his hates his Baal, though he keepes his calues. Euen into the moſt wicked families it pleaſeth God to caſt his powerfull reſtraints, that all are not equally vicious: It is no newes to ſee lewd men make ſcruple of ſome ſinnes; The world were not to liue in, if all ſinnes were affected by all. It is no thanke to Ahab and Iezebel that their ſonne is no Baalite: As no good is traduced from parents, ſo not all euill; there is an Almightie hand that ſtops the foule current of nature, at his pleaſure: No Idolater can ſay, that his childe ſhall not be a conuert.
The affinitie betwixt the houſes of Iſrael and Iuda, holds good in ſucceſſion; Iehoram inherits the friendſhip, the aid of Iehoſhaphat: whoſe counſell (as is moſt likely) had cured him of that Baaliſme. It was a iuſt warre whereto he ſolicites the good King of Iudah: The King of Moah (who had beene an ancient Tributarie from the daies of Dauid) falls now from his homage, and refuſes to pay his hundred thouſand Lambes, and hundred thouſand Rammes with fleeces, to the King of Iſrael; The backes of Iſrael can ill miſſe the wooll of Moah; they will put on iron to recouer their cloth. Iehoſaphat had beene once well chid, well frighted, for ioyning with Ahab againſt Aram; yet doth he not ſticke now againe to come into the field with Iehoram againſt Moab; The caſe is more fauourable, leſſe dangerous; Baal is caſt downe; The Images of the falſe gods are gone, though the falſe Images of the true God ſtand ſtill; Beſides, this rebellious Moab had ioyned with the Syrians formerly againſt Iudah; ſo as Iehoſhaphat is intereſſed in the reuenge.
After reſolution of the end, wiſely doe theſe Kings deliberate of the way. It is agreed to paſſe through Edom; that Kingdome was annexed to the Crowne of Iudah; well might Iehoſhaphat make bold with his owne: It was (it ſeemes) a march farre about in the meaſure of the way, but neereſt to their purpoſe: the aſſault would be thus more eaſie, if the paſſage were more tedious; The three Kings of Iſrael, Iudah, Edom, together with their Armies, are vponupon foot. They are no ſooner comne into the parching wildes of Edom, than they are ready to die for thirſt; If the channels were farre off, yet the waters were further; the ſcorching beames of the Sunne hauehave dried them vp; and hauehave left thoſe riuers more fit for walke, than entertainment; What are the greateſt Monarchs of the world, if they want but water to their mouthes? What can their Crownes, and Plumes, & rich Armes auaile them when they are abridged but of that which is the drinke of beaſts? With dry tongues and lips, doe they now conferre of their common miſery; Ieboram deplores the calamitie, into which they were fallen; but Iehoſhaphat askes for a Prophet; EueryEvery man can bewaile a miſchiefe; eueryevery man cannot finde the way out of it: ſtill yet I heare good Iehoſhaphat ſpeake too late; Hee ſhould hauehave inquired for a Prophet, ere he had gone forth; ſo had hee auoided theſe ſtraits; Not to conſult at all with God, is Iehorams ſinne; to conſult late, is Iehoſhaphats; the former is atheous careleſneſſe, the latter, forgetfull ouer-ſight; The beſt man may ſlacken good duties, the worſt contemnes them.
Not without ſome ſpecialty from God doth Eliſha follow the camp: Elſe, that had beene no Element for a Prophet; Little did the good King of Iudah thinke that God was ſo neere him; Purpoſely, was this holy Seer ſent for the ſuccour of Iehoſhaphat, and his faithfull followers, when they were ſo farre from dreaming of their deliuerie, that they knew not of a danger: It would bee wide with the beſt men, if the eie of diuine prouidence were not open vponupon them, when the eie of their care is ſhut towards it; How well did Eliſha in the warres? The ſtrongeſt ſquadron of Iſrael was within that breaſt; All their armours of proofe had not ſo much ſafetie, and protection, as his Mantle; Though the King of Iſrael would take no notice of the Prophet, yet one of his Courtiers did, Here is Eliſha the ſonne of Shaphat, which powred water on the hands of Elijah; This follower of Iehoram knowes Eliſha by his owne name, by his fathers, by his maſters; The Court of Iſrael was profane, and Idolatrous enough, yet, euen there Gods Prophet had both knowledge, and honour; His very ſeruice to Elijah was enough to winne him reuerence; It is better to bee an attendant of ſome man, than to be attended by many: That he had powred water on Elijahs hands, was inſinuation enough, that he could powere out water for thoſe three Kings: The three Kings walke downe (by the motion of Iehoſhaphat) to the man of God; It was newes to ſee three Kings going downe to the ſeruant of him, who ranne before the charet of Ahab: Religion and neceſſitie hauehave both of them much power of humiliation, I know not whether more; Either zeale or need will make a Prophet honored.
