p - : - - , bl l M IF C 4 P- * | 2 | - x. © ; vid. vr 4. + God adds this to the ſame Queſtion before propoſe fy my doing it 2 b God of infinite Compaions,: and Goodnefr. co,
" Xx f F ! _ "A ; . 4 k x ph pe. F- ed, that Jonh mig ht be his own Judg, and ar once condemn his own | mighty City: Jonah, thou haft Pity on a forry Shrab, and fhali ©
Paſſions,
Iy anſwers for himſelf: whereas ver. 4. he was filent, now he is out of | was the Labour of almoſt one Million and half of Labor <, throuz! 4 6 , -4*2>1lC w PL 4 ; R » : a -* s -Y ” X "” + WY CHLAUUA.L 11] Patience, and quarrels highly againſt Go, who had ſpared ANire- j eight Years, the great Wonder of that World. Ihy Gour1, Jona:.,
l My ”_ Er, WALE a Rey” : 1 ( the old World ; but he feels in himſelt a Heat almoſt as devouring as | be ruined to pleaſe thee, and thy Gourd muſt not, left ic diſpleatic thec. te wiſhed to the Ninevites: thus unexpecteclly Ccrofled he flies OUT a- Is this equal ? wouldſt thon have me leſs merciful to {fuck a Zooliy | God himſelf. » If in the Violence of this Paſſion T ſhould die, | City, than thou art toa Weed ? e It was a ſingle Gourd ſonch
. . % Tait 77 47 dee olnp
gain "As : . , . chargerh God with hardly ufing Jonah, and breaking his Heart, tho |Men and Women, which I have pitied and ſpared ; Here are morc
he hal come a long Journey to deliver a Meſſage he would fain have | than fix{core thouſand Innocents who are Infants, who are my Crea- heen excuſed from. So exorbitant and unreaſonable is Fonah's Anger. tures made for Eternity, who grow ſlowly under my Care and
io Then o ſaid the LORD p, Thou q haſt || had pity r | Charge z whom I value as my own : And peeviſh Fonak, wilt thou on the gourd s, for the which thou haſt not laboured t, not afow me ( who can) to ſhew Pity to mine own invaluable Creg-
| | . FM ans tures, when thou pitieſt what is neither thine nor valuable ? Had it neither niadelſt 1t hr; which - came up x in a night, | ye thine, this might have required thy Affettion ; had it been of aad periſhed y In a night z.
; worth, this might have excuſed thy Earneſtneſs for it i this ag- © 0 When Jonah had ſhewed his Affettion of Love and Pity to the | gravates thy "a and cruel Paſſion againſt Nineveh. efte 268 Gourd. p Shewea Jonah the little reaſon he had to concern himlelt Women and Children, who are in Nineveh, there are many others of for the Gourd, and the great reaſon God had on his fide in pitying and | my Creatures that are not ſinful, and my tender Mercies are and ſhall ſnaring Nineveb, g Thou a Man of narrow and uneven Compaſſions. | be over all my Works : If thou wouldſt be their Butcher. ye. 3 will be / Haſt both had and ſhewed. s A common and worthleſs Weed. tz | their God, I know what becomes me, God of Prophets : ani though *Twas not the Work of thy Hand to ſet it, x Nor didft thou water, | once I hearkned to Zijah to ſend Fire from Heaven on contempruous and give Growth to it ; *twas not thine, x Asa Muſhroom, was the | Sinners, yet it is not meet to ſend Fire. from Heaven upon repenting Zirth of one Night. Died, and was only fit for the Fire when wi- | Nineveh : I know how to impreſs their Minds with a continued ?.cliet thered. + With equal Suddenneſs withered, | that Jonab came from God to preach Repentance, and that it was their 11 And ſhould a not 1 b ſpare Nineveh c that great Ci-| Repentance prevented their Overthrow z I can falve thy Credit Fo- ty d, wherein are more than ſixſcore thonſand perſons, ab, and yet not humour thy Cruelty : Go Jonah, reſt thy ſelf COn- tht cannot diſcern between their right hand and their ns = be COON: That Goodnels, Mercy and Kindneſs, which bs hand ©. and oth mock Cantet f ? pared Ninevep, hath ſpared thee in this thy inexcuſa2le Frowaridneſs. e 5 I wall be to repenting Mzeveh what I am to thee, God gracious and | 4 May notT by virtue of my Sovereignty, pity, ſpare, or pardon if merciful, ſlow to Anger and of great Kindneſs ; and I will turn from E 7 will? or is there not zood reaſon to incline me to do it, and to juſti>1 the Evil thou and they deſerve.
us
The ARGUMENT.
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s |
F JT #5 by Cuſtom become neceſſary in writing the .irouments on the ſeveral Prophets, to tell of what Country the Prophet was ; 8 | 44d, where the Hvly Ghoſt obſerves it, we may not ſlight it. Our Prophet was no doubt, of the Tribe of Judah ; but of : what Note his Family was for Riches, Authority, or Credit, appears not to us ; theſe might be eminent for any thing T know,
tut not mentioned, becauſe his Call to, his Ability for, and his Diſcharge of the Prophetick Office needed no Credentials or Countenance from any ſuch Fxternal Advantages. It is unqueſtionable he came from God ,, and bis whole Prophecy 1s of Di- ine Authority - Jeremiah gave Teſtimony to it, and Cites ſome conſiderable Authority from the Opinion of certain Elders of hat Time, who bcid bim to be a Prophet ſent of God, Jer. 26. 18, 19. He was not, as ſome were, confin'd to one Kingdom, but had his Commiſſion enlarged to preach to the Kingdom of Iſrael and Judah, which were now grown old in Sin, and univer= ally corrupred with 1dolatry and Impiety, with Inhumanity and Cruel Oppreſſion, with Falſchood and Deceits, Ingratitude to od and Forgetfulneſs of bim ;, vain Confidences in the Iying Promiſes of Falſe Prophets, and in their Ceremonial Services : all which Micah doth (as faithful in his Office) openly, ſeverely, and impartially diſcover, reprove, and threaten in Princes, Pro- phets, and all the People of beth Kingdoms ;, which are ſo cloſely join'd by the Propbet, that it requires a very ſteady and quick ye to diſcern which of the two is moſt dire@ly concerned in the Prophet*s Diſcourſe, or whether both are equally intended, yet ſo ns in order of time Iſrael firſt, and Judah next. His Phraſe and Connexions and Tranſitions, are many times obſcure and fair- capable of different Accounts, as every one will ſee who can and will read the Hebrew Text, and the Payaphraſes or Com- rentaries of Men learned in that kind of Learning. The Prophet's Stile is wery lofty, as is his Contemporary Iſatah, many imes ; and 1 little doubt they were acquainted and conver ſed each with other. His Diſcourſes have a very particular Reſpect