[4.] Fourthly, Such persons who are revilers, deriders, and haters of holiness, should rather he divinely contemned, scorned, and slighted, than anyivays gratified, encouraged, pleased, and strengthened in their evil ways hy thy neglect of holiness, and hy thy non-pursuance after holi- ness. Oh, how may thy neglect of holiness upon the account of revil- ings and scornings strengthen the hands and the hearts of revilers and scorners ! &c., Ezek. xiii. 19, seq.; and therefore it is much better divinely to slight and disdain them, than by sinful omissions to gratify and please them. See how slighting Elisha carries it to wicked Jehoram, though he was a king : 2 Kings iii. 13, 14, ' And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee ? get thee to the prophets of thy father and prophets of thy mother, i And the king of Israel said unto him. Nay: for the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab. And Elisha said. As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.' It was not the great distress and
^ The prophets here spoken of were the remaining prophets of Baal, of the idolatrous groves, and of the calves of Jeroboam.
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danger that they were in, being like to perish for want of water, nor the dignity of kings, nor the number of three, but the goodness, the graciousness, and holiness of Jehoshaphat, that wrought upon Elisha to work a miracle to preserve them and their people alive. The holy prophet carries it very high towards this unholy prince, for had it not been for Jehoshaphat, he would not have honoured him with a look, no, not with a cast of his eye. These words, ' I would not look toward thee, nor see thee,' are words of a very high strain, and speak out a great deal of holy loftiness, state! iness, and contempt towards king Jehoram. And the same spirit was working in Mordecai towards wicked Haman, as you may see in that Esth. iii. 2, ' And all the king's servants that were in the king's gate bowed and reverenced Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him ; but Mor- decai bowed not, nor did him reverence.' ^ The Persian kings, as many other heathenish kings, were reverenced by their subjects with a kind of divine honour or service ; and such reverence and honour the king commanded should be showed to his great favourite Haman ; but this renow^ied Mordecai refused to do. He was so divinely noble and stout, that he would not reverence such a wicked wretch in his heart, nor yet yield to him that outward worship that was required by the king, it being more than was due to a man. Some of the Kabbins say, as Aben Ezra, &c., that Haman had the image of some false god about him, and that therefore Mordecai would not bow before him, lest he might seem to bow to the idol that Haman carried about him : others of the Rabbins say, as R Solomon, &c., that Haman did make himself a god, and required such worship as was due only to the true God, and that therefore Mordecai would not reverence him, nor bow before him. And so Junius and other expositors say that it was more honour than did belong to a man that they gave to Haman ; and that therefore Mordecai refused to bow to him. And it is very remarkable that some of the wisest and best of heathens have forborne to come into their king's presence, because there was expected greater honour and worship to be done to their kings than was meet to be done to a mortal man. But that which is most considerable, and most probable, is this, that therefore Mordecai refused to reverence Haman, and to bow unto him, because he was a wicked Amalekite, and a bitter enemy to the people of God, and of that nation and of that stock whose remembrance God would have blotted out under heaven, Exod. xvii. 14 ; Deut. xxv. 19 ; and with whom the Lord had sworn that he would have war from generation to generation, until they were utterly wasted and destroyed, Exod. xvii. 16, compared with that 1 Sam. XV. 3.
It has been usual with the saints to slight such who have been slighters of Christ and holiness.2 When Amphilochius the bishop came into the presence of the emperor Arcadius and his son, who was then partner with his father in the empire, he saluted the emperor
' The Persians' manner was to kneel down and reverence their kings, and such as ho appointed in chief authority, which Mordecai would not do to this proud, ambitious, wicked Haman, though all the courtiers, and the king's lifeguard, and all that had occasions to attend the court did.
^ I shall look upon Auxentius no otherwise than as upon a devil, so long as he is an Arian, said holy Hilary.
322 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [HeB. XII. 14.