How ſharply dares the man of God to chide his Soueraigne, the King of Iſrael? The libertie of the Prophets was no leſſe ſingular, than their calling; He that would borrow their tongue, muſt ſhew their Commiſſion; As God reproued Kings for their ſakes, ſo did not they ſticke to reproue Kings for his ſake: Thus much freedome they muſt leaue to their ſucceſſors, that wee may not ſpare the vices of them, whoſe perſons we muſt ſpare.
Iuſtly is Iehoram turn'd off to the Prophets of his father, and the Prophets of his mother; It is but right, and equall, that thoſe which we hauehave made the comfort and ſtay of our peace, ſhould be the refuge of our extremitie; If our proſperitie hauehave made the world our God, how worthily ſhall our death-bed be choaked with this exprobration? Neither would the caſe beare an Apologie, nor the time an expoſtulation; Iehoram cannot excuſe, he can complaine; he findes that now three Kings, three Kingdomes are at the mercy of one Prophet; it was time for him to ſpeak faire; nothing ſounds from him but lamentations, and intreaties; Nay, for the Lord hath called theſe three Kings together to deliuer them into the hand of Moab; Iehoram hath ſo much grace as to confeſſe the impotencie of thoſe, hee had truſted; and the power of that God whom hee had neglected; EueryEvery ſinner cannot ſee, and acknowledge the hand of God in his ſufferings; Already hath the diſtreſſed Prince gained ſomething by this miſery; None complaines ſo much as he, none feeles ſo much as he; All the reſt ſuffer for him, & therefore he ſuffers in them all.
The man of God, who well ſees the in-ſufficiency of Iehorams humiliation, layes on yet more load; As the Lord liueth before whom I ſtand, Surely, were it not that I regard the preſence of Iehoſhaphat, the King of Iudah, I would not looke toward thee, nor ſee thee; Behold the double Spirit of Elijah; the maſter was not more bold with the father, than the ſeruant was with the ſonne: Eliſha was a ſubiect, and a Prophet; Hee muſt ſay that as a Prophet, which hee might not as a ſubiect; As a Prophet he would not hauehave lookt at him, whom as a ſubiect hee would hauehave bowed to: It is one thing when God ſpeakes by him, another, when he ſpeakes of himſelfe; That it might well appeare his diſlike of ſinne ſtood with his honour of Soueraigntie, Iehoſhaphat goes away with that reſpect, which Iehoram miſſed, No leſſe doth God and his Prophet regard religious ſinceritie, than they abhorre Idolatry, and profaneneſſe: What ſhall not be done for a Iehoſhaphat? For his ſake ſhall thoſe two other Princes, and their vaſt Armies liue, and preuaile; Edom and Iſrael, whether ſingle or conioyned, had periſhed by the drought of the deſert, by the ſword of Moah; One Iehoſhaphat giues them both, life, & victory: It is in the power of one good man to oblige a world; wee receiue true (though inſenſible) fauours from the preſence of the righteous; Next to being good, it is happy to conuerſe with them that are ſo: if we bee not bettered by their example, wee are bleſt by their protection.
Who wonders not to heare a Prophet call for a Minſtrell, in the midſt of that mournfull diſtreſſe of Iſrael, and Iudah? Who would not hauehave expected his charge of teares and prayers, rather than of Muſicke? How vnſeaſonable are ſongs to an heauy heart? It was not for their eares, it was for his owne boſome, that Eliſha called for Muſicke: that his ſpirits after their zealous agitation, might be ſweetly compoſed, and put into a meet temper, for receiuing the calme viſions of God: Perhaps it was ſome holy Leuite, that followed the Campe of Iehoſhaphat, whoſe minſtrelſie was required, for ſo ſacred a purpoſe: None but a quiet breaſt is capable of diuine Reuelations; Nothing is more powerfull to ſettle a troubled heart than a melodious harmony; The Spirit of propheſie was not the more inuited, the Prophets Spirit was the better diſpoſed, by pleaſing ſounds: The ſame God that will reueale his will to the Prophet, ſuggeſts this demand; Bring me a Minstrell; How many ſay thus when they would put God from them? Profane mirth, wanton muſicke debauches the ſoule; and makes no leſſe roome for the vncleane Spirit, than ſpirituall melodie doth for the Diuine.
No Prophet had euer the Spirit at command; The hand of the Minſtrell can do nothing without the hand of the Lord; Whiles the Muſicke ſounds in the eare, God ſpeakes to the heart of Eliſha; Thus ſaith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches; Ye ſhall not ſee wind, neither ſhall ye ſee raine, yet that valley ſhall be full of water, &c. To ſee wind, and raine in the height of that drought, would hauehave ſeemed as wonderfull, as pleaſing; but, to ſee abundance of water, without wind or raine, was yet more miraculous; I know not how the ſight of the meanes abates our admiration of the effect; Where no cauſes can be found out, we are forced to confeſſe omnipotency; Elijah releeued Iſrael with water, but it was out of the cloudes, and thoſe cloudes roſe from the ſea; but whence Eliſha ſhall fetch it, is not more maruellous, than ſecret.
All that euening, all that night muſt the faith of Iſrael and Iudah be exerciſed with expectation; At the houre of the morning ſacrifice no ſooner did the bloud of that Oblation guſh forth, than the ſtreames of waters guſhed forth into their new channels, and filled the Countrey with a refreſhing moiſture; Elijah fetcht downe his fire, at the houre of the euening ſacrifice; Eliſha fetcht vp his water, at the houre of the morning ſacrifice; God giues reſpect to his owne houres, for the encouragement of our obſeruation; If his wiſdome hath ſet vsus any peculiar times, we cannot keepe them without a bleſſing; The deuotions of all true Iewes (all the world ouer) were in that houre combined; How ſeaſonably doth the wiſdome of God picke out that inſtant, wherein he might at once anſwer both Eliſhaes propheſie, and his peoples prayers.
The Prophet hath aſſured the Kings, not of water onelyonly, but of victory; Moab heares of enemies, and is addreſſed to warre; Their owne error ſhall cut their throats; they riſe ſoone enough to beguile themſelues; the beames of the riſing Sunne gliſtering vponupon thoſe vaporous, and vnexpected waters, carried in the eies of ſome Moabites a ſemblance of bloud; a few eies were enough to fill all eares with a falſe noiſe; the deceiued ſenſe miſ-carries the imagination; This is bloud, the Kings are ſurely ſlaine, and they hauehave ſmitten one another; now therefore, Moab to the ſpoile: Ciuill broyles giuegive iuſt aduantage to a common enemy; Therefore muſt the Camps be ſpoiled, becauſe the Kings hauehave ſmitten each other. Thoſe that ſhall bee deceiued, are giuen ouer to credulitie; The Moabites doe not examine either the conceit, or the report; but flie in, confuſedly, vponupon the Camp of Iſrael; whom they finde, too late, to hauehave no enemies but themſelues; As if death would not hauehave haſtened enough to them, they come to fetch it, they come to challenge it; It ſeizeth vponupon them vnauoidably; they are ſmitten, their Cities razed, their Lands marred, their Wells ſtopped, their trees felled; as if God meant to waſte them but once.
No onſets are ſo furious as the laſt aſſaults of the deſperate; The King of Moab now hopeleſſe of recouery, would be glad to ſhut vp with a pleaſing reuenge; with ſeuen hundred reſolute followers, he ruſhes into the battle, towards the King of Edom; as if he would bid death welcome, might he but carrie with him that deſpighted neighbour; & now, mad with the repulſe, he returnes: and whether as angry with his deſtiny, or as barbarouſly affecting, to win his cruel gods with ſo deare a ſacrifice, hee offers them with his owne hand the bloud of his eldeſt ſonne in the ſight of Iſrael, and ſends him vp in ſmoake to thoſe helliſh Deities. O prodigious act, whether of rage, or of deuotion! What an hand hath Satan ouer his miſerable vaſſals? What maruell is it to ſee men ſacrifice their ſoules, in an vnfelt oblation, to theſe plauſible tempters, when their owne fleſh and bloud hath not beene ſpared? There is no Tyran to the Prince of darkneſſe.